CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript Interview with Amy Klobuchar
Interview
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Joining us now, someone who has plenty of experience sharing a debate stage with Joe Biden, the Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Senator, thank you so much for joining us.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: You debated Joe Biden got in the Democratic primaries. What does he need to do on that critically important stage later tonight?
KLOBUCHAR: Well, this is a unique opportunity for Joe Biden to really put his vision out there.
The country is just thirsting for a real leader right now. They don't have it. And Donald Trump. They know that. And this gives Joe Biden a moment. Donald Trump's already governed, and look where we are right now.
To show how he's going to bring the country together, how he's going to get us through this pandemic, with competence and compassion. And then what's going to happen the day after tomorrow, where people want to go back to work? They want to find out how they're going to be able to afford college and what they're going to do about paying their mortgages and paying for their health care.
I think health care will be a very big issue in this debate, and Donald Trump doesn't have much to show for it, except trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.
BLITZER: Do you fear, Senator, that Democrats perhaps are underestimating President Trump heading into this debate?
KLOBUCHAR: You never underestimate him.
And we know he likes the theatrics of the whole thing. But I think the American people are in a different place right now. They are tired of the bombast right now. They want to see real leadership.
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And I think that's why you're going to see so many people tuning in to see the debate tonight. And they want a true leader. And they know he's going to say outrageous stuff, Trump. They know he's going to be ha-ha-ha, those kinds of things, like he always does.
But that's not a moment where most Americans are right now. This is deeply personal for them, just like me. My dad got COVID. My husband got COVID. People have lost their family members; 200,000 people have died, nearly 30 million people unemployed. This is not a time for lies and bombast.
And that's why I think Joe Biden, having debated him before. I remember getting off every debate stage, Wolf, and think -- people go, how do you think he did? And I'd say, he was good because he was himself. He was normal. He was someone that people could relate to.
And I think that's what you will see coming through tonight.
BLITZER: But, tonight, Biden, he's going to have to navigate some of these expected personal attacks from President Trump, including attacks on his son Hunter Biden. How does he deal with that?
KLOBUCHAR: He's ready for it.
Donald Trump's been doing it to him for years now, the meanest of mean. But my guess is, what you're going to hear from Joe Biden is so, yes, I love my family, but I'm running for president to fight for your families, for the families of people watching tonight, not engage in this kind of mean-spirited attack that Donald Trump does every single day from the moment he wakes up on Twitter.
So, I think it just gives Joe Biden a moment to show the different kind of president he will be.
BLITZER: When it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, Senator, how does Biden lay out his own plan, explain how the response would be potentially different under a Biden presidency?
Because that is the most important issue facing the American public right now. It's so awful.
KLOBUCHAR: Really, it's pretty straightforward, because he's done it. And that is a national plan for testing. And not only will that put people in a better place in terms of their health, but it's also going to allow us to bring our economy back in a much stronger way, instead of these fits and starts that you have seen with Donald Trump.
Secondly, this idea that he's going to tell people the truth and not keep information from people. When I found out that the president of the United States knew this was airborne, and, in his words, deadly, and, at the same time, at my house, we're like washing a resurface and washing our hands, which is still a good thing to do, but we had no idea you could get it the way you can get it, because he didn't tell us.
And then my husband got sick. There's a lot of people that have those kinds of stories. So, telling the truth will be important.
And then putting the people in place, getting things done in the first 100 days, believing in science, all of those things are going to allow Joe Biden to lead so much better and build back better when it comes to our economy and our country.
BLITZER: I know you got to run, but how are your husband and your father doing?
KLOBUCHAR: They're both doing really well. It's an amazing thing, because my dad is 92, and he got through it.
But I know so many families with their parents didn't have the same experience. And Joe Biden is going to be there for them.
BLITZER: Well, please pass along our best wishes. Obviously, you guys have gone through a lot right now.
Senator Klobuchar, thank you so much for joining us.
KLOBUCHAR: Thanks, Wolf.
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