CNN "The Lead with Jake Tapper" - Transcript Interview with John Kennedy

Interview

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BROWN: And joining me now is Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana.

Nice to see you, Senator.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): You too, Pam. BROWN: Senator, President Trump told Bob Woodward the first week of February that he knew the coronavirus could be spread through the air and that it was more deadly than the flu.

But, two weeks later, he said at a rally that coronavirus was the Democrats' new hoax.

Is that acceptable to you? Is that misleading the public?

KENNEDY: You're talking about the Woodward book?

BROWN: Yes, the Woodward book.

KENNEDY: Yes.

All I can do is share with you my point of view, Pamela. These gotcha books don't really interest me that much.

BROWN: He's on the record. He's on the record.

KENNEDY: These -- these gotcha books don't really interest me that much. There will be a new one out tomorrow.

BROWN: But this is different. He did 18 interviews with Bob Woodward.

KENNEDY: Right.

BROWN: So you -- he's -- he's recorded. You hear his voice. And you're seeing that, and you're contrasting that with what he says to the public.

Wouldn't that be something of interest to you, as a United States senator?

KENNEDY: Well, let me -- let me answer you again.

These gotcha books don't really interest me. There will be a new one out tomorrow.

I can only tell you about my personal experience. Louisiana got slammed early, particularly New Orleans. We were running out of hospital beds. We were running out of ICU beds. We were running out of ventilators.

The Trump administration and the doctors and the scientists associated with them got us everything we needed early. We were one of the first. They even came down and helped us build a hospital from the -- from the ground up.

When our mayor shut down the economy in New Orleans -- and I think she's got the most stringent shutdown in the country -- it just clobbered the New Orleans economy. And we worked very closely with the Trump administration on trying to help small businesses and to help people.

So, my experience has not been that the Trump administration ignored this virus. Quite the contrary.

I have listened to some of the folks testify and say, well, if we had known this, we could have saved X-number of lives. I don't put a lot of credence in that. There will come a time when we can look back and we will learn...

BROWN: OK, Senator, let me -- let me just -- I let you talk. I wanted...

KENNEDY: OK.

BROWN: I wanted to hear what you had to say.

KENNEDY: Good.

BROWN: But the bottom line is, he told Bob Woodward privately that this was a deadly virus and that it was airborne.

Didn't the public, didn't the citizens in your home state of Louisiana deserve to know that as well, so that they could change their behavior appropriately to protect themselves?

KENNEDY: Well, number one, Pamela, I'm not going to repeat what I just said, but I -- all I can tell you is what my personal experience has been.

Number two, let me say a word about -- about this infatuation in Washington with who said what to whom.

I learned pretty quickly up here...

BROWN: No, Senator, I'm sorry, I'm not going to let you do this.

OK, this is -- I understand there's so much politics right now. We're two months away from an election.

But this is life and death. You had 5,000 people that have died in Louisiana from coronavirus. Republicans are reluctant, as you are now, to ever criticize this president.

But, as a human being, how can you be OK with this?

KENNEDY: Well, if I could finish my answer, I have learned in Washington, D.C. -- I'm sort of existential or Sartrean about Washington, D.C.

To be is to act. You learn pretty quickly not to judge people up here by what they say. You have to judge them by what they do.

And all I can tell you, Pamela, is what my personal experience has been. And that is that this administration has been very responsive early on -- we were the first ones hit after New York -- both to the coronavirus and to the damage that we have done our economy -- to our economy.

Now, I understand some people disagree with that, but that's honestly my experience.

[16:40:02]

BROWN: All right, so let's just put -- OK, so you're saying, look, it's about actions. They speak louder than words.

KENNEDY: Right.

BROWN: The president knew in February -- we have it -- we have him on tape telling Bob Woodward that this was airborne.

And yet he could -- he went on to hold six rallies packed with people that were not wearing masks, and he called the coronavirus the Democrats' hoax.

KENNEDY: Right.

BROWN: Those were actions he took, and he had the knowledge. That's OK with you?

KENNEDY: Well, you're going to have to talk to the president and Mr. Woodward.

BROWN: But what do you think? What do you think?

KENNEDY: I don't -- well, I don't know if -- I haven't seen the transcript. I haven't...

BROWN: You haven't -- you haven't heard -- you haven't heard anything?

KENNEDY: Pamela, Pamela, let me finish an answer. Let me finish an answer.

BROWN: Let me -- hold on. Can I play it for you? Let me play it for you really quick, so that you can hear it and respond.

KENNEDY: OK.

BROWN: Guys, can we play it when he said that?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And we're prepared. And we're doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.

I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down...

WOODWARD: Yes, sir.

TRUMP: ... because I don't want to create a panic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: OK. So there you heard him say, "I wanted to play it down. I didn't want to cause a panic." We didn't -- we don't have -- I don't believe we have the audio of the other things he said about it being deadly and airborne. If we do, guys, let me know in my ear.

But he knows this. He's saying he's downplaying it. And yet he's holding these rallies where he's calling it a hoax. You're OK with that, with people crowded in together?

KENNEDY: Well, once again, Pamela, I haven't read the transcript. I don't know the context. You just played an excerpt for me.

What I heard the president say was that he didn't want -- didn't want the American people to panic. I don't think -- I don't think any of us want the American people to panic.

BROWN: Well, right. There is a difference between making sure you stay calm and that you don't encourage people to panic...

KENNEDY: Right.

BROWN: ... but also being forthright, so that, during a pandemic, people have all the information, they're armed with all the necessary information, so that they can take the steps necessary to protect themselves and their families.

Would you agree with that?

KENNEDY: That's a valid point.

But, once again, I can just tell you what my experience has been. And that is that the president, by his deeds -- and he's never done it by his words with me either -- has ever downplayed the coronavirus. Quite the contrary. Now,...

BROWN: But you're focusing just on you and not all the people at these rallies and in your state who were listening to the president back in February and taking his cues.

KENNEDY: Well, if you will let me finish, you're going to be able to find experts -- I remember the experts from Imperial College and from the University of Washington who told us all -- everything that was going to happen from the coronavirus.

And it turns out that the -- those late-night psychic hot lines made those so-called experts look responsible. And you're going to be able to find experts who will say, well, if the president had done this and the president had done that, we would have saved X-number of lives.

BROWN: This isn't about even what experts are saying. It's what the president said to Bob Woodward and what he said publicly. That's all we're talking about.

Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, thanks so much for coming on. Nice talking with you.

KENNEDY: Thank you, Pamela.

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