CNN "The Lead with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Interview

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BROWN: All right. Arlette, thanks so much for the latest there.

And joining me now is Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

Senator, thank you for coming on.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): My pleasure.

BROWN: You just heard Arlette's report there.

I just want to do the contrasting of the team Biden approach here, where they are basically trying to turn down the temperature, saying that he can proceed even without Trump conceding. You have called President Trump's refusal to concede outrageous.

What approach is best here, do you think?

GILLIBRAND: Well, President Trump is just kicking and screaming, like the child he often is.

And while he's entitled to file lawsuits, ask for recounts, the reality is, is that Joe Biden won this election. And the fact that they're unable to have an ascertainment of this election, and not eligible to start the peaceful and critical transition that has gone on efficiently in every other election, is really going to harm the United States.

Joe Biden needs access to national security information. He needs access to information about what's happening in the agencies with regard to the COVID epidemic. He's entitled to resources to begin his transition. And that lack of ascertainment is highly problematic, and something that has not been withheld while lawsuits or recounts have taken place in the past.

BROWN: So, then what do you think about Biden's approach here? He's clearly trying to take the approach of staying calm, cool, collected, and turning down the temperature. Do you think that's the right approach right now?

GILLIBRAND: I do.

BROWN: OK.

GILLIBRAND: I think Joe Biden is taking the exact right approach. The American people know that this election was won by Joe Biden. They expect a seamless transition.

They don't expect a sitting president to hold onto the Oval Office because he thinks it's his right. That's not the America we know. And he's not following the protocols or the norms of a normal election and transition.

BROWN: So, there's obviously the difference between the president outwardly conceding and then letting the transition take place. If the president never concedes -- and people I'm speaking to are saying that's the last thing he will ever do is actually concede -- but they do think he will leave the White House in January.

Is that acceptable to you? Does that give you any reassurance?

GILLIBRAND: Yes, he personally does not need to say any magic words. He personally does not need to concede.

But he has to let the GSA do the ascertainment of who won the election, so that resources can flow to Biden's team, so he can begin to do the analysis and background checks for the 4,000 political appointees he's going to need to appoint in the next several months.

BROWN: What is the plan for Democrats during this period right now, you know, after the election, pre-inauguration?

[16:10:03]

You have a president who is contesting the results of this election. What is the game plan for Democrats? This was not a surprise that the president would be doing this. He forecasted this.

GILLIBRAND: Well, we have our lawyers. We are doing everything that's appropriate in these litigations that the president has filed.

But, politically, we're also all hands on deck in Georgia. We have two Senate races that will go to run-offs in January. And if we win those two races, it shifts the balance of power. And now we would have a governing majority in the U.S. Senate, which means we could then really govern and help Joe Biden put forward his agenda.

BROWN: So let's talk about what we heard from Democratic Senator Chris Coons.

He told CNN he is hearing from Republican colleagues who are privately congratulating Biden. Have you spoken to your Republican colleagues? And what are you hearing from them?

GILLIBRAND: I haven't really spent much time speaking to them. We have had a few votes, but, given COVID, we try to get on the floor, vote and get off as quickly as possible.

So, I really haven't taken their temperature. But I have been deeply disappointed that we only have a handful of Republican colleagues who have actually publicly congratulated Joe Biden, and that we have members of President Trump's administration who are literally saying we're going to transition to a second Trump administration.

That's absurd. And that is so inappropriate, and is creating instability and harm to the U.S.

BROWN: So you're right about COVID obviously making things more difficult. But should Democrats be reaching out more to Republicans and putting the pressure on them to at least acknowledge where things stand right now, and not claim, like what Pompeo -- what Pompeo falsely said yesterday about transitioning to a Trump administration?

Have you -- why aren't you and other Democrats reaching out to Republicans more on this?

GILLIBRAND: Well, I think we will.

I think there's been a little bit of time that was given for whatever face-saving they wanted to do. But now it's become unhelpful, and, frankly, harmful to the United States. Every day that passes without the resources and the ability to talk to agencies, to get top-secret briefings, to work on COVID recovery and COVID relief is a day that harms the American people and our future.

And so we are not in session today. But we will be in session tomorrow. And I intend to talk to all my Republican colleagues about what they can do to push this president to do the right thing and, at a minimum, advocate that the GSA has to have this ascertainment, which allows for resources, millions of dollars of resources, as well as access to flow to the incoming Biden administration.

BROWN: All right, so you intend to do that tomorrow.

I want to end on the note that it is Veterans Day, and you have introduced legislation to allow easier access to care for veterans exposed to pits where toxic waste was burned. Explain for our viewers why that is important. And do you expect progress on this soon?

GILLIBRAND: I do.

It's important because we have millions of veterans who have served since the war on terror began in countries all across the world, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, who have been exposed to some of the worst toxins ever, because they had burn pits in these locations, where they would burn electronics, they would use jet fuel to light it on fire.

And all these toxins not only were seething into the air and the water and the ground, but they were inhaling it. And, unfortunately, these toxins cause horrible disease and cancers. So, we owe it to them. This is the cost of war. We should be making it a presumption that, if you served where a burn pit was open and steaming, that, in fact, you should have presumptive coverage for all these diseases that are known to be linked to exposure to those kinds of chemicals and toxins.

BROWN: Well, as a wife of a veteran, I appreciate your fight on that regard.

Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, thank you very much.

GILLIBRAND: Thank you.

And our gratitude goes to all our veterans.

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