CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript Interview with Amy Klobuchar

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Amy Klobuchar. She's the Democratic senator from Minnesota and a former 2020 presidential candidate who is now supporting Joe Biden.

Senator, I appreciate your time. I'm glad to speak with you again.

So, tonight, I want to talk about this issue because, you know, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have spent a lot of time hitting the president on his response to coronavirus, right? That had been their main focus.

Do you think they need to pivot to talk now more about other issues? Like what has happened in Compton, like law and order and the unrest taking place across the country?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): They have been doing that with one simple argument that really puts it all together. And that is, are you truly more safe in Donald Trump's America? Look at the facts. You just saw California and Oregon, big chunks of

our country ablaze because they didn't do anything about climate change. The pandemic, you know, I have to visit my dad when he got COVID at age 92 through a glass window never knowing if I was going to see him again. So many Americans had that same experience or worse.

And then you go to the crime issue that he appears to be making the closing argument are his presidency when in fact he is the president. This is happening under his watch.

So you can make that argument as one but I think it is also important and this is now the closing months of the campaign, people want to know what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are going to do. And they've been laying that out there from the Build Better Plan for America, to the work that needs to be done to help people with child care from the very beginning.

And I think the debates will give them an opportunity to do that. And I think the results are there. They're ahead. They're ahead big time in my state.

BURNETT: OK. So, let me ask you about that, because you have a very fair point when you -- when you make the very obvious point, but sometimes -- sometimes you've got to state the obvious, right?

[19:50:06]

Which is that this is all happening -- oops! It looks like we just lost her shot.

So, give me a second here while we decide what we're going to do. Let's see if we can get her right back.

All right. Here is what I'm going to do because I don't want to waste your time and we have limited time. I'm going to take a break. When we come back, I want to continue this important conversation with Senator Klobuchar.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Senator Klobuchar is back with me.

And, Senator, I know we don't have a lot of time. But I started these questions, you were saying how -- Joe Biden is ahead in your state. We were talking about law and order.

So, there are a couple swing state polls, "The New York Times" has and Siena College, voters believe law and order is just as important as the pandemic in your home state of Minnesota, also in Wisconsin and New Hampshire. And law and order beats the pandemic by 13 percentage points in Nevada where, of course, they currently have a Democratic governor.

So, it seems from this that team Trump may really be winning on this issue and this issue is very important. Do those polls worry you?

KLOBUCHAR: No, because the bottom line is in all those states, at least by Nevada and New Hampshire and Minnesota and Wisconsin, Joe Biden is ahead, and he made it very clear in his beautiful speech in Pittsburgh that yes, we must have police reform. I mean, there's general agreement on that in America.

But that looting is not peaceful protests. Setting fires is not peaceful protests. That that's lawlessness and it must be prosecuted and he's made that clear.

So I think that when you look at it overall, the question still comes down to this is under Donald Trump's watch. We need a new president that's not only going to unite our country and stop these divides and try to put wedges between people like he does every single day. That is exactly what Donald Trump does.

So we can tackle these big challenges and get the testing out and get the equipment that we need and get people back to work and I can tell you in the Midwest what we believe. And that is people work really hard and they need a president and a government that has their back.

[19:55:05]

That is not Donald Trump.

BURNETT: All right. Senator Klobuchar, thank you for your time. I'm glad we got to speak, albeit briefly, despite the technical issues. We'll talk to you again soon, and thanks.

KLOBUCHAR: I'll come back again, thank you.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source