CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Elizabeth Warren

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

COOPER: Phil Mattingly, Appreciate it. Thanks, Phil. Joining us now, former Democratic presidential candidate and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Senator Warren, thanks for being with us. With less than five days to go, how are you feeling about the Biden-Harris campaign right now and frankly, the chances of Democrats taking the Senate?

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): Well, look, I feel good, but you get out there and you fight for everything. What seems to me to be the issue that everybody has really gotten focused in on is healthcare. And part of it is around this pandemic; 225,000 people who have died eight months into a pandemic and Donald Trump still doesn't have a plan. He doesn't even have a clue in how he is going to deal with this pandemic.

And if you can't deal with it, you can't reopen the economy. You can't get this country back on track.

But it's also the second part and that is healthcare, access to healthcare.

The Republicans have tried repealing the Affordable Care Act. They missed that by a single vote and now Donald Trump will be in the United States Supreme Court one week after the election arguing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, get rid of healthcare coverage for tens of millions of Americans and protection for people with preexisting conditions for tens of millions more.

That contrast couldn't be sharper than with Joe Biden.

Joe Biden has a plan for dealing with the pandemic and he is going to expand healthcare coverage for everyone. Here it is.

[20:15:14]

COOPER: It' also never -- I mean, I've never seen a race for President in which one side does not actually have a healthcare plan, is promising a mysterious one that they are going to release, you know, I guess when the audit stops on Trump's taxes. I mean, they were not -- you know, there is no plan, it seems and this is presidential politics.

I mean, has there been a race where the President of the United States and the person running does not have a plan?

WARREN: Actually, I think that Donald Trump does have a plan. He has made it clear. His plan is to take away healthcare from tens of millions of Americans in the middle of a pandemic. That is a plan.

Just -- it's not a plan you and I might like. It's not a plan that human beings would support. It's not a plan that people who care about their families and their friends would support. But it is a plan, because they are actually out there executing on it. It's not that they are just kind of vaguely wandering around.

They are actively working to repeal the Affordable Care Act, forcing through a Supreme Court nominee, stealing a Supreme Court seat, so they can get that crucial fifth vote, which they now have to take away healthcare from an estimated 23 million Americans and take away protection from people who have preexisting conditions.

That is their plan, less healthcare for Americans in the middle of a pandemic.

COOPER: I know we're -- you know, everybody in this country, whether they support the President or not, are used to his lies, some might not call them lies, but they are lies. Today, him telling a crowd that he likes masks, that they social distance, that they've always, you know, said if you know, if you can't social distance, wear a mask.

He is saying that to a crowd who is standing shoulder to shoulder, not social distanced and not wearing masks. Even for him to me, I was just stunned by that today. The level of -- I don't know if it's cynical, or just shamelessness, or I don't even have a question here. I just am stunned that this is the state that we are in right now.

WARREN: You mean, he stands up there and says in effect, who are you going to believe? Your lying eyes or your President? And he just puts it right out there.

You know, one of the things that gives me the most assurance about having Joe Biden as President, he will listen to the scientists. He will listen to the epidemiologists. He has already talked about the importance of doubling down and doubling down again on testing and on contact tracing, and on masks and on protective equipment.

Joe Biden will be a reality based President, someone who actually pays attention to what's going on and helps make it better for all of us.

COOPER: I want to ask you about the breaking news on a Federal Appeals Court ruling regarding Minnesota saying ballots must be received by Election Day. They are cutting off a week long window where state officials have planned to receive ballots that had lingered in the mail. I'm wondering, are you concerned about what might happen in the courts after the election and about the actual counting of votes.

WARREN: This is what interests me, it is what's happened in Minnesota, but it's happening everywhere. The lawsuits are everywhere.

One major political party, the Republicans is doing their best to prevent American citizens from voting. And they've got 40 different ways to do that. Whether it's when they get -- when the ballots get counted or when they have to be in by or whether or not they could be mailed out to begin with, or standing out there trying to intimidate people who show up to vote.

Think about what that means. We have a major political party in this country that believes that the only way that they've got a shot at hanging on to power is to keep American citizens from voting.

So it makes me say at this moment to everyone in this country, whether you're Democrat, Republican, Independent, libertarian, vegetarian, if you've got a ballot, drop it off at the site, if you can, if you can do that in your state -- a ballot box or at your county clerk's office, you can go to iwillvote.com, punch in your state and it will tell you how to drop off your ballots.

Otherwise, go and vote in person, but vote because this is democracy and our democracy depends on people voting. So that's what we got to do.

[20:20:08]

COOPER: Senator Elizabeth Warren, I appreciate it. Thanks very much.

WARREN: Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source