CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Chris Coons

Interview

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[18:50:14]

BLITZER: The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote a week from today to advance Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court, setting up her confirmation by the end of this month. Democrats attempted to delay the process today, saying they've had inadequate time to review the nominee.

We're joined now by Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware. He's a member of the Judiciary Committee as well as a very strong supporter of Joe Biden.

Senator Coons, thanks so much for joining us.

And as you've been hearing all day, Senate Democrats -- they are facing some serious criticism for what some view was a cautious approach to questioning Judge Barrett. Is there anything more your party could have done to oppose her nomination over the past few days?

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): No, Wolf. We used every procedural tool we had available. And, frankly, I thought we launched a very coordinated, focused, capable challenge both to Judge Barrett's legal philosophy, her writings, to demonstrate her impact. And we worked tirelessly to make it clear to the American people what's at risk, what's at stake, both what's at the -- on the docket of the Supreme Court, what are the cases that are coming up soon, where having her seated might make a dramatic difference in the lives of the average American and what's on the ballot.

Over and over, Democrats focused on real people from our home states, who would be denied coverage if the Affordable Care Act were reversed or repealed.

That's on the docket of the Supreme Court a week after the election, which is just 19 days from today.

And, Wolf, I think we made it clear, every one of us, that we opposed this rush in partisan proceeding, and we had profound and justifiable questions about how Judge Barrett, if she becomes Justice Barrett, might carry out President Trump's promise that his next justice would overturn the Affordable Care Act, reverse Roe versus Wade, and may well be the deciding vote in an election dispute should one arise from this upcoming presidential election.

BLITZER: But do you acknowledge it's probably over, it's a done deal, she's going to get confirmed, the Republicans -- they have the majority. The Democrats are the minority.

COONS: If the Republicans are determined to keep racing forward with this unprecedented confirmation this close to a presidential election, in which more than half the states are voting, there's nothing else we can do except appeal to the American people.

BLITZER: I want you to listen to part of a recording from a campaign telephone town hall given by your colleague, Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska. It's very stark.

Here's what he said, this is a Republican, speaking about the president in a public town hall with Nebraskans. Listen to this.

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SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors. His family has treated the presidency like a business opportunity. He's flirted with white supremacists.

I mean, the places where we differed on COVID, he -- at the beginning of the COVID crisis, he refused to treat it seriously. For months, he treated it like a news cycle by news cycle PR crisis rather than a multi-year public health challenge, which is what it is.

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BLITZER: What's your reaction to that, Senator Coons? COONS: It's striking that Senator Sasse is repeating out loud in

Nebraska what millions of Americans already know, but most Republican senators won't confirm, which is that President Trump has badly mishandled our nation's response to this pandemic. As a result, nearly 8 million Americans are infected, more than 120,000 dead. And we are facing a second Great Depression if we can't deliver another round of COVID relief.

Why Republicans aren't more forceful in publicly calling on President Trump to change course and to take his responsibilities for our public health and safety seriously, is beyond me.

If you watched the proceedings of the last couple of days, Wolf, I made several personal appeals to my Republican colleagues, like Senator Sasse who serves on the Judiciary Committee with me, to step back from the precipice of confirming Judge Barrett, and instead work together in the better interest of this country to prevent this ongoing challenge of the pandemic, the recession, and the ways in which President Trump is an unconventional president, putting our very democracy at risk.

BLITZER: Senator Coons, thanks so much for joining us.

COONS: Thank you, Wolf.

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