CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview with Amy Klobuchar

Interview

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BERMAN: We will count them. We will be there all night long counting ballots. Thank you so much, John, for that.

Perspective now on the race from Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota, who again recently went to California to campaign for Governor Gavin Newsom.

And Senator, thanks for being with us. Why? Why was it so important for you to go to California? Why is important to you as a national Democrat? And why is it important to you in the Senate?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look at what's happening here, John. This is a Governor that basically has gotten one of the highest vaccination rates in the country, Minnesota has done pretty well, too, with our Governor. The fires are still raging across California, he has been willing to take on climate change and one of his leading opponents actually called climate change a crock.

And then you have what happened in Texas. And I think that matters, where you had a Republican Governor, and I don't think California even moderate Republicans, Independents, of course, Democrats don't want to see this.

A bill passed, signed into law by a Trump Republican that basically makes the citizens of that state into bounty hunters to basically get paid $10,000.00 if they turn in a woman for simply exercising her constitutional rights to access abortion services. All of those things matter right now in California.

And I actually was in Orange County, that is where I campaigned to vote no on the recall and campaigned with the Governor, because I was listening to John, and you know, we have a lot of Democratic victories in that county.

BERMAN: So Larry Elder who is the leading Republican right now and the former President Donald Trump have both already -- they haven't done voting yet, right, but they're both already saying that they think if they lose, if the Republicans lose on the recall here, then the election may have been rigged.

How much of a problem is it? That now you have one side -- that you have one side that basically is going to say any election they lose was somehow stolen?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, by the way, that is the argument for the people and having some Federal standards in place for elections because this is just ridiculous. They are making this up, sadly, and we hope it goes better this time. A lot of this was spread across social media and that's why we want to pass our Federal election bill, it's going to be so important.

You can't have after every election, Donald Trump and his cronies just claiming, oh, it's a lie. I actually won.

We are feeling so good about tomorrow, because the people of California, as you noted, are turning out, they have until 8:00 p.m. tomorrow to vote. They can vote in person. They can drop off their ballots in a drop off box. They can mail them in, and I just believe the night before an election is where you talk about the truth.

And the truth is, this recall is bad for California. It's set up by Donald Trump and his cronies and I believe that's why we're going to win and they're going to vote and they're going to vote strong.

BERMAN: How much is the pandemic response on the ballot? There are Republicans who said -- they say the Gavin Newsom, the way he reacted was too onerous, too many regulations, too many rules. Is that something you're looking for?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, look at what happened last year, before Joe Biden came in where this pandemic was running out of control and there wasn't really a good plan to distribute the vaccines. What has happened since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came into office, they put in a competent team.

We know this is hard. There's been variants of this virus. We're in the middle of one right now. But they got that vaccine distributed. They got the facts out. They didn't hide from the facts. And that is exactly what Governor Newsom has done in the State of California, getting the vaccine out for people, encouraging them to take it, give them the facts, get it out to the rural areas in every corner of California, every corner Minnesota, and it has made a difference.

That's why so many people are doing better now, starting to go back to work. We know we still aren't completely done with this, but there is a as we say in Duluth, Minnesota, a lighthouse on the horizon. We're going to get through this together.

BERMAN: I just want to close, you recently disclosed that you were diagnosed and treated for 1A breast cancer. You called it "Cancer: The word that all of us fear." How are you feeling now and what message do you have for others who may be hearing that word, too?

[20:25:11] KLOBUCHAR: Well, I'm feeling good, John. For me, it got caught early.

They did a lumpectomy, I got the radiation. And now, I want people to know that, you know, I waited a year of when I should have had that mammogram because of the pandemic, and a lot of people are waiting.

They think thousands of women have undetected breast cancer right now, and one in three Americans have put off just regular exams. And so, one of the most rewarding things about the last few days for me is so many people have told me that they've scheduled their appointment and they know they're going to be safe and they've got to go in there and do what they should have done maybe a year ago or two years ago.

It saved my life and it can save many others.

BERMAN: Well, look, we're thrilled that you're doing well. So glad that is happening. Glad that it may be doing good for others as well.

Senator Klobuchar, thank you so much for being with us.

KLOBUCHAR: Thanks, John.

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