NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Interview

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CHUCK TODD:

Well, that was former Congressman Beto O'Rourke with that quick pull-aside interview with me yesterday in Waterloo, Iowa. But if you're into politics, there was no better place to be than Iowa yesterday or New Hampshire when a presidential race begins. And yesterday there was no better place than Waterloo, which is where I also managed to spend some time with Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. We sat down at the Screaming Eagle American Bar and Grill, and I asked her when she first started thinking about running for president. And Klobuchar said it was in college. But distinctly, she noted, not at birth. You made a reference to "born." Do you feel born to do this?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

Oh, that's the Beto line.

CHUCK TODD:

It was the Beto line. But you brought it up. I'm just curious.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

No, I will say that, you know, I have a lot of respect for Beto. And it's great to have some Texas in this race. But no, I wasn't born to run for office, just because growing up in the '70s, in the middle of the country, I don't think many people thought a girl could be president. I wasn't born to run. But I am running.

CHUCK TODD:

You said, during your announcement, we shouldn't wallow over what's wrong. Is there anything Donald Trump's done, as president, and you think, "You know what? That wasn't bad"?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

Well, I am glad that he's pushing on Venezuela right now. I think that's really important. You've got a dictator in place there that's got to go. I think there are a number of things that he's said he wants to do, like bring down prescription drug prices, that I agree with. My problem is, he doesn't have the will to actually get it done, whether it's the people around him that are whispering, "Oh, don't take on the pharma companies," or whether it's just the inability to work with Congress to pass legislation. Drug -- insulin, simple drug prices tripling, quadrupling, doesn't make any sense. And we can bring those drug prices down.

CHUCK TODD:

You brought up Venezuela. What would be your line on military, on military intervention? I mean, he's using motorcycle gangs. It's clear people are getting killed there. At what point do you think it's the United States' problem too?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

Right now, it's our problem, in that we need to push for humanitarian aid. We need to make sure that, I'm glad we have recognized Huerta [sic] the -- who should be, the president here, Huerda [sic]. And I'm also glad that we're trying to push Maduro out. But the answer here is to make sure that we are working with our allies, pushing for democracy and some kind of a negotiated agreement. Military should always be on the table, but I don't see that we use it now.

CHUCK TODD:

General Stanley McChrystal has a question that he always asks in the job interviews. And I've picked it up. And I've used it now with, on these candidate interviews. And it's this. What would someone who does not like you say about you?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

I think you've heard some of it. Some people might say that I can be too tough, and I push things too hard. And, and you know, that's a fair criticism. But I do it for a reason. And I do it because I want to have high expectations for myself and the people around me and for our country. And I think those expectations have fallen in the last few years. And we need to get them to the place where America is, again, the beacon of democracy and a country that can be respected around the world and in our own nation, that has the backs of people.

CHUCK TODD:

How important do you think it is for the Democratic party to make sure they nominate somebody that isn't a white male?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

I don't think there should be one litmus test. But I do think that our ticket should reflect the country. And I always like to say, "May the best woman win." We saw in 2018 --

CHUCK TODD:

You say the country or the party? You know, the majority of the Democratic party is female, not male. So is that, is that the case?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

No, but for the country. A woman can well represent men. And one of the things that bothers me is where I hear things that people don't think that. In my own state, I have won with women, and I've won with men. I've won every congressional district, including Michele Bachmann's. And I've done it by not just running as a woman. I'm proud to be a woman candidate, but by looking at what unites us, by going not just where it's comfortable, but where it's uncomfortable. And I think, when you look at 2018, we have a roadmap. A number of incredible women won,including two new congresswomen right here in Iowa, including the new Governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly.

CHUCK TODD:

Presidents always have a lot of things that they promise, when they run. And we're talking about various issues. But the reality is this. The first issue you pick, the first big issue you pick, is the best chance that you have to get passed. And everything else decreases. What will you make -- what is number one, in your mind, that you've got to, that you know -- that is going to be the hardest thing to do, so you're going to do it early? Healthcare was Obama's. What is yours?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

Bringing down healthcare costs with some much-needed changes to the Affordable Care Act. And that would be, first of all, pharmaceutical prices. I have been on this for over a decade. And neither during Democratic or Republican administrations, have we had any significant votes in this Congress. Pharma may think they own Washington. They don't own me. And this means everything from unleashing the power of 43 million seniors to negotiate lower prices under Medicare, bringing in less expensive drugs from Canada, stopping the pay-for-delay practice, a bill that I have with Senator Grassley. So I would push those. I would also, on day one, put us right back into the International Climate Change Agreement.

CHUCK TODD:

So let me go to healthcare. What that sounds like is -- and I've heard you say this before. You'd love Medicare-for-All. But, but you've got to do what you think you can do. It sounds like you're the candidate of Obamacare. And you believe, make Obamacare work first before figuring out what's next.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

I believe in bringing out universal healthcare to all Americans. And we're not there yet. And the fastest way --

CHUCK TODD:

But you want to use the, but you want to use the structure of Obamacare?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

Yes, I do. And the fastest way you get there is with a public option. You can do that with Medicaid. You can do it with Medicare. I would get that done in the first year as president. There's no reason we can't do that, as well as immediately using reinsurance and cost sharing, things that would really help here in Iowa, where they've had some major issues with their premiums.

CHUCK TODD:

What do you tell the folks that say, "No, no, no, no, no, no. You know, stop that. Obamacare isn't the answer. Go to Medicare-for-All"? What do you tell those folks?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

I tell them that we have had some major successes with the Affordable Care Act. We have made sure kids get on their parents' insurance until they're 26. We have stopped people from being thrown off their insurance for pre-existing conditions.

CHUCK TODD:

And finally, there apparently is going to be another conversation in the Democratic party about reparations for descendants of slaves. Where do you come down on that?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

I believe we have to invest in those communities that have been so hurt by racism. It doesn't have to be a direct pay for each person. But what we can do is, invest in those communities, acknowledge what's happened. And that means better education. That means looking at, for our whole economy: community college, one-year degrees, minimum wage, childcare, making sure that we have that shared dream of opportunity for all Americans. And I'll tell you this. You know, we may look different. We may pray different. But we all have that shared dream of America. And that is not being sent to many communities right now in this country. And it is hurting not just them. It is hurting our whole country.

CHUCK TODD:

Is a reparations debate a good debate, or is it one that could get, that could get taken out of context?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR:

I think these debates are actually good to have. I think it's good to have a debate on the environment now, so we can make the case, you know what? Economically, when your home insurance goes up by 50%, we've got a problem. It's an economic problem, with climate change. When the floods are coming down to Iowa again, including projections, right here, with the Cedar River in Waterloo or the Mississippi coming down from Minnesota, where I just met with our weather experts, when this kind of stuff is happening, and you've got hurricanes battering Florida, and you've got wildfires in Colorado and California, these are debates we have to have. We have to have a debate on race, yes. But what I am tired of doing is admiring the problem. Let's get the solutions in place. And that's what's cool about the fact that we have leadership in the House that's finally pushing through ethics bills, trying to get the dark money out of politics. We're in a different place after 2018. But right now, it's just going to be proposals passing one house, being squashed down by Donald Trump. This is our moment to get it done in 2020.

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