CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Chris Murphy

Interview

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COOPER: With all that's being reported right now about the coronavirus outbreak, including the state of emergency just now declared in California, and the growing number of cases nationwide, now 158 in 14 states, signs are this will get worse before it gets better. As experts have pointed out, including Dr. Gupta before the break, testing in this country has lagged far behind other parts of the world and there have been logistical problems as well as policy problems surrounding the effort. On top of that, there are mixed messages coming from the president and the expert, not to mention some outright misinformation on the president's part.

I want to talk about what he views of the crisis at this point. Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut.

Senator, how confident are you that the administration, this Coronavirus Task Force, that they have their arms around this problem?

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Well, I think the administration was very, very late to understand the significance of this epidemic. Back in early February, the administration came to brief us and in that meeting, several of us essentially begged the administration to come to Congress for emergency funding. Many of us saw that this was going to take some pretty substantial resources in order to get testing ready, in order to get a head start on a vaccine, in order to get money out to local public health directors who were going to be on the front lines.

And, you know, in early February, the administration was telling us that they didn't need any money. That they were going to be able to handle this with existing resources. And then later that month, they asked for a paltry amount of money, relative to the threat, $1.5 billion.

And luckily, this week, Congress in a bipartisan way is going to pass a $7.5 billion emergency funding bill. But, unfortunately, it's a little late in the game to be putting this emergency funding in. And the administration really should have been there at the earliest stages, understanding that they weren't going to be able to do this with the money that they had available.

But I think it's good news that this week, Republicans and Democrats, together, are going to pass this emergency funding bill. And that will get us moving in the right direction.

COOPER: You know, today, we played earlier the president blamed the administration for what he said was a decision on testing, saying it slowed down his administration's ability to test people for the coronavirus.

You know, obviously, the president loves to blame President Obama. Unlike many presidents, he loves to go back and attack prior administrations for just about everything. It's -- I mean, there is no evidence, in fact, everybody we have talked to about this, said that what he said is just not true. And that people even on the task force were surprised by this.

I mean, it's kind of ridiculous in the midst of this he's doing this.

(CROSSTALK)

MURPHY: Yes, I mean, there are a lot of days in which you can laugh away the president's lies. You know, it's the theater of the absurd, often. But this is different. This is a moment of real peril for the country. Yes, it is true that it's still a relatively low-level risk for

Americans, but the risk is growing and the threat is growing.

And the fact that the president can't get his facts straight, blaming the Obama administration with claims that seem to come out of thin air, suggestions that a vaccine is just around the corner, when we all know that a vaccine is not going to arrive for another year and a half, you know, that really makes it difficult for people to do their job.

And, you know, this was the danger of the Trump presidency from the beginning. When there was a real crisis, a national security crisis or a public health crisis, the president's lies and his inability to square with the truth was going to threaten the safety of Americans. And I do think we're at that moment. And I hope that he lets his scientists speak and he takes a backseat.

[20:25:00]

COOPER: It's also incredible just -- I mean, as you said, it's easy, sometimes, to let these lies, the -- the sort of -- the rambling thoughts, you know, to laugh at it or just ignore it or just say, oh, that's what he does. You don't have to necessarily listen to the facts of what he's saying, but as you say, in the midst of -- with an actual health emergency, it does take on a whole another tone.

I just want to play something that -- I keep coming back to this and I can't sort of get over that he said this. And that it didn't get as much pickup as I kind of thought it would. This is him last week talking about the virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's going to disappear. One day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear. And from our shores, you know, it could get worse before it gets better. Could maybe go away. We'll see what happens. Nobody really knows.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: I mean, in the midst of this, with, you know, fatalities already having occurred, for him to be saying sort of, it's just like a miracle, it's just going to go away. And to have, I guess it was Diamond and Silk, so-called, who were, you know, saying amen to that very quickly. It's just -- I find it kind of stunning that this is where we're at.

MURPHY: It would be better if the president didn't make statements about the coronavirus. It would be better if he remained silent and he let medical experts carry the message, because there are good people in this administration --

COOPER: Yes.

MURPHY: -- who are working to try to combat this epidemic. And I just really fear that the misinformation coming from the

president is going to counteract the truth coming from scientists and medical professionals in his administration, because, you know, there is a cult of personality around the president. There are a lot of people who believe everything that he says.

And in this case, that could cost lives. So, let the experts talk. That's my hope for what happens moving forward.

COOPER: Senator Murphy, appreciate it. Thank you.

Coming up next, the political comeback of Vice President Joe Biden and the political maneuvering in the wake of it. Bernie Sanders' chances, Michael Bloomberg's departure, some late reporting on what could happen next.

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