CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Richard Blumenthal

Interview

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Joining us now is Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut.

The president saying earlier just before air that this may just kind of magically disappear from our shores. I don't really know what he is talking about. I guess, he's previously said that maybe in April, it might dissipate, which is -- SARS went down during April. Obviously, this is a novel coronavirus. It's one we haven't seen before. So, we're not even sure how different it is from other coronaviruses. So, it's not clear if like the flu or colds, it might dissipate in warmer weather, let's hope it does.

But we can't say for sure one way or the other.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): There is really deepening bipartisan alarm at this happy talk, the apparent intent of the administration to clamp down on information and control the message more than keeping people safe. They talk about a miracle, dispelling the threat of a major epidemic in this country.

What we need is not happy talk, but action and the kind of resource -- swift, strategic, smart responses and preparedness that depends on science. And now, we have the administration in effect censoring Dr. Fauci who would talk truth to the American people, not to panic them, but simply to inform them and make sure that they do trust our government to do the right thing, provide those masks, the equipment, the vaccine, but also the diagnostic tests that are essential.

COOPER: What is surreal to me about that press conference last night is what the president is saying in that, and then his own officials are saying, well, actually, the virus, a vaccine might take a year, a year and a half. And actually, the president says it's going to go down to zero from the 15 cases, and then his own experts are saying, well, we expect this actually to go up.

BLUMENTHAL: The administration has really hollowed out the national security advisers who know something about bio defense.

COOPER: Do you think that's really what we're seeing here? That this is part of the hollowing out. The administration has been hollowed out from the inside?

BLUMENTHAL: The administration has hollowed out its national security staff and it has dismantled the building blocks of mental health. It has sought to slash the CDC and the NIH.

The amount of funding it's proposed, $2.5 billion, is tremendously inadequate. And there's agreement on both sides of the aisle that we need a bipartisan approach here. And now is the time the end of happy talk, the end of political name-calling.

COOPER: It's also, you know, we have so many jobs that are unfilled in the administration, acting secretaries, you know, to avoid people actually going through confirmation hearings, which could be difficult for some of them given their experience or lack of experience.

To see the acting head of homeland security whose -- you know, had jobs in homeland security under Kirstjen Nielsen, I think was a lobbyist for 11 years before that on homeland security issues and other things, and then prior to that had some prior experience. But the idea that he basically is saying that's kind of a CDC/HHS thing, this is clearly -- I mean, any -- if there is a pandemic in the country, that is a homeland security issue.

BLUMENTHAL: It is a homeland security issue, and it requires a whole

of government all-hands-on-deck approach, just as President Obama did with Ebola, appointing someone responsible directly to him, facing the truth, dealing with facts, talking truth to the American people. And that's the kind of leadership that's required here.

But instead, we have denial. It's denial of science, censoring scientists, and in effect putting people in charge who are totally unqualified or who lack the facts, as you saw in that exchange between my colleague, Senator Kennedy, a Republican and the acting secretary.

COOPER: And, you know, Vice President Pence has been appointed -- again for somebody who hasn't really embraced science, I'm not sure many scientists would be impressed. And, you know, he has a record. There was an outbreak of HIV linked to intravenous drug use when he was governor of Indiana. He was criticized for really not responding to it and responding much later on.

BLUMENTHAL: He's also questioned the science around smoking, whether it causes diseases.

If you were to pick someone in the United States government right now to perform that role, the last person or one of the last would be secretary -- the vice president. And he really should not be in that role. It ought to be someone with the credibility and the expertise so as to restore trust.

And I come back to the first point that I made -- public trust in public health is absolutely critical.

COOPER: Senator Blumenthal, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

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