CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript Interview with Dick Durbin

Interview

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Let's turn to the Democrats' side and perhaps what they plan to do moving forward.

Senator Dick Durbin, from Illinois, is joining us, now.

Thank you very much, Senator, for being with us.

You are a member of the Judiciary Committee. We just heard the president say he is moving forward quickly on a Supreme Court pick.

[17:40:01]

I know you don't want that. Your colleagues wrote a letter to Chairman Lindsey Graham to say as much.

But realistically, what can you do to stop him?

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Well, four years ago, the Scalia vacancy, Senator McConnell made the announcement that we would leave it open, literally, for a year to wait for the presidential election, to see what the American people wanted done.

Now, he's completely reversed himself because it's to his political advantage with the president to move forward.

So there are some members of the Senate, I understand at least two Republicans, who have trouble with that kind of contradiction and hypocrisy.

But --

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: We just heard from Senator Susan Collins. Which one's the others you can confirm for us?

DURBIN: I can just tell you, press reports, Senator Murkowski has expressed the same thing. I think you just heard that from Manu, as well.

But the second thing we cannot overlook is this is not just a political squabble among the big shots in Washington.

What's at stake here is the future of the Supreme Court on issues like health insurance covering pre-existing conditions, one of the first cases the Supreme Court will take on, basic choice questions.

Women's rights moving forward in the wake of losing one of the leaders in our history, in terms of forcing the debate in America on women's rights.

CABRERA: Right.

DURBIN: So it goes way beyond differences between politicians.

CABRERA: Right. I hear you.

But what can you do about it, when you're on the minority --

DURBIN: Well --

CABRERA: -- and when you have a Republican president and a Republican majority in the Senate?

DURBIN: I can tell you, we have a number of Senators, on both sides of the aisle, who are up for re-election. They're going to hear it at home.

This is going to change the conversation in many of these Senatorial contests. And some of them will have thoughts on reversing and changing the very position they were arguing for four years ago. It's a hard thing to explain.

CABRERA: The president said he is most likely going to pick a woman. What is your reaction to that?

DURBIN: I think it's a good idea, as long as it's the right woman for the Supreme Court.

CABRERA: I get why, politically and ideologically, you wouldn't want to fill a vacancy right now with Republicans in power.

But I just want to float this new poll that showed 67 percent of Americans, all support holding hearings and voting for a Supreme Court vacancy during an election year.

Now, could it backfire on Democrats if you don't listen to the majority of Americans?

DURBIN: I think when the American people come to realize it just isn't matter a of -- of the precedent, which I think is thoroughly established. It isn't a matter of who is the more dominant political party.

But it comes down to issues that affect them, personally.

When we do a poll in Illinois and ask people, in the middle of the worth public health situation they have seen in modern history, what's the biggest issue?

You know what it turns out to be? Whether I can get health insurance to cover me if I turn up at some point or some member of my family turns up positive with a COVID-19 test.

People understand preexisting conditions. And the Republican position, to take away the protection of Americans when it comes to health insurance for pre-existing conditions, is a red- red-hot issue in every state.

And I will tell you, when the debates goes to the question of McConnell versus Trump versus Schumer versus whoever, it comes down to the real issues that affect American families, it will be a different debate.

CABRERA: Did you discuss, on your strategy call today with Democrats, what you would do if Democrats took control of the Senate in November? Would you add seats to the Supreme Court?

DURBIN: Well, we basically have kept options open.

But we'd rather see this go through the regular process that Senator McConnell announced four years ago, that all of the Republicans stepped forward and said we believe in this approach, we don't fill vacancies on the Supreme Court in the last year of a president's term.

We'll wait until the American people choose the next president, who will make that decision.

CABRERA: Well, as you know, their argument now is the American people chose Republicans, twice. In '16, as well as in 2018. And that's why they think it's their duty to pick this next Supreme Court nominee.

President Trump has put out a list of potential nominees that he would put forward. Should Joe Biden do the same?

DURBIN: No, I don't think that's -- it's appropriate, at this point.

CABRERA: Why not?

DURBIN: What I'd like to see -- well, he will have his time to do that but he's in the course of a campaign that has some six and a half weeks left to go.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: But couldn't that be beneficial for voters to know, transparently, who he would want to put forward? Couldn't that help Democrats drive people to the polls?

DURBIN: That -- that's up to Joe Biden to make that decision. But to call on him, at this point, to publish a list, this is unprecedented.

I think Donald Trump was the first to do it. And we know most of these names and their backgrounds and why they're being chosen.

But in terms of where we're going, I trust the judgment of Joe Biden, former vice president of the United States, when it comes to selecting a new nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court.

The question is, to the American people, who do you trust to pick a person who's likely to be in a position to decide your health care, to decide a woman's right to choose.

[17:45:07]

Whom do you trust? Do you trust President Trump? Or do you trust Joe Biden?

CABRERA: But why would it hurt him to put forward a list? Why not put a list out?

DURBIN: I don't know if that's in the cards or not. I'd leave that entirely up to Joe Biden.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Would it be a disadvantage for him to put forward a list?

DURBIN: I don't think it works in either direction. I think it boils down to is it's a question of judgment.

We know who President Trump will choose. We know what they'll likely decide, in terms of your family's health insurance and then a woman's right to choose.

And on Joe Biden, we know that he is going to stand up to make sure the Affordable Care Act is there to protect families in the middle of a public health disaster.

CABRERA: Senator Dick Durbin, I really appreciate your time. Thank you.

DURBIN: Thanks for having me.

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