MSNBC "All In With Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Catherine Cortez Masto

Interview

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SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO (D-NV): You know, I think in general, Chris, people are really tired of all the dark money, right? They want transparency, they want accountability. They want to be able to go in and vote at the end of the day, in a safe and secure manner. And they want to make sure that is protected.

And what we see in the ads, particularly with ads that I see in Nevada that are already out against me, they`re just blatant lies. And what I -- the intent, I can only imagine is because Republicans and Mitch McConnell want to continue to be able to have all this dark money in these elections that you can continue to buy the elections to that benefit them.

HAYES: Yes, the dark money provisions here are a big part of what (INAUDIBLE) would do. It would it would sort of increase disclosure and kind of clarify some of the more ambiguous regulations that grew out of the Citizens United and then subsequent rulings have created super PACs. I mean, that`s just a bright red line for Republicans. Like, they absolutely don`t want that. In fact, they want the opposite.

Their position is anyone should be able to spend any amount of money in any fashion at any time to be the Democratic Senator, for instance.

MASTO: Well, that`s right. And you got a question. Why the transparent or why the secrecy, right? Why are they hiding it? Why are they afraid of accountability? Why are they afraid of transparency? And I will tell you, the For the People Act, which I support, which is right now moving through committee, as you talked about at hearings on it, it`s very simple. What does it do? To address all the dark money that`s out there so special interests and can`t buy elections or billionaires can`t buy elections, it addresses that. It prevents that from happening.

It addresses gerrymandering so Democrats and Republicans can engage gerrymandering. Why? Because voters should choose their elected officials and not the other way around. And then it also secures one of our fundamental freedoms, which is that freedom to vote in a safe and secure manner, without it being restricted or suppressed. That`s what the For the People Act Does, and generally it is good for voters in this country. And it`s something I questioned why Republicans opposed to it.

HAYES: My understanding -- so there -- I don`t know what the whip count is here. You`ve got a filibuster to deal with. You would be forgiven, I think, if you came -- let`s say you`re you were beamed in as a reporter from another country and you`re reporting on the U.S. You say, you know, the opposition party right now is passing all these laws in the states to change voting law -- rules in ways they think will benefit them.

The majority party that has control the federal government is trying to do to sort of ensure access, but they may not be able to do it because they have a supermajority and maybe not all their numbers are on board. Like, how do you explain that?

MASTO: Well, at the end of the day, here`s what is important, and this is why we need to talk about this and let the general public understand truly what`s at stake here. I mean, look what`s going on in Georgia. They pass voter suppression laws so extreme that you can`t even bring somebody a bottle of water who is standing in line to vote. I mean, it`s outrageous.

And the other thing which is so fascinating to me because they`re attacking me in my state, but let`s take a look at Nevada`s law as voter laws. We have automatic voter registration. We have same day registration. We have early voting, so we can make it very easy for voters to get out and vote. And during the middle of a pandemic, we made sure that we had mail-in voting so that a voter can vote in a safe and secure way, in a manner that is good for them to keep them safe.

Now, through that last election, we had -- did not have a pattern of rampant fraud happening, even though -- even though they challenged in court five times to claim there was and they lost every single time the Republicans tried to challenge it, but it didn`t happen. And so, for me, in my state and talking about voters` rights and what we have in Nevada, that`s an example of what we should have in this country. And really, that`s an example of what is in the For the People Act.

HAYES: Yes, the question again, becomes whether you can get Manchin on board and what you can do about the filibuster, and there`s some reporting suggesting there`s some revisions down the line as that bill works its way through. The Democrats are planning some revisions to that. So, this is -- this is all very fluid situation. We can get you back as this proceeds.

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, thank you for joining us.

MASTO: Chris, thank you.

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