CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Bernie Sanders

Interview

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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Well, I think we're off to a good start. We're going to need a whole lot of discussion to fill in the details. But here is the bottom line. If we do not act extraordinarily aggressively, not only ourselves, but the entire world, what we are talking about is an unprecedented crisis facing the entire planet. We're talking about more drought, more floods, more extreme weather disturbances, more disease.

And today a major, major insurance company, Swiss Re, declared that there would be a 14 percent reduction in global output, economic output by 2050. That's a $23 trillion reduction in global output as a result of climate change.

So, Wolf, this is a moment in which we have got to act aggressively, lead the world, transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency. And when we do that, as the president indicated, we can create millions of good-paying jobs.

BLITZER: The president is, in fact, making the case that action on climate change will create jobs, boost the economy. But how many of your Republican Senate colleagues, do you think, are willing to be persuaded on this? Because I suspect you need 60 votes to get it passed in the Senate, you can't just do it with 51.

SANDERS: Well, that's not quite accurate. There is a process called reconciliation. And if my Republican colleagues refuse to do what the scientific community tells us we must do, what the overwhelming majority of the Americans want to do, then we've got to identity alone. I hope we will have Republican support.

But we are dealing, Wolf, with the future of this planet, with a kind of life that our kids and grandchildren are going to live. We're talking about massive economic decline if we do not act now. But on the other hand, we're talking about creating millions of good jobs if we do act appropriately. So this is an existential threat.

And, by the way, I happen to believe that if we lead the world, we can bring China and Russia and India and countries all over the world who have exactly the same problems, China in particular is already suffering deeply from climate change. This is an opportunity to bring the world together instead of fighting wars. Let's go to war against climate change. Let's create tens of millions of jobs globally. That's the challenge we face. And for the future of this planet, we've got to succeed.

BLITZER: Yes. I was encouraged that both China and Russia participated in this two-day virtual summit.

[18:45:02]

That was encouraging. Let's see where it goes from here.

As you know, Senator, sources are telling us that President Biden may hike taxes on wealthy Americans to pay for the next items on his agenda.

I want to put up on the screen some of the numbers.

Is this just a starting point in the negotiations? Do you expect the end result potentially to be lower capital gains taxes going from 20 percent to 39.6 percent for people making more than a million dollars a year, top marginal income tax rates for households making $400,000 plus a year, going from 37 percent to 39.6 percent? SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Well, Wolf, as you have heard me say for

many, many years now, I do not stay up nights worrying about the 1 percent and the billionaire class.

What we are looking at in America right now is more income and wealth inequality than we have had since the 1920s. You look at two people owning more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of the American people. You're looking at the very, very rich becoming phenomenally richer while working class families are struggling.

So, I do believe it is absolutely appropriate to demand that the wealthy and large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes so we can rebuild our infrastructure, so we can address climate change, education, health care and benefit working families all over this country.

BLITZER: When it comes to the infrastructure proposal that the president has put forward, more than $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs, Republicans are countering right now with their own slimmed-down $600 billion plan. The White House called this a good faith effort, agreed it's a legitimate starting point for conversations.

What's your reaction to that?

SANDERS: The White House is nicer and more generous than I am.

In fact, it is not even $600 billion, because they are reusing money that has already been appropriated. And also in terms of how do you fund it, we have just talked about, I believe, you've got to ask the wealthy and large corporations, many of whom pay zero in federal income taxes, you've got to ask them to start paying their fair share of taxes, not the middle class or working families of this country.

The effective tax rate today for working families is higher than it is for billionaires. That's crazy. So what the Republicans have come up with, to my mind, is given the enormity of the crisis, a totally inadequate package and they want to fund it in an unfair and regressive way.

BLITZER: Are you upbeat? Are you optimistic that what you want is going to get done?

SANDERS: I think this is what the overwhelming majority of the American people want, including many Republicans. And what is very interesting to me, Wolf, is, you know, Republicans talk about bipartisanship. I believe in that.

And yet you do have bipartisanship at the grassroots level. Republicans understand we've got to rebuild infrastructure, we have to deal with climate change, we have to create millions of jobs. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, their representatives in the Congress do not see the world the way ordinary Republicans and Democrats do.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens.

Senator Bernie Sanders, as usual, thanks so much for joining us.

SANDERS: Thank you.

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