MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript
Interview
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: My pleasure.
HARRIS-PERRY: Some of the worst pictures, some that just really had my jaw dropping were taken just down the road from where you are right now in Burlington, in Waterbury, Vermont.
Now, can you give us an assessment of what`s happening on the ground there, in situations like the one you are currently in?
SANDERS: Actually, I was just in Waterbury a few hours ago.
What we are looking for, Melissa, three people are known to be dead and we fear that a fourth person is lost. Hundreds of roads have been closed. Our major rail line that carries Amtrak has been shut down. Tens
of thousands of people are without electricity.
We are seeing severe damage to many businesses and homes throughout the state, mostly in the southern part of the state. So, what we`re seeing today is the state of Vermont experiencing the worst natural disaster that we have experienced since 1927.
At end of the day, we`re going to be spending to rebuild the damage and go forward from here, it`s hard to estimate -- but certainly tens and tens and tens of millions of dollars if not hundreds of millions of dollars.
HARRIS-PERRY: Now, Senator Sanders, when we hear something like that, you know, none of us want to politicize this, this is a disaster at its core. It doesn`t require a political analysis, per se.
But I do want to ask here about the role of the government in alleviating that kind of suffering. We may not be able to solve it, but the fact is as we`re having conversations about the appropriate role of government, certainly, it makes sense for a first line responder to be local. But is there a role here for the federal government to play?
SANDERS: Of course. Of course, there is. In any democratic, civilized -- even non-democratic nations, if you are a nation, it means to say that in our case, if there`s a hurricane in Louisiana, the people of Vermont are there for them. If there`s a tornado in the Midwest, we are there for them. If there`s flooding in the East Coast, the people in California are there for us.
That is the concept of a nation. You can`t do everything alone. We work together.
And when disaster strikes, as one people, we come together to help our neighbors out.
HARRIS-PERRY: There is something about disaster that creates a sense of shared vulnerability. I mean, I`m here in New Orleans, and we certainly, you know, yesterday were spending a lot of time thinking about
what was happening to our fellow citizens on the East Coast.
So, to the extent we are all one people, once Congress reconvenes, do you anticipate problems getting our body, the federal government, to pass the kind of funding bill necessary to assist with Irene?
SANDERS: Well, I surely hope not. You know, in the past as a nation, we have come together. We`ve got to do it now, and we have got to do it in the future. But as you`ve indicated in your opening statement,
there are some people out there who have a very strange idea of what a nation is about. And they do not believe, I gather, that the federal government should play a role in helping communities rebuild after some
terrible disaster has occurred, after people have lost their lives, after businesses have gone under.
These are the same people who believe, in some cases, the federal government should not play any role in providing health care to our people or protecting the environment.
I think, Melissa, this is very much of a fringe concept. I think the overwhelming majority of the American people know that we have got to stand together, that we`re going to grow together, that we`re going to survive together, and that if we start splintering, we`re not going to succeed in a highly competitive international economy.
So, yes, there are some voices out there who think, I guess, that the federal government should not respond to a disaster, there are voices in Congress. But I think they represent a very small minority of the American people.
HARRIS-PERRY: Senator Sanders, our hearts and our thoughts are with the people of Vermont tonight. Thank you so much for joining us.
SANDERS: Thank you.
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