MSNBC - "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Syria

Interview

For more, let me turn to Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent from Vermont. Senator, good to have you with us tonight. Senator, where do you stand on what you have heard in the sell job that`s going on? And it is, they`re trying to make the case to convince the American people that we should have "a limited strike against Syria." Senator, where do you stand? How do you assess it?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I) VERMONT: You know, I`m keeping an open mind and I want to hear everything the administration has to say. But I would be less than honest with you, If I didn`t say I had very, very deep concerns about this proposal, and by the way, I could tell that you that in my office, the phones are mopping off the hook there and almost unanimously, people are opposed to what the president is talking about. And here are my concerns Ed. There are number of them. Number one, you know, the congress as everybody knows is significantly dysfunctional today. And in the midst of a collapsing middle class, high unemployment, low wages, global warming, and all of the other major problems our county faces, we`re not dealing with them today. And what do you think happens if we get involved in a war in Syria, where all of the attention will be, how are we going to address the major problems facing our people. That`s issue number one.

Issue number two. The president talks about a surgical strike, limited engagement. But listen carefully to what people like Senator McCain are talking about. That`s not what they are talking about. They are talking about regime change. They`re talking about over throwing Assad. And that means, billions and billions of dollars. And if the
effort does not go well, some time in the future, it could, it could mean
American troops on the ground.

Third point. You know, we talk about a world of law. I have real concerns about the United States acting unilaterally without the United Nations, without NATO, without the International Community. I think that`s a terrible president for other countries in years to come to take civil reaction, and what are we going to say, the pressure on China.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: . goes to war.

SCHULTZ: Senator, aren`t you concerned.

SANDERS: Some of the concerns.

SCHULTZ: Yeah, absolutely. Aren`t there -- and of course, who`s going to pay for all of this stuff? Can you trust the Republicans that their not going to come back and say, "Well guys, we spend a bunch of money on Syria, we got to go after the big treat, we got to have offsets." This is not -- this is not a good scenario that`s playing at, your thoughts on that?

SANDERS: Ed, you`re exactly right. Our Republican friends have made it very clear. They`re not going to ask the wealthy or large corporations to pay more in taxes. They already want to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. What may well be happening is the cost of this war may be paid for by more kids being thrown off of head spot, senior citizens being thrown off Meals on Wheels programs, educational programs being cut.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: The Republicans would go in that way to pay for this war. That`s clear to me.

SCHULTZ: Well, there`s consequences on elections, there`s also consequences to war, and by belt tightening at home is not where the American people are right now. We`re looking for investment into what we need to do to keep this country going. Senator, are you concerned that more countries aren`t onboard? We talked about a moral obligation, we hear all of that, we talked about our image in the world. Does that mean anything? I mean, more countries just aren`t jumping on this action.

SANDERS: Ed, what I worry about is what the United States is becoming. We`re not a leader in the world in healthcare, in education, in infrastructure but we are becoming the leader in the world. The policeman of the world and other countries are saying, "Hey, you guys pay for, we are now spending militarily almost as much as the rest of the world combined."Meanwhile other countries guarantee healthcare to all of their people.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: So I do worry very much about the United States going forward alone. I think it`s a very bad precedence.

SCHULTZ: Senator, good to have you with us tonight. I appreciate your time being on the Ed Show. I just want to point out that I don`t think that the 21 senators that voted against the war in Iraq have ever regretted that vote. And I hope that there is a very robust debate on the House and Senate floor about this. The American people have to matter in this.

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