JUDY WOODRUFF: This week, the Democratic primary election took a momentous turn, as Senator
Bernie Sanders announced he is suspending his presidential campaign.
The senator from Vermont joins me now.
Welcome to the "NewsHour."
Senator, you said on Wednesday, when you made the announcement, you were doing this in part
because of the pandemic, and, as you said, it would be difficult to continue under the
circumstances.
Today, you announced a proposal to guarantee health care during this period. Who is this
aimed at?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Well, it's aimed at the tens of millions of workers who are
losing their jobs, Judy.
And when you lose your job, you lose your health care. So, on top of 87 million people
who were uninsured and underinsured before the crisis, you got tens of millions more
who are not going to have any health insurance.
And it's my view that, in the midst of this terrible, terrible crisis, when people have
so much to worry about, the least we can do is to say to all of those people, you know
what? You go to the doctor when you're sick. Don't worry about the health care bills. Medicare
will fill in all the gaps and cover those people who are uninsured or underinsured today.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And do you have support for this among Democratic colleagues?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Yes, we do.
There's support in the House, and I think you're going to see growing support in the
Senate. And I think that the cost is reasonable. It will be about $150 billion over four months,
which, given everything that we're dealing with, is not a lot of money.
But to say to every American that, don't worry about the costs of health care, you're not
going to have to pay it out of your own pocket, you're not going to have to pay for prescription
drugs, I think that will take a huge burden off the shoulders of so many of our people,
and that is the very least that we should be doing right now.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Senator, let's talk about this election.
What, after 15 months of pour-your-heart-out campaigning, and this after you spent, what,
years campaigning in 2016, you had to make this announcement that you didn't want to
make. This is not where you wanted this to end up.
But, as you look back, what went right and what went wrong?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Well, look, I think that what went right is that, for all intents and
purposes, Judy, I think we have won the ideological battle.
I think ideas that I fought for four or five years ago which everybody considered to be
radical and extreme are now part of the mainstream discussion. And, in fact, many of them are
being implemented across the country, raising the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour, making
public colleges and universities tuition-free, forgiving student debt, guaranteeing health
care to all people as a human right, focusing on climate change as an existential threat,
immigration reform, criminal justice reform.
Many of the ideas that we brought forth which were initially rejected are now moving forward.
And I think that is the best thing that we have accomplished.
Furthermore, we have won the generational struggle. We did very poorly -- and I don't
know why, to tell you the truth -- with older people, but we have done phenomenally well
with younger people. And by that, I mean people 45, 50 or younger.
And the truth is, that is the future of America. So, the ideas that we have fought for are
gaining momentum among younger people and will be the policies that guide America in
the future.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Senator, I think that -- I was just going to say, I think the numbers
show you didn't do as well with young people as you had in 2016.
But what I want to ask you about is, you are supporting -- at least you acknowledge Joe
Biden will be the nominee, and yet you're going to compete against him in the primaries
to come. What is the value of that?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: No, we're not competing against -- we don't -- there's no active campaigning.
There's nothing to compete about. Joe Biden will, everything being equal, be the nominee.
But I think our -- my name will be on the ballot. That's the way it is in all of the
remaining states that hold primaries. We would like to get as many delegates as we can, so
that we have a stronger position at the Democratic Convention to help us shape the new platform
of the Democratic Party and the other issues that the DNC deals with.
JUDY WOODRUFF: You say you want to shape the platform, and yet, I think, it appears, from
the many last conventions, it's what the nominee wants that ultimately matters.
And, right now, Joe Biden has moved in your direction. He's talked about lowering the
age for Medicare eligibility to 60. He's talked about making free college tuition more available.
But, at the same time, he has not endorsed Medicare for all. Senator Sherrod Brown, liberal
Democrat, was on the show two nights ago, said he doesn't think that Joe Biden is going
to do that. Is that sufficient for you?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Well, look, Judy, what I said on the very first day that I began
my campaign, I said that, if I lose, I will be there to support the Democratic winner,
the nominee, the person who wins the nomination, because I think that Donald Trump is the most
dangerous president in the modern history of this country.
And we all have got to rally around the winner to defeat Trump. And that's certainly what
I will do. But I hope, in the coming weeks and months, I will be working and my staff
will be working with Joe Biden and his team in making the point that, if Joe is going
to do well against Trump and is going to defeat Trump, then he is going to have to reach out
effectively to a whole lot of people where he has not had the kind of support that he
needs.
And that's lower-income people. That is younger people. And he's going to have to give those
people the understanding that he hears them and he's moving to respond to their concerns.
And that deals with climate change. It deals with making public colleges and universities
tuition-free.
In my view, it deals with -- you're right. He is not going to support Medicare for all,
but I think there is a significant path forward for him to make sure that, when so many people
are losing their private insurance, that the federal government will be there for them
to cover their health care needs.
JUDY WOODRUFF: You have said that you campaigned enthusiastically for Hillary Clinton four
years ago. Will you do exactly the same for Joe Biden? Will you be more enthusiastic?
Because, as you know, many Democrats look back and say they wished you had done more.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Well, many Democrats opposed me from the Democratic establishment
from day one.
All I can tell you is, in 2016, I worked as hard as I could to see that Trump was defeated
and Clinton was elected.
(CROSSTALK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: And will this year be different?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Well, this year, I will work as hard as I can to make that sure Donald
Trump is not reelected and that Joe Biden becomes president.
But I hope, in the interval here, what we have got to do is to -- is -- and I think
Joe Biden is a -- not only is he a decent guy. He is a good politician. And he understands
that, for him to win, to get the votes that he needs, he's going to have to listen to
and respond to the needs of a whole lot of people who have not been overly enthusiastic
about his campaign up to now.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But you are saying you will be enthusiastically supporting him.
A key decision that he's going to have to make, of course, is for vice president. He
has said he will choose a woman. Let me ask you how your supporters would view it if he
chose Elizabeth Warren?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Well, I think -- I can't speak for all of my supporters.
All I can say is that I think the more progressive the vice presidential candidate that he nominated,
the better it would be in terms of the kind of response that our supporters would provide
him.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, if it were Amy Klobuchar?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: I can't speculate on that.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Or Kamala...
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: You know, Joe is going to have to make that decision himself. I have
not been involved in that discussion. We will see what he does.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Republicans, Senator, this week in Wisconsin, as you know, took steps
to prevent measures that would have made it easier for people to vote, to either delay
the election or to make it -- mail-in ballots possible.
That view is also held by Republicans at the national level. How concerned are you right
now about November and access to ballots, access to voting for Americans across the
board?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Judy, I will tell you I don't know that I have ever, within a political
context, seen anything as ugly as the role that the Republicans in the legislature in
Wisconsin and their Supreme Court played in terms of this primary.
What they essentially said to people is, you're going to have to put your life on the line
in order to cast a ballot.
And that is just unbelievably disgraceful. And that is not what we can allow to happen
in future elections. So, it is a very, very high priority for me, and I think for many
other Democrats, as we go forward on the new piece of legislation -- and I have got a lot
of ideas on that one -- but certainly one of the highest priorities must be to make
sure that every American in this country is able to vote through a paper ballot in November.
And the Republicans, I must say, have been pretty clear. They understand that, if there
is a large voter turnout, they are not going to do so well. And they're fighting us. But
I hope their respect for our Constitution, for our democracy will prevail.
And they will understand that people shouldn't have to die or get sick in order to cast a
ballot.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Very quickly...
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: I should also tell you -- I should also tell you that, in terms of
the new legislation, we're working very hard, not only to make sure all people have health
care, but that people will continue to get their paychecks.
I think that is the easiest, most efficient way to get us out of this economic disaster
that we're in right now. Just making sure that every American continues to receive his
or her paycheck will go a long way to allowing Americans to have a decent standard of living,
so long as we're in this crisis.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Final question.
And quickly, Senator, who leads the progressive movement that Bernie Sanders started next?
Who are the next leaders of your movement?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: You're asking me to speculate. I'm not much into speculation.
But what I will say is, right now, literally, as we speak, I have been on the phone with
progressives all across this country figuring out the best way that we can keep our kind
of unprecedented grassroots movement strong and growing.
So, we are a strong movement. And history will determine what happens in the future.
But, right now, we are working hard to build that movement.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Senator Bernie Sanders, joining us tonight from Vermont, Senator, thank you
very much.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Thank you, Judy.