Interview with Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So if the question is, which Democratic presidential candidate has been running longer than any other? The answer is John Delaney, former member of Congress from Maryland, he joins us from Des Moines, in Iowa. I should know you have visited all 99 counties in that state already. Congressman, thanks for being with us.</s>JOHN DELANEY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks for having me, John.</s>BERMAN: So, I want to ask this of all the candidates we have on. In our most recent CNN polling, we asked Democratic voters the quality they most want to see in a candidate. Number one on that list, a good chance to beat President Trump. So, why are you in your mind the best presidential candidate to beat Trump?</s>DELANEY: The best way to beat Trump is build a coalition of voters, so we can get candidates like myself, who can get progressives, moderates, independents and disaffected Republicans all on the same page, around a common set of goal and around a common vision, around this notion that we should be more unified, and actually starts solving problems, that coalition can beat President Trump easily in my opinion, and I'm the candidate that build that coalition, that's what my campaign is about.</s>BERMAN: Why? What about your record and personally makes you the right candidate to build that coalition?</s>DELANEY: Well, first of all, I got a different background than my competitors. I grew up in a blue collar family. My parents didn't go to college. I started two businesses. I was the youngest CEO on the New York Stock Exchange. And then I rolled up my sleeves and I served in the Congress of the United States. So, that kind of background as an entrepreneur, as a public servant, as a kid from a blue collar family, that's the background of someone who is about solving problems, about building something, about seeking common ground, about treating people with respect. Not acting like half the country's entirely wrong about everything they believe, someone who sets a record and has a track record of achieving it. Those are the kinds of attributes I believe that the American people are so desperately looking for, in contrast to the current president, who is not honest with them, is not getting things done, and just doesn't have those kind of qualities that the American people are looking. So, if we put forth a candidate that can build the kind of coalition I'm talking about, I think we will not only win all these elections, but we'll be able to govern which is as important.</s>BERMAN: The question for you today is, can a Democratic socialist build that coalition? I'm asking you, because Senator Sanders from Vermont has jumped into the race, his second run for the presidency. Your reaction to that announcement yesterday was: the primary is going to be a choice between socialism and a more just form of capitalism. I believe in capitalism, the free markets, and the private economy. I don't believe socialism is the answer and I believe it's what the American people want. I don't believe top down government only approaches are the right answer. So, you don't believe Senator Sanders is the right candidate?</s>DELANEY: I don't think -- listen, I think capitalism is the greatest innovation and job creation machine ever created. But I also believe there is a clear role for government to prepare our citizens for the future, give them that needs -- the things they need to succeed and help create a more just society. So, my solutions that I put forth -- like, for example, I got the only bipartisan carbon tax bill in the Congress. So, a lot of people are talking about climate change and all these kinds of things they want to do, most of which are completely impractical. And yet I do the hard work, build a bipartisan coalition and actually introduce a bipartisan carbon tax which will cut carbon emissions by 90 percent. I believe my first year in office, I will get a big carbon deal passed with all the Democrats and Republicans who live in coastal states and what it will do is it will lower carbon emissions and will give a dividend back to the American people. That's real solution that makes sense, and it involves the private economy and the government working together to solve a problem. That's the way we solve problems in this country. I don't believe in the kind of central planning approach where you have a top-down government solution to every problem. I think the government should set incentives.</s>BERMAN: If a candidate, Senator Sanders, or another candidate, who supports what you consider to be socialist ideas, gets the nomination, would you support them in the fight against Donald Trump?</s>DELANEY: Yes, all the people running are so much better than President Trump, who I think doesn't have a moral compass and is dishonest with the American people. Of course I believe, I would support them all. But, look, if we want to win, if we want to beat Trump, we should not put up a candidate who embraces socialism. That's not what the American people want. I mean, if you are doing what I have been doing, been to all 99 counties, been to towns Perry, Iowa, where I was yesterday. And if you talk to people, they want solutions, they want us to find common ground.</s>BERMAN: What counts? My question is -- what then counts as socialism here? Does Medicare for all in your mind count as a type of socialism? I ask you in particular because you have vast experience in the healthcare industry and working with companies on healthcare and you support a plan that's not Medicare-for-All, but would provide a guaranteed universal coverage, correct?</s>DELANEY: Yes, that's right, that's right. So, you know, these labels, I don't actually care so much about some of these labels. I think the Medicare-for-All bill in the U.S. Senate as proposed is not good policy, because it basically gets private insurance kind of out of healthcare. And the problem with that is real simple. If you look at government reimbursed healthcare, Medicaid pays 80 percent of cost, Medicare pays 95 percent of costs, and commercial insurance pays 115 percent of costs. So, if you actually have the government paying all the bills and healthcare as proposed in these single-payer proposals, there is no evidence that government will ever pay costs, which means people will stop investing in a healthcare system and will have lower quality and limited access. So, see, I look at those proposals and say, well, they sound good. They're actually not good policy. What I propose a universal healthcare poise everyone has a right but it works in conjunction with the private insurance market, right, so people have options, and, you know, more flexibility in how they choose their healthcare. But they also get bake healthcare as a right, which I believe it is. I believe it's a basic human right. And I think particularly when we are looking at an economy where people are going to be changing jobs too often, we shouldn't have a healthcare where people's healthcare is tied to their jobs.</s>BERMAN: You are saying we should remove the deductions that corporations get for providing healthcare, correct?</s>DELANEY: That's right, and that's how I would pay for this universal expansion. I'd still encourage corporations to actually help their employees get plans and negotiate good deals, but the problem with the corporate deductibility of healthcare, it fundamentally creates an incentive to tie your healthcare to your job. And I think that's a bad plan, because I don't think that's good for wages, because when healthcare costs go up, people don't get raises. I don't think it's good for healthcare, because so many people have no linkage to the cost of healthcare. My dad who was a union electrician had one job for 60 years. I think my daughters, I have four daughters, I think some could have ten jobs in the future. I want to have an economy where people are starting a business, or trying to get a better job. I don't want them to think about their healthcare when they're making that decision.</s>BERMAN: Former Congressman John Delaney, candidate for president, please come back and continue this discussion again soon.</s>DELANEY: Thank you.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe says, quote, it's possible that the president of the United States could be a Russian asset. Let that one sink in. We discuss it, next.