Threat of Government Shutdown as GOP Sen. Rand Paul Holds Up Key Vote
COOPER: There's more breaking news tonight. As you just heard, people on Capitol Hill now say there will be indeed a government shutdown perhaps a short one but it shutdown all the same. The reason, objections from Republican Senator Rand Paul. Senator Bernie Sanders is another key player in the Senate budget drama. I spoke with him earlier this evening just before Senator Rand Paul took the floor.</s>COOPER: Senator Sanders, how are you planning to vote on this budget deal?</s>SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I) VERMONT: Anderson, the irony as I spent a lot of time on this bill, worked very hard and there is a lot of very, very important stuff in this bill for the American people. We have doubled the amount of money for child care. We are making progress in funding the social security administration. We're dealing with the serious problem of student debt. We're dealing with rural infrastructure crisis, but at the end of the day, I'm going to be voting against this legislation for two reasons. The first is that when we are now spending more money on the military than the next 12 nations combined and when study after study shows that there has been enormous amount of waste in the Pentagon. They have not been able to do an audit. The only agent of government not to do an audit, I think it is wrong to increase military spending by $165 billion over two years. And the second issue that concerns me very much, as it does the American people, is that in a several weeks some 800,000 young people who have lived virtually their entire lives in this country, who are going to school, who are working or in the military, they are going to lose their legal status and be subjected to the possibility of deportation. And this would be a moral outrage. So, for those two reasons reluctantly, I'm going to be voting against a bill which provides a whole lot of support for working families in this country.</s>COOPER: Yes. Is it fair to say you would not vote for anything that does not include a permanent solution for DACA recipients?</s>SANDERS: I think, again, if someone who work really hard trying to make this bill something that will positively impact the lives of millions of working families, I think we have a moral crisis in this country right now that has to be dealt with. Eighty percent of the American people in poll after poll say that we cannot turn our backs on these young people and leave them subject to deportation. So this is something I feel very strongly about. And I will do my best in the coming weeks to make sure that in fact we do protect them.</s>COOPER: Would you be willing to, you know, the administration has asked for some $25 billion for the essential for border wall and more board security. Is that something you would agree to in order to get a deal on DACA?</s>SANDERS: You know, between you and me, I think the idea of spending billions of dollars on a wall is totally crazy. But, you know, I think my major goal right now is to protect these DREAMers. There will be negotiations. And what I'm very happy to say, and I want the American to know this, is that in the House right now, it is my strong understanding there a majority of members in a bipartisan way, mostly Democrats but some Republicans who are prepared to support strong DREAMers legislation. I know that there's a strong majority in the Senate. The question is, can we get 60 votes? So right now we are working hard to pass strong DREAMers legislation. There will be negotiations. I am sure that if we can pass something there will be aspects of that legislation that I will not be happy about. But my main concern now is to not turn our backs on these DREAMers.</s>COOPER: How much leverage or what leverage do Democrats actually have when it comes to DACA? Because, I mean there's only been the promise from Majority Leader McConnell that an immigration debate would be taken up in the Senate on the House side. I mean, you talked about some Republicans on the House side but, you know, there's no promise from Speaker Ryan at this point.</s>SANDERS: You're right. There is no promise. And I think what Speaker Ryan has got to do is allow democracy to prevail in the House. And the majority of the people in that body want to pass DREAMers legislation, they should be allowed to have the vote and it is really wrong of Ryan to prevent that vote. Now here in the Senate, we do have a majority. And I think McConnell is going to play a trick and allow different amendments to come up. And we are working very, very hard right now.</s>COOPER: I want to ask you about the House Intelligence Committee Democratic memo, do you believe the White House is going to release it?</s>SANDERS: All I can tell you is what I read in the papers and I'm told that they will. That I think a lot of what Republicans recently have been trying to do is kind of a muddy of the waters divert attention away from the Mueller investigation. You know, I find it ironic of that Mueller was appointed head of the FBI by George W. Bush, reappointed by Obama, has always had in this investigation strong bipartisan for what let the man do his job. That's about all that I can say on that.</s>COOPER: Senator Bernie Sanders, appreciate your time. Thank you.</s>SANDERS: Thank you.</s>COOPER: We're going to take a quick break. Up next, it's back to reality TV for Omarosa Manigault-Newman, the former White House aide, who got her star on "The Apprentice". She's now on Celebrity Big Brother. Yes, she's a celebrity, I guess, dishing White House dirt with TV personality Ross Matthews. Yes, this is happening.