CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Richard Blumenthal

Interview

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ACOSTA: All right. And now to the Senate side of this debate, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut joins me now.

Senator, great to hear you with us this evening. We just heard from your fellow Democrat from the House say that we're not longer at $3.5 trillion. Is that your understanding as well?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I continue to hope that we're going to have a major, big, bold investment, not only in the roads and bridges, but also in the people who use them. And that means making sure that people can get to work on those roads and bridges with childcare that they need to re-enter the workforce, both men and women. And of course, fill those jobs with the skills that they may lack right now, which means more education.

Of course, healthcare, climate change. And paying for all of them through taxes that make the corporations and the wealthiest in this country pay their fair share, which they do not do right now because a lot of them pay nothing in taxes.

So that kind of fairness paying for the programs, investing in human beings, there should be no surprises here because the president linked them and he said there were no arbitrary deadlines. And we need to take a little bit more time to make sure that we achieve this once in a generation opportunity.

It really is once in a generation that we have this kind of opportunity.

ACOSTA: And senator, I hate to ask a senator if one senator has too much power. But do you think your colleague Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have too much power?

And I ask that in all seriousness because quite honestly, Senator, you could have dug your heels in and said well, this package doesn't have this aspect in it and this package doesn't have that thing that I wanted in there and you didn't do that so no dice. I'm off to my boat and no dice.

[17:09:51]

ACOSTA: You didn't do that. Aren't some of your fellow Democrats a little peeved?

BLUMENTHAL: You know, we work together remarkably well. And I should just add on a very personal note, Jim, that I've been really impressed by how the president has led here.

He's been on the phone. He's had (INAUDIBLE). He's come to the Hill. He's met with all of my colleagues at one point or another. And maybe not personally but he's certainly made his views known from the very start.

So I think all of us in the Democratic Caucus have worked together. What has really surprised and appalled me to be very honest is how none of my Republican colleagues seem to be interested in investing in the human beings who are going to use those roads and bridges and ports and airports and broadband.

They have joined in the bipartisan investment in physical assets, but not in the human beings through education, healthcare, climate change, universal childcare and a fair tax program. ACOSTA: I want to turn to Facebook, this hugely important issue of

social media. As a parent, I agonize over this. And I'm sure there are so many out there who do. Newly-published internal documents reveal the negative impact of the company platforms have on teenagers, in some cases, linked to suicidal thoughts.

It's so horrible. And you grilled a top Facebook executive about these studies this week and I want to play a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTIGONE DAVIS, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL HEAD OF SAFETY, FACEBOOK: I want to be clear that this research is not a bombshell. It's not causal research. It's in fact just --

BLUMENTHAL: Well, I beg to differ with you, Miss Davis. This research is a bombshell. It is powerful, gripping, riveting evidence that Facebook knows of the harmful effects of its site on children and that it has concealed those facts and findings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Senator, on behalf of all exasperated parents out there, kids are hooked to all of this. What is the solution, do you think?

BLUMENTHAL: Jim, you should be appalled and aghast as a parent and you should be (AUDIO GAP) because Facebook not only knew of these harms, really serious, destructive consequences in online bullying, eating disorders, self-injury, even suicide. And they concealed them and maybe most egregiously, they profited from them purposely and relentlessly made money and exploited your children and all of America's children on Instagram and Facebook.

And what should be done because we no longer can trust Facebook is to hold them accountable through legislation like The Kids Act, which I have authored with my colleague Senator Markey, the Online Privacy Act. Other measures that will protect children. And we're talking her about 13 and 14-year-olds and younger who really have this harm inflicted on them.

And I will tell you on a personal note, I sued big tobacco as attorney general of Connecticut. I led the lawsuit against big tobacco and there's an eerie resemblance here in the documents disclosing the toxic effects and the profits made from them.

In the case of big tobacco, it was nicotine and smoking. Here, it is also as you've said quite correctly, the addictive effect. The perfect storm as one of the researchers said with this kind of online addiction.

And I'll just add one more point here. We're talking here not only about one study. We're talking about multiple studies. Not a single disgruntled Facebook employee, but numerous researchers who should be proud of their work, but the leadership's trying to suppress it.

ACOSTA: And I can't let you go without asking you about former President Trump has asked a federal judge to restore his Twitter account. Perhaps you've seen some of this today.

Of course, he's not on the platform right now because he incited an insurrection. But what goes through your mind when you hear that he would like to get back on and he is taking legal action to get back on?

[17:14:40]

BLUMENTHAL: I think there's no legal basis for it. But what I've heard from Americans and many in Connecticut (ph) that his being absent from Twitter has been such a relief and the kind of contamination that he's done in dragging America down to dark places on Twitter has been a disservice.

He absolutely has incited an insurrection and the investigation I'm going by the Congress I think will add weight and evidence to the case for his being off Twitter but also held accountable for what he did to incite the January 6th insurrection.

ACOSTA: All right, Senator Richard Blumenthal, we asked you a lot of questions. Thanks so much for being with us this afternoon. We appreciate it.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right.

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