WILMINGTON, Del. — Today, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined CNN New Day to discuss the bipartisan legislation announced Monday that would provide $748 billion in relief to the American people.

On state and local aid, Senator Coons said, “As someone who was a county-level elected leader for a decade and is close to lots of state and local elected officials around the country who I know from my service at the local level, there are nurses and teachers, paramedics, police officers who are facing layoffs in municipalities, counties and states around the country. Roughly 1.3 million have already been laid off.”

On COVID-19 relief negotiations, Senator Coons said, “this group of eight bipartisan senators and two House members worked for weeks and crafted a substantial bipartisan framework for a $908 billion in relief for our country. It's only because Mitch McConnell continues to insist on a broad and extreme version of liability relief to protect businesses, no matter how irresponsibly they behave, that we are having to walk away from that 160 [billion dollars for state and local governments]. I continue to believe that if our goal is to allow businesses to reopen safely and for employees and customers to go back to businesses safely, that we can find a compromise, but we have to move forward on this $748 billion that we all agree on. We should not go home without enacting significant relief for the American people who are so much in need right now as we go into the holidays.”

On the rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine, Senator Coons said, “I think it's important for our most senior elected officials in this country and for senior community leaders – whether they are athletes or entertainers or business leaders – to strengthen the confidence of the American people in these vaccines. If we do not achieve a very high percentage of vaccination, we won't see the other side of this pandemic, and frankly, John, we need to be also committed to delivering vaccines for the rest of the world because only when the world is vaccinated will this pandemic truly come to an end.

Full audio and video are available here. A transcript is provided below.

Q: Joining us now is Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a close friend of the President-elect. Senator Coons, thanks so much for being with us. We haven't heard Joe Biden, the President-elect, use that language before. He's actually laughed off over the last six weeks some of the attacks that President Trump has made on democracy. So why was it important for the President-elect to use this more direct language last night? 

Sen. Coons: It's really a moment here for our President-elect to say, look, this transition period of the last couple of weeks where there's been tireless, relentless campaigning and filing of lawsuits to challenge the will of the people, it's been exhausting. You're right. He's mostly laughed it off. He's mostly moved forward and focused on a job that's ahead of him, but last night after the Electoral College confirmed his election by the American people to be our next president, I think it was important he took a moment to just look clear in the eyes of the American people and say, this is a dangerous development. We should not have more than 100 members of the House of Representatives; we should not have this many state attorneys general signing off on a baseless lawsuit to try to overturn the election. We can't just move on without looking at this for a moment. Even Vladimir Putin of Russia has congratulated Joe Biden as our next president and yet there are still colleagues of mine here who refuse to recognize that. We are making progress. There have been some direct conversations between the President-elect and senior Republicans, and I'm optimistic that we can move forward, but I think this was an important moment, John, for Joe Biden to make it clear that this was a dangerous precedent to set.

Q: You brought up Vladimir Putin. What does it tell you, that Vladimir Putin publicly acknowledged Biden's election victory before Senator Mitch McConnell?

Sen. Coons: That's a really striking development, frankly, John. It is a gravely concerning development that the Republican Party remains so enthralled by Donald Trump and President Trump's endless refusal to accept the will of the people that it frankly puts our democracy at risk, both at home and our reputation abroad. 

Q: Has McConnell talked to Joe Biden yet as far as you know?

Sen. Coons: Not that I know of.

Q: One more question in terms of the Senate. There are House members who are agitating saying that on January 6th when the votes will be counted on the House floor before both houses of Congress that they will offer official objections to the electoral count. They would need to have a senator sign on to those objections to get a vote in each chamber. What do you think will happen with Republican senators? Do you expect that there will be Republican senators who sign on to those objections?

Sen. Coons: Well, there were no Republican senators who signed on to this lawsuit, this attempt that President-elect Biden was referring to, but Senator Ted Cruz offered to argue it in the Supreme Court. So there may be one, there may be two, but frankly this is a desperate last gasp measure. John, our larger challenge here as a nation is a trust deficit. We have a real lack of trust in our political institutions, in science, in this vaccine, the second of which may now be approved that will help get us out of this pandemic. Joe Biden as our next president also sent an important message last night of reaching out, of working across the aisle, and of trying to heal the divisions of this nation.

Q: So you have been working with other senators trying to put together some kind of proposal for economic relief, for economic stimulus. There is a bipartisan agreement among this group of senators now, has split the proposal in half a little bit. $748 billion which would provide enhanced unemployment benefit, small business loans, help with vaccine distribution, but it would not provide direct aid to state and local governments. It separates $160 billion. Ned Lamont, governor of Connecticut said he desperately wants that money. How much does it hurt to have to take that money and separate it from the $748 billion? How much of a compromise is that for you?

Sen. Coons: Well, John, that's very difficult. As someone who was a county-level elected leader for a decade and is close to lots of state and local elected officials around the country who I know from my service at the local level, there are nurses and teachers, paramedics, police officers who are facing layoffs in municipalities, counties and states around the country. Roughly 1.3 million have already been laid off. The larger point that I'm going to choose to celebrate, though, is that this group of eight bipartisan senators and two House members worked for weeks and crafted a substantial bipartisan framework for a $908 billion in relief for our country. It's only because Mitch McConnell continues to insist on a broad and extreme version of liability relief to protect businesses, no matter how irresponsibly they behave, that we are having to walk away from that 160. I continue to believe that if our goal is to allow businesses to reopen safely and for employees and customers to go back to businesses safely, that we can find a compromise, but we have to move forward on this $748 billion that we all agree on. We should not go home without enacting significant relief for the American people who are so much in need right now as we go into the holidays.

Q: Do you have any kind of promise or agreement from Mitch McConnell to even put the $160 billion on the floor for state and local governments?

Sen. Coons: No.

Q: No. Alright. So we will see what happens there. Senator Coons, we heard from Dr. Anthony Fauci moments ago who says he would like to see the President-elect Joe Biden and the Vice President-elect Kamala Harris receive the coronavirus vaccine now. He wants them to get the first dose now so they can get the second dose before Inauguration day on January 20th. What have you said to the President-elect on this subject?

Sen. Coons: Well, look, the President-Elect has followed the advice of public health leaders throughout his campaign. He has been a role model for how to conduct yourself in the middle of a pandemic even during weeks when there was sharp criticism of him for being not as engaged publicly as he otherwise could be. The outcome was clear. The White House tragically suffered from dozens and dozens of infections; the core team of the Biden campaign, none. I think you will see Joe Biden continue to follow the advice of public health experts. He's asked Dr. Fauci to serve as one of the leaders of his COVID transition team. I expect he will follow his advice.

Q: Do you want him to get the shot?

Sen. Coons: I do. I think it's important for our most senior elected officials in this country and for senior community leaders – whether they are athletes or entertainers or business leaders – to strengthen the confidence of the American people in these vaccines. If we do not achieve a very high percentage of vaccination, we won't see the other side of this pandemic, and frankly, John, we need to be also committed to delivering vaccines for the rest of the world because only when the world is vaccinated will this pandemic truly come to an end.

Q: Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, thanks so much for being with us this morning. Happy holidays to you, sir.

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