Full transcript of "Face the Nation" on September 20, 2020

She was fierce and unflinching in her pursuit of the civil rights of everyone.MARGARET BRENNAN: Less than two hours after Justice Ginsburg's dying wish was made public, that she not be replaced until a new President is installed. With the Supreme Court now leaning right, another conservative justice would further impact court decisions for years to come.PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So we win an election, and those are the consequences. Fill that seat.MARGARET BRENNAN: For President Trump, an opportunity to score some political points.PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Would you rather have a woman on the Supreme Court? Yes?(Crowd cheering)PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Or would you rather have a man on the Supreme Court?MARGARET BRENNAN: And for Democrats, it's an opportunity to mobilize the left to get out and vote.SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN: What Mitch McConnell does not understand is this fight has just begun.CROWD (in unison): I will fight.SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN: And one more time.CROWD (in unison): I will fight.MARGARET BRENNAN: We'll hear from two key senators, Missouri Republican Roy Blunt and New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker. If the White House wants to move, as it said, this quickly, the train may have already left the station with Amy Coney Barrett on board.MARGARET BRENNAN: We know that the court had already scheduled its new session and a key hearing November 10th for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, in the short-term, what happens now that Ginsburg isn't on that court?JAN CRAWFORD: Well, I mean in some ways it's just going to be business as usual. They have done that many times in the past.MARGARET BRENNAN: We know for many reasons, including the pandemic, this is going to be a really unusual election year. I don't think they're going to do that, if it comes to that.MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, Jan, this is a firestorm, but there has also been a lot of praise for Justice Ginsburg from across the political spectrum. Nancy, when do we expect the Senate to begin holding hearings for a nominee, once we hear who that is, and when should we expect a vote?NANCY CORDES (CBS News Chief Congressional Correspondent/@nancycordes): Well, Margaret, most of the senators and aides I've spoken to this weekend expect that Republicans will try to get the ball rolling right away, and perhaps hold confirmation hearings for the President's nominee before November 3rd, before the presidential election. And so you heard Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, say to his colleagues yesterday that he may retaliate next year if Republicans go ahead with that but that only underscores how little he can do right now.MARGARET BRENNAN: Nancy Cordes, get ready, you're going to be busy. Good morning to you.PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: Good morning, Margaret.MARGARET BRENNAN: I'm told you spent time with Justice Ginsburg last September down in Little Rock when she was in poor health.PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: She was just coming out of hospital, but she had promised to give this speech and she was determined to give it. She said keeping-- her work was keeping her alive and she just kept doing it and she had a good time doing it.MARGARET BRENNAN: Why did you select her?PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: Because I found that she had the best combination of skills and instincts of any of the people I interviewed and, boy, I interviewed some great people. She-- she was who she was, and I was immensely impressed.MARGARET BRENNAN: If a Democrat were in the White House and the Democrats had control of the Senate, wouldn't they insist on a vote on a nomination while in control?PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: I don't know. But that is their tune.MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: But you can't be possibly be surprised that Senator McConnell and President Trump are taking the position. I don't know--MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you--PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: --what the Democrats would do.MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you think this galvanizes Democratic or Republican voters more? And so I don't think there's anything can be done about that.MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: But I think that the voters at least have to know that if you put one more conservative, particularly an ideologically conservative Republican on the court, they're giving up the healthcare bill for, you know, twenty million people's health insurance, losing all the preexisting conditions for tens and tens of millions of people. But, if we're going to have a vote, then it's important that-- that the Democrats and the Republicans make absolutely clear that the voters understand what the consequences of it are.MARGARET BRENNAN: Mister President, thank you for your time and your reflections.We'll be right back with more FACE THE NATION. And, you know, it takes two things to replace a Supreme Court judge: one is the President has to nominate and two is the Senate has to determine that they want to deal with that issue at that time.MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.SENATOR ROY BLUNT: And I don't know that-- even with President Obama I said not only will he nominate a replacement in this vacancy, but he probably has a constitutional obligation, just like President Trump does today, to make a nomination--MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.SEN. It shouldn't--MARGARET BRENNAN: So he has not agreed to do a hearing before Election Day is what I hear you saying?SENATOR ROY BLUNT: I haven't-- I haven't-- well, I haven't heard that. But-- but, clearly, if the President nominates somebody who has already gone through this process once, that makes the process more speedy than it would be otherwise.MARGARET BRENNAN: And is that a better argument than, say, selecting someone from a key state like Florida? I look forward to the name he sends up--MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.SENATOR ROY BLUNT: --and what they may add to the court.MARGARET BRENNAN: All right. We'll be right back.(ANNOUNCEMENTS)MARGARET BRENNAN: We'll be right back with New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker. Stay with us.(ANNOUNCEMENTS)MARGARET BRENNAN: For the Democratic perspective on the court nomination process we want to go now to New Jersey Senator Cory Booker who joins us from his home in Newark. But, again, we've seen moments like this before where health care was on-- in the balance.MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.SENATOR CORY BOOKER: And the American public, speaking out, got people like John McCain and a couple of my other colleagues to change their vote and do the right thing. And I think that this should motivate people significantly to speak up, let their voices be heard--MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.SENATOR CORY BOOKER: --and be involved in this process.MARGARET BRENNAN: Back in 2016 when Merrick Garland was nominated by President Obama, a Democratic President when Democrats were in the minority, you said the Senate has no excuse to ignore blockade or stonewall consideration of this nominee. And we've got to start stepping back and having our larger view of history.MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.SENATOR CORY BOOKER: It's not just the hotly contested issues of civil rights and women's rights and LGBTQ rights, all that's really in the balance here, but also the long-term strength of our democracy and the institutions that are so critical to our success as a nation.MARGARET BRENNAN: So--SENATOR CORY BOOKER: This is one of those moments where I wish we would step back and take a beat and understand what we're doing and the consequences and how they could radiate throughout time.MARGARET BRENNAN: So-- so what I hear you saying is what's different is that voting is already underway. And what Vice President Biden decides to do now to me is-- is secondary to the urgency of this election and all of those who value their health care and understand that these are issues that will be played out by the Supreme Court and the Senate who-- issues from climate change to voting rights, all of this is on the ballot. What's important right now--MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.SENATOR CORY BOOKER: --is the urgency of this election to a lot of the fundamental issues that affect our daily lives.MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah. Good morning.SCOTT GOTTLIEB, MD (Former FDA Commissioner/@ScottGottliebMD): Good morning.MARGARET BRENNAN: President Trump said at his rally last night that the country's rounding the turn on COVID-19 even without a vaccine. And so it's an indication that there's a lot of virus left to go in this country.MARGARET BRENNAN: President Trump said this week that you could have enough of a supply of a vaccine by April. Now, that said, I do think we can have a vaccine available sooner than that under an emergency use authorization for select groups who are at particularly high risk of bad outcomes from-- from the virus.MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.SCOTT GOTTLIEB: But that's going to be very select groups on a very limited basis.MARGARET BRENNAN: You've said time and again that at the FDA, the agency you used to run, you trust the scientists will put science first in their priority when it comes to okaying the safety of a vaccine. I mean, Congress--MARGARET BRENNAN: Mm-Hm.SCOTT GOTTLIEB: --set the process up this way because they wanted an objective, impervious process.MARGARET BRENNAN: I hear what you're saying, but I want to ask you about an article in the New York Times that again adds yet another question about the independence of our health agencies. We're going to have to leave it there and we'll be back in a moment.(ANNOUNCEMENTS)MARGARET BRENNAN: Finally, today, a look back at the life and the legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.(Begin VT)MARGARET BRENNAN: Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a civil rights icon, who devoted her career to fighting for gender equality.WOMAN: It's heartbreaking and to lose such a strong female individual who really has fought for the rights of all people.MARGARET BRENNAN: At nearly every stage, Ginsburg faced discrimination.RUTH BADER GINSBURG: Not a law firm in the entire city of New York bid for my employment as a lawyer when I earned my degree.MARGARET BRENNAN: Despite graduating top of her Columbia law class, as Ginsburg later explained, the fact that she was a mother was seen as a grave impediment. As a litigator, she helped persuade the Supreme Court to rule for the first time that gender-based discrimination violates the Constitution, and she illustrated that it cuts both ways by selecting cases in which the laws disadvantaged men.RUTH BADER GINSBURG: I, Ruth Bader--MARGARET BRENNAN: In 1993, she was confirmed to the court herself and became notorious for her stinging dissents, often in support of feminist causes, like this one in 2007 Lilly Ledbetter versus Goodyear case.RUTH BADER GINSBURG: The court does not comprehend or is indifferent to the insidious way in which women can be victims of pay discrimination.MARGARET BRENNAN: Her opinion led Congress to change the law, easing time restrictions on filing discrimination suits. During her twenty-seven years as a justice, she became a celebrity.STEPHEN COLBERT (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert): They call her-- they call her the Notorious RBG.I'm cramping working out with an eighty-five-year-old woman.MARGARET BRENNAN: But it was her advocacy that cemented her iconic status.RUTH BADER GINSBURG: People asked me, when will you be satisfied with the number of women on the court? When there are nine.MARGARET BRENNAN: Her liberal beliefs made her friendship with conservative Justice Antonin Scalia rare in a partisan Washington.RUTH BADER GINSBURG (The National Press Club): And I was listening to him and disagreeing with a good part of what he said, but thought he said it in an absolutely captivating way.MARVIN KALB (The National Press Club): I think we should leave it at that. She is--MARGARET BRENNAN: Across the political spectrum, her legacy of striving for the ideal of equality is being celebrated.RUTH BADER GINSBURG (60 MINUTES): I see the Constitution as striving for a more perfect union.(End VT)MARGARET BRENNAN: We'll be right back.(ANNOUNCEMENTS)MARGARET BRENNAN: Casting a ballot this year could be very different than what we're used to.