Transcript of Pelosi Interview on MSNBC's Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace

Contact: Speaker's Press Office,

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Nicolle Wallace. With just nine weeks to go before Election Day, top Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are amping up the pressure on the Director of National Intelligence today to resume in-person briefings to Congress on foreign election interference. In a letter to DNI John Ratcliffe, the Democratic leaders write, ‘If you are unwilling to resume election-related briefings to Congress, we will have no choice but to consider the full range of tools available to compel compliance.' For more on what tools they may have in mind, we are joined now by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Madam Speaker, I spoke to a former, very senior intelligence official who described this move by Ratcliffe as truly unprecedented. Have there been any back channel conversations with other heads of other – with CIA or other intelligence agencies, you have a lot of relationships in the intelligence community – that give you any hope that in-person briefings might resume?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, let's get back to basics, Nicolle. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about this very serious subject, because it's about our national security and it's about our democracy.

The National Security Act of 1947 stated very clearly that the Intelligence Committee – community should fully and currently keep the Congress of the United States briefed. That, what they are doing now, of course, is in violation of that law. They're trying though to, just hooking it up with some of the other things that they're doing, to confuse the public when it comes to the elections and we cannot let them do that. The American people, I do believe, think that they should determine who the next President of the United States is, not Vladimir Putin.

So again, anyone who has been involved in the Intelligence Committee – and I, for over 25 years, it's my place where I was forged in the Congress, in the intelligence community, and back then it was not partisan – they understand that this is wrong.

And again – but what is it? What are we doing? We're talking about it instead of talking about the fact that the President has been a total failure when it comes to stopping the virus. That the President wants to confuse people when it comes to voting and so that they might not cast a vote. And this is another way to interfere with the elections in our country so that people might not have the proper information and so just decide not to vote. But we can't let them do that because, again, it's not just about voting, as important as that is. It's about our national security of our country and when a foreign power tries to interfere and the intelligence community is an accomplice to withholding that information from the American people.

By the way, this information belongs to the American people. It belongs to the Congress. The Administration is – they are the custodian of the information. But as I've always fought for more and more Members to have better and more current and fuller access to the information, of course, protecting sources and methods.

Nicolle Wallace. I take your point and it's one I heard in the last hour from Rick Stengel about all these political fight where Donald Trump has loyal foot soldiers distracting from the colossal failure from the center of his presidency. I think we're at more than 180 – close to 185,000 Americans have lost their lives. That's 185,000 families blown up, inner circles, moms, dads, sometimes kids, gone forever. People who were alive six months ago.

Are you concerned just the conversation around what should be a shared loss, a shared tragedy, is still so polarized by Donald Trump? Either his convention where he pretended it wasn't happening. By, I think you described it as tragically stuck, the latest COVID relief legislation. I mean, how are we failing the victims of a global pandemic?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, the President of the United States is central to that failure because he rejects science and he rejects governance. He doesn't want testing because that will produce more people with infections. He thinks this is ‘the test, causes the infection.' No, it helps us measure. And it helps us measure the communities, communities of colors who are disproportionately affected by all of this.

So, from the start, he was in denial, delay, distortion. Called it a hoax. Called it a hoax. And, again, he just would not accept the science, the science, the science. The science that says you must test, trace, treat, you must wear your mask, you must have sanitation, you must have social distancing.

What bigger sign of disdain and defiance of science could the President have had but to have all those people gathered on the White House lawn sitting next to each other, no social distancing, rarely anyone with a mask, than to say, as a very bad example to the country, ‘It's okay to do this.' What he's basically saying to America's families: ‘I know better than you what's good for your family. Please put me ahead of the well-being of your child or your parent or your sibling, because it's better politics for me to ignore that this is really happening.'

So, it's really a tragedy. But we all still hope that we can come together around science, around governance to make sure that certain things happen as a result of the science, because science has the answers. We do know we can crush this virus if we isolate and do all of the things that science is recommending.

We hope and pray for a vaccine or therapy soon, but no sooner than it is ready, not one day sooner than it's ready and not one day later than it is ready. But not to say we're going to inject politics into the Food and Drug Administration and the time table as to how they approve a vaccine or therapy in terms of its safety and its efficacy. Is it safe? Is it effective? If not, we'd destroy the trust that people would have in a vaccine when one comes along that is legitimate. Let's hope that is very soon. I think we have great minds at work 24/7 trying to get this done, the sooner, the better. But again, no sooner than safe and efficacious.

Nicolle Wallace. I want to ask about one of the things that I think here on planet Earth in reality where most people are still living with the impacts of Donald Trump's denial of science, as you said, or his failure to prevent the spread of COVID, people would like the option of voting by mail. I know there were hearings with the Postmaster, and I wonder if you feel like you got the information you needed? I know at the time you said it seemed like basically a bait and switch. But where do things stand right now with the mail-in vote?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, where things stand right now are that the American people have made their voices known and heard that the Post Office is very popular with the American people. Most people didn't know that 1.2 billion prescriptions went through the mail in 2019. That was before coronavirus, as you know and that over 80 percent to 90 percent of medicines that our veterans receive through the VA go through the mail and that Social Security, some checks, much information and the rest go through the mail.

So many people in our community, especially our senior citizens have spoken out very clearly that they don't want people messing with the Postal Service, A. B – and that's ongoing, very important. In addition to that, they are trying to dismantle the Postal Service to dismantle the vote-by-mail. But don't fall for that.

They're saying that just in the same way as they are doing with the intelligence. They just want people to have doubts about whether their vote is well-founded and well-counted as cast. So, I say to people: don't pay attention to what they're saying. We know that we have to address the challenges that – the obstacles that they're putting up for voting. We will when it comes to vote-by-mail by education and orientation. We will when it comes to voting safely, in person, with distancing and proper hours and locations and the rest to make it safe. We don't think the American people should have to risk their lives, their health in order to cast their vote.

But again, there's a purpose to the President saying what he's saying about vote-by-mail, because he doesn't want you to. Ignore him. Just pay attention to what the rules are. And we'll make sure that they are very, very clear.

But in terms of the Postal Service, what the Administration is doing is a grave disservice to something that connects America. Postal system or not, pandemic or not, which are two big things that make it even more important for us to strengthen the Postal Service, but a good time for us to subject it to the judgment that is there.

This is important. It's all-American. Benjamin Franklin the first Postmaster General, something that connected our country. It was colonies; the postal system made us a country.

Nicolle Wallace. Speaker Nancy Pelosi in front of one of my favorite sites on the planet, my hometown of San Francisco. There's magical fog clouds going behind you. It's just gorgeous. Thank you for spending some time with us.

Speaker Pelosi. We're so proud of you, so proud of you. Even though you have, in time to time, ventured down the other side, nonetheless, very proud of you.

Nicolle Wallace. Well, you and I are due to have is that conversation because when you talk about the intelligence community being bipartisan, I think the Bush years were the most partisan and painful years this country has had. But the intelligence community – the intelligence committees still functioned. So, you and I are due to have those conversations about just how low we've fallen when this is the status quo.

Speaker Pelosi. Nothing to compare to this, the vandalism of our democracy, of our voting system, of our postal system, of our White House. The vandalism is vast and it's not about partisanship at all. It's about the patriotism that we all shared in previous administrations regardless of party.

Nicolle Wallace. Madam Speaker, always a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much for spending some time with us.

Speaker Pelosi. My pleasure. Thank you.