CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Interview with Chuck Schumer
Interview
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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Well, look, Erin, I haven't yet seen and studied the census data they came out this afternoon. So I'm not going to make any detailed comments till I take a look at them tonight.
BURNETT: OK. So I won't I won't push you here on the 89, I respect that.
[19:30:02]
But what about the overall point that we are seeing a gain and a net gain, right, for states that voted Trump and a loss for some of those traditional blue states. Is that concerning?
SCHUMER: Well, obviously. But, you know, we try to win voters, Democrats, independents, Republicans. We're doing very well at that right now. And we got to continue to do that.
We won in states like Georgia and Arizona, which, you know, last instance, you would have said Republican states.
BURNETT: Right. That's a fair point.
So, you know, in this context, there has been some bipartisan work being done, not much but some, right? And we've been talking a lot about police reform, the latest news out of North Carolina, in Elizabeth City, Tim Scott, the Republican, and Cory Booker, the Democrat, have currently have been working on a police reform bill as you know all too well.
The issue qualified of immunity, though, was still a major sticking point, right? Democrats want to get rid of protection for officers against civil lawsuits and Republicans don't. And some Democrats have drawn a very, very stark line on the sand on this.
Here are two. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CORI BUSH (D-MO): We compromise on so much, you know, we compromise, we die. We compromise, we die.
DEL. STACEY PLASKETT (D-VI): Qualified immunity has in many instances become the hood for bad police officers to in fact add as modern day Ku Klux Klan members against black and brown people in this country. And it has got to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, Stacey Plaskett there linked qualified immunity to modern day Ku Klux Klan members. I mean, are you open to Senator Scott's compromise that would keep protection for individual officers but would allow lawsuits against police departments? Or do you agree with Representatives Plaskett and Bush?
SCHUMER: Look, I'm not -- Erin, I'm not getting into the details. I met with Cory Booker for 45 minutes just an hour ago. I encouraged him to see what we can do. Obviously, it's a very, very serious problem that must be dealt with in a strong way. There's a systematic -- systemic bias in policing and in law enforcement and we have to do everything we can to erase it.
Cory Booker believes he's making good progress and I think we have a decent chance of getting a strong bipartisan bill.
BURNETT: Do you think there is some immunity required, though, if you want to attract great people to be police officers and not have them be afraid of being sued?
SCHUMER: Erin, I am not going to prejudge what Corey and Tim and others are working on. I have told them we want a bill, we want it to be a strong bill, this is a very, very serious issue and we have to -- we need strong medicine.
BURNETT: So, the other issue that you're dealing with here, of course, as President Biden talks about his hundred days in office is, he's expected to roll out the second half of his infrastructure proposal on Wednesday, in his address to Congress. We know that that's expected to cost about $2 trillion which would bring the total for the overall plan to $4 trillion. The second half is expected to cost the same.
So, it appears you and the president both support using reconciliation to get this done so you pass it with 51 votes. You would need every Democrat but no Republicans.
So, my colleague Dana Bash asked Joe Manchin yesterday, he's going to be crucial vote, if he supports using reconciliation to pass any of the infrastructure bill, here is how he answered her question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): No, I -- if people would just think about, if we go through the process that we are supposed to. We never used to use filibuster and reconciliation is only used for budget. And that's why you have the guardrails put on with the Byrd Rule. So, we have to get back to getting it into the committees, let the committee chair and the members of those committees work it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: That was a pretty stark answer, no.
SCHUMER: Look, the bottom line is we need big bold action that's what America needs. We want to do as much of that as we can in a bipartisan way. And we are proceeding to do that. The water bill that will be on the floor this week came out of the committee unanimously, and it's quite similar to what the 10 Republican members of the gang of 20 proposed.
The America Competes Act, which is a major, major piece of legislation to deal with our problems in making sure we compete well in science and new jobs, that's going to happen.
But I want to say one other thing, Erin --
BURNETT: Uh-huh.
SCHUMER: -- this is our first 100 days. When it started out, there was all the skepticism. This is my first hundred, Joe Biden's first hundred. It's a rare moment that those have coincided with majority leader and president.
BURNETT: Yeah.
SCHUMER: They said, Schumer, you're never going to get this done. You've got to do an impeachment trial. You've got to do the president's cabinet. You've got to give the American Rescue Plan done. It's impossible.
We got it done. And now, people are really happy with us, people are after these first 100 days, people are getting injections in their arms. They are getting money in their wallets, small businesses and businesses are opening up again, life is beginning to get back to normal.
We're going to have a very good next 100 days, because the demands of the American people are so, so important, and we will get it done. We will try to do as much as we can, in a bipartisan way, and that's good and that's working in a good way. But if there are needs of the people that can't be done in a bipartisan way --
BURNETT: Yeah.
SCHUMER: -- our caucus will put our heads together. We will figure out how to get it done. Certainly, no decisions have been made yet, but reconciliation is on the table. We will get it done.
BURNETT: It is, though, 20 percent. The infrastructure bills alone, as they have been, you know, put out there. That's 20 percent of the size of the U.S. economy last year.
SCHUMER: We have significant -- we have significant problems in this economy. The ARP, which was $2 trillion and some of the pundits, some of our Republican friends, it's much too big. It's overwhelmingly popular, not only with Republicans.
BURNETT: Yeah.
SCHUMER: Not only with the population, but with 60 percent of Republicans. I believe the bills that President Biden has proposed, already the indications are they're equally popular. And we will get them done.
BURNETT: OK. To this point, I want to ask you about a profile which I know you have seen. But I happened to read -- just the other day, I thought it was in your home, "New York Magazine". The title is: Chuck Schumer has changed, why is the former angry centrist pushing his party to go bigger, bolder and more progressive?
And I want to just --
SCHUMER: My --
BURNETT: And let me just read one quote, then I'll give you a chance to respond to it, Senator.
So, it says: The man who used to call himself a law and order Democrat, then an angry centrist, who dined at Morgan Stanley headquarters the night before Election Day 2008, has, at the same time long insisted he believes in the power of the government. And now, finally a top of the Senate at the time of unified Democratic control, he's ditched his positions that were better suited to Bill Clinton's Democratic Party than today's version.
SCHUMER: I've had a lodestar my entire career. I come from a working- class background. My father was an exterminator.
Helping the middle class and the people struggling to get there, needs changed. Climate is much worse than it was then. Income equality has gotten much worse in the last 10 years. The racial sores in America have not healed and maybe have been made worse.
So, I'm always focused on the needs of average working families, middle class and people struggling to get there. That's what I -- that's what I'm doing right now, and, of course, when climates worsened, there is more urgency. Of course, when middle income -- when income inequality is worse, there's more urgency. That make sense, that's my job.
BURNETT: So let me ask you with the naysayers, say because you hear this. I want to give you a chance to respond to.
They say that you're doing these things, that you're embracing some of these more progressive causes that you hadn't historically been known for, because you're worried, about the challenge on the left that maybe someone like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will challenge you. What do you say to those people?
SCHUMER: What I say is I'm -- I always do what's good for the people of New York, and good for the people of America and it is always worked out. And that's just what I'm continuing to do.
BURNETT: All right. Majority Leader, appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
SCHUMER: Thank you, bye-bye.
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