CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with James Clyburn

Interview

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NOBLES: All right, let's talk all about these big issues by bringing in the number three Democrat in the House of Representatives, South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn.

Now, Congressman, thank you so much for joining me. We now have two Republicans on the 1/6 committee. What is your reaction to the addition of Congressman Adam Kinzinger? Do you think the speaker made the right move here?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Well, thank you very much for having me. Yes, I do. I think that this committee should be bipartisan. I think it had already accomplished that with only one Republican but you can't call it a token when you put two Republicans there. So I think that these two Republican members have made it very clear that they put this country's interest ahead of their party's membership. And that's as it should be.

This democracy is teetering. And all you've got to do is listen to the former president every day. He lies, he lies, he lies. And everybody know he is lying. And this is not the way you run a government. And this certainly ought not be the way that you try to preserve the greatest democracy the world has ever known. And it will fall to lies and falsehoods. And that's what this former president is doing.

We've got to get to the root of all of this. We know what happened. We know where it happened. We know when it happened. What we don't know is why it happened and who made it happen. And these are the two things that's got to be done.

NOBLES: Now even though the speaker here is making an attempt to get some bipartisan representation on this committee, obviously Republicans are still going to go to great lengths to try and call it a partisan exercise. And Cheney and Kinzinger, of course, not approved by the minority leader Kevin McCarthy. Two of his picks rejected by the speaker.

So he pulled all of his Republicans off of the panel and then even went as far as to, you know, threaten those who would take these appointments from Speaker Pelosi. How do you respond to McCarthy's attacks that this is just a partisan exercise whether or not Cheney and Kinzinger are part of it or not?

CLYBURN: You know, when this country was trying to give birth to itself, the Revolutionary War, if you please it was Thomas Paine, was not even an American. He wrote in his little book "The Crisis" that these are times that try men's souls. Some are soldiers and sunshine patriots, will shrink from the service of their country.

[16:05:02] And that's what's taking place here. These Republicans are sunshine patriots. McCarthy is demonstrating that he is a summer soldier not to be relied upon when the country is at a test. And so that's what I see here.

I think that Kinzinger, as well as Miss Cheney, are patriots who are standing with this country, who see challenges ahead of us, and they are willing to rise up and meet those challenges.

NOBLES: All right. Let's change gears now and talk about a number of the issues that you in the House of Representatives have passed on to the Senate and have basically been dead on arrival primarily because of the filibuster. And I want you to listen to what moderate Democratic Senator Mark Warner said about the filibuster, suggesting perhaps that he would be open to filibuster reform. Take a listen.

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WARNER: We have to do a small carve out on filibuster for voting rights. That is the only area where I've allowed that kind of reform. The idea that somehow to protect the rights of the minority in the Senate were going to cut out rights of minorities and young people all across the country, that's just not right to me.

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NOBLES: So, you know, it's somewhat surprising that someone like Warner would take a step like this. It comes after President Biden really refused to go as far as Warner seems to do in this response. Do you think that President Biden needs to lean on these Democratic members of the Senate to do more to undo the filibuster to allow issues like voting rights to get through?

CLYBURN: Well, first of all, I'm not surprised at Warner at all. I know him very well. And this does not surprise me. Secondly, Warner is a senator. The president of the United States, Joe Biden, cannot take the same positions that Warner takes in these kinds of situations. So I don't know that it's necessary for President Joe Biden to get involved in this fray at this moment.

This is a Senate problem and it's got to be done by senators. And I think that Joe Biden can use the telephone to say whatever he wants to say to any individual senator. I don't think he needs to be involved in a public way in this issue at all. He is trying to get a bipartisan deal done so the American people's infrastructure can be made right. And that's where he should concentrate.

And so I congratulate Senator Warner, but I'm not surprised at all. I know him well enough to know that he understands this issue and he understands that voting cannot be subjected to a filibuster.

NOBLES: All right. Let's talk now about the impact that COVID has had on the United States' economy. The eviction moratorium expires in just six days. And that could potentially affect millions of tenants. You've been leading an investigation into wrongful evictions during the pandemic. How do we avoid the crisis on this issue? Because if this moratorium lifts, it could put a lot of people on the streets.

CLYBURN: Yes, it could, and I would hope these corporations, I've written to them. We're going to have hearings. The only hearing Tuesday is not going to be just the 1/6 Committee. We all have hearings on the coronavirus committee. Dealing with these evictions. I've written letters to four corporations that seem to have issued, I think about 80,000 eviction notices, even when we have put, what, $46 billion to assist people with their payments, so they won't have to be put on the street.

I would hope that these corporations will be good corporate citizens. And it's not being a good citizen to put people out on the street as this country is going through the worst pandemic it's had in over a hundred years. And so I want everybody to be good citizens. And that includes these big corporations that's holding people's shelter at bay.

NOBLES: All right, Congressman Jim Clyburn, we covered a lot of topics. We appreciate you being here. I'll see you back on Capitol Hill next week.

CLYBURN: Thank you.

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