BREAKING: Hakeem Jeffries Speaks To CNN Amid Discussions On Retaliatory Redistricting In New York

5 months ago

On Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spoke to CNN's Dana Bash after as New York lawmakers discuss redistricting in response to Texas GOP approving a new congressional map.

Transcript

00:00You met with your governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, last month about possibly redrawing New

00:06York's maps. Is this something you can even do in New York? And if so, how many seats could you

00:11gain? And could you do it before the midterms? Well, good morning. It's great to be with you.

00:18I've been in touch, of course, with Governor Kathy Hochul, as well as the legislative

00:21leaders. House Democrats are going to respond from coast to coast and at all points in between,

00:27as has been done in California, forcefully, immediately and appropriately to make sure

00:34that Donald Trump cannot steal the midterm elections. Okay. Can you be more specific?

00:41Just let's just talk about New York, where you obviously have a window into what's going on

00:45there. We know what California is doing. They're going to try to get this on the ballot. What can

00:50you do in New York? Is it even feasible to redraw the maps before the midterms?

00:57Texas acted in a way to try and rig the congressional maps so they could add a couple of

01:06different seats to the Republican column. Understand that Republicans right now have the

01:11narrowest majority, just a three-seat majority, of any party since the Great Depression. And

01:19they have no track record of accomplishment to be able to successfully run on, which is why

01:25they are running scared. California responded forcefully, thanks to the leadership of the

01:30governor, the legislative leaders, the members of the California congressional delegation led

01:35by Zoe Lofgren and Pete Aguilar. And we will continue to respond when necessary across the country.

01:42Right now, this has happened in Texas. California has responded. Let's see what comes next.

01:47So is there not a plan yet in New York? Is that what I'm hearing?

01:54There's a plan to respond as appropriately in New York and in other parts of the country as the

02:02circumstances dictate. Well, speaking of circumstances, Republicans are already looking

02:08beyond Texas. And if you look at the map, they could, adding it all up, get about six to eight seats

02:14if, big if, they're successful in redrawing maps and other GOP-led states. Are you worried that

02:22that could be enough right there to prevent you from retaking the House?

02:29Not at all. Listen, as Democrats, we're focused on making life better for the American people,

02:34driving down the high cost of living. Right now, America is too expensive. Housing costs are too high.

02:39Grocery costs are too high. Electricity bills are through the roof. All of this is happening

02:45on Donald Trump's watch. He promised to lower the high cost of living. In fact, to lower the high

02:50cost of living on day one. Costs aren't going down. They are going up. As Democrats, we're going to

02:56focus as well on fixing our broken health care system and cleaning up corruption. So we have an

03:02affirmative agenda that is compelling that we will continue to present to the American people.

03:07The Republicans have failed. That is why they are running scared.

03:11I want to move on to other issues. But first, I do just have to ask,

03:15you talk a lot about Texas, as do other Democrats. You supported a move in your state of New York

03:22where Democrats, you wanted to throw out congressional maps that were drawn by the state's

03:28independent redistricting commission. You praised New York's state legislature for redrawing

03:33new ones. Is criticizing Texas hypocritical given what you push for in your own state?

03:42Yeah. So let's go into the actual facts. The map was not drawn by the independent redistricting

03:50commission. The map was drawn by a special master who was put into place by a random right-wing

03:58judge in Steuben County. That was problem number one. Now, the court then ordered a redraw

04:08so that the process could actually be completed consistent with the constitution of the state

04:15of New York. And that is what occurred. Third, what's important is that in New York,

04:20the redrawn map that was actually adopted by the legislature was adopted on a bipartisan basis.

04:28Democrats and Republicans in the assembly voted for the map because the redraw was fair.

04:36That's not what's happening in Texas. In Texas, this is a racial, partisan gerrymander

04:43ordered by Donald Trump as part of an effort to rig the midterm elections. And we're not going to let

04:49it happen. And at the end of the day, we were 24 seats down during Donald Trump's first midterm

04:56election in 2018. We won 40 seats in 2018. There's no way that Republicans can mathematically

05:04gerrymander their way to an artificial victory next year.

05:08Speaking of math, I do want to ask about a New York Times investigation showing that Democrats

05:15are losing registered voters in all 30 states that track party registration. We're putting on the

05:22screen the data. It shows altogether Democrats have lost 2.1 million voters. Republicans have

05:27gained 2.4 million. That's a deficit that you have of 4.5 million voters. Why are voters turning away

05:36from your party? What is the problem?

05:41Most of that activity, as I understand it, has occurred in Florida and Texas. And certainly

05:46it is the case that nationally, we're going to have to invest more in these two red states.

05:52At the end of the day, it's also going to be important for us to continue to make clear

05:57to the American people what we stand for as Democrats. We believe in a strong floor and

06:04no ceiling. In this country, you work hard. You play by the rules. There should be no ceiling as

06:10to what success you can accomplish for yourself, for your family, for your children, for your

06:15grandchildren, and your community. At the same period of time, we do, as Democrats, believe in a

06:20strong floor. That's a strong floor that is anchored in Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid,

06:26veterans benefits, nutritional assistance, and the Affordable Care Act, the things that Republicans

06:30are actually trying to detonate. That's the difference between Republicans and Democrats.

06:35And the more we can lean in to what we stand for as a party, the better off we'll be moving forward.

06:42There is new reporting this morning that President Trump has a detailed plan. It's been in the works

06:48for weeks, apparently, to send National Guard troops into Chicago. What is your plan as the Democratic

06:55Leader in the House to fight that? Well, I strongly support the statement that was issued by Governor

07:04Pritzker, making clear that, one, there's no basis, no authority for Donald Trump to potentially try to

07:12drop federal troops into the city of Chicago. There's been no request from the state of Illinois,

07:19no request at all for federal assistance. I support the Chicago Police Department. I support the New York

07:26Police Department. These are men and women who have taken an oath to protect and serve these communities,

07:32and they do a great job of that. And we should continue to support local law enforcement and not

07:40simply allow Donald Trump to play games with the lives of the American people as part of his effort to

07:47manufacture a crisis and create a distraction because he's deeply unpopular. The one big ugly

07:53bill is deeply unpopular. Ripping health care away from millions of Americans is unpopular.

07:59Enacting tax breaks for their billionaire donors is deeply unpopular. And that's why a lot of this is

08:05taking place, Donna. Do you think it's manufactured that Americans, even likely in the city of Chicago,

08:12are worried about crime? Of course, people are going to be worried about public safety all across America.

08:21I represent a community that for decades has had to deal with the crack cocaine epidemic,

08:27the failed war on drugs, gunshots going off at different points in time in communities. So,

08:33of course, all of us will continue to focus on making sure we can drive down crime,

08:40whenever and wherever it is taking place. This is not about the American people. The American people,

08:46understandably, want safer communities. As Democrats, we want safer communities. We want

08:51to continue to make sure that crime can go down as it's doing in Chicago, in New York, in Washington,

08:58D.C., and other places. And to do that, we should support local law enforcement. We should make sure that

09:03the flood of guns into these communities is cut off. We should make sure that we're dealing with the

09:09mental health crisis that exists all across the United States of America, by the way, which Donald

09:15Trump is exacerbating by cutting funds to actually help people who are dealing with emotional distress.

09:21I want to ask you about something that President Trump is doing here in Washington, which is he's

09:29launched a review of the Smithsonian Museums because he says, quote,

09:34everything discussed is how horrible our country is, how bad slavery was.

09:39You're the highest ranking African American in the U.S. government. What do you think?

09:43There is no good aspect of slavery. And so Donald Trump is once again behaving like a racial arsonist.

09:55And it's extraordinary that he would make such a historically ignorant statement. The Smithsonian

10:01should continue to hold the line and make sure that this very painful part of American history

10:08is not erased, but is understood by everyone across this country and throughout the world.

10:15Is there anything that you can do from your perch in Congress to protect the way that you describe

10:24the Smithsonian and how they describe history?

10:28Donald Trump does not have control of the Smithsonian as an institution. Actually, the chair of the

10:34Smithsonian Board, as I understand it, is Chief Justice John Roberts. And so we're going to continue

10:41to support the Smithsonian. And we're going to continue to make sure we fight back against any effort

10:47to erase our history. And as Democrats, continue to make sure that at this moment in time, we are fighting

10:53hard to make life better for the American people in this country. Work hard, play by the rules, live the good

11:00life, good paying job, good housing, good health care, good education for your children, and a good retirement.

11:07You have yet to endorse Zoran Mamdani, who, of course, your party elected about two months ago to be

11:14a Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City. As a New Yorker, what does he need to do to secure your endorsement?

11:22Well, we had a very candid and constructive and community-centered conversation a few weeks ago,

11:33before he went off to Africa. I've, of course, been on the road for the last several weeks,

11:39dealing in part with the Republican effort to try to rig the midterm elections through their

11:43gerrymandering scheme. But Congresswoman Yvette Clark, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus,

11:49and myself, are scheduled to sit down with him in the next few days. I look forward to that conversation.

11:55What do you want to hear from him? What's missing? I mean, it's, you know, it's pretty, just for context,

12:00it's pretty unusual for a high-ranking Democrat like yourself to withhold the endorsement of your

12:08party's nominee for candidate for New York City mayor. So what are you hoping to hear from him that you

12:13haven't yet? I don't think we've withheld an endorsement. We are engaging in a conversation

12:23about the future of New York City, about the issues that need to be addressed, particularly

12:28the housing crisis. And the Assemblyman has actually spoken pretty forcefully and strongly about the need

12:36to deal with affordability in the city of New York. Of course, we've got to figure out moving forward

12:43how we turn proposals into actual plans so that he is successful if he becomes the next mayor,

12:51because we need the city to be successful. And certainly the communities that I represent,

12:57which have been subjected to gentrification and housing displacement, these are all issues to be

13:03work through. And we'll continue to work through them. As I mentioned, we're sitting down next week.

13:08Does it have anything to do with the fact that he hasn't denounced using the term or

13:15supporting the term globalize the intifada? Well, listen, I've raised several of the issues

13:22with him privately, as well as publicly spoken about some of the concerns that I've had. But at this

13:28particular moment, we're going to keep those conversations moving forward. They will continue

13:34to be candid and constructive. And I'm looking forward to sitting down with him in the next few

13:40days, along with chairwoman Yvette Clark, who represents the neighboring congressional district

13:46to mind right here in the heart of central Brooklyn.

13:48One last final quick question, because we are out of time. The government is going to run out of money

13:53on September 30th. In about a month, the president has not yet met with you or the Democratic leader

14:00in the Senate. Any plans that you know of? Well, it's my expectation that at some point,

14:07upon our return to Washington, we will have a conversation with President Trump and perhaps

14:13Republican leadership about making sure we avoid a painful government shutdown. But we have to fund the

14:18government in a way that meets the needs of the health, the safety, the economic well-being and

14:24the national security of the American people. As Democrats in the House, we are not going to accept

14:30a partisan spending bill that continues to harm and hurt everyday Americans and rewards their billionaire

14:38donors. They did that with respect to the one big ugly bill that's now law. Not a single Democrat in

14:44the House and the Senate supported it. And so if they want to move forward in a bipartisan way,

14:49then we actually have to solve problems for hardworking American taxpayers, not create a country of

14:56the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires. Okay. Hakeem Jeffries,

15:00Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. Thanks so much for being here. I appreciate it.

BREAKING: Hakeem Jeffries Speaks To CNN Amid Discussions On Retaliatory Redistricting In New York

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