FULL: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Speaks To CNN's Dana Bash About Trump's 'Big Ugly Bill'

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On Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spoke to CNN's Dana Bash about the Republican budget that narrowly passed the House.

Transcript

00:00Here with me now is the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries.

00:04Thank you so much for being here this morning, sir.

00:06I want to start with that bill.

00:08You have vowed to keep the pressure on and stop it from becoming law.

00:13Obviously, you're in the minority.

00:15Same goes with Democrats in the Senate.

00:17How will you do that?

00:20Trump's one big, ugly bill narrowly escaped the House of Representatives,

00:24and we're going to continue to press our case across the country,

00:27partner with Senate Democrats in making clear to the American people

00:32the type of damage that this bill would do if it ever became law.

00:36This bill actually hurts everyday Americans in order to reward billionaires.

00:43It would strip away health care from approximately 14 million Americans.

00:47Premiums, co-pays, and deductibles for tens of millions more will go up.

00:53Actually, if it ever were to be implemented into law,

00:56hospitals will close, nursing homes will shut down, and people will literally die.

01:02At the same time, this bill represents the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history.

01:10It takes food out of the mouths of children, seniors, and veterans,

01:14and all of this is being done in order to enact massive tax breaks

01:19for their billionaire donors like Elon Musk,

01:21and then they want to stick the American people with the bill,

01:24increase the debt by more than $5 trillion.

01:28So I expect that you'll see strong Democratic opposition in the Senate,

01:34just like there was strong Democratic opposition in the House,

01:36and the bill just narrowly escaped the House of Representatives.

01:40You made these arguments before it passed the House.

01:44Democrats are going to make that argument in the Senate.

01:46But again, you don't have the votes.

01:48So what makes you think that what you're saying will prevail and change the outcome?

01:54The bill is deeply unpopular.

01:56If you go back to where we were in 2017,

01:59where Republicans, after several failed attempts,

02:03finally got their effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act

02:06out of the House of Representatives,

02:08but it limped out of the House and then failed in the Senate.

02:11And I think the one big, ugly bill is setting up for a similar fate,

02:16but we can't let our foot off the gas pedal.

02:19I want to ask you about something that happened in your home state of New York

02:23In the past couple of days, Congressman Jerry Nadler said that DHS agents

02:29entered his congressional office on Wednesday without a warrant

02:33and handcuffed a member of his staff.

02:35This, of course, comes after the Trump Justice Department

02:38charged Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica MacGyver

02:42with obstructing ICE agents after an altercation at a facility in Newark, New Jersey.

02:47Now, I know you previously warned that the administration charging members of Congress

02:51was a, quote, red line.

02:53What are you doing now that the red line you talked about

02:57has apparently been crossed?

03:00Well, let me make clear that the House is a separate

03:03and co-equal branch of government, the Congress.

03:06We don't work for Donald Trump.

03:07We don't work for the administration.

03:09We don't work for Elon Musk.

03:10We work for the American people.

03:11And we have a responsibility to serve as a check and balance

03:15on an out-of-control executive branch.

03:18That's the constitutional blueprint that was given to us

03:22by the framers of the United States democracy

03:26that we have inherited over the last few centuries.

03:29And so we're going to continue to undertake our congressional responsibility,

03:33notwithstanding efforts by the Trump administration,

03:35to try to intimidate Democrats.

03:38It's unfortunate that our Republican colleagues continue to be nothing more

03:41than rubber stamps for Trump's reckless and extreme agenda.

03:46And the American people, I think, will ultimately reject that next year

03:50when we will take back control of the House of Representatives.

03:53In the meantime, in terms of how we will respond

03:56to what Trump and the administration has endeavored to do,

04:00we will make that decision in a time, place, and manner of our choosing.

04:06But the response will be continuous,

04:09and it will meet the moment that is required.

04:12What exactly does that mean?

04:15Have you not decided how to respond?

04:19We've publicly responded in a variety of different ways.

04:22We haven't let our foot off the gas pedal

04:25in terms of additional things that may take place

04:27with respect to our congressional oversight authority and capacity.

04:32We will respond in a time, place, and manner of our choosing

04:37if this continues to happen.

04:41You believe, as Jerry Nadler said,

04:43that the administration is trying to intimidate Democrats?

04:49I think the administration is clearly trying to intimidate Democrats

04:52in the same way that they're trying to intimidate the country.

04:54This whole shock and awe strategy,

04:56this flood the zone with outrageous behavior

04:59that they've tried to unleash on the American people

05:02during the first few months of the Trump administration

05:04is all designed to create the appearance of inevitability.

05:09But Donald Trump has learned an important lesson.

05:11The American people aren't interested in bending the knee

05:13to a wannabe king.

05:15It's the reason why Donald Trump actually

05:17is the most unpopular president

05:20at this point of a presidency in American history.

05:24The American people have rejected this approach,

05:27and we as congressional Democrats

05:29will continue to reject this approach.

05:31Mr. Leader, you brought up polls,

05:33so let me tell you about a new one

05:35that just came out here at CNN this morning.

05:37It shows that only 19% of Americans

05:40say that your party can get things done.

05:4236% say the same about Republicans.

05:45And just 16% say your party has strong leaders.

05:49It's pretty rough, and you are one of those leaders.

05:52How do you turn that around?

05:54Yeah, we don't have the presidency right now,

05:57so that's always going to be challenging

05:58a few months after a presidential election.

06:01But we have to continue to make the case,

06:03one, that Democrats, of course,

06:05are the party that is determined

06:07to make life more affordable

06:09for everyday Americans,

06:11for hardworking American taxpayers,

06:13that we believe that we need to lower

06:15the high cost of living,

06:17which for decades has been going up

06:20while the size of the middle class

06:22has been going down.

06:23So, understandably, there's real frustration

06:26amongst the American people.

06:27They should be frustrated.

06:29But they're frustrated with you as well,

06:31with Democrats as well.

06:33Of course, they're frustrated with the system.

06:36But what is interesting, Dana,

06:38I think you're aware of this,

06:39every single public poll that has come out

06:42since the Trump presidency

06:43has had congressional Democrats

06:45winning the generic ballot

06:47against congressional Republicans.

06:49And, in fact, we know this is not simply speculative.

06:52In every single high-profile special election,

06:55Iowa in January, New York in February,

06:59Pennsylvania in March,

07:00the Wisconsin state Supreme Court race in April,

07:03and most recently in Omaha,

07:06the mayor's race in May,

07:08Democrats have won.

07:09So, the American people are actually

07:11being very clear and decisive

07:14in saying who they trust more to govern.

07:20We're going to have to leave it there.

07:21Hakeem Jeffries,

07:22the leader of the House Democrats,

07:24appreciate you being here this morning.

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Transcript

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