Leader Jeffries on MSNBC's PoliticsNation

Here with me in the studios, Democratic Leader of the House, New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. Mr. Minority Leader, great to have you on Politics Nation again and great to have you in studio. I want to start with this bipartisan resolution honoring Charlie Kirk that divided your caucus this week. You voted in favor along with 100 Democrats, but 58 of your colleagues voted against it, most of them members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who criticized the measure as, quote, an attempt to legitimize Kirk's worldview that includes ideas many Americans find racist, harmful, and fundamentally un-American. As a CBC member yourself, what's your reaction to this critique? Well, I understand fully the CBC critique and participated in a variety of different CBC conversations that we had, particularly toward the end of the week in advance of the resolution. One thing I can say is that every single House Democrat does not endorse the views espoused by Charlie Kirk in any way, shape, or form, and every single House Democrat does not endorse political violence against any person at any time for any reason. And this probably was an attempt by some on the right to try to divide the Congressional Black Caucus or divide House Democrats, and we will continue to be as unified as ever in pushing back against Donald Trump and his extremism. The other thing I'd say from my perspective is that I looked at it as a two-page resolution that doesn't even have the force of law. It certainly wasn't about a Congressional gold medal. It wasn't about a national holiday. It wasn't about a statute. It was a two-page resolution. And we're not going to let Republicans divide us or distract us from the mission of protecting the health care of the American people, pushing back against the effort to shut down the government, and trying to actually create an America that turns back the clock, which is what Republicans are doing, as opposed to what we want to do as Democrats, move the country forward. And I certainly denounce what happened to him. I pray for his family, said this on the show, but I also disagree, as most of the civil rights community does with many of the issues he purported and said, including attacks on some of us personally, me included. You and I. And you, he attacked. But at the same time, some of the resolution seemed to sanitize some of what he stood for. It's one thing to say about the political violence. It's another thing to embrace the mission. That's exactly right. And I think that's why the CBC members came out with such a strong position and why those of us who voted yes also made it clear we do not endorse any of the views that were espoused by Charlie Kirk in any way, shape or form. And I think everyone is committed, making sure as we move forward that we actually address the broader problem of political violence in America, the broader problem of extremism in America, and the broader problem that there are too many assault weapons and weapons of war in America that can be used in an instant to engage in tragic killings or mass shootings, which we've seen over and over and over again. And if Congress was really trying to be responsible under Republican leadership in the House and in the Senate, these are the issues that we'll begin to deal with once we get through this government shutdown showdown over the next few days. Now, staying with that, Congressman, the last two weeks following Kirk's murder has seen our political divisions deepen as many Republicans continue to blame the left exclusively for political violence in the U.S., despite data showing that most of the violence has come from the right wing. Of course, the president has fanned those flames every chance he's gotten. So how do we cool tensions with that kind of rhetoric coming from the White House? Yeah, this is a big problem in America. We've seen Democratic presidents and Republican presidents, including Ronald Reagan, in the aftermath of an assassination attempt against him, try to bring the country together as opposed to blaming one side of the aisle or the other side of the aisle or one ideological part of this country. And that's what we need from the White House right now. Actually, an effort to try to unify the country around our core values, the things that bring us together, take the temperature down. In the immediate aftermath of this most recent political assassination, and similar calls were made in the aftermath of the assassination against Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman in Minnesota, that everyone needs to come together, regardless of whether you are a Democratic leader or Republican leader, as Americans, to try to maintain our integrity related to the real disagreements that we have on policy, but not inflame tensions such that political violence in America is exacerbated. And I think that's a responsibility all of us have, whether we're elected office or not. We've certainly seen that with civil rights community, national action network, which you're a member of. Let me say this, in the midst of the turmoil, it looks like we're also marching toward a partial government shutdown after two bills to keep it open past September 30th failed to pass the Senate this week. That includes the GOP-backed bill that passed the House yesterday, and Democrats' bill addressing their concerns on health care and federal spending. The Senate won't reconvene until September 29th, just ahead of the deadline. In the meantime, you and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have demanded a meeting with Trump to try to work things out. Have you gotten a response? We haven't gotten a response yet, but our position has been clear. We will work together with the other side of the aisle, including the White House, to try to arrive at an agreement on spending that actually meets the needs of the American people, particularly as it relates to health, to the safety of the American people, and to driving down the high cost of living. But we will not support a partisan Republican spending bill and the one that was most recently put before the House and the Senate because it continues to gut the health care of the American people. Like Rev, this is the most extraordinary attack that Republicans have launched on the health care of everyday Americans ever in our history. Largest cut to Medicaid ever. $536 billion cut to Medicare triggered by this one big ugly bill. Hospitals, nursing homes, community based health clinics closing. Millions of Americans are about to face dramatic increases in their health care premiums, copays and deductibles. And they've effectively ended research into cancer and medical research generally across the United States of America. And so in the face of this ongoing attack on the health care of the American people, on the well-being of the American people, there is no circumstance where we can support a continuing resolution related to spending that continues the Republican attack on health care. Now, midterm elections are a little over a year away, and Republicans have nationwide taken up redistricting and to hold the majority in the House. You encourage Democratic state lawmakers to do the same. But while some have signed on, others have either declined a messy political fight or they're hampered by state laws against gerrymandering, which is the case here in New York. So how do you take back the majority in the House if Republicans are redrawing red state maps and Democrats won't or can't there be a response to that? Well, there's definitely going to be a forceful Democratic response, as we've seen in California. And it's going to be very important that we pass that referendum on the first Tuesday in November, Prop 50, yes, on Prop 50 to stop Trump from stealing the election. And we're all in to make sure that happens. And that will eliminate any advantage that Republicans think they may gain in Texas. Now, in Texas, we're still going to fight the political battle. And I don't believe that they're going to win those five seats that they think they're taking away from us. And we're in court. And that trial starts on October 1st. And then we go to other states in Missouri. It was a rush job that probably came from the White House. And as a result of that, they put a thousand... This is Emanuel Cleaver. This is Emanuel Cleaver. He was on the show last week. First of all, why would you go after a man of God? In all likelihood, that's not working out. And everybody loves Emanuel Cleaver. But these people were in such a rush that they took a thousand people who were in Kansas City and they put them in two different districts at the same time. So we don't even think that that map right now is constitutional. And we have an ability in Missouri to go back to the voters to get them to reverse this gerrymandered map. And we intend to do so. And then state after state after state on the Republican side, we're going to continue to battle them in court politically or where we have the ability to go to referendum. We're going to make sure we do that to reverse the damage that they're trying to do. And blue states, Rev, are going to respond. I'll let the governor speak for themselves, but we've heard Governor Pritzker in Illinois be very clear. And we've heard Governor Westmore in Maryland be very clear. So I would stay tuned for action in those two states. This week, the president wanted to fire a U.S. attorney for not charging New York Attorney General Tish James with mortgage fraud after the prosecutor's office says it didn't find sufficient evidence for an indictment. Apparently, that didn't work for the president who claimed that this prosecutor's past endorsements by Democrats justified firing him. The prosecutor reportedly resigned yesterday while Trump insists that he fired him. What are your thoughts on all of this, Congressman? Well, Donald Trump, this is another example of the administration being completely and totally out of control and just breaking norm after norm, violating the law wherever they can, trying to actually weaponize the federal government to go after targets like Tish James. Attorney General James is a highly talented, dignified public official with great integrity. There's no basis to this investigation. It was simply launched as a part of a vengeance campaign that we've seen directed by the president, including at Senator Adam Schiff, at Governor Cook of the Federal Reserve Board and others. Same thing when, by the way, Rev, we've got multiple members of the Trump administration that have egregious violations of the law, apparently, as it relates to mortgage fraud, but nothing in terms of investigation. And in Cook's case, they found out that it wasn't even stated the way they stated, claiming that what she'd put on the application. Oh, they're lying. Right, right. They're lying across the board. They're lying about Tish. They're lying about Adam Schiff. And they're lying about Governor Cook. Before you go, I have to ask you, as a New Yorker, about the city's mayor's race headed into the last few weeks. Democratic frontrunners Iran, Mamdani just got a big endorsement from Governor Kathy Hochul this week. We just had Mamdani and his Democratic, well, his independent rival Andrew Cuomo on the show. Mayor Eric Adams was slated to join us tomorrow, but had to cancel. It seems like most New Yorkers, top politicians have weighed in on this, except you and Senator Chuck Schumer. When can we expect an announcement, an endorsement, or can we expect one? Well, certainly I was looking forward to that interview tomorrow with Mayor Adams, so I'm sorry that... So was I. Sorry it's not going to happen, but I'm sure it'll happen sometime soon. What I will say is, as you pointed out, you know, Governor Hochul endorsed last Sunday. Speaker Carl Hastie endorsed on Wednesday. He got a big endorsement today, you know, from a close friend of mine, you know, leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Clark. I'll have more to say about the mayor's race sometime soon. All right. We appreciate much for you being on Politics Nation. Here in studio, Congressman and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.