Speaker Pelosi on The Morning Joe March 17, 2021

All right, current president, former president, both saying get the vaccine. Welcome back to Morning Joe. It's Wednesday, March 17th. Joining us now, Democratic Speaker of the House, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi of California. Thank you so much for being on this morning. I know we're going to be talking about the COVID relief bill. But first, I want to ask you about the investigation into security and everything surrounding the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Where do we stand with a 9-11 type commission or some sort of commission to look into a tick tock of what went wrong that day? Well, first, let me say happy St. Patrick's Day to you. I was excited to see the tea shop on earlier. Later today, we will have our annual lunch virtual. It was started by Tip O'Neill and Ronald President Ronald Reagan in 1973. It was the following year the two of them then invited the tea shop. So it's been a tradition all these years. This year, virtual. We're very excited to see the tea shop and the Brexit talks had complicated the night, the Good Friday, the assurances that we needed to have. I had the privilege of speaking to the dial. The the that's not how they pronounce it. The Parliament of Ireland joining President Reagan and President Clinton in doing that on this subject. So today's an exciting day for us. Richie Neal, the new Republican co-chair Kelly to welcome the tea shop and the Irish American president of the United States to celebrate that in the in the capital virtually as the tea shop said this morning. Next year, he'll be here and we will have it actually in the capital and in the capital is where that horrible thing happened on January 6th. The disagreements that we're having about having a bipartisan commission and it must be bipartisan is on the scope. They are on the other side. They don't want any. Any findings included in and how we go, they don't want they want to treat something like Black Lives Matters, peaceful demonstrations in a similar manner as they would do January 6th. So the main problem is the scope of the investigation. Now, we can pass a bill, but that's not the point. We want it to be bipartisan and it cannot be bipartisan if the scope of it is to not draw any conclusion about what happened that day as the premise for how we would go forward and investigate it. But we must investigate it and we must get the truth for the American people. Are you concerned that there were you at all asked whether or not the National Guard should be deployed previous to that day? Were you involved in any planning with the security preps? Who was? Well, there are two different questions. We were assured by the security for the capital that they were prepared. I was not asked anything about the National Guard until after one o'clock, sometime after one o'clock, when the president's incitement of an insurrection had already taken place. And I was pulled from the podium. And at that point, I said yes. And they asked Senator McConnell and he said yes for that request. There was a delay in terms of responding to that. What we have later learned, that is that the District of Columbia asked for the deployment of its own National Guard. And you probably have seen the response from the secretary of defense, which is just devastating in terms of how it was suppressing any real deterrence on the part of the National Guard. But that's all part of what an investigation would be, because we don't want, obviously, this to happen again. So what we have been proposing are some of the proposals that General Honore and he assembled a group of experts who are national security and law enforcement experts and civil liberties experts to make recommendations to them. And one of them is that we would have a permanent designated National Guard unit always at the ready in case there is a threat of something happening. And it would be much smaller, but ready and without having to have any question as to what we went through that day. All of us on the phone, Mr. Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. McConnell, even at some point the vice president trying to see why the National Guard was not being released to weigh in. And when they were, it made a big difference. Madam Speaker, it's Willie Geist. Good to see you this morning. Hi, Willie. Happy St. Hattie's Day. Thank you to you as well. I want to ask you about what's happening down at the border right now. As you know, there's a surge of migrants, including huge numbers of unaccompanied minors who are now being held in detention facilities until their cases can be sussed out. If you listen to the people who are coming into the country, they've been interviewed along the border. They say quite plainly, we think it's going to be easier to come to America and to stay in America than it was under President Trump because of moratoriums on deportations or a potential pathway to citizenship for people who have come here illegally. What should the Biden administration do right now? I understand they're pointing the finger back at President Trump, but what should they be doing as of today to ease this crisis? Yes, thank you, Willie, for that question, because it's a matter of grave concern. Many of us have spent a good deal of time on the border or in the country of origin of many of these immigrants. The president, I understand, is reported to have spoken out and said, stay home, don't come right now. A. B. He sent FEMA to help facilitate meeting the needs of these people there. This is complicated by covid. There are 13000 beds that could receive many of these incoming immigrants. However, because of covid, you can't use 13000 beds because you have to space it. So they are again preparing for what they do next. Now, one of the things that it's important to watch is some of these people, when they say it's easier, if they have a well-founded fear of persecution, which is to seek asylum here, that is hopefully will be easier because of the Trump administration had no respect for the responsibility we have as a country and other countries have as well to give shelter to those with a well-founded fear of persecution in their country. Many of these people are in grave, grave danger at home, and that's why they risk coming here. Now, I always take pride in quoting our evangelical friends and representative of the American Evangelicals said at one of our hearings, what was it, a hearing because we were not in the majority. It was a mock hearing. But he said this, the United States refugee resettlement program is the crown jewel of American humanitarianism. Crown jewel of American humanitarianism. So we have to make some distinctions about those who have a well-founded fear, and we have to have the capacity at the border to do that or to have that adjudicated in the country of origin, but recognize that we have that responsibility as we pass judgment on other countries for not receiving refugees into their country. So that's one piece of it. As far as the children are concerned, we can just imagine me as a mother of five, grandmother of nine. Every minute that a child is separated from a parent to me is is a crisis. So we want this to to move along expeditiously. But you have to have a real plan. And what they inherited was not a good was was a terrible. Now, the president has been in office not quite two months and they are addressing it and it will improve. But again, we're all impatient for any time that a child is separate from parent. Let's get on with it. However, I do take issue with some of what our friends on the other side of the aisle are saying, that there are terrorists coming into the country, terrorists coming into the country. So what we want to do is to be able to honor our responsibilities as a nation in terms of the crown jewel of our humanitarianism, what we do in terms of asylum seekers, but also to tend to meet the needs of the children who are coming in. And I have three year olds have to be before a judge without access to counsel. And we'll have that resolution on the floor when we come back after Passover and Easter. Do you agree? Congresswoman Jaya Powell's legislation. Pardon the interruption, Speaker Pelosi. But do you agree with some of the migrants who say we are coming because Biden's policies or at least proposed policies will make it easier for us to come to America and stay? In other words, we looked at what President Trump and his administration did at the said it's not worth the long trip up. But now it is because Joe Biden will let us in. Well, it's not a question of agree with what I said was if they have a well-founded fear of persecution, if they are asylum seekers. Yes, it is agreeable. And apart from that, if they're just coming, the message from Joe Biden is stay home for now. And we have to address the causes of this migration. I brought a group before covid to the Northern Triangle, to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, because that's where a lot of these immigrants were coming from. And right before we went on the trip, the administration cut off the funding that Congress had provided to address the needs in those countries. For example, USAID was helping with some places of shelter for young people there and the rest. It was the absolute wrong thing to do, because whether it's corruption or violence or just actually, in fact, what we found, even the climate crisis causing such a drought that people couldn't farm, make a living. And that was one of their motivations to come. Well, that's not a well-founded fear of persecution, but the violence and that springs from the corruption would be. So, again, if we can help them there in our hemisphere, that would be a good thing so that they don't people generally like to stay home. All right, NBC's Capitol Hill correspondent Casey Hunt joins us and she's got the next question, Casey. Hi, Casey. Madam Speaker, good to see you this morning. President Biden told ABC News that Andrew Cuomo, Governor Cuomo, should resign if the investigation shows the allegations against him are substantiated. Do you agree? I repeat what I said, I have said at the beginning. I said these are credible and serious allegations and charges and that the women must be respected as they go forward and called for the investigation, which is taking place, taking place under the leadership of a respected attorney general in New York. And let's let's see that investigation in the interest of the women so that they can have their their allegations heard with respect. And as I said on Sunday, the governor has to look inside of his heart to see if he can govern whatever the outcome of the the investigation is one thing, but governing is another thing. And that's a decision that he has to make for a country, a state that he loves. If the investigation shows these allegations are substantiated, do you agree with President Biden that he should then step down? I'm sorry that we've lost the sound. All right, Madam Speaker, speaker Nancy Pelosi. Sorry, Mika. I think she's lost the audio. Just waiting two seconds to see if we can get it back. You know, what we'll do is we'll take a quick break and see if we can fix it and continue our conversation with the speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi. We'll be right back. And we're back now. I've got the audio with Speaker Nancy Pelosi joining us live from Capitol Hill this morning. And we look forward to talking and hearing more about the covid relief bill. But I just want to let Casey Hunt finish her line of questioning. Casey, jump in. Yes, apologies for those technical difficulties there. I was just wanting to underscore here because we heard President Biden now say that after that investigation that you talked about was complete, if the allegations are shown to be substantiated, Governor Cuomo should step down. You also have other Democratic leaders like Chuck Schumer, of course, of New York saying he should step down if that investigation shows those allegations are substantiated. Should Governor Cuomo resign? We have zero tolerance for the behavior that is alleged against the governor. And again, I think he is a supporter of zero tolerance in terms of of sexual harassment. So it would follow that if you have zero tolerance, then that would, again, be a decision that we hope the government, the governor would make. The it's heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking because, again, today on the floor of the House, although we're celebrating St. Patrick's Day, we are also having Violence Against Women Act on the floor and the Equal Rights Amendment, a separate legislation on the floor of the House. People have to unlearn some bad behavior in order to learn how we should go forward. And again, if these allegations are proven to be true, then zero tolerance would follow that the governor should not continue. Yeah. Speaker Pelosi, I want to ask you about the COVID relief bill, you know, it landmark in many ways. How do you plan to sell it to the American public? Well, I think the president and the vice president are doing a help is on the way toward right now, and our members individually are taking the package home. It has so many spectacular provisions in it. First to do what we our purpose is to crush the virus. This bill is similar to what we passed in May in terms of the Heroes Act. But it is better in that President President Biden, being president, has injected so much more in terms of prevention and respect for the disparities among communities of color and the vaccine, the vaccine, the vaccine, with the funding to make sure that it's available to everyone as as they are eligible to receive it. And I'm excited about the 18 and over from May 1st. So so crush the virus, put money in the pockets of the American people, get our children safely back in school again and get people back to work. That is the package that they are selling. And within that, we have so many things about children who are starving and hungry in America. Twelve billion dollars for it, for funding, for food, to address food insecurity, money for rental insecurity so that people can get through this. So it take every categories. And I think that you see that with the they're talking about small business. What does this do for small businesses? Very positive. Taking one piece at a time so that people understand how they can avail themselves of the benefits. The response our members are getting so far has been overwhelmingly positive, overwhelmingly positive. And from the standpoint of our economy, this injection of money to those who need it the most and they will spend it injects demand into the economy, creates good paying jobs, is a service of a stimulus, although it is a survival rescue package. So we're very, very proud of it. And it is, again, to meet the needs of the American people. And that is what President Biden has talked about, a package that would meet the needs of the American people. We're very proud of it. And our members are excited about exchanging ideas with people at home as to how they can avail themselves of it. Our speaker, Nancy Pelosi, thank you so much for coming on this morning. We really appreciate it. It's bipartisan across the country, bipartisan across. It is. The support is there. We're about to talk about that. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Thank you so much for being on. OK, take care.