Leader Jeffries on MSNBC's Politics Nation

Joining me now, the House Democratic Leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Congressman, thank you for your time this evening. We have a lot of ground to cover, but we're grateful tonight to be your first TV interview since you formally endorsed Zoran Mandani in his race for mayor of New York City. Mandani just sat down with my colleague Amin Mohideen for an interview airing later tonight. Take a listen. You picked up a big endorsement of Hakeem Jeffries, a fellow New Yorker, but also minority leader in the House. It was one that a lot of people were waiting to see. I wanted to get your thoughts on that, that you are picking up that endorsement, what it says about your candidacy, but also the fact that there are still some very prominent New York politicians and senior members of the Democratic Party who have not endorsed you yet. I appreciate having Congressman Jeffries' endorsement. It's an endorsement that reflects the fact that this is an ever-expanding coalition. I also know that the reason I'm sitting here in front of you as the Democratic nominee is not because of any one or many endorsements that we received. It's because of the fact that we built a campaign focused on working-class New Yorkers and their struggle to afford the city. I'm looking forward to working with Congressman Jeffries to deliver on the affordability for those same New Yorkers. Leader, why are you backing a man, Danny, in the mayor's race? Well, he's a Democratic nominee, and as he's indicated, he is relentlessly focused on the affordability of everyday New Yorkers. Of course, we know that affordability is a big concern in the city of New York, but also across this great state and throughout the nation in an environment where Donald Trump promised that he was going to lower costs on day one. Costs haven't gone down. They've gone up. Grocery costs continue to be through the roof. Housing costs out of control. Electricity bills skyrocketing. And now, of course, Rev, we face tens of millions of Americans having to confront their health care premiums, co-pays, and deductibles about to explode with Republicans refusing to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credit. So the focus on affordability is important. The movement toward a realization that focusing on public safety is going to be important. And as I mentioned earlier this week, that the decision to extend an offer to Commissioner Jessica Tish to remain as police commissioner is incredibly important in an environment where people within many of the communities that I represent, certainly the Jewish community, very concerned with the staggering rise of anti-Semitic incidents that have occurred in New York City over the last two years and throughout the nation, but comfortable, of course, with the notion that Commissioner Jessica Tish is someone who cares about public safety for every community and has done a tremendous job, certainly in the black and brown communities that I represent, which for decades have been struggling with gun violence that far too often has not gotten the attention that it needs. That will continue to be an issue of importance, and we found some common ground there. And lastly, in terms of the existential moment that we confront relative to Donald Trump and this extremism that he's unleashing on the people that I serve in Brooklyn, but people all across the country, the assault on the economy, the ripping away of health care from everyday Americans, the unleashing of masked ICE agents on law-abiding immigrant families throughout the country, and just the undermining of the rule of law, the targeting of Tish James, our Attorney General, all of these things I think require an all-hands-on-deck as part of an effort to push back. Now, your endorsement came a day before early voting began here in New York, which began today, and many wanted to know why you had waited late. I didn't have known you for 20 years or more, and you've always been deliberate and strategic. And you've said that you may not agree on everything, but all of us are concerned about the rise in bigotry toward some of the immigrants, the anti-Semitism you raise nationwide and underwrites, and Islamophobia. Some of the Islamophobia I've heard in this race is startling. But why did you think it's important to take your time with this decision, Congressman? Well, he's not someone that I knew prior to him receiving the Democratic nomination, so I wanted to be able to sit down, have some conversations. There are areas of agreement that we've talked about, certainly on affordability and the need, in my view, to make sure that we deal with it decisively. That also includes, by the way, dealing with the supply and demand challenge. The demand for affordable housing in New York City and across the country greatly exceeds the supply, and so the only way for us to decisively address this issue is to build our way out of it. And that's going to require public-private partnerships moving forward, something that I will lean into as it relates to the mayoralty moving forward. But also, this is an important decision, as is every important decision. But the last few weeks, of course, Rev, I've been fully immersed in pushing back against the Trump administration and the Republicans who have shut down the federal government. They're depriving hard-working federal employees of their paychecks, either forcing them to work without pay or furloughing them. And this from an administration that's been targeting federal employees, having fired about 200,000 prior to the start of the government shutdown. And that type of extremism has, of course, continued. So let's get into that. Let's get into that, because that's something I really want to talk to you about. We're in the 25th day of this government shutdown, and more than a million federal workers are going unpaid, many of them missing their first full paychecks yesterday. And the Pentagon says it just took a $130 million donation from a private donor to pay our troops. Where do negotiations to end this shutdown stand right now, Congressman? Well, unfortunately, in day 25, what we've seen is that Donald Trump has shown zero interest, and Republicans have shown zero interest in reopening the government. Our view from the beginning, Leader Schumer, Senate Democrats, House Democrats, we've all made clear that we will sit down with anyone, any time, any place, either at the Capitol or back at the White House to negotiate a bipartisan agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people. But at the same time, we have to decisively address the Republican health care crisis, because it is crushing everyday Americans, working-class Americans, and middle-class Americans. And, Rep, this is in an environment where Republicans have enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripping health insurance away from more than 14 million Americans. Hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based health centers are closing all throughout the country, including in rural America. They are possibly going to bring to the country the largest cut to Medicare, $536 billion, by the end of the year, if Congress doesn't act, in our country's history. And now they refuse to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, resulting in premiums going up on tens of millions of Americans. And open enrollment is going to be upon us in about a week from today, on November 1st. That requires decisive action, and that's been a consistent position that Democrats have taken over the last several weeks. Now, President Trump is in Europe, in route to Asia, where he's expected to meet with China's President Xi Jinping after he slapped new 100% tariffs on China due to a dispute over rare earth minerals. Earlier this week, he said we're suspending trade talks with Canada because he didn't like an ad paid for by the province of Ontario featuring audio from Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs. Meeting with Xi over in the Asia conference, hitting at Canada. I mean, Congressman, do you see an actual strategy behind Trump's trade war? No, there's been no strategy. And we know that the Trump tariffs have increased costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year, which is part of the reality that under this administration and their one big ugly bill, they've hurt everyday Americans as part of an effort to reward their billionaire donors with massive tax breaks. That's what the one big ugly bill has been all about. And everything that this administration has done, including what we've seen just yesterday, where we had inflation numbers that have been the highest throughout this presidency since January, showing once again, that costs are increasing and moving in the wrong direction. And Donald Trump and Republicans, unfortunately, could care less. Well, I thank you for being on tonight. But before I let you go, Congressman, we're glad to hear that you're all right. After we learned that you received death threats from a January 6th rioter who was pardoned by President Trump. That rioter was arrested last week by New York State police and charged with a felony for making a terroristic threat. But you said that not single one of your Republican colleagues have reached out to you, which seems to me hypocritical when so many of them claiming the left is solely responsible for political violence in the U.S. And so many of them and so many of us made statements when the president was a target. Is that still the case? And how do you feel that we were told this man may even be released? Yeah, that's still the case. It's been radio silence from my Republican colleagues. And that speaks for itself. And unfortunately, it's no surprise. I'm just thankful for our state and local law enforcement for their swift action. And most importantly, for what our brave men and women in uniform and law enforcement do each and every day to protect the American people in an environment where we know thousands of folks were pardoned by Donald Trump, who engaged in brutally attacking the Capitol and assaulting police officers on January 6th. And now they've been released back then to communities across the nation, creating threats to the safety of everyday Americans. And that's that's my concern. Well, you remain you and your whole family, who I know well, remain in our prayers. And you've been a member of Nash Action Network. All of us are praying for you as we pray for any target, but certainly I'll pray for you at this time. Thank you for being with us in your first interview since the since your support was announced for the mayor's race here in New York. Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you for being with us.