Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 2020 Politico Discussion On 2020 Election Democratic Priorities 20240712

Anna good tuesday morning. My name is anna palmer, i am coauthor of the politico playbook. I am joined by my coauthor, jake sherman. And welcome to a special addiction of the playbook interview, election countdown. Joining us this morning is House Democratic whip jim clyburn of South Carolina, and former attorney general eric holder, who now is chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. You can follow this conversation on social media, and using the hashtag politico election countdown, and share your questions by tweeting at politico live. Jake what an election it has been so far, and what a next month it will be. The contort of this contest between the President Donald Trump and joe biden continues to be upended almost every day. As we sit here less than 30 days before the election, President Trump and a growing number of his inner circle, practically his entire inner circle has been diagnosed with covid19. Biden, who has largely been off the campaign trail, is now on the stump. He was in miami yesterday, and he is going to gettysburg, pennsylvania today. There are increasing concerns about absentee voting and access to the polls. We are going to talk about all of these things and a few quick news of the day questions at the top, so lets get started. Anna congressman clyburn, we have got a lot to talk about with regards to the election and voting, but we have to start with news of the day questions. The coronavirus continues to rage, and it has now infiltrated the u. S. Capitol, three senators have been diagnosed with covid19. There has been a hesitancy from Democratic Leadership to implement mandatory testing. Where do you stand on this . Do you think that capital should have mandatory testing for members and some staff . Rep. Clyburn first of all, thank you so much for having me, and congratulations to the two of you. I understand from this mornings news that you all are maybe looking towards greener pastures. But congratulations on a good run here. But let me say this. Nancy pelosi is a great speaker. I meet with her often. We spent some time on the telephone yesterday, as she consults with the attending physician very often. I do, too. Both our offices are directly above the attending physicians office, so we come in contact with him every day. I was on the phone with him, on yesterday. She is following his guidelines. There are other scientists that tell us what to do and when to do it. Even when i get ready to have hearings, i consult with them. And i carry out those hearings the way they ask me to do. So, i am going to listen to them and be guided by what they tell us to do. Jake i mean, theres been some grumbling and we want to get to the voting issue very quickly here, but there has been some grumbling about the attending physician, whether hes making the right decision here. Youre following the guidelines. I work in the capitol every day, i feel its frankly a stupid decision that the attending physician is making. Am i wrong . Rep. Clyburn well, i dont know whether youre wrong or right, but i know this. Im very comfortable with doing what the attending physician tells me to do. I do the same thing with all of my doctors. I tell people all the time, when youre paying these big bills that the doctors charge, listen to them. So whatever they tell me to do, that is what im going to do, irrespective of how i may feel about it. Im going to the dentist in the morning, i dont want to hear what hes going to tell me, but im going to do exactly what he tells me. [laughter] anna all right. Fair enough. Attorney general holder, one of the things that we wanted to talk to you briefly about, theres been a lot of criticism about the current attorney general bill and his bill barr and his politicization of the department of justice on behalf of President Trump. Can you give us your take . Atty. Gen. Holder i think attorney general bill barr has gone beyond politicizing the department. I think he has weaponized the Justice Department by using the department to do things in a favorable way for people who are allies of the president. That is unprecedented. The way in which he has talked about everything from voting to social issues, he has clearly put the Justice Department on the side of this president. He is an integral part of the president s reelection effort. People dont understand how inconsistent this is with the way in which attorneys general and the Justice Departments acted in the past. That means republican as well as democratic Justice Departments, republican as well as democratic attorneys general. Jake lets get to the real reason we are here this morning. Everywhere we go, and you guys are deeply involved in this, we hear about not only concerns this year with voting, but concerns systematically and endemically in our society with voting. I mean, i guess i will start here. There are so many places we could start, but lets start with the big picture there. The president is trying to sow kind of confusion and fear about mailin balloting, about all sorts of different forms of voting. What are democrats doing, and you guys doing to assure nationally, attorney general holder, and in South Carolina, senator clyburn, about the the security of the ballot box . Atty. Gen. Holder well, what were trying to do nationally is, at the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, were working with a variety of groups to ensure Election Security in a bunch of ways. First of all, to make sure people have the ability to cast votes using the mail, if thats what they want to do, go to the polls, if thats what they want to do. So we are working with our partners in a variety of states. I am also working with the Biden Campaign to make sure that we are doing all that we can. Coordinating efforts with groups to make sure that people have a good experience when they try to vote. But you know, what were up against is almost unprecedented. We dont have a Justice Department as allies in this effort in a way that you might expect, and the Trump Administration has made a determination, and the Republican Party i think more generally has made the determination, that they are going to do all they can to make it as difficult as is possible for people to cast a ballot whether it is in person or by the use of the mail. Seems to me that theyre afraid of the very people they say they want to lead. Rep. Clyburn well, let me say about the state effort. Just after labor day, i went very public with a program, which i hope will become a national program. We started this several years ago, something i called adopt a precinct. Here is what we decided to do here in South Carolina. We decided that although november 3 is election day, that we were going to make october election month. We started yesterday, what we call absentee voting early, here in South Carolina. And this year, rather than the 17 reasons you had to give in order to vote early, the legislature decided, because of covid19, everybody can vote absentee starting october 5, irrespective of your reasons. So, we are organized what we call precinct by precinct, asking churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, asking fraternities, sororities, community groups, messiac orders, to stop now start adopting precincts. Many of them started 30 days ago and were going precinct by precinct, trying to get people to vote absentee in person because we know that the mail cannot be trusted, especially in Rural Communities where theyre now running very short because of what this administration has done. They are trying to suppress the vote and i think theyve been very successful in the past. We are going to make sure that we do what is necessary to circumvent that suppression this time. And i feel good about what happened here in South Carolina yesterday, and its going to be like this every day throughout the month of october. We plan to vote 60 to 65 of these, of our eligible voters, in person, before november 3. Anna i want to ask, the democrats have focused so much on this absentee voting. One of the perennial issues of voting in person is people having to wait in line or able to get to the polls because they close because they have to work. How big of a problem is this in the pandemic, and can you speak to how big a problem this might be, attorney general, for black voters in urban areas . Atty. Gen. Holder yeah. This is clearly a problem. I mean, after the Shelby County decision in 2013 that essentially gutted the Voting Rights act, republicans around the country have closed around 1700 different polling places making it more difficult to cast a ballot in person. We are trying to stress to people, we talk about flattening the curve when it comes to the virus. What i have been telling people is to flatten the curve when it comes to voting procedures. Vote early if at all possible. Use all the days that we have as congressman clyburn just described to cast a ballot early. If you vote by mail, do it early. If you are going to vote in person, do it early. We have brought lawsuits, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, north carolina, texas, and minnesota, and places that decided to do away with requirements that people have to go through in order to cast a ballot by mail, and also to ensure that the experience in casting an early ballot is one that will be free of the kind of suppressive techniques that the Republican Party has become so expert at. Jake i wonder, mr. Holder, if you could just and this is asking you to draw on your expertise a little bit here one of the things we get asked all the time is how do these election challenges unfold . What does it look like if the Trump Campaign says, no, i know its a statebystate issue . I wonder if you can help people understand a little bit more what a november 4 world looks like, and what is on your mind about november 4, basically the question i want to ask. I know that you and mr. Clyburn know so much more than we do about what lies after election day. Atty. Gen. Holder there are a couple of things. Certainly you want to anticipate that which the republicans are doing around the country. Get into court if theres a mechanism there to try to undo that which they are doing that will be unfair. You know, and then also, try to make sure that you are tactically doing things, as congressman clyburn said. You know, getting people to vote early. That 65 number. The reality is, this is going to be difficult. We have to face that. The republicans have made this difficult. It doesnt have to be this way forever, and if we are successful at the state and local levels, which is one of the things im working on, this could be the last time we will have such a difficult election. But this one is going to be hard, but it is not one we cant overcome. And so, im urging people, as ive said, to vote early, as soon as you possibly can. And in the meantime, to the extent that have the ability to get in court and undo the things that republicans put in place either legislatively or tactics they are trying to use, we will be doing that as well. Anna congressman clyburn, how concerned are you that we wake of the day after the election and we dont know who the president is . It seems like that is more and more of a likely scenario given the number of absentee voting happening through the mail, and the different rules by states, some of which are not opening ballots until election day. Is there anything that you think that Democratic Leaders need to do to calm peoples nerves about the future of this country, and if we dont to who necessarily is going to be the leader of it . Rep. Clyburn well, you know, i spent all of my life trying to do the things that i think are necessary in order to achieve my goals. I dont spend a whole lot of time trying to figure out the whatifs. What i try to do is work as hard as i possibly can to achieve those goals, and in order for us to achieve the goals of getting everybody to vote and have that vote counted, i am spending all of my time getting people to vote early in person. And i believe if we were to do this, if we are successful, i think we are going to know who the next president will be by 2 00 a. M. The morning of november 4. I dont think anybody is going to have to spend a whole lot of time during the day november 4 doing anything else but celebrating or mourning. I dont think we are going to be waiting to find out who the president is. I sincerely believe were going to be successful in this National Effort of voting early in person. Jake mr. Clyburn, im curious what, if democrats win the senate, which is certainly possible, and the white house, which is possible bordering on likely at this point, what will House Democrats do in this realm to ensure, to fix what youre describing as pretty Serious Problems with voting across the country . What are some of those action items that you should be doing legislatively in all of democratic washington . Rep. Clyburn as it relates to voting, the very first thing we are going to do is revisit what we now call the john r. Lewis Voting Rights act. And i have my staff looking at what we have done already. As you know, we have passed hr4, sent it over to the senate, and then we went back after johns death and renamed it. Now we are looking at what we need to do to address some of the issues that are showing up now, like this whole issue of whether or not we can vote by mail. I believe very strongly that we have to go to massive registrations. We do Everything Else online. We go to the Grocery Stores online. We now order groceries. If you can do it online, purchase groceries, you can cast your vote, you can register people to vote online. I think we need to have a National Strategy of getting people registered to vote, getting them engaged in the process, and getting them to vote. And there is nothing wrong, in my opinion, with voting online. At least four states do all of their voting by mail. And they have been doing it for years. And i have been telling everybody that im a big fan of the colorado model, and i have been pushing that as a national model. And that is what i would like to see us do in legislation immediately come january 5 or january 6, whatever the date is. Anna attorney general, kind of keeping on that forwardlooking lens, you focus a lot of your time on redistricting and the fight to redraw congressional districts that republicans successfully gerrymandered after 2010. How optimistic are you that democrats are going to be making some big inroads to changes to these congressional districts after the 2020 census . Atty. Gen. Holder im actually very optimistic. Rep. Clyburn well you know anna we will go with the attorney general first. Thank you. Atty. Gen. Holder im actually very optimistic given the work weve done since january 2017 when we announced the formation of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and we have been focusing on this problem of gerrymandering. We have brought lawsuits, we have supported candidates who will stand for a fair redistricting process in 2021. Weve actually supported the formation of these nonpartisan commissions and have put them in place in michigan, missouri, utah, in colorado, we already have them in arizona and in california. So that the process in 2021, i think it will be fundamentally different than the process was in 2011. Were going to be more conversant with the use of technology, uptodate technology, in 2021 than we were in 2011. So, i think we are in a fundamentally better place. And what i always say is that the ndrc, democrats are fighting for a fair process in 2021. Because i am convinced. If the process is just fair, i dont have to gerrymander for democrats. If the process is just fair, democrats and progressives will do just fine. Its the republicans who have to gerrymander in 2021 to maintain the power they illegitimately got in 2011, where in wisconsin democrats get 54 of the vote, yet one third of the seats. And we see that in other states as well, those kinds of numbers. We just need a fair process. And as i said, the democrats will do just fine. Im very optimistic that the process will be ok in 2021. Jake mr. Clyburn, you have a very Competitive Senate race in your state. Your former aide, jamie harrison, is running against Lindsey Graham, someone you served with for now 20something years. Could you give us your back of the napkin . As all the watchers know today, you know that state better than everybody. What is going on, and is Lindsey Graham going to be knocked off . How confident are you of that . Rep. Clyburn you know, im so proud of jamie. As many people know, jamie came into my life as an 11th grader. And i have not been able to get rid of him since. [laughter] hes just a remarkable young man. Hes run just a class act in this campaign. And jamie, during that debate last saturday night, i think the rest of the country got to see what i have seen in jamie since he was a teenager. He is running a campaign that i think is going to be successful. Not a single soul alive believed that when he announced for the senate that he would be sitting here 30 days out, 4848. And i have seen a poll that has him two points in the lead, although i have seen one that has him one point behind. Jamie is running a great race. I think things are breaking in his favor. If we get the kind of turnout that we are working on here in South Carolina, and we get these precincts adopted, and everybody will do what they are promising to do, jamie is going to win that race. And i think it has a lot to do with how good hes run the campaign, but it also has a lot to do with the hypocrisy of Lindsey Graham. And too many people are sick and tired of this kind of stuff. And when he looked into the camera and says hold my words against me, we are going to really address him as he invited. Anna we are quickly running out of time, unfortunately. We could talk about a lot of these issues for a long time. But before we let you go, mr. Holder, i want to ask you, you considered running for president in 2020 before ultimately taking a pass. Do you have a desire to run for office . Atty. Gen. Holder once d. C. Becomes a state, i would consider running as senator. Anna would you consider joining a Biden Administration . Atty. Gen. Holder you never want to say never. I was quite happy as attorney general in the obama years and at this point, im happy being the chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. I still have to make sure we have that fair process come 2021. Anna all right. Unfortunately, we are all out of time. Congressman clyburn and attorney general holder, thank you for joining us this morning, and thank you to everyone who joined us virtually. We look forward to holding another one of these playbook interview election countdowns soon. Please stay safe, and have a great rest of the week. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] the u. S. Supreme court began its new term this week during oral arguments on conference calls. Listen to the organs live that www. Cspan. Org Supreme Court and listen live today to two cases, google versus oracle and the consolidated case between Ford Motor Company versus the montana eighth judicial court. Listen to the oral arguments live or ondemand at www. Cspan. Org Supreme Court. I honestly will tell you that i dont think when the dust settles in the selection it will be whether america becomes more republican or more democrat. Whether we are more liberal or more conservative, more red or more blue. I think the choice in this election is whether america remains america. As joe biden has said, from the moment he entered this race, its about the soul of our nation. Who we are. What we stand for. Importantly, who we want to be. Vice president ial debate between Vice President mike pence and senator Kamala Harris live tonight at 9 p. M. Eastern from the university of utah in salt lake city. On cspan. Ebate live listen live on the cspan radio app and go to www. Cspan. Org debate for live or ondemand streaming of cspans debate coverage. There is also a link to each debate question and answer, see social media feeds on debate happenings and reaction and debate video from the cspan library. Inat a Campaign Stop gettysburg, pennsylvania, former Vice President joe biden spoke about the political divide and why it was important for the country to try to come together. This is about 20 minutes