CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)

Interview

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BLITZER: Good question. All right. Jim Acosta, thank you very much.

Joining us now, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries of New York. He's a member of the Judiciary Committee. He's also the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

Congress, thanks so much for joining us.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D), NEW YORK: Good evening, Wolf. Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: So when the news about the racist photo first broke, you immediately called on Governor Northam to step down. Have any of his various explanations for how that photo ended up in his yearbook page, has any of that done anything to change your mind?

JEFFRIES: Not at all. And I continue to stand with those of my colleagues in the Virginia congressional delegation, as well as the two senators from Virginia, who have made it clear that the governor has lost the capacity to really bring the commonwealth of Virginia together and to move the state forward, given the divisiveness that is connected to him.

And therefore, I think that the best thing to do for the commonwealth, the best thing to do for the country, really, at this point would be for the governor to resign, do the right thing and to allow us to all come together.

BLITZER: Is there anything you think, Congressman, he could say or do at this point to convince you maybe he should stay on?

JEFFRIES: Well, I think what's troubling is that the explanation that he provided made the situation worse, not better.

He acknowledged, essentially, that he had actually engaged in some sort of black face in connection with what he had done in terms of this Michael Jackson impersonation situation.

And then, also, demonstrated some familiarity with respect to shoe polish and the reason why shoe polish shouldn't be applied in significant fashion is because it's harder to remove.

So the whole thing is a sordid situation. And if you even look at his undergraduate yearbook, and the name that was given to him, "Coon Man," is deeply offensive, as well. And so this is an unfortunate situation. We have enough divisiveness in this country. We should be trying to bring people together not tearing us apart. We want to move the country forward, not turn back the clock. And the governor's not in a position to do that right now.

BLITZER: Do you think he appreciates how serious, how offensive all that picture and everything else around it really is?

JEFFRIES: It's not clear. And that's lot of pain that is caused by the images that were brought to light, both in terms of the black face as well as, of course, the image of someone in a KKK uniform in 1984.

It would have been offensive enough in 1964, but certainly in a year when Jesse Jackson was first running for president. Howard Washington had already been elected the previous year as the first African- American mayor. Dr. King's holiday had been signed off on a few years prior to that. It's just a shocking thing that this would take place.

And we also have to start the question what was going on at that medical school? Why would the medical school sign off on this yearbook and deem any of those images appropriate? Why were the people who graduated with the governor silent for so many years in the face of what obviously was a bigoted and divisive image that was apparently proudly displayed in other places throughout the yearbook, in addition to the governor's page

BLITZER: Yes, those are very important points indeed.

Congressman, let me turn to some other important issues while I have you. The border security negotiations underway right now between Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate. What are Democrats going to do if the negotiations fail over the next few days, and President Trump declares a national emergency in order to find money for his border wall?

JEFFRIES: Well, I have the highest degree of confidence that the appropriators who are on the conference committee are going to try as hard as they can to find a bipartisan resolution, working with Republicans in the House, as well as Republicans and Democrats in the Senate.

We support 21st Century border security. We're willing to invest in additional infrastructure along our legal ports of entry, invest in additional personnel, particularly as it relates to customs agents, who are understaffed, as well as the Coast Guard and bolster their capacity to interdict drugs and other forms of contraband that come in through our waterways.

[17:15:07] We certainly are willing to invest in additional technology -- sensors, drones, satellites, enhanced-communication capability -- the things that the experts have said would make a difference in terms of improving our border security.

And we're hopeful that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will engage in this evidence-based discussion. And if that, in fact, is the case, we can come to an agreement that I think the president would be hard-pressed not to sign into law.

BLITZER: Yes. But he says, he keeps insisting there's got to be money in there for a wall. Whether it's steel slats or whatever, there's got to be money for a wall. And we'll see what happens over the next few days. You guys got a tough challenge ahead of you.

Congressman Hakeem Jeffries of New York, thanks so much for joining us.

JEFFRIES: Thank you so much, Wolf.

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