CNN "State of the Union" - Transcript: Interview With Rep. Nancy Pelosi

Interview

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We're going to talk to a lead member of the president's Coronavirus Task Force in just moments.

But, first, I want to start with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Speaker Pelosi, thank you so much for joining us. I hope you are well and safe.

I know your home district of San Francisco has been particularly hard- hit. President Trump is considering relaxing federal guidelines for coronavirus for some of the less affected parts of the country. Do you think he should?

PELOSI: Well, first of all, let me just say how sad it is that, even since the president signing of the bill, the number of deaths reported has doubled from 1,000 to 2,000 in our country.

This is such a very, very sad time for us. So, we should be taking every precaution.

What the president -- his denial at the beginning was deadly. His delaying of getting equipment to where -- it continues -- his delay in getting equipment to where it's needed is deadly.

And now I think the best thing would be to do is to prevent more loss of life, rather than open things up, so that -- because we just don't know. We have to have testing, testing, testing -- that's what we said from the start -- before we can evaluate what the nature of it is in some of these other regions as well.

I don't know what the purpose of that is. I don't know what the scientists are saying to him. I don't know what the scientists said to him. When did this president know about this and what did he know? What did he know and when did he know it?

That's for an after-action review. But as the president fiddles, people are dying. And we have to -- we just have to take every precaution.

TAPPER: Speaker Pelosi, when you say that the president's denial was deadly...

PELOSI: Yes.

TAPPER: ... he obviously downplayed the risks of coronavirus for several weeks. And it wasn't until I think about two weeks ago that he started acknowledging the gravity of the crisis.

But are you saying that his downplaying ultimately cost American lives?

PELOSI: Yes, I am. I'm saying that, because when he made -- the other day, when he was signing the bill, he said, just think, 20 days ago, everything was great.

No, everything wasn't great. We had nearly 500 cases and 17 deaths already. And in that 20 days, because we weren't prepared, we now have 2,000 deaths and 100,000 cases.

[09:05:03]

So, again, I -- we really want to work in a unifying way to get the job done here, but we cannot continue to allow him to continue to make these underestimation -- underestimates of what is actually happening here.

This is such a tragedy. We don't even know the magnitude of it because we do not have the adequate testing.

Our first bill was about testing, testing, testing. The second bill was about masks, masks, masks, of course, it was a bit -- both of them were about addressing the emergency.

We still don't have adequate testing, and we still don't have the protect -- personal protective equipment. We -- and I thank you all for calling attention to the needs of our health care workers and other first responders who are risking their own lives to save lives.

So, again, let's review later what we should have done when. Let's now just stop doing the same thing, which is to deny and to delay, and, instead, to get what we need for the state, so they can meet their needs, to the hospitals, to our health care workers, who are heroes, our first responders and the rest, so that they have what they need, so, again, they don't risk their lives while trying to save other lives.

TAPPER: Speaker Pelosi, obviously, Congress just passed and the president just signed a $2 trillion relief plan. PELOSI: Yes.

TAPPER: Take a listen to what Governor Cuomo of New York had to say about that stimulus bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): I was shocked that they were so irresponsible in addressing the state and the city need.

I mean, I never believed that they would just pass a piece of legislation that didn't address it. You know, they just did not address the revenue shortfall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What's your response to Governor Cuomo?

PELOSI: Well, we have to do more.

I think this bill was just a down payment. We had in the House bill $200 billion. The final bill was 150. Neither amount was enough, because, again, every single day, the need grows.

I have talked to the chairman that said, of the Federal Reserve Bank, Mr. Powell, and asked him -- Chairman Powell -- and asked him to do much more, because they have the authority to do so, even more authority since we passed this bill.

But we have to pass another bill that goes to meeting the need more substantially than we have. We have other issues that we have to deal with in the bill in terms of personal protective equipment and OSHA rules that protects workers. We have to do more on family medical leave. We have to be able to make people who get tested also have their visit to the doctor covered.

We have to do more in terms of the assault on pensions that is -- that was not addressed, but Senator McConnell said we would do it in the next bill. We have to address what happened to the District of Columbia, which was really cruel, that they called it a territory, and, hence, they got several hundred million dollars less in funding.

The list goes on about what we have to do. And, again, it is the states, the municipalities, hospitals. And other health-serving institutions need more resources. It's so self-evident.

And I understand the governor's anger. My own governor, we have big needs in California and other -- other states in the union. We -- why should the states and why should these hospitals be having questions about whether they're going to meet the needs, life-and-death needs?

On the subject of ventilators, for example, this is life-and-death equipment. This isn't about, let's breathe easier with the ventilator. This is about let breathe, period, life and death.

TAPPER: Right. Yes. PELOSI: And yet the president has been casual about the Production

Act -- the Production Act -- that would have called upon industries for -- a while ago to -- making this equipment.

So, again, it's no use -- my granddaughter even said to me, why keep talking about, if only he had done this, if have only he had done that. Let's put that aside for now, and let's say what we need to do now as we go forward.

And it really is a sign. Here we are on a Sunday morning. Last Sunday, we were gathered in Leader McConnell's office, Chuck Schumer and I, Leader McConnell, Leader McCarthy, Secretary Mnuchin.

And I said to them, since this is Sunday, and the churches are closed, I want to begin bipartisan meeting with a prayer.

And I quoted Pope Francis' word of prayer under this circumstance. And he said, I pray that we -- God would enlighten those who are responsible for the common good, that they would take responsibility for those in their care.

[09:10:05]

TAPPER: So...

PELOSI: And Secretary Mnuchin said: "Well, since you quoted Pope Francis, I will quote the markets."

TAPPER: Right.

PELOSI: And so that has taken us to another area of values, to me, about this.

TAPPER: I want to ask you, because when President Trump -- pardon me -- when President Trump signed the bill, he brushed aside a key oversight provision with a signing statement.

The provision would have an independent inspector general reporting directly to Congress about how Treasury is going to loan out the money to businesses.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded by saying -- quote -- "And just like that, the congressional oversight provisions for the half-trillion-dollar Wall Street slush fund, which were already too weak, are tossed away the day the bill is signed. This is a frightening amount of public money to have given a corrupt administration with zero accountability."

You and other Democrats, especially Chuck Schumer, insisted on this inspector general as a check on the administration. And then President Trump just blithely said they weren't going to abide by it.

What's your response?

PELOSI: Well, it's ridiculous. Two things I think the American -- well, three. This is about

America's families, how they deal with the health challenge that they have, about their lives, and about their livelihood.

And part of this bill was about making sure that we put workers first. The bill that the Republicans put forth was corporate -- a gift to corporate America that would trickle down to the workers.

We did jujitsu on it. We turned it around into a bill that put workers and families first, and, by that doing that, to have, again, conditions placed on any money that would go to corporate America, recognizing that certain industries were a threat -- were under threat, and that we needed, in order to protect the jobs, to put with sources they're conditioned on workers being paid, buybacks not being allowed, bonuses, all that CEO pay, the rest of that

TAPPER: Right.

PELOSI: The president wants to dismiss that.

And in doing so, that is one of the things that the American people are so upset about, that money is going to these big firms and the rest without any conditions.

He is really -- well, first of all, let's not even go into whether he's allowed to do it. But we don't accept that. We don't accept that. We will have our oversight in the Congress. We have a panel that we've established.

And I see that he said, we shouldn't be able to appoint the staff for our own panel? I mean, really.

TAPPER: Right.

PELOSI: But the fact is, it's just the same business as usual for the president. Let's turn it back in favor of corporate America, at the expense of America's workers, without any conditions that makes things better for America's working families.

We will not let that happen. And, as we go into another bill for more money for state and local hospitals and other priorities that I mentioned earlier...

TAPPER: Yes.

PELOSI: ... we will continue to do so in a way that has conditions on any money that goes to -- if there's any other further money that would go into the business community.

But let's not forget what is in there.

TAPPER: Right.

PELOSI: Imagine that we had to fight the Republicans to save $600.

TAPPER: We're running out of time, but I just want to ask you one last question, Speaker Pelosi. I'm sorry for interrupting.

The president did not invite you or any of the Democratic leadership or any Democrats to the signing ceremony. And it's been reported that you and he have not spoken in five months.

Have you reached out to him to try -- to try to talk to him directly? Because, obviously, at a time like this, it's important that all of our leaders are communicating as best as possible.

PELOSI: I'm the speaker of the House.

Legislation is my responsibility, responsibility, and getting the -- passing policy and passing it all. It has not required any conversations with the president on the nature of the policy or the passage of this legislation.

And, don't forget, I was there for the State of the Union address and did greet the president at that time.

So, again, this is -- that's not what's important. What's important is what's important to America's working families, their health, their lives, their livelihood.

And this is a -- again, you want to quote the pope or you want to close the markets in terms of where our values should be? It should all be balanced. It all should be balanced.

And I'm hopeful. I believe the American people have hearts full of love. I believe that they are hopeful. And that's why they're giving the president a chance.

And, again, I hope that those who advise him, the scientists who advise him, will get him on the right track, so that he is making decisions that are in favor of ending this deadly pandemic, rather than test whether he can quarantine a state or not, as he had to reverse himself again yesterday.

[09:15:03]

Don't fiddle while people die, Mr. President.

TAPPER: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, we wish you the best.

Happy birthday, incidentally. We hope you're staying safe and healthy. Thank you so much for your time.

PELOSI: Thank you, Jake.

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