CNN "State of the Union with Jake Tapper" - Interview with Chuck Schumer

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Joining me now, the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York.

Leader Schumer, thank you so much.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Good morning. TAPPER: I know you're eager to talk about testing, and I want to talk about that in one second.

[09:15:00]

But I do want to talk about this funding for small business loan.

SCHUMER: Yes.

TAPPER: The program has run out of funding, as you know, because of provisions Democrats want to add.

Karen Mills, the former head of the Small Business Administration under President Obama, says Democrats just need to go along and just fund this program now.

She said -- quote -- "Complexity is not our friend here. Things that have to be implemented quickly can't have a lot of bells and whistles, or else it will be too many unintended consequences, one of which is delay, and we don't have time to delay."

What do you say to Karen Mills?

SCHUMER: Well, I would actually say, the very things that we Democrats have been fighting for are now going into the bill.

If you had a connection with a bank, it was pretty easy to get a loan. If you didn't, from one end to the country to the other, we have been hearing that people can't get the loans, the local restaurant, the local barbershop, the local drugstore, or even startup businesses, manufacturing or -- or contract -- or services that aren't happening.

So, we Democrats, yes, we want to put some more money in, but let's set aside some money to make sure it goes to the rural areas, to the minority areas, to the unbanked.

And the $60 billion for the disaster loan was our proposal. And now the administration is going along with that. Setting aside a good chunk of the money, about half of it, so it goes to these unbanked people who don't have a connection with a bank or the smaller ones was our proposal, and it looks like it's going.

So to just put $250 billion in, and leave out a large, large segment, I'd say half, of the small business community, wouldn't have made sense. And now it's going to happen because we Democrats said, let's get this done this way.

TAPPER: So, you agree with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin that the deal could be done today and voted on in the Senate tomorrow, the House on Tuesday, and then signed by President Trump on Wednesday?

SCHUMER: Well, Speaker Pelosi and I have had constant discussions with Secretary Mnuchin. Our staffs are meeting 24/7. We have made very good progress.

And I'm very hopeful we could come to an agreement tonight or early tomorrow morning. You have got a lot of details, a lot of dotted I's and crossed T's. But I am -- I am very, very hopeful.

And, as you heard, many of the things we have asked for on the banking side, on the testing side, on the hospital side, they're going along with. So we feel pretty good. We still have a few more issues to deal with.

TAPPER: Let's talk about the testing.

You were on the call with Vice President Pence on Friday, when Senate -- Senate Democrats grew increasingly frustrated with the administration's testing response.

Did you get any indication from the call that the federal government has a coordinated plan to roll out testing and to make sure governors know where all the tests are?

SCHUMER: OK, well, let me talk about testing.

Angus King, who's a mild-mannered Maine guy, was very upset, because the president said now testing is up to the states. They have been back and forth on this.

We Democrats proposed in this package a $30 billion, focused plan on testing. And we proposed three basic things, money to go into both manufacturing and supply chains to bolster them quickly. We proposed that we make free testing far more widespread. If people avoid testing because they can't afford it, that's not good for the country.

And, third, we proposed contact tracing. What we need here is the $30 billion, and we need the focus from the president.

The governors of our two states who are most impacted say they need federal help. They can't do the testing on their own. You talk to the business community. When Republican and Democratic senators were on with the president a few weeks ago -- a few days ago, the number one call was for more testing and more federal involvement in the testing.

You can't have it state by state. Let's say the swabs are made in -- and I'm just -- California, and the machine -- the little chemicals are made somewhere else. You need the federal government to focus.

Thus far, I believe that the president has not been focused enough on testing. He's -- that's what got Angus King so upset.

But I think there is huge pressure to do it. I have urged him to use the Defense Production Act to get this money out, the way we have talked, the $30 billion.

But at least there ought to be one person appointed, in charge, and making sure there's a national focus and effort on testing.

I'd say this, Jake. Testing is the key. Every expert says it. Today's "New York Times," one of the best experts say, we only have about a third of the tests we need. We will not be able to get the economy going full-fledge unless we have testing. And we have examples. Korea -- South Korea, I think they had a case one day -- the first case was in -- within a day of each other in the U.S. and South Korea, the first case.

[09:20:07]

But they did just what we're calling for. They did a massive increase in the number of tests. They did contact tracing. And now South Korea is way over the hump.

We must do the same thing, for the good of the health of America and the good of the economy.

And then just a couple -- a couple more things. The money for small business, as I -- we said, we have four goals in the bill, one, money -- testing, two, money for small businesses. We discussed that. Three, money for hospitals. Our hospitals are in desperate shape.

As the -- as the secretary said, they're not doing...

TAPPER: Right.

SCHUMER: ... elective surgery.

In my state, St. Peter's laid off 700 people in Albany. St. Joseph's laid off 700 people in Syracuse. Joe Manchin says that his hospitals will go bankrupt. We need that.

But the third thing we do need...

TAPPER: Right.

SCHUMER: ... is that -- what the Republican governors are calling for, money for state and local governments.

And this is not abstract. This is -- this is...

TAPPER: Right, but that's not going to be -- that's not going to be in there. You heard Secretary Mnuchin. He said that the funding is not going to be in this bill.

SCHUMER: Well, he says that. We are pushing hard.

Well, they said, until the last minute, that it wouldn't be in COVID three. And we pushed for $150 billion, and it got in.

And it is so important. We don't want our police, our firefighters, our EMTs, our bus drivers -- this is not an abstract issue. We don't want them fired.

TAPPER: Right.

SCHUMER: They're as important as anybody else.

So, we're continuing to push hard for that in COVID 3-5. TAPPER: So, let me ask you a question, because you're -- you're

coming to us live this morning from one of the epicenters of coronavirus in the world, New York.

SCHUMER: Yes.

TAPPER: Democrats have been very critical of how long it took President Trump to take serious action in the fight against coronavirus.

But Dr. Thomas Frieden, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he told "The New York Times" that if New York state and New York City had adopted social distancing and physical distancing a week or two earlier, the death toll in New York could have been reduced by anywhere from 50 to 80 percent.

Didn't New York politicians drop the ball here, too?

SCHUMER: Well, look, I think our governor and our mayor have done a great job. And I think most of America agrees.

It's very hard when you don't have the federal cooperation, when you have the president early on saying, it's a hoax, or it'll go away, or don't worry about it, to get things done.

I think our state and our city have done a terrific, terrific job, given that we were the epicenter.

TAPPER: San Francisco ordered schools closed on March 12. Ohio did the same with five confirmed cases. On March 15, de Blasio ordered New York City schools to close with 329 cases.

A New York statewide stay-at-home order was announced on March 20, a day after California. You don't think more could have been done earlier? I mean, other states were taking action.

SCHUMER: Look, again, we were the epicenter. There were so many things to do. Getting ventilators, so people wouldn't die, was important. Getting the PPE for the health care workers was important.

There were many things that were very, very important. And, as I said, I think both Cuomo and de Blasio get very high marks for how they have handled this.

TAPPER: I want to ask you one other question, sir.

SCHUMER: Sure.

TAPPER: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this week did not rule out a possible 2022 primary run against you.

Are you confident you could beat her?

SCHUMER: Look, throughout my career, I have done my job. I'm totally focused on this COVID. We are the epicenter.

And I have found, throughout my career, you do your job well, everything else works out OK.

TAPPER: All right, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, thank you, sir, for your time.

And I hope everyone in your world is safe and healthy. Thanks so much for being with us.

SCHUMER: Thank you. Thank you, Jake. And stay healthy, too.

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