CNN "The Lead with Jake Tapper" - Interview with Elissa Slotkin [16:30:00-16:38:32]

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): Hey, we want to be on this bill. Can you include us in the conversation? We want to be able to vote on something.

That is how you know that things are really different and people are really hearing things, I hope, that are on the street.

So, I'm really hoping that this will be bipartisan. The stuff that I'm seeing so far is something that I think we should all be able to rally around. It's not the stuff that's being put out in the press, as you mentioned at the top of the -- your segment here. So I'm hoping that it will be bipartisan.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: I don't think any Republicans have endorsed the bill. And I think, in fact, a lot of Republicans are already attacking it. That's not necessarily a statement about the bill itself.

But were Republicans consulted? I mean, is this a bipartisan process?

SLOTKIN: Well, listen, I can just tell you what I witnessed, where the head of the Black Caucus came in and sat with a bipartisan group and took questions and gave a briefing. And there was a really long, hour-long exchange of ideas.

I know that Leader McCarthy came forward and said he wanted to do something. I think that's a good sign. But -- and I do think that, certainly in my experience, people have gotten the chance to give some of their views. I hope they read it thoroughly. And I hope people make independent decisions, decisions based on what we're seeing and hearing from people on the ground, not just kind of sitting in lockstep because one party supports something and another party doesn't.

TAPPER: A new CNN poll out today finds that two-thirds of the country, two-thirds of the American people polled, 67 percent, believe that the country's criminal justice system favors whites over blacks, as opposed to 24 percent who say both groups are treated equally.

So, public sentiment would seemingly be on your side, the side of the Democrats when it comes to realizing that there is an issue when it comes to judicial inequities. Is public sentiment going to be enough, though?

SLOTKIN: Well, we will see. I mean, this is certainly different. I mean, having this many people protesting in this many communities, communities that have never seen protests before, including in my own district, this is completely new for some communities.

And I have been really heartened, again, by what I have seen on the ground. But we will see. I mean, we have a divided Washington. And I hope that not only the Senate, but also the president says that this is an opportune moment to hear what people are saying and move this legislation forward.

But I don't know. I don't know if it's enough. I hope it will be.

TAPPER: You saw the president's tweet claiming that Democrats want to defund and abolish the police.

We saw the Minneapolis City Council vote last night to dismantle its police department as it exists right now, although there are no plans yet on what would replace it.

What do you make of the defund the police chants that we're hearing from protesters and even some of your colleagues, Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives, support? Is this something that you're concerned about when it comes to getting legislation through and also, of course, winning in November?

SLOTKIN: Yes, I mean, I don't support defunding the police.

And I had a big meeting with 80-plus leaders from around my district this past weekend. And the -- a lot of the African-American leaders were saying, listen, it's not about just straight defunding the police. It's about having a conversation about how resources are spent, how people are held or not held accountable, how we have oversight over that process.

That's what I think people are asking for. That's what I think this bill actually speaks to. It doesn't defund the police. It doesn't yank money away from anybody. But it does say, like, we have to grapple with what is more than just isolated incidents.

And I think I'm a CIA analyst. If you have got three data points, that makes a trend, and we have got way, way beyond three data points on this conversation. So let's have it. Let's have some uncomfortable moments. It's not defunding, but it is questioning how resources are spent.

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