CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Ilhan Omar

Interview

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ACOSTA: And joining me now is Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. This week she plans to reintroduce a bill that would establish a federal agency to investigate police killings much like how the NTSB investigates plane crashes. And Congresswoman, you're going to need bipartisan support and yet you have Senator Lindsey Graham denying that there is systemic racism in this country. Let's start there. What's your response to the senator?

[17:04:58]

REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): I mean, Senator Graham basically is trying to tell us that the sky is not blue. You know, it's as if saying, you know, we don't have poverty issues in this country because we have millionaires and billionaires. I really don't know what he was -- what point he was trying to make with that statement.

But it is obvious that we have a long way to go in this country. If we have lawmakers who are refusing to acknowledge the fact that there is, you know, institutionalized racism that is embedded within our systems that we need to actively work in rooting out.

ACOSTA: And I want to remind our viewers how the Minneapolis Police Department originally described George Floyd's murder. We put this up on screen. It's stunning to look at now. This is the press release from the day he was killed and it says "Man dies after medical incident during police interaction."

And it goes on to read, "George Floyd was ordered to step from his car. After he got out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance where he died a short time later."

Congresswoman, if a 17-year-old bystander hadn't recorded that nine- minute video of Floyd's final moments, we may have never known what happened in this case?

OMAR: That is so true. We are so grateful for her ability to stay focused and provide that recording and bear witness to the murder of George Floyd because we do know that there are multiple cases across this country where police kill and brutalize and it's not reflected in the reporting. And there are so many people across this country who have lost loved ones, who have not received accountability or justice.

And we know that in many cases, it is because there is not proper investigation and people tend to take the police report at its face -- from face value. And you know, oftentimes there aren't alternative investigations that take place. We know many prosecutors trust what the police tell them transpired in an incident.

I mean, I recently heard, you know, an activist in Minneapolis describe the phone call that she had with the police chief who believed that this, you know, was a case where the police officers' report was valid and, you know, the only thing that he might be willing to do was send it to the internal bureau of investigations.

And it brings me to the point of why we are actively fighting for this piece of legislation that we will be reintroducing because independent investigations are necessary and important. And for active investigations into the activities that are taking place in police departments across our country are going to be necessary.

ACOSTA: And you delivered a eulogy at the funeral of Daunte Wright last week. Wright, as you know, was shot and killed during that traffic stop. The officer who shot and thought she was holding her taser, at least that's the story we are told, she was holding her gun instead. Of course, we saw that in a video. During the eulogy, you mentioned the recent police killing of Ma'Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio. I want to play that moment and talk to you about it.

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OMAR: Joyce Beatty was going to be here and speak on our behalf as the chairwoman of our caucus. But just like we've been visited by tragedy here in Minnesota often, she, in Columbus, Ohio, was visited by a tragedy of a young woman whose life was taken by Columbus police.

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ACOSTA: Now, the police body cam footage of that incident appears to show Bryant lunging at two separate people with a knife when she is shot. That is different obviously than what happened with Daunte Wright. Do you think you jumped to conclusions there when you characterized things the way you did in that video we just played?

OMAR: No. It is still a tragic loss. It's a life that is lost. We actively work in trying to, you know, create opportunities for tragedies like this not to take place. And so I did not mischaracterize.

[17:10:01]

I think people oftentimes read into the statements that we make into ways to sort of vilify us. And I don't know how you can't look at the loss of a 16-year-old life as not a loss and how you can look at a police officer who ends up using their weapon to take a life as not being a tragedy in our community.

ACOSTA: And as you know, congresswoman, video has become so powerful in so many of these cases. We all watched the same nine minutes of George Floyd's arrest. And yet, a new poll finds that nearly half of Republicans think the jury in the Derek Chauvin trial reached the wrong verdict. These numbers are stunning. Why do you think that is?

OMAR: Because there has been, you know, so many people who have been spinning what happened to George Floyd and what the ultimate cause of his death was. We now know that it was murder, and you know, we didn't need to be told by the jury with that guilty verdict. Many of us saw that video and witnessed a lynching take place. You know, throughout the summer and up to the court hearing, we all thought it was eight minutes and 46 seconds.

ACOSTA: Right.

OMAR: And we ultimately know that it was more than nine minutes. And I don't really know how we move forward as a society where there is a particular segment that believes that that is a justifiable thing for a police officer to do, and that they should not be held accountable.

But I know that it is important for to us remember, you know, parts of the history of this country where people came out to watch public lynchings where they took photos and brought their family members, and you know, sent postcards of black men and children getting lynched.

And so it shouldn't be that surprising that there are still segments in our society that believe it is justifiable for a black man to be lynched. But it's going to be important for us to confront that reality, to confront our past history, and to find ways to move forward as a society.

And it's really important for all of us to hold people like Lindsey Graham, that sort of whitewash the history of this country -- to hold people accountable that continue to say it was just justifiable for George Floyd to be murdered and lynched in front of all of those people who were calling for those police officers who were sworn to protect and serve to save his life.

I mean, it is really a hard time in our nation's history. And we must -- we must not allow ourselves to continue to have a wool over our eyes and face the reality that we are living in and find a way to move past it and transform our society and our systems.

ACOSTA: And congresswoman, I want to ask you just very quickly, because President Biden announced he was going to keep the current refugee cap in place. This is getting to the issue of refugees coming into the country and how many refugees we allow in. Limiting the number of refugees essentially where they were during the Trump administration, the end of the Trump administration. You called that decision disgraceful.

The White House reversed course. We know that. Can you explain what do you make of that, the White House reversal on that? And why is this refugee cap issue so important especially considering your own personal story?

OMAR: Well, it's an important reversal. I think the original decision could not have withstood the pressure that it was facing by people like myself and others who understand how important it is for this administration to keep their promises, especially on a policy that we've all worked with them on in trying to come up with a cap that is sustainable.

What's happening at the border is very different than the way in which refugees from other countries are processed in refugee camps. It's a long process. They are extremely vetted. These are people who have waited for a really long time. Many of them have had, you know, the expectation that their arrival in this country would be swift once there was a change in administration.

[17:15:07]

And I'm just delighted that there is this change with the administration and that they are willing to allow for their humanity to lead this process because, you know, refugee resettlement agencies have expressed their ability to have the capacity to do this. Members of Congress are ready to assist this administration.

And someone who has both gone through the refugee process, who has gone through the resettlement process and who has, you know, worked really hard during the Trump administration to appeal to their moral side, if they had any, I know how important this is not only for myself but for so many people in this country who deeply understand what it means to be a refugee, to have your fate in the hands of others and to ask other countries to give you a home when your home is no longer sustainable for you.

ACOSTA: Okay. We'll have to leave it there. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, I wanted to make sure I got that question in on the refugee situation and we know you have a very personal story on all of that. So, thank you so much for coming on. We appreciate it. Great to talk to you today.

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