CNN "Anderson Cooper 360" - Transcript: Interview with Pramila Jayapal

Interview

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Given the non-delivery of policy that people tell pollsters they like by and large and the inter-party recriminations over it, now is a good time to talk to our next guest, Washington Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Congresswoman Jayapal, you saw what happened last night. Do you take any blame in this?

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): Anderson, it's good to see you. Look, I think that the whole issue that we see for voters last night is, people do need help from us and that's what we've been working to do with the President's Build Back Better agenda. It is really transformational, and I think the cries for help in the midst of an economy that was handed in tatters to the President, that we have actually worked to fix since we've come into power in the House, the Senate, and the White House.

We cut child poverty in half. We got shots and arms. We got money to small businesses. But obviously Anderson, this was a two-year pandemic that the Republican Party did not take seriously, and we're still climbing out of it.

[20:20:19]

But I mean, there is no doubt about --

COOPER: Right, but you're saying -- people last night were saying that they need help. It doesn't seem like they're asking you, progressive Democrats for help. It seems like they're asking now Republicans for help, even though you say Republicans botched the vaccine rollout. I mean, Republicans did well last night.

JAYAPAL: They did, and I think part of that is, you know, look, we have to pay attention to local politics, and I think that Democrats are the party of parents, not Republicans. We are the ones that are looking to pass universal childcare and universal pre-K, to cut prescription drug costs. And as soon as we get that done, I think people will see that, and we'll be able to, you know, really show people that we have their backs.

I mean, the timing of this was obviously awkward, but I really believe that this is what happens in many elections, when you have one party take over three in off year elections. This is not abnormal. And I think that we will get through the next -- you know, this doesn't mean anything for the midterms. That's not to say we shouldn't take it seriously. We absolutely should, but I think we have --

COOPER: You don't think this means anything for the midterms?

JAYAPAL: Well, I just think we have to take it seriously, but it shouldn't be projected to be a loss for the midterms. What we have to do is turn the ship by passing these two bills, and I think there is increased urgency to do just that.

There is real unity in the Democratic Caucus around passing both the Build Back Better Act and the infrastructure bill, and I hope to be able to do that this week.

COOPER: When you look at sort of, you know, the law enforcement candidacy of Eric Adams, victorious Democrat in in New York, measures to change the police department in Minneapolis failing, Democratic Socialist winning the Democratic primary in Buffalo, but then losing to the former Democratic mayor in a write-in. I mean, has Democratic Party gone too far left? I mean, part of your caucus? Is it -- is that where the country really is?

JAYAPAL: We are -- we have been working to pass the President's Build Back Better agenda. This is not some far left agenda. This is the President's agenda that he came down to Capitol Hill and unveiled to us in February, and we're so proud of his leadership. He has been doing a phenomenal job with really bad hand.

And there are progressive candidates that have won in many cities across the country, including in Boston and Cincinnati. We're so proud of those first, but I think that this is really important to understand. We have been working to pass the President's agenda. And the Democratic Party as a whole, we have differences, it is true. And people say we've been negotiating for a long time.

But let me be clear, Anderson, the real negotiation on Build Back Better really only started about four weeks ago. It's barely been anything, but it happens to fall in this time, where, you know, we did have elections. And of course, we have the natural backlash of a cycle.

So I would just say to everybody, focus on the fact that we are going to pass two transformational bills that are going to change people's lives. And it's really important that we think about it as you know, how do people wake up in the morning and feel differently about their livelihoods and their opportunities? It's because they finally have childcare? They only have pre-K, all of those things.

COOPER: But what does it say -- what does it say that you're going to pass -- you know, you say you're going to pass these two transformational bills, and there's going to be a lot of things that a lot of people are going to like and really -- and need. That very well may be true, but it still doesn't seem that it's going to make them like Democrats.

I mean, is there some sort of -- I mean, maybe I'm completely overstating this, but I mean, you would think if people saw, oh, well, that's coming down the pike. And yes, it hasn't happened yet. But it's going to happen and gosh, that's a great thing. They would vote -- they would have gone better for Democrats last night. It doesn't seem like it, it didn't seem like -- in fact, it was kind of a resounding slap in the face to Democrats.

JAYAPAL: Well, I don't think that's true. I think we're going to win New Jersey, and I think that in Virginia, it was a challenging thing, because, you know, I think we cannot run on just tying Trump to Republicans. I think that people want to forget about Trump because he was so chaotic and so destructive.

And so I think what we have to do is we have to run on local issues. We have to acknowledge people's pain, and we have to show that we've delivered, and I believe that that will bring people back. It will also raise enthusiasm within our base, and I think we will turn things around. And again, this is not unusual for this to happen in an off year. That's what happened.

COOPER: So you're not freaking out. Overall, you're not freaking out.

JAYAPAL: Right. That's right, Anderson.

[20:25:06]

COOPER: Did you have any little freak out last night? Was there a little freak out last night? And then like, you woke up and like, oh, god -- or is that not your style?

JAYAPAL: Well, look, there's always -- of course, I want the results to be different, right? But I think that this is a difficult time for our country. We literally had to fight off a coup attempt on January 6th, Anderson. We still have people who believe that the President Biden is not actually legitimately elected.

So let's just put things in perspective. We are coming out of a really difficult time. We will make it through. I have faith in the American democracy.

I have faith in Joe Biden and I have faith in Democrats to deliver both of these bills.

COOPER: Congresswoman Jayapal, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

JAYAPAL: Thank you, Anderson.

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