CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Ritchie Torres

Interview

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BROWN: With a stroke of a pen, President Biden will sign into law his infrastructure plan. Now the White House and congressional Democrats can focus on a heavier lift. Passing his larger social spending and climate bill.

And joining me now a member of the Progressive Caucus, Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York.

Congressman Torres, thanks for joining the show. So look, the president's win on infrastructure came after intense infighting between the party's progressives and moderate wings. I mean, the passage is a big win for Democrats, that is for certain.

But it was the longest House vote in recent history, and there was a lot of friction and dysfunction leading up to its passage. As a progressive Democrat, are you concerned that could hurt Democrats in the midterms?

REP. RITCHIE TORRES (D-NY): Look, what matters is delivering for the American people. There is a long line of presidents who have spoken about infrastructure, but President Biden has succeeded where others have failed. He has actually delivered historic investments in infrastructure for the 21st century for American people. And in my view the best politics is effective governance and we're governing effectively.

BROWN: So you feel like what's going to come from this bill will overshadow any of the friction that led to the passage, is what you're saying basically?

TORRES: Look, we've made history, and we're on the verge of making even more history. And in the grand scheme of history, people are not going to remember the messiness of the process, people are going to remember the magnitude of what we've accomplished. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes historic investments in public transit, the largest investments in roads and bridges since the creation of the interstate highway system.

The largest investment in passenger rails since the creation of Amtrak, historic investments in clean energy and electrification which are critical to combatting catastrophic climate change. Historic investments in clean water and lead safety. This bill will do an enormous amount of good for an enormous number of Americans.

BROWN: And I believe we actually have a graphic. Hopefully we have it, we can put it up on the screen because we have been telling our viewers what exactly is in this bill, and much of it is what you mentioned. But your party just suffered a blow in Virginia. There is the graphic on the screen. A state that Joe Biden won by 10 percentage points elected a Republican governor Tuesday.

A longtime Democratic strategist says he knows why your party lost. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Look, it was just stupid wokeness. I mean, this defund the police lunacy, this take Abraham Lincoln's name off the schools. Some of these people need to go to a woke detox center or something. I mean, they're expressing a language that people just don't use. And there's a backlash and a frustration at that.

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BROWN: Do you think the party has moved too far to the left or are you concerned there is the perception of that on issues like what James Carville just laid out, like on police and government funding? What do you think?

TORRES: Look, each election has its own dynamics. My impression is that the gubernatorial election in Virginia was driven more by local concerns about education specific to Virginia rather than national concerns. So I would argue that the election in Virginia was localized rather than nationalized.

BROWN: So I talked to some of the voters in Virginia. Suburban white women, who were key to Donald Trump's victory, and four years later his defeat.

[18:35:06]

But those same, you know, white suburban women, generally they helped elect a Republican governor on Tuesday. And I sat down with some of them in suburban Virginia and asked what made the difference for them, and this is what they told me. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAUNDRA DAVIS, VIRGINIA VOTER: I like Manchin. I like the middle. And there's a lot of Democrats who do. And the progressives don't represent all of us.

DANA JACKSON, VIRGINIA VOTER: That's what I was saying, unless they change, I think the progressive wing has taken over so much. It's a turnoff for a lot of people, especially people that are independents.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And to be clear, their big issue and why they voted for Youngkin, they told me, was because of school closures. They feel like they're not doing enough, the Democrats aren't, to address learning laws. But does it worry you hearing that, that Democrats with centrist or moderate views may feel that progressives have become a driving force of the party?

TORRES: Well, keep in mind that the president's agenda which includes both a bipartisan infrastructure investment and the Build Back Better Act has the support of nearly every Democrat across the ideological spectrum. There is a small subset of Democrats who has concerns and we're in the process of addressing those concerns.

But instead of becoming obsessed with labels like moderate or progressive, we should focus on the policies and the impact that those policies would have in improving people's lives. We should ask ourselves, should we lift children out of poverty?

Should we create a safety net of homecare for senior citizens and the disabled? Should we create pre-K for every 3-year-old and 4-year-old in America? Should we remove lead pipes and lead service lines so that everyone has access to clean drinking water? I suspect those concerns would command broad agreement from the American people. And probably the most popular policy --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Some of your progressive colleagues didn't vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

TORRES: Almost all of the progressive caucus voted for the infrastructure bill.

BROWN: That is true. But several did not.

TORRES: You know, all the members are entitled to make what they believe were the best judgments for their district. I would not begrudge their right to do what they think is best, but I was proud to vote for that package because it was historic in more ways than one, and it's a bona fide breakthrough in the fight against catastrophic climate change. It's going to create the first ever national network of electric vehicle charging stations.

We're establishing a grid deployment authority so that we can create a national energy grid. We're investing in passenger rail and public transit. We're electrifying school buses and transit buses. So that we not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but lower the rate of air pollution and asthma hospitalizations in America. I think those are achievements that appeal to a wide range of Americans from across the ideological spectrum.

BROWN: All right. Congressman Ritchie Torres, wish we had more time to chat. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective on this.

TORRES: An honor to be here.

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