NBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: Election to Senate

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

MADDOW: We know for sure that Barack Obama is good at winning things. We don`t see that in action. The question is, how was he going to lead? Does he spend this massive political capitol in order to show that he knows how to do that or is this the time for caution and for restraint?

MAYOR CORY BOOKER (D), NEWARK: I think this is the time to get aggressive frankly and it`s not a time to spend political capital it`s time to put politics aside and reach out to the nation. If people think that we can just elect the president and he`s going to solve a lot of problems they`re wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: And of course Newark Mayor Cory Booker. I think I`m wearing the same shirt tonight that I was wearing in that clip. A little weird. I should go shopping more. I wanted to talk to Cory Booker before I talked to anybody else that first night after that election. Because that `08 presidential election victory for Barack Obama obviously a moment for the country, that was a moment for history. But it was also an important moment for the Democratic Party. Remember, after eight years of Bush and Cheney, Democrats have not just win the White House that night in 2008. They also won huge majorities and both the House and of the Senate, they totally took over Washington. So, I wanted to talk to Cory Booker as this young up and coming future star democratic politician about what that meant for him, what that meant for the party and whether that signaled that some sort of larger shift in our country`s politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOOKER: Even in my state, I met Republicans who were so excited about voting for Barack Obama not because he was a Democrat, not because he was a black guy, but because they thought that he was going to bring something, he was going to lift our country finally above his particular concern to our highest aspirations for ourselves. I think Obama has a pragmatism about him that he will explain ideas to the American people not using the tired old liberal or conservative parlance. He will be explaining to people in a way that touches people`s hearts and compels them to act and work with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: Just a few months later, even before Barack Obama was sworn in as
president, Republicans in Washington decided that they would not work with him on anything during his presidency. Nothing, no matter what. They voted unanimously against the president`s first big initiative, the stimulus package which ultimately pulled the nation back from the brink of depression. They voted almost unanimously against Wall Street reform in the House and in the Senate. They voted almost unanimously against the fair pay act for women, because that`s a terrible thing. They voted on mass against the health reform bill. They were so against that one that they are still fighting him on it today five years later. They shut down and brought us to the brink of the debt ceiling over it. So the optimism that was expressed by Newark Mayor Corey Booker that night in 2008, the night after the election, that optimism about a pragmatism that could reach people in a way that could defy partisan instincts. The pragmatism that could change Washington. That optimism ran headlong into the -- that his Congressional Republicans in Washington.

And now five years later, Cory Booker is on his way to join those constitutional Republicans in Washington. Last week, New Jersey voters sent Mr. Booker to the United States Senate. He won an overwhelming victory over Tea Party Republican candidate Steve Lonegan. When you`re as optimistic a guy as Cory Booker is, what sort of Washington do you expect to find when you get there? What he learned from watching Congress operate in the era of Barack Obama that night helped guide him once he`s there? Is anybody good at what they do there? What have you learned from being mayor of the biggest city in his state that can help him get stuff done there in the city that now more than ever seems unable to get anything done that isn`t just about itself? Let`s ask him, he`s here for the interview, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOOKER: I heard a lot of people asked me during the campaign, what can one senator do? I have no lucent about what one senator can do. So, just no, I`m going to Washington to join with Senator Menendez to stand in the traditional others like Bill Bradley and Frank Lautenberg. I`m going down to make the Senate more accessible to all of us, I will bring more voice to the voices too often ignored in our state. I will be dogged and determined relentless and unfaltering in my sense of service for all of New Jersey. If you voted for me. I will make you proud. If you didn`t --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

If you didn`t vote for me, I will work every single day to earn your trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: Joining us now for the interview is New Jersey senator-elect Cory
Booker, the mayor of Newark for another hot second.
Senator-elect, congratulations. It is good to see you.

BOOKER: It is good to see you, too.

MADDOW: How far you have come.

BOOKER: I love looking that old paper from you and I.

MADDOW: Yes. I really am wearing the same shirt that I was wearing that
night.

BOOKER: I love that.

MADDOW: I have had it since high school, you know.

BOOKER: You have comfort clothes.

MADDOW: Your life is about to change a lot. You get sworn in next week?

BOOKER: Probably someday next week, yes.

MADDOW: OK. And that`s when you will cease being the mayor of Newark.

BOOKER: Exactly. I will issue my resignation.

MADDOW: So, you have been in-charge, at least nominally in Newark since 2006, seven years now. You are now leaving that to be the 100th least senior member of the 100 person body that is the Senate. Is that daunting for you to go from being in charge to being a (INAUDIBLE)?

BOOKER: No. It is humbling to me. And frankly, more because -- off because of where I stand in seniority, because this is an entirely new body. And there are a lot of rules and rhythms and a lot to learn in a very short period of time. So, you go down there with this understanding that hey, I talked to Senator Mendez who was my senior senator. I was junior. He was line at the senate, the head of foreign relations committee and just said look, I need to learn as much as I can from you and your team as quickly as possible. And I have had calls from lots of Senators calls who said who understand what it`s like to be the new kid on the block and are willing to help me. Some guys have been offering me incredible, incredible sort of avenues of support. And so, I will be digging in very, very quickly to learn as much as I can?

MADDOW: Do you think there are models, either current models or models from history of Senators who have done a great job from the starting gate. I have been thinking about this because there is a number of very junior senators right now who are very much using the Senate to make a play for president, to build a national profile, you know. They`re almost all on the Republican side. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and all these guys.On the Republican side, you can be very famous, the first day you`re in the Senate as long as you`re tearing down your own party and being really confrontational. Doesn`t seem like Democrats do that. So, I`m wondering what sort of models you are thinking about that.

BOOKER: Well, I think the key, first of all, is to learn as much as you can from people who have done it well. I think Elizabeth Warren did it very well. I think Hillary Clinton is a great model. I think Al Franklin is great model.

But the key is, I understand, New Jersey voters didn`t elect me to be Elizabeth Warren or Ted Cruz. They elected me to be Cory Booker. And at the end of the day it`s very critical that you hold on to your authenticity and find your own way to go.

I have very unique experience since I joined with a lot of other really brilliant people. But I know I`m the 21st mayor in American history to go straight from being mayor to being United States senator. At least going to do some research (INAUDIBLE). So, I know I have different experiences. And I also know that power is not about position, it`s about purpose, it`s about what you bring to that title. You know, the titles don`t make people. People make titles.

And so, a lot of the creativity I did as mayor and all the things we were able to accomplish had nothing to do with my statutory duties. And I hope that the sort of creativity and innovation I can bring to the Senate job is stems yes, from my constitutional power, but also from my creativity in and around New Jersey.

And a great example is look, in Newark we found out that we were having a tough time getting illegal guns off of our streets. By the way, we were getting no help fromCongress in comments of background checks. But we decided to create what we nowthink is the most lucrative sort of tip lines. If you`re in Newarkan (ph) and you think somebody is carrying an illega lweapon. You call back, you get four digits, half of a code. If you call back and we have actually recovered that gun off of a criminal, you get a second four digits and you can go to a number of ATMs and get $1,000 no questions asked.

So, it is actually, if the public part of partnership that helps us have had some of our biggest gun recoveries and why does Camden have that? Why doesn`t Trenton have that?

So, I got a lot of ideas that now I`m a state Senate --

MADDOW: Well, now in the Senate, it`s why doesn`t Houston have that? Now, you got to start thinking -- you`re talking about federal policy now?

BOOKER: Well, I`m talking about one and first and foremost, New Jersey elected me and I`m going to be running around our state finding very substantive pragmatic ways to make change. And there are implications to federal policy.

And so, you know, take for example, New Jersey does not do a great job collecting its earned income tax credit money. Now, this is a federal program that I`m going to be fighting for, that I have experienced in Newark significantly increasing the EITC collections by doing public- private partnerships with local grassroots activists to set up free tax center. In fact, we set one up in the basement of city hall.

And so, as a mayor, I know the urgencies of the moment and how it reflects to changing federal policies, whether it is common sense background checks, whether is if how program like the EITC or child tax care credits actually make a difference for working families.

MADDOW: And how the details of those things make a big difference in terms
of their effect.

BOOKER: Absolutely. I`ll give you another great example. You know, we brought KIVA into Newark, which as you probably know is a technological platform. People will have stop (INAUDIBLE) banks anymore. This is way small businesses. We start off with Latina businesswomen who could not get a $5,000 loan from a traditional bank who didn`t seem credit worthy.But through an online platform, where people as you and I, going to that platform, that helps us to expand businesses in our city. And by the way, their repayment rates are as good or better than people that think banks are great. These are the things we can expand. But it actually has federal implications, well, how can we better start small businesses around our country. How can we go in creative ways to get access to capital in this bad economy.

So, from technology innovations to innovations around everything from
education to health care, things we have done in Newark, I hope to help
inform federal policy. But from day one, I want to be helping folks around
New Jersey in very pragmatic ways to get the support they need to start a
business, to go to college, to make their neighborhood safer.

MADDOW: Cory Booker, currently the mayor of NEWARK, New Jersey and soon to
be the next U.S. Senator from New jersey. Cory, do not be a stranger once you`re up there. I know it`s going to be harder to get you, but do not be a stranger.

BOOKER: That is not true. You and I, you`ve been a friend for a very long time and your show, frankly, has been a source of sustenance and inspirational one. So, I hope we will continue --

MADDOW: We will get you everywhere.
Thank you, man. Good luck. We`re all counting on you.

BOOKER: I`m grateful.

MADDOW: All right. We`ll be right back.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source