Interview with Rep. Peter King
BOLDUAN: It's pretty neat to see everyone capturing those historic moments. Pope Francis mixed politics into his address at the White House yesterday, and, today, in a subtle and quite a nuanced way, he also touched on many of the most contentious political issues of the day in his address before that joint meeting of Congress. One person with a front row seat to this historic moment, Republican Congressman Peter King of New York, and he's joining me now from the Capitol. Congressman, it's great to see you. Thank you so much for taking the time. I want to get you take --</s>REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: Thank you, Kate.</s>BOLDUAN: Of course. I just want to get your take on that moment. What was it like to be in there for that historic moment, hearing the pope speak? Your thoughts?</s>KING: It was an extremely emotional moment. I was, you know, raised a catholic, am a practicing catholic, went to catholic schools and I'm old enough to remember when John Kennedy ran for president and there were people who were opposed to him, including some religious leaders, and they were saying that a catholic president would try to sneak the pope into the United States. And, sure enough, there you saw the doors open and to see the pope come in with the white vestments and walk down the center aisle of the Congress and have people of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds and racial backgrounds standing up, men and women, applauding him and basically he was speaking universal truths. He was speaking as the leader of the Catholic Church, as a leader in the Christian world, but really espousing truths and beliefs and principles that could be shared by everyone. It was just a very -- again, uplifting, majestic moments.</s>BOLDUAN: And he did, in his way, seemed to be uplifting. He called for everyone to come together, to work together. And, obviously, was a pretty strong message to members of Congress.</s>KING: Yes.</s>BOLDUAN: The pope, he did touch on, though, he didn't shy away from many of the contentious issues facing Congress right now, immigration reform, the refugee crisis, those being two of them. He kind of tied them together. What did you think when he said -- when he said at one point in his speech that we must not be taken aback by their numbers and then also relating it to the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you?</s>KING: Yes, well, first of all, my main takeaway from all of those issues was, the pope is saying we have to apply a moral dimension to what we do, which means looking beyond the political victories or defeats of the day and realizing that our decisions have consequences. That's true in any government, but especially in the United States where we are the world's leading power. Now, on immigration, he was saying don't be afraid of foreigners and look at immigrants as we look at ourselves, and also at the refugees. Now, again, if there's going to be a difference, and I know I was listening to your panel before, I -- yes, I certainly -- I'm a grandson of immigrants. I grew up in an immigrant community. And I certainly, you know, I looked at immigrants or refugees, I do see myself. I certainly see my grandparents and uncles and aunts. But, again, as leaders of the country, we also have to strike that balance as having secure borders, making sure the law is observed, otherwise we wouldn't have passports or visas. So what I would hope for today, for instance, on immigration, is that if both sides could say, hey, we have to look at this in a moral way, in a humane way, and also in a way that serves the country, if each side can come up with one or two positions on immigration that we could all agree with, start the process going, start going forward, so not having Republicans saying everything is amnesty or not having Democrats basically saying all or nothing. And it doesn't even have to be a comprehensive plan at first. But get it started and start talking civilly to each other. That, I think, would be the -- you know, the right -- to me, the best way to go forward and the best way to follow the pope's teaching. It wouldn't be all that everyone wants and it may be more that some others want --</s>BOLDUAN: Right.</s>KING: But as a nation -- and we are a divided government. We've got to find a way to find some common grounds.</s>BOLDUAN: And, congressman, in listening to you, I mean, you've really -- I get the sense that you -- you weren't just there to sit there. It sounds like you were really listening and taking to heart the message that the pope is trying to give off. You -- I know -- I read that you had spoken to Politico, especially on the issue relating to the Syrian refugee crisis.</s>KING: Right.</s>BOLDUAN: Also the Iran deal and his position. And you had said to Politico that his opinions there are no more important than anyone else's. And I wonder if you -- if his speech today, did it change your impression, especially with regards to -- let's talk about the Syrian refugee crisis? Did he change your -- did he change your mind any?</s>KING: Yes, again, I didn't see the exact quote in Politico and I have said with the Syrian refugees -- no, I mean, it's always, again, any time you have a man of God in the room, it has an impact. No, but I've followed the pope's encyclicals carefully. I've read them. I follow what he says. And I don't agree on some of the political decisions he makes, but I certainly agree on the moral component to it. And on the refugee crisis, I think we do have an obligation to let in refugees. I supported the boat people. I supported the Bosnian refugees in the 1990s coming to this country. My concern with the Syrian refugees is, whatever we do has to be done in a way where we're not going to be allowing terrorist in because this is different from previous cases. There were no databases. We know that ISIS is trying to bring terrorists into Europe and also into our country. So I have an obligation also. The pope says look after children. Well, I don't want children at a parade or at a sporting event being blown apparent by a terrorist we allowed into the country. That's that balance we have to strike. Those refugees, yes, we can accommodate a lot more refugees just on the question of numbers. My only concern, and the only concern I've raised, is on the issue of ISIS infiltrating those refugees because they're coming from an area where there is -- there are no background checks, there are no databases.</s>BOLDUAN: So do you, congressman, do you think there is a way for Congress to -- just for yourself, to keep with the pope's teaching and his message from this speech and also keep the border -- keep -- keep the country secure, keep the children secure that you're talking about?</s>KING: Yes, we have to find a way to do it. And I would also say, though, it's not just all on the Republican side because yesterday when the pope was at the White House, he was talking about the importance of religious liberty and people being able to espouse their beliefs, yet the White House sued the Sisters of the Poor. They bought them to court.</s>BOLDUAN: Uh-huh.</s>KING: And they also -- yesterday after his visit, my understanding is, to the White House, the pope unexpectedly stopped to visit the Sisters of the Poor. So I think there's really enough here going both ways. Like, for instance, on abortion and also contraception as far as being required.</s>BOLDUAN: Right.</s>KING: You know, the Democrats were cheering the pope today. They were also the ones who say that people who espouse the pope's positions on that are waging a war against women. Do they really think the pope is waging a war against women? And we could discuss those issues and throw that other stuff out. Don't be saying you're against women if you believe this and don't saying that you're pro-amnesty or you're pro-open borders or whatever.</s>BOLDUAN: Right.</s>KING: Let's just try to have it civil on both sides and do it in a -- in an intelligence way and also a moral way.</s>BOLDUAN: It will be interesting if he can -- it all shifts that conversation or at least the rhetoric on the conversation around these very politically and personal issues.</s>KING: Yes, I agree.</s>BOLDUAN: That I think everyone would enjoy seeing, especially from outside the halls of Congress. I do want to get your quick take, finally, looking ahead, the pope will be coming to New York later today and he's also going to be visiting the 9/11 Memorial tomorrow.</s>KING: Yes.</s>BOLDUAN: Just your thoughts on his decision to go there.</s>KING: That is certainly very moving to me because I lost so many friends down there and so many people in New York did. And that really is an example of the evil we face in the world today and that people have to stand together. And if I could just inject something in here right now. When the -- when the pope is there, I hope the people in Congress will realize the importance of extending the 9/11 health care bill for the cops and firefighters who are still ill because of what they suffered down there and also the necessity of us being vigilant and also never forget those who died and to see the evils and the dangers of religious extremism. Here you have a tolerant religious leader and you juxtapose that with the evil jihadists who killed 3,000 innocent Americans that day.</s>BOLDUAN: It will be important and it will be quite a moment having the pope visit that 9/11 Memorial and pray there.</s>KING: It will (ph).</s>BOLDUAN: Congressman, it's great to see you. Thanks so much for your time.</s>KING: Kate, thank you very much.</s>BOLDUAN: Thank you. So while the pope was invited by Republican lawmakers, the House speaker, of course, to address the joint session of Congress, his message resonated with many Democrats. Some of the issues I was just talking about there with Peter King. Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders, he praised the pope on many of the points that he made. Listen.</s>SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he came here today and touched on some very, very important issues that a lot of people would prefer not to talk about, and that is the issue of poverty, the issue of environmental degradation, immigration, the death penalty, the need to do everything we can to create a peaceful world. And I think he did it in a very dignified and nonpartisan-type way.</s>BOLDUAN: You know, following his address to the joint session of Congress, lawmakers invited the pope to stay for lunch. Well, the pope turned them down. We're going to show you what he did instead. Stay with us.