Van Jones Talks With Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D), Virginia; Rep. Ro Khanna (D), California; Rep. Jahana Hayes (D), Connecticut; Rep. Lucy McBath (D), Georgia and Rep. Deb Haaland (D), New Mexico On Various Issues
VAN JONES, CNN HOST: Hey, good evening. I'm Van Jones. Welcome to the "Van Jones Show". Thank you for tuning in. You're going to love tonight's program. In a bit I will show you my full report from the biggest conservative gathering in the country. It's true liberal Van Jones went to CPAC. I walked around, I talked to people. I even got up on the main stage and I may have broken Twitter at one point, but more on that later. First, you got a rowdy crop of newly elected Democrats shaking up everything in Congress, but they're not all exactly on the same page, so we're going to talk to a cross sample to get it to deeper insight about what is actually going on inside this Democratic Party. For the first couple weeks in Congress it was easy for them. They were united, they looked great, they were going up against the Trump shut down. Now we're dealing with a bunch of complicated polarizing issues. Turns out conducting a thorough investigation of the Trump administration becomes harder for Democrats when some of them are already shouting for impeachment before they've even got started. Working to clean up the environment or fix a broken healthcare system, gets complicated when you have proposals getting rushed out that some are already denouncing as socialism. And as we found out this week, Democrats strongly denouncing and calling out stereotyping becomes a bit more complicated when the controversial words are coming from a Democratic Congresswoman and not from Donald Trump or Steve King. So I applaud the Democrats for ultimately forcing a big vote condemning hatred and bigotry. I'm a little bit concerned about the 23 Republicans who voted no on that resolution. But I think it's fair to say Democrats are fighting out. That while diversity is really awesome, wrangling diverse backgrounds and opinions into a cohesive party is very, very difficult. Now on the positive side, I'm happy some progress is being made. You got House Democrats who've already passed meaningful legislation on common-sense, gun violence prevention. They're pushing to expand voting rights and they are keeping the spotlight on those shameful family separations, and we need answers on that. That crisis it's still going forward let's not forget those babies. But we got some big issues to deal with and the one group that's got to sort all this stuff out, all these newcomers in Congress who are in the middle of this all this confusion trying to do the right thing, so let's bring them out and see what they have to say about this whole big mess. Please welcome to the Van Jones Show Congressional Democrats Abigail Spanberger from Virginia, Ro Khanna from California, Jahana Hayes from Connecticut, Lucy McBath from Georgia and Debby (ph) Haaland from New Mexico. Welcome to "Van Jones Show". It's so awesome, look at this. You guys look amazing. You look so beautiful. Look like the rainbow colors. And I think the country is excited about this new energy, this new diversity. But do you think you guys might have too much diversity? I mean you got so many different issues and camps going on. I mean tell me tell the truth, is it good to have this much diversity or is like a big old train wreck?</s>REP. LUCY MCBATH (D), GEORGIA: We represent demographics that are existing in the country. This is what democracy looks like.</s>REP. DEB HAALAND (D), NEW MEXICO: And people who have never had a voice in in our politics before, so that's the most important.</s>JONES: You are one of the first Native Americans ever elected to the Congress. So let's give a big round of applause for that. That's a big deal. I know I know there's a good part to it, but there's also when you have that many different kind of people, you have different kinds of opinions. And this past week you had a big controversy when it came to Representative Ilhan Omar, her comments to took a big vote this week. How many people felt that the resolution you voted on denouncing hatred and bigotry would have been better if it was just focused on the anti-Jewish part. You're getting criticized for not focusing on anti-Jewish part, making the resolution too big. Does anybody agree with that criticism? I mean, we would you rather had a chance to just a vote on the anti- Jewish part.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hate is hate.</s>REP. RO KHANNA (D), CALIFORNIA: And we're not talking about actually the positive of this class. Look, Rashida Tlaib and Andy Levin both were in Michigan -- Jewish-American, Muslim-American and they were running on the Levin-Tlaib peace plan for the Middle East. Right. Our diversity is going to be ultimately a huge source of strength as we're going to hear perspectives. It's going to actually make our foreign policy more empathetic, more informed. And these folks are freshmen, they're going to grow. It's the first three months in office.</s>REP. JAHANA HAYES (D), CONNECTICUT: But I hope we don't change. I hope this freshman class doesn't change, because we bring the perspective that has been missing, the voices, the conversations that people in our communities are having, but nobody's having internally. They're not being elevated to the point that we actually begin to address the issues and make some meaningful.</s>JONES: Well it's good to shake up the conversation. You actually had some words with Speaker Pelosi, I understand, this week as you guys are trying to find -- see, I do my research. Talk about that what was that conversation about from your point of view when it comes to this week's challenges.</s>HAYES: So I had questions. I had questions about the resolution about the process -- not the content, but the process by which we got there. And I raised the fact as a Member of Congress, because I got elected. The people in my district sent me to Congress to represent them. As a member of Congress I should not get news that is so critically important to the work that I have to do from cable television.</s>JONES: Wow.</s>HAYES: That was my position. We have to do better than that. We have to have a space where people can have some input have some dialogue have some open conversation so that when my phone is ringing and my constituents are asking me, I have an answer better than I haven't read it. So that was what I elevated. In this idea that stay quiet in your first term, because -- I'm only guaranteed one term. I don't know if I'm coming back in 2020, so I'm here now, people elected me and I have work to do.</s>REP. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D), VIRGINIA: I think that Jahana's point is exactly right. We were elected this is this is our term. I think we can't look long-term. I took a seat that hasn't been held by a Democrat -- hasn't elected a Democrat in 50 years. I'm here to serve central Virginia now and to act on behalf of Central Virginians now and to Ro's point we want to be working for something and we are. Last week we had an incredible first step forward on gun violence prevention, things that -- a bipartisan bill that had been stuck in Committee for years because there wasn't the leadership to bring it forward. We finally did it, we passed it.</s>JONES: I know that a lot more positive stuff happens in any organization, in any family than ever gets on the news, and that's true with your delegation. But you had Donald Trump now say the Democratic Party is an anti-Jewish party.</s>SPANBERGER: Well, let me speak to that. I'm from Virginia where we had Nazis walking in the streets shouting anti-Semitic slurs with tiki torches in their hands, threatening people who live in central Virginia, threatening Americans. Anti-Semitic shouting. This is very clear in our district we have had vandalism on our community centers where children are at camp and at daycare anti-Semitic slurs it's happened throughout Virginia. So this is incredibly, incredibly serious and I think everyone within the delegation, within our caucus understands how incredibly serious this is and we have to be forceful and strong when we're denouncing anti-Semitism because it is poisonous and it is corrosive. And as a Democratic Party we recognize that in addition to denouncing anti-Semitism, calling it out wherever we see it, whoever speaks those words, we also recognize that all forms of hate are corrosive in and eat away at our communities and our society.</s>KHANNA: And then let's look at the results because of Jahana and other interventions, we had a unanimous vote of the caucus condemning anti- Semitism and hate. The only people who voted for against the resolution were the Republicans. 23 Republicans apparently think that anti-Semitism or Islamophobia is fine. Yes there were disagreements in the caucus and one of the results that came out is we made sure that Ilhan Omar wasn't personally named in the resolution, and that's healthy. You want to have a spirited debate. You want Jahana and the Speaker to have a conversation. But you look at the results, I don't think what Ilhan said was appropriate, but she's apologized. She has said she should -- we should move on. Steve King has had a lifetime of racism. Ilhan Omar is not anti-Semitic. Anyone who knows her knows that about her. She is one who wants to listen, to have dialogue, she's sensitive to that. So I think this the only people who are making these kind of moral comparisons are the Republicans who aren't even willing to vote for a clean resolution to condemn anti-Semitism or Islamophobia.</s>HAYES: One of the other things that that I think we see happening as a result of this class is these are the types of conversations that are happening in my community already. I had people calling my office. The phone was ringing all day on both sides. We want you to support, we want you not to support. Advice from every community and this is how we feel and that's what my district looks like. So when I go to --</s>JONES: Not new for you.</s>HAYES: -- caucus. It's not new.</s>JONES: No new for your classroom, your community.</s>HAYES: Exactly. So by diversifying the Congress, we're introducing the conversations that are already happening in our communities.</s>JONES: Well, let's move on because as much as Trump is coming after Democrats on some of this stuff, Democrats kind of coming after Trump as well, so let's talk about that. What's the plan here? Are you guys -- I mean you want to get like 81 people -- dozens of people like to come and testify. You're trying to get thousands of documents. Is this presidential harassment?</s>SPANBERGER: So we -- in Congress we have a responsibility to legislate to govern and we have a responsibility -- a constitutional responsibility for oversight.</s>HAALAND: Americans have been have been wanting the Congress to do something about this oversight for a long time, since the President was elected the Republicans refused. And so now that were -- we have the majority in the House, we're doing what the American people sent us to Congress to do. And it's not presidential harassment. It is -- like Abigail said it's our duty.</s>MCBATH: Americans deserve the truth. No matter what comes out of these investigations, no matter what comes. I said on judiciary, so of course there's a lot that's coming before. And I'm sure you've heard Chairman Nadler just recently say, we're going to be asking lots of questions of lots of individuals trying to get to the truth of what's happening through the Mueller investigation. So the American people deserve the truth and that is our responsibility with congressional oversight, with this coequal branch of government to find the truth no matter what it is, we have to find --</s>JONES: Let me ask you a question. Who here, right now has seen enough truth and read enough truth to be ready for impeachment right now? Let's show hand. Nobody? Nobody is ready for impeachment?</s>HAYES: We're waiting for -- I'm waiting personally for the results of the investigation. And even through all of these conversations, it's not about Donald Trump. This is the office of the President, this is upholding the Constitution. If these were Barack Obama and we had seen everything that we're seeing, I want some answers. I want the judiciary and Congressman Nadler to demand that we get this information. It doesn't matter who the person is.</s>JONES: So what do you think about Representative Tlaib, you think she's premature?</s>HAYES: If she ran on that platform.</s>MCBATH: Yes. Everyone has the ability to decide for them what's most important. We're all -- I think we're very highly opinionated.</s>JONES: Yes, I've noticed.</s>MCBATH: Very much so. But each and every one is -- one of us has decided what we believe is important. Impeachment is a very serious process and it's not to be taken lightly. There's -- no one wants to be able to say in the United States of America, well, we're going forward to impeach the President -- The Commander-in-Chief, that's not what we want to have to do. So it we have to weigh very critically and balance very critically the information that's being put forth. We've got to be able to substantiate it if it is to be we deserve to make sure that we're finding the truth.</s>HAYES: But there are people who in this country who want impeachment and those people -- elected representatives who felt the same way. So she -- Congresswoman Tlaib had been unapologetic in her stance on this. She hasn't tried to hide it. She was crystal clear through the campaign.</s>JONES: She ran on it.</s>HAYES: She ran on it, and people elected her. So she has -- she's carrying forward the people in the district that she represents.</s>KHANNA: I never thought the thing I miss most about President Obama is he didn't -- he wasn't surrounded with people who were indicted and the bar and it has been set to so low.</s>HAYES: The times so seems so trivial.</s>JONES: All right. Up next, we're going to talking about 2020 and what is the issues, who's going to determine who gets the Democratic Party's nomination the next time. And who does this group want to see on the ticket. Stay tuned and find out when we get back