CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview With Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC)
Interview
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All right. Jeff Zeleny, see you as well. Thank you so much. All right. Joining me right now -- another place I lived -- South Carolina. But with me now, South Carolina Democrat and the Majority Whip in the House, Congressman Jim Clyburn. Congressman -- so good to see you.
All right. So this is a really --
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Thank you --
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WHITFIELD: -- yes, a really busy weekend, a very busy week particularly as we get ready for the South Carolina primary on Saturday.
And this morning, you know, you've already been talking about Senator Bernie Sanders and his win in Nevada. You said he brings a lot to the table -- and I'm quoting you. You know, is that a compliment, is that alluding to your endorsement of him?
CLYBURN: It is a compliment. I think he does bring a lot to the table. He has demonstrated that he can generate a lot of enthusiasm among young people, he can energize a crowd. He does that very well. And I think that he's bringing a lot to the table.
But I also said he brings a few other things that we have to be concerned about here in South Carolina especially, throughout this region.
WHITFIELD: Like what?
CLYBURN: On Super Tuesday, people are concerned about this whole self- proclaimed Democratic socialist. Socialism since I was a student in grade school, it was something that engendered a kind of -- a vociferous reaction among people of a negative nature.
[14:09:52]
CLYBURN: And socialism, though it's kind of interesting -- we have Social Security, we've got Medicare, we've got Medicaid -- but we do it in such a way that we divorce those things from socialism as economy.
And people are very concerned about that. And we are trying to rebuild our party in South Carolina. We are trying to elect more people to Congress. There are only two of the seven members from South Carolina who are Democrats.
And we have a candidate, Jaime Harrison, running for the United States Senate. He is of great interest to us. And we think we have an opportunity to pull off a great win in South Carolina with Jaime Harrison, and so we are concerned about having taken from top to bottom that we can really be successful with.
WHITFIELD: Because you said just this morning on ABC, you said, you know, for South Carolina voters, you know, the words Democratic socialist have always had dire consequences.
CLYBURN: Right.
WHITFIELD: And you're also talking big picture. You're worried that the Democratic socialist label that Bernie Sanders embraces might cost you seats in Congress.
CLYBURN: Yes, I am worried about that, you know. We just got back -- I mean I've been in Congress 28 years. And for 22 of those years, I've been in the minority. And there are some things that we need to do.
We've got to make this great country, all of its greatness -- accessible and affordable for all of its citizens. And to do that, Democrats need to be in charge in the House. We've just passed over 400 bills that are sitting over in the Senate, and we need somebody over in the Senate that will bring those bills to the floor.
So the way to do that is to maintain our majority in the House, regain the majority in the Senate, and put somebody in the White House who will sign these bills once we pass them in these two bodies. That's what my number one goal is. So some say this is --
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WHITFIELD: I think we can then surmise that your endorsement --
CLYBURN: I'm sorry?
WHITFIELD: I guess we can then surmise that your endorsement is not that of Bernie Sanders. On Wednesday you plan to make public your endorsement a few days ahead of voters going to the ballot at the primaries on Saturday. Your vote is very influential, your endorsement is very influential. You've been called a king maker.
Why Wednesday, are you revealing who you're endorsing?
CLYBURN: Well, I got to Charleston around 1:30 on yesterday afternoon, stopped off at my favorite eating -- one of my favorite eating places here in Charleston, Bertha's Kitchen. And from the moment I got there, people were coming up to me and asking, are you going to endorse? Who are you going to -- let us know who you think is best for us to vote for.
So I came to the conclusion that I need to say to people immediately after this debate on Tuesday night who I think is the best choice.
So sometime around 9:30, 10:00 on Wednesday morning, I'm going to reveal exactly who I think is best and why I think that person is best. And I hope that there would be a majority of South Carolinians agreeing with me.
WHITFIELD: And is it your hope that making that public endorsement will also persuade voters, influence them?
CLYBURN: I hope so. I think if people are asking me who I'm for, I don't know if I need to persuade them. All I need to do is inform and tell them why. They're persuaded to vote already. They are persuaded to be Democrats. They want to --
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WHITFIELD: Did you make up your mind a long time ago?
CLYBURN: I think so. I've been telling people that I've known for some time who I am going to vote for. But I have promised the Democratic National Committee and the sponsors, media sponsor of our debate, that I would not get out in front of the debate and render that any kind of confusion about it.
And, really, I should not do anything to jeopardize South Carolina's status as the first in nation -- or first in the south primary.
I want to show why South Carolina ought to be first in the nation as a primary because we got the demographics that make up the Democratic Party. We've got African-Americans, Hispanics -- how our numbers are different.
We've got quite -- progressives who want to see Democrats in office. That's why Jaime Harrison is doing so well in his race for the United States Senate. A lot of people seem to be surprised at that. I'm not. Because we have some pretty progressive people here in South Carolina.
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CLYBURN: A lot of people who are white really would like to see new leadership in the Senate and new leadership in the White House. So we're not doing anything here to jeopardize our being successful with that.
All right. I want to shift gears just a little bit if I could, you know. Last night at the NAACP Image Awards, American hero to all of us, your colleague Congressman John Lewis was honored with the Chairman's Award. He did not attend the ceremony as he's fighting stage 4 pancreatic cancer. What are your thoughts about your good friend today?
CLYBURN: You know, John -- I get so emotional when I talk about John. We first met each other in autumn of 1960 when we were organizing what became known as SNCC -- the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. And we've maintained that friendship all through the years.
And it turned out that he made a choice to get married -- he married a librarian. And I married a librarian, and the two of them became fast friends. And we are now both widowed.
John and I are very close. When I saw that he was going to be honored by the NAACP and watching him making that acceptance speech last night, I got very emotional about it. I love John. And I hate to see what he's going through. I just think they made a great choice.
And quite frankly, on Tuesday evening, Bennie Thompson and I will take to the stage at the debate, before the debate starts, and we will have things to say about John Lewis and Jesse Jackson, who is now suffering with some health issues. So the two of them have great ties to South Carolina. John Lewis was first physically attacked here at Rock Hill, South Carolina. The first time, long before Selma. And this is the birthplace for Jesse Jackson.
In fact, Jesse and I were on competing football teams when we were growing up. He was up in Greenfield Spalding High School, I was at Camden Military Academy, and we have been friends ever since as well.
So on Tuesday night, we will honor both of those people, and John Lewis, he (INAUDIBLE) had been a national icon. And what this country is all about is John Lewis.
WHITFIELD: He is indeed. He is all of our great American heroes.
Congressman James Clyburn -- thank you so much. Appreciate it.
CLYBURN: Thank you for having me.
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