NBC "Meet the Press" - Interview with Tim Scott

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

CHUCK TODD:

That's for sure. Blayne Alexander, getting things started for us at the scene at the Wendy's in Atlanta. Blayne, thanks very much. Joining me now from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina is Senator Tim Scott who has been tapped to lead the Republican effort at police reform. Senator Scott, welcome back to Meet the Press. And I just want to get your reaction--

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

Good morning, Chuck

CHUCK TODD:

-- to what you've seen in Atlanta in the last 48 hours and what you make of the swift action that has already taken place with the firing of the police officer and the resignation of the police chief.

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

I certainly think the mayor decided to fire the officer, have the chief resign in order to perhaps quell the response from the community. That video is disturbing to watch, but I'm not sure that it's as clear as what we've seen around the country on some of the other issues that have driven us to the point where we're actually having a serious conversation around police reform. The conversation is necessary. Very important. That situation is an outlier from what, really, has brought us to where we are as it relates to police reform and George Floyd.

CHUCK TODD:

The issue of use of force though in how quickly use of force -- when do you escalate and things like that, I feel like that does --that is part of this larger conversation you're seeing there. As part of police reform, should there be a federal standard on use of force and when it's required, when it isn't?

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

I think it's really difficult to establish a codified and law standard for use of force. There are millions of scenarios that play out. It's one of the reasons why what we have tried to achieve through the legislation is finding the best practices around use of force around the country and then provide that clarity and guidance for those departments who may need to have a better, better perspective on use of force. So we're getting at it. But I'm not sure we're ever going to codify in law a use of force standard.

CHUCK TODD:

So if you can't codify it into law, what would a best practice look like? I mean, have you identified a local police force that you think is doing it right when it comes to trying to create, you know, sort of different training, better training when it comes to use of force?

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

I think you've seen under the previous administration and under this administration, we're focusing, at least I am, on trying to find a way to get the former police officers, current police officers and civilians to work on a commission to help us to discern what it looks like to have effective policies that lead to better outcomes in those intense split, split-second decisions. That's what we're achieving through our commission that studies the use of force and the best practices around it. There are other aspects of it that we can be more clear on like the chokehold. This is a policy whose time has come and gone. And we try to tackle that on the local level, the House policy tackles that on the state level. I think the president's looking at a national perspective on that from his executive order. But every single aspect of all three levers want to tackle the issue of chokeholds. And that's part of that entire conversation around the de-escalation of force.

CHUCK TODD:

I want to show here -- quite a few local and state communities have already enacted reform measures. Six states have done -- either the governors have issued executive orders or their legislature has passed some reform, signed them in the law. And a whole bunch of communities that we're going to show in a scroll have, or police departments, have instituted different things like a ban on the chokehold, for instance. I know Miami-Dade did that among others. But on the federal level, what has the most momentum here? What has the most consensus? The Democrats want to create a national registry to track police misconduct. They want to end no-knock warrants. You already talked about chokeholds. And they want to reduce qualified immunity for police officers. Of those four priorities, and we're going to -- like I said, chokeholds there's a lot of consensus, where are you on the other three?

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

Well, no-knocks we certainly want to understand. There's no actual database on no-knocks. We don't know when it's used, to whom it's used against, we don't know the race, the sex, the age. We know nothing about no-knocks except for the Breonna Taylor situation that was tragic without question. So I want to take the Breonna Taylor case and have an act that requires more data to be provided so that we can actually come out with policies that are consistent with the best use of no-knocks or the elimination of no-knocks. We just don't have the information to get there. I know that the House bill says let's just eliminate it for drug cases. But we have no information that supports that that is the best way to go. I'm interested in having that conversation. If we get to the end of the road and we have a negotiation that will be on the table. Whether it's a local or state approach on chokeholds, that will be on the table. Whether there's a national registry, a state registry or a local department by department registry around the misconduct, that will be on the table as well. So there are approaches that are very similar and somewhat different --

CHUCK TODD:

Right.

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

-- at the same time. I think we're going to get to a bill--

CHUCK TODD:

How --

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

-- that actually becomes law.

CHUCK TODD:

I was just going to say, it seems as if your disputes are more in implementing the goal, in implementing, in implementation to get to the goal, whether it's financial incentives to encourage change versus mandates. Is that the -- do you think there are more disputes sort of on implementation than on the larger goal?

SEN.TIM SCOTT:

Well, Chuck, let me just put some skin on that, that comment that you just made. So the House bill reduces money or takes money away from states on the chokehold issue. We take it from departments, department by department. On the qualified immunity, something that you mentioned, we would -- I would be interested in decertification of officers, the left says that's a union issue that's kind of hard to get at. Qualified immunity on the right, that's an issue that most Republicans don't like at all, to include myself. So the question is, is there a path forward that we take a look at the necessity of eliminating bad behavior within our law enforcement community? Is there a path forward? I think we'll find that. I'm not sure that it's qualified immunity.

CHUCK TODD:

Right.

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

It seems like it won't be decertification. But there's going to be more information provided to the public so that we can make concrete decisions. But if we're that close on making progress --

CHUCK TODD:

Right.

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

I hope we don't let partisanship get in the way.

CHUCK TODD:

Well, let me ask you about the president and the role he plays here. It, you know, he's, even now, called demonstrators thugs. He's uncomfortable with some of -- he's talked about some of the things he doesn't want to see. They've called getting rid of qualified immunity a non-starter. And of course there's his own history, right, with, when it comes to race that is, to some people, remarkably consistent and not in a good way. Can he play a role here that gets this across the finish line without sort of, maybe, apologizing for some of his views on race over the years?

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

I think we can -- A) I think the answer is yes. B) I think he is engaging now in a way that is constructive and helpful. C) The executive order that will come out I think on Tuesday really does reference a national database strengthening and national database on police misconduct, from my understanding. It also talks about the importance of co-responders from a mental health perspective that both law enforcement and communities like that approach. So I think he's weighing in at the right time in a constructive manner. I'll look at yesterday's speech at West Point where he talked about the powerful institutions of authority in this country and how they eliminated desegregation, broke the back of it. How the Civil War led to the freedom of African Americans in this country. His approach yesterday at West Point is what we'd like to see a whole lot more of because it was constructive, it is important that all three levers of government work together to solve what is, in fact, the original sin of this country. If we do that, I think the American people will celebrate, neither party, but the fact that we worked together as one country.

CHUCK TODD:

Senator Scott, considering that the Trump campaign, sort of, ended up planning a rally in Tulsa, of all places on Juneteenth. They've since moved it.

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

Yes.

CHUCK TODD:

But I'm curious, do you think if Juneteenth were a federal holiday already, you know, sort of marked in a way that, one of the ways we use our federal holidays, is for remembrance, for education, for things like that, a mistake like that wouldn't have happened?

SEN.TIM SCOTT:

I do think the more information we have, obviously if there was a national holiday, Chuck, you're hitting the nail on the head, we would all know about Juneteenth. We'd all have an opportunity to celebrate it. And frankly, there would be fewer mistakes on that day. One of the aspects of our legislation, frankly, is providing resources in a very similar fashion as it's done at the Holocaust Museum, we want to do something at the African American Museum to celebrate Juneteenth and Oklahoma, the Tulsa, Oklahoma race riot and 100 years ago next year. We think the more education, the information that we provide the better people behave in all corridors of this nation. --

CHUCK TODD:

Yeah.

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

-- But specifically within the law enforcement community. So we have an opportunity to do that in our legislation, we provide some resources for that historical perspective and understanding that I think will bring us --

CHUCK TODD:

What about a federal holiday?

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

-- closer together. Well, listen, I'm open to it. I've been talking to some of my friends throughout the country, including at the White House. I think that's a brilliant idea. The conservatives in the House seem to be interested in that. So you never know what may happen.

CHUCK TODD:

Senator Tim Scott, Republican from South Carolina, we look forward to the, I guess you're going to unveil more of this next week, on police reform. We'll be taking a look and watching. Thanks for coming and sharing your perspective, sir.

SEN. TIM SCOTT:

Looking forward to it, thank you, Chuck.

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