CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript Interview with James Clyburn

Interview

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[09:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Swing voters in swing states. As the party has moved left, Senator Harris, who had a relatively centrist record as attorney general of California, has moved left as well.

I wonder, are you concerned that that will damage the Democratic ticket among swing voters in swing states?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): No, I don't, because I really believe, as I have said often, this country goes like a pendulum on the clock. This country doesn't move in the millennial plane. It goes left for a while, it goes back right for a while. We saw this country go left and elect Barack Obama. It went right back and elected Donald Trump. This country is going back to the left.

Now, I tell people all the time, wherever it goes, it passes through the center. It's going left to right, it goes to the center. Right to left, it goes to the center. So this country camps out in the center twice as much as it does left or right.

And this country started moving back to the center within months of having some experiences with Donald Trump. And so I think that this ticket is right where the country is. That's why you see Jamie Harrison running ten points above Lindsey Graham among independents in South Carolina.

SCIUTTO: Right.

CLYBURN: Just think about that.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

CLYBURN: So I really believe that this team is right where the country is.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Congressman, you told NPR last night that Vice President Biden did ask you for your opinion on some of the candidates. I assume -- I'm going -- I think it's safe to assume here that Harris is one of them that he asked you about. And as I understand it, you found out before the rest of the country found out that she was his pick.

Tell us about that call and also tell us about his mindset. How did he finally come to this decision to choose Harris?

CLYBURN: Well, I haven't talked with the vice president throughout all of this time and I wanted really to keep a public position that did not detract from the independence of Joe Biden. And so I never discussed with the public what I was discussing with him. Yes, we had several conversations. He did ask my advice about most of the people he was considering.

And I told him what I felt about each and every one of them. I never gave one a choice over the other. I simply said to him that these are the pluses and these are the minuses. And I really believe that you have to let your heart and your head go to work here after you've heard from all of us who you think (ph) -- have confidence in.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

Congressman, in the primary, as a candidate for president, Kamala Harris, she underperformed at times among black voters, sometimes finished behind not just Biden and Sanders but also Elizabeth Warren. And I wonder why you believe that is and whether you think that will be different in the general election?

CLYBURN: Well, you know, it's kind of interesting, but throughout South Carolina, I was talking to people before I made my announcement, even before -- while she was still in the race. People were saying to me that to them the dream ticket would be Biden and Harris, Biden and Harris. They wanted to see her at the second spot on this ticket. And that's a reason that a lot of people were not supporting her because they wanted to see Biden as the nominee and wanted to see her where she is today.

And I can tell you -- I can't tell you how many times I've had tweets and texts since yesterday, since this announcement, telling me, didn't I tell you this was the ticket? Didn't I tell you? Yes, people told me that often.

So I think that's where she was seen and that's one reason why people did not rush to her to be tops on the ticket --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

CLYBURN: Because they really wanted to see her exactly where she is today.

HARLOW: Congressman James Clyburn, good to have you. Thanks so much.

CLYBURN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Yes, indeed.

CLYBURN: I appreciate it.

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