CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview with Jeff Merkley
Interview
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BERMAN: Now, we thought we thought he was fine with what was there this morning. So who knows at this point? Ryan Nobles, thank you very much.
Joining us now Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, Senator Merkley, thank you so much for being with us. Do you have any information, any more information on the deal that Leader Schumer is about to announce?
SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): It sounded like it pretty much had the two changes it looked like to me, and this was on a very quick glance, was the time went from September -- end of September to September 6th, so cutting three weeks off, which essentially means that there's time to come back right at Labor Day and decide whether the unemployment is such that we need to continue extending it further.
So, it gives us an ability at that moment after the Senate and House have normally been out for a couple of weeks in August to get it done. So that's an important lead from the Portman amendment, which would have said, hey, we're going to cut this off, just as legislature starts to break and we might be leaving people stranded. So the idea here is we will not leave people stranded.
It also appears that there was an additional income cap added for the tax deduction that would go to those who are on unemployment to help compensate for moving from $400 to $300. So those appear to be the changes.
[20:05:16]
BERMAN: And you'll vote for this?
MERKLEY: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. This is the right deal. This is, in essence, what Senator Carper was proposing earlier with some slight adjustments that address some of Senator Manchin's concerns. So a compromise has been forged.
BERMAN: How comfortable are you with this reality that I think the Democratic Caucus faces now in the Senate that Joe Manchin has a one- man veto over everything you're trying to do?
MERKLEY: All 50 of us in the Democratic Caucus have a one-person veto, and it tells you the level of challenge it is to work together. Our basic philosophies are the same. Let's rebuild America from the ground up, from Main Street up. But we're all going to have a series of things that we would do differently.
And some of that leverage is exerted early and clearly in the fashions that adjust the bill, and then sometimes there's some last-minute surprises.
And when that happens, we work through it as we have tonight. BERMAN: How do you assess how much though you, as a progressive, has
had to give up? I know, you were in favor of increasing the minimum wage because of the Parliamentarian, that's not part of the senate version of the bill, although I think some Democrats would like to try to force it in. But that's gone.
The unemployment benefits. I know that you have a deal tonight, but I think you probably wanted $400 a week as opposed to the $300 a week. So, you've had to give up a lot. Do you feel like progressives are giving up more than the moderates?
MERKLEY: You know that tax deduction is going to do a lot to compensate for the difference between $400 and $300. There were major things that I wanted in this bill. I wanted a major effort to stop utility cut offs because families should not be stranded without electricity or water or broadband as we try to recover from this nightmare of COVID. I didn't get it.
But I'll tell you, this is a huge bill for America. This is so essential, not only does it have the unemployment, it has the direct payment to individuals with this $1,400 and the previous $600. We are at the $2,000 mark that we were aiming for.
This has so much helped in housing. The vaccination effort will accelerate with this bill. We have a lot of help for state and local government.
This is about rebuilding America from Main Street up and we can quibble over the details, but it is a huge winning compilation of support for ordinary Americans.
BERMAN: Eight Democratic senators voted against putting an amendment on this to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. How do you feel about that? I mean, what does that tell you about the possibility of getting a minimum wage increase in the future?
MERKLEY: Well, clearly, we're going to be back on this topic. There are various strategies about the minimum wage, how you phase it in over time, how many years does it take to get to $15?
Oregon has a plan. My home state has a plan where rural areas, where wages are much lower, but living expenses are much lower that it creates a parallel, but lower minimum wage.
There must be a way to bring 50 of us together, hopefully a hundred of us together, but a lot of us together. Nobody can live on $7.25 an hour. I would challenge anyone who votes against a minimum wage to try doing that.
And so, we don't want to create a shock to the economy. We'll figure it out. We've got to be back, and we've got to get this minimum wage passed.
BERMAN: So, President Biden obviously ran on -- in his Inaugural Address, he talked about the importance of unity and bipartisanship. This bill that you're voting on has exactly zero Republican report that we know of at least tonight. So, what does that tell you about the possibility for bipartisanship?
MERKLEY: Well, it makes us very aware of McConnell's philosophy of power. And we saw this when he was in the minority under Obama. His strategy is delay and obstruct, delay and obstruct, never reach a deal. Make it as hard as possible. Don't let there be any successes while there is a Democrat in the Oval Office.
I think this is a deeply corrupted vision of power that goes against the purpose of the vision of a Congress coming together to solve problems for America, not to paralyze Congress in order to create pain so that you have a better leg up in the next election.
So, we're seeing it -- we are seeing it again. We see the McConnell strategy. We see that he has complete control of his caucus, and we know this show. We've seen it before.
We will keep reaching out. I know the President will keep reaching out, but when push comes to shove, McConnell says make sure they don't succeed, and we just will have to overcome that.
BERMAN: You know, you look surprisingly energetic and sprightly for someone who may have a long night and weekend ahead of you. Just how frustrated are you?
Everyone was so mad at Ron Johnson last night for calling for the reading of the bill that took 11 hours. What happened today took nine hours. These nine hours delay today because of Joe Manchin. Just how frustrating is it?
MERKLEY: You know, I was thinking about how when Ron Johnson did that. I said, well, there goes my anniversary weekend with my wife out in Oregon, and so it already looked pretty gloomy, and then of course, this this puts a seal on it. I will not be with her. She knows that the Senate is a creature that continuously disrupts our lives. But we will make that up in a week to come.
[20:10:45]
MERKLEY: Meanwhile, getting this done. I know I feel -- I do feel energized right now because we are on the path to get this done this weekend. Maybe we get it. Maybe it'll be Sunday morning, maybe we will go through Saturday night as well as Friday night.
I don't know, but we're going to get it done, and we're going to deliver it on time for the March 14th timing so that unemployment doesn't collapse. It's going to help in tremendous ways across America.
And it's been a while since I've just felt like, okay, now this is work well done. And so, if we don't get it done this weekend, then you will see a very depressed Jeff Merkley on Monday morning, but I think we are. I think we're going to succeed.
BERMAN: Well, look Senator Merkley, thank you for being with us. Happy anniversary. You know, I hope Senator Johnson and Senator Manchin send a nice gift out west. Appreciate you being with us. MERKLEY: Thank you so much, John.
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