CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview with Gary Peters

Interview

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COOPER: Minority Leader McConnell's call for unified opposition

follows the apparent calculation by Democratic leadership in the White House, the brief negotiations with a small group of moderate Republicans aside, this is where the G.O.P. was always headed. That's what the Democrats certainly believed.

So they are now prepared to pass the bill on their own, and they are confident they have the votes to do it, which whatever you think of the legislation makes what's happening now, what's about to come next, basically, a stunt, one that will continue.

After the reading, there'll be 20 hours of debate, followed by time to offer potentially unlimited amendments, which will also slow down the process.

Joining us now is Michigan Democratic Senator, Gary Peters, Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Chairman Peters, you know, Senator Johnson, he's a member of your committee. What do you think is behind the delay tactic, having the entire bill read on the floor and planning to offer a couple hundred amendments?

SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): Well, I think you said it in the opening. It's just basically a political stunt, and basically is delaying this bill from going forward. And it's just so unfortunate that we're seeing this kind of behavior, given the fact that we've got people all across the country that are concerned about their future.

You mentioned, we have unemployment benefits ending in just a few days, people have that certainty. They're worried about putting food on the table, keeping a roof over their head. They want the certainty of knowing that legislation has passed that will extend that through the end of August.

We've got small businesses that are looking for funds, so they can stay open. We've got F.E.M.A. that we're trying to provide additional resources so we can expand the distribution of vaccines, so we can get it in as many arms as quickly as possible.

We're in the middle of a healthcare crisis. We're in the middle of an economic crisis, and yet, we're seeing a political stunt on the floor of the Senate that is only delaying the inevitable.

We need to be acting now. We shouldn't be delaying.

COOPER: Senator Romney, who is not really known for political stunt says he supports what Senator Johnson is doing, because it'll communicate that the bill quote, "has good objectives, but it's massively misdirected."

Do you think it's misdirected? I mean, what -- you know, the Republicans are saying, essentially, this is way too much money, and it's kind of too spread out?

PETERS: Well, it is focused on dealing with the COVID crisis to make sure that we deal with the public health aspects and get an economy up and running as quickly as possible.

If you look at economists and look at what they have said about this legislation, and these are economists all across the political spectrum, that have said that the economy is in a precarious situation. We need to make sure that we are investing in it.

And they said, you need to be bold. This is not about a tepid type of reaction. You need to be bold, put the money into the economy to make sure that we can recover quickly, but at the same time, making sure we're dealing with the public health aspects.

So that means ramping up production of vaccines and ramping up the ability to get those vaccines into people's arms. So we're dealing with a national crisis. We need a national response, and it needs to be bold. It needs to be strong.

COOPER: After yesterday's hearing with the D.C. National Guard Commander, which raised a lot of questions about the Pentagon's response in the day of the insurrection, and the orders that they gave him that he had to operate under. Do you plan to call former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy or the former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller to testify?

PETERS: Well, I certainly think we need to hear from them. There's no question. They were central in the discussion yesterday in the hearing.

Clearly, they're in the chain of command with the Commander-in-Chief, the former President at the top of that, but decisions were delayed.

You heard the testimony from General Walker, who said that it made no sense to see this delay. He did not see a delay like that in the summer when there were protests going on in Washington. The approvals came through quickly.

And yet he sat there with Guardsmen ready to go, sitting on buses, ready to get to the Capitol, and he testified very strongly that had they gotten there sooner, it would have made a major difference.

So why was there a delay? We know two individuals can give us some information and we're going to work to get that information. We're just figuring out exactly what process we'll go through in order to get it.

COOPER: Yes. Last night we had on General Mark Hertling, who was saying when you hear a General using the word, you know, something is very unusual twice. Walker used it in his testimony, that's a huge red flag that I mean, it's not just -- it's an understatement. But for a General to be using those terms, it means that -- you know, what was going on with this? Why we're there? You know, that he had to give special notice to the Secretary of the Army and an operational plan. That's, he said highly unusual.

[20:25:00]

PETERS: It is a highly unusual. He was very clear and in the discussions I had with him before that as well. And part of it, he says, when you're in a situation like we were at the Capitol that basically it's the Capitol Police that are running that operation.

And when he sends members of the National Guard there, they're basically working with a police. The police are telling them what they need to have happen and where to go. So that's the plan, basically support the operations of the local law enforcement. That's the role of the National Guard.

But it was clear, he said, he had those 150 people that he had ready to go sitting on buses, had they shown up and started unloading from the buses from his years of experience that would have had a major impact on that violent mob as it was attacking the Capitol to see those soldiers disembarking off those buses.

COOPER: Yes, Senator Gary Peters, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

PETERS. Thank you.

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