MSNBC "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Ro Khanna

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

O`DONNELL: Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California. He`s a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Representative Khanna, thank you very much for joining us tonight.

So, Nancy Pelosi said I trust the president on Thursday, and she trusted him so much on Thursday she was ready to have a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, it sounds now like the progressive caucus trust the president to the same extent, and is willing to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill now.

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): We do, we are. Here is why we didn`t vote on Thursday. We wanted on vote on both things, on the bipartisan bill and on the Build Back Better bill.

And the reason, Lawrence, is we had no say on the bipartisan bill, we wanted things like climate position -- a lot of progress was made this weekend, we had a lot of calls with progressives. At the end of the weekend, before Senator Manchin`s statement, we came to a sense that we wanted both bills voted on this week, and we`re going to do that.

O`DONNELL: Well, you can`t -- as you know you can`t really vote on the reconciliation bill until CBO has scored it. There is no point in voting for it because it wouldn`t be a proper legislative vehicle without that CBO score.

So what Manchin was saying as kind of threatening was it sounded, was actually describing what the Senate procedure is.

KHANNA: Correct. But, let`s see when they pulled it for a vote, let`s see when the CBO score comes, I know they`re trying to expedite, at maybe we vote by the end of the week. I think the point is that we will have both votes together, in terms of sequentially in the House, as I understand it.

For both for them, the infrastructure bill will go to the president`s desk, that becomes law. The other bill, there is some risk, and this all depends on the Senate voting for it.

[22:25:04]

I am confident that this president will prevail and that we will get universal child care, we will get the biggest climate, we will look at universal preschool, and that those priorities will be in the final bill.

O`DONNELL: So, your position that is, let`s have the House basically just call the senate`s bluff on this, which is to say called the bluff of two senators, Sinema who remains absolutely silent, and Joe Manchin who said he would and he had to say today.

You want the House to vote on the reconciliation bill, send it to the Senate, and then just find out if Joe Manchin and Sinema are willing to vote for it.

KHANNA: Exactly. And I really don`t think, when push comes to some of, any of the House having voted for this unanimously in terms of Democrats, maybe one or two defections, you have the speaker for it, you have the president for it, you have Senator Schumer for of it -- and one or two senators are going to sink the bill. I refused to believe that. I think they`re going to vote by and large for the framework.

And remember this, Lawrence, President Biden didn`t make that commitment for Democrats for months. It would`ve been easy for him two months to go to say, hey, look, I have all the votes. He didn`t do it he`s very careful about his work, I disagreed with the president, but the one thing he says straight shooter.

When he gets his word for something, you can take it to the bank. And I think that`s why a lot of people trust him.

O`DONNELL: So, this would be a big strategic shift for Speaker Pelosi, for as far as I can remember -- when Democrats have had control of both Houses, has never sent a bill to the Senate, to the Democratic Senate, without an understanding that the Democratic said it could pass that version of the bill.

KHANNA: She`s still maintaining that. She`s saying that she wants to make sure that whatever we passed in the House, passes at the Senate. She doesn`t want members have to vote for something that doesn`t become law. I think the speaker is confident based on what the president is saying, that the votes will be there.

Look, sometimes, senators say things publicly, they have to say things publicly, what matters is what are the assurances they are given. I am confident that this president has the assurances of every senator, that they will not stand in the way in delivering to the American people.

But at the end, we have to come together as a party, we have to do something for this country, we have to do something for the working class. This will be transformative.

And, Lawrence, one point, Bill Clinton had 57 senators, Obama had 60 senators. This president is going to pull up perhaps the most transformative agenda for the working class in the last 40 years with 50 senators. He deserves credit.

O`DONNELL: Yeah, there`s never been anything like it. I mean, the idea that you can have an active agenda, from either party really, with 50 senators, is just something that we`ve never seen before. And as we all know, the Senate hurdles are just too high when there`s only 50 senators, you get 51 votes with the vice president on your side.

And so, it is remarkable that it has come this far. But, it seems tonight that we`re still sitting here not having any idea what Joe Manchin`s going to be willing to do in the end. Although it seems he`s going to be on some version of the bill.

But, Senator Sinema, we just don`t have the biggest idea. She just seems to have no sense of responsibility whatsoever, for public accountability for letting her voters know what work she`s trying to do, or letting her colleagues in the Congress know what she`s trying to accomplish.

KHANNA: Lawrence, that`s what`s been disappointing and we`ve discussed this before. No transparency, no accountability, but I`m convinced now that she`s told a few key people that she`s for.

But think about it like this, let`s say you have a big family Thanksgiving dinner, you`re doing the man you, and any one person, anyone relative, can`t say no to the whole thing. I mean, that`s what it`s like for this president. And he sat there hours. Okay, spend an hour with the president - - he spent hours with lawmakers, he sat with progressives longer than I`ve sat with progressives.

He`s had so much patience. He has so many relationships, the speaker has so many relationship, they`re pulling together something that is remarkable. And history won`t judge all the scrimmage is, they`ll drug that finally we did something for the working class, putting more money in their pockets with the child allowance tax credit. I`m excited about that phase when we get to tell people what we`re doing.

O`DONNELL: Congressman Ro Khanna, thank you very much for joining us once again tonight. We really appreciate it.

KHANNA: Appreciate it.

O`DONNELL: Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source