CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript Interview with Mike Braun

Interview

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Senator Braun, thanks so much for joining us.

SEN. MIKE BRAUN (R-IN): You bet.

BLITZER: I know this is an issue you're focusing on very closely. That's called qualified immunity which offers protections for law enforcement officers. It's been a major sticking point in police reform efforts. You're safe to be breaking with your own party to introduce a new bill that seeks to redefine that standard. Tell us why you're stepping out on your own right now, what's at stake?

BRAUN: Well, I've always in conducting my life, running my business, embraced full transparency, accountability, I think it's what makes the world tick. And I have some difficulty when you try to be selective in where you want it to apply. And I also look because I believe law enforcement does such a tough job. Every time you get out there, it's risky.

So -- And I see that by hanging on to this version of qualified immunity, allows too many instances where you see George Floyd's, Rayshard Brooks, it happens to repeatedly. I asked the question, do you think this is going to fix itself naturally, do you think it's going to get better? It was rhetorical, but there's no real response to it.

So, eliminating qualified immunity is a non-starter. And I think that gets confused with reforming it. So what I've tried to do is find the sweet spot that keeps basic immunity in place to prevent frivolous lawsuits. We know that besets all aspects of society and it's not good, but there has to be accountability, when you cross the threshold with what we saw with George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks. And until that happens, the police are going to be stigmatized, and aren't going to be able to prove the point that they do such a great job in general when this hangs over them. So I think it'll be better for them in the long run.

BLITZER: Well, give us a specific example.

BRAUN: Yes.

BLITZER: Under your proposed legislation, how would protections for police officers change if your bill became law?

BRAUN: So currently, this is all occurred from the '60s through the '80s. The original bill dates back to 1871. It had no component of qualified immunity in it.

[17:45:09]

That changed when you would have had unions and any interest group wants to protect themselves from bad behavior. And that's OK to an extent. But what this would do is set a very clear definition. Your defense in one of these cases is only that there is a law on the books either federal or state that says what you did is legal, or that there's a court ruling that allows you to perform whatever it is in defense or in executing your job.

If not, you are going to be under review, just like everyone else is when you're not following protocols and procedures to try to keep these horrific cases from happening. And until that happens, I think law enforcement is going to be hampered to where they hurt their day- to-day existence, because this will be hanging over them until it's remedy. So it's as -- it is as clear as you can get between separating the wheat from the chaff, the frivolous from the significant based upon individual accountability and transparency.

And I'm open to anyone that thinks they can fine tune this, but it ought to be discussed at this point in time. It's a watershed moment in my mind.

BLITZER: It certainly is. And good luck, Senator Braun. I know you're working to get some Republicans and Democrats on board. We'll see how that works out. It's really, really important. Thanks so much for joining us.

BRAUN: You bet.

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