CNN "Newsroom" - Interview with Kirsten Gillibrand

Interview

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BALDWIN: With me now, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

Senator Gillibrand, welcome back.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): Hi, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Another 1.2 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits just this last week. And so the $600 boost that the federal government was providing ran out last week.

There is zero certainty on when or if that money will be back. And that's a matter of whether someone can pay their rent or buy groceries or diapers or get medication.

[15:20:10]

And I know Speaker Pelosi told CNN today that a short-term extension is not acceptable. Do you agree, or would you accept one?

GILLIBRAND: No, I think it's really important to stay at the table and continue to negotiate for the benefit of the people we represent.

People are struggling.

BALDWIN: But why not agree to something short-term, if I may, I mean, because Americans are struggling and this issue is so imminent?

GILLIBRAND: Because what we have seen from Mitch McConnell, he's had a proposal from the House for two months, commonsense proposals to get money for food stamps, money for rental relief, money for doctors and nurses and health care providers, money for testing and tracing, all the things we desperately need, money for cities and states.

And Mitch McConnell has sat on that bill. So, I think any short-term relief is not actually negotiating good faith. They have no intention of helping the American people.

BALDWIN: Would you be willing to accept no deal, if Republicans insist, let's say, on dropping the rate of the enhanced unemployment benefits below $600?

GILLIBRAND: I think it's better to stay here and keep negotiating and not give up.

I mean, the truth is, $600 is needed. If you don't get that added $600, you won't have enough money to pay your rent, or put food on the table or pay your bills. And so that's the minimum that families need to just stay above water.

So, I don't think we should be nickel-and-diming the American people. I think we should give them the relief they need. We should give it to them now.

And Mitch McConnell has sat on his hands for two months, and it's an outrage. So, nobody should be going home until we have a deal. And we should keep working until we have a deal to help people. People are struggling.

BALDWIN: But what if both sides end up at loggerheads? You heard what Mark Meadows said, that if no deal is reached, that the president will then just issue an executive action.

I mean, do you take that seriously? And can he even do that?

GILLIBRAND: President Trump does not have the authority to issue executive action on these issues.

Again, President Trump makes up the rules as he goes along. He has no clue as to what his abilities are and his -- what he's legally able to do. And so, as a result, he sat on his hands for two months, going golfing and doing whatever he does, but not actually coming to the table to talk to Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, to talk about, what does the American people need right now?

And so we stand ready to provide that relief. We need money for cities and states. All that Mitch McConnell has asked for is liability relief. He's doing the bidding of his corporate donors, who all they want is to make sure they can't be sued, even if they're terrible employers and put their employees at risk.

It's absurd. And so I think Democrats stand ready to make these negotiations happen and to provide the relief that our cities and our states need and the people need.

People are really struggling. I have constituents who are living in their cars. I have constituents who don't have a home because they live with an abuser and they can't go home or they will be killed or they will be harmed. Our homeless shelters are overfilled. Our -- the lines outside of food banks are long.

I mean, the truth is...

BALDWIN: I hear you on all of this, Senator. But, again, I'm going back to -- I can't let go of your first point, that you wouldn't be OK with just a temporary short-term deal.

Like, for all of the reasons you just outlined, just to give some people some temporary relief until a bigger solution is met, why not be willing to do that from the Democrats' side?

GILLIBRAND: Because it won't work.

If you say, OK, one more week, that -- they're not even going to get the check by the time the negotiation has ended. Like, we have to get to the table, agree to a package that actually meets the moment.

Just one check, one more unemployment insurance check isn't enough. One more relief payment isn't enough.

BALDWIN: OK.

GILLIBRAND: People don't have enough food to feed their families.

So, unless you're willing to talk about all the needs, you're not even going to begin to scratch the surface.

And I don't think it's fair -- what Mitch McConnell will offer is what he's offered. He will offer an unemployment check, but he wants to make sure there's unlimited liability protection for companies. He wants to make sure that corporations get a tax credit, tax deduction for lunches.

BALDWIN: I understand. I understand. I understand.

GILLIBRAND: That is not acceptable.

(CROSSTALK)

GILLIBRAND: If you give him the one thing, then he will go away and not come back to the table at all.

BALDWIN: As we watch to see how that plays out, I do want to get you on this, because I do know how passionate you are, as I am, honestly, just about women.

I saw this Axios headline earlier this week that read, the coronavirus could set back an entire generation of women. Since this pandemic began, women in the U.S. have been leaving the work force way more than men.

That's according to this report I read in "The Wall Street Journal." They are disproportionately represented in work sectors that have really been hit the most. And many of them have been forced to, at least temporarily, quit their jobs because they are taking care of their children.

For you, as a senator, as a mother, as a woman, what are you going to do about this?

[15:25:00]

GILLIBRAND: Well, let me start as a mother.

It's been very hard for moms across America, because schools have been closed. And if you are a woman who works outside the home, you're managing your children's education, you're managing feeding your children breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and you're managing your full- time job, all trying to do that at one time.

And a lot of studies have been published saying a woman gets about one hour a day of uninterrupted time, maybe less than an hour, whereas the man in the same household gets three hours. So, you can see the disproportionate impact.

But the real concern I have is that critical workers, these essential workers, are disproportionately women. They are disproportionately women of color. And so they are bearing the burden of this epidemic doubly, because not only are they showing up to work every day, doing the most essential work, like going to a grocery store, being at a pharmacy, working at the front lines of a hospital.

These are our critical workers. But they're disproportionately women of color. And so they are not only bearing the burden of the work, but also COVID. Disproportionately, they're being exposed. Disproportionately, they're getting sick.

So, this burden is extreme in many aspects. And so the fear really is, is that until we start looking at work in a more holistic way, the critical work should be compensated at a higher rate, that these workers should be given time-and-a-half, that we have to restructure the workplace to recognize how valuable they are with universal sick days, making sure every worker has at least two weeks off, with national paid leave.

We're the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't have paid leave. And it's a disadvantage. It's a drag on our economy. And if we had had paid leave before this epidemic, then people could have stayed home for up to three months while their kids were home from school, or to deal with a sick child or sick loved one, or if you were sick yourself.

BALDWIN: Yes.

GILLIBRAND: It would have been easy to fund, much easier than haggling about what are the unemployment payments going to be, and what are the one-time relief checks going to be? Everyone could have received a portion of their salary for up to three months because we had paid leave. So, the real challenge is, how do we rebuild this economy so that it's

fair for everyone and doesn't leave generations of women, and particularly women of color, behind?

BALDWIN: We can't. We can't. And we shouldn't. And we won't.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, thank you very much.

GILLIBRAND: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up, he lost his own mother to coronavirus, and his stepfather is now on a ventilator.

And if that wasn't enough, he also happens to run a city in Southern California. Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia joins me live on his story next.

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[15:30:00]

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