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

Interview

O`DONNELL: Let`s listen to what senator Bernie Sanders just told reporters tonight.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): You cannot in my view have an agreement at 2:00 in the morning that nobody has seen. So my hope, again, the strategy should be to defeat this infrastructure, which I would be happy to vote for again. It`s good bill. But we`ve got to defeat it now, sit down with everybody and pass two good pieces of legislation.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: Joining our discussion now, Democratic Congressman Colin Allred of Texas.

Thank you very much for joining us tonight.

What`s your reaction to what you just heard Senator Sanders say?

REP. COLIN ALLRED (D-TX): I wish senators would stop talking about the House and maybe we could stop talking about the Senate. We have our own business to do here, and I think it`s critical we do.

I`ve told my caucus not only is this policy and these incredibly important policies on the table, but really American democracy is on the table and that, you know, it shouldn`t be we`re the only party that is interested in protecting our democracy, but that`s the situation we`re in. And Americans in the last election came out in record numbers in the middle of a pandemic to vote for a Democratic majority that has to deliver because authoritarians love it when democracies fail. They love it when democracies are stuck in gridlock.

And we`re dealing with an authoritarian who`s a former president and still out there and actively working to try to undermine the next election.

O`DONNELL: I`ve just been handed something Senator Manchin just said, and the control room is going to have to tell me if this is on video or I have to read this. If it`s on video we can go to it. But I`m going to read it. We might get it on video later.

Senator Manchin just said, we just need a little bit more time. We`re getting that time in order to do it. We`re going to come to an agreement. I`m trying to make sure they understand that I`m at $1.5 trillion. I think $1.5 trillion does exactly the things necessary to take care of our children, take care of our people at the end of life, our seniors. We`re working on that.

I don`t see a deal tonight. I really don`t. And I`m hoping that everyone is sympathetic towards we`re trying to all work.

So Senator Manchin says he doesn`t see a deal tonight. Have you been given an indication, anymore than what the speaker said in her letter about when you might be able to go home tonight?

ALLRED: No, I think we`re not going to see anything more tonight. I think negotiations will probably carry on tonight, but then I think we`ll be right back tomorrow and have more discussions and then I think the caucus will have to be briefed on what those discussions are. We have running out of time today, but I think it`s important that we do try and find at least a framework by the end of the day tomorrow.

O`DONNELL: What is your reaction to what Senator Manchin is saying. He`s saying that his top line, his absolute top line is $1.5 trillion, and that`s he said to Chuck Schumer back July 28th in that memo we`ve now seen today. He`s in favor of almost all of the tax provisions that have been discussed. In fact, he`s in favor of the carried interests -- eliminating the carried interest piece which the House Ways and Means Committee did not do.

So he`s in favor of a more liberal tax bill than the House Ways and Means Committee has already delivered here. What is your reading of the Manchin position as of tonight?

ALLRED: Well, I don`t think the top line is as important as we`ve seen so many people discussing because it depends on what we`re talking about here. Are we talking about new spending or how much time are we talking? Is it ten years, is it five years? Are we talking about revenue that`s raised and then it`s anything above that?

So I think we should focus more as everyone has said and as you have said on the policies that are transformative. I mean I was the first member of Congress to ever take paternity leave ever in 2019. And I want to make sure that every American can have access to paid family medical leave, something that too many of our fellow Americans don`t have right now and that we can do in this bill.

We know we have the threat of climate change facing us or really with us already. We have to address that in this bill, we can do incredible things in the state of Texas, we can give one and a half million Texans insurance by expanding Medicaid, which we can do in this bill. Even though our state won`t do it, we can offer it to Texans. So those are all incredibly important policies. And the top line to me is really less important than the policies. I wish everyone would stop talking about it because it really is a fungible number.

O`DONNELL: Congressman Colin Allred. Thank you very much for joining us, and I really appreciate it.

ALLRED: Thanks, Lawrence.

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