NBC "Meet the Press" - TRANSCRIPT Meet the Press - February 5, 2023

Interview

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CHUCK TODD:

Appreciate it. And joining me now from the other side of the aisle, Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. He's also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Booker, welcome back to Meet the Press. Obviously, there's another topic I would like to discuss with you in more detail. But I want to ask you about the reaction -- your reaction to President Biden's decision on the balloon. How has he handled this? And should he have acted sooner?

SEN. CORY BOOKER:

Well, clearly there's a lot of information that still has to come out. But the president and the United States Military did what they did, that is, in my opinion, very just and very defensible. They saw that to blow that thing up or to take that thing down over land would cause challenges.

And we know from the debris field over the ocean that it was miles long. I think I heard seven miles long. And so the president himself said, "I ordered it to be taken down." The military made a thoughtful decision, and I trust the United States Military.

CHUCK TODD:

Would you have canceled that trip to Beijing like Secretary Blinken did? Was that the right call?

SEN. CORY BOOKER:

Well, I want to make one more point about this. I think what is -- it's problematic for a Democrat or Republican to have one standard for one president, another standard for another president. We should remember that this is now known to have happened under the Trump administration multiple times. And so to create another standard for Biden when Trump, it seems, allowed this to go over the United States is just a bit hypocritical. We are in a position where we have a global contest going on. Chinese espionage, not just against potentially our country as a whole, but also companies, Chinese activities right now with Taiwan. This is a time we need to unite on both sides of the aisle, not engage in partisanship, but do some of the good works we have done in the last Congress, like the CHIPS Act, which is a national security bill that helped us to make sure that, should there be incursions against Taiwan, we're ready as a country. This is a time for us to unite and find strategies to counter Chinese espionage and their other ill activities around the globe.

CHUCK TODD:

How concerned are you about a retaliation from China? They seem to leave it out there in their statement.

SEN. CORY BOOKER:

Again, we should be concerned about China as a whole. And the difference between us and China is that we are a democracy. And we have great alliances. And not just NATO, not just Canada and Mexico, but there are free countries all around this world that understand that China is a threat. They're not playing by the rules of the world order. America is the strongest nation on the planet Earth. But when it comes to us uniting with our allies to counter Chinese aggression, it is a power that is multiplied. It is really important to understand. I remember when President Trump put sanctions on China, he also used a national security waiver to put the same sanctions -- to put similar sanctions on Canada. We don't need to be pushing our neighbors away. We need to be uniting in a front of democracies to create a more rational world order that has a lot more power in controlling Chinese aggression.

CHUCK TODD:

Do we need to have a posture in our military preparedness and in the Armed Services Committee? Are you going to be supporting whatever it takes to prepare for war with China over Taiwan? Do we need to do more to prepare for that potential, even if we are going to work our way -- do everything we can to prevent that outcome?

SEN. CORY BOOKER:

You know, again, I'm very aware that the United States Military prepares for a lot of eventualities. I'm also a believer that strong diplomacy can work to counter Chinese aggression. And so, again, this rush or a drumbeat to war is really problematic to me when there are a whole bunch of other options. And this is where I give a lot of confidence and strength to the Biden administration. You asked me the question about Blinken's trip. This is an administration, from its very beginning, has been reaching out across the aisle and finding good ways to counter and check China's aggressions, China's espionage, but also to look ways -- to look at ways to strengthen ties with China that enable us to better keep them at the table. So, again, a balanced approach is necessary. But so is working in contingencies. I've traveled around the world, from India to Germany, and having really substantive conversations about how we strengthen our democratic alliances to counter aggression from dictators or totalitarian regimes from Russia, to North Korea, and indeed, also China.

CHUCK TODD:

Let me pivot to police reform. And I want to sort of get a realistic check from you about what's possible. Presidential campaigns start pretty quickly. Senator Tim Scott is somebody who may run for president. He has said the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is a non-starter. So what's realistic this calendar year of what could get done, given national politics and where we are in America?

SEN. CORY BOOKER:

You know, I think that there are a lot of folks across the aisle that understand that this is a moral moment. America is seeing more and more because of body cameras and other technology. We are seeing the horror of unarmed people, handcuffed people in the case of the tragic murder of Tyre Nichols. We're seeing things that do not comport with our national standards and expectations. And we are a nation right now that should set the global standard for professionalism policing, and we are falling short of that to the horror of more and more Americans. And so I know that this might not be a divided Congress. I'm very sobered about the reality to get a large comprehensive bill done. But I have been in conversations all week with people on both sides of the Capitol and both sides of the aisle, with police leaders, national police leaders, national police union leaders, as well as civil rights activists that all want to get something done that could advance the cause of not just police reform but raising standards, creating more transparency and more accountability. So I'm not giving up in this work. And I'm having constructive conversations with people on the other side of the aisle.

CHUCK TODD:

Look, you know, sometimes we let the perfect become the enemy of the good. You guys were close. You, Tim Scott, Karen Bass. There was an agreement on banning chokeholds except in life-threatening situations. There was an agreement to set federal standards for no-knock warrants. And there was an agreement to limit the transfer of some military equipment to local departments. Can we just pass that and then go back and try to see what's next? I mean, can we -- are we in that situation where we can do this? You know, there were nine civil rights acts, right? You know, can we do this in iterations?

SEN. CORY BOOKER:

Yeah, it's exactly the way we approached the gun safety legislation on our side, led by Chris Murphy, and I was happy to be a part of that. And get substantive things into that bill like community violence intervention. It was not everything we wanted, like universal background checks or assault weapons ban. But it was a significant step forward. We are looking at this bill, or the potential to get legislation through, but it has to meet those standards of raising professional standards, transparency, more accountability. And again, we are working on things. I'm sobered about the belief that we can get a big comprehensive bill done. But can we get something done? I believe we can. I'm putting all my effort into that right now.

CHUCK TODD:

I mean, look, I take it the idea of dealing with qualified immunity is probably not something that happens with this round of police reform?

SEN. CORY BOOKER:

You know, look, when you hear encouraging things, I've met with Lindsey Graham last week.

CHUCK TODD:

True.SEN. CORY BOOKER:

When you hear encouraging things from people like him, it gives me the sense that we could do something possibly in the Senate. But remember, passing a bill in the Senate, as we found out with immigration reform about 10 years ago, doesn't mean it will pass in the House. I want to get something to the president's desk that will make Americans safer, that will give more confidence in American policing and more transparency and accountability when things go wrong, or to stop things from going wrong. And that's the goal here. And we've got the Senate negotiations, and this is why I'm working in such strong partnership with the Congressional Black Caucus and other people in the House of Representatives to try to make sure we can get something all the way to the president's desk.

CHUCK TODD:

Senator Cory Booker, Democrat from New Jersey, really appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective with us. Thank you, sir.

SEN. CORY BOOKER:

Thank you. Thank you very much.

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