CNN Newsroom: Interview With Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) About Israel, Climate Change And Joe Manchin

Interview

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Well, I'm glad that -- and thanks for having me, Jim. But I'm glad that Congresswoman Jayapal retracted and apologized for her extremely deeply hurtful remarks. They were inappropriate. We have to be careful about what we say, especially when we're making in-the-moment statements like that one was.

Israel is a pluralistic society among -- in that region among un- democratic states. She is a democratic state, one that has Arab Israeli citizens serving in the Knesset, that has the most significant LGBTQ Plus policies in the region and among the world. Her statement was not only hurtful and harmful, it was wholly inaccurate and insensitive.

I'm thankful that she retracted it. It still deserves criticism, and that's why a number of us issued a statement doing just that.

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There have been a number of members, Jewish members, who have spoken with her today, and that is in part, I think, what resulted in the retraction and apology. And so we're appreciative of that. We need to make sure we continue to work together. But we all have to be careful about what we say in the heat of the moment. And I think she learned that the hard way.

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No, I think Joe Manchin is a great U.S. senator and someone who is best suited to remain there. But I'll tell you, look, Jim, I just came from the supermarket to shop for my family's Sunday night family dinner. And I was struck by the thought that you wouldn't walk into a supermarket and buy a product that had no labels. Why? Because you wouldn't know anything about it.

You wouldn't know the ingredients. You wouldn't know what it was made of. It would be suspect. And that's essentially what No Labels is. No Labels includes -- we really don't know what they stand for. They're not a political party. They're essentially a dark money, opaque, nontransparent organization. They certainly aren't structured to qualify candidates for -- to run for president. They have to be able to report their FEC finances, so that's the last

thing we need to do is have someone run on a ticket that makes it harder to understand what the candidate stands for rather than easier.

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Well, he's certainly not someone that I think represents any of the values of the Democratic Party. What I think is really critical for this week is that the Republican Party, Jim Jordan, Speaker McCarthy, and the Weaponization Select Subcommittee that I sit on actually invited Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to testify about the so-called weaponization of government in front of our subcommittee on Thursday.

That invitation should never have been issued, but now it should be rescinded. He has absolutely no credibility, and beyond that, because he has made these vile, xenophobic, dangerous statements, he should not be allowed to come in front of a congressional committee and make matters worse and even more dangerous. So they need to rescind his invitation. He should be nowhere near the U.S. Capitol.

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You know, we're really in trouble with the extreme MAGA Republican agenda that refuses to even acknowledge climate change, never mind address it. Thankfully we were able to pass the Inflation Reduction Act last year, President Biden's significant legislation that's now law that was the most significant climate change policy we've had in years.

I mean down here in South Florida, Jim, yes, it's normally very, very hot down here in the summer. But our ocean temperatures are usually in the mid-80s. They're in the mid-90s. I mean they've had to reconfigure the hurricane forecasts. We're expecting extreme coral reef bleaching, which is very dangerous, you know, in terms of our sea life. We have to get a handle on this and come together and make sure that we can focus on addressing global warming and climate change and sea level rise by the way.

It is hot as blazes all over the country, Arizona and Nevada. This is a result of climate change. I can't believe that anybody would shrink back from addressing this because we are going to pay and are already paying a serious price, not the least of which is in Florida.

Our property insurance rates have gone sky high, and Ron DeSantis has done absolutely nothing that has moved the needle at all because he's in the pocket of the insurance industry rather than standing up for our property owners.

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My pleasure as always. Thank you.

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