CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Chris Coons
Interview
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[16:16:47]
GOLODRYGA: On Capitol Hill right now, congressional leaders say they are close but still cannot agree on what the new long-awaited COVID-19 relief bill will look like. Unless a deal is reached, there will be no federal jobless benefits starting next year. No help for small businesses hammered by the pandemic, and still no new round of stimulus checks.
Well, at least one U.S. senator is tired of waiting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): It's frustrating as all get out to me that we've been at the final point now for days. It's unclear to me exactly what the last final issues are that are holding us up this weekend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: And that was Democratic Senator Chris Coons earlier today. He joins me now live.
Senator, you know, you were venting the same way I'm sure millions of Americans are when they were watching this latest hold-up right now. It's a final holdup and it centers on Senator Toomey's apparent last- minute effort to cut off the Federal Reserve's ability to restart pandemic relief programs.
Is that the case? Is this the holdup? And do you think it can be resolved?
COONS: That's right, Bianna. I just spoke with Senator Toomey on the floor of the Senate. There was a lot of discussion back and forth.
Senator Schumer of New York who is the minority leader is exchanging proposals with Senator Toomey right now.
It is down to this one last question about a somewhat obscure provision of a 1932 Depression Era law that allows the Federal Reserve under fiscal emergency to issue credit to help with liquidity for the markets.
Senator Toomey wants to make it clear that that power can only be used with specific authorization. Democrats are pushing back and saying that's not our understanding of the law. We need to resolve this.
I am hearing all day from Delawareans that they are deeply frustrated. There are no other issues to resolve in this bill. There will be $600 stimulus checks. There will be additional unemployment insurance. There will be assistance for food banks. There will be additional assistance for those facing eviction if we can get this done.
It is maddening to be here all weekend with just this last issue holding us up, and I am confident that, frankly, we can't go home without doing this. And we have an entire floor full of senators saying, let's resolve this.
The key missing component is presidential leadership to get us through this.
GOLODRYGA: Well, I am hearing even the Fed officials are sort of surprised at this last-minute hold-up and asked for Senator Toomey. I know you said you just spoke with him.
Was there any sense from him that he would be able to negotiate this or walk this back and not demand it, given that he's now getting pressure from both sides about something that is so relatively obscure and, by the way, helped in the first CARES Act back in the spring?
COONS: It is going to be difficult to get him to back down without some language that recognizes his position. He's kept us here for hours waiting for resolution to this point. The one positive I'll say is at least it's really clear exactly what the issue is and what needs to be done to address it.
We have a caucus conference call coming up at 5:00 where we're going to get the latest on how Senator Schumer and Senator Toomey have fared in their attempt to craft a few words that would cover this difference.
[16:20:10]
Bianna, this is part of what makes politics so difficult at times when you've got folks who have strongly held views and any one individual senator can hold us up from getting to a resolution.
GOLODRYGA: Well, so many Americans, as you mention in Delaware, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania desperate for help. I'm sure Senator Toomey is aware of that as well.
CNN actually talked to one woman who was laid off from her job at Disney along with her husband. She told us, Senator, that she has enough money for just one more mortgage payment. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMANDA JOHNSON, LAID OFF FROM DISNEY WORLD: I feel like drowning here, and it's just the worst thing. People come here to have a good time, and we're all suffering thinking about like one hospital visit would almost like bankrupt you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Does this, Senator, not come across as tone deaf given there's an obscure issue that's holding relief for millions of Americans back when you hear just one of those families talk about the anxiety they have, the stress they're facing because they don't know how they're going to make their next mortgage payment.
COONS: Bianna, there are 6 million Americans who are currently behind on their rent or their mortgage who are facing eviction, the loss of their home or their apartment. I know that there are millions who are suffering because the pandemic is in its worst phase ever. A friend of mine from Delaware buried her husband on Friday who died from COVID.
So I am perfectly clear. I have a hard time understanding how my colleagues are not also perfectly clear. It is long past time for us to get this done. We should have passed a big and bold COVID relief package months ago.
We should not be playing games with this right up against the holidays. I'm not trying to disparage any particular senators' opinion or views. I just think it's time for us to resolve what we can and move forward.
GOLODRYGA: And I was preparing for this interview assuming we would have already had a deal and ask you --
COONS: Me, too.
GOLODRYGA: -- about the details in the deal, because you hear $600 stimulus for Americans. You hear $300 added per week enhancement for federal unemployment benefits. And Americans look back and say, okay, that's something. I know that.
But this is what you've been negotiating over for months, kicking the can down for months for $600? Why didn't Democrats dig their heels in more, demanding more money than that?
COONS: W did, Bianna. That's part of what held this up for eight months. As you know, the House, which is controlled by Democrats, passed a bill that was more than $3 trillion and tried and tried to get it discussed, debated or taken up here in the Senate.
The Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, had their leader say months ago, no more than $500 billion. And most of it to be spent on businesses, on helping small businesses, either stay open or reopen.
Where we are ending up is compromising on $900 billion. But it has been months and months and months that Democrats in the Senate and Democrats in the House have insisted on a multitrillion-dollar relief bill and have found a wall of resistance here in the Senate.
So, why didn't we dig in our heels harder? We did. And the result has been months of more and more suffering just like you shared with the woman who was saying how scared she is. She cannot make it one more month.
We are compromising at a $900 billion level that will provide support for food banks, for eviction relief, for an extension of unemployment, for help for schools and hospitals. And pandemic distri -- excuse me -- vaccine distribution and support for small businesses because Democrats feel we have to get something done.
GOLODRYGA: Would help to have the president involved in this. There may be a time and place to talk about obscure Fed policy details, but this is not the time for that, as millions of Americans are suffering.
COONS: Bianna, I am -- Bianna, I am genuinely struck by what President Trump is doing today. He's not helping us respond to the Russian attack. He is not being a good role model by wearing a mask or getting vaccinated. He is not helping negotiate this deal. He is not even acting as president.
He is, frankly, ceding the role of being president to the president- elect, who will be sworn in a month from tomorrow.
GOLODRYGA: Well, we need every single day to have a president that will help suffering Americans, and that doesn't seem to be happening.
Senator Chris Coons, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Get back and hopefully you can negotiate a deal.
COONS: Thank you, Bianna.
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