WEBVTT - Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz Talks DNC 0:00:02.400 --> 0:00:06.760 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:09.879 We go now to a Congressman from Florida. Democrat, Debbie 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:12.799 Wasserman Schultz is here with us on set in Chicago. 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:14.400 Great to see you, Great to see you both. 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:17.159 Congresswoman, if we could just begin knowing that you just 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:20.079 had a decisive victory in your primary in Florida last 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:23.600 night as well, what are you seeing on the ground 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:25.680 in Florida. Do you think it would be wise for 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:29.000 the Harris campaign to be investing resources in the state, 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:31.320 Knowing the many many media markets it has, It's a 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:34.040 very expensive state to be competitive in. But if she 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:36.440 made the decision to, could she actually be competitive. 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:41.600 I'm telling everybody, as our most political folks in Florida, 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:45.960 don't sleep on our state. We have some metrics that 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:51.040 are emerging. Remember, for most election cycles in this century, 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:54.360 we have been a purple state. We've been hyper competitive. 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:59.000 Barack Obama one Florida both times that he ran. And 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.800 I'll give you an example from just yesterday's primary. The 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:06.360 enthusiasm among Democratic voters is off the charts. I mean, 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:09.160 just to give you an idea, I won my primary, 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:12.920 but it's not the win, it's the difference in the 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:17.399 voter turnout between Democrats and Republicans. Thirty four thousand people 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:21.880 voted in I got thirty four thousand votes. The primary 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:24.680 winner on the Republican side got thirteen thousand votes. So 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:27.399 just in terms of enthusiasm, you can see the difference. 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:31.160 But polling last week, both national polls that came out 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:35.199 that polled Florida had the race within three and five. 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:40.600 And then if you look at the volunteer organization on 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.800 the ground, twenty two thousand people signed up to volunteer 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:47.319 to elect Kamala Harris President of United States. So with 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:52.200 the resources and also the Republicans have continued to distort 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:55.400 their advantage. They say they have a million more registered 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:58.040 voters in Florida. They don't. What they did was that 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:01.800 they suppressed the vote who haven't voted in two elections 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.600 and now show them as inactive even though they're still registered. 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:07.680 So there aren't a million more Republicans registered to vote. 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:11.560 We have huge enthusiasm. We beat almost every mom's for 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:14.880 a liberty candidate that Ron DeSantis endorsed for school board races. 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:18.840 Last night, about almost two dozen that he endorsed, and 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.640 he only won six of them. So the momentum is 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:25.440 in our direction. No one should sleep on Florida. 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:28.280 Well interesting and looking more broadly Florida and across the 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:32.040 country and not just the swing states. Congressmen, our listeners 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:33.840 and viewers should be reminded that you were chair of 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:39.000 the DNC during Barack Obama's second convention. Yes, as president 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:42.040 of the United States, will you seek to duplicate his map? 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:46.160 Well, what we're seeking to do is make sure that 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:50.239 we can capitalize on the enthusiasm and the contrast between 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:53.440 the momentum that we have under a Kamala Harris and 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:57.600 Tim Walls because hope and optimism like we had during 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:02.120 the Obama years and joy is what is pushing people 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:05.440 forward because they want a president who was going to 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:07.480 fight for them to reduce prescription drug prices. 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:09.800 But you were talking about more states than you were 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:12.160 when Joe Biden was at the top of the ticket. 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:14.920 There is no question right now that we have different 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:19.200 math in multiple different directions than we had just five, 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:21.600 five or six weeks ago. And so what we can't 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:25.720 do is just you know, move forward without pivoting and 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:27.679 making the kind of adjustments that we need to and 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:31.400 being nimble and that's what our campaign operations are doing 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:34.680 right now, and they're doing some recalculations so they can 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:36.080 be ready for any opportunity. 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:38.560 Well, and I wonder how those recalculations are factoring into 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:41.600 the likelihood of not just getting the majority in the House, 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:44.080 but how large you think your majority could potentially be 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:46.280 with Harris at the top of the ticket. You obviously 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:51.440 remember of House leadership. Has the goalposts moved? Initially it 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:53.120 was like, you just got to get those four seats, 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:54.240 but what's the target now? 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.200 Well, we have the net four seats and we have 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:02.000 a very clear advantage in the fundraise. We have consistently 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:07.120 outraised the NRCC, the Republican Campaign Finance Operation, every single 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:10.680 quarter of this election cycle. But it's not just that 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:16.240 our incumbent frontline marginal members. They've outraised their opposition, our 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:18.920 red to blue candidates. They have a recruitment problem. They've 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:21.440 got right wing extremists all over the map. So the 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.640 contrast is clear all the way down the ticket, from 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:29.240 the White House pair of candidates down to legislative races, 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:32.200 and voters are going to come out to the polls 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:36.960 elect our candidates because they want someone who's thinking about 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:41.719 moving forward, not a maga extremist Republican who's buried in 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:45.440 the past, who's morose and brooding and unhappy. We've got 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:48.719 to make sure that we have a positive, forward thinking 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:52.799 government so that we can ensure that this booming economy, 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:56.400 fifteen million plus jobs, making sure that we continue to 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:59.400 bring prescription drug crisis down, that we make sure that 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:01.840 we have a plan like Kamala Harris does, to make 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:06.840 home ownership affordable, and child tax credit reinstated, so many 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:10.359 things that are important on the kitchen table. Not a 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:13.320 president like Donald Trump was, who cared only about making 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:15.960 sure that the wealthy and the profit and the profitable 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:17.760 businesses are able to do even better. 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:19.440 I want to ask you about an issue I know 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:21.480 is very important to you and a lot of progressive Democrats, 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:23.440 and that's our policy in Israel right now. Is the 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:26.240 reason why we've been talking about protesters that in some 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:30.080 cases have not materialized here in Chicago. Congresswoman, there are 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:33.320 reports today that US and Israeli officials think that this 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:37.000 proposal for a bridge ceasefire deal is on the verge 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:40.040 of collapsing. We heard from Secretary of State Anthony Blincoln 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:45.960 in Doha here's what he said. Our message is simple, 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:51.320 it's clear, and it's urgent. We need to get the 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:54.880 ceasefire and hostage agreement over the finish line, and we 0:05:54.960 --> 0:06:00.839 need to do it now. Time is of the essence. 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:06.760 How important will it be for a ceasefire to be 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:10.760 struck to find unity among progressives in the Democratic Party. 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:14.920 What's important is that Hamas released the hostages. What's important 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:18.080 is that Israel not be expected like any other nation, 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.839 shouldn't be expected to live with a terrorist threat sworn 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:23.680 on their destruction and the killing of all Jews on 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.960 their doorstep. What's important is making sure that the terror, 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:32.120 the terror threat that Palestinians and Gaza live with, is 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:34.960 ended so that they don't that they can free Gaza 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:38.280 from Hamas and that when we reach a ceasefire deal 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:41.040 that releases those hostages, that ensures that we can have 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:45.040 governance in Gaza that is peaceful and non threatening. That 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:48.080 is absolutely essential. The time that's running out is that 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:51.480 we have one hundred and nine hostages still there, at 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:55.279 least eight that are American that need to be freed. 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.440 I mean, we have to make sure and thanks to 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:02.040 the Biden Harris administration for staying at the table pushing 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:05.200 the negotiations forward. But Hamas needs to take this deal, 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:06.800 that is the bottom line. 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:08.520 Well, and we'll wait to see if they do so 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:11.000 and on what timeframe, knowing that they also could be 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:14.480 considering that it will be a different government come January 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:16.840 if they drag this out long enough. You just mentioned 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:19.760 what the Biden Harris administration has done. Do you expect 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:22.760 that there would be a serious departure from this administration's 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:26.080 policy if it were instead of Harris Wall's administration. How 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:27.520 does she not go from the incombent. 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:30.160 Press, She doesn't differ. She's made very clear that she 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.800 is right alongside President Biden. She's been a part of 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:39.040 those discussions, the negotiations. Kamala Harris supports making sure that 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:42.040 we have a ceasefire deal that brings the hostages home, 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:45.120 that ends the terrorist threat on Israel' storestep, that ensures 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:47.400 that we can get humanitarian assistance and relief to the 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:52.720 Palestinians who are victimized by Hamas themselves, and also continuing 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:56.640 the strong usaid to Israel. She said very clearly she's 0:07:56.760 --> 0:08:00.560 not for an arms embargo. We have the strong plank 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:04.680 in the Democratic Party platform strongest pro Israel plank of 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:10.160 any party in decades, and the Republicans come nowhere near 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:13.520 the commitments and the specificity in the Democratic Party platform 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.800 that we have. And that's because the Democratic Party is 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:20.120 the one that has solidly and consistently stood with Israel, 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:21.960 not just in words, but in actions. 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:25.080 What happens to Gaza donald Trump is elected. 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:29.080 You know, when it comes to how foreign policy is 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:33.160 dealt with in general, I'm very fearful about what happens 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:37.679 because Donald Trump doesn't actually care about how to make 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:41.040 sure that Gaza is governed in the aftermath, and how 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:44.080 you end the terrorist threat and ensure that the security 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:47.400 apparatus that needs to be in place for Israel is 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.080 put in place in a way that allows a peaceful 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:57.280 transition and the negotiation over an Arab forward governing coalition. 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:04.720 He re acts only emotionally and not with thought or commitment. 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:07.240 And I'm very fearful because of Project twenty twenty five, 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.120 of who he's going to put in place in these 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.960 important state department positions to ensure that we have real 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:16.760 professionals who are able to do things like Joe Biden 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:20.440 has getting these negotiations together and making sure that we 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:22.719 have a diplomatic apparatus that has the experience and the 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:23.640 commitment they need. 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:24.760 Thanks for coming to see us. 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:25.480 Thank you so much. 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:27.640 We left the rest of this convention there. Thanks Congresswoman 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:30.680 Debbie Wasserman Chelsea of Florida, former chair of the DNC. 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.160 We're live in Chicago on ballance of Pout Bloomberg TV 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:36.960 and Radio.