The NPR Politics Podcast - Interview: Kamala Harris on Capitol Riot, Stimulus Package

Episode Date: January 15, 2021

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris talks to NPR's Scott Detrow about how she felt after the attack on the Capitol and the administration's new $1.9 trillion relief package proposal.This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith and White House correspondent Scott Detrow.Connect:Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here.Email the show at [e-mail] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Listen to our playlist The NPR Politics Daily Workout.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.Find and support your local public radio station.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for NPR and the following message come from the Kauffman Foundation, providing access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity, regardless of race, gender, or geography. Kauffman.org. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. I'm Scott Detrow, and I also cover the White House. Look at you. That's a new title. That's so exciting. It is. Well, this whole transition only has a few days left, and I'm excited to join you covering the White House going forward.

And let's jump right into this, Scott. In just a few days, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in as the President and Vice President of the United States. And just days few days, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in as the president and vice president of the United States. And just days before that, Scott, you and Kamala Harris sat down for an interview. I mean, sat in front of a Zoom screen for an interview about this moment and her and Biden's plans for the presidency. Yeah, I've interviewed Harris several times over the last few years for the podcast and for NPR. Obviously, her life's a little different right now. She is about to become the first woman to serve as vice president. She is about to take office amid an unprecedented time, a raging pandemic, massive unrest throughout the country, security concerns

for the inauguration. I could go on and on. You just have to listen to our podcast. So I talked to her from Wilmington, where she was to join President-elect Joe Biden in rolling out what she says is going to be the administration's top priority, a $1.9 trillion rescue package that does a whole lot of things to try and help people through the pandemic. You know, Scott, Harris is going to be the first woman of color sworn in as vice president. And this will come just two weeks to the day after that insurrection at the Capitol where there were people wearing overtly racist shirts and anti-Semitic shirts and the guy with the Confederate flag walking

by the Senate chamber, an image that I don't think any of us will forget anytime soon. Yeah, we obviously started the conversation there asking her what she made of this moment, how it changes her view of the inauguration, among other things. And I started with that very question. Let's hear it. You are, of course, about to become the first woman of color to serve as vice president. And I'm wondering what went through your mind seeing racist symbols, Confederate flags, parading through the Senate hallways where you've spent the last four years? Well, I mean, it was the same thing that went through my mind when I saw Charlottesville. I mean, it's the same thing that went through my mind when I saw a picture of Emmett Till.

Sadly, it is not the first time I have seen a demonstration like what you are describing in the history of our country. And it is a reminder that we still have a lot of work to do. In looking forward, we currently have troops at the Capitol. There are more frightening details about last week and future threats coming out every day. But President-elect Biden is insisting that the inauguration go forward as planned on the West Front. Why is it so important to you to stick with the planned ceremony and take the oath outside? I think that we cannot yield to those who would try and make us afraid of who we are. We are, for all of our faults and imperfections, we are a nation that was founded on very important principles

and guided by extremely important ideals. And we cannot abandon that. We are a work in progress, but we cannot abandon the appreciation that we should all have for the traditions that are symbolic of our commitment to our democracy,

which includes a peaceful transfer of power, which includes what we do to bring in one administration after another in a way that is about upholding basic standards. And in particular, those standards is outlined in the Constitution of the United States. All right, we're going to take a quick break. When we get back, we will hear from Harris about

the major legislative proposal that Joe Biden rolled out last night, the measure she and Biden say will be their administration's top priority. With civil unrest, the pandemic, and the economic crisis, you want to know what's happening right when you wake up. And that's why there is Up First, the news you need in about 10 minutes from NPR News. Listen every day. And we're back. And Scott, this next half of your interview walks through that $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan that Biden announced last night. This is the administration's effort to both stop the coronavirus and keep the economy from sinking further. We did a podcast about it last night. But real quick, before we jump back into the interview, what is in that plan?

This is a massive spending plan. For a reference point, it's about twice as large as that last COVID relief measure that finally got passed in December after months of wrangling. Billions of dollars for vaccine distribution, billions of dollars to increase testing to make it more available, money for schools to try and reopen safely and quickly, expanding unemployment benefits. And it's worth noting, along with a lot of these emergency measures, some big long-term Democratic goals, including an effort to try and raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. So there's a lot in here. It really brings to mind the beginning of the Obama administration, where Biden and Obama dove in with a big stimulus package to start things off.

A big stimulus package that seems pretty small compared to this. But at the time, it seemed so huge. But this is just overwhelming. Right. first question I had for Harris on this, given all that is in here, especially when it comes to vaccine distribution and testing, I asked her, can you make a promise to the American people about when life would start to look normal again if this goes into effect? We are, listen, let me just be very clear that the president-elect and I know this is not going to be easy, but we are putting everything we've got into this and to deal with it as soon as possible, which is why this is, we're prepared right now to, on day one, push through and get

this package so that it hits the ground and hits the streets and we get relief to the American people. And that's why we've called it the American Rescue Plan, because right now a lot of folks need to be rescued. That's why we have the direct payment. It's going to supplement the $600 that came in December with another $1,400 for $2,000. That's why we are expanding SNAP benefits, which is, you know, we used to call that food stamps. It's about getting support to hungry people and hungry families. That's why we are saying that we're going to have community vaccination sites because we need to support local governments and local leaders, mayors and governors in terms of what they need to do

to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible. And so we, you know, well, we don't have a, we can't tell you that it's all going to be over on a certain date, but I can tell you this, on January 20th, we're hitting the ground running. How quickly can this get passed? You are going to spend a lot of time breaking ties in the Senate. Democrats have the narrowest of narrow majorities in both chambers. Well, let me just tell you, it's our highest priority. It is our highest priority. And, you know, the reality of it is that this pandemic, we all know, does not see political lines. It does not see it does not see and care about who you voted for in the last election. In that way, it is an equal opportunity offender. And in the red states and blue states throughout the country, we are seeing profound damage in terms of the loss of life, the loss of income, the loss of just normalcy. And we intend to work across party lines to do what is necessary to get this passed. The proposal that we're making is very reasonable. It's about doing things like saying, hey, we all need and want our kids to get back to school.

Those kids could care less who their parents voted for. We are saying let's get assistance to local leaders and local governments to get these vaccinations going. Because why? Vaccines, once administered in the arm of the people who need it, will save life. And we hope and we expect and we will work at the kind of compromise and collaboration that is necessary to get this pushed through because it's just the right thing to do. It's your top priority, but there is going to be so much else going on, including now a Senate impeachment trial. So you have not only this bill, you have to confirm the cabinet through the Senate. There is an impeachment trial. How does that affect everything you're

trying to do beyond legislation and confirmations? Just the simple fact that so much of the Biden Harris campaign was about turning the page on Donald Trump. And now he's going to be on trial on the first month of your administration. We know how to multitask. There's a reason that word exists in the English language. That's what's going to be required. We have to multitask, which means, as with anyone, we have a lot of priorities and we need to see them through.

I think a lot of people have a lot of questions about the vaccine right now. This proposal has billions of dollars to fund vaccine distribution, but it's not just funding. There's distribution problems. There's information sharing problems. There are trust problems, supply problems. What can the federal government do immediately in the coming weeks to start to fix these? Well, part of it is pass our plan because we are, for example, putting $50 billion into increased testing and tracing, as you mentioned earlier. The PPE supply, we need to increase the supply of PPEs. And so that is a big part of what we're doing, including using the Defense Production Act, knowing that that's one of the great tools and the tool belt of a president

in times of crisis and national crisis. And so these are the things that we can do immediately. And I will tell you, the president-elect, I have spent a lot of time on the phone and talking with mayors and governors to make sure that we get, and bipartisan, by the way, Republicans and Democrats, mayors and governors, to make sure that we get them relief as quickly as possible so that it gets to the people of their cities and states. And what are you specifically going to be focusing on in all of this? Of course, when Joe Biden was vice president, he took the lead on that first stimulus package. This is a major stimulus package coming through. Are you going to be a point person in getting it passed or in any of these areas once it starts going to effect if he does sign it into law? Let me tell you something. On every decision

that we have made as an incoming administration, we're in the room together, Joe and I, the president elect and I, and on every, you know, I can't even tell you how many meetings we've been in together that range from this to many other topics that are priorities for us. And so all of the priorities are going to be a priority for me and for the president elect, obviously. And we're full partners in this process. There's a lot of incredibly serious things going on right now. There's a pandemic. There is this attack on the U.S. Capitol. What are you going to be thinking about next week when you take the oath of office and you take the oath of office in an incredibly strange Capitol ceremony where

we're learning the National Mall is going to be totally empty and it's going to be ringed by thousands and thousands of soldiers. There will be a lot of thoughts going through my mind and head at that moment. I will be thinking about my mother who's looking down from heaven. I will be thinking about all of the people who are counting on us to lead and are counting on us to see them and to address their needs and the fact that we have to hit the ground running immediately to support the people of our country, to support the children of our country, and to help get us out of the crises that we're facing, but also to, you know, let's get on. Let's get on and move forward and do the things that will allow us to grow and innovate and prosper. Well, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, thank you so much for talking to NPR.

Thank you, Scott. It's good to be with you. Take care. Scott, that was a great interview. And I come away from it sort of thinking about how they're doing a rollout on this policy push. I mean, this is a, there was a very long fact sheet. They are doing interviews. They are really, really putting some push behind it. Right. The bet of Joe Biden's candidacy, and now the bet of Joe Biden's presidency, is that normal still works after four years of the Trump administration. President Trump got a couple big things through, the tax law, a couple other things,

but he was never really pushing for specific policies. He was always campaigning for Donald Trump, for campaign rallies. You are going to see Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the rest of this administration try to coordinate, try to build momentum. That's why Joe Biden will be giving a lot of speeches. That's why Kamala Harris was talking to us and will be trying to sell this elsewhere as well.

And you're going to see them try to gather momentum for this bill. We are seeing initial pushback from Republicans who say this is too much money. This is not the right way to deal with the pandemic. And they're going to try to force them to be on board with this proposal. Yeah. Well, this will be a really big first test. And to hear Biden and Harris describe it, this is a critical first test, as in, you know, the consequences could be dire if they don't succeed. Well, Scott, in just a matter of days, Kamala Harris will become the first woman of color to be vice president. She and Joe Biden will be sworn in on Wednesday. And the NPR Politics podcast will be there all week long to cover the inauguration.

You're going to be traveling with President-elect Biden. And we will have it all on this podcast. So I'm Tamara Keith. I cover the White House. I'm Scott Tetreault. I also cover the White House. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.