1 00:00:01,933 --> 00:00:05,000 GEOFF BENNETT: For the first time in the 236-year history of the U.S. Senate, 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,100 two Black women are serving simultaneously. 3 00:00:08,100 --> 00:00:12,000 I sat down with Senators Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,033 Blunt Rochester of Delaware for a conversation about breaking barriers, 5 00:00:16,033 --> 00:00:21,033 shaping history, and how Democrats aim to meet the current political moment. 6 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:25,100 Senators Alsobrooks and Blunt Rochester, thanks so much for making time. I appreciate it. 7 00:00:25,100 --> 00:00:26,433 SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS (D-MD): Thank you. 8 00:00:26,433 --> 00:00:28,566 SEN. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER (D-DE): Thank you. 9 00:00:28,566 --> 00:00:31,000 GEOFF BENNETT: I'd like to start with some news, because the GOP-led House this week 10 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:35,100 passed a sweeping multitrillion-dollar plan that supports President Donald Trump's policy agenda. 11 00:00:36,433 --> 00:00:38,966 How are Democrats planning to address it, 12 00:00:38,966 --> 00:00:43,066 especially if it makes significant cuts to the social safety net? 13 00:00:43,066 --> 00:00:46,033 SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS: The billionaires have gotten what they paid for. You will 14 00:00:46,033 --> 00:00:48,866 see in this budget that there will be significant cuts for 15 00:00:48,866 --> 00:00:53,566 Medicaid and other significant cuts that matter to the American people. 16 00:00:53,566 --> 00:00:58,533 There's nothing about this budget that really addresses the germane concerns of Americans around 17 00:01:00,700 --> 00:01:05,500 ability to afford health care and ability to be able to bring down the cost of groceries. This 18 00:01:07,666 --> 00:01:10,833 hasn't been the focus of this administration. Instead, it's been really lining the pockets 19 00:01:12,633 --> 00:01:15,200 of these billionaires and doing so on the backs of the American people. 20 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:16,433 GEOFF BENNETT: How do you see it? 21 00:01:16,433 --> 00:01:18,166 SEN. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER: I totally agree. 22 00:01:18,166 --> 00:01:21,900 I mean, a lot of times, people say, if you want to see their priorities, 23 00:01:21,900 --> 00:01:26,733 look at their checkbook. They're showing us exactly what their priorities are. When you 24 00:01:26,733 --> 00:01:31,733 have got 72 million people in this country who are on Medicaid in some way, it might be a parent 25 00:01:34,033 --> 00:01:38,066 who has a child with a disability. It might be a family whose grandparent is in a nursing home. 26 00:01:40,500 --> 00:01:45,266 People are going to be touched and hurt if these things move forward. And so, 27 00:01:45,266 --> 00:01:49,566 for us as Democrats, we feel it's really important that, number one, 28 00:01:49,566 --> 00:01:53,900 we make sure people know what the stakes are, and, number two, make sure that they recognize 29 00:01:53,900 --> 00:01:58,866 that we're all in this fighting to make sure that the cost of eggs are not skyrocketing, 30 00:02:00,866 --> 00:02:04,100 even though this president said, on day one, he was going to address the economy. 31 00:02:04,100 --> 00:02:09,100 We put our priority the American people, families of this country, and not on the billionaires, 32 00:02:11,233 --> 00:02:15,700 as Senator Alsobrooks said, which seem to be the intention with tax cuts. 33 00:02:15,700 --> 00:02:19,000 GEOFF BENNETT: How do you make that message stick? Because one of the takeaways of the 34 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:24,000 last election is that working-class voters, many of them, didn't see Democrats as their champion. 35 00:02:26,300 --> 00:02:29,333 SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS: Well I think they will see after this period. Again, the -- what we have 36 00:02:29,333 --> 00:02:33,733 heard is, bring down the cost of groceries,we're concerned about the cost of housing. 37 00:02:33,733 --> 00:02:37,633 And instead you have seen anything but that. You have seen Elon Musk, 38 00:02:37,633 --> 00:02:42,633 who is unelected, who has really focused heavily on making sure 39 00:02:44,466 --> 00:02:47,666 that we cut in a way that I believe has nothing to do with efficiency. 40 00:02:47,666 --> 00:02:50,666 GEOFF BENNETT: When Democrats push back, I mean, do you risk being seen 41 00:02:50,666 --> 00:02:55,633 as defending the status quo, when people in November were saying they wanted change? 42 00:02:57,566 --> 00:02:59,600 SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS: I don't think the American people voted for this. Did they 43 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:04,200 vote for us to cut critical funding to the National Institutes of Health, the people 44 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:09,200 who are researching cancer and who are coming up with cures to diseases? We didn't vote for that. 45 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,133 We didn't vote, again, to fire people who 46 00:03:13,133 --> 00:03:16,400 have to make sure that we have air safety or that our water is clean. 47 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:21,400 SEN. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER: A third of the work force that they're cutting are veterans. And 48 00:03:23,300 --> 00:03:27,600 so I think it's really important in this moment for us to amplify what's happening. 49 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,200 GEOFF BENNETT: I want to talk about your historymaking election victory. 50 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,433 To be a Black woman in the U.S. Senate is to be part of a small club, 51 00:03:36,433 --> 00:03:41,433 Carol Moseley Braun, Kamala Harris, Laphonza Butler. What does this moment 52 00:03:42,933 --> 00:03:44,900 feel like to you and what does it feel like to do it together? 53 00:03:44,900 --> 00:03:48,300 SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS: We call ourselves sister senators. And it's been just great 54 00:03:48,300 --> 00:03:53,300 to have her here serving with me. We recognize the privilege that it is 55 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,533 to represent so many people who fought hard for us to get here. 56 00:03:58,533 --> 00:04:03,466 And you know what? Our voices matter. We believe representation, I believe representation matters, 57 00:04:03,466 --> 00:04:07,133 that all of us should be represented in these spaces, and that the solutions are 58 00:04:07,133 --> 00:04:12,133 incomplete unless every single lived experience is represented in this Senate of every background. 59 00:04:14,300 --> 00:04:17,100 And so that means people from rural America should be here, the people from urban spaces, 60 00:04:17,100 --> 00:04:22,100 Black, white. Every background, Latino, has to be represented so that our solutions are complete. 61 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:28,866 SEN. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER: And when you think about the quarter of a century it took to get 62 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:35,133 from Carol Moseley Braun to Vice President Kamala Harris, and then almost a decade until 63 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:43,400 we got from Kamala Harris to Laphonza Butler, the two of us came in immediately, seamlessly. 64 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:52,400 We don't really talk about, ooh, we made history. What we talk about is, what kind of impact can we 65 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:59,800 make on the lives of the people who sent us here, on our country, and, who knows, 66 00:05:01,933 --> 00:05:05,833 maybe the world with the work that we're doing? It is really, for us, about the impact. 67 00:05:07,633 --> 00:05:10,500 But we also don't lose the fact that there may be a kid -- just this week, 68 00:05:10,500 --> 00:05:14,666 a kid did a book report on me. That was kind of strange. 69 00:05:14,666 --> 00:05:15,600 (CROSSTALK) (LAUGHTER) 70 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:15,733 SEN. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER: Yes. 71 00:05:17,733 --> 00:05:20,733 Or, just recently, over the past summer, the way I got to this job was after the 72 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,733 unexpected death of my husband. And I had a constituent walk up to me and say in a diner: 73 00:05:29,233 --> 00:05:34,233 "You were sad, you were depressed, but you got up. And so I got up." 74 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:40,533 And so you don't know whose life you're touching or impacting by being of service, 75 00:05:42,466 --> 00:05:46,433 but that's really what this moment is about. And I will tell you, 76 00:05:46,433 --> 00:05:51,433 it is really important to have a sister senator next to me. We 77 00:05:53,466 --> 00:05:56,866 sit next to each other in committees. We are on the same row on the Senate floor. 78 00:05:59,900 --> 00:06:04,900 And just to even say basic stuff like, well, what do you think about this, 79 00:06:07,700 --> 00:06:12,700 or how do you wear your shoes on these hard marble floors? Like... 80 00:06:14,266 --> 00:06:17,166 GEOFF BENNETT: There's marble throughout this entire building. 81 00:06:18,033 --> 00:06:19,533 SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS: Yes. 82 00:06:19,533 --> 00:06:21,433 SEN. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER: It's really different here. 83 00:06:21,433 --> 00:06:24,900 But to have that kind of support has been really, really a blessing, a blessing. 84 00:06:26,866 --> 00:06:28,900 GEOFF BENNETT: It's also important, I would imagine too to have mentors. And I know Vice 85 00:06:28,900 --> 00:06:32,333 President Kamala Harris, you count her as a friend and mentor, both of you. 86 00:06:32,333 --> 00:06:34,200 What advice has she given you? 87 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:35,766 SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS: Well, so Vice 88 00:06:35,766 --> 00:06:38,933 President Harris is -- has been amazing. She really has been. 89 00:06:38,933 --> 00:06:43,700 And I have been really blessed to have her. For at least the last 14 years, 90 00:06:43,700 --> 00:06:48,500 she's been there as an adviser. She's told me a number of things that matter. She told me 91 00:06:48,500 --> 00:06:53,400 that you should be joyful even in these times that are difficult, that we have the right to go into 92 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:58,400 these spaces and to bring joy with us, to never forget, of course, the people that we represent. 93 00:07:00,233 --> 00:07:03,700 But to not internalize it, to not make it personal has been helpful to me. 94 00:07:03,700 --> 00:07:07,700 SEN. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER: After getting elected to the Senate, I was just kind of running almost 95 00:07:07,700 --> 00:07:12,700 on autopilot. And it wasn't until the day that we were sworn in that I stepped on that floor and 96 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,500 I raised my right hand and I looked in her face that it hit me, the significance of the moment. 97 00:07:21,633 --> 00:07:26,633 And she hugged me and whispered in my ear: "Enjoy this moment." 98 00:07:28,533 --> 00:07:32,666 And I think that was really important, because so many people were focused on, 99 00:07:32,666 --> 00:07:37,666 oh, we didn't win this race or we didn't win. And it was almost like she wanted us 100 00:07:39,766 --> 00:07:42,866 to not negate the success that Delaware and Maryland had done when they elected, for me, 101 00:07:47,733 --> 00:07:52,733 the first woman sent to the Senate, as well as the first person of color. 102 00:07:53,633 --> 00:07:55,900 And so that reminder, I felt, 103 00:07:55,900 --> 00:08:00,900 was really important. Don't forget, as you said, the joy of this moment. 104 00:08:02,900 --> 00:08:06,733 GEOFF BENNETT: How do you reconcile this moment with the challenges posed by the 105 00:08:06,733 --> 00:08:11,733 current administration's stances on race and diversity issues? Or do you reconcile the two? 106 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:19,200 SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS: I think what we know is we have been in difficult times before. When we 107 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:25,200 speak about our grandparents, they have seen some difficulties. They know what challenge looks like. 108 00:08:27,100 --> 00:08:29,433 It gives us the resilience to walk through this moment. And I refuse to justify 109 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:35,133 my being here. This administration has made and unfortunately had tried to make it almost 110 00:08:38,700 --> 00:08:43,500 a dirty word the fact that we should care about inclusion and equality and those 111 00:08:43,500 --> 00:08:47,666 things. But I refuse to relitigate that. I don't think it's necessary. 112 00:08:47,666 --> 00:08:51,300 I think that we're going to continue working hard, myself and so many others, 113 00:08:51,300 --> 00:08:54,800 because we care about our country. We love our country. We love the people of 114 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:59,800 our states. And I'm here to serve them and to do everything I can to ensure that every one 115 00:09:01,933 --> 00:09:05,666 of us has the opportunity to experience the American dream. That's what this is about. 116 00:09:07,700 --> 00:09:11,066 SEN. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER: People have to ask themselves, who are you talking about? 117 00:09:11,066 --> 00:09:16,066 Well, we have heard it's women, it's people of color, it's people with disabilities. You 118 00:09:18,333 --> 00:09:23,300 could go down the list. Well, who you're talking about is America. Our strength is the fact that 119 00:09:25,466 --> 00:09:30,466 we bring these different professional and lived experiences. At this month, 120 00:09:32,233 --> 00:09:36,633 Black History Month, the theme this year is African Americans and labor. 121 00:09:38,733 --> 00:09:42,666 Of all times in our history to be pulling people out of the work force, telling people 122 00:09:45,066 --> 00:09:49,400 they don't have a seat at the table, this is not the time. This is the time -- we're stronger when 123 00:09:51,633 --> 00:09:56,066 we recognize all of the talent, the brilliance, the excellence that all of us bring to the table. 124 00:09:58,366 --> 00:10:03,033 And so folks can try to distract. We're going to keep our eyes on the prize. And that's making sure 125 00:10:05,100 --> 00:10:08,100 that people have good jobs. That's making sure that people have clean drinking water 126 00:10:08,100 --> 00:10:13,100 and clean air. It's making sure they have health care. We have our eyes on the prize. 127 00:10:13,100 --> 00:10:17,900 Ours is not about tax breaks for billionaires and ultra-rich people. 128 00:10:17,900 --> 00:10:22,766 It is about making sure that all of us have opportunity and have a fair shot. 129 00:10:22,766 --> 00:10:26,233 GEOFF BENNETT: Senator Alsobrooks, Senator Blunt Rochester, thank you again for your time. 130 00:10:26,233 --> 00:10:27,933 SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS: Thank you. SEN. LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER: Thank you.