Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), Is Interviewed About Sen. Dianne Feinstein's Death; No Clear Path To Avert Shutdown With Deadlines Fast Approaching. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 29, 2023 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:30:00]

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President who also served alongside her and one of, in her many moments, in her legacy as senator.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Priscilla, keep us updated on what you're hearing from the White House and beyond.

Let's bring in a member of the California congressional delegation now for some reaction on this -- in this moment. Congressman Mike Thompson, joining us. Congressman, thank you for being so kind to jump on so quickly with us your reaction, your thoughts right now about the senator?

REP. MIKE THOMPSON (D-CA): Well, it's very sad. Senator Feinstein was a legend. She was an iconic public servant. And she earned and held the trust of voters throughout California for many years. And that's because she cared. She understood the importance of the institution of representative government. And she worked tirelessly for the people of our state, and for the people of the United States of America.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Representative Thompson, when you look back at your relationship with her, what stands out to you? What do you remember? And what will you remember the most about her?

THOMPSON: Well, we go back a long way. I walked precincts for her when they tried to recall her when she was the mayor of San Francisco. We traveled in a campaign together in 1990. She's been to my district many times. I've worked closely with her on a number of issues, gun violence prevention, certainly one of those, but to protect the environment.

She and I carried legislation together that was signed into law that protected into perpetuity 375,000 acres on California's on North Coast. And she was just wonderful to work with. She was whip smart. She understood both the policy and the politics. And she wasn't afraid to roll up her proverbial sleeves and dive into the details to make sure that we got things right, right for the American people, right for the people of California.

BOLDUAN: Congressman, what do you think was, I can't think of a better way of saying it, what do you think was the special sauce behind Dianne Feinstein? What made her such an effective politician and an effective public servant?

THOMPSON: Well, I think she cared. She had a heart and soul that was completely dedicated to public service. And she cared about the people who sent her to Washington. She worked tirelessly for them. And she worked across the aisle. She was someone who understood that the voters send us to Congress to get things done. And man, she got a lot of things done.

SIDNER: How did she do it? How did she go about wrangling, especially in the beginning, sort of the men around her because she was criticized just because she was a woman and a first as well?

THOMPSON: Yes. She broke a lot of glass ceilings, that's for sure. But I think that's the nature of women in San Francisco politics. But Senator Feinstein, as I said, you know, she would understand the issue. She knew what the problem was. She knew the best way to solve it. She relied on facts, not hyperbole or fear. And she just did the work and got things done. And I think her colleagues appreciated that. And I think her voters appreciated that.

BOLDUAN: What does this mean for the California Senate seat now, Congressman?

THOMPSON: Well, it's sad that she is gone, tremendously sad that she is gone. Have every confidence that the governor will appoint someone. But they'll -- there's not going to be another Dianne Feinstein for a long, long time. She was truly remarkable, as I said, a legend, an iconic public servant, and someone who earned and held the trust of voters across her state.

SIDNER: She was there since 1992. And we talked earlier with Phil Mattingly about this generational divide that is beginning to happen. Can you give us some sense, because you're in the House of what that looks like? And how this will impact that as Dianne Feinstein is no longer with us, how this will sort of impact the generational divide that exists now, in both houses?

THOMPSON: Well, whomever is serving today and whomever follows her, will do so on the shoulders of a giant. She has really laid the groundwork to make sure that those of us in public service, work hard to serve our constituents and to serve our country.

BOLDUAN: Congressman, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your thoughts today.

[09:35:03]

We want to bring in another former member of the congressional delegation, former Senator Barbara Boxer joining us on the phone right now. Senator, I -- as soon as we heard the news, you were one of the first people I thought of. Because you and Senator Feinstein, you broke barriers together, first female pair of U.S. senators to represent any state at the same time. Seeing you together representing California was a real moment. What are your -- where is your head and your heart today? BARBARA BOXER (D-CA), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: My head says, I never

thought she'd leave us because Dianne was one of the toughest, strongest leaders I have ever worked with. And yes, we made history together. The first two women ever elected from any state in the so called, "year of the woman." And I say so called because in 1992 that year, we went from two females out of 100 senators to six females.

And the media was so amazed at that. They called it the "year of the woman." And both Dianne and I said, no, no, no. We've got a long way to go. And after we did this, and then people predicted, oh, they're going to hate each other. They're going to fight. And there was even some columnist who kept waiting for that to happen.

And of course, we were joined at the hip when it came to represent in California, and we did have our differences. But we always, always got along and trusted each other. We worked together for 24 years, what an honor it was for me. And, yes, she was a one of a kind.

SIDNER: Senator Boxer, would you recall for us some of your most endearing, your favorite moments with her whether they were you two fighting together against the tide or whether it was a disagreement that you're able to work out? Can you give us some sense of what your memories are that really stand out to you?

BOXER: So, the first one is the assault weapons ban. What -- I think everybody at this point knows that Senator Feinstein witnessed a double assassination that she -- I shouldn't say she witnessed it, but she dealt with it in the aftermath. And she was forged to steel after that.

And she thought about at that time, the assault weapons situation. And then just strangely, when we got elected right in the early years, there was a terrible massacre at 101 California Street. And the two of us were shaking. This was in San Francisco. And as a matter of fact, one of my son's best friends perished in that.

And she just said, we have got to ban assault weapons. And will you help me with it? I said anything. And I think one of my endearing memories is we said, we lifted each other. And I think I said to her or she said to me, I said, I'll take the short ones, you take the tall ones. And, you know, we were very different in many ways. Physically, she was very tall as I'm hardly even five feet.

And we wouldn't stop and she wouldn't stop. And then Senator Biden, now President Biden said to us, look, I'm with you. And he said to Dianne, you have got to get 60 votes, or I cannot do it. And by God, she did. And it was really amazing, just amazing. And when we didn't get along, there were certain environmental issues we're our different sides -- we basically said to each other do no harm, you know. And pretty much we kept to that.

BOLDUAN: We're seeing from our colleagues on the Hill, Senator, that DiFi took her last Senate vote yesterday morning, and I was kind of thinking, isn't that exactly how DiFi would have wanted it?

BOXER: Say it again. Say that again. I missed it. BOLDUAN: Her final vote in the Senate was yesterday morning, just yesterday morning. I just think it's also just, no, another remarkable note about her remarkable passion for the job.

BOXER: Oh, 100 percent. And, you know, even in these very dark times for her, she knew, she knew that her vote was needed on that Committee. And when the Republicans refused to promise her that she would be replaced, she just stayed there. And, yes, really a remarkable person. And I agree, people like that just don't come along.

[09:40:08]

SIDNER: Senator Boxer, I'm curious if you had conversations with her about her biggest worry for this country as she was in this position of power as she dealt with the Senate and members of the House. What her biggest concern was for this country in these last years?

BOXER: Well, really, it was the gun violence epidemic. And gun violence has now become the number one cause of death among children. And, you know, here is a woman who was forged into politics by gun violence and was able to lead. And then, sadly, the assault weapons ban expired in 10 years. And so we never did it again, couldn't get it done. But she never stopped trying.

But I have to say, that was a huge passion. I also think, equal rights for women. When we came in, it was on the heels of Anita Hill. And we both felt very strongly that protecting a woman's rights and her right to choose and be respected for her decision, so all of that, you know, really was -- it was important.

But, you know, she -- you have to be a generalist in this job. And she worked hard on wilderness protection in our beautiful state. So, you know, but I think for her, I'd have to say, the gun issue was a motivational force for her.

BOLDUAN: What were your conversations with her around retirement, even when you leave, when you made your decision to retire, just kind of -- and in the conversation after both of you had such long, amazing careers, about what legacy means to you?

BOXER: Well, I'm laughing here because when I told her I had decided not to run again in 2016 and I left the Senate in 2017, she was really mad at me. And she said, why would you do this? You're at the top of your game. And I said Dianne, we're different on that, you know. I just feel it in my bones is time for me to step aside. I'm not going to retire, you know. I'm going to have a busy, productive, but, oh, well, she was not happy.

She was mad, to be honest. Because to her, and she has told me this, we talked, and she has decided to run the last time we chatted about it. She talked to me. She said will you help me get up the electives? I said, of course. And she said -- this was after I had left. And she basically said, I -- a lot of people are telling me not to do this. But, you know, this job is a calling to me. She said to me, this job is a calling. And that's how she viewed it. SIDNER: And that's how she ran her life, her campaign, her work. Senator Barbara Boxer, thank you so much for sharing all of those intimate details about your relationship there with Senator Feinstein and her thoughts on her life and her achievements. We appreciate your time.

BOLDUAN: It's so good to hear from her. Thank you, Senator.

SIDNER: And we're seeing so many people, right, like come out, as you would I mean, because of her position. But the one word that is used, I think over and over and over again is trailblazer, trailblazer, trailblazer.

BOLDUAN: And, you know, often phrase terminology can be, you know, overused sometimes. But in her case, trailblazer is, by definition, accurate and one of a kind. And, I mean, Mike Thompson said she's a legend. So it's -- Dianne Feinstein has now passed away --

SIDNER: And you mentioned --

BOLDUAN: -- at the age of 90 years old.

[09:43:55]

SIDNER: Her last work in Congress was trying to help get the bill passed so that we didn't have a shutdown. We are just hours away from that government shutdown. And we are minutes away from hearing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. What's his message as the clock is ticking and running out. We will bring it all to you, live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Right now, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is trying to figure out what now. His last ditch effort at the moment centers around pushing for a vote on a short term spending bill this morning but he does not have the votes for it. The dynamics at play really have not changed overnight. Nothing he's tried has shaken anybody loose if you will, Republican hardliners are not ready to negotiate. And we are now as you can see, we've moved from days to now hours from a shutdown.

SIDNER: Now over on the Senate side, their funding bill is still a work in progress with no real hopes of passing before the deadline there either. All signs point to a shutdown that would affect millions, 2.2 million federal workers, 1.3 million members of the military. The federal workers, some of them will be forced off the job or forced to work without pay.

You may see airport delays. You might see transportation projects that are put on hold. And food assistant programs go to a halt. We have it all covered this morning CNN's Lauren Fox is joining us from Capitol Hill. And CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is at the White House tracking the President's response. We're going to begin now though with Lauren. Lauren, what do you have as the very latest at this hour?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, House Republicans are going to try this last gamble to pass a short term spending bill. But right now the votes are not there. And we expect that this could be defeated as soon as a procedural vote that hits the floor around 11:30 a.m. this morning. This is really the most conservative package that leadership could have put together.

It includes straw on border security provisions, changes to border policy that the administration has deployed at the southern border. It also includes steep spending cuts while some agencies like the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Veterans Affairs are held at today's spending levels, there is about a 30 percent cut to other agencies.

[09:50:20]

That is something that hardliners have been asking the Speaker for. And yet, this bill still faces long odds of passing today in the House and pass -- and has virtually no chance of passing out of the Senate. Right now in the Senate, they are working on a bipartisan basis to pass their bill. But they have a conservative hardliner and Senator Rand Paul, who is slow walking that process, meaning the Senate may not get their bill passed either before the government shuts down.

Right now, there is no path forward that is clearly visible to any of us who have been covering this over the last several weeks, Sara. And that just tells you that for Americans waking up on Monday morning, it's very likely they are going to be facing a federal government shutdown.

BOLDUAN: All right, stick with us, Lauren. Let's get over to Priscilla Alvarez. She's at the White House for the White House perspective on this. Priscilla, what is the latest from there? Is the -- I mean, we heard calls from Kevin McCarthy that President Biden getting engaged, that he started negotiating getting involved in the process to try to negotiate something that seems more of a deflection than anything else. But what are you hearing from them this morning?

ALVAREZ: Well, in the President's response to that would be that the two had reached a deal earlier this year. And now and that this was, quote, totally avoidable. That's what he said at a fundraiser in Arizona. But White House officials have been saying for some time is that the onus is on Republicans. It is on them to avoid any type of government shutdown.

And over the course of the last several days, they have been releasing a series of press releases highlighting the impact of this on federal workers and for Americans. That includes for example, at least starting today with small businesses, small business administration will stop processing new business loans in the event of a government shutdown.

There will be delays in long term disaster recovery efforts. Those are those disaster relief funds that we talked about with FEMA. They have had to only focus on response and they've had to put recovery on hold as their coffers start to empty out, the risk of millions of women and children not receiving food assistance, and of course, millions of federal workers not receiving pay. Now there are functions of the government that will continue, for example, border enforcement, border patrol agents will have to continue to enforce the border, but they won't get paid for it. And so all of this is what the administration has been highlighting, and that federal agencies are bracing in for.

In fact, just yesterday, they started to tell employees to brace for a shutdown telling them that they may be temporarily furloughed. Now at the White House to give you a little bit of a glimpse of what this looks like, senior aides at the White House are having to learn some of what the junior aides do because those junior aides may be furloughed. So that gives you a sense of just all the logistical challenges here as well as the very real impact for Americans across the country.

BOLDUAN: Priscilla, thank you so much.

SIDNER: All right. Let's go back to Lauren Fox who was on Capitol Hill. We're expecting to hear from the Speaker in, I don't know, just a few minutes now. What is he going to say when it is the Republicans bickering between each other that have really failed to get anything passed through the House?

FOX: Yes, the Speaker is trying to create unity within his conference unity that has been missing in action for the last several weeks. But his argument is trying to pressure some of those conservative hardliners that if they don't rally around this short term spending bill, this conservative package that I laid out, you are basically voting with the Biden administration, that is going to be his argument, because he's trying to say that their bill includes strong border security provisions, provisions that the House already passed, provisions that conservatives have been fighting for.

His argument is, if you don't vote for this short term spending bill, you're essentially saying you don't really want border security. And that is where the pressure point is for the Speaker right now. But so far, this argument that he's been making publicly and privately it has not moved the needle. We at CNN have counted eight hardliners who have said they are not going to vote for a short term spending bill, no way, no how, no matter what's in it. And they have held firm to that.

So unless there's some miracle that happens in the next several hours, it appears that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's argument for unity is not resonating for some hardliners who want to try and oust the Speaker who want to force him potentially into a shutdown and force this issue of whether or not he can lead their conference.

BOLDUAN: Lauren, standby stick with us please. There's going to be a lot of moving parts on this this morning.

[09:55:01]

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is set to speak, supposed to speak with reporters any minute now. He will likely -- let's -- we will have to wait and see what the state of play is and if anything has changed in the dynamic. You see a live look in the room when we're waiting for this press conference.

Lauren Fox is going to be standing by, Manu Raju also on the Hill. We've got this covered for you as the clock ticks down to a government shutdown. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:59:55]

BOLDUAN: We are following a lot of news this hour, a lot of moving parts to keep track of. Minutes from now, we will be hearing from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He's going to be speaking to reporters on the eve of this government shutdown. What is his plan to avoid that now?