Democrat Chris Pappas says "we're taking nothing for granted" in N.H. Senate race

[0:00] We turn now to Congressman Chris Pappas, who's running for the U.S. Senate in his native New [0:04] Hampshire. He joins us this morning from Manchester. Good morning. Hi, Margaret. Good [0:10] morning. Well, CBS projects that New Hampshire is no longer a toss-up but lean Democrat. So what [0:17] are you focused on in these final weeks of the campaign? Well, we're taking nothing for granted [0:22] in this race because New Hampshire is a purple state and we're an all-election day state where [0:26] we don't have early voting generally in New Hampshire. So it's focused on how we get to [0:31] those independent swing voters, how we energize the base, how we reach out to Republicans over [0:36] the next 23 days to win a tough race. Our Senate race in 2016 in New Hampshire was decided by [0:41] 1,017 votes. I'm up against a candidate with a very famous political pedigree in New Hampshire. [0:46] He's been a U.S. senator before. But this isn't about going back to the failed politicians with [0:51] failed ideas from the past. It's about looking ahead to the future, how we muster the courage [0:55] to stand up to a reckless administration that's making life more expensive, how we fight to [0:59] lower costs, how we connect with everyday granted staters about the kind of future we can build [1:03] together. So I'm hopeful about where we're going to end up at the end of this thing. But we've got [1:07] to put in the work over the next 23 days in order to change things in Washington and deliver the [1:11] results New Hampshire deserves. Well, Democrats do seem nationally to be running on an anti-Trump [1:17] agenda. In your particular race, you mentioned John Sununu, your opponent. He doesn't make that [1:23] strategy easy because he used to be a never-Trumper. He criticizes the trade war with Canada. He [1:29] doesn't like Trump sending $5,000 checks out. He said it was a mistake to start the war with [1:34] Iran without a strategy for the Strait of Hormuz. I mean, he has distanced himself in some ways [1:39] from the president, though he is endorsed by Mr. Trump. How do you split that in the minds of the [1:46] Republicans that you were trying to win over? [1:48] John Sununu has said it out loud. He said that this race is important to Donald Trump's agenda [1:54] and to protect the gains that Donald Trump has made for the American people. Now, I don't know [1:59] what those gains are, because if you were paying $1,000 to fill up your home heating oil tank or $6.50 [2:04] to put diesel in your car for every gallon or housing costs that are through the roof, you're not [2:09] feeling like you're winning right now. So the fact is, Donald Trump has said this, that pretend I'm on [2:15] the ballot. He's on the ballot through candidates like John Sununu, who will maintain his majority [2:19] in the U.S. Senate, will make it harder for us to hold this administration to account, to address [2:24] the culture of corruption in Washington and fight to lower costs for New Hampshire families. [2:28] So John Sununu stands with Trump in this campaign. He's been supporting his agenda. [2:33] The fact is, the last time he was in office, he stood with George W. Bush for forever wars, [2:37] privatizing Social Security and tax cuts for the rich. That didn't work for New Hampshire then, [2:41] and he doesn't represent the kind of future we need to lower costs and get this economy working [2:46] for everyone. But if Democrats flip control of Congress, what specifically does the party want [2:53] to do to stop Mr. Trump, as you just laid out? I mean, is that impeachment? Is that investigation? [3:01] Certainly there has to be accountability, and the American people deserve to know what's going on [3:05] in the government, and any sort of corruption has to be rooted out. But we have to focus like a laser [3:10] on the economic challenges that people are living right now. We have to put some wins on the board [3:14] for workers and the middle class. How do you do that? We can do that by building on the success of [3:18] the housing bill that we passed to invest in the affordable housing stock that we need, to work to [3:23] end this war and lower energy prices, to restore the cuts to health care that are kicking thousands [3:28] of Granite Staters off of their health insurance and making it harder for people to access the care [3:33] that they need. So we do have to focus with everything we've got on the affordability agenda. [3:37] That starts in January. And I think that's both a short, medium, and long-term strategy [3:41] to take on the way this economy has been rigged and deliver results for middle-class families [3:46] and workers. You said restore cuts to health care. I think you mean in the enhanced premium [3:51] subsidies, so you want more government spending on health care. Is that your platform? [3:56] I want New Hampshire families to be able to get a health care premium that makes sense for [4:01] them, that will allow them to provide for their families. 17,000 folks in my state have dropped [4:06] their insurance because of the failure to extend the ACA premium subsidies. And we're [4:10] looking at a huge cut with respect to Medicaid that's going to devastate our hospitals, health [4:14] centers, and nursing homes cynically timed to kick in just after this election. So it's [4:19] a focus both on making the Affordable Care Act work, taking the insurance companies and [4:24] pharmaceutical companies to account to lower prices, and making sure we're backstopping these [4:29] cuts to Medicaid so that rural health care, health care for people in underserved areas, doesn't [4:34] get disrupted and, you know, destroyed by these MAGA cuts that were part of the big, beautiful [4:39] bill last year. [4:40] Well, if Democrats do take control, there's also going to be that question of what is [4:45] the unified vision for the party and can you unify your party? There's been a lot of focus [4:50] on ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. You sponsored a bill that would redirect $75 billion [4:58] in ICE funding to local law enforcement agencies. You say ICE needs reform. That's different from [5:04] some of your Democratic colleagues who are saying disband ICE entirely, including just [5:09] right next door in Maine, where Troy Jackson, who's running for Senate, says you got to break [5:13] it up. Why is he wrong? Why is your approach the way to go? [5:17] Well, we have to be realistic. Donald Trump's going to be president for the next two years. [5:22] We've got to find every point of leverage we possibly can to rein in the disgusting abuses [5:28] we have seen from ICE, from next door in Biddeford, Maine, to Minneapolis, to Texas. [5:32] This is unacceptable to people in New Hampshire, and it's unacceptable to voters across the political [5:37] spectrum. So we need accountability. We need to take back the extra money that they were [5:42] given in that slush fund last year, $75 billion with no strings attached by Congress, [5:47] with no meaningful oversight. We need to make sure that ICE officers are conducting themselves, [5:52] like our trusted local law enforcement does, making sure that they're identified, that [5:56] they have de-escalation training, that they have body cameras. All of that would be a step [6:02] in the right direction. But the fact is, this is a nation of immigrants, and we have to make [6:06] sure that we are going after the worst of the worst, criminals that are violating the law, [6:10] while also respecting due process rights and making sure that immigrants are part of our [6:15] extended American family. And people in New Hampshire support that, and I hope we can get [6:19] to the point where we're talking about immigration reform that will allow immigrants to follow [6:23] a path to work hard, to earn their citizenship, and to ensure that our businesses can benefit [6:29] from that. Right. And then you'd have to work with a Republican president on those things. [6:33] Thank you very much for your time.