‘This Deal Is Not Working’: Cory Booker Delivers Electrifying Speech Against Trump — US News

[0:00] The people united could never be defeated. [0:04] You see, we have a powerful man in office right now, and I'm going to tell you this. [0:09] He cannot be the main character of the American story. [0:12] And it's time for a new deal again, because the current deal is not working when Americans [0:19] can't afford their health insurance. [0:21] The current deal is not working when people can't afford to buy a home. [0:25] The current deal is not working when you can't afford childcare and to pay your rent. [0:31] The current deal is not working when masked men are coming into our neighborhoods and dragging [0:37] our neighbors out. [0:38] The current deal is working when we're for war, new deal, ladies and gentlemen, soldiers [1:13] of our democracy. [1:14] I like Bergie because she is an unstoppable force of nature. [1:36] But I'm proud to be called here to speak today to a lot of unstoppable forces of nature. [1:44] But before I do, I just want to give honor to the great mayor of Detroit. [1:48] She is a phenomenal woman. [1:51] I want to give to my colleague, my big sister, Debbie Stabenow, because she is a phenomenal [2:00] woman. [2:02] And of course, your great state is run with a governor who is also a phenomenal woman. [2:27] And I don't want to leave out a pretty good dude named Gary Peters as well. [2:32] My brother from another mother. [2:36] So you all have to bear with me because my mom has this saying. [2:41] She says, behind every successful child is an astonished parent. [2:51] My mother would take a lot of pride in me standing here today. [2:54] In fact, as I was flying here, I couldn't reach her. [2:57] I called my aunt and I'll tell you why she was so excited. [3:00] But what I thought I would do is really affirm the fact that we all are sitting here as our [3:07] ancestors' wildest dreams. [3:10] We all would be astonishing those who came before us, who fought for us, who bled for [3:16] us, who cried many a night for us, who struggled for us and worked for us. [3:22] So today, I really just want to do three things. [3:26] Not astonish my ancestors, but honoring them by making three points from three of my elders. [3:35] And I know these are points that don't have to be made because you all are living it already. [3:39] But I think what I want to do is really focus in on three themes from elders who have influenced [3:47] me. [3:48] The first theme is about hope. [3:50] The second theme is about power. [3:52] And the third theme is about leadership. [3:55] Let me start with hope and explain to you with some embarrassment how I started my career. [4:00] I was a Yale law student. [4:03] And when I graduated from Yale, my father looked at me and said, boy, you've got more degrees [4:07] in the month of July, but she ain't hot. [4:11] Life ain't about the degrees you get. [4:12] It's about the service you give. [4:14] So I moved into one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city I love, Newark, New Jersey. [4:21] And I moved there. [4:22] Thank you. [4:23] Some Brick City love in the house. [4:25] I appreciate the smattering of applause right here. [4:29] And I get to Newark, New Jersey, and I'm overwhelmed. [4:32] The neighborhood I chose to move in was violent. [4:36] I heard gunshots at night and in the daytime. [4:38] There was a whole bunch of dense public housing, abandoned buildings. [4:43] And I show up to knock on the door of the tenant president. [4:46] And she opens the door and she says, who are you? [4:48] And I go, ma'am, I'm Cory Booker. [4:50] I'm from Yale Law School. [4:51] I'm here to help you. [4:52] And this woman looks at me like I need help. [4:57] She takes me to Martin Luther King Boulevard and says to me, boy, if you want to help me, [5:03] tell me what you see in my neighborhood. [5:06] And I'm like, what do you mean? [5:07] She goes, describe my neighborhood. [5:09] And I described it to her, the projects, the abandoned buildings. [5:15] And the more I talked, the more angry she looked. [5:20] And finally, she said to me, you can't help me. [5:23] And she starts walking away from me. [5:25] I'm confused. [5:26] I run after her, stop her from behind very respectfully. [5:31] And I said, ma'am, what are you talking about? [5:33] And she looks at me and she goes, boy, you need to understand something. [5:36] The world you see outside of you is a reflection of what you have inside of you. [5:44] And if you look at my neighborhood and all you see is problems and darkness and despair, [5:48] that's all there's ever going to be. [5:51] But if you're one of those people who every time you open your eyes, you see hope, you [5:56] see opportunity, you see love, you see the face of God, then you can be one of those [6:04] people that helps me. [6:07] She left me scratching my head thinking to myself, okay, grasshopper, thus ended the lesson. [6:14] You see, Miss Jones was the kind of person that many of us know because we got Miss Jones [6:19] is on our blocks and in our neighborhoods all over America. [6:22] They're the kind of people that don't wait for change, they make the change happen. [6:25] They're the kind of people that make a way out of no way. [6:28] They're the kind of people that despite the trauma in the community, they heal every single [6:34] day holding people together, holding our children, elevating our elders. [6:40] But I would move into the high rise projects where Miss Jones lived and I would find out in [6:45] the building that I lived that her son was murdered in the lobby years earlier. [6:52] And I was shaken by that. [6:53] How could this woman who had her son murdered in the lobby of this building still be here [6:58] after all those years, still be in her leadership position? [7:01] So I went to her and asked her, why do you still live here after something horrific like [7:07] that happened? [7:08] And she looked at me almost amused by the question. [7:10] She goes, why do I still live here? [7:13] And I go, yes, Miss Jones, why? [7:14] She goes, why am I still in apartment 6A? [7:18] And I go, yes, Miss Jones. [7:19] I said, why? [7:20] She goes, why am I still the tenant president since the day these buildings were built in [7:25] 1969? [7:26] And I go, yes, Miss Jones, that's electoral longevity. [7:29] I understand. [7:30] But why? [7:31] And then she looked at me with a smile and she said, because I am in charge of Homeland Security. [7:39] Let me tell you something Miss Jones taught me about hope. [7:44] Hope isn't a feeling you get. [7:47] It's not something that happens when the wind blows the right way and suddenly you have [7:50] hope. [7:51] No, she taught me that hope is the active conviction that despair will never have the last word. [8:06] We are living in a time where there is despair and fear and hurt. [8:12] Those are understandable emotions. [8:14] But now more than ever, like Miss Jones, she understood we can't wait for other people [8:19] to bring us hope. [8:22] I'm not going to wait for a presidential appointment or cabinet secretary position. [8:26] Hell, she may have the title, Kristi Noem of Homeland Security Director, but I am taking [8:32] the responsibility. [8:35] We are each other's hope. [8:37] We are the heroes that we are looking for. [8:40] We are the leaders that we need. [8:43] That is what real hope is. [8:45] It is in the valley of despair, yea, though I walk through that valley, that you keep [8:51] on walking. [8:52] It is knowing that weeping may endure through the night, but I will bring the joy in the [8:58] morning. [9:02] I have reason for despair, but I still have the power to help somebody up, the power to [9:08] heal somebody, that I can be the hope in somebody else's life. [9:12] That's how we got here today. [9:14] That's how our ancestors brought us along the way. [9:19] But that is not enough. [9:22] Miss Jones showed me hope is a choice. [9:27] Hope is action, but power I got from another elder, and I want to switch to my second elder [9:34] here. [9:36] And these are a dynamic duo. [9:37] This is a couple. [9:39] This is a couple that moved from the south to this great city called Detroit. [9:45] This couple, I knew when I was a child, they were my grandparents. [9:50] If you know where Wayne State is, you know where my family lived. [9:55] It's now a parking lot. [9:57] My mom was born in Harper Hospital. [10:00] My family, I know there's a lot of cast fans out here, but they went to, hold on, but my [10:05] family went to Northern High School. [10:07] I'm sorry. [10:12] My mama grew up in these cities and they told me stories of what power is. [10:17] You see, this is a community that took my family from poverty and the depression to middle [10:22] class. [10:23] This is the city in which my parents and grandparents, my grandmama, opened up businesses, a laundry [10:27] mat, a pool hall, a gas station. [10:29] In fact, the statute of limitations are over, I hope, but I can tell you all this now. [10:35] I hope I can tell you all this, not get in trouble. [10:38] Well, my grandparents ran numbers too. [10:46] Before the lottery was legit, we had it in our own communities and that money stayed in [10:51] our community. [10:55] Now I want to tell you about power because my grandparents taught me that power. [10:59] You see, the depression was a rough time. [11:03] It reminds me a lot of what we're experiencing now. [11:06] We had big stratifications of wealth. [11:09] We had so many Americans that were given up on the American dream. [11:13] Many people were working hard, but they were finding themselves with more month at the end [11:17] of their money than money at the end of the month. [11:21] In those hard times, my grandparents found what real power is and real power is what we [11:27] need right now. [11:28] Real power is what this luncheon is about. [11:31] Real power is what this convention is about. [11:34] Real power is what I believe will be rising in Michigan in the coming months. [11:38] You see, in the depths of the depression, when you had a president, Herbert Hoover, that was hurting [11:48] communities, dividing people, believing in the laissez-faire economics that somehow prosperity [11:55] would trickle down if you just kept helping the wealthy. [11:58] In the time of Herbert Hoover, this community in Detroit did not wait for other people to deliver [12:05] them. [12:06] It was a community in Detroit that my grandparents found that they could turn their pain into purpose. [12:12] They could go from agonized to mobilized and to organized. [12:17] They could let their outrage get them out working to bring people together. [12:22] You see, my grandparents made a decision that they would join a union and get with the UAW. [12:28] They weren't going to wait for somebody else to deliver them economic justice, but my grandfather [12:40] helped to organize in the UAW for higher wages, for worker protections, for rules that elevated [12:47] the working man and the working woman. [12:49] But they didn't stop there. [12:51] You see, some of you might not remember this, but back in the 30s, most of black folks in Detroit [12:58] were Republicans. [13:01] It's the truth. [13:04] And so my grandparents, like many black Americans did in Detroit, said, you know what? [13:10] We're done with the Republican Party and their failed policies and their outright lies. [13:16] We are going to organize our community. [13:18] We're going to tell people to turn Lincoln's picture to the wall because that may have been [13:24] the party of Lincoln, but we now need to redeem the dream of America. [13:30] It is time for a new deal for Americans. [13:34] My grandparents went out and they bragged to the days they died. [13:38] They helped to organize 14 districts from Republican voters to Democratic voters. [13:44] And they said this party was the party not of me, but the party of we. [13:49] It was a party of not exclusion, but of inclusion. [13:52] It was a party of civil rights and workers' rights and women's rights. [13:57] It was a party of labor. [13:58] It was the party that believed in Social Security and Medicare. [14:04] It was a party that knew all men and women are created equal and deserve great public school [14:10] schools to develop their mind. [14:13] They knew what real power was. [14:15] Real power was we the people. [14:18] People think that FDR, my grandfather used to say, FDR didn't elect himself. [14:22] We, the people, elected him. [14:25] We didn't get suffrage because a bunch of guys in the United States Senate came together and [14:29] said, hey, fellas, put your hands in, let's say suffrage on three. [14:34] We didn't get civil rights or voting rights because one day Strom Thurmond came to the Senate [14:38] floor and said, I seen the lie. [14:42] We got those things because we were organized. [14:46] We were mobilized. [14:47] We knew that the power was with the people, that in the United States of America, the power [14:53] of the people is greater than the people in power. [14:56] And we knew that the people united could never be defeated. [15:02] You see, we have a powerful man in office right now, and I'm going to tell you this. [15:08] He cannot be the main character of the American story. [15:13] We are the main character of our story. [15:17] And it is time for a new deal again because the current deal is not working when Americans [15:23] can't afford their health insurance. [15:25] The current deal is not working when people can't afford to buy a home. [15:30] The current deal is not working when you can't afford childcare and to pay your rent. [15:35] The current deal is not working when masked men are coming into our neighborhoods and dragging [15:41] our neighbors out. [15:43] The current deal is not working when we're bombing other countries and have money for [15:49] war. [15:50] The White House will see the day we need for somebody to bring it to us. [16:15] We people. [16:16] We did it in Selma. [16:17] We did it in Seneca Falls. [16:19] We did it at Stonewall. [16:21] We the people made this a more perfect union. [16:26] And when the union is divided, we the people have to bring it back together. [16:30] But Michigan, I don't want y'all to feel too comfortable. [16:37] I got something to say that y'all might not like. [16:41] But I'm going to say it. [16:45] I'm going to say y'all might not like it. [16:47] Like it. [16:51] If you know that when we're together that the people united can never be defeated, [16:56] then you know that our kryptonite is division. [17:00] I'm going to say it one more time. [17:04] I was told this in my church. [17:07] We got some squabbles. [17:08] We had a little church in New York and close to New Jersey. [17:11] Got some squabbles in the church. [17:16] My pastor knew it. [17:17] Whenever two or three are gathered together in his name, there's some divinity in strength [17:24] and unity. [17:25] I knew it when I played football older, I get the better I was, but I knew when we would [17:32] score a touchdown. [17:33] I knew it. [17:34] I knew when we would score a touchdown, we were driving down the field and I heard the [17:38] defensive huddle starting to argue amongst themselves, get on somebody for what they did. [17:43] They missed a tackle. [17:44] And I would turn to my huddle and say, we're going to score because they're divided. [17:48] I'm going to tell you right now, I think it's important to have primaries. [17:53] Democratic Party needs to have a conversation because we've come up short too many times. [18:00] I'm one of these people that believes we need to have a robust dialogue and sometimes there's [18:06] worthy issues to fight for. [18:08] But like when I played football, when you come out of that locker room and you've decided [18:12] who's your starting team, everybody needs to get around that team. [18:18] Because what I was taught when I was coming up is that if there's no enemy within, the [18:23] enemy without can do you no harm. [18:27] And I've seen it too much in our party. [18:28] I'm calling it like it is. [18:31] After our primaries and Hillary Clinton was our nominee, there was some people, not all [18:35] people, not even most people, some people said, well, I don't like her. [18:39] I don't agree with everything she says. [18:42] I saw it with Kamala Harris. [18:45] There were too many people that say, I don't agree with her on everything. [18:48] I mean, 90 out of 100, I agree with her, but those 10, I can't do it. [18:54] Well, you may disagree with her on 10% of her views, but you let someone get in office who [19:00] you disagree with on everything. [19:03] You let somebody get in office who is locking up our children. [19:08] You let somebody in office who's taking away our, somebody get away workers' rights. [19:17] You let somebody in office who got rid of the Department of Education. [19:24] So I'm going to say this, like the son of a Michigander, Michigan, we're the hand, right? [19:31] It's nice to have fingers. [19:32] They all got jobs. [19:33] They all got perspectives. [19:35] But I don't want the Michigan hand after your convention. [19:38] I don't want the Michigan hand after your August primary. [19:41] I want the Michigan fist. [19:43] I want you all to unite on the wall of resistance. [19:50] I want you to grab a sledgehammer and knock some, I want you to reach up and grab somebody [19:58] and get them off the couch and get them on the field, points to put on the board. [20:03] I want that Michigan fist. [20:06] I want some unity. [20:13] Unity is power or unity is power. [20:19] I got one more thing now. [20:21] I had some elders on Newark's New Jersey's great streets. [20:25] I had some elders right here in Michigan, my grandparents. [20:30] But the last piece of wisdom, if we're going to go from what hope is, the active conviction, [20:36] the despair will not have the last word. [20:38] If we talk about what power is, it's like that old African saying, spiderwebs united could [20:43] tie up a lion. [20:45] And we got a president that's doing a whole bunch of lion. [20:52] The last of the wisdom from my elders comes from somebody whose name I never got. [21:03] It came against amidst a terrible storm. [21:08] Now we're in a metaphorical and spiritual storm in our country right now. [21:11] There are people at risk, floodwaters rising, wind coming in, swirling around. [21:18] We're in a terrible storm right now, metaphorically. [21:20] But this was a literal storm in New Jersey called Hurricane Sandy. [21:25] And I was mayor of my city and I was driving in a big command vehicle. [21:28] When I would say I was driving, that's what senators say when somebody was driving them. [21:35] And my two police officers, I was mayor of the city. [21:37] Two police officers were driving me. [21:39] The wind was shaking our car like it was a leaf in the wind and the rain was hitting [21:44] our windshield so much, the windshield wipers not only couldn't keep up, but they were about [21:49] to give up because they were almost useless trying to get away the rain. [21:52] We could barely see outside in front of us. [21:54] But I'm trying to take notes on any conditions for our emergency crews. [21:58] But as we're driving along, my phone rings and I answer my phone and forgive me if this sounds [22:04] impertinent. [22:05] Verge, you got to forgive me for this one. [22:08] But I believe that when I answered that phone, I heard the stupidest question in America. [22:15] Now forgive me, it sounds impertinent, I apologize, but you tell me if this is the stupidest question [22:20] in America. [22:21] I answer the phone and the person on the phone says, hello, this is the White House operator. [22:26] Will you hold for the president of the United States of America? [22:30] And I'm like, who says no to that? [22:33] I mean, right now I might say no to that, but, but, but back then I tell you, I miss [22:39] Obama. [22:40] I miss Obama. [22:44] I miss Obama and I miss her husband too. [22:56] Miss her husband. [22:57] But Michelle, I'm surprised Verge's got serious pull. [23:02] I'm surprised she didn't get Michelle. [23:06] She tried. [23:07] So, so this is Barack Obama, my second favorite Obama calling me from the White House, checking [23:15] in on me as the mayor of a city in the direct path of a hurricane. [23:21] And, and he is calling to encourage me, to show me a level of decency and humanity, to [23:27] check in on the people of the city of Newark. [23:29] It was a beautiful moment. [23:30] It may have lasted five, six, seven minutes total tops. [23:33] But when I hung up that phone, I felt so lifted by a commander in chief that leads with love [23:40] because he can't lead the people. [23:42] If you don't love the people. [23:43] As soon as I, my phone rings again. [23:51] I'm like, I'm like this. [23:55] Answer the phone. [23:56] Now I recognize the voice. [23:58] Now you have never heard of this person in New Jersey. [24:01] We know them. [24:02] You've never heard of him. [24:03] I answer my phone and it's my governor, Chris Christie. [24:06] You all don't know who he is. [24:09] He's never been out here to Michigan. [24:13] But this is not a time for partisanship. [24:16] It's not a time for division. [24:19] When there's a storm coming, unity, unity is power. [24:24] And he and I have good talks and good conversation and he's doing the same thing. [24:29] We're encouraging each other. [24:30] And I'm so lifted. [24:32] I hang up the phone and I have the same goodwill. [24:34] I just talked to the president of the United States. [24:36] I just talked to the governor of my state. [24:38] But now we're on one of the steepest hills in my city, a steeper hill in my city. [24:42] And we see at the very top of the hill through the wind and the rain that's barely making out. [24:47] We see a light swinging as if suspended in midair. [24:53] It was just swinging back and forth. [24:55] And my officers and I lean forward and go, what is that at the top of the hill? [24:59] And we got a little bit closer. [25:00] And then we see it's a man in the middle of the road swinging this light. [25:06] And I'm now very confused. [25:08] But as we got closer, I saw it. [25:11] Behind him at the very top of the hill, all the trees, mighty trees and their trunks had already been blown down. [25:21] And they pulled down all the telephone pole wires and the telephone poles. [25:26] When we got close enough, we would have written it down and taken all the information for emergency crews. [25:33] But my officers pulled me in front of his window. [25:36] He's standing right in front of my window. [25:39] And I roll down the window. [25:41] And that's when I saw it. [25:44] The man holding that light, holding himself steady in all these winds, was an elderly man in a yellow slicker. [25:54] And now forgive me again, but I yelled at him. [25:57] I wanted this man to hear me over the wind and the rain, so I yelled at him. [26:01] I said, what are you doing out here? [26:08] And then this man looks at me like I just asked him the stupidest question in America. [26:20] He looks at me and goes, mayor, mayor. [26:24] And he points at the shattered wood, the twisted wires. [26:29] He goes, mayor, I'm standing out here because I don't want anyone to come along and get hurt. [26:39] I had just talked to the president of the United States of America. [26:46] I talked to the governor of my state. [26:48] I'm the mayor of the largest city in my state. [26:50] But I will tell you this. [26:52] The greatest leadership I saw exhibited that night was not the people in high positions with mighty titles. [27:02] It's what's in this room. [27:03] The greatness I saw best exhibited that night was the man in a storm in dark of night to a hill and held up his light so that other people would not get hurt. [27:19] Ladies and gentlemen, there is a storm in our nation. [27:23] There is darkness and wind. [27:25] People are getting hurt. [27:26] What we need is not from on high. [27:29] We need foot soldiers of our democracy who in times of trial are willing to stand up. [27:35] Will you stand for our democracy? [27:38] Will you stand to get out? [27:40] Will you standers? [27:42] And will you stand together? [27:51] See the whole people need. [27:54] We are Democrats. [27:55] It's time for a new deal. [27:58] It's time to redeem the dream of America.