Leader Jeffries on MS NOW's The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Welcome back and joining me now is House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Leader Jeffries, it's great to see you. Thank you for taking the time tonight. I just want to start by asking you about this shooting today, of course, in Washington. It's, of course, the day before Thanksgiving. These two National Guard members were away from their homes in West Virginia, following orders and serving their country when they were shot today in Washington. I know you put out a statement earlier, but what has been, we've learned a lot over the last couple of hours. What's been going through your head today as you've been digesting all of this news? Well, it's a terrible tragedy and we certainly are praying for the recovery and the well-being of these two patriotic National Guard members, as well as standing with not just them but their families and their communities on the eve of Thanksgiving. Also, now that we have a shooter who's not just in custody and we're thankful for the work of local law enforcement and swiftly apprehending an individual, but now we need to begin to understand in the context of the investigation what happened, why it happened, and how we can take steps to prevent this from ever happening again. There's a lot. I mean, as you mentioned, the suspect is in custody. He's been identified as a 29-year-old Afghan national. The mayor of D.C. has said this was a targeted attack and the FBI has announced they're going to investigate as a possible act of terrorism. I was just talking with my prior guests about this. You mentioned some of the questions you have about what happened, why. What else are you hoping to learn as this investigation unfolds over the next hours and days? Well, we need to know what inspired the shooter, how he got access to the weapon that was used, whether the shooter acted alone or whether it was in concert with other individuals, either foreign or domestic. And these are naturally questions that are going to have to be answered by a thorough law enforcement investigation. And of course, we need the suspect prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And then as we move forward, we need to think about how we can prevent this type of violent act from ever occurring again, as it relates to both the National Guard, but of course, how we can protect the men and women of law enforcement who protect and serve communities all across the country on a daily basis, week after week, month after month, year after year. I should mention that the president is addressing the shooting right now. We'll play some of that in a moment, depending on what he says. But the Trump administration has already tonight requested a stay of a federal judge's ruling last week that the deployment of the National Guard in DC is illegal. And also, as you well know, Secretary Hanks has also announced that Trump has ordered 500 additional National Guard troops to DC, joining the 2200 already. Obviously, what has happened today is an incredible tragedy with these two National Guardsmen. But this is a city you spend a great deal of time in. What do you make of those two actions just hours after this shooting? Well, I think the Trump administration is gonna have to justify to the American people why these actions are being taken as part of the broader effort to deploy National Guard troops all across the country. These are reasonable questions that the American people deserve answers to, not simply in the context of the actions that Donald Trump and the Secretary of Defense have taken today, but generally in terms of understanding what their overall public safety strategy may be in a country where so many Americans understandably have concluded that things are moving in the wrong direction over the last year or so, and that we've got to find a better path forward. Let me ask you about one of those areas, and I know this is on the minds of people, a lot of things are as they head into Thanksgiving and the holidays. And that is, of course, the cost of healthcare and the expiration that is going to be happening in just six weeks of these ACA tax credits. It's been, I mean, a bit of a whipsaw whirlwind this week. I don't know how you feel with Donald Trump saying he was in favor extending those tax credits. It seemed like he backtracked after Republicans said he shouldn't, even though they're off politically. I know there's a lot of things happening right now, including more than around 200 or more than 200 signatures for this discharge petition. But what do you see as a path here, either with Republicans, with a lot of them, or with a smaller number to extend these tax credits? Well, here's the bottom line. We're in the middle of a devastating Republican healthcare crisis that is threatening the safety and the well-being of tens of millions of Americans. In a year where they've already enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, hospitals and nursing homes and community-based health centers are closing all throughout America. We know that because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, people all across the country in the middle of this holiday season are about to experience dramatically increased healthcare premiums. In some cases, those health insurance costs are going to increase by $1,000 or $2,000 per month if there's a failure to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, because it's a program that serves working-class Americans, middle-class Americans, and everyday Americans all across the country, including in rural America. And for some reason, Republicans refuse to do what is necessary to protect the healthcare of the American people. And so clearly, the answers aren't going to come from the president. The answers aren't going to come from House Republican leaders who've been missing in action from day one. It's going to take Democrats compelling just a handful of people on the other side of the aisle to do the right thing so we can extend these Affordable Care Act tax credits if the clock is ticking, we only have to December 31st. Just to dig into that further, I mean, you had just last week, it feels like a long time ago, but the discharge petition moved forward almost unanimously in the House. Only one person voted against it on the floor. You've said you have the votes, you think you have the votes to do a similar tactic, a discharge petition on these healthcare tax credits. How close are you? And is that something that we could be looking at even the week after Thanksgiving? Well, absolutely. As soon as we return to Washington, we're going to continue to press our case. We've introduced, of course, as you referenced, this discharge petition that now has north of 200 signatures. We'll only need a handful of House Republicans at the end of the day to join us, and we can extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years. We're pressing for a three-year extension so we can give working class Americans the same level of certainty that Republicans just gave to their billionaire donors when they passed the one big ugly bill and made tax credits, tax breaks for their billionaire donors permanent. And now many of my Republican colleagues can't find a dime in order to help out everyday Americans. It's extraordinary. We're going to continue to press the case in the House. We're going to continue to work with Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats as they press the case in the Senate and do everything we can to get this done by the end of next month. A lot of them are going to have tough races next year. Seems like voting against healthcare, making healthcare more expensive is a very dumb political move, but I'm not here to give them advice per se. Let me ask you about another thing that has been floating around this week. Obviously, a big story has been, I don't know if you've noticed, but the Republicans seem to be in a bit of disarray over there. And there's rumors and lots of reporting that a number of them are considering leaving Congress before the midterms over frustrations with Trump and with Mike Johnson. That would obviously have a huge impact on a lot of people, most specifically you. Are you preparing for the possibility that Democrats could be in the majority before the midterms? Well, we certainly are working as hard as we can to make sure that we flip the three seats necessary next November to take back control of the House so we can begin the process of ending this national nightmare. But as you've indicated, there's a GOP civil war that's going on on the other side of the aisle. Donald Trump fighting with Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was his biggest supporter. Mike Johnson and John Thune fighting with each other. Nancy Mace, of course, fighting with every single person in the House Republican Conference. It's a mess over there. And it is our expectation that in the next few weeks, upon return from the Thanksgiving recess, you're going to see some reasonably high profile Republicans continue to announce that they're either not seeking reelection or resigning in the middle of the Congress. And if enough of that happens, when we get back to full strength as Democrats, which will be 215, some interesting things could occur in this Congress in advance of the midterm elections. We'll look forward to that. It feels like the time is only a couple of weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But what you're telling me is there could be votes for a discharge petition on health care. We'll see. And there could be more high profile resignations. Well, that seems like something we'll all look ahead to in December. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you so much and have a happy Thanksgiving. Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your viewers.