With a stacked panel of liberals, CNN was firing on all cylinders as the network for The Resistance on Tuesday night ahead of the President’s State of the Union address. In conjunction with that, AC360 featured a soft interview by chief political correspondent Dana Bash interviewed liberal firebrand and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and her guest, the far-left activist who was caught on CNN cameras in the fall berating then-Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ).
“What do you think the State of the Union is,” Bash wondered near the end of the interview. Yes, really.
What kind of question is that?
Ocasio-Cortez replied that “this is an opportunity and it is a window for change” in addition to “a moment where we can come together and really talk about our values that we are a nation that embraces immigrants.”
Before letting Ocasio-Cortez and guest Ana Maria Archila go, Bash gushed about all the Democratic women in white:
Before I let you go, you are both wearing white. Almost every woman with a congressional pin that I've seen walking by is — they’re wearing white. Describe why and explain why?
Ocasio-Cortez replied that it’s in conjunction with “the 100th anniversary of the women's right to vote and I think that we’re all coming here — there's so much more that we have to fight for from wage equality to paycheck fairness to protecting ourselves and believing survivors and I think this is a really amazing opportunity.”
Later, Bash replied that there’s “102 women in the House of Representatives,” which “certainly is historic and you’re part of that history.”
Earlier in the interview, Bash led off by noting that Ocasio-Cortez encouraged constituents to watch “none” of the President’s speech and wondered, in both her first question, if that means she’s still able to go into the evening “with an open mind”, and then asking whether there’s a chance to find “common ground” with the White House.
In response to the first question, Ocasio-Cortez stated that she wanted to “give that permission” to constituents to not feel obliged to watch because she “represent[s] many vulnerable communities” that might find the speech “harmful.”
Bash led into her two softball questions for the far-left Congresswoman by offering a friendly question to Archila, who berated Flake before members of the news media during the Kavanaugh controversy:
Hmm. I don't know if that will happen any time soon. I just want to ask you. So, you are a constituent of congresswoman, but people out there might recognize you because you were the one who confronted Senator — now former Senator Jeff Flake in the elevator during the whole Brett Kavanaugh controversy. You are here for what reason?
When Bash noted that Justice Brett Kavanaugh will also be in the House chamber, Archila responded that “[i]t is still very painful for me and I think for many women across the country to know that our elected officials failed to understand the opportunity that they had to signal to the country that they were not going to reaffirm a culture that enables sexual violence in the first place” and thus “[t]hey failed by putting Kavanaugh in the Supreme Court.”
To see the relevant transcript from CNN’s AC360 on February 5, click “expand.”
CNN’s AC360
February 5, 2019
8:13 p.m. EasternDANA BASH: Thank you so much congresswoman for joining me and her guest, Ana Maria Archila, who’s her guest. We'll get to that and your story in a minute. But first, let me start with you, Congresswoman. You tweeted today that the State of the Union address, people should watch, “none of it.” Are you going in with an open mind?
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN ALEXANDIRA OCASIO-CORTEZ (NY): I think that, for me, what I see as a representative and a congresswoman, it’s — I'm going in there to definitely listen to what the President has to say but I do represent many vulnerable communities. Many of whom have been traumatized and feel very vulnerable to the President's actions and the President's words from air traffic controllers whose paychecks were being withheld for a month to — to immigrant who is aren't sure if their visas will be renewed or if their applications will be approved so I think if it's going to be harmful for you, you know, I wanted to give that permission to folks if they, you know, they were feeling some type of way about it.
BASH: Is there anything you think the President could say tonight that would make you go, “huh, I can work with him on that?” Do you see any common ground?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, I do think there was some progress made on criminal justice reform in — in, you know, the last couple of months and I'm open to that. I'm open to meaningful investment in infrastructure that does not loot the public money but is actually an investment in — in our country but I think overall, it's — it’s something that while I don't expect him to change too much of his tune, I expect him to dress it up, but I — you know — I'm open if he wants to change his platform.
BASH: Hmm. I don't know if that will happen any time soon. I just want to ask you. So, you are a constituent of congresswoman, but people out there might recognize you because you were the one who confronted Senator — now former Senator Jeff Flake in the elevator during the whole Brett Kavanaugh controversy. You are here for what reason?
ANA MARIA ARCHILA: I’m here — I think as an invitation to every one around the country to use their voices and tell their stories because our democracy cannot exist, it cannot work if we're not all in it, shaping it, making our demands and making sure that the people who represent us understand our lives and that they understand our priorities and I feel so lucky that I have the best representative in Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
BASH: And you're going to be in the room in that chamber with now Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
ARCHILA: Yes. I just realized that yesterday. It is still very painful for me and I think for many women across the country to know that our elected officials failed to understand the opportunity that they had to signal to the country that they were not going to reaffirm a culture that enables sexual violence in the first place. They failed by putting Kavanaugh in the supreme court. I fell encouraged by the leadership of women like my congresswoman and the leaders of so many other women that are actually presenting a new vision for the country.
BASH: What do you think the State of the Union is?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think this is an opportunity and it is a window for change. It is a moment where we can come together and really talk about our values that we are a nation that embraces immigrants. We are a nation that — that believes in justice and equality and the ability for every day working people to work 40 hours a week and — and supply and provide for their families and I think that's the country that we're fighting for and I think that, at its core, that's something we can agree on and it's just about having and making the commitment to get there.
BASH: Before I let you go, you are both wearing white. Almost every woman with a congressional pin that I've seen walking by is — they’re wearing white. Describe why and explain why?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, 2019 is the 100th anniversary of the women's right to vote and I think that we’re all coming here — there's so much more that we have to fight for from wage equality to paycheck fairness to protecting ourselves and believing survivors and I think this is a really amazing opportunity. We have a very large number of women, a record number, certainly in the freshman class that have been elected to Congress this year and I think it shows that over a hundred years, this battle and this fight for women's equality has been long and it’s been difficult but it has reaped many rewards in our democracy.
BASH: 102 women in the House of Representatives. It certainly is historic and you’re part of that history and you’re here to see it.
