US senator Corey Booker has had extra weight on his shoulders lately both with the continued bipartisan bickering on Capitol Hill with legislative items like protecting access to Reproductive Rights and IVF procedures but also at times as the lone Senate vote representing the Garden State while friend and former Mentor Senator Bob Menendez stands trial in Manhattan on federal bribery and Corruption charges senior political correspondent David Cruz spoke one-on-one with Booker today about how he's tackling the Litany of challenges ahead Cory Booker it's been a while thanks for coming on with been a while I want you to know I you know I do National interviews late night TV more yeah I've always got to bring my aame for you man that's right remember remember that one so um you've been away for a while a lot of stuff has happened let's a lot to unpack let's talk uh about yesterday uh the outrage uh expressed by you and fellow uh Democrats Duckworth and others uh about this vote on uh IVF so this is one of my bills was voted on to do three things one is to secure the right to IVF and vetro fertilization that is the miracle that allows many families in America to have children number two to expand access to it because it's expensive and uh it should not be the purview of people who have the wealth or means to obtain it and then number three to support our military families who often going off into service get exposed to conditions that make it hard for them or them unable to have children so they should be able to freeze their eggs or their sperm and it's basic supported overwhelmingly by Independents Republicans and Democrats but it was blocked in the United States Senate by by most of Republicans it actually got two uh Republicans to come out and support it so the outrage is clear we know that this supreme court and other federal judges appointed by President Trump are out to restrict Reproductive Rights we saw that with the do's decision uh undermining roie Wade which again the majority of Republicans and Democrats in this nation support it you've seen that in referendums in red States or you've seen an extreme judge district court judge in Texas appointed by Donald Trump that uh undermined mistone uh something a drug that's been used for 25 years for medication abortions it's the most commonly used method that women use it was stopped and halted by one not a doctor Republican judge and now we've seen what's happening in places like Alabama with moves to say that as soon as that sperm meets that egg that's when life begins and that that is a life that should be protected which when you do the IVF process you get a lot of uh those embryos and some of them aren't used and they're saying that that is tantamount to murder and so this is the extremist thought well out of line but my colleagues who are openly saying if we get the Republican majority in the house the Senate and the white house we're going to do a national ban on abortion uh we're going to take on a lot of these practices that's not in line with America and this was an easy yes protect something that overwhelming up to 90% of Americans do and they failed it and this is going to be uh at the center of a lot of the debate as we head into the presidential in the fall it's clear who who are you going to support Donald Trump has said the kind of Judges he's going to put on all the courts and what he believes in this is a party that wants to create a National Abortion ban and strip more and more Reproductive Rights away from women or the party that's going to stand up and fight to protect it and I hate to say it in partisan lines because up and down our state in New Jersey Republicans and Democrats support Rie Wade support IVF treatments and more this is not a part is an issue for America but extremists and and and Donald Trump want to take away these rights so as we said you've been away uh or not around a lot in in Jersey uh traveling all over the world um is it true that you were getting hassles at some public appearances uh because of issues with the Israeli Hamas war and people were were protesting I guess everybody got a little bit of that look this is the United States of America people have a right to protest you you you and I came up in Newark together and I don't know if I ever had a public meeting uh where there wasn't some kind of people exercising their first amendment rights and that's what that's what's really important my goal since before October 7th in fact I was going over there on October 5th to Israel to meet with Palestinian leaders again isra Israeli leaders Arab leaders because it was the best pathway we have seen it's before October 7th to a lasting and just piece a two-state solution there were deals being talked about and that is my drive right now to end this crisis end the war and the death of civilians get our hostages released when I say our hostages not just all the hostages they are Americans being held right now uh but but not to just end this conflict and have the ceasefire right now I want a permanent just and Lasting peace and I'm and there's a lot of strong feelings on that which are understandable and it's it's part for the course so the president put up a a proposal uh for a ceasefire that nobody seemed to be uh buying into are we further away uh now than we were say a couple months ago in terms of finding some kind of solution there at least for there to be a a cease to the firing so I'm I'm in regular contact with the negotiators at the table as well as the president's team in the white house and we are so much further along down the road of a ceasefire and a permanent uh a peace in this conflict um the it is supported by the Israelis it was a position that the terrorist group the Hamas had taken in previous rounds so these are things this was a fallback position to them at one point this is a deal that should work but then even when we get the ceasefire there's a lot more work to be done to create a lasting and just peace and this is why I've been doing uh Miss bipartisan mission to places like Saudi Arabia and the UAE to begin to bring uh Arab Muslim countries uh Palestinian leaders and isra Israel together on a larger plan for ultimately a two-state solution with dignity for both groups autonomy and security let's talk about this tumultuous year um you had to distance yourself from a friend and Mentor um and I know that that's not just talk with you you were the probably one of the last really called for Senator uh Menendez to resign he's facing a lot of serious charges can you talk a little bit about U what that was like because he's your friend no I'm glad you put it in personal terms I mean imagine working side by side with somebody for a decade and accomplishing a lot this is a factoid for you no two senators in the history of our state have brought back more money in a in a in a span of two congresses in Senator men we were killing it for New Jersey Mass infrastructure Investments money to say even the child tax credit which was one of the original things we pressed the Biden Administration on uh the cut child poverty in half I could go through all the wins uh everything I've seen of of of Bob Mendez was one of the more brilliant Senators down there one of the people who stands up for a lot of people who don't have others to stand up for and i' I I knew nothing of what he's been accused of in the indictment and when you read the indictment it is shocking and almost Hur hurtful and so I wasn't the last person I was a key person because a lot of my colleagues were like we're not going to come out and say anything until we see what Booker's going to do and it was a tough weekend it came out I think on Friday I came out and asked for his uh for his uh uh him to step down on the next business day but it was very emotional for me more than I thought because I I I really believe uh uh that these offices we hold we're not entitled to um and even though you're innocent till proven guilty he deserves his day in court um that it was time for him to step down so that new jerseyans uh could look uh uh that that trust uh and the importance of the uh Integrity of our public offices could go on was there a conversation uh and how was that again these are some of the hardest conversations of my life of course there's a conversation this is somebody who um I've I've only seen the best of the best in my service with him and um it it was difficult for me to read the facts that were laid out uh in the in the in in in the indictment yeah yeah uh so then as a result of that you have U this tumultuous uh political uh reaction to that yeah um and so you have Tammy Murphy uh then you have the party line uh decision and then Andy Kim kind of emerging from all of it what's your sense of of what's happened over the past you know 10 months or whatever is it sort of like Thomas Jefferson said hey you know revolutions pretty good every once in a while is it that kind of impact that the the line decision is going to have yeah well look you know how I came up and when I came up in New York it was actually Against The Establishment Democratic party I was The Outsider and I probably would never have been elected city councilman or mayor if there a party line in Newark our elections thankfully were are nonpartisan because as the great F ofel Guardia said there's no Republican or Democratic way to fix a pot hole you just fix it and then when I ran for Senate against three very strong candidates Sheila Oliver Congressman halt Congressman palone the party at B said we're not going to have a line you guys go at it and I thought that's the right way to do this that nobody should be benefiting from a line so here I am thinking that you know Andy Kim is making some good points but also believing that Tammy Murphy I've worked with her a lot I don't think people in the state appreciate what the first lady has accomplished in her time I mean she has really been the leader on some really key issues and so I was agnostic to the outcome of all of this and Andy Kim is a history maker frankly let's be clear should he become United States Senator there has never in the history of America been a korean-american but the ultimate outcome of all of this I think is going to be good as our legislature grapple with as well as Party leaders what's the fairest and best way to conduct uh uh primaries in new yor changes everything going forward right I mean I wouldn't say changes everything parties play a role yeah let's not let's not demean or degrade these no not to demean or degrade them but I mean it's it's a big difference now you can get four or five people and there's not going to be uh the part's Choice here and everybody else over there right so you would imagine that more people will run more again as a guy who's came up not in in the way that I did I will always support whatever system is the most fair I will tell you this right now um a lot of people complain on our national level there used to be a time when parties used to bet you and I talked about this wait a minute we've got a Democratic primary with like 78 people running for president isn't there somebody that can get you guys all in a room and say some of you just need to drop out or whatever so there's there's pros that the party plays a lot of times in vetting and interviewing a lot of the party lines are given by open elections in the state of New in New Jersey some I wouldn't say a lot but some do it that way and that's very fair and and and and Democratic to know who are the people who always are paying attention to the issues and and the rank and file members so I I just think we need to create a system that people can't calll foul that a few people in the back room are picking the nominees that nobody wants that um but but I don't want to demean the Republican Party Democratic party in our state who often provide uh a good vetting and clearance uh as we move forward as as a state of New Jersey the parties have a role but Andy Kim was 100% right uh again I would not be sitting here if I had to go through what he was complaining about uh in his process he's a history maker uh you say he's also like not the anti-b booker but he's like kind of Polar Opposites in terms of style you're slightly more bombastic you know and the funniest meme I've seen in in DC that's going around and it's people are loving it is this is the state of New Jersey you can't have two nice guys representing the state of New Jersey you need uh somebody far more mean that will flip you off uh uh look Andy and I may have different styles but we're both cut from what I think is needed in America we don't need bomb throwers we don't need people that are pitting Americans after Americans the demeaning degrading talk that seems to be in inv vul right now enough of that I think Andy and Kim Andy and I are going to be effective pair in Washington because we make friends and build coalitions across aisles and across lines and so yeah we're you get us in a room we're different energies but we both have the same kind of spirit of how you engage with the world especially as a political leader I also heard a couple times and really from the state democratic chair who said that there still needs to be some Bridge Building uh between Andy Kim and the state democratic party they didn't want him to begin with so you know there's the sense that maybe he's uh making them earn it a little bit no I I I I don't think that's the spirit not when I talk politics man let me tell you look when I became mayor there were a whole bunch of people in the new Yark political establishment that did not support me not only didn't support me had a lot of choice words for me but when you become the mayor when you become one of three Statewide elected leaders you are now one of the sort of parents of the state you're when I learned very quickly as mayor my job wasn't my Petty political grievances it was to bring the city together because there are bigger issues than us and and the same thing when you become a United States Senator I it is not about Petty politics it's about very big issues Health Care Transportation education people want results and you can't get results if you're fighting meaningless battles that are really ego as opposed to getting everybody together to let's work together to expand IVF coverage so that more new jerseyans have lowcost access to to to bearing children yeah I'm running out of time and I got a lot of things I want to talk to you about but uh stuck at the top of my head today is uh more reports that Clarence Thomas uh took these trips from a billionaire and Sam Leo is flying upside down War Flags what is your sense of the future viability of this court which is really showing its partisan side yeah more than ever but it's so shameful one of the fundamental ideas not only in in in my branch of government but especially for the courts is avoiding even the appearance of impropriety it is so important that Americans have faith that when they go before a judge whether it's a state court municipal court or the Supreme Court that the people wearing those robes are going to be objective and independent what they are doing right now by allowing billionaires to give them millions of dollars of trips and perks something that would get me kicked out of the Senate that the highest court in the land should have the lowest ethical standards where these folks can do whatever they want they are deteriorating the the the the Integrity of the court and in a democracy when we've seen a lot of democratic backsliding that is a very dangerous thing to do to the institution they have no shame and what they should be doing is recusing themselves to avoid the appearance of impropriety or retiring from the the bench uh for for Clarence Thomas's perspective you've had a long career you've brought a shadow of Shame over the institution it's time for you to step down all right I I've literally run out of time but anytime I get you here towards the end of of the Season or whatever I always always ask you what you're reading and what you're listening to I don't have time to hear what you're reading about yes but tell me what you're listening to this morning I needed some old school grounding and probably one of the greatest uh Broadway musicals of all time that really at a time in the 1970s so affected me as a young person exploded my imagination spoke to songs spoke to my soul this morning I was listening to the original soundtrack recording of the whiz and here's a great fact for you about like The Arc of the world because I just posted a video with this guy that got over four million views on my Instagram account um Andre the shields was The Whiz Cass is the whiz and the original Wizard of Oz He has been in Broadway since the 70s now he in Hades town he finally won the Tony that's right an extraordinary I hope people will go to my he gave me his three Cardinal rules for life and one of them you do not do for me he said surround yourself with people whose eyes light up when you walk into the room and your eyes don't light up Cruz you look at me you go this guy well you also say oh too when you see me I told my staff jokingly about this music question I said what I had to listen to before I came here was a little Rocky music I had to get the eye of the tiger I'm coming back for some more sparring you're still in fighting shape so that's good yeah thank you good to see you man it's great it's great to see you we started off interviewing each other with hair and now we're here to bald men two middle-aged bald men uh it's been good to be with you for all these years all right man all right