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[MOTIVATIONAL MUSIC] - Hey everyone, Steve Adubato.

We are honored, for the next half hour, to be joined by the Honorable United States Senator, New Jersey, Cory Booker, who's the author of this powerful book, "Stand: A Call for Shared Virtues and Democratic Action."

Senator, good to see you, as always.

- It's humbling to be back with you, because we've been doing this since the late '90s, (Steve chuckles) so I'm honored to be back with you, my friend.

Thank you.

- You were the councilman in the Central Ward of Newark, New Jersey.

People were like, "Who's this Cory Booker?"

And then you were the mayor, and then the rest is history.

Yeah, does it seem like a long time ago?

- You know, the great thing about my life is I still get to live about 100 yards from where I first moved back in 1996-7, somewhere around then, when I was still a law student, and it's just great to be a part of that community, and a big map of the Central Ward hangs in the United States Capitol, in my senate office, to remind me, never forget the people that were there for you, like your dad, when I first broke into politics in America, and so I just love that my roots are still with me, those Newark roots that you and I share.

- Senator, talk about "Stand: A Call for Shared Virtues and Democratic Action," this book, compelling, powerful, there are stories about so many people who are part of American history, many of whom you will know, Barack Obama, Chris Christie, in connection with Hurricane Sandy, John Lewis, the great John Lewis, the Pettus Bridge, a protege of Dr.

King, so many others, but many who you will not know, but you need to know.

Cory, why the book?

- Well, the book is an answer to what so many people have been saying to me, is, "What can I do, what can I do?"

and I wanted to remind people that our history is both inspiration and instruction for right now, and the reason why I wove so many stories from history and was so proud that Doris Kearns Goodwin, John Meachum, and Henry Louis Gates, I wanted this book to be historian-endorsed, not politician-endorsed, and that's why they wrote the blurbs for it, because I wanted to tell people we have seen difficult, dark periods in the past, and we met them, and we overcame, and we advanced our country, and that's why I love that you said that.

There are people in that book from history that you don't know because they weren't the big, boldfaced names of Congress people, presidents, they were everyday Americans that made a tremendous difference in their nation during tough times, and we can do that, too.

Each and every one of us can be that impactful, that extraordinary.

- Can I give you a name - Yes.

- that got my attention?

- Reverend Samuel Court?

Colt.

- Yes, that was one of my favorite, too.

- Samuel Colt, who was a union chaplain - From Passaic.

- who protested the Civil War.

- Yes, from Passaic.

It was, and this I have to give- - From Passaic!

- Yes, this is, I have to give this credit to the research partner, it's the person who really helped me in so many ways, Marissa Brogger.

She found this quote, and it gave me chills when this guy from Jersey, in the Civil War, asked this profound, penetrating question, "Are we a nation or have we a government?"

and I think people are forgetting that we're not just, hey, the federal government.

No, we are a nation.

We are a people that share common cause, common calling, a common dream, and that connection, that e pluribus unum, is still relevant today, and if we just start losing that sense of commonality, I think it's very dangerous, and I may disagree with you or vote different than you, but we're still part of that same 250-year experiment and have obligations to each other.

- I wanna go back to polarization in a second, but also, I wanna make it clear that "Stand" is also a reference to Senator Booker's... You stood for a little while, didn't you, - Yeah.

- in the United States Senate?

- Yes.

- You stood for 25 hours and 5 minutes, on April 1st, 2025, a filibuster, if you will, on the Senate floor, and it was, the time is not by accident, is it not?

It is a real time for a real purpose connected to a previous 1957 speech on the Senate floor, made by a late, not so great, United States senator who had a different purpose?

- Yeah, Strom Thurmond had the record in the Senate for the longest speech, and it was a filibuster, I would even say a racist rant, against the Civil Rights Act of that year, and it hurt me that he was the person that held that record that there's still- - 24 hours plus.

- 24 hours plus, and there's still memorials to him in the Senate, and it was a shadow, I felt, and that was one of the ambitions I had of standing on the floor at a time that many of us were being shaken in the first months of the Trump administration, and that all that he was doing, the attacks on healthcare, on USAID, and America's real presence globally, stopping pandemics and standing in the breach during some of the worst famines, and just so many things that seem bleak, that had so many Americans feeling fear, worry, anger.

It was in that context.

It really was a Newark moment, I have to tell you.

I was home, in one of the supermarkets, I was able to get to come to Newark, and a guy stopped me and said, "Why aren't you Democrats doing more?"

And I was like, "We're just doing this, doing that."

He goes, "Well, why can't you do this?

I'm like, "We're in the minority, we can't do that."

He goes, "Why don't you do this?

"Well, we can't hold hearings."

And then finally, he looks at me and he goes, "Are you an Ameri-can or an Ameri-can't?"

And he goes, "Look, I've been voting for you since 1998.

Where's the guy that did a 10-day hunger strike in the projects?

Where's the guy that moved into a mobile home and parked it on our worst drug corners?

Where's the guy that rallied the community that beat the machine?

Where is this guy?

That's who I voted for for senator?

Why aren't you showing up?"

And it really sent me back with my tail between my legs to my office in Washington, and said, "You know what, we've gotta do more.

We've gotta think more creatively.

We used to do this when I was mayor.

What can we do?"

And that's when I said, you know what, Strom Thurmond is a shadow of the Civil Rights movement hanging over us, and I felt Donald Trump's actions were hanging over us as well, and let me try to do something that could be maybe an ignition point for more activists in our country.

- So much in this book is historical, but also relevant to today.

The book is "Stand," go out and get it.

Senator Booker is the author.

I need to follow up on something you said.

So this guy's asking you, "Why don't you do more?

Why don't the Democrats do more?"

Look, you and I have had candid conversations over the years about all kinds of subjects, but this is something that I'm perplexed by.

You know, my dad was a, my late dad, and you wrote a bit... By the way, Cory's chapter about his father, so powerful, his dad and my dad dealt with dementia, and dealing with strong, powerful fathers who, later in their lives, had a hard time communicating and connecting because of nothing they did, but because of a cognitive disease.

Check out that.

But Cory, I'm gonna bring this back.

Why aren't the Democrats doing more than just simply saying Trump's horrible?

- Yes.

- Why aren't the Democrats, and the polls, and I'm not gonna... The polls can say that the president is underwater at 38%.

Okay.

I don't see polls that say, "Wow, those Democrats, I'm excited to vote for a Democrat."

Okay, you're against Trump, you're against this policy, I get it.

What is stand?

Stand, what do the Democrats stand for?

and I'll complicate it for you, Cory, are you really two parties at this point, the Chuck Schumer party, and the AOC party?

Loaded question.

Your turn.

- Well, first of all, I heard your dad in that question - I hear- (laughs) - I really did.

- My dad, I don't don't know what my dad would do right now.

- I think he'd be flipping out.

I think he'd be flipping out right now about the fecklessness of his own party, and so let's hit that on the nose right now, is the Democratic party cannot define itself by what it's against; it has to define itself by what it's for.

The last chapter of my book pulls it out in the same way you just said, that the last virtue - It does.

- is vision, and I'm sorry, the vision that the Democratic party has can't be like, "We gotta beat the other guy."

It has to be bigger and bolder.

I'm giving a speech today at a conference, that invited me to speak, a policy conference on big ideas, and so I've started rolling out what I think the Democratic Party should stand for, for the reason that you said, is 'cause right now there's a fierce competition going on for the Democratic party's mantle, so to speak, about what we're gonna be about.

I wanted us to be the big, bold, radical, pragmatic party, like I was when I was a mayor, bringing everybody together to fix problems Fiorello LaGuardia said, "There's no Democrat or Republican way to fix a pothole, you've just gotta fix it."

Americans are hurting right now.

They think their government is corrupt.

It is.

They think that they're paying higher and higher prices, working harder than their parents, but making less.

They are.

And don't just tell me how bad the other guy is.

So, so far, I've rolled out a big idea: Raise the standard deduction to $75,000, and if you're making, your family's making $75,000, you're paying no federal income tax.

If you're making, for your family in New Jersey, and you know these families, making $110,000 for your family income, you got two kids, that would means you would get to keep about $10,000 more of your hard-earned money.

You know this woman, she's by the North Ward Center, she's a single mom making $60,000 a year, with a young child.

She would keep 10% of her money, $6,000 more.

So that's a big idea.

It's simple, give people, let people keep more of their hard-earned dollars, and it could be completely paid for, by the way, by getting rid of things on top.

Another pillar that we gotta be about is ending the corruption, corrupt Supreme Court, corrupt Congress, corrupt Executive, right now.

Well, and you look at me like that, I know that look.

The Supreme Court - No, I'm gonna talk about the Supreme Court, I'm gonna... Listen, the Supreme Court, the United States Supreme Court, we're taping on the 19th of May, there may be another redistricting going on in the next hour.

That being said, Senator Booker, I'm half-joking.

Here's the question.

When the Supreme Court votes six to three, if I'm not mistaken, on the vote, right?

- Yes.

- the Supreme Court says, "You know what, you cannot redistrict congressional districts based on race, any longer," which automatically means that states like Alabama, Tennessee, other places in the South, they're gonna redistrict, and there are seats that are currently held by African American members of Congress who ain't gonna win.

They're not gonna win because they're gonna be redistricted.

You have argued that this is absolutely against the Voting Rights Act, you argue that it's un-American, unpatriotic, and it's grounded, do you believe, Senator Booker, in racism?

- So look, I don't know the motivations of people's hearts.

Let me tell you the result.

What they actually did, what they actually did, in effect, was saying, "We have kept you from using race.

We've kept you from using race to design your maps so that you don't disenfranchise Black people.

The Voting Rights Act - That's right.

- stopped Southern states from disenfranchising Black people by drawing crazy maps, that meant a state like Louisiana, - That's right.

- where a third of the people are Black and they have no representation, and so what the Supreme Court says is, "Ugh, we don't need that anymore."

And what are all those states doing?

They're redistricting to eviscerate Black political representation and (indistinct) - When we say eviscerate, sorry, Senator, are they chopping up- - Yes.

- And by the way, your Voting Right Act I believe, is 1965, what we're talking about is chopping up the African American population and spreading Blacks out into other districts so that the percentage of the district is so small that it's very hard to elect anyone who's Black?

- Yeah, if you wanna call it eviscerate, dilute, they are ensuring that we go back to the post-reconstruction period when reigns of terror were going through the South, beatings, lynchings, all kind of laws were being passed, from poll taxes to crazy district lines, to stop Black people from having any political power or fair representation.

The Supreme Court says, "The law that stopped that, we're taking that away," and the result is going to be a throwback to that post-reconstruction period, because they may not be saying the quiet part out loud, but they are, with surgical precision, racially gerrymandering so that Black people have no power.

That is anti-democratic, that is against the very basic ideals that we are a representative government, and that makes us, as a nation, weaker, all Americans, not just Black Americans, because we benefit as a country when everybody has fair participation.

- Real quick question, and I'm gonna ask you about childcare in a second, 'cause we're part of the, because we're part of an initiative called Start Strong NJ, and I know you're very committed and care about childcare, I wanna do that in a second, but here's the question about redistricting.

Again, we're taping on the 19th of May.

You'll see what goes on around the country, and possibly in New Jersey.

It's a long shot, but who knows?

Do you believe, Senator, that even though redistricting was supposed to take place every 10 years, after the census, - I do.

- that the redistricting going on all over the country, Texas, California, other places, in an effort to maximize in the lower house, House of Representatives, 435 members, to maximize the number of Democrats for Democrats, in Democrat-controlled states, but it started with the Republicans in Texas, who said, "You know what, we could have more Republicans.

It'll give us a chance to control the lower house.

Let's redistrict in the middle of the 10 years.

Where the heck does this go, and what are the implications, Senator?

- It's a race to the bottom.

We have the President of the United States who kicked off mid-decade redistricting, unfairly trying to, he says, "I can't win for the fair rules, so I'm gonna try to rig the system.

We're gonna redistrict Texas."

Well, California responds and says, "We're gonna do it," which they should have, but where this ends is the right question.

Even the Supreme Court, this Supreme Court said in Rucho versus common cause, that partisan gerrymandering - That's right.

- is undemocratic, and that we can't stop it, which I disagree, the Supreme Court could have, so the legislature should.

Remember this: every Republican voted for partisan gerrymandering, every Democrat in Congress voted against it, and so it is patently unfair for a Democrat in Texas not to have fair representation.

They can make up 55% of the voting population and only have a third, 30%, of the representatives in the House of Representatives because of the way they're drawing maps.

It is also unfair for a Republican in California, now, to maybe make up 40% of the vote but only have 20% of the Congressional representation.

That's bad for our democracy.

So the solution to this is getting the party back in power that has pledged and proven that they wanna get rid of partisan gerrymandering and throw out the party that has proven that what they wanna do is rig the system of partisan gerrymandering to win elections.

This is a race to the bottom, and we have to stop it, and Republicans have refused to stop it, so we have these crazy maps, now, all over our country, and yes, Jersey should do whatever it needs to do to try to create some balance in the system.

They really should!

- Hold on a second, you have three, Senator, you have three Republicans in the lower house in New Jersey, in the congressional delegation.

Are you saying that if the Democrats, who control the legislature and can do this, I'm not even sure of the Constitution, I believe there's a redistricting commission that has five Ds and five Rs, and then one independent who breaks the tie, whatever, but say New Jersey did, are you saying if New Jersey can reduce the number of Republicans in the House of Representatives from three to two, that's a good thing?

- I'm saying temporarily, for New Jersey's interest, the whole state, if the state of Indiana is gonna do that, and- - They're gonna do it.

- Right, and throw it out of balance, there has to be a response.

Why?

Let me be very clear about this.

One is we need to make sure that if they're gonna steal a few seats in Indiana, that we find somewhere to balance that back out, especially because if we get control, we will end partisan gerrymandering, and every state will have a fair map.

You and I both played basketball as little kids.

I still remember when Harrington Park played Dumont, and we went into halftime down, and I complained to my coach, "They're fouling us like crazy, the refs aren't calling it," he throws a chair across the locker room, and says, "Booker, if they're fouling and it's not being called, then you foul."

(Steve laughs) I walked out of there, and we won the game because I got to play basketball like I play football.

Right now, the key is putting a party in power that will actually end partisan gerrymandering.

That's not ever gonna be possible unless we get Democrats elected.

But let me give you a more urgent example.

Say he rigs a whole bunch of other states and we stay in the- - When you say he, you mean the President of the United States, the leader of the free world?

- I think that's who - Yes.

- you're talking about, - President Trump.

Go ahead.

- If he forces and threatens state after state, that are red states, to get more and more House of Representatives, and now, suddenly, New Jersey has not balanced that, and that party who does not represent the majority, remember, this is gonna create a House of Representatives where the majority party doesn't have a majority of the voters, okay, and what they say is, "Let's get rid of Medicaid."

They did that with their Big Beautiful Bill.

They cut a trillion dollars out of Medicaid.

That is putting in jeopardy every hospital system in New Jersey.

It's gonna make our emergency room lines longer, and hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans are gonna lose their care, not because of fair voting, but because of the rigged voting, and so right now, in the short term, Democrats need to take control with the pledge that they will end partisan gerrymandering Every state, like New Jersey, will have fair, nonpartisan maps drawn.

- By the way, Senator Booker talked about playing basketball, yes, but he was also a tight end at Stanford, and I wanna disclose that I was a placekicker at Montclair State University.

(Cory laughs) Now, what are you laughing at?

- I was.

- I'm not laughing at anything.

(speakers drown each other out) - I'm not letting this face get hit.

- I know your dad, and there's no way you were not an athlete in that household.

- I was, but I did not wanna- - Yes, but you- Cory, does a placekicker count as an athlete?

- Hell, yeah!

He does.

- Just checking.

- Just checking.

- Are you kidding me?

- Let me do this.

- I'm looking at the Giants right now.

I want somebody that can put it through the upright at 65 yards.

- Yeah, yeah.

- It's five new kickers every year.

I'm trying out next year.

Hey, Senator, do this for us.

Our series, Start Strong NJ, the graphic will come up.

You talked about a democratic agenda policy.

That Start Strong NJ initiative is all about promoting affordable, accessible quality childcare.

What do you see as the role of the federal government?

And if, in fact, the Democrats took control of either or both houses, and let's just say a Democrat is potentially elected in the next presidential race, you may be running, who knows, what would the top priority in childcare be for you?

- Let me tell you right now, we are in a global competition in a knowledge-based global economy.

Children's brains, 90% of their brain development happens in the first five years Just like we have a responsibility for public schools, as a country, we want our kids to learn, those early years need high-quality, affordable childcare.

Right now, in most states, it costs more for childcare than it does for tuition at the state college, and that burden is all falling on American families that they cannot bear.

The federal government and the state government, there has to be a program to make childcare more affordable, and I'm one of the people on a number of different types of bills to do just that.

- Okay, before I let you go, I did mention 2028, What are the odds that you try this again and you run for the presidency?

- Look, you know I'm on the ballot in November, in six months.

Your dad, one of the most brilliant political minds there are, won election on the time.

I hope new Jerseyans will support me.

Please go to corybooker.com, give me a dollar, $5, 'cause I don't take corporate PACs money, I don't take issue area PAC money, I'm running this campaign on the power of the people, so please support us in this fight.

Also understand that we're fighting for people up and down the ticket.

When that election's over, I have not written off running for president.

You and I will have that conversation.

I'm keeping that door open.

- And by the way, the book is "Stand."

Cory Booker wrote this book, "Stand."

It's a call for- - It made number two on the New York Times bestseller list.

- Did you really?

- Yeah.

- That's awesome!

My book, "Lessons in Leadership 2.0: The Tough Stuff," I notice a lot of people are selling on eBay for a buck.

That's another story - That's not true.

- Cory, how about this before I let you go?

Some of my friends, many of whom voted for Donald Trump, argue that we're divided, we're polarized, and even though you talk about the Civil War here, my friends, you know who you are, you say there's a civil war, you gotta pick sides, and my response is, my response is "I wanna be a patriotic American and be part of the solution."

They go, "No, no, no, no, you know what I'm talking about.

Which side are you on?"

Cory, what do you do - I'm on the side- - with that conversation?

'Cause they're not alone.

- I can tell you, I've passed legislation with Donald Trump, Opportunity Zones, which has gotten hundreds of millions of dollars of new investment in New Jersey, The First Step Act, that's gotten literally thousands of people released from unjust incarceration, including in New Jersey.

Right now, there are thousands of New Jersey kids that have money in a savings account for them.

It's a company called Baby Bonds, that I call it, he called it Trump Accounts.

I don't care what you call it, this is partly of my work.

So there's so much ground in the middle.

Don't let people who wanna lie to us and tell us that the lines that divide us are stronger than the ties that bind us.

We are one nation under God, and if you are worried about a civil war, then honor your pledge and put more indivisible into this one nation under God.

- Final point, there's a chapter in Cory's book, "Stand," that is just extraordinarily powerful.

Read it.

It's a story about President Obama placing what Senator Booker calls a human call to then governor, Chris Christie, a democratic president, a Republican governor, after Sandy.

Read the chapter, get the book and read the chapter.

It is a call between two public servants whose only agenda, and this is not editorializing, was trying to figure out how we can help people who are struggling with the feds, the state, working together.

Obama, Christie, they do not believe in the same things politically, but they came together for a larger cause.

I'm off my soapbox.

This is United States Senator Cory Booker, the book is called "Stand."

Go out there and get it.

And also the chapter about his dad is also very powerful, check it out.

Senator, as always, you honor us by your presence.

We look forward to the next conversation.

Thank you, Cory.

- As do I. Thank you my friend, thank you.

- You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato, that's the senator.

See you next time.

- [Narrator] Think Tank with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Hackensack Meridian Health.

Operating Engineers, Local 825.

NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

Seton Hall University.

The Burke Foundation IBEW Local 102.

Delta Dental of New Jersey.

Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters.

NJM Insurance Group.

And by New Brunswick Development Corporation.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by Insider NJ.

- (Man sighs).

(Quiet park, birds chirping)