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[MOTIVATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi everyone, I'm Steve Adubato.

We are honored, for this entire program, to be joined by United States Senator Cory Booker.

Senator, good to see you.

- It's really good to see you, thank you for having me on again.

- So Senator, we're doing this program at the end of May.

There are no words to describe what happened in Texas, in that classroom, with 19 children, two teachers, as of, when we're taping this program.

We hope nothing...

There are no words to describe it, but then there were incidents before that, before that, and before that.

What do you believe it will take for some of your colleagues, in the United States Senate, to simply agree on a basic background check?

- I mean, and that's the painful thing- - For people to purchase assault weapons...

I'm sorry, go ahead, Senator.

- No, that's the painful thing, is that Americans, gun owners, Republicans, you just poll us on simple things like, comprehensive background checks, to make sure that people who should not have guns, who we all agree should not have the guns, don't get them.

We have a 80%, 85% or more of Americans agree with that, and we can't get a bill done in Congress to do it.

And so I'm frustrated, I'm hurt, I'm angry.

I'm just in disbelief that we are a nation that tolerates now, such high levels of carnage, where the number one killer of our children is gun violence.

In fact, guns kill more kids than AIDS, than opioids, than influenza, asthma attacks, all of that combined.

And so if it's not that, what will it be?

And so I'm also at the point now where I really do believe that we should be going to the polls, forget party, just electing people based upon their support of the most moderate steps that we could take to protect ourselves.

Hold people accountable at the polls, or else I'm not sure if anything will change.

- You know, there are gonna be people right away, in the first two minutes of this program, that say, "You know, Steve, Senator Booker, you, others who bring up issues... And obviously, my job is not to have a point of view, but to facilitate a conversation.

But you know, it's misleading to people to talk about background checks, or limiting assault weapons to an 18-year-old who purchases them on his 18th birthday and goes into a school.

And do you know what, it is mental health issue, and it's distracting and confusing.

You're smiling because you know that a lot of people are saying, quote, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people, so the gun safety, gun control discussion is a distraction."

And there are millions of them, Senator, millions.

And half, apparently half of your colleagues, in the Senate.

- Well, the absurdity of that argument, when nations from Canada, to England, to Germany, have our same issues, the same violent video games, the same mental health challenges, the same people that are seduced.

I just got back from Germany, seduced by extreme fringes on the internet.

But the reason why we are the only nation with this level of carnage is because we're the only nation in which people could so easily access guns.

We are an outlier.

People who want to talk about American exceptionalism, must confront the fact that other nations don't have these crises.

And when they've done... when they have had them, from England, to New Zealand, to Australia, they implemented tough gun safety measures.

And those incidences virtually disappeared.

So I'm sorry, all these other things people want to point to, what makes America the country that sees 100 plus people of its citizens die every day to gun violence, is the guns, is the ease of access to the guns.

- What do you think your colleagues are afraid of?

I mean, by just finding compromise just... And the term "gun control" is interesting to me, because the term "control", "You're not gonna control my body with a vaccine, you're not gonna control me, the second amendment."

Gun safety, just take "control" out of it; gun safety.

What do you think stops a significant number of your colleagues enough, to not even allow for a vote, because you now need 60, right, with the filibuster situation?

What do you think stops some of them, who say they care deeply about our children, and about gun violence, and protecting our children, in particular, what do you think stops 'em from just finding some compromise, just a little bit?

And is it purely the gun lobby and the NRA, is that it?

- I don't want to get into the odyssey, fruitless odyssey, of trying to figure out the motivations of my colleagues.

I do know one thing though, I remember when I was mayor, one of my friends joked with me, "You're gonna go from-" - Mayor of Newark.

- "a certain point, when the buck stops with you, or you're an executive, and you're gonna go into a legislature."

And he goes, "Unlike you, when you were mayor, concerned about crime, and potholes, and fixing things, you're going to a legislature," and my friend told me, "where the top three concerns is always gonna be, reelection, reelection, reelection."

And so, this to me, is just a simple equation.

If you don't like the decisions your representatives are making, then replace your representatives in the Senate races coming up in the fall.

From our neighboring state of Pennsylvania, to Ohio, to Wisconsin, to North Carolina, voters will have a real... a decision to make.

Will they support the candidate that will do moderate, common sense measures of gun safety, that will keep us safer?

Or are they willing to roll... to just do the roulette, that, "Maybe my family won't get hurt by this, maybe it won't be my school, maybe it won't be my church.

Maybe it won't be my synagogue, maybe it won't be my supermarket."

Well, that is outrageous, we're all in this together.

And if it takes the fear of it happening to your family to motivate you, then you don't love your fellow citizens enough.

This should be a national demand for all of us, that we do... the government do what it was first organized.

Read our founding documents, "For the common defense".

Well, more people have died in gun violence, in my lifetime, than in all the American wars combined: Civil War, Revolutionary War, World Wars.

All those combined, less Americans died in all of those wars, than have died in the last 50 years due to gun violence.

And so we're gonna protect our nation.

If we're gonna defend ourselves, the first thing we must do is make it difficult, if not impossible, for people who are intent on doing carnage, killing people, from getting guns.

And we can do it.

And there's evidence-based initiatives, one bill is not gonna solve everything, but I can look at the data and know that.

And some people say, and I heard one of my colleagues on the floor saying, "Well, Chicago and New York still have violence."

- I heard that today, as we tape this program.

- Yeah, "They have the toughest gun laws."

Well, let me tell you something, as a mayor of a city that had violence, we were able to push the rates down.

But when we would trace where the guns came from, they didn't come from New Jersey or New York.

They came from the states with the laxest gun laws.

You, in America, unless we have federal legislation, are only as safe as the closest state to you with the worst gun laws.

All the guns, significant amount of the guns used in crimes in New Jersey, are trafficked from out of state, where they do not have our same level of gun laws.

And by the way, even in states... like Connecticut is a great example, the same thing- - Senator Murphy there, go ahead.

- the iron pipeline, it's called the iron pipeline, guns flow into those states.

But when Connecticut passed something simple, and said, "Hey, look, it should not be easier in our state for a 20-year-old to get a gun than get a driver's license."

So they said, "We're just gonna have... you have to apply for a license, you know, have some basic safety."

Their gun violence rate dropped 14%.

So we know the things that people have done, from New Zealand and Australia, all the way to Connecticut, we know the things that do, that lower, don't eliminate it completely, but make things safer.

But until, we are a democracy, until people vote for the person that will keep their family safe, nothing will change.

- I want to cover a little bit on some childcare issues, because we're doing a series called Reimagined Childcare, and also a new series we're doing on urban issues.

But I wanna listen to this shift, or pivot, because it doesn't seem like there's a connection.

But Ukraine matters why?

To us, here, why does it matter, Senator?

- I mean, it's almost like asking, as totalitarian nations, from Germany to Japan began, their militaristic aims began invading other countries, why it didn't matter to America?

We are in a point now where we have seen Putin invade Georgia, invade Crimea, begin to become more hostile to Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia.

And now again, invade a sovereign nation.

If we do not stop someone with those territorial ambitions now, right now, who is... who knows what they're gonna be doing next.

And look at some very nations that have resisted getting into military alliances, like Finland and Sweden.

You now see them getting it, they're like, "We need to join the cause of helping to defend the Ukraine, and join the free nations of the West in a unified Alliance in NATO."

So we are deeply implicated in what's going on right now in Ukraine.

And deeply invested in, not only defending Ukraine, but really, it'll ultimately amount to defending democracy.

- One more quick question, before we go to a very short break, and stay with us, we're speaking to the United States Senator Cory Booker.

We are taping this program at the end of May, to put things in perspective.

The world, everything that is going on around us, changing as we speak, but we're trying to... We talk about big picture, but the big picture keeps changing as well.

That being said, Senator, let me try this.

I asked your colleague, Senator Bob Menendez this, in a previous interview, check out our interview with him at steveadubato.org.

January 6th does not matter to a significant number of Americans.

To many of us, it does, the significance of it.

From your perspective, the ongoing investigation, Congress's role, and trying to understand what happened that day, why it happened, and who was responsible, matters why, as we put up the graphic, "Democracy at a Crossroads".

Why does it matter, particularly to our system of democracy?

- Okay, I remember in, in Harrington Park Elementary School, my history teacher writing it on the blackboard, "If you fail to learn from his history, you're destined to repeat it."

And I think that many of us take our democratic freedoms, and our nation's traditions, for granted.

And don't understand that, as John Lewis, my colleague said, "Democracy is not a state of being, it's actions."

And that every generation has to prove worthy of what they've inherited, by working to strengthen it, and to defend it.

And so I was in the Capitol that day, on the floor with Bob Menendez.

And as we were escaping in an escape route, saw injured police officer, after injured police officer.

We lost a New Jerseyan that day, Officer Brian Sicknick.

And to think that someone tried a violent overthrow of our government, it should be stunning to us all.

And- - It's not, Senator, it's not.

- I know, and it can't... Because it's too often being filtered by some partisan lens, as we, in this nation, are threatened by a tribalism, in a way that we have not seen in generations.

Where it's not about right or wrong, it's about, "Are you right or left?"

And that is a destructive formula for a democracy, where you don't have these iron-clad principles: truth, justice, ideas about defending freedoms, and defending your nation.

And so I worry about the culture of contempt that is growing in our country like a cancer, where we hate each other, just because we're not on the same side of the aisle.

Where we stop listening to each other, where we stop following truth and facts, and more just follow party, right or wrong.

These are all toxins that will kill the body politic, that will take down our nation, if we don't start paying attention to it.

And good faith people on both sides of the aisle know this.

And we have got to get to the bottom of what happened on January 6th, learn from it, and work to prevent it from happening again.

- That's United States Senator Cory Booker.

This is a half-hour special we're doing with the Senator.

We appreciate, with everything he's got going on in Washington and in New Jersey, being with us.

We're gonna take a quick break, and we'll come back with the Senator right after this.

To watch more Think Tank with Steve Adubato, find us online and follow us on social media.

Welcome back, Steve Adubato.

More important, the United States Senator Cory Booker.

Senator, let me try this.

We're doing a series called Urban Matters, in cooperation with Kean University.

They have the John S. Watson Institute dealing with urban issues there.

And we're focusing on urban issues more than ever.

Question, you were the mayor of Newark, you're committed to, not just the Newarks of the world, if you will, what are the two or three most significant, quote unquote, "urban issues"?

Or they just issues that happen in urban areas and affect all of us?

I don't want to answer the question that I ask, but go ahead, Cory.

- Well, one, you and I both know this, because you, and God, your dad and mom, who are champions in this space, which is education.

You know, that still is the pathway to success in America, to have not just schools, but real cathedrals of learning.

And I'm really proud that we've done that.

Newark is a testimony, if you're... Newark is one of the best cities in America, that if you're a low-income kid, below the poverty line, you have come to Newark 'cause you have one of the best chances to make it to college.

And we have schools that dramatically outperform some of the wealthier areas of the state, so I'm proud of that, so that's number one.

Number two is I'm just gonna say, you gotta have a safe community.

Violence and crime traumatize communities, it undermines economic development and wellbeing.

And so I think we make a mistake though, if we breed... if we simply equate public safety with police, that's part of the equation, but it's a... You know, I will tell you the Newark story.

It's almost maybe saying not... it's almost saying like, justice is what you want, because it's not justice when you have such widespread lead poisoning in New Jersey and urban areas, where children are having their brains permanently damaged, their executive function is being undermined.

And that leads to more problems in school, more run-ins with the police.

Public safety is... we know when kids are above the poverty line, their run-ins with the police go dramatically down.

We know that, everything from access to healthy, nutritious foods- - that's right.

- lowers crime rates.

I can tell you all the things that, if we gave just focus on childhood wellbeing, we would have a less need for police.

So I would say not... First school, second, peace and justice for every community, and a certain baseline.

And then the last one, which I love, and it's exciting to see it exploding in Newark, is economic opportunity.

We need to make sure that we are a place of a constructive and conscientious growth, and opportunity for people.

And again, we've seen in Newark, as well as other cities and towns in New Jersey.

- Yeah, I'm sorry for interrupting, Cory, Senator, over in, is it Jersey City, over in Hudson County, where there's a large federal grant going there, to help that...

I see you smiling, so you know what, I just teed that up for you, go ahead real quick.

(both laugh) - I will tell you, I'm really proud.

You know, Bob and I, more than...

This is a record in New Jersey history.

- Bob, of course, you're talking about your colleague, the senior United States Senator, Bob and Cory, Cory and Bob, go ahead.

- Yes, yes, please, Bob and Cory.

- Yeah, I get it, I understand these things.

(laughs) - Yeah, he and I have set a record now for bringing the most money back to our state, of any duo we've had in any Congress, in the history of New Jersey.

Especially with these massive bills, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which is gonna bring tens of billions of dollars to our state, as well as the American Rescue Plan, which helped small businesses all over New Jersey, among other things.

And so we are really keyed, Bob and I, in understanding that, you know, cities like Newark, cities like Jersey City, cities like Atlantic City, don't just support the people that live in those cities.

They are hubs for economic... they're economic engines for our state, our ports, our railways, our institutions of higher learning.

These are economic drivers that create hundreds of thousands of jobs for New Jersey.

So the investments we've been able to make in these key nubs, and having a great relationship with the President, who's been... whose administration has allowed us to punch above our weight.

We've returned more money per population than a lot of other big states, so we are punching above our weight, but I love New Jersey.

You invest in New Jersey, we produce results.

- So when you mentioned the President, that's where I was going.

For those who are watching right now, who say, "You know what, Adubato's being soft on the Democrats," because isn't it a fact that inflation is what it is?

The economy is struggling the way it is, that baby formula is off the shelves, again, taping at the end of the May.

(knocks on desk) Hopefully that's not the case for much longer.

The Afghanistan debacle, withdrawal, if you will, and a whole list of other things that people blame on the President.

And his ratings are what they are, as we speak right now.

I appreciate you saying that the President was supportive in the initiative that you just talked about, but there are real struggles there.

- Oh my God.

- And... Go ahead.

- Yeah, there are tons of struggles, and we shouldn't soft-pedal the struggles of New Jersey families right now.

- Are you looking, because you have a vote coming on... coming up, is that what it is?

- How did you know that?

(laughs) - Because I served one term in the state legislature, and then they booted me out to do this.

And I know that look, but go ahead.

- But what I'm gonna say is this, look, to say Biden is responsible for inflation, or gas prices, means that if you go to Germany, which I told you, I just was at, and their inflation is through the roof, and their gas prices are even higher.

Or, you know, travel around the world, this global inflation, because of the shocks to our global supply chains, which has things going up all over the world, is not Biden's fault.

But Biden should take responsibility for trying to fix the problems.

So when he came in, remember, we were losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month, when he took office.

We were a nation that had small businesses hanging on by threads in New Jersey.

And so he pumped a lot of money to save our small businesses, to help people whose families were... with stimulus checks, to make sure that the unemployment rate explode... it started going way down, it sunk dramatically.

So now we don't have an unemployment problem.

We're very fortunate, wages are are going up.

The challenge we have is an inflation problem.

And so what the President's doing right now, at our ports, trying to untangle them, what the President's doing right now, to try to keep costs from going down by attacking price gougers, all of these things are- - Including gas prices, including gas prices.

- Yeah, and these oil companies who are making record profits off of the stoked fear.

So remember, their profits are going way up more so, they're raising prices more than the actual stimulus of impression, he's going after them as well.

So again, will Biden be able to fix this global inflation?

No, but will he be able to ameliorate it for Americans?

And I'm frustrated in the Senate, though, that we keep getting blocked from every time we want to try to do something, to help people who are struggling.

You know, we're about to do stuff to try to lower prescription drug prices, struggling to get tenths of Republicans to join us, in getting insulin prices under $35.

We're trying to get more money to our small businesses, many of the restaurants are still struggling.

There's a lot of things we're trying to do that are... would help with the problem, but I have to give Biden a lot of credit for getting us out of the ditch that he inherited.

And remember, we didn't even have... barely had needles in the arms, in terms of the COVID crisis.

And he coordinated this incredible vaccination plan.

So look, does this President get a perfect rating?

No, but does he get a high rating from me, watching him up close, in terms of the problems he's been solving, and the resources he's been getting to New Jersey businesses, hospitals, schools, bridges, tunnels?

I give him a huge, for being Jersey-friendly, I give him a huge, huge, A.

- Senator, I wanna be sensitive, do you have a couple more minutes?

I don't wanna screw up- - Yeah, I don't know what my staff is screaming in your ear, but I miss our conversations, and want to go on for a couple more minutes, if we can.

- Gonna do one more topic on childcare, we're doing a series called Reimagine Childcare, the childcare crisis.

I mean, there's so many crises in this country, but affordable, accessible quality childcare, the role of the federal government, and particularly, a US Senator like yourself, in that regard is...?

- Is paramount, is essential.

We are an outlier on the planet Earth, in free Western nations, that in most states, affordable quality childcare is more expensive than tuition at college.

And we know that dollars invested in childcare produce multiple results for returns, for dollars of return for us, as a society.

In terms of the wellbeing of that child, the productivity of the child, and therefore the tax dollars we get.

And keeping that child out of trouble, or everything from healthcare, to run-ins with the police.

It's a good investment, produces returns, and we should be a nation that is leading the planet Earth on what we do for our children.

And I'll give you the last point here.

- Sure.

- We are the best college country on the planet, hands down.

We're competitive, not as good as I want us to be K through 12, but other countries have now learned that most of the brain, the most valuable economic unit on the planet, in a global knowledge-based society, most of the brain develops from the womb, until the fifth year, over 90% of the brains develop.

We don't do a good job, we lead nations in infant mortality, low birth-weight babies, industrialization.

We lead industrialization in child poverty.

All the things that, during that child's development, we're not doing a good enough job.

Childcare is critical for us to begin to out-compete our competitors, by investing in brain development, investing in those early years, that set a foundation for the rest of the learning and success of a child.

- Senator Cory Booker, I cannot thank you enough for taking your time to be with us, while your staff is telling you you have to be on the floor to vote.

You honor us by your presence, we wish you, your family, and your colleagues in the US Senate, all the best, doing the work of the people.

Thank you, Senator.

- Thank you, my friend, thank you.

- All the best.

I'm Steve Adubato, that is United States Senator Cory Booker.

We'll see you next time.

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

Funding has been provided by New Jersey Sharing Network.

Kean University.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

The Turrell Fund, supporting Reimagine Childcare.

IBEW Local 102.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Veolia.

RWJBarnabas Health.

Operating Engineers, local 825.

And by these public spirited organizations, individuals and associations committed to informing New Jersey citizens about the important issues facing the Garden State.

And by Employers Association of New Jersey.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by ROI-NJ.

- New Jersey's early educators and childcare providers are more than twice as likely to live below the poverty line versus the general workforce.

Reimagine Childcare formed by a coalition in New Jersey is dedicated to improving accessibility, affordability and quality of childcare and re-imagining the way we support these essential providers.

Learn more by visiting ReimagineChildCare.org.