Station:    KNUS, 710 am

Show:       Steffan Tubbs Show

Guests:    Gardner, Cory

Link:        https://omny.fm/shows/steffan-tubbs-show/the-steffan-tubbs-show-february-10-2020-hr-2

Date:       February 10, 2020

Topics:     State of the Union Address, 67-vote Treshold, Swing Votes in Senate, Vote to Impeach, Vote to Convict, Partisan-Driven Investigation of the House, “Result in search of Evidence,” Policy Differences, Impeachment, Impartial Juror, Rushed Process, Somber, Congress Doing the Work of the People, Solutions to Education, Student Loans, Fixing the Heath Care System, Making our Country Safer, Partisan Politics, Nancy Pelosi, Arkansas Valley Conduit, John F. Kennedy, 1962, Clean Drinking Water, Bureau of Land Management, Colorado, Space Command, Colorado Springs, Anvil Points, Western Slope, Trump Rally, John Hickenlooper, Witness Preparation, Socialism, Health Care, Presidential Race, Unemployment, Ban Cows, Cars, Straws, Bernie Sanders, Transportation, Senator McConnell, Mitt Romney, Relationship with Trump, Spouse of the Year, Air Force, Bipartisan

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HOST STEFFAN TUBBS, LIVE IN STUDIO [00:00:01] So, I tried to make my way back [but there was] huge traffic. I called [Tubbs’ show producer] Adam and I said, “[I’m] not gonna be in studio for [the interview with Sen.Cory Gardner]. So that’s why I am on the cell phone. But the senator from the great state of Colorado with an R in front of his name, a guy that I think — hopefully you think — you should vote for again, Senator Cory Gardner.

U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO, CORY GARDNER (RECORDED INTERVIEW) [00:00:20] Hey, thank you for having me.

TUBBS [00:00:23] You bet! This time last week, was there ever a doubt that the impeachment trial verdict was going to go any other way than it did? [What are] your thoughts?

GARDNER [00:00:34] Well, I think if you added up all the people that the press had speculated very wildly about, the people who they thought were undecided, the people who they thought were swing votes, even if every single one of them had voted to convict, it still wouldn’t have reached the 67 vote threshold needed to impeach the president. So, you know, I think this is a partisan-driven investigation out of the House. It was a result in search of evidence from the get-go. And they drove it as fast as they could — regardless of constitutional concern — over to the Senate, where they presented a case in the Senate over policy difference that doesn’t rise to the level of trying to remove the president of the United States for the first time in American history. It doesn’t rise ever. You can’t have a policy difference lead to impeachment.

TUBBS [00:01:22] Was there ever a time where you thought, “You know what? The — you know — the way I’ve been brought up, or the way that I governed, the way that I lead the state of Colorado,” in the way that you do, was there ever a time where you thought, “Okay, I am literally going into this as an impartial juror and I want to hear the evidence?” Did you?

GARDNER [00:01:41] Well, you know, I tried to do that every day. And as silly as that may seem to some, I actually took that oath seriously. That was what was required to me. That’s what the Constitution says. And so I took it very seriously. But just because you repeat something over and over and over again, as the house managers did, doesn’t make it more true the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth time that you hear it. The fact is they presented a policy difference to the Senate. And, you know, our founders and framers were very concerned that policy differences would lead to impeachment someday. They believed that was the wrong approach.

TUBBS [00:02:18] Senator Cory Gardner [is] joining us, a rare — I’m on the phone and you are in your office, so I appreciate that very much. What was the what was the mood at times? I mean, let me tell you. We made fun of the fact you guys couldn’t have your cell phones and couldn’t have a computer. And if you wanted milk, you could do that. But what was the mood like inside the Senate chamber?

GARDNER [00:02:40] Well, you know, I mean, it was very, very somber, is one word. Frustrating, at times, it felt. You know, none of us could speak. And so when you heard somebody say something that you just wanted to respond to you, you couldn’t. And so that was frustrating. And, you know — and I couldn’t help but sense sort of a sadness as well.  And the sadness that I — at least that I sensed was based on what people are willing to do to our country to tear it apart. And it just seemed over and over and over again, when we spent three weeks on the floor of the United States Senate, we weren’t debating how to grow the economy. We weren’t debating how to reduce taxes or fix our health care system. We weren’t debating solutions to education, student loans, how to make our country safer. We were in there in a partisan fight that began in the House in many ways before the president was even sworn into office. So that’s what we needed. That’s why I was sad, because I thought these people are doing this to this country and it’s not making our country a stronger place as a result.

TUBBS [00:03:45] I never like to put words in your mouth, so I want to ask you, do you think I was a waste of time?

GARDNER [00:03:50] Look, the House expressed their constitutional right. I think they did it in the wrong way. I think they chose a partisan revenge over actual constitutional duty. And in that sense, it really hurt the American people.

TUBBS [00:04:06] Do you think, Senator Gardner, that in some way, shape or form you redeemed yourself to some people who are questioning whether or not you supported this president?

GARDNER [00:04:18] You know, I never  — somebody else asked me a different kind of version or variation of that question, about, “How does this affect you politically?” And I –and my response was then, as it is now, I never really looked at this through the lens of politics other than what it means for the American people and how this affects them and the duties that we have. And you know, that moment that I described, where you’re on the floor of the Senate for 12 hours or whatever it was a day, and you realize you’re not actually solving policy problems for the country, you’re in a partisan partisan realm, that was a frustration. So, you know, while Chuck Schumer may think that this helps him politically and Nancy Pelosi may think this helps them politically, that’s not what I was concerned about.

TUBBS [00:05:08] What type of terms are you on, would you say, with the president today, as we speak?

GARDNER [00:05:14] Well, look, we’ve done amazing things for Colorado together. We continue to, and that’s because of the relationship that we have with Colorado. Just a couple of days ago, we announced a $28 million to actually begin construction on the Arkansas Valley conduit. The administration –the Trump administration –released it. This is a project that was authorized by John F. Kennedy in 1962. [It] hasn’t been built until now. You know, we’re gonna be in Colorado Springs in a couple of weeks. We’re gonna — we’ve moved the Bureau of Land Management headquarters to Colorado. We’ve opened up Space Command in Colorado Springs. And so, that’s all possible because of the work that we’ve been doing together. And, you know, that’s — I just spoke to him again on Friday night, I think it was.

TUBBS [00:05:58] Senator Cory Gardner, our guest, and, you know, February 20th, 2020, [is] coming up a week from Thursday, as you know, and you mentioned, you know, the president will be in Colorado Springs. That’s a really, really big deal for a lot of people. Do you understand, you know, people that want you to get reelected, do you understand why that’s such a big deal to have him — I guess you could say — right here on our own backyard?

GARDNER [00:06:20] Oh, look, I’m excited about it. And for the longest time, I’ve said I want him to come to Colorado so that we can show off all the good things that we have done for Colorado, because he’s been ground central in helping us achieve those things, whether it’s Command — Space Command, or BLM, or Arkansas Valley Conduit, or Anvil Points, — you name it! The list goes on and on. So — and I think right there in Colorado Springs, at the foot of Pikes Peak, with the — surrounded by the military bases that are the heart and soul of our national security, this will be a special, special day.

TUBBS [00:06:49] Will you be –?  Well, let me ask and rephrase. I was going to say, will you be introducing him? But let me ask you this: do you want to–should you be the one to introduce him?

GARDNER [00:07:00] Well, look, I’d be honored to. I don’t know what their plans are. So, you know, I know I’m speaking — I believe I’m speaking at it. I just don’t know what role. But I certainly would be honored to.

TUBBS [00:07:11] How are you doing with the campaign itself? I mean, here you’re in less less than a week out from taking an impeachment vote where you voted ‘not guilty’ for both articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, but you’ve still got a campaign to run. And John Hickenlooper has not been quiet — at least, social media-wise — and [he has] taken shots at you. [What are] your thoughts on where you are?

GARDNER [00:07:33] Well, look, I know John Hickenlooper is busy. He’s got his own ethics trial coming up. He’s probably doing some witness prep for his trial.

TUBBS [00:07:41] [hearty laughter]  Sorry to laugh, there!

GARDNER [00:07:41] So I’m excited to focus on the results for the people of Colorado. [laughs]

TUBBS [00:07:48] Is it starting to get uglier? What are your people telling you?

GARDNER [00:07:52] Well, look, I mean, we’re going to focus on the good things that we have done. And I understand that if you’re somebody on the left and all you have is socialism and taking away people’s insurance as your platform, that’s pretty thin gruel. And so I look forward to talking about the things that we have done, the opportunities that we’ve opened at, the fact that more people are at work in Colorado than they ever have been. Two-point-five percent unemployment is the lowest unemployment rate in the history of our country — [correcting himself] history of our state, excuse me. And we’ve got business optimism like we have never seen before. So those are things that we’re going to talk about. And when you look at what the the liberal left wants to do, they want to take it all away. They want to ban our cows, our cars, our straws, and that’s their platform. So, look, when you stand on a — next to Bernie Sanders at a presidential debate and you say I’m just as progressive as every other person on this stage, I’m not going to doubt it. I believe them. And that’s why they can’t win.

TUBBS, LIVE IN STUDIO [00:08:46] They want to take your cars and cows and straws or whatever, he said. Part two of our interview with Cory Gardner coming up after a check on traffic.[…].

[00:08:57] [commercial break].

TUBBS, LIVE IN STUDIO [00:08:57] We continue our — [it is] strange because it was recorded earlier and I was in bumper to bumper traffic on I-70. But the intrepid one, [show producer] Adam Walker, made sure that it happened. [Here is] part two of our interview with Senator Cory Gardner.

TUBBS [00:09:25] A couple more questions for Senator Cory Gardner, kind enough to give us time, less than a week out, as I mentioned, from the historic impeachment vote. What are your thoughts on Mitt Romney?  [Are you] disappointed?

GARDNER [00:09:37] Look, every senator is going to reach their own conclusion about what they — how they voted and why they voted. I think it was Senator McConnell who said there’s no dog house in the United States Senate. And I had said this before, that, you know, the same people who are praising Senator Romney today are the same people that in 2012 were calling him a felonious tax cheat who caused cancer. And so, you know, the winds of praise from the press will blow the direction that they want it to. And I hope that’s what everybody around here remembers.

TUBBS [00:10:09] When you look back and your kids are, say, walking down the aisle, to get their college degrees and they’re moving on, I mean, have you thought about — and is it too close to having it happen that, you know, regardless of what any of us think, that impeachment trial, that was one of only three times. I mean, you were involved in history.

GARDNER [00:10:29] You know, it’s one of those things where I know that they will look back and say, “I’m glad that my dad trusted the American people more than 100 men and women in Washington.”

TUBBS [00:10:41] You’ve got a good relationship with Trump? You know, I always got to end on that.

GARDNER [00:10:45] Well, we do. In fact, like I said, I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s coming to Colorado in the next couple of weeks and why we got the dollars to build the pipeline and why we’ve been so successful in the state. So we’re going to continue to build on that and continue to roll forward as we share with the people of Colorado why this country is better off today than it was just four years ago.

TUBBS [00:11:05] Final question, and this goes off-topic of the president and impeachment. I want to personally, again — and I think I did the last time I was talking with you –I want to personally, again, commend you and your leadership in the creation, the co-sponsoring, the votes for the 988 suicide hotline. Where are we on that? And you and I have worked closely with veterans issues and on veterans issues. To me, it is absolutely necessary. And where are we? And again, congratulations on the success so far.

GARDNER [00:11:39] Well, thank you. I just had a briefing from my staff on the — conversations are taking place between the telecom industry itself and the support industries who are really the ones who are going to be putting these hotlines together, who run and manage the hotlines and provide the support services for mental health needs and and suicide responses, and interdiction. So, you know, those are very good conversations. We have now, I think, 21 or 22 bipartisan co-sponsors of the bill. We’re going to get this thing done. It is going to save lives. One of — my guest for the State of the Union [address] last week was a woman by the name of Kristen Christie. She’s from Colorado Springs, was the 2017 — [correcting himself] 2018, excuse me — Air Force Spouse of the Year. And she lost her husband to suicide. And she has lost a son. We don’t know what’s happened to that son yet, but she’s desperately afraid of what has happened. But it goes to the very heart of need, to have a 988 call that provides immediate mental health response, whether it’s somebody who is considering suicide, whether it’s somebody who just doesn’t know what to do or where to turn in life. But this call will have a ‘press 1 for veterans’ component to it. So, it will have specialized care for veterans, for people like her husband that previously may not have known who they could turn to. This is just three digits away, to press that 1, to find the help they need.

TUBBS [00:13:06] Yeah, we played sound last week on the show of your conversation with your guest at the State of the Union. When do you think that’ll be — I mean, when when can people start using it, do you think? Is there a target date?

GARDNER [00:13:19] You know, I don’t have a target date yet. We just hope that we can bring the groups together and get the language agreed to. And then once we do that, it should be smooth sailing and get this implemented. But I would hope that that happened sooner rather than later.

TUBBS [00:13:32] Well, kudos to you again and your staff, and, you know, politicians working in a bipartisan manner to get 988 soon to be ready to roll out. Listen, don’t stay a stranger and good luck! And I’ll see you down there in Colorado Springs on the 20th.

GARDNER [00:13:48] Sounds good, Steffan. And safe travels! [laughing] Thank you!