Transcript of Pelosi Interview on CNBC’s Mad Money with Jim Cramer

Contact: Speaker's Press Office,

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Jim Cramer. There is one major reason this economy is doing okay: it's on government life support. Normally, double-digit unemployment would be devastating for the country, but thanks to the CARES Act, people that lose their jobs have been getting an extra $600 per week in unemployment benefits, so needed. Unfortunately, that program expires at the end of the month. The last checks actually go out this week.

And with COVID cases at terrifying levels, we need another stimulus package. The only way that happens is if the Democrats and Republicans in Congress makes a deal, not a sure thing. This may be the single most important issue for the stock market right now, so let's go right to the source with Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House, to get a better sense of her priorities and where things stand with the negotiations.

Speaker Pelosi, welcome back to Mad Money.

Speaker Pelosi. My pleasure to be with you. Thank you.

Jim Cramer. Madam Speaker, what happens next week? What happens when we don't get the $600 for the men and women who are unemployed, not through their fault, but because their jobs are over?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, let's just hope that we will.

First of all, there are many days – a few days left in this week. At that time – during that time we hope to see a proposal in writing from the Republicans as to what their priorities are and how much they're willing to invest in the well-being of the American people.

So we have ours. For two months and one week we've had The Heroes Act on the table and that's our Heroes Act, to open our economy: testing, testing, testing; honor our heroes, that's why it's named that way, to help state and local governments keep health care workers, educators, transportation workers, sanitation workers, the list goes on and on, on the payroll. Many of them are risking their lives to save lives and now they may lose their jobs. And the third pillar is to put money in the pockets of the American people: Unemployment Insurance, direct payments, the employment – some tax credits and the rest, in order to keep the economy going.

But, again, it's all a health issue. If we just defeat the virus, we can open up our schools and our economy.

Jim Cramer. Madam Speaker, our own Kayla Tausche reported earlier today that the Republicans are now – have now lowered the amount that they are willing to accept to $400 a month, that's $100 a week. Is there any way that's acceptable to you?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, no – I don't know that they have gone to that place.

And the $600 is relative. In some places, it's a matter of economic survival and other places, it makes – it's a sweetener. But we have to have the same amount in the whole country because, otherwise, it's an administrative headache.

But let's just go to the heart of the matter: the stock market, there is a floor there. You know that the Fed and others are pounding away to minimize the risk in the stock market, and that's a good thing. That's for our economy. And we think there should be a floor for America's working families and that we should not be firing those that are meeting the needs of the American people because we don't want to spend – some of the Republicans on the Senate side don't want to spend the money.

And we should not be quibbling on $200, $400 or $600 when people are in desperate need and have great uncertainty. You know how the markets and the business community doesn't like uncertainty? We shouldn't inject uncertainty further into the lives of America's working families.

Jim Cramer. Well I couldn't agree more. I mean, the reason why the stock market, which is what I follow, obviously, is doing well is because we had people who otherwise would be, I think, on food lines able to have dignity and get some money from the government for jobs that they lost.

Now, I'm concerned about certain, say, fifteen million jobs in the rest – fifteen million jobs in the restaurant business, hospitality. These are going away because of the need for social distancing.

Is there any way in particular to help the people, kind of like business interruption insurance for those workers whose companies that they faithfully served at are just closed?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, I appreciate your pointing out the hospitality industry because as you know, hospitality industry is a source of community engagement and involvement. So, it's not just about hospitality or just about jobs. It's about a sense of community.

But the jobs are what are essential, and I do believe that in the course of the unfolding of the PPP, the Paycheck Protection Program, that we have improved the opportunity for the restaurant industry. That's what they tell me, anyway.

Of course, we're not there yet because you can help people stay open, pay the rent, pay the utilities, all of the rest of that, even pay employees, but, if you don't have people coming in the doors, you're still having a problem. So, that's why we want to put money in the pockets of the American people so that they can, in this consumer economy, spend, inject demand into the economy and create jobs.

Jim Cramer. Now, Madam Speaker, you and I are great sports fans. Unfortunately, you're a Baltimore Raven fan. They're pretty good. But, in order to get these teams to play, we're going to have to have testing, testing, testing to the point where I question how the athletes – professional athletes – get so much more testing than the rest of us, and get rapid fire answers and the rest of us don't. Instead, we're quarantined at home, without being productive citizens. Is there a point the NHL, the NFL, the NBA get too much testing and the rest of us don't get enough?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, first, let me say, I love the Ravens, but the San Francisco 49ers are my home team.

Now, onto the testing. Let's not begrudge the athletes their tests. Let's just have more testing for everyone. And that's a decision that this Administration has ruled against. They just keep insisting there are enough tests, ‘We have more tests than this that and the other thing.' We don't. And the reason we don't have enough tests is because we don't have enough equipment. And the reason that it takes a week or so to get the results of the test is because we don't have enough equipment.

If we had the equipment, more people could be tested. Three times as many people could be tested and the results could go from a week to one day. And that's why we call upon the President to implement the Defense Production Act so that businesses will be making this equipment, equipment and then the personal productive equipment necessary in our health-serving institutions, as well as in our schools and every place where people come in contact with each other. Equipment, equipment, equipment enables us to test, trace, treat, socially distance and assault this.

So, again, I think that – I don't want to begrudge anybody the test they have because I know that we could do much better. It's not as if they are taking a test that somebody else should have. They're having a test somebody else should have because the Trump Administration has decided for a long time that we did not need to have the test because, you know, if you have tests, then you'll find out what the rate of infection is.

Jim Cramer. True, but Abbott labs, the largest test maker, has told me that they have more than enough machines and that no one is buying them; that there is just this gap. I think it's the government's fault. I don't know why that is, that Abbott labs, the biggest test creator, has spare test manufacturing capacity that nobody is tapping.

Speaker Pelosi. Of course, then, there is also the question of the billions of dollars that we have given this Administration for testing and what is it that there is this disconnect? It's a distortion about what the rate of infection is, and that more testing shows more people who are infected and they don't want that bad news.

But again, putting that aside, let's just go forward. Whatever Abbott has, we still need more. Under-served communities, communities of color, rural communities and the rest are just not having the outreach that they need to have and, then, the tracing that goes with that is very essential, as well.

But you have to have, also, the equipment not only to test, but to evaluate positive or negative in a short period of time.

Jim Cramer. I do want to – I do want to go back and look back for one thing, which is the legacy of Representative John Lewis, a person who was a stalwart, who understood the way that we need to adjust in this country to bring ourselves up to where everybody is equal and I thought I should give you a chance to say something.

Speaker Pelosi. Well, I appreciate your calling attention to John Lewis. For all of us in Congress, it's like a death in the family, the immediate family. I served with him for 33 years in the House, and we look forward to paying tribute to him as we lay him to rest within the next several days as the family gives us our instruction.

But this is a person who many of us think was almost Christ-like in values, in his demeanor, in his respect for other people. He believed in a more perfect union. He was a super patriot in that regard because he wanted to – he worked in peace and love. Non-violence was central, central to how he operated, and recommended that the rest of us do.

So, again, we've lost a great patriot. We've lost a person of goodness who truly lived his beliefs, and his beliefs came from his faith and his faith, of course, gave us all hope. So we will miss him. There will be beautiful tributes to him in the days ahead. His family did not want any of his services to begin before Reverend Vivian was put to rest. That will be tomorrow.

But he was a fighter. He was a fighter and he was a fighter on the coronavirus, and we all agreed that we, as a nation, should be doing more and we should be more for every person in our country. That was what John Lewis was about, everyone.

Jim Cramer. We do it for his legacy.

Speaker Pelosi. Thank you for asking about him.

Jim Cramer. Thank you so much to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, always great to have you on the show.

Speaker Pelosi. My pleasure, thank you.