Father of children who survived Michigan temple attack shares antisemitism concerns with Vance

Channel: CBS News

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] terrorist inspired by Hezbollah drove a

[0:02] pickup truck into Temple, Israel in West

[0:04] Bloomfield, not far from where we're

[0:06] sitting. Uh there were hundreds of

[0:08] school children inside at the time. Uh

[0:10] and tonight in the audience is a father

[0:12] of some of those children, Eddie Rubin.

[0:15] Uh Eddie, the floor is yours.

[0:16] >> Uh first off, apologize. You came hoping

[0:18] for Buckeyes and uh Republicans. I'm a

[0:22] Wolverine and a Democrat, but appreciate

[0:25] you being here.

[0:27] My 5-year-old daughter and my

[0:29] three-year-old son survived the

[0:32] terrorist attack at their preschool

[0:34] housed in our synagogue on March 12th,

[0:37] just a few miles away from here. I am

[0:40] very concerned about the rise in

[0:42] anti-semitism in this country. As a

[0:46] lifelong Democrat, I've traveled to DC.

[0:49] I've pushed back against my own party

[0:51] and will have trouble and not the

[0:53] ability to feel comfortable voting for

[0:55] our Democratic candidate in this

[0:57] election cycle. But I'm not here to find

[1:00] out what he may or may not be doing. I

[1:03] want to know what you will commit to

[1:06] doing about this problem with the right.

[1:09] Will you publicly confront influential

[1:11] people like Tucker Carlson in your own

[1:13] coalition who continue to spread

[1:16] anti-semitic rhetoric that has put a

[1:18] target on my children's back?

[1:21] >> So Eddie, first of all, you to be clear,

[1:24] your five and three-year-old are okay.

[1:27] >> Okay is a relative term. Are they here

[1:29] with us? Absolutely. Thank thank

[1:31] >> my daughter still at a loud bang dropped

[1:35] to the floor in coverage protection and

[1:38] cry all loud noises and tries to

[1:40] understand what she has experienced

[1:44] not okay from that perspective

[1:46] >> and I'm very very sorry about that and I

[1:48] and I will say I've met with the

[1:50] leadership of the temple there and I've

[1:51] met with some of the security guards who

[1:53] frankly pre prevented what would have

[1:55] been one of the worst terrorist attacks

[1:56] in the history of the United States of

[1:57] America but for their bravery and God

[1:59] bless And it's it's amazing. If you

[2:02] don't know anything about this story, uh

[2:04] th this guy would have killed I think

[2:06] dozens of children, possibly worse, were

[2:08] it not for a very brave security guard.

[2:10] And so, thank God for him. And thank God

[2:12] for you and your family that you're

[2:13] okay. Here, here's what I'll say. I

[2:16] condemn anti-semitism.

[2:18] I condemn Jew hatred. I condemn anybody

[2:21] who would judge another human being

[2:23] based on who their mother or father

[2:25] were, what their ethnicity was, what

[2:27] their religion is. And I think that

[2:30] leadership, that fundamental leadership

[2:31] principle has to start there, that we

[2:33] can condemn this unequivocally. I also

[2:37] think that we have to remember we got to

[2:39] show some empathy for our fellow

[2:40] citizens. And I think you in particular,

[2:43] you know, I cannot imagine as a father,

[2:46] I've got kids that are not that

[2:47] different ages from you. I cannot

[2:49] imagine what you've been dealing with,

[2:50] what you dealt with on that day. And I'd

[2:52] ask all of our fellow Americans,

[2:53] whatever your background is, try to

[2:55] understand the perspective of a father

[2:57] getting that phone call and finding out,

[2:59] "Oh my god, I don't know if my little

[3:01] babies are okay." And I think if we have

[3:03] that empathy and we combine that with

[3:05] the simple principle that we reject

[3:07] ethnic hatred, we reject Jew hatred, I

[3:09] think that is a first start, but it's

[3:12] not hardly enough. You know, if you look

[3:15] historically, ethnic hatred has ebbed

[3:18] and flowed not just in this country, but

[3:20] all over the world. In fact, I think

[3:21] what makes America unique is not that

[3:23] we've ever had racism in America. I

[3:25] think what makes us unique is that

[3:26] America's racial groups have gotten

[3:28] along, ethnic groups, religious groups

[3:29] have gotten along a lot better here than

[3:31] they have in other places in the world.

[3:33] Not saying we're perfect, cuz we're not,

[3:35] but we do it a lot better. And I think

[3:37] that one of the things that we we have

[3:38] to do is recognize that there are people

[3:42] out there who are whether they're sick

[3:44] or evil or deranged or however you want

[3:46] to put it, they are targeting innocent

[3:49] school children. and we have to stop it.

[3:51] And my point about empathy, I want to

[3:52] make one other point because I I think

[3:54] this is a real difference. And I hate to

[3:56] be partisan here, but I think it's a

[3:57] real difference. You're a Michigan

[3:59] voter, I assume. A real difference

[4:01] between Mike Rogers and Abdul Sied

[4:03] because if God forbid, we of course, I

[4:06] know you most of all pray this would

[4:08] never happen. But if there was a

[4:09] terrorist attack or an attempted

[4:11] terrorist attack at an Islamic community

[4:13] center, do you know what Mike Rogers

[4:15] would do? He'd be the first person there

[4:18] praying with the people affected and

[4:19] condemning that violence. But when that

[4:22] happened to your community in your

[4:24] family, what did Abdul Al says do? He

[4:26] went around and said, "Hurt people hurt

[4:29] people." Showing empathy not with you

[4:31] and your family, which is where I think

[4:33] that we got to show empathy, but showing

[4:35] empathy to a guy who nearly killed

[4:37] hundreds of innocent children. So, look,

[4:40] there there are people in our coalition

[4:43] who certainly say terrible things,

[4:45] things I disagree with, anti-semitic

[4:46] things. You know, there's this podcaster

[4:49] who's obsessively goes after me and my

[4:51] family, and I joke with my Jewish

[4:52] friends, he also obsessively goes after

[4:54] Jews, so we're in good company. Or I

[4:56] guess since you're a Democrat, you might

[4:57] say you're in bad company. But

[4:58] regardless, we're in the same boat. I

[5:01] think we had to condemn this stuff. We

[5:02] had to call it out. And I really believe

[5:04] I'm I'm a big believer in free speech

[5:06] because I think sunlight is the best

[5:08] disinfectant. Vice President Vance,

[5:09] you've mentioned a couple times tonight

[5:10] the importance of open conversation,

[5:12] free speech, free expression,