2026年3月22日 / 美国东部时间上午10:24 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
自2013年起,新泽西州参议员科里·布克就不再担任纽瓦克市市长了。但当他在社区里散步时,你永远不会察觉到这一点。一位路人喊道:“有史以来最棒的市长!”
“谢谢你,兄弟!谢谢。”布克回应道。
另一名男子走上前来拥抱了布克。当被问及如何知道可以拥抱一位参议员时,这名男子回答:“因为是他,而且他一直都是这样。”
布克表示,当人们称他为“市长”时,这仍然是对他最好的称赞。
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻记者费思·萨利与新泽西州民主党参议员科里·布克在纽瓦克交谈。
布克的父母曾是IBM高管,他们在新泽西州以白人为主的哈林顿公园郊区抚养他和他的兄弟长大。他获得全额奖学金在斯坦福大学踢足球;作为罗德学者就读于牛津大学(我们曾在那里短暂相遇);并毕业于耶鲁法学院。
当他准备扎根时,他选择了纽瓦克作为自己的家。“是这个社区看到了我的潜力,而我自己却未曾察觉,”他说。
29岁时,他成为纽瓦克市议会有史以来最年轻的议员。但他很快感到沮丧:“我真的差点就辞职了,因为我在市政厅什么都做不了。”
于是,他采取了不同的策略。1999年夏天(据哥伦比亚广播公司新闻当时报道),他在一个犯罪猖獗的住房项目前搭起帐篷,以争取更多警察保护。这座城市因羞愧而采取行动。
这次成功激发了他竞选更高职位的欲望。回想起2002年的市长竞选(他失败了),他笑着说:“如果你要经历一场壮观的失败,我最好的建议是请一个纪录片团队来记录它!”
获得奥斯卡提名的电影《街头之战》记录了他与现任市长夏普·詹姆斯的竞选。詹姆斯称布克是“白人、同性恋、犹太人、共和党人”。“这就是为什么我有时看到特朗普的鲁莽行为时会说,‘你对尖酸刻薄的政治一无所知’,”布克说,“我是在‘砖城’(布里克城,纽瓦克的别称)锻造出来的!纽瓦克是政治中最艰难的地方。”
在担任两届市长后,新泽西州将他送往参议院。
去年,布克在参议院发表了创纪录的25小时5分钟演讲。他抨击特朗普政府,向参议院同僚发出热情呼吁,为普通美国人发声,他说:“这是美国的一个道德时刻。”
去年,科里·布克创造了参议院最长阻挠议事的纪录,他连续发言超过25小时反对特朗普总统的政策。美国公共广播公司(CSPAN)
当被问及如何准备这场马拉松式演讲时,布克回答:“大量祈祷。”他禁食了三天。“然后,在那之前24小时以上不喝水,”他说,“但我有抽筋,脚也麻木了。”
即使在25小时结束时,他仍告诉工作人员:“我还能继续。”他形容自己感觉“热血沸腾”。
布克也对一些民主党同僚感到愤怒,他称他们“同谋”。“我希望我们能揭露这个腐败的体系,”他说,“我们谈论的很多坏事并不是从唐纳德·特朗普开始的。”
尽管布克有批评者,他们称他破纪录的阻挠议事是一场噱头,但布克回应道:“我认为,如果一生中没有批评者,你就什么实质性的事情都没做。我认为民主党人有时是最糟糕的沟通者。坦率地说,唐纳德·特朗普是沟通的大师级人物。我不喜欢他说什么,以及他如何说。民主党人?我认为政治科学的说法是,我们很糟糕。”
这就是为什么布克在他的新书《坚持》(Stand)中表达了希望,这本书本周出版。书中,他鼓励美国人团结起来,提醒我们共同的美德。
圣马丁出版社
“我们人民,才是这个国家需要的英雄,”他说,“美国的整个故事是普通美国人在为国家事业、为邻居服务、爱邻居的过程中做非凡之事的故事。而爱就是牺牲、服务、善良和优雅。我们的国家充满了这些。”
你可能会问,“这个人是认真的吗?”“我第一次听到这句话时也这么想,”布克说,“但现在,当我们看到卑鄙和残忍被提升到我们国家最高职位时,我会尽我所能,用爱来回应他的仇恨频率。”
尽管他努力营造社区氛围,但这位参议员并非没有批评者。一些左翼人士批评他似乎无条件支持以色列。他回应道:“看看我在做什么。例如,我现在正在领导一场关于西岸定居点暴力的斗争。不幸的是,人们认为这是一个二元问题。作为一个一直致力于为加沙提供人道主义援助的人,对我来说,这关乎挽救生命,结束噩梦。没有巴勒斯坦自治,就没有以色列的安全;没有以色列的安全,就没有巴勒斯坦自治。”
随着参议院就美国参与伊朗战争的问题陷入僵局,布克呼吁举行听证会并追究责任。
当被问及他是否认为这场战争违宪时,布克表示:“我知道这是违宪的,因为根据宪法的合理解读,只有美国参议院有权宣战。总统可以在存在迫在眉睫的威胁时保卫国家,但他无法证明他试图阻止的威胁是什么。
“这是我见过的最糟糕的情况,”他说,“我们允许总统宣战,要求投降,却不与国会协商。”
那么,国会——以及科里·布克——正在为此做什么?“对我来说,这是一个‘好麻烦’的时刻——我们如何停止参议院的常规事务,迫使举行听证会?”布克说。
过去一周,布克成为了他所在政党抵抗运动的代表,但迄今为止未能成功。他还在推动一项帮助美国人降低联邦所得税的法案。
抛开政治不谈,这位56岁的参议员有很多值得微笑的事情。去年秋天,他与亚历克西斯·刘易斯举行了一场跨宗教仪式的婚礼。“我不是在等待合适的人出现,”他说,“我现在意识到,我必须成为合适的人。过去两年简直是奇迹。”
今年秋天,他将在新泽西州寻求连任,但他已经在思考未来的计划。我们问到一个在街上向他走来的人,那人袜子上印着“科里·布克2028”,并问他两年后人们是否还会穿这样的袜子。
“我会——我现在就告诉你——在2028年参与这场斗争,”他回答道,“美国需要另一个伟大的时刻,我们要抓住它,夺回它,赎回美国的梦想。我现在正在做的事情,我还不确定具体是什么。这不是美国衰落的时刻;这是黑暗的蝶蛹时刻,我们即将再次崛起,飞向新的高度。”
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/in-conversation-with-cory-booker/
Cory Booker: “We, the people, are the heroes this country needs”
March 22, 2026 / 10:24 AM EDT / CBS News
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker hasn’t been the mayor of Newark since 2013. But when he walks around his neighborhood, you’d never know it. One passer-by yelled out, “The best mayor ever!”
“Thank you, brother! Thank you,” Booker replied.
Another man came up and gave Booker a hug. Asked how he knew he could hug a senator, the man replied, “Because it’s him, and he’s always like that.”
Booker says it is still the best compliment when people call him Mayor.
Correspondent Faith Salie with Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in Newark. CBS News
Booker’s parents, who were IBM executives, raised him and his brother in the predominantly White suburb of Harrington Park, New Jersey. He played football at Stanford on a full scholarship; attended Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar (where our paths crossed briefly); and graduated from Yale Law School.
And when it came time to put down roots, he made Newark his home. “This is the community that saw things in me I didn’t see in myself,” he said.
At 29, he became the youngest person ever elected to the Newark City Council. But he quickly grew frustrated: “I literally was on the verge of quitting because I couldn’t get anything done in city hall.”
So, he took a different approach. In the summer of 1999 (as reported by CBS News at the time), he pitched a tent in front of a crime-infested housing project to get more police protection. The city was shamed into action.
That success fueled his desire to run for higher office. Reflecting on the mayoral campaign he ran (and lost) in 2002, he laughed, “If you were gonna have a spectacular failure, my best advice is to have a documentary team there to capture it!”
The Oscar-nominated film “Street Fight” documented his race against incumbent Mayor Sharpe James, who referred to Booker as White, gay, Jewish, and Republican. “That’s why I sometimes look at Trump’s outrageousness and say, ‘You don’t know anything about hard-nose politics of insult,’” Booker said. “I was forged in Brick City! Newark is the toughest place in politics ever.”
After serving two terms as mayor, New Jersey sent him to the Senate.
Last year, Booker spoke on the Senate floor for a record-breaking 25 hours and 5 minutes. He called out the Trump administration, making a passionate appeal to his Senate colleagues, giving voice to everyday Americans as he said, “This is a moral moment in America.”
Last year, Cory Booker broke the record for the longest Senate filibuster, as he spoke for more than 25 hours against President Trump’s policies. CSPAN
Asked how he prepared for his marathon speech, Booker replied, “A lot of prayer.” He fasted for three days. “And then, didn’t drink for over 24 hours beforehand,” he said. “But I had cramps, I had numb feet.”
Even at the end of 25 hours, he said he told his staff, “I could go longer.” He described himself as feeling “fired up.”
Booker has also been angered by some Democratic colleagues, whom he has called “complicit.” “I want us to call out the corrupt system,” he said. “A lot of the bad things we’re talking about didn’t start with Donald Trump.”
And while Booker has his critics, who’ve called his record-breaking filibuster a stunt, Booker replied, “I think that if you don’t have critics in life, you’re not doing anything of substance. I think Democrats are the worst communicators sometimes. Frankly, Donald Trump is a master’s class of communication. I don’t like what he says, how he says it. Democrats? I think the political science word is, we suck at communicating.”
Which is why Booker is expressing his hopes in a new book, “Stand,” out this week. In it, he encourages Americans to stand together, reminding us of our shared virtues.
St. Martin’s Press
“We, the people, are the heroes this country needs,” he said. “And the whole story of America is a story of ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things in the cause of our country, in service of their neighbors, loving their neighbors. And love is sacrifice, service, kindness, and grace. Our country is full of that.”
You may be asking, Is this guy for real? “I heard that the first time a lot,” Booker said. “At this point, when we have meanness and cruelty elevated to the highest office in our land, I’m going to do everything I can to match his frequency of hate with a frequency of love.”
As much as he strives to create community, the senator is not without his detractors. Some on the left have been critical of what appears, to them, to be unconditional support of Israel. His response: “Look at what I’m doing. I am the senator right now leading the fight, for example, about settler violence in the West Bank. This is an issue that unfortunately people think is binary. As somebody who has been working to get humanitarian aid to Gaza, to me this is about saving lives, ending the nightmare. There will never be Israeli security without Palestinian autonomy; there will never be Palestinian autonomy without Israeli security.”
And as the standoff in the Senate continues over U.S. involvement in the war with Iran, Booker is calling for hearings and accountability.
Asked if he thinks this war is unconstitutional, Booker stated, “I know it’s unconstitutional, because the fair reading of the Constitution, only the United States Senate has the right to declare war. The president can defend the country if there is an imminent threat, and he has not been able to show what was the imminent threat he was trying to stop.
“Here we have it in the worst I’ve ever seen it,” he said. “We are allowing our president to declare war, to demand a surrender, and not come to Congress.”
So, what is Congress – and Cory Booker – doing about this? “So to me, this is a ‘good trouble’ moment – how can we shut down Senate business-as-usual, and force hearings?” Booker said.
This past week, Booker has been the face of his party’s resistance, so far unsuccessful. And he has also been pushing a bill to help Americans lower their federal income tax.
Politics aside, the 56-year-old has plenty to smile about. Last fall, he married Alexis Lewis in an interfaith ceremony. “I didn’t just wait for the right person to come along,” he said. “I think what I now realize is, I had to become the right person. And it’s just been two years of utter magic.”
This fall, he’s up for reelection in New Jersey, but he’s already thinking about what comes next. We asked about a man who’d approached him on the street with socks emblazoned with “Cory Booker 2028,” and asked, if people will be wearing those socks two years from now.
What one wears in a race? CBS News
“I am going to be – I’m telling you right now – a part of the fight in 2028,” he replied. “It’s time for another sort of big moment in America, for us to seize, reclaim, and redeem the dream of America. What I’m doing as a part of that, I’m not sure yet. This isn’t a moment of American decline; this is the moment in that chrysalis of darkness, that we are about to emerge again and soar to new heights.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/in-conversation-with-cory-booker/
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