0:08

Well, it's been a hell of a ride for

0:10

the US economy over the last few weeks. I

0:12

mean, this past week began with

0:14

the stock market continuing its no-dive

0:16

because of Donald Trump's kind of

0:19

weird obsession with putting in place

0:21

tariffs based on a completely made-up

0:23

formula. Then on Wednesday, he

0:25

abruptly pulled back on the most

0:28

egregiously high tariffs on most countries

0:30

for 90 days, but left a

0:32

10% tariff across the board on

0:34

all of them. Then he jacked

0:36

up tariffs on China to 145%

0:38

before announcing an exemption for smartphones,

0:40

flat-screen TVs, and semiconductors late Friday

0:42

night. And then it continued to

0:44

get more confusing, because just this

0:47

morning, his Commerce Secretary said, this

0:49

quote, is not like a permanent

0:51

sort of exemption, whatever that means.

0:53

So there's a little bit of a

0:55

pattern here. He's going too far, and then

0:57

he's caving, and it's all a little uncertain

1:00

and certain and murky. But it's important

1:02

to remember that even with all

1:04

these walkbacks, prices on everything

1:06

from clothes to toys to appliances are

1:08

still going to be much higher for

1:11

everyone. And in less than 90 days,

1:13

Trump could have a brand new chart with

1:15

a brand new fake equation, and we

1:17

could be right back at Square One. The

1:19

point being that unfortunately we are not

1:21

quite out of the woods yet with

1:23

all the tariffs. One of the things

1:26

that really stuck out to me

1:28

this week was... How Trump announced

1:30

his reversal on tariffs, or his

1:32

semi-reversal, I should say. It all began

1:34

Wednesday morning when he issued something of

1:36

a stock tip from the White House. In

1:39

all caps, caps, he said, quote, this is

1:41

a great time to buy. Signing with his

1:43

initials, DJT, you can see it on the

1:45

screen right there. He posted that at

1:47

937 in the morning, just right after

1:50

the market opened. Of course, not

1:52

everyone has a pile of cash sitting

1:54

around, most people don't. But for those

1:56

who did. We now know that yeah, that was

1:58

an awfully good time to... put money in

2:00

the market. Because less than four hours

2:03

after that post, Trump backpedaled on many

2:05

of the tariffs, causing the market to

2:07

surge, as he knew it would. So

2:09

anyone who took Trump's advice that

2:11

morning that he posted on true

2:13

social, could have made a whole lot of

2:15

money. I mean, it was a pretty timely

2:18

heads up. And it also produced

2:20

some very interesting television

2:22

later that afternoon. Earlier this morning

2:24

before the pause, he put out a message

2:26

saying it's a great time to buy, and

2:28

here we are. Here we are

2:30

much higher I know his

2:32

pet on Donald Trump every

2:35

time I know he also wrote

2:37

DJT which is a ticker for

2:39

For his media company no

2:41

no no every every text

2:44

he sends to me that's

2:46

his name but that was a

2:49

great time to buy the

2:51

market right I mean on

2:53

Canada I mean, as it turns out,

2:55

there were people who did make a

2:57

ton of money on Wednesday. Well, certain

2:59

people, at least, to be clear. Bloomberg

3:02

actually crunched the numbers and found that

3:04

the world wealthiest people added $304 billion

3:06

to their combined net worth on Wednesday.

3:08

$304 billion. They said it was the

3:10

largest one-day gain in the history

3:13

of the Bloomberg billionaires' index. And

3:15

look, there are a lot of questions

3:17

about the timeline of these announcements and

3:19

lawmakers are rightfully curious about who knew

3:21

what and when and what they did

3:23

with that information. A number

3:26

of them have called for an

3:28

investigation into possible insider trading to

3:30

look into exactly that. But one thing

3:32

we do know is that it was a good

3:34

day for billionaires, a very good day. And I

3:36

kid you not, you can't make it up

3:39

sometimes, because two of those billionaires just happened

3:41

to be with Trump in the Oval Office

3:43

on that very same day. And as you

3:45

can see for yourself, Trump was down where

3:48

Getty is the only way to describe it.

3:50

But just how much money they made

3:52

all thanks to him. This is Charles

3:54

Schwab. It's not just a person.

3:56

It's actually an individual. He made

3:58

two and a half. That who you

4:00

saw in that video was Charles

4:02

Schwab, that Charles Schwab, and

4:04

Roger Penski, as in the Penski

4:07

trucks you see on the highway.

4:09

Trump says they made a combined

4:11

total of more than three

4:13

billion dollars in a single day.

4:16

So he bragged about enriching

4:18

billionaires with them in the Oval

4:20

Office. I'm sure you heard the

4:22

chuckling in the background. And then

4:24

a communications advisor on his staff,

4:27

I really can't get over this

4:29

piece, thought it was a good

4:31

idea to tweet that exchange out. So

4:33

you can just imagine how pleased

4:35

Trump is going to be if

4:37

his tech CEO buddies cash in

4:39

on Monday, which they probably will

4:42

do, because of those new exemptions

4:44

on electronics. Have we're temporary they may

4:46

be. Point is most Americans. are nervously

4:48

watching their 401ks as Donald Trump

4:50

toys with the U.S. economy and

4:52

some of the richest people in

4:54

the country are cashing in. None of this

4:56

should really be a surprise though because

4:58

Donald Trump's priority has always been

5:00

to reward people who are already

5:03

wealthy. That's kind of been a theme. It's

5:05

never been a big secret. But it does

5:07

seem to be getting more blatant and

5:09

more brazen. I mean, I want you to

5:11

listen to something one Trump mega donor

5:13

said this week. And when you listen

5:16

to it, I just want you to

5:18

keep in mind that this guy was

5:20

saying this on a video in an

5:22

effort to dunk on Democrats who did

5:25

not give him the access he felt

5:27

he deserved simply because he's rich.

5:29

I was a mega donor to

5:31

the Democrats. You know, like dinner

5:33

with Obama level donor, okay? I

5:36

couldn't get a... phone call return

5:38

from the White House to save

5:40

my life. The Trump administration is

5:42

totally different. There's not a single

5:45

person there you can't get on the

5:47

phone and talk to. There's not a

5:49

single person there you can't get on

5:51

the phone. Again, that's a Trump

5:53

mega donor, literally praising Donald

5:55

Trump because he can buy access to his

5:57

team in a way he never could on.

6:00

under a democratic administration.

6:02

It's not really the sick burn that guy

6:04

thinks it is, obviously. But look, while

6:06

it's easier for billionaires like him

6:09

to buy political favors, most people

6:11

like you will have to pay

6:13

more on almost everything you buy. Because

6:15

tariffs are a tax on the

6:17

American people. When if tariff makes

6:19

a product more expensive, basically all

6:21

of the added costs get past you,

6:24

the consumer. That's just a fact. But

6:26

regardless of that. Trump still appears

6:28

to be in some form of

6:30

denial. Don't let them keep telling

6:32

you that this is a tax on our

6:34

people, I hate that. No matter how much

6:37

he hates it, this still is a

6:39

tax. And this isn't just some

6:41

liberal talking point, by the

6:43

way. Take a listen to

6:45

some of these staunches, conservative

6:47

Republicans in Washington. Tariffs

6:50

are a tax on consumers and

6:52

I'm not a fan of jacking

6:55

up taxes on American consumers. There's

6:57

no question about it, as a

6:59

tax. Conservatives used to understand that

7:01

tariffs are taxes on the American

7:04

people. It's not even your average

7:06

tax hike either, by the way,

7:08

tariffs are effectively a regressive tax,

7:10

meaning the less money you have, the

7:12

harder you get hit. Even after

7:15

Trump's reversal, the tariffs on

7:17

countries, including Brazil and Colombia,

7:19

remain unchanged. And what that

7:21

basically means is that the two

7:23

biggest producers of US coffee, Brazil

7:25

and Colombia, your daily cup of,

7:28

or daily cups, if you're me, I

7:30

should say, will most likely be getting

7:32

more expensive because their tariffs on them

7:34

remain in place. And the disruption

7:36

could also make holiday shopping difficult.

7:39

I know it's a while away,

7:41

but here's one toy company CEO

7:43

told the Today Show on Thursday. 80% of

7:45

the toys will be twice as

7:48

expensive this Christmas as they were

7:50

last Christmas. They're likely in particular

7:52

with toys be a shortage of

7:54

toys this Christmas. I mean, even

7:56

a short-term disruption will upset the

7:58

flow of goods. Merry

8:01

Christmas everyone! There are fewer toys

8:03

and they are more expensive. Keep in

8:05

mind all of this happened on the

8:07

same week, during the same week,

8:09

when House Republicans passed a budget

8:11

that could also include massive cuts

8:13

to Medicaid. So, they're making everything

8:16

from health care to holiday

8:18

toys more expensive for most

8:20

Americans. And when Trump says, which he

8:22

keeps saying, it's a quote, great time to

8:24

buy, that was his tweet, you have to

8:26

ask yourself. Great time for who,

8:28

exactly. Not most people. Now, the

8:30

only silver lining here, if you could call

8:32

it that, is that this is all being done

8:34

in the late of day. billionaires yugging it

8:37

up in the Oval Office about how much

8:39

money Donald Trump made them, billionaires bragging

8:41

about buying access to the White House,

8:44

and the cost of living going up

8:46

for everyone else, which people are living

8:48

every day. Turns out people are taking

8:50

notice, a lot of people. Of course they are.

8:52

Millions have turned out of

8:55

protests, showing up at town

8:57

halls. and big rallies to

8:59

demonstrate against what we've seen

9:01

from this White House. And

9:03

yesterday, Bernie Sanders and AOC

9:05

held their latest fight oligarchy

9:07

event, this one in Los

9:09

Angeles. They said 36,000 people turned

9:11

out for this rally. They also

9:13

said it's the biggest crowd either

9:16

of them have ever spoken to.

9:18

And yeah, Bernie's message has

9:20

kind of never been more relevant

9:22

than it is right now. Tell

9:27

the people here why you

9:29

think it's a great idea

9:31

to cut Medicaid and

9:33

nutrition and health care

9:35

so you can give

9:37

tax breaks to

9:39

billionaires. The destruction

9:42

of our rights and

9:44

democracy is directly tied

9:46

to the growing and

9:49

extreme wealth inequality

9:51

that has been building

9:54

for years in America.

9:56

And more and more it seems like lots of

9:58

leaders across the country are listening. One of

10:00

those leaders Governor Andy Bashir

10:02

of Kentucky joins us

10:04

right here next in just

10:07

90 seconds. As promised joining

10:09

me now is Kentucky Governor

10:11

Andy Bashir. Governor great to

10:14

see you. Thank you so

10:16

much for taking the time

10:18

this morning. I want to see you

10:20

too. I want to start with

10:22

terrorists, because I think one of the things

10:24

it's so important for people to understand is

10:26

how this is impacting people every day. People

10:28

in states like Kentucky. I just kind of

10:31

talked through the uncertainty people may be feeling,

10:33

the kind of back and forth we've seen

10:35

from the Trump administration on this. People may

10:37

think it's all behind them. But I want

10:39

you to just explain to people watching what

10:41

the uncertainty and what the tariffs still in

10:43

place, what impact that is going to have

10:45

as you see it on the people of

10:48

Kentucky. Now,

10:50

tariffs are going to make life

10:52

that much more difficult. For so

10:54

many people who are struggling to

10:57

pay bills at the end of

10:59

the month, this isn't just going

11:01

to make it harder. It's going

11:03

to blow a huge hole in

11:06

their entire family budget. I think

11:08

there was a recent report that

11:10

suggested that President Trump's newest tariffs

11:12

could cost the average American

11:15

family $4,700 per year. Think about

11:17

what $4,700 is. That is multiple months

11:19

of groceries or rent. That's probably your

11:22

entire deductible if you're on private insurance.

11:24

It is really hard for a family

11:26

to make up for that amount of

11:29

money. And as Ran Paul said it,

11:31

as you said it, as I say

11:33

it, it is a tax on the

11:36

American people. It is the Trump tax

11:38

on the American people. The amount your

11:40

groceries costs more because of these tariffs

11:43

is the Trump tax. The amount a

11:45

new home costs more. because of these

11:47

tariffs is the Trump tax. The amount

11:50

that gasoline may go up or the

11:52

amount that you pay extra in the

11:54

upcoming holiday seasons, that is the Trump

11:57

tax. How much harder it is to

11:59

pay those... bills at the end of

12:01

the month is the Trump tax. And it's

12:03

hitting everybody. It hits

12:05

farmers. It hits factory workers. It

12:07

hits everybody who's trying to go

12:10

to work, work a hard day

12:12

and support their family. It's bad

12:14

policy. And again, you don't have

12:16

to take my word for it.

12:19

In my state, our two Republican

12:21

senators, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul

12:23

and this Democratic governor, all agree

12:25

that tariffs are a bad idea. That's

12:28

strange bad fellows in politics as they

12:30

call it governor. Let me ask you

12:32

about late Friday night Trump signed an

12:34

executive order exempting cell phones computers semiconductor

12:36

chips and other electronics from these reciprocal

12:39

tariffs But then this morning Commerce Secretary

12:41

Howard Lettinick said this is not like

12:43

a permanent sort of exemption. I'm not

12:45

asking you to explain that I don't

12:48

know what he means by that But

12:50

what do you make of people watching

12:52

right now people in your state? What

12:54

should they make of these exemptions and

12:57

where it sort of sits right now,

12:59

because that felt like a relief, but

13:01

I'm not sure that it really is. Well,

13:03

the question is, are we

13:05

dealing with incompetence or corruption?

13:07

Because you look at the incompetent

13:09

side and they've changed their mind

13:11

10, 12, 13 times and look

13:13

at what the chaos is doing.

13:15

It is tanking our economy. When

13:17

the president came into office, our

13:20

economy was experiencing growth and it

13:22

hadn't caught up to people yet,

13:24

but it was going to. Wages

13:26

were going up, unemployment was low

13:28

and we're seeing all of that

13:30

turnaround as well as the stock

13:32

market and people's 401 case taking

13:34

a really rough... That's the incompetent

13:36

side. These specific exemptions or exceptions

13:38

which tend to favor the president's

13:40

biggest donors, if those are put

13:43

into place, then we're looking at

13:45

something much closer to corruption. Either

13:47

are bad, neither should be happening,

13:49

and the best move this administration

13:51

could take is to scrap the

13:53

whole plan. Let me ask, I

13:55

think that's an important thing to note,

13:57

a lot of the people who are bad.

14:00

from these are CEOs of tech companies

14:02

who have been huge donors and suddenly

14:04

they're getting exempted. Go figure. Let me

14:06

ask you about Medicaid. This is an

14:08

issue I think we all have to

14:10

be paying a lot of attention to.

14:12

As I understand, you correct me in

14:14

the statistics, as I understand from what

14:17

I've read, about 28% of people in

14:19

Kentucky rely on Medicaid or approximately that.

14:21

It's really important to your state, so

14:23

many states. In the Republican budget in

14:25

the House that they passed, there could

14:27

be massive... cuts to Medicaid, even though

14:29

they seem to be denying that. What

14:31

are you preparing for? And if that

14:34

is part of the package, what impact

14:36

could that have on the people of

14:38

your state? It'll be devastating.

14:40

Medicaid covers the people we

14:42

love the most, our parents and

14:44

our kids. half of Kentucky's kids

14:47

are covered by Medicaid. 70% of

14:49

our long-term care costs are covered

14:51

by Medicaid. All of our rural

14:54

hospital systems exist because of Medicaid

14:56

and expanded Medicaid without those dollars

14:58

or with a massive cut. What

15:00

we will see is rural health

15:03

care shut down almost entirely. And

15:05

then whether you're on Medicaid or

15:07

private insurance, you're going to have

15:10

to drive a couple of hours to

15:12

a big city. Probably to see the same

15:14

doctor who used to live in your community.

15:16

And what it'll do to all those

15:18

communities that the president says he's trying

15:21

to bring jobs back to? That'll be

15:23

devastating too, because in most of these

15:25

communities, the largest employers, the public school,

15:28

and the second largest is the hospital

15:30

system. What this will do is make

15:32

our people... on healthier, it will result

15:35

in devastating jobs losses, the price of

15:37

health care will go up. I mean,

15:39

this is something that the American people

15:42

will see, will feel, and will respond

15:44

to. And whether it's the tariffs that

15:46

will make life more difficult,

15:49

or significant cuts to Medicaid,

15:51

it's going to leave a lot

15:54

of people who end up voting

15:56

for President Trump feeling betrayed. Because

15:58

I believe the last... group of movable

16:01

voters that made him president, thought

16:03

he was going to make life for them a

16:05

little bit easier, and now his policies are making

16:07

it a lot harder. You were a Democratic

16:10

governor in a state that went overwhelmingly

16:12

for Trump in the election. You talked

16:14

to a lot of voters. Are you

16:16

hearing buyers remorse from people out there? I'm

16:20

hearing very significant concern on Medicaid

16:22

cuts. People understand Medicaid much better

16:24

today than they did several decades

16:26

ago. I hear small businesses and

16:28

farmers incredibly worried about the tariffs.

16:31

I hear a lot of people

16:33

talking about how mean and cruel

16:35

the federal jobs cuts are. They

16:37

all know somebody that's been laid

16:39

off who was doing their best

16:42

in their job, and then they

16:44

were lied to. They were told

16:46

it was their fault. And that

16:48

hurts not only that person, but

16:50

their friends and families react as

16:53

well. It's not just that this

16:55

administration is pursuing bad policies. It's

16:57

that they're being mean and cruel

16:59

about it. And I don't think

17:02

Americans like that. I believe that most

17:04

Americans live their life with empathy,

17:06

with humanity, and the more that

17:08

we see this meanness coming out

17:10

of Washington DC, the more people

17:12

over time are going to say

17:14

this is not what we signed

17:16

up for. Governor Andrew Bashir, I wanted

17:18

to talk to you about your podcast, but I

17:20

hope you'll come back and talk to me about

17:22

that. You're not the only governor with a podcast,

17:24

but it is an interesting thing to do, but

17:26

I really appreciate you joining us. So many of

17:28

the things happening here impacting people in your state,

17:31

and that's what was why I was so looking

17:33

forward to talking to you today. Happy

17:35

to come back and the Andy Bashir

17:37

podcast is available on all major platforms.

17:39

Promo, always. Thank you, Governor. Still

17:42

ahead, we've got new receipts about

17:44

Elon Musk, cost-cutting efforts, and let's

17:46

just say irony is still alive

17:48

and well. Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury is

17:50

the ranking member on the daughter

17:52

subcommittee. Jen Palmary is the former

17:54

White House Communications Director under President

17:56

Obama. Both of them join me

17:58

next. OK.

18:05

Remember when Elon Musk kicked off

18:07

his big Doge adventure with some big

18:10

promises about how much waste he was

18:12

going to cut out? Well, first he

18:14

claimed he was going to slash

18:16

$2 trillion from the federal budget.

18:18

That sounds like a lot. Then

18:20

he quietly revised it down to $1 trillion.

18:22

And now, the projection is down

18:24

to $150 billion. A number, by

18:26

the way, that we should all

18:28

view with a heavy dose of

18:31

skepticism, since Doge's so-called wall-of receipts.

18:33

has already been riddled with a lot

18:35

of errors. But for the people who

18:37

still take Musk at his word, let's

18:39

look at the results so far. 20 new

18:41

reporting from the Wall Street Journal,

18:43

federal spending is actually up in

18:45

2025. Despite all the budget cutting

18:48

buster, Trump has spent $154 billion

18:50

more than President Biden had spent

18:52

by this time last year. So what

18:54

is the Republican plan moving

18:57

forward? Well, this week House Republicans passed

18:59

a new budget blueprint in which they

19:01

will extend tax cuts to billionaires and

19:03

corporations, which costs a lot of money,

19:06

by the way, and cut 1.5 trillion

19:08

from the budget. But so far they've offered

19:10

no concrete plan to get there,

19:12

because they know it's not possible

19:14

without getting Medicaid, unless they want

19:16

to gut the Defense Department, of

19:18

course. And they're trying very hard

19:20

not to say that part out loud.

19:23

Instead Speaker Johnson claims he can hit

19:25

that number by rooting out billions in

19:27

waste fraud and abuse from Medicaid. And

19:29

Elon Musk has already showed us how good

19:31

they are at that, hasn't he? Not good

19:34

at all. Now the bottom line, as even

19:36

Senate Republicans know, is that they

19:38

are never going to hit the

19:40

1.5 trillion number without taking a

19:42

substantial acts to Medicaid. And given

19:44

he is leading the charge, here is

19:46

some context about Mike Johnson. You should

19:48

all know. Almost 40% of his district

19:50

is on Medicaid. His congressional

19:53

district. The people who elected

19:55

him. That's nearly 290,000 people,

19:57

according to data from KFF.

19:59

health news. In fact, a major rural

20:02

hospital in his district remains open thanks

20:04

in large part to Medicaid. And when

20:06

KFF Health News spoke with two dozen

20:08

Medicaid enrollees in his district, most of

20:10

them said they had no idea. Speaker

20:12

Johnson's budget could put that very coverage

20:14

at risk. So here's a little idea

20:16

for Democrats before your next town

20:19

halls. Now's probably a very good

20:21

time to educate your voters in

20:23

your neighboring Republican districts about what

20:25

those Medicaid cuts could mean. Because

20:27

what's on the chopping bug isn't waste

20:29

or fraud, obviously not. It's hospitals,

20:31

it's nursing homes, and it's keeping

20:33

people care within reach for so many

20:35

people. Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury

20:37

is the ranking member on the House-Dosh

20:40

subcommittee and Jan Palmary is the former

20:42

White House communications director under President Obama

20:44

and both of them join me now.

20:46

Okay, Melanie, Congresswoman, I want to start

20:48

with comments from Speaker Mike Johnson this

20:51

morning on Medicaid cuts and get your

20:53

thoughts because this is just the claims

20:55

they're making are just they don't pass

20:57

a smell test, but let's play this

20:59

and then we'll talk about it. We

21:02

have to root out fraud waste and

21:04

abuse. We have to eliminate people on,

21:07

for example, on Medicaid who are not

21:09

actually eligible to be there. Able-bodied workers,

21:11

for example, young men, who should never

21:14

be on the program at all. Now,

21:16

I just walked through some of my

21:18

issues with Mike Johnson of all

21:20

the people making that argument, but

21:22

I think it's so important for

21:24

people to understand what's actually going

21:26

to happen here potentially to Medicaid.

21:29

So what does that tell you

21:31

about... where Republicans are heading on

21:33

this? What can you tell people

21:35

watching? Well, first of all,

21:37

Mike Johnson is completely blowing

21:39

smoke right now because the

21:41

budget framework that they passed

21:43

a couple of days ago

21:45

is very clear. It will

21:47

cut $880 billion from the

21:49

Committee of Jurisdiction that oversees

21:51

the healthcare of Americans. This

21:53

is $880 billion in cuts

21:55

to, you know, senior living

21:57

facilities to health care facilities.

21:59

And whether you're on Medicaid or

22:02

not, you should care about what's

22:04

happening because hospitals, healthcare clinics, you

22:06

know, I live in New Mexico,

22:08

it's already difficult to get access

22:11

to specialty health care here in

22:13

New Mexico. A major cut to

22:15

Medicaid will decimate our health care

22:17

system for everybody because our hospitals

22:20

and everyone depends on it. But

22:22

here's the thing. They're just lying.

22:24

And I think, you know, we've

22:26

all become accustomed to Donald Trump

22:28

and his modus operandis of lying

22:31

to the American people. And Mike

22:33

Johnson is one of his closest

22:35

allies. And this week, as the

22:37

Republicans were melting down on the

22:39

House floor, basically he and the

22:41

leader of the Republicans in the

22:43

Senate had to promise the fiscal

22:45

conservatives in the House that they

22:47

would cut Medicaid and cut. spending

22:49

by $1.5 trillion, or else they wouldn't

22:51

have voted for it. So it's very

22:53

clear it's in the framework. And by

22:56

the way, Republicans actually leaked their own

22:58

budget document that showed all of the

23:00

Medicaid programs that they plan to cut.

23:02

So it's a complete lie. The math just

23:05

doesn't math sometimes, with what Mike

23:07

Johnson is saying. That's not a

23:09

good messaging tactic. Okay. Jenpo Mary.

23:11

You and I have probably done

23:13

a combined. one zillion campaigns. This

23:15

is, the House is on recess

23:17

this week. This is a time

23:19

where people can go out to

23:21

their districts or members who are

23:23

not vulnerable can go to other

23:25

Republican districts, they can help people

23:27

running. What should the message be

23:29

in a clear and concise way

23:31

on Medicaid cuts that you'd love

23:33

to see Democrats doing this week? I

23:36

think that the benefit that Democrats

23:38

have now, even though it's been

23:40

so damaging to the economy, is

23:42

people's attention, right? Because of tariffs,

23:44

because of the stock market crashing,

23:46

because people worried about the 401ks,

23:48

I think that whereas when Democrats

23:51

have expressed concern about threats to

23:53

Medicaid or other programs before it

23:55

might not have seemed real, I

23:57

think now people understand this is

23:59

a very... different kind of administration

24:01

and different and and Republicans members of

24:03

Congress are probably not this administration. So

24:06

you could say I would I would

24:08

go back from the start actually Jen

24:10

I mean as you did just now

24:13

to remind us about when must what

24:15

must actually promised with Doge and what's

24:17

what and what's actually happening. Donald

24:19

Trump said he was going to lower

24:21

prices on day one. Okay, and look

24:24

and look at where we are now

24:26

with the with the economy. Look at

24:28

your 401k. See how that is doing.

24:30

People understand that there is no strategy

24:32

with tariffs. And now they are coming

24:34

for your Medicaid because all they want

24:37

to do is deliver tax cuts for

24:39

wealthy people. And you don't just make

24:41

that about Trump. You make that about

24:43

the Republican members of Congress that are

24:45

because, you know, like, let's do this

24:47

in stages. to years and to make

24:49

them own it. And also I think

24:52

that there's a long way to go

24:54

in the budget process from just passing

24:56

the budget resolution to actually delivering on

24:58

Medicaid cuts and actually passing these big

25:00

tax cuts. And there is a very

25:02

decent chance that Johnson will not be

25:05

able to get the votes to do

25:07

that and actually stop a bad thing

25:09

from happening, not just campaign on it.

25:11

So that should be the goal. That's a

25:13

pretty good goal. I hope everybody's

25:15

listening. Congresswoman, you are an incredibly

25:17

effective messenger. You do social media

25:20

videos. You're great on TV. I

25:22

was so looking forward to having

25:24

you on today. Probably why I

25:26

called you Melanie, not Congresswoman at

25:28

first. I feel like I know

25:30

you. But I feel like I

25:32

know Congresswoman at first. But I

25:34

wanted to ask you about another

25:36

issue that you talked about too,

25:38

which is Social Security administration plans

25:40

to move all public community. to

25:42

X, Twitter, whatever you want to

25:44

call it. A platform, by the

25:46

way, only 9% of seniors say

25:49

they've ever used in their life,

25:51

while also slashing regional office staff

25:53

by 90%. How are you thinking

25:55

about talking about the real-world

25:57

impact of that on American?

26:00

seniors. Well, I'm

26:02

going to come to that for

26:04

in just a second, but I

26:06

want to say first of all

26:08

that the announcement that Musk is

26:10

going to move communications to X

26:13

should not only be raising alarms

26:15

for our communities that they're not

26:17

going to be able to access

26:19

information, but it is quintessential grift.

26:21

Why on earth does Elon Musk

26:24

want to move eyeballs to his

26:26

own social media platform? It's because

26:28

he wants to make money off

26:30

of it. And that's exactly what

26:32

the Trump administration is all about.

26:34

Elon Musk's receipts don't add up

26:37

because this entire exercise has not

26:39

been about rooting out waste, fraud,

26:41

and abuse. It's been about privatizing

26:43

the federal government, dismantling agencies they

26:45

don't agree with, and then giving

26:47

themselves private contracts and privatizing public

26:50

services. So, you know, part of

26:52

what Elon Musk has done inside

26:54

the Social Security Administration is they've

26:56

hacked your data. What are they

26:58

doing with that data? They say

27:01

they're using it to study the

27:03

system. I don't think so. I

27:05

think Elon Musk, who just signed

27:07

a merger between his AI company

27:09

and Twitter, is planning to use

27:11

that data for his own financial

27:14

purposes, just like he is with

27:16

Treasury data and IRS data. He

27:18

has helped to execute the firing

27:20

of thousands of IRS employees. He's

27:22

now talking about moving communications for

27:25

Social Security to his platform. He's

27:27

talking about closing offices across the

27:29

country. You know, we have a

27:31

Social Security office here in my

27:33

district, and in fact I'm planning.

27:35

go down there tomorrow and meet

27:38

with both the employees and the

27:40

customers and it's already difficult you

27:42

know all of us have seniors

27:44

and elders in our life if

27:46

you're spending hours and hours on

27:48

the phone and you've already experienced

27:51

you know your Social Security claim

27:53

getting denied that's literally the difference

27:55

between somebody being on the streets

27:57

and being able to eat or

27:59

not and so I think we

28:02

really have to expose these guys

28:04

for what they are. because this

28:06

isn't just about giving. billionaires more

28:08

money. It's a cool agenda to

28:10

dismantle the fundamental framework that actually

28:12

supports the people in our communities

28:15

who need that help the most.

28:17

Very well stated. We have, Mary,

28:19

we only have about a minute

28:21

left, but you're a professional. So

28:23

let me just ask you, I

28:26

mean, Social Security has kind of

28:28

been the third rail for so

28:30

many years, right? You know, but

28:32

there's a lot, there's a lot,

28:34

the congressman just referenced there. I

28:36

mean, it's going after your private

28:39

data, it's preventing seniors from having

28:41

access, it's closing offices, what do

28:43

you can't expect your check to

28:45

show up on time? you can't

28:47

expect your check to show up

28:49

at all. You know, I saw

28:52

something this morning that the wait

28:54

times, call wait times right now

28:56

according to their own website is

28:58

four hours and 45 minutes, right?

29:00

So I think that that just,

29:03

you know, and it, you know,

29:05

you're always looking for reinforcing messages,

29:07

right? Jen, so it is, it's

29:09

incompetence, it is callousness, it is,

29:11

and it's an ideological agenda that

29:13

overhangs all of this, where people

29:16

want to dismantle these, these, these,

29:18

these programs. Congresswoman Melanie Sandsbury and

29:20

Jennifer Palmieri, thank you both so

29:22

much, I really appreciate it. Thank

29:24

you. Cone up, the Trump administration

29:27

is blowing off a judge after

29:29

a ruling from the Supreme Court,

29:31

and if you're wondering, no, that

29:33

is not normal, I'll explain, we

29:35

come back. That was Donald

29:38

Trump on Friday night being asked

29:40

about the Supreme Court's Thursday night

29:42

ruling in the case of Kilmara

29:44

Brago Garcia. He's the Maryland father

29:46

who was deported without a hearing

29:48

and sent to a notorious mega

29:50

prison in El Salvador. Now keep

29:52

in mind the Trump administration has

29:54

even admitted that his deportation was

29:56

a mistake. And then on Thursday

29:58

evening, the Supreme Court issued a

30:00

unanimous ruling instructing the government to

30:02

facilitate Garcia's return home. The court

30:04

also wrote that the government should

30:06

be prepared to share what it

30:08

can concerning the steps it has

30:10

taken to bring him back. Well,

30:12

the Trump administration has basically ignored

30:14

all of that. On Friday, the

30:16

government ignored not one, but two

30:18

deadlines to give the federal judge

30:20

overseeing the case any updates whatsoever.

30:22

A lawyer for the Justice Department

30:24

argued that it was too short

30:26

a period of time to answer

30:28

the judge's question about what steps

30:30

they were taking to bring this

30:32

man back. Really? And so the

30:35

judge ordered daily 5 p.m. updates

30:37

from the government and scheduled another

30:39

hearing for Tuesday. That leads us

30:41

to yesterday. Just after the 5

30:43

p.m.m. deadline, the government filed this

30:45

three-sentence update writing quote, It is

30:47

my understanding, based on official reporting

30:49

from our embassy in San Salvador,

30:51

that Abrego Garcia is currently being

30:53

held in the Terrorism Confignment Center

30:55

in El Salvador. He is alive

30:57

and secure in that facility. He

30:59

is detained pursuant to the Sovereign

31:01

Domestic Authority of El Salvador. So,

31:03

basically, according to unnamed embassy officials,

31:05

Garcia is alive inside El Salvador's

31:07

mega prison. But notice that the

31:09

government didn't give an update at

31:11

all on what steps, if any,

31:13

the Trump administration was taking to

31:15

get a man. They wrongfully deported

31:17

back home. But they did make

31:19

the point that he is, quote,

31:21

detained pursuant to the sovereign domestic

31:23

authority of El Salvador. Now that

31:25

language certainly suggests that the government

31:27

is trying to shrug off the

31:30

Supreme Court's ruling by essentially saying,

31:32

look, there's nothing we can do.

31:34

Then last night, Donald Trump confirmed

31:36

that nothing we can do is...

31:38

The official government position, it seems.

31:40

I mean, Trump posted last night

31:42

on social media that the men

31:44

sent to the foreign prison were,

31:46

quote, now in the sole custody

31:48

of El Salvador, a proud and

31:50

sovereign nation, and their future is

31:52

up to the president, President Buchelli,

31:54

and his government. No. That obviously

31:56

contradicts what he told reporters on

31:58

Friday. Trump is saying that what

32:00

happens to the men they deported,

32:02

including Garcia, is up to El

32:04

Salvador and not up to him,

32:06

which, by the way, is quite

32:08

a departure from respecting the Supreme

32:10

Court's ruling to facilitate Garcia's return

32:12

home. Let's be serious. I mean,

32:14

if Trump can get his homeland

32:16

security secretary into the prison in

32:18

El Salvador for a photo op,

32:20

but you can see there, and

32:22

he certainly did do that. You'd

32:24

think he might be able to

32:27

do something to facilitate Garcia's return,

32:29

right? Especially since El Salvador's president

32:31

will literally be at the White

32:33

House tomorrow. I mean, take a

32:35

second to think about what it

32:37

means if Trump continues to ignore

32:39

the ruling, though, without pushback and

32:41

what it tells us. It tells

32:43

us the Trump administration can ship

32:45

someone off to a foreign prison,

32:47

admit in court that it was

32:49

a mistake, have the Supreme Court

32:51

then rule that they should fix

32:53

their mistake, And then feel like

32:55

they can just shrug its shoulders

32:57

and say, nothing we can do.

32:59

Look, the Trump administration's immigration action

33:01

should open up all of our

33:03

eyes to just how far he

33:05

might be willing to go. And

33:07

the truly scary part is we

33:09

don't know the answer to that

33:11

yet. We sure are getting some

33:13

clues. Our friend Andrew Weisman is

33:15

standing by, and he joins me

33:17

next. Right

33:27

now, Donald Trump is obviously testing the

33:29

legal system in ways we have never

33:31

seen from a president. It would seem

33:33

like an ideal time, therefore, for the

33:36

legal community in this country to have

33:38

a bit of a backbone. Unfortunately, that's

33:40

not exactly what we are seeing across

33:42

the board. This week, five more large

33:45

firms caved to threats from the White

33:47

House and reached deals to provide a

33:49

combined total of more than half a

33:51

billion dollars in free legal services to

33:54

conservative by Trump. Now in exchange for

33:56

that capitulation these firms hope to stave

33:58

off executive orders that would make it

34:00

more difficult to represent clients in federal

34:03

courthouses and make them appear out of

34:05

favor with the current administration for some.

34:07

But not everyone is caving to Trump.

34:09

Susman Godfrey was one of the law

34:12

firms hit by an executive order this

34:14

week. They're the firm that won a

34:16

$787 million judgment for dominion voting systems

34:18

in their lawsuit against Fox News. And

34:21

instead of giving in, they sued him.

34:23

In their complaint, the firm wrote, quote,

34:25

if President Trump's executive orders are allowed

34:27

to stand, future presidents will face no

34:30

constraint when they seek to retaliate against

34:32

a different set of perceived foes. What

34:34

for two centuries has been beyond the

34:36

pale will become the new normal. Put

34:39

simply, this could be any of us.

34:41

Andrew Weisman is the former general counsel

34:43

to the FBI and an MSNBC legal

34:45

analyst and he joins me now. Andrew,

34:47

I have had so many questions as

34:50

I've read all these stories and you're,

34:52

as always, the perfect person to talk

34:54

to. I kind of skim the surface

34:56

of the reasons of the reason to

34:59

talk to. I kind of skim the

35:01

surface of the reasons why a growing

35:03

number of law firms are striking these

35:05

deals. So let's just start there. I'm

35:08

not asking you to justify it. out

35:10

of favor with the current White House?

35:12

That's been in some of the communications

35:14

to their staffs. What am I missing

35:17

in terms of the calculations in these

35:19

law firms? I think you're missing the

35:21

issue that they have clients. They have

35:23

large corporate clients. And I think the

35:26

concern for these law firms is losing

35:28

business. Is that the... the clients are

35:30

going to be concerned about you know

35:32

if they can go to a law

35:35

firm that's not out of favor they

35:37

may be treated better and so they

35:39

don't want to be using you know

35:41

firm A which is you know on

35:44

an enemy's list when they could be

35:46

using firm B and they could have

35:48

the administration taking harsher actions with respect

35:50

to their counsel if they choose A

35:53

versus B. So you know it's worth

35:55

remembering although I don't in any way

35:57

condone what the law firms are doing,

35:59

but they are all victims. You know,

36:02

they're reacting to it differently, but they

36:04

are in fact all being subjected to

36:06

executive orders where every single executive order

36:08

that's been challenged has been struck down.

36:11

And I think my dog is agreeing

36:13

with you. I know. He's like very

36:15

exercised about these law firms. I know

36:17

him a little bit to know that.

36:19

That's the big one, right? That's why

36:22

any of them would care about being

36:24

perceived as being out of favor or

36:26

not being able to get into federal

36:28

courts. That's right. They need their business.

36:31

They need their big corporate clients. The

36:33

other piece that, you know, these numbers,

36:35

it's like they don't mean a lot

36:37

to people who haven't worked at law

36:40

firms. There's an enormous number. of hours,

36:42

it seems, that they have all committed

36:44

to doing pro bono. Every firm does

36:46

pro bono work, but this seems like

36:49

a lot for conservative causes. How are

36:51

you reading what that might look like,

36:53

what the parameters are for that, if

36:55

we even know them? Well,

36:58

let's just step back for a moment.

37:01

The administration is saying that it's doing

37:03

this because these law firms are somehow

37:05

being partisan. Well, you know what? This

37:07

is Republican Orthodoxy. It's none of their

37:10

damn business. These are private companies. They

37:12

can be as partisan as they want

37:14

to be. The government has no business

37:16

stepping in and saying, gee, you should

37:19

have even-handed pro bono work or paying

37:21

work. They're private. companies. I mean, it's

37:23

so remarkable to see this coming from

37:25

a Republican administration, which normally says to

37:28

the government, keep your hands off of

37:30

this. But that is the argument that's

37:32

being used, and it's really worth not

37:34

normalizing it, which is private companies are

37:37

entitled to do work that is either

37:39

pro-abortion or anti-abortion. They can choose what

37:41

they want to do, and the government

37:43

should not be weighing in on that.

37:46

Well, let me ask you about the

37:48

other. I mentioned one of the firms.

37:50

They're not the only one. There are

37:52

a number of firms who are fighting

37:55

this, who are also being targeted, as

37:57

you said. What do you think their

37:59

calculation is? Because I... I assume they're

38:01

at risk of losing big corporate clients,

38:03

but they're making a calculation to fight

38:06

it. So how are they thinking about

38:08

it? Well, it's worth remembering there's there

38:10

is on the other side, there are

38:12

clients who actually will want to be

38:15

going to these firms because they think

38:17

what's happening. is outrageous that they don't

38:19

look at the short term, they look

38:21

at the long term. Remember, the administration

38:24

that's making these so-called deals with the

38:26

Paul Weisses and these other firms. The

38:28

administration is not actually agreeing to do

38:30

anything. And they're not saying they're not

38:33

going to continue to exert pressure. And

38:35

when many people analogize this to the

38:37

mob cases that I have brought, you

38:39

know, when you start paying the mob

38:42

extortion, they don't go away. One where

38:44

firms, exactly, so firms that are fighting

38:46

it may be acting out of principle

38:48

and also thinking about the long-term gain,

38:51

the effect on clients who will want

38:53

to support them, as well as also

38:55

staff and I teach at a law

38:57

school, young lawyers who are going to

39:00

be much more anxious to go to

39:02

firms that believe in the First Amendment,

39:04

believe in the profession of the law,

39:06

and are willing to stand up for

39:09

what they believe in. Before I let

39:11

you go, I could talk to you

39:13

forever, as you know, but I wanted

39:15

to ask you about the case of

39:18

Kilmara Obrego Garcia, who I was talking

39:20

about before the break. What do you

39:22

make? I talked a lot about the

39:24

Trump administration's reaction to the Supreme Court's

39:27

ruling or interpretation, whatever you want to

39:29

call it. They're basically saying there's nothing

39:31

they can do to bring him back.

39:33

They're putting it back on the President

39:35

of El Salvador. What do you make

39:38

of that interpretation of the Supreme Court's

39:40

ruling on this? So

39:42

I have two reactions. One is

39:44

a lawyer and one as a

39:46

human being. So as a human

39:49

being, I would like people to

39:51

step back and think about, I

39:53

mean, Jen, you and I have

39:55

both been in government. I'd like

39:57

people to think about the reaction.

39:59

when you have decided you have

40:01

wrongfully sent somebody overseas. They are

40:03

wrongfully in a prison. The government

40:05

concedes that. And the internal conversation

40:07

is not, how on God's green

40:09

earth do we rectify this immediately?

40:11

I can't imagine that conversation. where

40:13

someone thinks, no, no, no, how

40:15

do we stonewall to keep Mr.

40:17

Garcia still in prison? What I

40:19

think needs to happen now is

40:21

the judge needs to have a

40:23

hearing and needs to basically say,

40:25

you say you have no ability,

40:27

you say you have no control

40:29

over him, how do you explain,

40:31

as you pointed out, Jen, Christie,

40:33

no, how do you explain that

40:35

you're still paying for people to

40:37

be kept there? Let them prove

40:39

that they have absolutely no ability

40:41

to bring him back. Andrew Royceman,

40:43

thank you so much. And hi

40:45

Ennis, thanks for joining us as

40:47

well. We'll be right back. Okay,

40:49

we are already working on a

40:51

great show for tomorrow night. House

40:53

Democratic Leader, how came Jeffries, is

40:55

going to join us. I'm really

40:57

looking forward to that conversation. There's

40:59

a lot to talk about. House

41:01

is on recess, lots they can

41:03

talk about, and you can see

41:05

it right here tomorrow night at

41:07

8 p.m.m. Eastern, that's going to

41:09

do it for me today.