1105: ICE Kills Minnesota Mom

25:13She went through a two - to three-point turn, clearly trying to leave the vicinity where the ICE agents were located. and you've got this narrative that is coming out of this Trump administration that is immediately saying one that the ICE agents were acting in self-defense and two that the victim was a domestic terrorist that's a load of bullshit anybody who watches that video could come to that conclusion you don't need a law degree and to the extent they're trying to cover up the actions that we all knew were inevitable, I find disgusting because, you know, the chief and I have been saying now for over a month, not just privately, but very publicly, that something like this was going to happen.

25:59Either a civilian resident police officer or an ICE agent was going to get badly injured or even killed. And tragically, the latter of those two conclusions happened, and it should have never taken place. You told ICE to get the fuck out of your city. They don't seem to be going anywhere, obviously. What levers do you have to pull or what can you do to try to protect your citizens from what's going on here? Is it just giving them sort of advice about how to stay out of the way? Just like you're obviously you want to protect your citizens. You have this what you believe to be very dangerous element in your city.

26:33What do you do? Obviously, if I had the immediate authority to get ICE out of here, they would have never been here to begin with. The way they are behaving is completely and utterly unconstitutional. And what is clear to me is that the Trump administration is looking for some excuse to cause additional chaos and deploy even more military force in our city. I mean, right now, as far as I'm aware, we've got somewhere in the range of 2 ,270 agents in some form. That's ICE, that's HSI, that's border control, and they're located in the region beyond Minneapolis as well. But there's no doubt in my mind that they're looking to have some form of political performance that goes well beyond where we're at in this moment.

27:24And so the message that we are putting out, and by the way, the message that our community is righteously reiterating again and again, is that we are not going to take the bait. We are going to keep the peace. We're going to demand justice. We're of course going to express first amendment rights and freedom of speech and protest and all the rest But we're not going to give them The bullshit excuse that they're already trying to create to come into our city There's no doubt in my mind that the reason that ice is here is not about safety It's not about driving down crime. Here's the thing We've worked with federal agencies substantially in the past to successfully drive down crime We've worked with the DEA, the ATF, the FBI, the U.S.

28:13Attorney's Office, and crime on the north side specifically and shootings are at the lowest level on record. And so if the goal is to go after murderers, yeah, we're anti-murder. We're all for that. If the goal is to go after violent crime, absolutely count us in. That's not what this is about. This is about targeting specifically Latino and Somali immigrants. This is discriminating only on the basis of are you a Latino or are you a Somali person? And then indiscriminately plucking people off the street thereafter. This is not OK. It's not constitutional. Everybody, Democrat or Republican, should be speaking up loud and clear that this is a threat to the endurance of our republic.

28:58Look, since the shooting, have you had any contact with anyone in the administration, the Secretary Noem, someone from DHS or ISIS? They've spoken to you or members of your administration. We have been working a number of different channels to try to make inroads to get the point across. We've got correspondence that's going out. We are pulling any levers that we've got because, look, priority number one is to keep our city safe. Um, priority number one here is to make sure that the residents of our city are able to get through this. We're resilient. We're tough. We've been knocked down seven times and we'll get back up eight.

29:42And we don't need to deal with this kind of chaos that they are very intentionally creating in our city. Speaking of the chaos, the people keep describing, um, what, what's happening on the ground. And there is Minneapolis being a tinderbox that everyone's worried about. School's been canceled for the next two days, I presume, out of fear of some sort of public unrest. How are things actually there? How are you thinking about keeping the peace over the next couple of days here? Look, we're keeping the peace. Thus far, the message has been widely received by the community that, hey, if you want to, and I know they do, want to stand up and protect our immigrant communities here in Minneapolis, Let's not give the Trump administration an excuse to deploy more force and individuals.

30:29This is importantly not just coming from me. This is coming from activists. This is coming from leftists. This is coming from moderates. This is coming from most people throughout our city speaking with a very common accord here that we owe an obligation to the people that we purport to want to help. And that's those that are being targeted. During his press conference today, which was truly quite a performance, J.D. Vance declared that the officer had, quote unquote, absolute immunity. And there are also reports that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are refusing to cooperate with at least state law enforcement officials.

31:06What do you like? What's your reaction to that? And any sense you have about the ability of the state or the county or the city to investigate and potentially seek justice here? So ICE agents have absolute immunity. I have not heard this one yet. Yeah, that's what he declared today. Isn't that guy a lawyer? Yale Law School graduate. He is, yes. Good Lord. I had a lot of respect and I hopefully still do for those Yale grads. I don't think I could have gotten in there, but that is comical. You don't get absolute immunity by way of being a federal employee any more you get absolute immunity being a city employee.

31:48That's some wild stuff, man. And yeah, obviously, it's deeply concerning that the DOJ is boxing out the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in the state of Minnesota from being part of this investigation. The way this was initially presented was that the BCA was going to be working with the DOJ on investigating exactly what happened with no predetermined outcome, you know. And that would be the normal course of business. Yeah, that's pretty standard. You know, and by the way, you know, the BCA is is is not some like wild radical group. This is a group of, I think, like a lot of police officers and otherwise.

32:28I mean, they're going to do an investigation. There have been times in the past where they've come to a conclusion that there was not culpability on the side of the police officer. There's other times where the investigation led to some form of charge, you know. And again, based on truth and facts, not some sort of garbage narrative that's being spun up by the president of the United States. So, yeah, to those that are concerned about the legitimacy and the fairness of a Pam Bondi investigation from the DOJ, I'd say that that concern is well placed. Any, as you sort of think about this and think about everything that's happened, you know, Minnesota has been in Minnesota and Minneapolis have been in the national conversation with Republicans for a long time.

33:15You know, a lot happened in 2020 with George Floyd. Sort of how are you thinking about your city and how you persevere through, you know, these sorts of moments? We do not retreat. We don't give up. And here's the thing. Our city is coming back. I mean, I know these Republicans out there want to talk about this city as this like wild apocalyptic place. But look, man, crime is way down. Crimes down in virtually every category, virtually every neighborhood. The economy is coming back. Small businesses are opening. We just got like the best restaurant in the entire world award. It's a spot called Diane's Place just across the river.

33:50Ridiculously good, by the way. And so like the city is rocking along. You know, do we have big city challenges? Of course we do. And at the same time is coming back. And here's another thing. I personally as mayor and we collectively as a city have learned a lot in the last five years. You know, I'm not the same mayor as I was in May of 2020. I am not the same person. I have learned lessons that have made me a better mayor and a better leader. And I use those experiences every day, especially during some form of emergency or crisis just like this. Moreover, I know there are countless people in the city that have also learned a lot, have also taken a practice of let's take a beat, let's figure out what the best strategy is for dealing with this bizarre hellscape that is the federal administration, and then figure out how to move on together in unity, together.

34:55And I think that's a big part of the message that's going out. It's unification. It's putting down our silly individual grievances that we might have. You know, we're a city of like, I don't know, 85 percent Democrat or something like that. And it's moving forward to figure out what's the best thing to do for the city as a whole. It's loving our country more than our ideology. And I think that's what the entire city is feeling right now as we unify. Well, Mayor, thank you so much for joining us. Good luck in these coming days. We really appreciate you. You got it. Thanks for having me. Thanks for the work you're doing.

35:39Pod Save America is brought to you by Wild Alaskan Company. What challenges do you face when buying seafood? There's so many. You have to go into the supermarket. Sometimes you can't park because you're going on your way home from work. And then you're like, wait a second. I got raw fish in my car for this drive home. You get home, you're like, I don't know. It feels a little, you're just like, how quickly can you get the fish home? But with Wild Alaskan Salmon, you take it, you put it in your fridge overnight and then it's ready to cook the next day. You can have salmon. It's really great. Wild Alaskan Company is the best way to get wild caught, perfectly portioned, nutrient dense seafood delivered directly to your door.

36:14You haven't tasted fish this good. I've been using it. It's awesome. First of all, it really does make you have more fish. It's really easy to do. All you literally need to do is say, you know what? Let's have fish tomorrow. You take it and you put it in the fridge. And then the next day, you can make salmon or whitefish or all kinds of fish. It's nutrient-rich and full of flavor because it's frozen off the boat to lock in taste, texture, and nutrients like omega-3s. It's sustainably sourced. Every order supports sustainable harvesting practices. And your membership delivers flexible shipments, expert tips, and truly feel-good seafood.

36:41If you're not completely satisfied with your first box, Bottle Alaskan Company will give you a full refund. No questions asked. No risk. Just high-quality seafood. Not all fish are the same. and get seafood you can trust. Go to wildalaskan.com slash crooked for$35 off your first box of premium wild-caught seafood. That's wildalaskan.com slash crooked for$35 off your first order. Thanks to Wild Alaskan Company for sponsoring this episode. Pots of America is brought to you by Mint Mobile. Now that the holidays are over, you might be feeling like you've got a big spending hangover. The drinks, the holiday food, the gifts, it all adds up.

37:13Luckily, Mint Mobile is here to help you cut back on overspending on wireless this January with 50 % off unlimited premium wireless. Mint Mobile's end-of-year sale is still going on, but only until the end of the month. Cut out big wireless's bloated plans and unnecessary monthly charges with 50 % off three, six, or 12 months of unlimited. All plans come with high-speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. Use your own phone with any Mint Mobile plan and bring your phone number along with all your existing contacts. Crooked Media's favorite Mint Mobile subscriber, Nina, dropped by the studio recently to tell us in person just how much she loves Mint Mobile.

37:49People have not been able to stop talking about that. They can't stop talking about it. What an appearance by Nina. It's breaking all the, it's breaking the internet. If you're listening to this ad and you're like, why isn't Nina reading more ads? Write us. Yeah, that's right. We can make that happen. She said she tells everyone how great the service is and that she saved a ton of money since she made the switch. This January, quit overspending on wireless with 50 % off unlimited premium wireless. Plans start at$15 a month at mintmobile.com. slash crooked. That's mintmobile.com slash crooked. Limited time offer, upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12 month plan required, which is$15 a month equivalent.

38:26Taxes and fees extra, initial plan term only, over 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. Capable device required, availability, speed, and coverage varies. See mintmobile.com.

38:40Okay, so the president just granted an almost two-hour interview about his quest for hemispheric domination to his favorite publication, the New York Times. In the interview, Trump said, quote, I don't need international law, and that he believes the only limits on his power are, quote, my own morality, my own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me. Jesus. Trump also said that the U.S. could be running Venezuela for years, years, and that our government will be, quote, using and taking their oil. He also said that owning Greenland is necessary, quote, because that's what I feel is psychologically needed for success.

39:23I think that ownership gives you a thing you can't do with a lease or a treaty. He's like talking about fucking buying a car. I think this is like how if you rent your house, you can't redo the bathroom. If you own your house, you have full control of redoing the bathroom. And of course, he's saying this because the Times reporters push him and are like, well, the U.S. already has a military base in Greenland. They have the right. The U.S. under the treaty has the right to open more military bases. Denmark has said, hey, we'll do more cooperation with you. You can be more involved in Greenland.

39:56We'll do treaties. We'll do economic development, all this kind of stuff. and the Danes are like, why does the U.S. just keep rejecting that and say they want to own it by force? Because Trump just wants to own it. He doesn't know why because it makes him feel psychologically good. Some people are renters, some people are owners. He wants to be an owner. So this all comes as Reuters reports that Trump is considering sending each Greenlander a lump sum of potentially $100 ,000 per person of our tax dollars? See, John, you're missing it. It's not going to be our tax dollars. Oh, I'm sure it's...

40:28It's Venezuelan oil dollars. Venezuelan oil. Right, yeah. Or I was going to say it's either that or I'm sure he's going to say, oh, the minerals. They've got great minerals in Greenland. We're going to mine the minerals. We're going to sell them and then we're going to use that to pay the people. Or it's the tariffs. It could be the tariffs. Yeah, I'm getting it off the tariff shelf. Tickets from the Trump-Kennedy Center. We don't know where this money is coming from. But it's not going to you. I'll tell you that, American people. Yeah, well, yeah. If you're in Greenland, you could be getting$100 ,000, which is going to help make the president feel psychologically successful, I guess.

40:57What was your reaction to this fascinating insight into the mind of our greatest geopolitical thinker? Man, reading the interview and reading all the color around the interview about how Trump acted with these reporters and just watching him over the last several days here is it is very clear that Trump and the people around them are drunk on power. They are higher on their own supply. They are so impressed with themselves because of what happened in Venezuela, because the Delta Force was able to pull off this pretty astounding mission, and have really convinced themselves that all that matters is power.

41:34And even if you think that is true, that the US is so powerful, that our military is so strong, that our special operators are so skilled, that we can do almost anything we want, it is such short-term idiotic thinking. These international agreements, these treaties, these international institutions exist for a reason. The rules exist for a reason. They are to protect everyone, not just the United States, not just the weaker countries, everyone, because it leads to a more stable world. So the world that Trump envisions in here is might makes right, right? That the strongest countries do whatever they want.

42:09And that could benefit the United States in the short term. We could just go take Greenland, right? Like there's this article in The Atlantic that talks to the folks in Denmark. They've already figured out how Trump's going to take Greenland if he doesn't invade it. He's just going to declare on true social that it's part of the United States and just act accordingly. And that could work. He's going to do to Greenland what he did to the Kennedy Center. Yeah, like the Institute of Peace or whatever else. He could doge himself to some additional territories. But that could work in the short term.

42:35But in the long term, that's going to make the United States less safe, less secure, because the world is going to be more chaotic. There's going to be more conflict. There's going to be less cooperation. And that is bad for us. The best times for the United States domestically have been the periods of greatest tranquility. And so we are in this area of destabilization with China and Russia and everywhere else because we've decided to throw everything overboard so we can get Venezuelan oil and the minerals of Greenland. It's truly idiotic. It's just deciding that because other smart people figured one way out, we're going to do the dumb thing because that must be better.

43:14Also, for all the, well, it's good that Maduro's out because he's a bad guy. In the interview, he's talking about Delce Rodriguez, who's Maduro's number two and is now president of Venezuela, interim president of Venezuela. and they're asking about elections and they're asking about her and he's like, well, she's given us everything we need, oil. Yeah. So nothing else. You think he's concerned that anything else is going to change in Venezuela? You think that they are on a path to elections anytime soon? And of course, Marco Rubio was saying, well, obviously you can't do it right away and give it some time, whatever.

43:47Trump's talking about years of managing Venezuela and taking their oil. And he also, he's like, oh yeah, we're going to give them some of the money too. I'm sure that's going to get to them. So we are now we are now managing Venezuela with no end date. He doesn't seem like he wants to put boots on the ground, but he's not ruling it out. And none of the political issues in that country have been solved, to say the least. The repression is still intense, if not more so. And maybe worsened in the last couple of days here. Yeah, there were some reports that like maybe they're going to agreeing to release some political prisoners soon.

44:22But we'll see what happens there. I don't know. And then the Greenland thing seems real. Yeah. Like, I would take that very seriously, as some Republicans in Congress are. They were very nervous. A few Republicans in Congress then over the last couple days have suddenly remembered that they represent an equal branch of government. And they've decided that they're not entirely sure that the sole arbiter of U.S. foreign policy should be Donald Trump's sense of morality. so um because there was some jitters about greenland marco rubio was sent to calm some republicans um who aren't thrilled about the idea of uh invading a nato ally he insisted that trump just wants to buy the territory from denmark i guess for you know a hundred thousand dollars per person lender per person right um even though denmark has already made it clear a billion times that it's not for sale so i don't know where that goes then on thursday five senate republicans voted along with every Democrat to advance a war powers resolution that would prohibit Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela without congressional authorization.

45:26The Republicans were Rand Paul, who co-sponsored the resolution with Tim Kaine, as well as Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young of Indiana. Trump responded by calling the War Powers Act unconstitutional, blasting these Republicans' stupidity and saying that they should, quote, never be elected to office again. Nice. What did you make of the war powers vote? Big deal that these Republicans joined Democrats? How much does this matter at all? Who knows? I think it is meaningful in the sense that there is a majority of Trump skeptical Republicans, like true or want to be true America first or isolationists like Josh Hawley and Democrats can get you there.

46:09And the fact that these people would vote against Trump right in the wake of a quote-unquote successful military operation is notable. The other way of looking at it is if you had just a few years ago asked, how do you think Congress would vote on a resolution trying to stop the president from sending troops to Venezuela to protect U.S. oil interests after a regime change war? You'd think you'd get more than 54 votes for that or 55 votes or whatever it was. The reason it's not super consequential is maybe it passes the House, maybe it doesn't. I'm sure there is a majority in the House. People could vote, a huge majority.

46:45Fire up another discharge petition. But it's not enough to override Trump's veto under any scenario. So I think it is symbolic of something of how far out on a limb Trump is with his new global adventures. It's symbolic of, I think the sort of the growing weakness he has as a lame duck president with very poor approval ratings, staring down the barrel of losing the House and maybe the Senate. But it doesn't necessarily indicate a real opportunity to hold him accountable or change his policy in the short term. Yeah. I think the ability of Congress to constrain him on these foreign adventures, I mean, just, you know, statutorily, constitutionally is fairly limited, Though Congress is the body that declares war, that isn't in the Constitution.

47:32But of course, we've talked about that. Donald Trump certainly doesn't care. And even the authority that Congress has has been whittled down over the many decades by various presidents. So that's a challenge. And I think that part of the New York Times interview was Donald Trump saying, say whatever you want, Congress. I don't give a fuck. Yeah. You know, he didn't miss and miss an opportunity to blast the Republicans who voted against him, including Susan Collins, who's who he very much needs to win reelection. You're putting that truth in an ad, though. I know I was going to say that probably helps her more than anything else.

48:05That's the other thing is some of these Republicans. And we're going to we'll talk about this with the ACA are probably breaking with Donald Trump because like, hey, want to save our own asses here? Like they're not they don't they don't think it's actually going to constrain them, but it's like a free vote to they can run an ad on. Speaking of which, some Republicans in Congress are finally trying to do something, anything about the massive premium hikes that Trump and other Republicans have forced on 20 million Americans who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. On Thursday, 17 Republicans, 17, voted with Democrats in the House to pass a clean three-year extension of the ACA subsidies that expired on December 31st.

48:44Over in the Senate, a few other Republicans are close to a deal with Democrats that would extend the subsidies for two years, include income caps for eligibility, require minimum payments, and offer an option to divert your subsidy into a health savings account, if you are an idiot. A sticking point in all of this is the, for all the idiots out there that want to do that, a sticking point in all of this is the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal money from being used for abortions. A lot of ACA plans do cover reproductive care. And even though there are protections in place that are supposed to keep the funding stream separate, how's that for some DC speak?

49:20Some conservatives and other groups are pushing for any subsidy extension to include new Hyde language. bring this up because this seems like the final sticking point here on a deal that seemingly might pass Congress. Trump told a gathering of House Republicans on Tuesday that they need to have some, quote, flexibility on Hyde as part of a broader pitch on trying to take the initiative on health care to avoid getting wiped out in the midterms. Here's a sampling. On health care, it's never been our issue. It should be our issue. You can own health care. let figure it out now you have to be a little flexible on hide you know that you got to be a little flexible you got to work something i wish you could uh explain to me what the hell's going on with the mind of the public because we have a we have the right policy they don't they have horrible policy they do stick together they're violent they're vicious you know they're vicious people speaking of clips to put in an ad uh i don't what's going on with the mind of the public You always want to blame the voters, Dan.

50:25That's the first rule of politics. Yes. We're right. The voters are wrong is a message that has truly never failed in the history of American politics. And I think the Republicans should adopt it and run on it. Yeah. I love that message. That's all the way to the midterms. So what do you think is going on here? It seems like Trump has finally come around on what I had expected him to do. And I'm sure you did for like, I don't know, months ago, which is like, okay, why not just take this issue off the table? and get the subsidies passed. And finally now, now that we've passed January 1st, now he's suddenly decided that maybe he should get on board here?

51:03Or do you think he's not really on board? He's been very busy, John. He's had a lot on his plate. He's trying to get Greenland. As you said, healthcare is not really his issue usually. Yes, he's got multiple interior design projects going. He's personally sourcing marble for the armrests. Did you see that over the holidays? I know you guys talked about the marble arm race. Did you see he actually went to the marble store as a photo op? I did not see the marble store trope. He went specifically looking for it. He went to check out the marble himself. Did you see the architect today? What the architect said?

51:32He's going to add a third floor to the west wing. To the west wing? Yeah, because he wants – the new ballroom is now going to be the same height as the main residence. So then they need the west wing to be the same height as well. So I guess we're going to add – isn't it a fourth floor? Well, I guess if you're counting the ground floor, the basement. Yeah, there's the basement. There's the first floor you go in. That's where I hung out. Yeah, there was where your office was. There was where my office was. And then there's the second floor. There's the floor on top of that. Right. So there are, yeah.

52:02And then there's a third floor. Yeah, so they would add a floor on top of that. Like, honestly, you need more space in the West Wing, but that's neither here nor there. It's getting so close to just looking like Trump Tower. That's where we're going to end up. It is the foot. We did this. We mocked this up for one of the correspondence dinners in like 2011. Yeah, let's not bring that up today, small days.

52:26It's the worst. So here's the thing. He doesn't seem particularly engaged here. It feels like he had to. That last comment there, the one about the voters being wrong, suggests that despite all the bravado, he kind of is dialed in, at least to the fact that things aren't looking great, both for him or Republicans. And so maybe he's thinking about that a little bit. Which is a little surprising. But if he was really dialed in here, he'd bring them all down to the White House. He'd want to broker this deal himself. He's like, he's very half involved. And he doesn't really care. And I really think the Hyde Amendment thing is someone briefed him in the car on the way over that the Hyde Amendment was an issue.

53:01I don't think he could probably identify it or what it stands for. I'm sure he spells it H-I-D-E instead of H-Y-D-E. And so he just sort of mentioned it. And he could not answer one single follow-up question on it. I mean, I saw some reporting that Senate Republicans involved in this were privately saying that they're fine letting Hyde go, which seems like I mean, the Senate Republicans that are trying to do this deal. It seems like Susan Collins of the world. I can see that. But it does feel trickier in the House, though. Now they have 17 Republicans who voted for a clean extension. So maybe this gets done.

53:41I can't, if it gets done, I can't see Trump vetoing it. Can you? No, I mean, I guess he did just veto a infrastructure bill for Colorado because he's mad about someone in jail and he's mad at Lauren Boebert for the exiting discharge petition. So, I mean, who knows? She voted for, she was one of the 17 votes for the extension of the ACA. Did she change her vote though? Did she change her vote? Oh, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. So what do you think this gets passed? I don't know. So it feels – it's the easiest way to pass it if Republicans really just wanted to be done with this and let it go would be to just pass the – do what they did with the discharge position on Epstein.

54:16Take it. Pass it. Be done with it. Take the win on it. The hard part is now you're going to send a competing bill back to the House that is worse than this one. There's going to be no discharge petition for that one because it's worse than the thing that's already passed. So why would Democrats negotiate with themselves? And so I think there's a lot of obstacles before it can actually get done here. But it has a shot, I'd say. And I think we should just stipulate that the shutdown in this case, even if this does not work, the shutdown brought this closer to actual completion than anything possible.

54:52And we said this before the break, but Jeffries played his cards very, very well here on the discharge positions, held out for the stronger one, forced the Republicans to come his way. and I think he just did a good job there. We've been critical of the leaders, but this is one case where they, I think, did a very good job. If you were running a Democratic House or Senate campaign in the midterms and this thing passes, what are you thinking? And what are you saying? I think that you are, if you are, you are, it depends. So if you're an incumbent, you're taking credit for this. and if you're a challenger against a republican you are probably running against a republican who just voted for it um and you're talking therefore you're then talking about all the other ways in which the prices are high yeah so but it's good for people yeah even look the thing was is you're if you're gonna if you're gonna this is where jeffries was right if you're going to let the solve the pro republicans political problem for themselves for them then you're going to have to get something very real that helps lots of people.

56:00Right, which this would be. The three-year straight extension is that. The Senate thing, I have a lot more questions about whether that's actually worth going out to see what the actual language is. But now you put income caps on, it's two years, not three years. Who knows what happens with Hyde? That seems like a less worthy, that's a harder deal to take given the politics. But you're going to come back next year and hopefully have a ton more leverage because you control the House and maybe the Senate. We should also say that because the deadline has passed, it's not impossible to implement this.

56:31It's doable. It is doable. I think it's also tougher to do if it's not a clean extension, right? Yeah, I think that's right. Because basically, if it's a clean extension, what would happen here is just you could retroactively just go back to make the tax credits to January 1st. In the federal plans, you could just start, take all that money, push it forward, lower everyone's premiums automatically. When the original tax credits were passed, it was in March when it went into law after the open enrollment period was over. So they just did it for people who qualified. You can do it here. But now you have a bunch of state exchanges with the places who have their own exchange.

57:09Those states will have to make their own decision about how they do it. The reason why – so you can help people. The downside here is the people who opted out because it was too expensive, it's very hard to get them back in in this scenario. Especially with a government that really doesn't want to make health care work. Yeah, exactly. Like if you Biden was able to make this work because he wanted to make it work. It's hard to see the Trump administration doing a little bit take to actually help people here. All right. Well, we'll keep an eye on that and what happens in the next couple of weeks.

57:36All right. A couple of announcements before we get to Tommy's interview with Zoran Mamdani. Exciting news. We just launched a new weekly newsletter from the executive editor of Pod Save America, our own Reid Cherylin. it's called pod save america open tabs and it drops every thursday morning uh here it says in in brackets hosts to riff on reed's physical beauty and intellectual prowess do you think reed put that in there he does edit this right before it goes out and i will say that is his job i was in the google doc and i did see reed get right into the housekeeping so i think he must have added that in the first that's the kind of wit and humor you will get in this at open tabs as well as a lot of insight it was for me this was the first post it came out before our morning thursday calls with reed to talk about the show i've never felt more prepared for that call in my life because i knew what reed was thinking you can be that prepared in your daily life too for those of you who don't know reed reed uh worked with us in the obama white House, worked with Tommy in the press office way back when.

58:42And so, you know, just part of the Obama mafia working here at Crooked Media. I have worked with Reed for off and on now for 22 years. Wow. Hired him in 2004, I believe. It was my carpool buddy, me, Reed, and Tommy just driving to the White House every morning. Taking advantage of your top-notch parking spot right outside the West Wing. I'd pick those guys up I'd have Dunkin Donuts coffee waiting for them You are a true and courteous Bostonian Anyway, OpenTabs It's fantastic, it's a behind the scenes look at how we put the show together What's coming in the next episode And all the stories rattling around In our heads as we wait to get into the studio Including, hence the name Of the newsletter Some OpenTabs that didn't make it into the show But are really interesting stories that we've been thinking about And talking about So check out the first issue of OpenTabs at crooked.com slash Substack.

59:37The first issue is free for everyone. And if you're already a subscriber on Substack or Supercast, you'll start getting it every week. For the rest of you, sign the fuck up. Become a subscriber. Crooked.com slash friends. We're going to have a lot of great stuff behind the paywall in 2026 here. New shows, new newsletters. We've already got ad-free episodes of all your favorite Crooked shows. We already have some great subscriber-only shows like Polar Coaster with Dan Pfeiffer. The one and only. The one and only. And all kinds of fun stuff that you get. And you get to be proud of yourself for supporting independent media that is not going to fold to the Trump administration.

1:00:20So sign up at crooked.com slash friends. Become a subscriber. Join us. It's a fun community. Speaking of Polar Coaster, first episode of 2026 is out now. What'd you guys talk about? So we talked, Caroline and I talked about all the polling around Venezuela, how the voters are reacting to what Trump did and why it has been a big dud for Trump thus far. Nice. And the world. So here's the full conversation or to ask Dan a question yourself. Imagine. Subscribe to Friends of the Pod at crooket.com slash friends. When we come back, Tommy talks to Zoran Mamdani.

1:01:05Pod Save America is brought to you by AG1. AG1 is the daily health drink that combines your multivitamin, pre and probiotics, superfoods, and antioxidants into one simple green scoop. It's one of the easiest things you can do to support your body every day. The new year is often a time when we commit to building better habits or refocusing or improving our health. AG1 can help you work toward those goals by supporting energy, digestive regularity, immune defense, and a healthy mood. Most resolutions are hard to maintain, but one scoop of AG1 every morning is one of the easiest things you can do to add to your routine to keep you on track this new year.

1:01:33There's no better time than now to kickstart your journey to better health with AG1 Next Gen. AG1 Next Gen is a daily health drink clinically shown to support gut health and fill in the common nutrient gaps with 75 plus ingredients, including five probiotic strains. AG1 replaces the need for a multivitamin probiotics and more. It's so hard to know you're getting all the right things and it's, you know, some days you do, some days you don't. But if you start every day with, say, a smoothie and you put AG1 in it, you know you're starting every day knowing you're getting those things. It's true. It's really true.

1:01:59AG1 is their best offer ever. If you head to drinkag1.com slash crooked, you'll get the welcome kit, a morning person hat, a year supply of vitamin D3 plus K2, an AG1 flavor sampler, and you get to try their new sleep supplement AGZ for free, which can be a game changer for your nightly routine. That's$126 in free gifts for new subscribers. That's drinkag1.com slash crooked.

1:02:22I'm excited to be joined today by a man who President Trump says is much hotter than he expected him to be. Mayor Mumdani, welcome back to Pod Save America. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here, and it's a unique intro. Yeah. How'd that go for you? Were you like, sir, eyes up here. I'm not a piece of meat. Anyway, we'll get to the substance. We are talking because earlier today, Thursday, you and Governor Hochul made a major announcement about your plan to expand free childcare for New Yorkers. Can you tell us the details of what you guys just announced? Absolutely. So we just announced just a couple of hours ago that we will be receiving a$1.21 billion investment in making universal child care a reality in New York City.

1:03:01And what that means in a tangible level is that we're going to be fixing 3K here in New York City and delivering universal 2Care for every single two-year-old across the city in the next four years. And this is something that will transform the ability for working families to actually raise their kids here because it's a city where up until today, child care has cost an average of$22 ,500 a year. Wow. Yeah. As a father of a three-year-old and an almost two-year-old, I can tell you it's wildly expensive. I suspect you're going to get a lot of questions about the cost of this program, how you're going to pay for it.

1:03:31I believe during the campaign, you talked about a longer term vision to provide universal child care from age six months to age five that could cost up to$6 billion a year. Will this plan require new taxes or do you anticipate having to kind of move money around or that this funding might constrain your ability to fund other priorities? So the funding of this, the$1.21 billion, is coming directly from the state. It's in partnership between Governor Hochul and myself, and it's being done using existing revenues. And what it does is it starts the process of universal child care here in New York City.

1:04:05We have pre-K. We have 3K. But the 3K that we have, you have a family in Bed-Stuy that's being told they can have a seat, but the seat is actually in Astoria. So this investment, it fixes the 3K, and it starts to deliver 2K across New York City. And then by the end of the first term in office, we will have delivered universal 2K. And then in the second term, we will be delivering one year and then below that. Got it. And I will say, like a few months ago, there were a lot of people saying, you know, this is impossible. This is one of the many lefty campaign promises that's going to hit a buzzsaw of political reality once you take office.

1:04:38There were others questioning whether you could work with Governor Hochul, given you come from, you know, pretty different ends of the political spectrum within the Democratic Party, at least. How did you guys find common ground on this issue in particular? And are there lessons you think that Democrats nationally can take away from that experience? Well, frankly, I think this is something that so many New Yorkers have actually willed into reality. Today is the result of New Yorkers who made more than a million phone calls, who knocked on more than a million doors, who were told again and again, like you said, that to believe in a city that would be more affordable was to believe in a myth, when in reality, their work has made that into the life that we are living here in New York City.

1:05:17And the governor said in her state of the state last year that she was going to be fighting for universal child care. This has long been an area of shared interest. And as she said today, the era of empty promises is over. The things that we said in the campaign, those were not just slogans. Those were, in fact, exactly what we were going to fight for. And now on day eight of this new administration, we are delivering on one of the signature priorities of our campaign, which is universal child care for New Yorkers across the five boroughs. Yeah, well, it's nice to see Democrats getting some dubs, putting some wins on the board.

1:05:47Not a lot of that happening in this country at the moment. Universal dub care next. Yeah, that's right. Before you go, I wanted to get your reaction to this horrible ice shooting in Minnesota. I think by now, listeners have probably seen the video. The victim is a 37-year-old woman named Renee Macklin Good. She's a mother of three. She described herself on social media as a poet, a writer, a wife, and a mom. And yet in the aftermath of the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called her a domestic terrorist. Vice President J.D. Vance called her, quote, a deranged leftist. They both lied about what actually happened, despite there being video evidence that we all could see with our eyes.

1:06:25And I think I'm really struggling with a few things. First, on a human level, like just the lack of humanity in those kinds of statements about an American citizen, a mom who's now deceased and is leaving behind kids without a mother to care for them. The second is like the willingness we've seen from a lot of Americans to put a higher standard on citizens to avoid getting killed by federal agents than they put on the federal agents themselves, the ones pulling the trigger. And then finally, just kind of like knowing the big picture, Stephen Miller and some people in the White House, like they want confrontations between ICE and people in blue states because violence kind of helps them justify their crackdown.

1:07:06So I'm just wondering, how are you processing this? And what is your message to New Yorkers about how to stay safe and about how New York officials can help them stay safe? I mean, this is heartbreaking to have watched that video, to read the news, to read of her father-in-law describing that now orphan child. Yeah. There is no other way to respond to this. And there's no amount of official mischaracterizations that can ever force us to look away from that very video. And I know that there are many New Yorkers who watched that video and felt even greater anxiety about what it means to be an immigrant in this city.

1:07:42And so I'm making it clear to each and every person who calls this city home, each and every person who is a New Yorker across these five boroughs, that ours is a city government that will stand with them. Ours is a city government that will stand with immigrants today and for every day hereafter. And it's also a city government that's going to follow the law and actually follow our sanctuary city policies. You know, a few weeks ago, I sat down for 12 hours and listened to New Yorkers as they came up and shared their stories with me. And a few of them were undocumented New Yorkers. And they told me of the fear that they live with each and every day, the anxiety when they say goodbye to a loved one of whether it'll be the last time.

1:08:17And it is my job as the mayor of New York City to take care of everyone who calls the city home. And just to think about the family of that woman who was murdered, it's to understand just one glimpse into what has been a year of cruelty. And I've said it directly to the president, and I'll say it directly as well to anyone who will listen, which is that these ICE raids are cruel and inhumane. They do nothing to actually serve the interests of public safety. And I know that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's message to ICE was, get the fuck out of Minneapolis. I mean, I don't know that that's something that he can deliver on in practice, right?

1:08:51I mean, you can't force ICE to leave. But are there ways you think that city officials, steps they can take to protect people? Or I don't know. I think there are a number of ways. I think the first and foremost is to actually inform New Yorkers of their own rights. There are so many New Yorkers who live in the city who do not know all the rights that they actually have by being a New Yorker. And so we have been doing a number of Know Your Rights outreach, as well as just information that we're sharing directly with New Yorkers. The other is to inform New Yorkers of the safety that they have because we are a city that follows sanctuary city policies.

1:09:23That means we will have a police department that does not assist ICE in their operations. That means that city employees, when they are at a city property or even a property of a city contractor, they will not allow ICE agents into that premise unless they can provide a judicial warrant signed by a judge. And this sadly shouldn't be something we have to remind New Yorkers, but for a long time, there wasn't a level of clarity as to what their rights actually were and whether city government was willing to stand up for those rights. That clarity is now returning to City Hall. Well, that's very important to hear.

1:09:52Mayor Mumdani, thank you so much for joining the show today and congrats on the big announcement. Thank you so much, my friend. Pleasure to be here.

1:10:03That's our show for today. Thanks to Zoran Mumdani and Jacob Fry for coming on. I'll be back in the feed on Sunday with a conversation with our own Alex Wagner about our biggest questions for 2026. Have a good weekend, everyone. Bye, everyone.

1:10:18If you want to listen to Pod Save America ad-free and get access to exclusive podcasts, go to crooked.com slash friends to subscribe on Supercast, Substack, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. Also, please consider leaving us a review. That helps boost this episode and everything we do here at Cricket. Pod Save America is a Cricket Media production. Our producers are David Toledo, Emma Illick-Frank, and Saul Rubin. Our associate producer is Farrah Safari. Austin Fisher is our senior producer. Reed Churlin is our executive editor. Adrian Hill is our head of news and politics. The show is mixed and edited by Andrew Chadwick.

1:10:50Jordan Cantor is our sound engineer with audio support from Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landis. Matt DeGroat is our head of production. Naomi Sengel is our executive assistant. Thanks to our digital team, Elijah Cohn, Haley Jones, Ben Hefcoat, Mia Kelman, Carol Pellaviv, David Tolles, and Ryan Young. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.

1:11:16We'll be right back.