Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries Joins The Beat

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0:39It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit VivgardMyWay.com. That's V-Y-V-G-A-R-T MyWay.com. and talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hattrulo, brought to you by Argenics. Welcome to The Beat, everyone. I am Ari Melber, and let me tell you right off the top, we have a very special and newsworthy guest to begin the show tonight, House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the most powerful Democrat in Washington, is here. I'll see you in a moment. I will tell folks that we are coming fresh off. Leader Jeffries' historic, literally breaking historical records, eight-hour, 44-minute House floor speech.

1:21This is one way to understand, if nothing else, the sheer amount of time and stamina that was used as Leader Jeffries said he would use every tool in his legal power as the top Democrat in Washington to both protest, oppose, and try to thwart aspects of that budget. The Democratic Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries joins us now. Good evening, and thanks for joining us at this very busy time. Good evening. Great to be with you. Great to have you. I want to just begin, before we get to any of Washington or the politics, with this tragedy down in, of course, Care County, Texas. Death tolls over 100.

1:59As of tonight, we have the latest reporting, which is 161 people are still missing, including a lot of individuals that, of course, have not been accounted for and are the worst is feared. in terms of what we're hearing. What is your response to this ongoing unfolding tragedy that's affecting so many? And what else can the federal government do? Our thoughts and prayers are certainly with all of the families who've been impacted by this terrible tragedy. And we'll continue to stand with them and do everything that we can to try to be there for them as a federal government in terms of the recovery and the rebuilding that will necessarily have to take place.

2:43Right now, we're also appreciative, of course, of the fact that we have first responders who are still engaged in a search and rescue effort to try to hopefully find folks who have not been currently located. I think there will also be a moment where as a Congress, we need to aggressively ask some questions about what happened, why did it happen, how do we prevent this type of tragedy from ever happening again? There's real concern, Ari, with the fact that, you know, the National Weather Service has been decimated by the Trump administration. There's real concern that Donald Trump and his Homeland Security secretary have threatened to defund FEMA.

3:25And there's real concern that the Texas state government may not have necessarily done everything that they could have done in advance of the flooding to protect those communities. Is this, since you mentioned it, an area where you think that defunding at the state or federal level could have played a part in an avoidable level of tragedy? That remains to be seen, but certainly we have to ask those questions and we're going to have to get those answers. And we're prepared as Democrats to aggressively do just that. Yeah, understood. We showed you speaking on the floor there fighting the budget.

3:59I guess you and Cory Booker, I don't know if you guys trade tips in the hallway about how you go that many hours. and I want to ask you about this. You know, we try to call it straight here and follow the facts and the evidence on all these issues here on this program and it seems like on this one, Democrats have lost a lot of public skirmishes. It seems like Democrats won the messaging battle but still didn't have the votes. So I want to get your response to that but I'll put up on the screen the numbers here, just top line. You have a lot more debt kicking off over 11 million people from their current health coverage going after popular programs like Medicaid.

4:39And overwhelmingly, as you know, as people learned about this bill, the more they learned, the more they didn't like it. It's overwhelmingly opposed. Before I get your answer, I just want to show, again, let's get out of the coastal national news. Let's get out of the television news of coming out of these, you know, folks who might follow politics every day. We checked the polling. This was going underwater 18 points. and local coverage has actually echoed some of the facts Democrats have mentioned against the bill. Take a look. It's going to be a big, beautiful challenge for hospitals. Rural hospitals could face the loss of medical care and services.

5:16Millions of Americans who have Medicaid face losing their health care coverage. They're anticipating about 500 ,000 people will have their Medicaid benefits cut from the big, ugly bill. There is no spinning this as if there's a positive thing. Did you get your message out effectively? And if so, what do you say to people who are frustrated that the bill still passed? Well, the one big ugly bill represents the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. Hospitals will close. Nursing homes will shut down. Community-based health clinics will be unable to operate. And people are going to die in community after community after community, including in rural America.

5:56I think it certainly has been the case that we have successfully communicated across the country the implications of this one big, ugly bill. It hurts everyday Americans in order to reward billionaires. And we're going to continue that effort in state after state after state, in congressional district after congressional district after congressional district. The American people should understandably be frustrated that they clearly have rejected this bill, did not want it to be passed. But Republicans in the House of Representatives have decided to once again be nothing more than a rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda.

6:36All we needed were two additional Republicans to join us and we could have stopped this bill. That's out of 220. And what does it mean that Republicans said out loud they opposed the bill or big parts of it and still voted for it? I spent a lot of time on the House floor going through a lot of the letters that had been written by my Republican colleagues complaining about the Medicaid cuts, complaining about the cuts to the clean energy tax credits, complaining about the cuts to nutritional assistance and the fact that this bill rips food out of the mouths of children. And then they turned around and bent the knee to Donald Trump because that's what they do.

7:17They don't work for the American people at this particular point in time. They work for Donald Trump. They act like a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trump administration. It's an embarrassment. And now that embarrassment will actually result in the American people being hurt in devastating ways. We also track culture, as you know. Sometimes the punchlines give you a sense of where the story is. Here was Jon Stewart. Holy! You! What? You somehow managed to severely cut the safety net and expand the deficit. That's impressive. That's one of those, hey man, how did you gain all that weight? Ozempic.

8:03That's something that's already due. Does this tag the GOP as the fiscally irresponsible party? And where do we go from here? I mean, you're a pretty young guy by the standards of Washington. Are we going to hear from them and they're out of power again in however many years that a Democratic White House is growing the deficit? Does that even make sense, given their record right now? Republicans are complete phonies when it comes to be claiming to be the party of fiscal responsibility. All they have done, administration after administration after administration, they did this during the administration of George W.

8:41Bush. They did it during Ronald Reagan's administration. And now, of course, they're doing it again during Donald Trump's second administration. is explode the debt and the deficit. Why? In order to provide massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected and subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and shameless. Now you've got a bill where they actually have combined hurting everyday Americans, largest cut to Medicaid in American history, largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history, hurting veterans, hurting seniors, hurting children, and at the same time, exploding the debt and the deficit.

9:20We are going to tattoo this disgusting abomination of a bill to the foreheads of every single Republican who voted for it. Hardball tattoo politics there. All right. I want to ask you about the ongoing abuses of power alleged by Donald Trump. We've seen National Guard there in the streets. Democrats have sued over that. We have Marines used in a small basis, but seems like a test case. We have then related in the courts, although it might not get as much dramatic attention, certainly not the visuals like you see here, but this report about Trump claiming sweeping powers to literally nullify laws just passed by Congress, supported by Republicans, by the way, legal experts telling the Times that Trump is claiming this power to immunize private parties, to commit otherwise illegal acts, and blatantly defying the recent TikTok rule, whether people agree with it or not.

10:15And I think you all know there was some controversy about that TikTok ban. Since when does a president just say, well, we'll enforce it later or maybe not at all. And what specifically does your party do about that? Well, Donald Trump has launched an all out assault on the American way of life, on the rule of law and democracy itself. And this is going to require, of course, a Congress that actually functions as a separate and co-equal branch of government. We will not get that from the modern day Republican Party, although we are still looking for some folks, just a handful, to show Liz Cheney or John McCain levels of courage to push back against the extremism that is coming from the Trump administration.

11:01We haven't seen it so far, and that's shameful, but we'll continue to press them to try to achieve it on behalf of the American people. You know, the courts will need to function as a backstop. And unfortunately, we've seen increasingly an unwillingness by this Supreme Court to actually push back against Donald Trump and some of his executive overreach. At the end of the day, it was said during the founding of the Republic that when the people fear the government, there is tyranny, but when the government fears the people, there is liberty. And at the end of the day, it's going to be the people rising up, pushing back against this extremism, showing it in community after community after community, and then ultimately, when it's time to go to the polls, to send a clear message that America is better than this.

11:57So let me let me take exactly where your where your answer goes. Someone listening might say, wow, that sounds good. I hope Hakeem Jeffries is right. But what if he's wrong? What if we're actually past the point where we can just count on free and fair elections? when, as you know, and to be fair, you've spoken out about this, of course, the person in the office, he won lawfully, he won the Electoral College in what we know to be a free and fair election. But previously, when he lost, he tried to subvert that. We had a convicted sedition. He then freed the sedition convicts, as everybody knows.

12:32And so there's a great concern about not a repeated 2020, but a more effective version of it. And you've heard this concern. It's not just random sort of activists or the most extreme sort of people worrying about it. James Carville, a longtime sort of centrist Democratic figure, said this about rigging the midterms. I'd say your concerns are legitimate. I'd never tell anybody that's worried that, no, don't you worry about that. He's going to try to do anything that he can possibly to try to advocate himself for what is almost certain to be a humiliating loss. in October of November of 2026. So people should be worried.

13:13They should be vigilant. They should watch this. Is this a legitimate concern? And if so, what are you doing about it? We have to be incredibly vigilant to make sure that there are free and fair elections. I think we have to look at what's in front of us. And this year, of course, there are the off-year elections in New Jersey and in Virginia. We've got to make sure the Democratic nominee, Mikey Sherrill, wins in New Jersey, the Democratic nominee, Abigail Spanberger, wins in Virginia. They're both tremendous. Public servants have served this country in a variety of different ways, including in the Congress.

13:48And then, of course, be prepared as it relates to the midterm elections. Now, the good news is, to the extent that there's a silver lining in our electoral system, is that we don't have a national election system. It's state by state by state. And in many of the states where there will be competitive gubernatorial elections, and certainly in the overwhelming majority of the states where the House will be decided, there are Democratic governors, Democratic attorney generals, and Democratic secretaries of state. I'd be far more concerned, honestly, Ari, if we were looking at a situation where the fate of the House would be determined in states where Republicans are in charge.

14:31because what we've seen. To be clear, because it's a patchwork, you're saying you've studied this and if there are Republicans trying to play games, they're not actually overseeing the races that you think would control the House outcome? That's absolutely correct. There are seats in New York, seats in New Jersey, seats in Michigan, seats in California, seats in Wisconsin, seats in Pennsylvania, seats in Arizona, you know, by way of example, that are going to determine in large measure who controls the House in the aftermath of the midterm election. Every single one of those states have Democratic governors, their Democratic attorney generals, Democratic secretaries of state.

15:09And so that's kind of the landscape that we find ourselves in. And I've got trust in those leaders to make sure that there are actual free and fair elections. You know, I'm just listening, you know, we're just having real talk. I'm listening to you as you say that. I'm thinking that's a very precise answer. Makes sense that you'd be read in on it. I hadn't heard other people put it that way. So that is quite a specific answer to what Carville and others have said is a concern. On the flip side, as a journalist, I have to say, what a sad commentary that we're there. It's a bit like saying, well, can you get justice?

15:39Oh, we found an area where there's not corrupt judges. So we're going to try to focus our cases there rather than, oh, what about the rest of it? And how low is the bar, which I think is implied in part of your answer. So that's really striking just to hear it that way. I know you've agreed to stay. You're a very newsworthy guest. We have a short break, 90 seconds. When we come back, I want to ask you about Elon Musk talking about a third party, which would go against your and the Republican Party and this big New York mayor's race. So we come back with Leader Jeffries in 90.

16:27on vacation or have it handy for cozy staycations. For more information, visit live vividly.com. That's L I V E V Y V I D L Y.com. Brought to you by our Genics. Omniwatch protects way more than just your passwords and logins. We protect what matters most you, your family, and the life you live online. From scam alerts to dark web monitoring, Omniwatch has you covered around the clock. Real experts are just a call away, and with plans up to$4 million in identity theft insurance, you get total peace of mind. So whether you're Garden Gal 54 or Dad Bod 23, OmniWatch helps you browse, shop, and connect with confidence.

17:10Go to OmniWatch.com to get protected today. If you're a parent and want to help set up your child for success, then IXL is a right for your family. As an effective and affordable online learning program, IXL covers math, language arts, science, and social studies using interactive practice problems for kids from pre-K to 12th grade. Listeners can get an exclusive 20 % off IXL membership when they sign up today at IXL.com slash 20. Visit IXL.com slash 20 to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. We're back with House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the most powerful Democrat in Washington.

17:50Continue our conversation. Zoran Mamdani came out of nowhere with less money, less fame, beat the Democratic establishment, beat Mario Cuomo. I should say Andrew Cuomo, son of Mario Cuomo, known in New York. Is that a good thing for the Democratic Party? Well, he ran a tremendous race. He outworked the opposition. He out communicated the opposition. He out-organized the opposition. And I think one of the things that was key about what he was able to do is that he ran directly at the issue of affordability. Across every age demographic, it's the number one issue in the city of New York. Now, he articulated a very provocative platform in that regard.

18:35I look forward to sitting down and talking to him about his plans to actually implement that platform to deal with some of the challenges that the communities that I face are dealing with in terms of gentrification and displacement and a whole host of other issues that I would normally talk about with any Democratic nominee. And certainly we'll talk about with our particular Democratic nominee in the context of the mayor race. I think one of the things that we'll continue to try to do at the national level is to lean in aggressively to Donald Trump's failure to address the high cost of living.

19:07He promised to lower costs on day one costs aren't going down, going up. Inflation is on the way up. Life remains far too expensive for the American people. I got to tell you want to do something about it. Respectfully, I see the pivot. You know, you're good at this. That's how you got this job. But then I got to rephrase the question. You're not ready yet to say whether it's a good thing. You want to meet with him. You want to kick the tires at this juncture. You're not ready to say that this turnout, this energy that he tapped in New York is good for the party yet. Oh, no, listen. I mean, I think that when you can increase the electorate, particularly as it relates to parts of the electorate that came out in significant numbers, which include the South Asian community in many parts of New York City and certainly younger folks under the age of 39 in New York City.

19:58That is absolutely a good thing. And of course, he should be credited with pulling off that kind of campaign that reached so many folks. But the tension here, if I'm hearing some possible tension is, as you know, the Democratic Party has had a hard time with some of these, whatever you call them, Democratic socialists, insurgents, more liberal, energetic candidates, even when they do what you just referred to. So we have a history here from Bernie Sanders, some of the some of the way the AOC or members of the squad were treated. And now some of the apparent reaction where people are wondering, is there room in the tent?

20:36Not saying that that even you you have a lot more power than him, not saying you would endorse the whole platform. But when his platform is affordability, ideas around democratic socialism, raising the tax rate in the city of New York, free buses, a different type of foreign policy, if we simplify, but much more harshly critical of the Israeli government, say, than I think the congressional leaders have been in terms of approaching the entire conflict. Is there room in the Big Ten of the Democratic Party for that right now, or for you, is that TBD? Well, certainly we're a big tent party. And I think what I'll say in terms of the House Democratic Caucus family is that every single member of the House Democratic Caucus, from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez all the way to Representative Jared Golden and everyone in between, progressives, new Dems and blue dogs, we in the House, we represent the gorgeous mosaic of the American people.

21:30That's a good thing. Now, I think what we have to do is make sure that we can more intimately communicate with the American people, that we understand their challenges and their frustrations as it relates to the desire to build an affordable economy that actually works for working class Americans, that we hear you, we see you, we feel you, and we're committed to making life better for you. And the bigger the tent, the more likely it is that we can reach the greatest number of Americans. All right. Interesting to get your mosaic there, get some nuance on that. I'm running over on time, but I got to give you at least a chance to respond to Elon Musk.

22:06You've risen to run the Democratic Party in the Congress. No easy feat. He says he wants into the party building business. What do you say to Elon Musk now talking about a third party which would compete, if he really does it, against your Democratic Party and Trump's GOP? What do you say to him tonight? Well, listen, I understand why everyday Americans, not Elon Musk, Everyday Americans are frustrated with the status quo and the situation that they confront in this country where far too many people are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck, unable to get by in terms of living the comfortable life that everyday Americans should live when you work hard and play by the rules.

22:49And so I think as Democrats, it's going to be important for us to make sure that we run directly at that frustration and articulate that we believe we actually believe in an America where everyone can afford to live the good life. But are you open to his party? I mean, you feel like, hey, come on in, we're going to beat you or you or it concerns you with the money he has. No, listen, I mean, he poured$25 million into the Wisconsin state Supreme Court race, and we won that race decisively by 11 points. So he's going to do what he's going to do, and we'll see how that all unfolds. We, as Democrats, I think, have to continue to aggressively push back against the Trump administration and articulate our vision for actually bringing about the type of America where everyone can thrive.

23:40Understood. There's a lot going on. Leader Jeffries, I'll tell you something you'll recognize. You could have been anywhere in the world tonight, but you're here with us. We appreciate that. And I hope you come back to the beat, sir. Look forward to it. Thank you, Ari. All right. Our thanks to Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Making some news there on several of those answers, including telling us all about the third party that may or may not come, but that is a serious threat when someone with Musk's money pushes it. coming up MAGA running into its own conspiracy theories and finding it's a drag on their DOJ leadership and the bombshell courtroom twist that undercuts what the whole White House was claiming was so important about that Abrego Garcia case that they lost at the Supreme Court.

24:23But now we have a special guest as Jon Stewart has been going up against the press. So just flat out protection money. Yeah, it was a shakedown. That's what I call it. I mean, And some people call it extortion. That's a legal term. I'm not, you know, but shakedown is like.

24:43With the Vivgard Hytrulo, FGAR TIGAMOD Alpha, and Hyaluronidase QVFC pre-filled syringe, self-injection is in your hands. It's your treatment routine. Use at the time and same day each week. Take the pre-filled syringe with you on vacation or have it handy for cozy staycations. For more information, visit livevividly.com. That's L-I-V-E-V-Y-V-I-D-L-Y dot com. Brought to you by Argenics. OmniWatch protects way more than just your passwords and logins. We protect what matters most, you, your family, and the life you live online. From scam alerts to dark web monitoring, OmniWatch has you covered around the clock.

25:26Real experts are just a call away. and with plans up to$4 million in identity theft insurance, you get total peace of mind. So whether you're Garden Gal 54 or Dad Bod 23, OmniWatch helps you browse, shop, and connect with confidence. Go to OmniWatch.com to get protected today. If you're a parent and want to help set up your child for success, then IXL is right for your family. As an effective and affordable online learning program, IXL covers math, language arts, science, and social studies using interactive practice problems for kids from pre-K to 12th grade. Listeners can get an exclusive 20 % off IXL membership when they sign up today at IXL.com slash 20.

26:08Visit IXL.com slash 20 to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. There is mounting outrage about where we are in the country as major, powerful companies give in to Donald Trump's efforts to allegedly abuse government power to get what he wants out of the once free press. Paramount paying$16 million to settle what was seen as a baseless 60-minute lawsuit, experts agreeing CBS did nothing wrong and would ultimately likely win in a free court. Former host of 60 Minutes, Steve Croft, was not bound by working there. So you get a kind of an honest view from someone who has spent decades burnishing their reputation for honesty on air, discussing on another Paramount-owned network, by the way, Comedy Central, where he's discussing exactly what went down.

27:04Why didn't they fight it? They never said, we screwed up. They just paid the money. So just flat-out protection money. Yeah, it was a shakedown. That's what I call it. I mean, some people call it extortion. That's a legal term. I'm not, you know, but... A shakedown is like... $60 million was tribute. That's how he looks at. And that will continue. Tribute to the king. That is someone on the inside who certainly still knows a heck of a lot of people still working at 60 Minutes. He's more of one of their elders. Describing the corporation is looking at this as tribute to King Trump. Tribute because it's not on the level.