Trump ally Bannon reveals Trump third term plan

21:55Jason Johnson:A bipartisan group of senators may force a vote next week to bar military action inside Venezuela without approval from Congress. In the House, the top Democrat on armed services, Adam Smith, is demanding a hearing. Joining me now is that Congressman Adam Smith of Washington State. Thank you so much for joining us this evening, Congressman. So I will start with this. There are immediate concerns by international observers and lawyers that it is illegal to simply blow up boats and claim after the fact that they were somehow shipping drugs. What is the Trump administration's response to these questions?

22:33Jason Johnson:Have they attempted to justify anything? Have they shown up with any evidence one way or another? Or are they continuing to just blow up ships of people with no explanation? Yeah. To try not to use swear words, I will answer that question in modified form. Their response is basically, go to hell. I'm the president. I can do whatever I want to do. And that's what I really want people to understand. And all of these stories linked together, you showed the demolition of the White House. Gosh, the tariffs, the way he's used the Justice Department, the way he's used the FCC to go after media he doesn't like.

23:04It is all part of one thing. Donald Trump wants the power to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to do it, without any transparency and any accountability. This is an authoritarian takeover of the United States government. And now we're taking it to the most extreme level possible. The president, as he just said, and you played it, he can kill who he wants to kill whenever he wants to kill them. And he doesn't have to explain it to anybody. All right. That is his position. And regardless of how you feel about Venezuela or Colombia or cocaine or fentanyl or drugs or anything, you shouldn't support the president of the United States saying, screw you, I'm president.

23:40I can kill who I want to kill and you all just have to live with it. And in this particular instance, it's really important. He hasn't even really explained exactly why they're doing what they're doing. Because you frequently will hear, and I see Mike Johnson saying this idiotically all the time, well, fentanyl, fentanyl is a huge problem. We've got to go after the fentanyl. There's no fentanyl coming out of Venezuela. We don't know exactly who or what has been on these boats, but I'll tell you, one thing we know, 100 percent, there has been no fentanyl involved in any of this. So the president's just exercise exercising the most extreme power possible with no accountability.

24:15Jason Johnson:I mean, this is the person who said he could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and basically most of his supporters wouldn't say anything one way or another. Congressman, the secondary concern that I have, I think a lot of other American citizens have, is what's the ripple effect of this, right? Right. Like once you start just randomly killing people from other countries and coming up with a crime to throw on them later, doesn't that destabilize our relationships with the rest of South America? Doesn't it make business more difficult? Doesn't make negotiations more difficult? What are some of the ripple effects of this this current insane foreign policy by the administration?

24:48Well, it does all of those things and it tells everyone in the world that this is perfectly OK. You decide you want to kill somebody, go ahead and do it. And you don't have to justify it either. It makes us more involved. And it, gosh, all the troops, all the U.S. personnel that we have in Latin America are now at risk. And that's a huge problem. But I really want to come back to the central problem here. We are losing our constitutional republic. And meanwhile, the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson has effectively dissolved the United States House of Representatives. I spoke with several Republicans, including Chairman Mike Rogers today, to talk about, OK, we need to have hearings on this.

25:26You know, the House Armed Services needs to exercise oversight. And there are many Republicans, including Mike Rogers, who agree with that. But we're not in session. So we can't do it. So we're not going to do it. So the president just gets to do what he wants. I mean, look, the whole Nazi Germany analogies are always troubling. But, you know, that was one of the steps is the parliament or the Reichstag or whatever it was, was sort of pushed out of existence and didn't have any oversight. And when you look at that clip you showed of the president, that's what the president is saying. What are you talking about?

25:55I did it.

25:56Jason Johnson:Leave me alone. Congressman, you know, I had this question yesterday when I talked to Ken Martin, who was in charge of the DNC. We have elections next year in 2026. You have been very outspoken about what you think are some of the problems in the Democratic Party. Here we see no Epstein files. We see tariffs that are damaging people. We see massive overreach in foreign policy. What do you think is the single message or the key messages that Democrats need to have to take back some power next year so that there is some oversight? What's the message that people should be hammering home right now from your party?

26:32There's two parts to it. One has to be focused on what Trump is doing and how that is unacceptable. And that, too, has two parts. I'm a big two person here. One is this is an authoritarian takeover of our government. All right. And look, Republicans can argue about the policies. Well, here's why drugs are important. Here's why what Trump is doing makes sense in terms. They can't even really in any meaningful way argue the authoritarian aspect of this. The president is ignoring the law and turning us into a monarchy instead of a constitutional republic. If you care about democracy, you have to send a message that this must stop.

27:05Second, his policies are really hurting us. You know, look at what's happening to the farmers. Look at how the costs of housing, insurance, energy, everything's going up because of his policies. Health care. Millions of people are about to lose their health care insurance. Millions of people are losing access to the food security that they need. His policies are harming the country. And then third, as a Democrat, I think we need to say we understand you weren't thrilled with the Democratic Party. We have to change. We have to get better. We have to legitimately address immigration. We have to have secure borders.

27:37And we didn't do as good a job on that as we should have. Focusing on identity politics constantly is not what the American people want. All right. We get that. We're going to fix that. We're going to run our cities better, which, by the way, we're starting to do. You look at some of the things that are happening in San Francisco and other places where we're getting after, you know, crime and homelessness and drug abuse and actually governing better. We have to understand that all whatever 80 million, I think, is the number that voted for Trump, something like that. They're not all racist, bigoted morons.

28:08They're not. And we need to stop treating them like that and say, OK, you've got concerns. We're going to address them. We're not going to get them all. We don't need to get them all. But we need to reach out to people that broadens our coalition. We can't keep preaching to the choir. Look, I represent a 70 percent Democratic district. You know, whether I'm here or not, a Democrat's going to represent this district. And that's great. But what are we going to do to reach the people in those places that we aren't winning, which is why Mikey Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger are so important in what's going to happen in a week and a half.

28:40They're running the type of campaigns that's going to broaden the support that Democrats have so that we can begin to turn this around. So I think we have to do both of those things.

28:51Jason Johnson:I will say this. When people feel that their identities are under threat by the administration. Identity politics is kind of important. Congressman Adam Smith, thank you so much for joining us this evening on The Beat. Still ahead, the only tenured hip-hop professor in the U.S. is here on gassing up the No Kings movement to the next level. But first, I'll talk to a special guest who was detained for exercising his right to protest with Star Wars music. More on that when we're back on The Beat.

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31:23Jason Johnson:Donald Trump is ramping up his attack on free speech with his agents targeting people for exercising their First Amendment rights. One story going viral involves a man who says the FBI showed up at his door because he attended an anti-Ice protest in Arizona. We came out here to ask you questions regarding a protest that happened on the 11th of June. We've been just basically going around asking questions for a few people that were brought up and your name was brought up. So I'll see if you have a couple minutes to answer some questions regarding the protests that happened. Yeah. Who are you? I'm with the FBI.

31:58Jason Johnson:James. Another peaceful protester was arrested in Portland after mocking ICE while wearing a giraffe suit. Yeah, why don't you come out with your super soaker? Huh? Oh, here they come. They're not ready for prize time players.

32:22What do you do? He stopped us? He was just talking.

32:30Jason Johnson:We've seen a surge in humor being used in these protests. People dressing up as frogs and chickens and other costumes to protest Trump's policies. The novelist Gary Steinhardt writing about this in The New York Times saying, quote, This humorous form of protest shows the absurdity of the charge that all the protesters are armed militants. It's hard to call an inflatable chicken dangerous. The use of satire as a tool of protest includes a man who has gone viral for playing the Imperial Death March from Star Wars in front of Trump's National Guard troops in Washington, D.C.

33:25Jason Johnson:The police did come and detain him. That member of the Rebel Alliance is now striking back with a new lawsuit. Joining me now to discuss is Sam O 'Hara, the plaintiff who staged those Star Wars protests, and ACLU-er Michael Perloff, who helped him file the suit. So first off, Sam, I want to thank you as both a DC resident and a Star Wars fan for what you've done. I have followed you on social media. I was very, very impressed. I just I want you to take us to that day. And how did it feel? I mean, you're playing music and essentially they come up to you and say, you remember the Rebel Alliance and a traitor goodbye.

34:02Jason Johnson:And they take you away. How did that feel? Were you afraid? Did you feel comfortable because other people were around? What was that moment like? yeah thank you for having me and you nailed it i mean that's that's kind of how it felt it felt like they were upset with what i was doing as a form of protest um they threatened to call the mpd and then the mpd did what they shouldn't have done which is they stopped me they handcuffed me it felt surreal uh dystopian um bad it just felt real bad that this is where we are right now Mm-hmm. And, you know, Michael, I want to play you some sound from Sam's video and get your thoughts on the other side, both legally and sort of politically, what we're dealing with here in D.C.

34:47I'm practicing my right to protest on a sidewalk. Not a protest. You better have to find protest. I'm seeking a protest. Do you want to define protest? Yes. Define protest. Define protest. Define protest.

35:01Jason Johnson:Michael, help me out here. I think people are allowed. I've been to plenty of comic conventions. I think you can walk around the street and play whatever music you want. Sam did have the legal right to protest, right? These officers are wrong. Yeah, you know, some cases are hard. This one is easy. This is a straight up First Amendment violation. And it's an important one to talk about because we're living in a moment where government officials are saying, if you agree with us, the statements you make are funny. their jokes lighten up. But if you don't agree with us, you might end up in handcuffs.

35:34That's not a decision the government gets to make. It doesn't get to decide what's funny, what's satire, what's protests. Those decisions are ours. And this case is about keeping it that way.

35:46Jason Johnson:Sam, you know, going in and around Washington, D.C., and I've noticed this all the time, you see these National Guard troops there. They're outside of Union Station. They're hovering here at Union Market. They're in different kinds of places. For the American people who haven't had this kind of invasion of their city, what does that feel like as a resident? What does it feel like to wake up every day and walk around and see armed guards with guns standing in front of Starbucks? What does that do to the people in the city? Sure. And you nailed it. I mean, it's not just Union Station. They're at our farmer's markets, our dog parks, where I get my morning coffee, I think the thought is that we're meant to feel safe.

36:26And I feel the opposite. I feel anxious. I feel like I'm living in this made-up war zone. And it's not that. DC is a wonderful place to live. I've lived here for 10 years. It's a fantastic place to live. I love my neighbors. I love the city. So to see it being kind of portrayed this way, it's unreal.

36:48Jason Johnson:And Michael, you know, what is your hope? So you're you're suing because obviously your client was unfairly arrested. But what is your goal? Are you are you hoping that, you know, fine, they'll give a formal apology, that they'll expunge this sort of petty arrest? And what would you encourage other people to do if they're arrested for doing similar levels of protests in D.C. or any other city? Well, our goal is to make sure that this doesn't become and or, you know, our goal is to make sure that in the United States of America, people know that they can protest, know that they can call out absurd behavior when they see it and give the government a piece of their mind when they want to.

37:25The First Amendment gives you the right to do all of that. And as long as you aren't interfering with government officials, you can record them, you can talk to them, you can criticize them. That's how this whole country got started. And so we hope this case is a reminder to the government that it has obligations and a reminder to the public that it has fundamental constitutional rights.

37:47Jason Johnson:Michael, I want to thank you for the work you're doing and for your excellent and or reference. We certainly don't want D.C. to become the people of Gore. Thank you so much for the work that you are doing and for joining us tonight. Thank you for having us. Thank you. Up next, I have a special guest here to discuss protest music in this moment of Trumpism when we're back on The Beat.

38:14Jason Johnson:Millions of Americans are standing up to Trump. But are top musicians meeting this moment in politics? In the past, Bob Dylan took aim at the powerful and the unjust. Sam Cooke's Change is Gonna Come became an anthem for the civil rights movement. And Public Enemy's Fight the Power became an anthem for a new generation. In more recent years, artists like Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, and Lil Baby have inspired many Americans. Freedom, freedom, I can't move. Freedom, stop me losing. Freedom, freedom, where are you? Because I need freedom too. We gonna be alright. Do you hear me? Do you feel me? We're going to be all right.

38:56It's bigger than black and white. It's a problem with the whole way of life. It can't change overnight. But we got to start somewhere. Might as well go ahead and start here. We done had a hell of a year. I'm going to make it count while I'm here.

39:10Jason Johnson:There seems to be like a void in this new Trump era. But, you know, some artists are speaking out. Country singer Zach Bryan and rock icon Neil Young have released music taking on Trump and his agenda. And ice is gonna come bust down your door Tryin' to build a house, no one builds no more But I got a telephone Kids are all scared and all alone There's big crime in D.C. at the White House There's big crime in D.C. at the White House Zach Bryan faced fierce backlash from the right showing the risks that artists take when trying to speak out in Trump's America. Joining me now to discuss is Dr. A.D.

39:58Jason Johnson:Carson, the only tenured professor of hip-hop in the United States of America. He is at the University of Virginia, my alma mater. His work is currently being considered for a Grammy. Nominations are announced next month. Dr. Carson, I'm so excited. Thank you so much for joining us this evening on The Beat. I'll start with this. Where do you think hip-hop is right now in meeting this moment for Trump? We had Nipsey saying, you know, blank Donald Trump years ago. But in many cases, some of the most prominent rappers, 50 Cent Snoop Dogg, have more or less capitulated to this administration. Where do you think hip hop is right now when it comes to protest music in our current political moment?

40:37Peace, peace. Thank you so much for having me here. I think that hip hop is meeting the moment. You know, Gil Scott Heron said the revolution won't be televised. And I imagine that the revolution will also not be featured on a rap caviar playlist or featured by Apple Music or any of the major streaming platforms. So I think that it's probably us to listen up to what is going on. So, for instance, you hear Vic Mensah putting out videos regularly. He had an opinion article in the New York Times not long ago, just a couple of weeks ago. No Name's most recent album, I think, is a salient critique of the time right now.

41:17Saba and No ID put out an album this summer. Chance the Rapper's Starline, I think, is doing some of the incredible work that folks probably can meet where it is. J.I.D. has a new album out. I think that there are three different versions of that album. Love the Genius has Self Love 3. You've got Mona Leo's who did The Body. You've got Mobb Deep's Infinite. You've got Dave East's Karma 4, which has Nipsey Hussle on it. You've got even more underground artists like Marcel P. Black, who more recently did another blank Donald Trump song. So there's plenty, plenty that's being put out there. It's a matter of us being an audience to it.

41:58Jason Johnson:So, A.D., Dr. Carson, this is a very interesting point you're making because in the 90s, right, Chuck D and Public Enemy will say the radios won't play my stuff. We're in an environment now where algorithms are being rigged. We're in an environment where you as a professor were on a turning point watch list. We're in an era where people who make jokes about the administration get pulled off the air. Do you think that some of this protest music, especially in hip hop, do you think it's being suppressed? Do you think that streamers might be trying to push people away from this kind of music in the face of an authoritarian regime?

42:30Well, the thing is, it might be. It might be. But I believe since we've been here on this continent, folks have always found a way around the kinds of suppression that exists. I mean, I imagine the reason that they put me on that turning point list is because they know the power and the promise of hip hop to be able to speak truth to power while they're committed to lying to folks. So, I don't know, I mean, with regard to that, of course I spend way more time worried about the people who love me Than I do the people who hate me And so, you know, I ain't worried about my safety So much as, you know, like, you stay ready So you don't have to get ready I imagine that we can, and we have Made the kind of music meet the moment And so that has a lot to do with our With the way we use music much more than any particular music that gets made.

43:26And so with all of these artists that I'm listing, you will be able to find these ways that folks are not maybe mentioning a particular governmental office or not mentioning a particular political race, but they are mentioning the particular circumstances like what's going on in a place like Chicago or a place like Buffalo, or in my own case, places like Charlottesville or Decatur, Illinois, my hometown. So it's I mean, yeah, that suppression is probably there, but I don't think that hip hop artists or black folks more generally have ever really ever really had the luxury to do anything to get out from around that suppression except for subvert.

44:10So that's what we do.

44:12Jason Johnson:Very quickly, you are at the University of Virginia, which is one of the few universities to sort of sign what amounts to a consent decree with the Department of Justice, basically saying they will turn over information to this administration for the next several years in order to avoid fines from the DOJ. Just from a faculty perspective, how is the campus responding to that decision by the part of the University of Virginia? Well, unfortunately, there are lots of students who feel they don't feel as empowered as they should to speak out and make the kinds of differences that they can, the kind of difference that they can.

44:52And so a lot of it is just I feel like folks are overwhelmed by the amount of stuff. It's like, you know, like trying to drink from a fire hose. But but like among faculty and folks that I'm in community with, you know, like. I imagine that some folks could call it, you know, like I mean, you know, you could say, you know, your head is bloody but unbowed. You know, you keep going. We keep making progress toward the things that we know are righteous. And we know that the cause of education, especially free expression and academic freedom is a righteous cause.

45:29Jason Johnson:Professor A.D. Carson, I could talk to you all evening. Thank you so much for joining us this evening on The Beat. Peace. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Thank you so much. We will be right back on The Beat. Snoring, gasping for air during sleep, daytime sleepiness. I'm Shaquille O 'Neal, and this shouldn't be anybody's experience. Ask your doctor about ZepBound towards hepatitis. The first and only FDA approved prescription medicine for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. ZepBound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, OSA, and obesity to improve their OSA.

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