The Daily Show: Ears Edition - 9/11 First Responders React to 2010 Zadroga Bill Filibuster

Episode Date: September 11, 2023

Jon Stewart covers the first of many legislative setbacks in providing funding for 9/11 Responders’ health care services via the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. While Senate Republicans filibuster the Zadroga Bill, tax cuts are passed for the wealthy while America’s news channels are beat to reporting the story by Al Jazeera. Jon is joined by 9/11 responders Kenny Specht (FDNY), Chris Bowman (NYPD), Ken George (DOT), and heavy equipment operating engineer John Devlin for their reactions and insights on the issue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finding great candidates to hire can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You might get a lot of resumes, but not enough candidates with the right skills or experience. But not with Zip Recruiter. Zip Recruiter finds amazing candidates for you fast. And right now you can try it for free at Zip Recruiter's smart technology. Sip Recruiters' smart technology identifies to the talent for your roles quickly. Immediately after you post your job, zip recruiters powerful matching technology starts showing you qualified people for it, and you can use zip recruiters pre-written invite to apply message to personally reach out to your favorite candidates and encourage them to apply sooner.

Ditch the other hiring sites and let zip recruiter find what you're looking for, the needle in the haystack. Four out of five employers who post on zip recruiter get a quality to to the quality the quality the quality the quality the quality the quality the quality to to to the to the to to to the to to the to to to the to to to to to to the to to to to to to to to to to to to tip. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. tip. tip. tip. tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip tip. tip. t needle in the haystack. Four out of five employers who post on zip recruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for free at this exclusive web address. Zip Recruiter.com slash zip. Again that's zip recruiter.com slash zip. Zip recruiter the smartest way to hire. Hey everybody John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches.

I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast................... to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the ea, the ea, the election. the election. the ea, the ea, the ea, the ea, the ea, the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e. the the the the the? Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. Welcome to the Daily Show. My name is John Stewart. This is Earth. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, the last show of the year and contrary to what it might seem, I have never felt more full of it. Now, before we go, I want to talk one last time about something called the Zadroga bill.

There's an NYPD detective who died in 2006 from respiratory illness thought to be caused by the dust he inhaled while working at ground zero in 2001. This bill would provide $7 million in medical and financial benefits for ground zero workers who get sick and they're going to pay for it by closing a corporate tax loophole. It's a win, win, win, win, win, just, just. Just. Just. Just. Just. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their. their. their. their. their. It. It. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There. There, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the sick and they're going to pay for it by closing a corporate tax loophole. It's a win, win, win, win, just do it! The House passed it. Sorry. The House of Representatives passed it and it would pass in the Senate, the House of Representatives passed it and it would pass in the Senate that came to an up or down vote.

They have more than 50 votes they need. in the Senate that came to an up or down vote. They have more than the 50 votes they need. But the Senate Republicans have filibustered it. Won't allow the bill to come up for a vote. Luckily yesterday there was some good news from the Senate. The log jam broke. Today the Senate passed that bill to extend tax cuts to all vote. Yes! That is astoundingly good news for firefighters that make over $200,000 a year. Of course, all non-millionaire firefighters are still

out of luck. Apparently, the party that turn 9-11 into a catchphrase are now moving suspiciously into a convenient pre-911 mentality when it comes to this bill. What's more, th party that turn 9-11 into a catchphrase are now moving suspiciously into a convenient pre-911 mentality when it comes with this bill. What's more, none of the three broadcast networks have mentioned any of this on their evening newscasts for two and a half months. Although to be fair, it's not every day that Beatles songs come to iTunes. Music, for sale on the internet. This is going to be here. This is an outrageous

abdication of our responsibility to those who are most heroic on 9-11. You know what, I hate to say this. Here's a job for Fox News. The nation's leading source of 9-11-based outrage. They always fight to make sure that 9-11 is appropriately observed. Will the president take any political criticism for not coming to ground zero on this 9-11? Fox News Channel has looked at an advanced copy of her speech and has noticed that not once will she use the words terrorismthis 9-11. Fox News Channel has looked at an advanced copy of her speech and has noticed that not once will she use the words terrorism or 9-11. Those dots, that's where remains were found.

And when the Ziaro go, right to where the mosque would be. When I watched the second plane fly into the building, I was there. I had a safety deposit box in a chase bank underneath. You can still see the outline the outline the outline the why I have passion for this thing, this is why. Yeah, we lost a lot of good cash that day. So you can imagine, you can imagine how outraged Fox must be to find out that the health care for those who risk their lives to recover that charred money.

Is being held up by a Republican filibuster. And I know they have access to 9-11 first responders. Joining me now a leading opponent of the mosque and a former New York City firefighter and 9-11 responder, Tim Brown. Here is one of the 9-11 first responders reacting to the decision by the landmark commission. A 9-11 responders taking matters into his own hands by th. th. th. th. th. th. th. decision by the landmark commission. A 9-11 responder is taking matters into his own hands by suing the developers for $350 million. Yet somehow they've been unable to find even one 9-11 first responder to speak about the

Zedroga bill. In fact, only Fox's Peter Johnson, Jr. seemed perturbed by it at all. He never mentioned that it was the Republicans holding up the bill. Oh, what party was it? Maybe it was the Bull Moose Party or the Greens or the Whigs or... Buh! Yet, there was one network that gave the 9-11 responder story the full 22 minutes of intense coverage that it deserved. But that network, unfortunately, was Al Jazeera.

Our networks were scooped with a sympathetic Zedrogabill story by the same network that Osama bin Laden sends his mixtapes to. This is insane! This is insane! I would like to see one of these senators have the balls to explain why somehow getting a tax cut extension for wealthy Americans is more important than suffering ground zero workers. We need to get the issue addressed for the firefighters and the 911 victims and we will. The difference I think with a tax bill is there is a deadline, January 1st. Yes. There are only two short things in life. Death and taxes.

Apparently the only one this cat cares about is taxes. When we come back, we'll speak with some 9-11 first responders and they'll respond to what we've just seen. We'll be right back. Finding great candidates to hire can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You might get a lot of resumes, but not enough candidates with theiririririr. Zipipipipipipipipipipipip. Zip. Zip. Zip. Zip. Zip. Zip. Zip. Zip. Zip. Zip. Zip. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to go to go to their to go to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th. thi. thi. thi. taxe is to. te. te. te. taxe is. taxe is. toes. taxe is. toes is. taxe is to the is the is to hire can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You might get a lot of resumes, but not enough candidates with the right skills or experience. But not with Zip Recruiter. Zip Recruiter's smart technology identifies top talent for your roles quickly. Immediately after you post your job, Zip Recruiters' powerful matching technology start showing you qualified people for it. Zip Recruiters' powerful matching technology starts showing you qualified people for it, and you can use Zip Recruiter's pre-written invite to apply message to personally reach out to your favorite candidates and encourage them to apply sooner. Ditch the other

hiring sites and let Zip Recruiter find what you're looking for, the needle in the haystack. Four out of five employers who post on Zip Recruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for free at this exclusive web address. Zip Recruiter.com slash zip. Again that's Zip Recruiter. The smartest way to hire. Hey everybody John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting, you'll be saying to yourself, TGID, thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me.

The election, economics, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with'll talk a little bit about, talk a little bit about some of the emotions going on now

in the Senate. We're joined by four men who can perhaps best sympathize with what the Senate is going through. Please welcome Kenny Speck from the FDNY, the NYPD, Ken George, DOT, and John Devlin Operating Engineer, heavy equipment. All 9-11 first responders. Gentlemen, you're all 9-11 first responders. You were down there from the moment of the attacks, for the most part. Now you see the Senate is filibustering the bill. What's going through your mind as you're watching this process go down? We're we're disgusted. We're disappointed and

and unfortunately we're hurt. We are we are proud protectors of the Constitution for the people by the people and and we want to know where it was lost. We're patriots to this country. It's like everybody here. We went down there for the love of this country and for the love of our city. We didn't turn our back on anybody for us to be here now. Nine years later, still fighting just for our health, for our compensation. You are suffering from stage four?

I have a stage four inoperable throw cancer on both and on both lymph nodes. You're suffering from... I got heart disease and lung disease. From being down there. It's hot, long, back, brain issues. Cancer. And these are all from being down. Definitely.

You know, none of the Republican senators went on the floor of the Senate to talk about why they were going to filibuster the bill. But Senator Mitch McConnell a couple of days ago did actually get on the floor of the Senate and made, I thought, a really emotional speech, and I wanted you guys to listen to it and maybe get your reactions to. Judd grew up in Nashua in southern New Hampshire and was in for he found time to address up as the school's mascot for a time. In 1992 Jud decided to run for the last time, he'll leave an enormous void behind. Senator Mitch McConnell on the floor of the Senate, he's talking about Senator Judd Gregg, who's retiring from the Senate. Yeah, he's shedding a tear on his lunch buddy that he hangs out with every day.

He's talking about Senator Judd Gregg, who's retiring from the Senate. Yeah, he's shedding a tear on his lunch buddy that he hangs out with every day. Where is his human feeling for, not only the four of us, we represent the brothers and sisters with that, we're down there. This isn't a me, me to any one of us. This is about the brothers and sisters that can't come out and speak like we can. It's sad to see someone like him. To be fair, they have work together for like six years. Oh yeah. He's crying because

the other guy pays the tap. Really? That's the thing at the lunch thing, the guy pays the tape. Watching that, there's only one thing i can say yeah i found time to uh... dresses in new york city fireman on september eleventh isn't that incredible it is incredible you were able to do that you were able to pull that off i tell you i i i feel bad for Mitch McConnell i you know he said something very important that his friend uh... he's gonna watch his friend walk out of the uh... the uh... the senate chambers and and i unfortunately that's more than a

new york city firefighter can say about about three hundred and forty three of his brothers who can't walk anymore but i've been to one nine eleven funeral yeah i don't know it's this is it's a strange thing now let's a good i do think there's misperceptions out that you guys somehow because you're part of unions you're already covered for all this stuff but explain the way I've I've heard it is so you guys go down to 9-11 you're there basically from the day of the attack straight through digging people out I mean going through horrific things that

many of us cannot ever ten months seven days a week a day we were down there breathing in all that, like a thousand toxidities that way down there. So you're going through all this. When you get sick, they consider it workman's comp. You can't work anymore so your health insurance suddenly is cut. And the workman's comp people fight you. It's work related. Because they say, well, how can we decide, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, they, they, they, the, the, tho, tho, tho, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, the, they, they, they, they, they, they, they they they they, thi, they, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi.a, thoooooooooooooooooooooo-a, tho-a, tho-a, thooo can we decide that your cancers are work-related. I can only speak for myself when I was I died twice last year fighting this

cancer while I'm fighting for the cancer I was fighting for the compensation that would cover my bills right it's ridiculous. How come NYPD doesn't you know does NYPD cover all of your stuff now or how does that work? No, they're not. They put me out on three quarters. I got a phone call one day and it comes to term, they told my wife they were putting me out because I was costing NYPD too.

So this is, this is, I was quote, unquote, still on a job but I was sick. It's a financial financial, th. It's a financial, th. It's a financial, th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thath. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I, thi. I, thi. I'm, thi. I'm, thi. I's, thi. I's, thi. I's, thi. I's, thi. I's, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. too. th. too. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. they's. a helper but a financial burns. Exactly. They don't care. We have coverage, but co-pays run me a couple hundred dollars a month if I get really sick, I've had a heart promise. And he had a buddy die, one of the guys that's fighting with you guys died just this week or last week? Face cancer. I mean, you know it's, he had a prosthetic nose, his nose, his nose fell off his face. Now, he died of just this cancer then. You can't tell a reasonable person that when your nose falls off your face that you have not died from something absolutely horrific that people are just not familiar with. Part of the problem is they say, okay, you got cancer, why is it due to 9-11? Other people get cancer. But the majority of us are having heart problems, having cancer.

And the young ages, and young ages, and you get it penalized for getting sick. A lot of the things they're saying is, hey man, it's Christmas. And we can, you know, I want you to listen this. They're saying that theyto stay and work that week between Christmas and New Year's. Listen to this. It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority leader laid out without doing, frankly, without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holists of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate, not just the senators themselves but all of the staff. So basically what he's saying is, I can't stay here and work between Christmas and New Year's.

That would be disrespecting Christians and his family. Do you have any thoughts on that? It just goes to show the disconnect between those we elect to represent us and those that get out there and do the work because I'm here to say that you won't find a single New York City firefighter who considers it a sign of disrespect to work in a New York City firehouse on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. How do the city feel? It's a quiet apartment and police department didn't show up for that time. I represent the union tradesman in this city. And it was an honor to work through Christmas on that 9-11.

To give that closure to those people that were on the other side of that gate every morning showing us the pictures of their loved ones. I don't think there's anything better than to go out there and help other people. What would the families think of us if we didn't do our job for them? On 9-11 when you heard that the Towers got hit and you were with your colleagues in the NYPD and the fire department. When you guys voted, obviously you needed a supermajority to vote to go down there, right? I mean you vote, yeah you need a supermajority. So we barely made it by one vote. Were you able to get, were there people, did you have to promise things to the other firefighters or the other policemen? Like just vote with us on this to go down to the towers to save people, and we'll do, we'll have chili on Friday night.

You don't know if they're fortunate nobody retired that day. Otherwise, we would have been crying about their retirement and leaving to the bomb. It would have been a very difficult day for you. It's a very difficult day. Gentlemen, I cannot thank you enough. All I can do is I feel like apologizing to all of you, and I'm not even sure why. It's an absolute travesty. I appreciate your service. And I'm really hoping that this is a good Christmas for you guys, because you certainly deserve it more than anybody. Thank you, God bless you. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Finding great candidates to hire can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

You might get a lot of resumes, but not enough candidates with the right skills or experience. But not with Zip Recruiter. Zip Recruiter finds amazing candidates for you fast. And right now you can try it for free at Zip Recruiter's smart technology identifies top talent for your roles quickly. Immediately after you post your job, Zip Recruiters smart technology identifies top talent for your roles quickly. Immediately after you post your job, Zip Recruiters' powerful matching technology starts showing you qualified people for it, and you can use Zip Recruiter's pre-written invite to apply message to personally reach out to your favorite candidates and encourage them to apply sooner.

Ditch the other hiring sites and let Zip Recruter find what you're looking for, the needle in the haystack. Four out of five employers who post on Zip Recruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for free at this exclusive web address. Zip Recruiter. the scepticreuter. S.Zip Recruiter. The smartest way to hire.

Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thoeoe. thoe. thoe. thoe. thoe. tho. thoe, thoom. thooo. tho. tho. tho. tho. the the the tho. the the th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the the the th................................................................................................................... Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, it's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting, you'll be saying to yourself, TGID, thank God it's Thursday we're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance

it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to guest tonight. Former Governor of Arkansas and former Republican presidential candidate. His show on the Fox News Channel is called, And his new children's book is called, I can't wait till Christmas. Which, I think is probably a sentiment felt by many people.

Please welcome back to the program. Mike Huckabee. You know it's called, I can't wait till Christmas, you're a man of faith, a religious man, a Christian man, you are very familiar with the Christmas. You're a man of faith, a religious man, you are very familiar with the Christmas holiday and the ramifications of it. Are you not allowed to work between Christmas and New Year's? Is that? No, I think, in fact, it's sort of like the heavy-duty season for most Christians. They work a little harder.

So it really does not, I think, bother me if the Senate and the House were to work a little extra. It'd make up for all the times times times times times times times times times times times times times times times times times times times times times the the the times times times times times times times times times the times the the the the the the the the too's, toe and the Senate and the House were to work a little extra. It'd make up for all the times they're not working, which is the rest of the year. Oh, I see. Very interesting. So it may not be disrespectful necessarily to pass this. What do you make of this? You know, I feel like I hate when I get like this, so angry that I feel like I cannot articulate what I would like to express about it. This bill that is leaving these guys, these guys are dying. And yet we are abandoning them for a principle of a tax.

I'm not, I don't even know what to think. Well, it's personal to me, John. I have a dear friend in Texas named Michael, I'll not give his last name. He's dying. He came here three days after 9-11. He's a first responder as a paramedic and worked with the field of first responders in Texas. When 9-11 happened, he basically said, my country's on fire, I'm going. And he came here and spent almost a year as a volunteer.

He's dying. And he can't get any assistance. I think the tragedy is that this bill has not been separated out. And I know that you blame the Republicans and there's plenty of fault, but Republicans like Peter King and the House have fought for the bill. The House is past it. I understand. No, no, it's past the House. It is just being held up. But this bill oughta. They need two senators. It is separated out. It is separated out. It is a drug bill is not attached to anything else. Not attached to any other bill. It is a separate bill.

They need two senators. Two. Every Republican should vote for this bill. You work at Fox. Yes. So. And Fox, you know, you played the tape from Peter Johnson, who has taken a strongstand. He has. I don't know that you see that from an editorial position of the other cable networks.

No, you have not. So at least give us credit. There's been some other. The thing that is difficult to watch is I see the 9-11 outrage machine that Fox is able to generate when they want to. That mosque story, boy that carried, you know, people were hearing that for months and months. They haven't, they haven't ginned it up for this and they should. This is a situation that is real, that the real people that helped us out in that situation are truly hurting. Why haven't they sent out that memo and could you go over there and give them a little poke? Because once you get that done...

Well, I will just defend at least Fox has taken a position on it. Maybe we covered the mosque even more. But it does not mean, I'm just saying to you, go tell that message to CBS and NBC and ABC and CNN. MSNBC has done some stuff on it. Some position. Cable news has been better than the difficulty for me is comparing it to other 9-11 related outrages that I've seen played out on the airwaves of Fox. This one feels like man it's in your wheelhouse. The silence has been astonishing in juxtaposition to other things that they've done. Well, another thing, John, it makes a little more personal for me, and I was telling the gentleman backstage as we passed in the hallway. My father was a career fireman in Arkansas.

So, you know, I remember as a little kid, him coming home, and this was before the days of good equipment, him coughing up black stuff into the sink at our house. I mean, it sounds gross, but people do some pretty heroic things when they serve as first responders. Those who went into the ashes of 9-11 went into some of the most hideous stuff that perhaps has ever been inhaled by human beings. And yes, we owe it to them. I don't argue that at all. And I wish the Republicans would say, we'll fight the battle.

But I also wish the Democrats would be willing to not make this a part of a political battle and would just say. They have, honestly, to their discredit, they haven't. I mean, I've never seen anybody presented with a giant political win like that on a silver platter and look at it and go, I'm not going to have cake, I'll just sit over in the corner and eat celery. Like it's, it's the craziest thing I've ever seen.

I'm totally with you on that and I wish the Republicans would just say we're going to do it because if it needs to, there ought to be 25, 35, 45 Republicans. Yeah, if they got to stay here on the thing we're going to take a commercial break We'll come can you stick around for a few more minutes and we'll you know I'm going to yeah, you're a good man. All right can't wait till Christmas is on the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.

Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show coming out every Thursday. We're going to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient-to-bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the Weekly Show with John, John the weekly thiiiiiiiiiii the weekly the weekly th. th. th. th. th. the weekly th. th. the weekly th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the weekly the the the the the the to the, the, to to to to to to the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th. th. th. th. th. to be to be to be to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. th. th. th. the, the, the. to theean. to to to to to to to to to to thean. to to to thea. thea. thea. theee. the. to thean