The Daily - The Freshmen: Rashida Tlaib, Part 1

Episode Date: January 22, 2019

Now that the Democrats have taken back the House, their plan is to govern on a message of unity heading into 2020. A small group of new, progressive lawmakers threatens to upend that plan. Meet one of them. Guests: Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, and Andy Mills, a producer for “The Daily.” For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.This episode includes disturbing language.

If there is one thing clear from Tuesday's primaries, it is this, that women candidates are breaking all kinds of records. During this fall's midterm elections, We have more women running for office at all levels. an unprecedented number of women ran for office, most of them Democrats. Women who had never run for anything before stepped up to put their names on the ballot. I don't want anyone to elect me because I'm a woman, but we need to elect me because I'm better. By and large, they adopted the party's strategy of talking about unifying issues. Overall, the two top issues are health care and the economy.

The Affordable Care Act is here to stay. We must protect it as we must protect Medicare. And they played down what they saw as more polarizing issues, like abolishing ICE, Medicare for All. And especially, they avoided talking about impeaching the president. Let's see how the Mueller probe plays out and then go from there. And that strategy, it worked. Washington is about to get a lot more female. Democrats took back the House of Representatives,

and they embarked on an even more difficult second phase of the strategy, which is to actually govern in the same fashion. If they or the president want to get anything done the next two years, they will now have to work together. But among those winners this fall... Despite no attention, despite no media fanfare... ...was the smaller wave of candidates who were challenging longtime incumbents, often in reliably Democratic districts

and often without the party's full support or blessing. Despite the fact that we were running against a 10-term incumbent, despite the fact that it was your first time running for office, despite the fact that I'm working class, despite all those things, we won. And these new lawmakers did not stick by that strategy. You have called to abolish ICE. We don't need to be protected from immigrants. We need to be protected from this president.

Sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60 or 70 percent. As you climb up this ladder, you should be contributing more. Do you think that Trump should be impeached? I would vote yes. And even though their numbers are small, the fear is that they could push the entire Democratic agenda to the left, to the very places the party has been avoiding going. I think that unpredictability makes a lot of people nervous.

So today, we're going to meet one of those freshmen. Detroit's Rashida Tlaib. Rashida Tlaib. She is poised to become the first Muslim woman in Congress in the country. Will you vote for Nancy Pelosi? Probably not. Is she one of the people you're referring to as a Democratic sellout? Look, I don't know.

All I can tell you is she doesn't speak about the issues that are important to the families of the 13 Congress. Who, on her first day in Congress, made those theoretical tensions real. When your son looks at you and says, Mama, look, you won. Bullies don't win. And I say, baby, they don't. Because we're going to go in there and we're going to impeach the motherfucker. It's Tuesday, January 22nd. Back in December, a few weeks before Rashida Tlaib left for Washington,

producer Andy Mills and I went to her district in Detroit to meet her, her staff, and her supporters. I think that by pushing the 5, you called. Well done, Andy. We're shooting for Congress. Hey, it's Michael Barbaro from the New York Times. Amanda said we should come up. Yeah, sounds good.

Thank you. Can you describe the building? Can you describe the building? This is a four-story building on the outskirts of downtown Detroit. There are some offices and non-profits in here. Oh, hey, hey. Who's the dog? Hi, dog.

What's your name? Lola. Her name was Lola. Hi? Lola. Her name was Lola. Hi, Lola. No, no, no, no, no. Ben. Oscar. Oscar, Michael. Michael. Hey, nice to meet you.

Thanks a lot. Yeah, of course. Hi, Amanda. Nice to meet you. Hi, Amanda. Hi. Nice to meet you. Thank you so much for letting us come by. Yeah, so, I mean, we're just in the process of packing up, so... Can you describe it for me? This looks like a campaign office being packed up.

It has boxes of folders, placards and brochures, trash bags, a giant Rashida Democrat for Congress sign. I don't think Monica wants this, so I think we can... Chuck it. Chuck it. Can I ask how you came to work with the congresswoman? Yeah, I volunteered online. I definitely wanted to get involved, and I was looking for districts that needed to be flipped.

And I saw the video of Rashida at the Detroit Economic Club where she was there yelling at Donald Trump. Detroit tops the list of the most dangerous cities in terms of violent crime. She didn't go quietly into the night, that's for sure. She was dragged, kicking and screaming. You were actually at an event, a Trump speech, and you, along with several others,

were forcibly removed for heckling. Absolutely. So I saw that and I was like, ooh, that's the lady I need to volunteer for. And how about for you, who's Rashida to you? I don't know if you've, how much you read about her in the media and stuff like that, but I mean, this is the person who carries a bullhorn to a protest, you know? I think that was the most patriotic thing you could ever do, is disrupt somebody that doesn't believe in our Constitution, that doesn't believe...

The person who's joining her residents on the street to block traffic, you know? You don't see so many politicians who are that hands-on in their community, and it's really impressive. Test one. So where are we, Michael? So we're out front of a senior center in Detroit where Congresswoman-elect Rashida Tlaib is gonna meet with the residents who she'll soon be representing and her people, her staff, have told us that she'll meet us inside.

Hi. Hi there. You're following Rashida, right? Yes, that's us. Amira. Amira? Amira, hello. Hi.

She's usually running a couple minutes late. Well, no, she's always late, so she's on her way. Have you talked to Rashida before? Oh, yes. I like her. I like her a lot. A lot of politicians just come when they want to be elected. Other politicians, they come back and check on us, see?

So that's how you know the difference in people, because if they just come when they want to be elected, then I have a problem with that. But when you come just to see how the seniors and the disabled and things that's happening in the neighborhood, that's a whole different. I guess it's now about a month after the election and she's already back here. See what I'm saying? So that makes me feel good. How are you? Good morning. How are you? So I really want to hear from you all what you want.

Think of this as an avenue for a lot of the issues that you might be facing right now. So just know, even though I'm on the congressional level, on the federal level, it does not mean that you can't call me about some of the local issues. And the most incredible thing is, like, the power of your letterhead. Sometimes even me making a phone call. I can't believe, like, if I call the EPA, they actually call me back now. Like, you know what I mean? I know. But I just want you to know, I don't I don't take that lightly. You know, but I want to hear from you all. What are some of your questions, concerns, issues? Yes, I want to impeach Trump.

impeach Trump. Yes. I mean, is anything being done about the food stamp cuts and decreases? Because there's some of us that actually need the food stamps to survive, you know, along with our income. Yeah. So what are the, I keep telling people, I have the third poorest congressional district in the country. Did you guys know that?

We're the third. And I don't think we do enough around poverty and hunger. I think we have 42 million people, including children, that go hungry. This is basically a standard Q&A. What about the mental ill situation? Big questions, rather small questions. But I learned a couple of things about her. She's really personal. You know, when my mom had a breakdown, it was really bad. And it was right around the holidays.

She's talking about very intimate, private things in her family. Drug addiction, mental illness. Without going into too much details, because my brother kills me every time I do, but there was a situation where he was going to hurt him. It's like I needed to get him in front of someone now. And the other thing is she's basically encouraging these people to play a very particular role in this community. And, you know, I want you to know most of the movement, you know, from getting women's rights, from the civil, all of those movements, they didn't start in the White House or in Congress. They started outside of those buildings. So you need to demand it from me. And then I, that pushes me to demand it from my, from my.

She's saying to them, you now have to be the activist. I was an activist once. Now it's your job. You have to go out there, you have to make a bunch of noise, and then I will do my new part, which is I will respond to that activism now that I'm in Congress. I just want you to know, continue being active, continue not only voting but pushing back against those that say, oh, that's just not how it's done. They'll always say that to you.

That's a lie. It is always a lie. So yeah, thank you. I really appreciate it. You all have to keep connected to me. As I said, you know, people think now that you're there, that you're too busy. So I am giving you all permission to call me, to reach out to me. Last time I gave you my cell, that number has not changed. Or I can put it in your phone. Okay. She's now going up to people's phones, taking them from them, and putting her number, her contact information, in their cell phone.

Now she's taking selfies and putting it into the contact. Every time I call you, every time my face comes up. Come on, let's take one at a time. This wasn't the right way. Let's do this. How often do they call you? I get some crazy calls, but not from my residents, but some people that get my phone number somehow. I don't care. It's worth it.

You gave them a lot of your self and your story in there. I was really struck by that. I like to try not to share. Usually you all are not there, though. That's been so much time. We'll be right back. So it's day two in Detroit with Rashida Tlaib, and we are going to visit her in her office, talk to her there.

We're going to go to a party tonight and watch her mingle with people. But the first thing we're going to do is meet her kids. Hey, how are you? Hi, nice to meet you. What is your name? Adam. Adam? You must be? Yusuf. Great jacket. I'm Andy. Hi, nice to meet you. Just tell me what you're doing right now. We're walking right now to my mom's car. Hey, mama.

Hey, baby. We'll grab it and we'll drop you guys off. Do you guys post this on YouTube? On YouTube? No, not exactly. I want to be a YouTuber when I grow up. You want to be a YouTuber when I grow up.

You want to be a YouTuber when you grow up? A YouTuber. Do you mind if I ask the kids a couple of questions about it? It's fine. Okay. I told them not to embarrass me

and I won't embarrass them at school. Mama, please don't embarrass me at school. Today it's my dad's embarrassing me. Mama, why? of what just happened to your mother? I'm really happy that that actually worked out. I actually predicted that my mom wouldn't win, to be honest. Yeah. Are you being sarcastic? No, it just looked like that because I took records of what the voters were saying and I just, you know. What were they saying about her?

Like 50% were with her and 50% were not. At least it's what I saw because it was close. I knew it would be close. This is the primary. Oh, yeah. One by how many votes? 800. Like, 800 votes.

Anyway, so, yeah, I'm actually really excited for my mom's inauguration. Why? Just very, it's going to be historical, I think, at least. Yay, Mommy won. What do you think Mama does? Embarrassing. You don't like my music, but you do. I don't.

We listen to Michael Jackson. I like Michael Jackson. No, no, no. This is the thing I hate about her. She puts the song that goes through the world. But Adam says it's goes through the world, but Adam says, um, it's boys who the world. Okay.

It's called Girls Run the World by Beyonce. Who run the world? Girls. Why do boys like it? Because boys like girls and stuff, you know, you know, another joke. It's kind of true, right? Your mom is about to go run the world. Wait, no, she's not.

She only has one vote. Is this your school? It's beautiful. I wish you could come. Well, that's very sweet. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Sugar Law Center. Mr. Gilmer is not in right now, but I can take down a message and have him give you a call. Okay. All right. Take care. Bye. So we want to just situate ourselves in the moment we're in a little bit. So, I mean, this has been your office for the past...

Three years. And now you're leaving it. Yeah, I'm packing up. Going from the nonprofit social justice organization, this place that, you know, kind of fueled my activism to taking all of that with me to Congress. Is that you and Michelle Obama? Oh, yeah, I saw.

Isn't that amazing? Is this your name from the legislature? Yeah. Also, that's the father of my children, Fayez. That's him. He's a great cook. There's all my boys together. This is

part of a fence. When I was a state representative, we went and tore down a fence that was illegally erected by a billionaire who just took one of our public parks. So a bunch of us went and cut it up. And yeah, that's part of the fence. How are you planning on, are you planning to move to D.C.? So I don't think of it as moving to D.C. I just am going to have a place to sleep there while I'm voting and doing work there. But my boys are going to stay here. I have an incredible partner, and he's such a great co-parent.

Their dad is amazing. That's why I don't think of myself as a single mom as much because he's really stepped up and has been able to really be there every single day for the boys. Do you anticipate going back and forth every week? Oh, yeah. Every week I'm coming back. And members of Congress do this a lot. I mean, I think I just I cannot see myself so centered in D.C. being able to be effective on the things that have to be done for my residents. I can totally see myself completely disengaging in what's happening at home.

But how much can you change Congress, which is one of your stated goals, if you're flying to the Capitol to vote and then you're kind of out and head back to the district? How much of an imprint can you leave on the actual conduct of federal government? Yeah, I mean, I can tell you, I mean, look, the way you impact or change Congress is you get more people like me to run for office. Is it going to be with the current members there? I'm not hopeful. But what about legislatively? What do you want to get done in this first year?

If you go on your website, you have a $15 minimum wage, a college education that's debt-free, environmental justice, on and on. I mean- You know, all of those issues are at the forefront. And all these new members that have come in with me have run on those issues. It is going to be a top priority for us. But I don't think we're going to succeed unless we have the movement work and the things that we're doing back home to connect it. Again, when we disconnect, we end up with something like Affordable Care Act, which people don't understand is insurance companies were in the room drafting it. And I feel like if that happens on Fight for 15, that happens with other, then we won't succeed. I'm thinking that you disapprove of the Affordable Care Act, because many Democrats would call it the signal achievement

of the party in the last decade or so. I mean, people like the man you're standing with in that photograph, Barack Obama. It's imperfect, even by his own measure, but it got done. I know, and that's the thing, though. We had winners and losers. Not everybody got helped. How's it going?

Nice to see you. How's it going? Nice to see you. How's it going? How are you? So we're at a dinner in downtown Detroit. It's this kind of large room, open bar. There's a buffet. It's mostly a room full of lawyers and advocates, social justice leaders. And in a way, they're all saying goodbye to her because she's leaving that world and heading to Washington.

Oh my God, I can't believe Gwen. I can't believe you came all the way down. This is so great. So glad to be here. I'm so happy for all of us, for you and everybody. Why were you getting teared up? She's just known me for 10 years. Like, I was just telling her, oh, my God, we're going to Congress. Yes, yes. I told her so much for laying down in the street on 4th Street, blocking trucks, protesting Southwestern being closed.

I'm so glad you came. I'm so glad. I told Simone I couldn't miss it. You met the members of the class, other members? Yeah, of course. Yeah, I mean, I instantly connected with Cherise Davids, women like her, Lauren Underwood, all these incredible women. How about Ocasio-Cortez?

Yeah, of course. You know, a lot of people have all these things about her, but when you're next to her, you feel like you just feel that energy. So, yeah, it's exciting. And Pelosi must be in the courtship phase, right? I don't know what they call it. People told me to buy her chocolate and that she'll like me. I mean, there's crazy advice, really.

You just nod, you know, okay. She's a hard worker. She deserves this opportunity. I have every confidence that she's going to do great things. You know, she really tells it like it is. She's not trying to play like a political game and like, you know, kind of dance around her words. Like she's very passionate about what she believes in. You know, it's just every day we see, you know, she says something that's pretty outside of the mainstream, outside of the Democratic mainstream, and it shifts the conversation a little. So I'm very excited about it.

All right, all right, all right. Thank you all for coming. I want to make it clear to everybody who has doubt about the electoral process, doubt about whether things can be done once something beautiful happens the way that it has happened with our own Rashida going to Washington. I feel it's very important that you all, and I know there's supposed to be some swearing in in January. My dream, I think about it, is when Mike Pence has to swear her in. I'm a Quran. Not to be a pill, but Mike Pence doesn't actually swear in House members. He swears in senators.

It's Nancy Pelosi who swears in House members. Good fact check. You're welcome. Before he swears her in, us to swear her in now. Us to do a people swearing in, everybody. A people swearing in. Alright Rashida, you're going to repeat after me.

I, Rashida Tlaib, solemnly swear. I, Rashida Tlaib, solemnly swear to fight for working people in their communities, to fight against corporate welfare and handouts to millionaires, to protect public education, to fight against bullies as bullshit in all forms. Yeah! And then, to stick it to the man. I hereby declare you the people's Congresswoman, Rashida Salim. I always love you too.

Thank you, thank you. You know, what people said to me over and over again in different ways is, are you gonna, oh, asking me, are you gonna sell us out? And it broke my heart a little bit. More more the more I have are you gonna are you gonna be one of those are you you know sure readers whatever they couldn't pronounce my name they're like you are you gonna be one of those that sells us out that will forget about us and so much of that is embedded in us not believing in the process anymore not believing that government is about

people and we're gonna change that we're gonna do it together us not believing in the process anymore, not believing that government is about people. And we're going to change that. We're going to do it together. You know, I started trying to start a hashtag about the man in the White House, you know, President Ahmaud. President Ahmaud is President Donkey. And it's a way of saying jackass. And when I think of President Hammad, I just think of this moment where, you know, he banned Muslims from coming in, he called my Mexican neighbors rapists, demonized my LGBTQ neighbors, but words matter. And they do. And no matter what, I will not stand idly by and say, I'm going to wait for an investigation. I'm going to wait. No. And so when people say to you, you got to wait and people email me and say, wait, I can't wait because these are years I can't get back for my residence. This is hurt that I can't get back for my residence. These are years that I can't get back for my residence. So

you stand with me when you say accountability matters, rule of law matters. I don't care if it's Maddie Maroon, the Koch brothers, Marathon Oil Refinery, I don't give a shit who it is. And if that president of the freaking United States that is not following the law, just like I do, just like all of us do in this country, then you're gonna get impeached. You're gonna be removed from office. It's too much, and it's too painful, and we deserve better.

Thank you for allowing me to be me, and really kind of charging me up. I mean, think about it, you guys. And now one of us is going to be me and really kind of charging me up. I mean, think about it, you guys. And now one of us is going to be in the United States Congress. That was the real angry activist casting off all the niceties of contemporary politics. She called her president a jackass. off all the niceties of contemporary politics. She called our president a jackass. Is that a press gallery we're going to get tight views?

Checking at that desk there. Thank you. So this is the big day. We are in Washington. We're in the Capitol. It's been three weeks since we've ever seen a Tlaib in Detroit. Followed her around. And today, she and all her colleagues are going to become Congress members officially. So you can take audio in the chamber.

If it's for your note-taking purposes only, it can't be for rebroadcast. We'll just use this fan and stuff. Yeah. Pursuant to law and precedent, the next order of business is election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Timmons. McCarthy. Tipton. McCarthy.

Titus. Pelosi. Tlaib. For the future of our children, Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi. So I just walked out of the House chamber where I saw Rashida Tlaib in her mother's traditional Palestinian dress with her two sons. And one of the questions I had was, how was Tlaib and this crew of freshmen that she identifies with, what were they going to do when it came to voting for Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker? They had made noises that they might oppose her.

She is the very democratic establishment that they ran against. And one by one, when it came time to stand up and cast a vote, they all went with Pelosi, including Tlaib. So on day one so far, it looks like they are falling in line. This has been a day of political pageantry and real change in the U.S. Congress. We all have the privilege to serve with over 100 women members of Congress, the largest number in history. Democrat Nancy Pelosi has just been elected Speaker of the House, making history for the second time.

I look forward to working with you in a bipartisan way for the good of our country. Just hours last night after getting sworn in, Rashida Tlaib went on a profanity-laced rant while screaming for the president's impeachment. Take a look. And you win. And when your son looks at you

and says, Mama, look, you won. Bullies don't win. And I said, baby, they don't. Because we're going to go in there. We're going to impeach the motherfucker. A freshman Democrat from Michigan using vile language in public to call for the impeachment of President Trump. So disgusting. It was horrible. No one should approve of that. And I hope she doesn't talk to her son that way either. What does that story tell us about this new class? Well, you know, she said on Twitter, I'm unapologetically me. You know, I'm not going to say I'm sorry and I'm not going to change.

You cannot accomplish very much of anything unless you have civility. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she doesn't approve of the profanity, but isn't in the business of censorship. Okay, so just a few hours into her first day, Talib has found herself in the middle of this giant media maelstrom. And in front of her office, we spotted CNN and the AP. They're basically staking her out, trying to get her to come out and say something about what she said about Trump. And we just got word that she's actually not in that office where everyone's waiting for her. She's in a different office. And her staff just told us that they're not talking to anybody, but they're going to talk to us for just a little bit. And they're going to let us ask her about this. Somebody's trying to get into my Facebook.

Oh, hi. How are you? You missed the boys yesterday. I saw them from the press gallery. Yeah. Oh, did you? Yes. You should fall asleep at the beginning.

Sounds a little something. I think I do just want to jump into kind of the press gallery. Yeah. Oh, did you? You should fall asleep at the beginning. Sounds a little funny. I think I do just want to jump into kind of the thing, the moment. I mean, you were a congresswoman, I guess, by that point for 12 or 13 hours. Did you kind of momentarily forget that cell phones were rolling at all times? Or did you mean to do it? I think for me, that's who I am. It's something that I would have done if I wasn't a member of Congress, right? I think, you know, as I was talking about people like us running for office

and not changing who we are, not one thing about who we are, how we act or anything, I think is really critically important. Because when we do lose that part of who we are, who we are in our soul, we start getting disconnected with the people back home. But at the same time, you can't really take the girl from Detroit out of me, I think. And back home in Detroit,

MF is like saying, that guy. Let me ask you what may seem like a kind of a prissy New York Times-y question, but is that befitting a congressperson? I don't know if it's necessarily befitting of the congressperson. I think I need to focus on the issue. And I think that for me was a lesson learned of understanding that I was really talking about this incredible historic class of folks that are ready to work. Well, so I do want to understand what the consequences of this are, and I don't want to belabor it, but do you think that in this moment, perhaps unintentionally, you created

a reputation, not just momentarily for yourself, but for the broader new freshman class? for the broader new freshman class? No, I don't think so. I can, I, you know, love that today I saw Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing in front of her office, like, who cares what you all think about me? And I'm like, exactly. That's how I feel.

Did you hear from Democratic Party leaders like Nancy Pelosi? When we were in the room, I was in the room, you were in the room, you saw her speech, which was all about bipartisanship, being united. So I wonder if you've heard anything from her. No, I mean, what she said, which was really great, is that there is a generational gap here. And there's people that, you know, take this approach very differently. And I love that

she respects that we all are different, and that she doesn't use it to divide us. So is there any part of you who might be a little proud of this? You started off by saying you can't take the Detroit out of the girl. No, I don't know. Proud is not the word. It is who I am. I guess my final question is Congresswoman, now Congresswoman to leave. I still can't get used to that. Get used to it. I know.

Do you really think that you can stay like this? I can. Look, I may not use the MF word every single day, and I will not use it on the House floor. I don't think I would ever be me or effective or be the person, will really be the person that my residents elected if I'm not who I am. Do you think you'll continue to be the number one congressperson trending on Twitter for very much longer? I hope not. You hope not?

No. Absolutely. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, thank you. In the weeks since their swearing in, Representative Tlaib and a group of like-minded freshmen have trip to Israel for newly elected members of Congress. She will organize her own with a trip to the West Bank and a focus on issues like, quote, Israel's detention of Palestinian children.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised the new members, calling them a transformative freshman class. But when it came time to hand out committee assignments last week, Pelosi did not award members like Tlaib the positions they were seeking on the most powerful committees. The Daily will continue following the story of Congresswoman Tlaib and this entire incoming class all year. woman to leave, and this entire incoming class all year.

Here's what else you need to know today. That is why I am here today to break the logjam and provide Congress with a path forward to end the government shutdown and solve the crisis on the southern border. Over the weekend, President Trump, for the first time since the shutdown began, publicly offered the Democrats a way out by giving temporary protection to young, undocumented immigrants in exchange for $5.7 billion for a border wall. Number one is three years of legislative relief for 700,000 DACA recipients brought here unlawfully by their parents at a young age many years ago. This extension will give them access to work permits, social security numbers, and protection from deportation, most importantly.

In his speech, Trump proposed granting DREAMers three years of legal protection and also restoring temporary protected status to about 300,000 immigrants from a variety of countries. This means that 300,000 immigrants whose protected status is facing expiration will now have three more years of certainty so that Congress can work on a larger immigration deal, which everybody wants, Republicans and Democrats. The offer undermines Trump's own policies since he revoked previous protections for both groups,

a fact Democrats cited when they immediately rejected his offer, along with the fact that the plan offers no permanent legal status for DREAMers. It was effectively saying, look, I created a problem by taking away protections for DREAMers. I created another problem by taking away protections for refugees. I'm willing to undo part of the damage temporarily that I have inflicted to get my wall. Well, that's really not much of an offer. It wasn't intended to be.

The shutdown, which began on December 22nd, has now entered its fifth week. That's it for The Daily. I'm Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.