The Majority Report with Sam Seder - 3558 - Iran Attack Imminent?; ICE Ramps Up Terror Campaign w/ Trita Parsi

Episode Date: January 13, 2026

It's News Day Tuesday On today's program: Gavin Newsom vows to stop a proposed 5% billionaire tax. Head CBP field agent Greg Bovino says "hats off" to Renee Good murder, Jonathan Ross. Trita Parsi, co-founder and vice president of the Quincy Institute joins Sam and Emma to discuss the protests in Iran. We take a look at several videos showing ICE violently detaining and brutalizing children, legal observers and other U.S. citizens. AOC breaks down how the health care cuts are paying for ICE thugs to murder mothers in the streets Here is a link to a form letter drafted by the National Immigration Law Center to tell your Congressperson no more funding for ICE and demand accountability. In the Fun Half: Greg Gutfeld delivers an inarticulate monologue about Renee Good designed to make the viewers not care about her death. Sam and Emma take calls from folks in Minnesota to talk about local ICE resistance. At a congressional forum featuring three candidates competing for Nancy Pelosi's soon-to-be vacant seat, the candidates are asked whether Israel is committing a genocide. Scott Wiener refuses to answer and is met with relentless boos. Days later, Wiener takes to social media to announce he has changed his position and now says he believes Israel is committing a genocide. All that and more. If you are in the New York City area, check out The Colors That Survived, an art exhibit featuring works from children in Gaza curated by Ms. Rachel The Congress switchboard number is [phone]. You can use this number to connect with either the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives. Follow us on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here: https://rumble.com/user/majorityreport Check out our alt YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! https://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: https://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 10% off your purchase Check out today's sponsors: TRUST AND WILL: Get 20% off trustandwill.com/MAJORITY   SUNSET LAKE: and use the code NEWFLOWER—all one word—to get 30% off their new crop of hemp flower and vape carts at SunsetLakeCBD.com  Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech On Instagram: @MrBryanVokey Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on YouTube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com

Hey, folks. Got a quick update from our friends up in Vermont at Sunset Lake Sabah Day. They just released a fresh crop of their sungrown hemp flour, and they're making the occasion with a special, or I should say they're marking the occasion with a special deal. Right now you can save 30% on their Hawaiian haze and their cherry abacus, hemp flour, and pre-rolls. I like these pre-rolls.

I started in on them earlier this year than I had anticipated because of the year that we've already had. The news. Eight days in or whatever we are, 13 days. Hawaiian haze is a setiva cultivar, really popular with folks who want to stay focused during the day, work on a creative project, or just take the edge off without getting slowed down. Cherry Abigas, however, goes the other direction. It's an Indica cultivar, which is more about winding down, relaxing with a book, or easing into bed at the end of the day. I just remember that, you know, Indic couch. Yes, that's what I taught you the other day.

Yep. See, I remembered it, and that was almost the week ago. Yes. And this deal also applies to Sunset Lake Sabbath Day vape cartridges, which are ideal for situations that require something a little more discreet, as it were. If you want to check out their new crop, head over to sunsetlake sabadeh.com. Use the code new flower, one word, new flower, an E-W-F-L-O-W-E-R, new flour, all one word, to get 30% off their new crop of hemp flour and vape carts. I have been a pre-roll user for quite some time, you know, like at the end of a nice meal, or something like that.

Yeah. You know, if I'm going to settle in for a Celtics game, even one that they lost last night. Illegal screen. What's that? Pascal Seacke on the illegal screen. Oh, my God. Dude, they, never mind.

I'm not going to get into how many foul shots they took as opposed to the Celtics. Brian quit football. The code again is new flower at sunsetlake sabadeh.com. The sale runs through January 18th. You got about five days at 1159 p.m. Eastern. As always, see the site for full terms and conditions. Remember, these guys are, they have a great product, no pesticides, and their movement partners, Sunset Lake, Sabaday.com.

New flour for 30% off their pre-rolls. Not time for the show. The Majority Report with Sam Cedar. It is Tuesday. January 13th, 2006. My name is Sam Cedar. This is the five-time award-winning majority report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, downtown Brooklyn, USA.

On the program today, Trita Parsi, co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft on the protests in Iran and the possibility of, U.S. strikes. Meanwhile, Minnesota and the Twin Cities sue the feds to stop the ICE invasion taking place there. This, as four DOJ officials quit over failure of the Department of Justice to investigate the shooting itself as the FBI decides to investigate the killings victim to see if she had any activist ties. Supreme Court oral arguments begin over trans athlete bands in high school and college sports. The bond market, Republican senators, federal bank, I should say central banks across the world freak out as the White House now distancing itself from its investigation of Jerome Powell at the Fed. EPA to stop using lives saved in calculating the value of lessening air pollution standards.

Judge strikes down Trump's block of offshore wind projects. A 19-year-old Christianist claims responsibility for burning Mississippi's oldest Jewish synagogue. Gavin Newsom vows to stop California's push for a small wealth tax. on billionaires. I repeat, Gavin Newsom vows to stop California's push

to impose a small wealth tax on billionaires. Shout out Rokana. Eric Adams accused of a crypto meme coin pump

and dump and pump and day two of the largest nurses strike in New York City's history, all this

and more on today's majority report. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, it is Newsday, Tuesday.

Newsday, Tuesday. Yes, indeed. And we have a treata Parsi here. We interviewed him just about an hour ago. And already things have, you know, may have changed. It's hard to know. But very helpful to understand the situation in Iran. And then we have a lot of news to get to today.

We will get to it. Someone's asking about the Liz Warren speech. I think we have a couple of clips from that. It just won't get too deep into it right now. But the wealth tax that is being proposed in California, to be clear, is a 5% one-time wealth tax on billionaires, only billionaires. And I don't have my phone from because somebody to do the math on that. 5% is what? $500,000 for a billion.

I don't ask me to do math on the fly this is this is really the wrong place to ask that sort of question but 50 million is 5% of one billion okay if 50 million is 5% of one that's according to homework study so so 50 million dollars for someone who has a thousand millions is that what it is yes okay I'm shedding down I said without much confidence but yes a thousand millions it's Just eat. Who cares? When you have, when you have, I get to imagine, like, when you start to get around like $200 million, there's no way that the added money impacts your life in any way.

It will impact what you own, maybe. But it doesn't impact your life. There's nothing in the world you can't do with $250 million. You can have three or three. four $25 million homes. I don't know where you can find that four places where you find $25 million homes. You have your private jet. There's nothing you can't do. You may not be able to own an island, but you can visit it for as long as you want and stay in as nice accommodation as possible. The idea that we should live in a society where we should care what

a billionaire's concerns are about losing 5% of their existing wealth. Again, the following year, like, that's just what they, that is the minimum, the minimum that they make annually if they didn't have any income other than the investments from their wealth. 5%. You can go out and get a CD if you're willing to do. the $10,000 minimum for 4% at this point. Like, that's how much money they make just by having that much money

minimum annually. Yes. Yes. I mean, like, Miriam Adelson spent 200 million on getting Donald Trump elected. And we're worried about $50 million dollars. But Gavin Newsom has vowed to prevent that from happening. That's state of democracy, 26. Keep tweeting, buddy.

But he is going to show Donald Trump a thing or two if Trump runs again in 2020. Oh, yeah. All right. Let's get to what's been happening in Minnesota. And we just got an I am. I just want to say this. It heads up for people if you are in that area. Just God and I am, I just saw this, that somebody from Massachusetts saw, oh, here it is, bingo dango, several car carriers of SUVs delivered to Burlington, Massachusetts ice facility the other day.

I'm concerned ice is going to give Boston the Minnesota treatment. Stay vigilant, folks. folks in Minnesota have been fantastic, but they are dealing with such a level of violence now coming from ICE and Border Patrol, whatever this entire outfit is. Just a bunch of literally jackbooted thugs. Here is Greg Bovino, helpfully wearing his Nazi uniform on Fox News. Showing his face, you know, he's the guy that will show his face because the rest of his minions won't, but Bovina will walk amongst his masked officers very proudly to lead the

Gestapo in America. And here he is on Fox News. We should say it's also being reported that the the Minneapolis ice shooter, that guy John Ross, I think was his name, right? He apparently told his longtime neighbor that he was a botanist, not an ice agent for the past. last 13 or 14 years. They should be embarrassed, and they also should be worried about a truth and reconciliation commission. And Ken Klippenstein has some reporting on this that despite the public face, ICE agents internally are a little bit concerned.

Scared little boys. And they should be. They should be concerned. Yep. Because we will not forget. Here's Greg Bovino on Sean Hannity's program. Oh, I could see that, but you know what? The rhetoric keeps getting ratcheted up and it gets worse and worse and worse.

And, you know, now we've had an opportunity to look at that video. There is no ambiguity for anyone with eyes to see that the individual that ended up getting shot in this case have been taunting officers along with a partner for an extent. Pause it for one second. I mean, I just want you to just pay attention to the way that Hannity does this. Go back because he is not going to talk about her gender. He is not going to say a wife, like individual partner. Yep.

And they do this because they don't want to remind people that this guy's agent shot a mother in the face at point blank range three times, two of which where there is absolutely no dispute the car had already passed like sideways he is perpendicular to the car shot her in the face a mother of multiple children but you have permission now to not feel badly about that geriatric fox news audience because she's a lesbian and she was taunting them or she was in a relationship with a woman that is what the permission structure that he's allowing for there that's what that video leak was about show her partner and who and the fact that they were lesbians and it's obvious in the video to give their their supporters an excuse to basically be like all right it's one of our political

enemies so we're okay with this person getting shot in the face and here he won't even he won't even gender i mean he's like he is basically trying to dehumanize her by making it as if like they were firing out a target, but go ahead. To see that the individual that ended up getting shot in this case had been taunting officers along with her partner for an extended period of time. And then you hear her partner say to drive, she goes in reverse and right in the path of an officer. Now, is that justified use of force? To me, that it's not even a close call. I'm sure. We know.

Sean, we call that means intent and opportunity. Did that individual have the intent? Look at those minutes leading up to the shooting, and we will see what I would consider some pretty important intent. Did that individual have the opportunity? Yes, did that individual take that opportunity? Yes, a 4,000-pound missile is not something anyone wants to face, especially in a split-second decision-making process,

in a very I pause for a second this whole this means intent and opportunity he learned this from watching SVU this guy has been in the border patrol for his entire career

yeah since the 90s anything about law enforcement or uh or prosecutions I mean this is just shit he watched you know SVU or whatever it is Matt Locke Go back just a little bit.

Didn't know his voice sound like that either. Intempt. It's not something anyone wants to face, especially in a split-second decision-making process in a very already in-hospitable environment. Hats off to that ICE agent. I'm glad he made it out alive. I'm glad he's with his family.

Hats off. I'm glad he made it out of alive and is with his family. Why would you need to emphasize the split-second nature of the decision unless he made the wrong one? What is the standard that supposed law enforcement, which they shouldn't have the dignity of having that title, but should be held to in terms of making split-second decisions?

What's the training for, if there is any at all? Because we have no indication as to what the training even is. This is like immensely important that we make sure that this appropriations stuff in Congress is centered around reining in the ICE Gestapo. The deadline is January 30th. Call your representatives, call your senators and say,

we do not want you to vote for any appropriations that funds ICE, that funds DHS, or at the very least, that doesn't have a bunch of guardrails that are put in place, including preventing all of the funds being transferred for detention without any. the oversight, which normally other agencies need congressional approval. That's not how they have operated with DHS.

Congress should reassert its authority on that front. There needs to be pressure right now by the Democratic Party on this budget process, and Schumer doesn't want to. MS now reporting that at least four leaders of a Justice Department unit that investigates police killings have resigned in protest over the administration's handling of the shooting in Minneapolis. top leaders of the criminal section of the civil rights division have left their jobs to register their frustration with the department after the assistant attorney general for civil rights, Hermit Dillon,

decided not to investigate the ICE officer's fatal shooting of Renee Good last week. I mean, this was, it's not surprising that they're not investigating on a federal level, but the chief of the section and the principal deputy chief and the acting deputy chief are the largest resignation at the DOJ since February. Meanwhile, the FBI who are assigned to this shooting are investigating the victim and her family good in her family to see if they have any activist ties. Tomorrow we're going to be talking to Ken Clippenstein about the implications of the NSPM 7.

The memo essentially that expands the definition of domestic terrorist groups. You got it. It's NSPM 7. And but that's what's going on here. Yes. And like when he says that, I mean, hats off to that ICE officer. right? You know what they're trying to do here. They're trying to provoke somebody eventually to take violent action against an ICE officer

so that they can justify some sort of Marshall crackdown. But the other thing that they're trying to do is to make sure that the ICE officers don't feel a little bit queasy about what they just witnessed to basically say, hey, we will have your back no matter what. No matter if it's on video of you shooting a mom. in the face point blank we will lie to protect you go ahead manned the Ken Klippenstein reporting has them encouraged to canvas their associates to get more manpower into ice like they're they're having trouble keeping people even with all

of this huge money we've decided to give it because it's wrong what they're doing it's illegal it's fascist so that we talk about qualified immunity for police officers which prevents them in many parts of the country from being sued civilly what what the ice Gestapo standard is apparently with the Trump regime is absolute immunity from all crimes that's what completely claimed yeah total immunity uh we'll see very important to let ice agents know that um they're going to be found out there are records there are records somewhere They can hide their faces and they can lie to their neighbors about what they do. But at the end of the day, their name is on a docket somewhere.

In a minute, we will be speaking with Trita Parsi, co-founder, executive vice president, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft on the protests that have been going on in Iran. And in some respects, like I say, we spoke to treaty about half an hour, hour ago. These protests are unprecedented. And we will see what is next, obviously, Donald Trump sort of vaguely threatens a potential attack on Iran. Before we get there, a word from our sponsor today, it's not always pleasant to talk about. the idea that you could pass away. But for most of us, it will happen eventually.

Almost, I would say almost all of us. It brings particular implications if you're a parent, if you're a homeowner, if you're a spouse, you caring for your aging parents. And if you're getting up there and you have kids, you may want to start thinking about estate planning. Now, it's very intimidating. The idea of getting a will or a trust is extremely intimidating.

And it's easy to put off. 43% of Americans who say they haven't gotten around to making a will yet. I have been there. My daughter is now 20 years old after she was born. I mean, it's not like I had, you know, an enormous. estate, but at the same time, like, who's going to be, you know, a guardian, the event that something happens to that time my wife and I, or, you know, are there special things that I want to have happened or whatever it is? And it's a huge relief to finally do it. And now it is

much, much easier than it was even like 25 years ago, 20 years ago. You can create an estate plan with trust and will in as little as 30 minutes. If you're like I was, you don't know where to start when it comes to estate planning. You can be overwhelmed by questions you might not have the answer to. Well, trust and will's online platform provides a step-by-step guided process and offers optional one-on-one support from attorneys in your state. Does estate planning sound expensive? Maybe you're not sure if you have enough assets to warrant a will or trust.

Everything has something to leave behind. Trust and Will Estates believes estate planning should be accessible to everyone. So they're committed to making it affordable today and valuable tomorrow. Again, I was very nervous about this stuff. Like I say, I did my will years ago. I had to update it after Saul was born. But I've walked through this process on trust and will, and it really is very straightforward. Trust and will products are attorney designed.

They are state-specific, and they're customized to your needs. trust and will is created by legal experts designed to grow with you easily update your plan at every stage of life or transition don't wait until it's too late protect your loved ones today tomorrow and beyond with trust and will the most trusted name in online estate planning go to trust and will dot com slash majority get 20% off that's trust and will dot com slash majority we'll put the link in the podcast and youtube description. Quick break. We'll come back. Treata Parsi, co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute. We are back, Sam Cedar, Emma Viglin, on the majority report. It's a pleasure to welcome back to the program, Treata Parsi. He's co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Treata, thanks so much for joining us. A lot of news, obviously, coming out of Iran and in regards to Iran, there are reports that you've had anywhere from 200.

I've seen reports up to 6, 7, 800 people killed in protests, thousands imprisoned. Meanwhile, apparently, according to the New York Times, Trump has been in contact with Iran via envoys, talking about the potential of a strike or a deal. Where's the best place to start? Let's, I guess, start with the protests. And I think as of today, my understanding is that the phones have been turned on back on.

But that's it. But give us the latest as far as you know. So the latest is that already about two or so days ago, the protests started to die down. And now are at a level that were essentially low enough for the government to feel the comfort to reopen. the phone lines a little bit, not entirely. Moreover, you had this very, very big rally yesterday that the government itself had organized in its own support.

They had not framed it as pro-government, but actually anti-vandalism protests. And in that protest, you had senior officials participating, walking, and that was a last-minute decision. And it was, again, an assessment based on what the security situation was. Now, having said this, I think it's very important to understand.

Protests have a rhythm in which they go up in highs and then down in lows. Just because you're in a law does not necessarily mean that the protest actually is over. Nor does it mean at all that the fundamental reasons that gave birth to the protests in the first place have been addressed. And as a result, the desire to go out and protest and object to what the government is doing is over. I would say that it would be a key test to see what happens this Friday. If protests begin again and if it's at a very high level or if it really stays calm, that would be an indicated to me. The fact that it's just a couple of days of Allah is in and of itself not necessarily an indication of a new trajectory.

We should also keep in mind the government used a tremendous amount of brutality and force. The numbers you cited are different from the numbers that I've heard from the U.S. government, who has accounted about 1,600 deaths. And that may also be an underestimation. There's some opposition outlets that are putting out the figure 12,000. I've not seen any credible sourcing for that, but the USG is putting at 1,600. But also, they say hundreds of police officers

and these besiege militias have also been killed. And let's say that it's 400 when they say hundreds. I don't know, perhaps it's 200, perhaps it's 500. but if it's 400, we're talking about one police for every four protesters. In a country that is not like the United States with tons of weapons around, that's an extremely odd ratio. It does give you an idea that this time around, very much differently from previous protests, there is an element of violence within the protesters,

not all in any way should perform, but there's an element of violence within the protesters that we simply have not seen before, and is very brutal. That in and of itself, both the brutality of the gun, government and the fact that there's an element of violence within the protest may in and of itself be the reason why the protests are dying down because a lot of other protesters are not coming out when the violence is at that level from either side. Just walk us through.

What are the issues that are driving the protesters? Well, the trigger, of course, was the collapse of the currency in which you saw traders and shopkeepers going out on the streets during the daytime. and objecting to how the government has completely mismanaged the situation. Obviously, it's a difficult position for the government as well. I think we have to be fair. They don't have access to their own funds, funds that are in different foreign banks because of U.S. sanctions. And then the currency is under attack and they can't even defend it because they don't access to their own funds.

But nevertheless, they've done tons of other things, of course, mismanagement and corruption that has contributed to this situation. But it quickly morphed into something else, which was an opposition to the regime as a whole to the Islamic Republic. Because at the end of the day, this is a profoundly unpopular regime. But we've also seen a trend, a clear trend of radicalization over the last 15, 20 years, in which every time there's protests, every time they're clamped down, the government doesn't meet the population halfway, doesn't do things. The next round of protests tend to become more radical, slightly more violent. And this time I think we're seeing a significant jump. Take a note that these protests are almost exclusively at this point taking place at night

when you can't see that well, when you cannot make an assessment of the size of the crowd, when it's easier for those elements within the protesters that want to use violence to be able to do so. This is not what we saw in 2009. This is not what we saw in 2022. And that radicalization, incidentally, at the end of the day, is primarily the fault of the government itself. But it is also the fault, in my view, of those who have pushed in the United States and elsewhere for policies that deliberately were designed to make the situation worse, who were pushing for sanctions that have really made the economy absolutely miserable in Iran. And it is the key reason, not the only reason, but the key reason why it is that way. because their calculation, not all of them that push for it, but the ones that design it,

was you have to create such a desperate situation that people feel that they are better off risking their lives, going out on the streets, protesting and perhaps even using violence, than allowing for any other type of process to take place to have change. So they wanted things to become this bad in order for someone who was sitting in Maryland to be able to be seen as a viable candidate, because he clearly was not a viable candidate, it probably still isn't if the situation was such that the critical mass of the population still believe that there was another way. They have eliminated, they've worked deliberately to eliminate those other ways and then say,

now there's no other option but violence, but protests, and even having the U.S. or Israel bomb Iran. Can you talk about the United States and Israel then? That's a good way to speak about that. You have Trump basically, you know, saying that we're ready, we're standing back to assist. and using the killing of these protesters as if this administration cares about that on principle as the pretext for potential intervention.

But you also have Benjamin Netanyahu being very public about his support for these protests. Now, the people of Iran have seen the images of the genocide that we have. My assessment is that this just makes the demonstrators who are trying to change things, within Iran, even more of targets for repression because then the regime can essentially say you're acting as a U.S. or Israeli kind of foreign asset. And that's usually the pretext for even more violence. I think that is the way it has played out. I want to make the argument of the

other side as well so that people understand that. But in my assessment, that is what has happened. When Trump comes out and says, you know, I'm going to protect the protesters, if he thought that that was a deterrent against the government using violence, clearly, the evidence, the evidence points in the opposite direction. They clamp down really hard. They may have even clamped down even harder, perhaps calculating that it is that type of a behavior that ultimately impresses a person like Trump, mindful of the fact that he does seem to have a certain weakness for these type of strong leaders that are willing to use force. But I would point to one piece of evidence that I think is indicative of how it has backfired. In the Iranian system, the IRGC,

the Revolutionary Guards, were created because the revolutionaries, did not trust the traditional army. The traditional army, of course, have been built up by the Shah's dynasty. So now, 45 years later, the army is still very much an independent institution. And in the past, when the government has tried to use the army

or try to get the army to help with clamping down against protesters, they have absolutely refused and said that's not their job, and they've stayed out. For the first time, the army has come out and said that they're going to be involved

in taking out what they called foreign interference and foreign terrorist cells inside the country. So instead of seeing that Trump's threat caused defections within the regime, we're actually seeing a consolidation, at least at this point, including measures that we hadn't seen before, which is that the army itself, not just the IRGC, has been involved in some of the clapdown, or at least indicated that they will. And that, I think, is a clear indication that if the intent was to see defections,

if the intent was to see that the government would be deterred and not go after the protesters. We've seen quite the opposite. Now, from the other side, the argument that is being made is essentially that the situation is so bad, this government will use any force anyways. It doesn't matter. So the only thing that makes a difference is if the United States intervenes militarily. And, you know, in the past they weren't making those arguments explicitly. Now they are.

I mean, the son of the former Shah is explicitly making that argument and demanding that type of intervention. And they're dismissing the likelihood that the situation could come so bad that Ivan would turn into Syria because their argument is the situation is already that bad. It couldn't possibly become worse. That is an argument that was also used in 1979. And people felt that the Shah's regime was so brutal. There was no other choice but to go out and protest and overthrow it without necessarily thinking through what would happen afterwards. And what happened afterwards was in many ways a dictatorship that was even more brutal.

And we should say he is the man you're talking about, the son of the former Shah is the man you're talking about in Maryland, who Trump apparently has said as of today or yesterday now is not the time to meet with him. I mean, this dynamic of this dynamic of the this dynamic of the, the when you know Trump I mean we've seen this over and over again with multiple US presidents frankly and and vice versa when you haven't you can externalize the enemy in that way it it brings more cohesion with it domestically I mean so this is not the first time we've seen this dynamic it also seems like Trump is when things aren't easy he ends up backing off a little bit and maybe to the better

of the world on some level. So what is your sense of what happens now, or at least what should we be looking for that will give us an indication of what is next? So according to reports, there are going to be a decision or there's going to be a meeting at the White House today that will look at different options.

I think part of the reason why it hasn't been yet is actually because all assets have not reached the region yet, but assets are being moved into the region. And, you know, what he decides, I think you put your finger on something very important. He, I think, was sold an image early on because before the protests actually became very big, on social media, there was a massive campaign to make him look as if they were much bigger than they were. And already before they became big, and at one point, they became extremely big. But before that, there was this effort to try to say the regime is already on the brink of collapse.

I think that was a deliberate strategy to convince Trump that this is going to be easy. Just like you did Venezuela, you just need a little bit of a push. You can get credit for getting rid of this regime at a very low cost. And they kind of compel them to start saying things such as, I'm going to protect the protesters, et cetera, et cetera. Now when I think there is a realization that this is actually going to be much messier, the Iranians have clearly signaled that if they are attacked this time around, they're not going to try to de-escalate the situation and just strike back at empty American basis,

but they will actually really go after U.S. assets in the region. And that that will then be a much messier situation than Trump has dealt with. You know, just a week or so after, he said that the hemisphere, the Western hemisphere is really what matters. He would then drag into a much larger conflict in the Middle East. So I think that more than anything else may deter him from taking action, but I think he is adamant about looking at it. He is the one that is driving change. I mean, he had this tweetress now saying,

urging people to go out and continue to protest and that he will not meet with any Iranian officials until they stop the clampdown. Well, the clampdown has kind of stopped already. I'm not saying that it won't start again. It may very well do so. But it seems to me that he's more trying to take credit for something that already has happened

in order to pave the way to be able to pursue some potential deal, rather than necessarily actually taking action. But then again, you never know because whatever he says now, he may change his mind and then go in a completely different direction. And he wants to keep it that way. He wants to keep it in a way that no one can really calculate what his next steps are. Taking credit for something that's already happened would be perfectly consistent with what he's done in the past.

Will you just briefly just outline why Iran, on, well, I mean, I'm not quite sure that in Venezuela we've seen regime change as much as we've seen sort of like personnel change, frankly, and maybe some decisions on, you know, how much they're going to pay off U.S. oil companies, but the oil companies don't seem that excited. But in terms of Iran, this is not a question of like one or two people. I mean, there are deep, deep institutions. I mean, you're still talking about the military maintaining positions that had 45 years ago and, you know, other institutions that have come up since then. But again, now, you know, the Guard is now 45 years old or approximately. So you give us a sense

of just like how entrenched the Iranian regime is outside of like a couple of personnel. I mean, it doesn't feel like there's three people that we could, you know, take out and change things there. And where is the population, you know, largely speaking in terms of support of the regime outside of the fact that like the economic issues? So if you take a look at Saddam's regime, for instance, or Gaddafi's regime, these were regime that deliberately designed the state in such a way that without them, everything would collapse. They wanted that as a deterrence against any overthrow. So once you did take out Saddam or you did take out Gaddafi, the rest of it just very quickly collapsed. And to some extent, Assad's regime was that way as well. Not by design, but in other ways, the Shah's regime was very similar.

Three Iranian generals during the time of the Shah could not even schedule a meeting on their own just to talk about what they're going to have for lunch next week because the Secret Service would think that they're plotting an overthrow. And then at the same time, the Shah was making all decisions, He kept all critical decision-making, including non-critical decision-making in his own hands, which then led everything to him, everything circulated around him. And you had a situation in which people didn't dare to bring him bad news. So the Iranian generals even went to the Israelis and asked Moshe Diyah to go and brief the Shah on the actual situation in the country because no one within the system even dared to give the truth to the Shah.

That's not the current situation in Iran. The current situation with this system, which is a revolutionary government that designed the government, government to be able to resist a counter-revolution. Power is much more dispersed throughout the system. Undoubtedly, Khomeini is a very critical person in all of this. But taking him out does not necessarily cause the full collapse of the regime. And there will be elements there that have their own interests to continue to try to keep the regime up and in place.

Do they have support in the population? They do have a support base. it's been usually estimated to be somewhere near 15 to 30 or 25%. I would say that at this point, it's probably closer to 15 if not lower. And I think every time there's been a major crisis of this kind, their own support base has also shrunk. And I think we saw that particularly after 2022 with a clamp down against the women protest,

that there were a lot of conservatives that would wear the veil but do not believe that it should be mandatory and certainly not worth the kind of clampdown that the government did back then. So their support base has definitely gone down, but it is not so low that it means that it can easily be overthrown or that they aren't entrenched there. Nevertheless, the ones that are controlling the security apparatus. So, you know, trying to use a Venezuela blueprint for Iran, which I suspect Trump would like to do, he's high on his own supply and is probably skewing his risk assessment, I think is going to be a bit foolish. I don't know enough about Venezuela, but based on what I have seen,

I think it is sufficiently different of a system, that that blueprint in and of itself is not necessarily a fit unless it is profoundly changed. But bottom line is what has been sold to Trump, I think, is that this is simple, that this is just a small push, low cost, you can make it happen. This is not a person that in principle is against war or in principle is against regime change. He's just in principle against getting stuck in situation

or going into situations that doesn't have a clear exit and a clear quick path to victory. Lastly, you mentioned the 2022 protests about women's rights following Masa Amini's death. Can you give us a sense of whether or not this protest movement built off of that, if these are different constituencies that are coming out? Is there an infrastructure around the resistance that is continuous from that point to now? And can you assess that for us? There's a great question. And I don't have answers to all of them,

certainly not some of the last part. What I can say, though, it is building off of it, but perhaps in a different way because these are not the same slogans necessarily. This is a very different touch and feel. As I mentioned, there's a violent component that we haven't seen before.

The way it's building off, though, is that every time you have protests of this kind and the government's response by and large is just to clamp down. In the case of Masa, there were compromises. I mean, the veil is not being implemented in the same manner at all in Tehran right now. The government knew that they lost that fight, but they retained power. But the fundamental situation has not changed. Every time that happens, the next set of protests tends to be more radical

and more of the belief that there is no way to actually get change unless you completely overthrow the government, even if that necessitates using force, et cetera. I'm not saying that's the majority, but that is the trend line that we're seeing, not just from 2022, but all the way from 1999 student protests to the 2009 protest to the 2017 protests.

Trita Parsi, co-founder, executive vice president, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Thanks so much for your time today. I know you're very busy these days. Really appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks so much. All right.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back in just a moment. All right. We're back. Sam Cedar, Emma Vigland, majority report. We've got a lot more to cover in terms of ice. I guess we should, we'll do it. We're going to go a little long.

I guess that's the bottom line. Let's start with what's happening in Minnesota. We're basically watching ice. As far as I can tell, I mean, they, they are expanding their violence. And part of it is a function of, I think that the pressure for them to increase their numbers is growing. My understanding is that despite the fact that they've been offering tens of thousands of dollars to hire new ice thugs, they're not getting as many recruits as they want.

They've cut down the training time to literally five or six weeks. Good news is they're not carrying any weaponry, right? Yeah. At least they're not. Just kidding. They're dressed like they're in like the middle of a war zone. It does seem like they can go just to like some, you know, weapon store and pick out what you want. We got you covered.

Whatever you feel comfortable with, guys. And reports are that they're coming from Minnesota as far west is Oregon. I'm also hearing from folks who work in the immigration field that they are now going after people who are in the process of having their asylum claims adjudicated. So in other words, they are here legally. They have done no crimes. They have done no violations. They have followed the law. And the law is, if you apply for asylum, you get a hearing.

You get, they adjudicate that claim. People who are in the process of that now are getting rolled up. Here is ICE, though. And again, this is, you know, well, we've talked about the Kavanaugh stops. We'll talk about it more. Ice is going around. They're walking through parking. parking lots. In this instance, they're walking through a charging station for EVs, presumably

looking for Uber drivers or Lyft drivers or other ride share drivers. And they're looking for ones that are not white. And that's how they are deciding as to whether they go up and approach people for their ID. Now, look, you are not obligated to give your ID. to ICE. They are border enforcement or their immigration enforcement. And you're not obligated to do that unless they have probable cause. And the fact that you are black or brown is not probable cause. Now, of course, a lot of people want to avoid getting beat up and a lot of people don't know their rights. And so this is what's going on. But watch these guys just patrol this. I mean, it's so grotesque.

papers there you go just want to point out all the people with whistles in the background yep your papers please your paper I mean

it really did sound better in the original German that's in Casablanca right what's that the Castle well I mean that's the that's the phrasing but whatever I'm but not to

not to be downplayed at all obviously it's deeply authoritarian and scary and it's not hyperbolic to compare it to the Nazis. It's not. Of course. I mean, that's what they're doing. And now they have decided, and it's particularly worse when Bovino goes around. I mean, there's a reason why you see the, you know, the greatest amount of violence when Bovino's there, because then all these losers who work for him and are so embarrassed by it that they cover their faces with masks, they need to show off and provide him. And provide him with some violence so that he feels good.

He needs something to go back to his hotel and, you know, get some R&R with. So the thoughts of the violence provide him, you know, his release at the end of the day, I guess. But here he is going into a, I think this is a target. And this story has come out in bits and pieces. But apparently what happens is there is an observer there. at Target. I don't know if the guy worked at Target. I think he did. And he saw that ICE is coming there. And so he's like recording them. And then they all basically gang tackle this guy who's an American citizen. We have this in three parts and ends up getting beat up and just left out on the side of the road.

You're doing all right? Huh? I'm not doing all right. What's that? I'm not doing all right. I'm not doing all right. I'm not doing all right. Back up. You see that? We're here. You're how doing. Go back up. You did? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

Oh, oh, back up. I'm walking here. Back up. Look at that. This is a nice guy. I'm going to fuck. Good. Fuck you and fuck you.

Didn't realize how small bogey-no is. You know. Huh? None of your business. That's what. Fuck you. All right. See that?

And again, what they're doing when they do that, what they're doing when they do that is they have a database and they're either adding you to that database as just a, as an activist, or they're comparing your picture to a database that assesses your immigration status or your citizenship status. Not whether you've committed any crime, not whether you've committed any civil violation. If you are here and awaiting asylum meetings, you are here legally. All right. I continue. Just getting my app together, guys. Look at that. Bunchy out.

Right there. Again, this is just a, this part is the big tech boondoggle of the fascist takeover over our country. There's contracts for all these companies that are providing this, and they should be protested as much as these brown shirt thugs. We should also be clear, this is not investigations. This is not, this is not enforcement. This is, I'm going to teach you that you can't make fun of me.

This is, you know, exactly. This is like the baby bully out at recess. I'm going to show you that I'm the one wearing the uniform here. This is about as like small men story. as you can possibly get. And in stature. Once you're right there. Fuck you.

Fuck every single one of you go. Look at that. Just going to get a pick. Hold on. Go ahead. Take a pick right there. Let me get the one of this guy here. Right here.

That. Fuck you. Huh? Fuck you. Come on. Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you.

Fuck you. Hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Don't touch him. Don't touch him. you doing? Come on. Yo. I work you, fuck you. Yeah, he works.

Look at that. Fuck you. Look at what. Fuck you. Look at that. Look at that. There is not a single thing that that guy is doing other than swearing at that thug. Not a single thing he's doing.

He's walking away. He did not initiate contact. He is walking backwards throughout the entire process. this guy just doesn't like being made fun of. And, all right, continue. So they grabbed this guy. You can see, they jumped this guy. In the target.

Teenager, right? Apparently he's a teenager. Don't tread on me, free speech, all that bullshit that we've heard for years now. You're keeping me from mocking trans people. Or the fact that you had to get vaccinated and maybe had a card to enter some businesses at some point. This is literally people going around asking for people's papers and the boot of the state beating people up for daring to document the human rights atrocities that our governments engaging in. Oh, my God. Look at that.

Six of them, five of them? Oh, yeah. You guys are all on video. No, no, no, no. Seven feds around the skit. I think they got and they grabbed the other guy too. At this point. Eight.

What's your name? Johnny, Jonathan, I can go to see him. I'm literally a U.S. citizen. Give us a phone number. Get the fuck out of you, Ray. Why are you kidnapping? Are you sitting there?

Why are you? Sir, give us your phone number. Paul, give us your phone number. Jesus. What's your name? What's your name? We'll find your family. Susan, what's your last name?

All right, there's that tall guy is now claiming that he was assaulted by the guy that he initiated contact with, that he tackled. What's your last? Get back there now. Give us your, what's a phone number we should call? Okay, so he gives his phone number. That's my mom. That's your mom. Yeah.

And your first name's Christian, right? Gavando Ovalano. All right. Now we're going to go to the third video where after the guy has been left out, right? No, no. There's another part. This is number nine, right? No, the part three, nine.

Yes, number nine. They found the teenager eight minutes away. This started a target target part. They brought him, dumped him in a Walmart parking lot. That's the most American thing I've ever heard, apparently, you know, I mean. Not much infrastructure we have here. Here he is. And he has visible injuries.

This guy right here, they let him out of the vehicle. They torture him. This guy right here, yeah. You're okay, man? Oh, I'm not okay. Bro. Shit's crazy. My man's bleeding.

Bleeding. They slammed me on the ground. We got to be able to call somebody. This is ridiculous. You got family around? You got somebody here, man? And they're by going to.

Come on, man. You work here, don't you? No, I work at Target. Bro, come on, bro. It's okay. That's so crazy. Man, slam me in? Man.

slam this man up in the parking light slams torture this guy he's 17 apparently so that's a child that's child abuse and we're seeing abuse of prisoners of of female detainees assault

and they're holding migrant teens at this facility some of the the migrant teens that they've rounded up in Pennsylvania that's been known and has adopted documented history of sexual and physical abuse. It's almost like they're doing it on purpose. How do we as a country? How do how does our elected leaders allow for squads of fully armed and

masked men to go around abduct teenagers, American citizens for simply swearing at them, put them in the back of a car, beat them up, and then dump them 10 minutes down the road. Law enforcement. How is it that we're allowing that to exist in this country? That's what we have now. I mean, you just don't like it, you know, who knows how many more of these there are? We know that there are a dozen occasions of people being shot at by ICE agents in the course of their duty. And we only have good video on a couple.

we saw when they murdered somebody. But how many of these instances do you think exist? That where we have footage from where the guy's being dumped off, 10 minutes away, we watch as a 6-foot-5 masked, buffed-up ice agent, tackles him for swearing at him. You mock me? I'm going to tackle you.

We're going to beat you up. We're going to shove you in the back of a car. And we're going to dump you on the side of the road. I mean, what the, this is the shit that we would talk about, like, you know, with, and soon, right? Like, how far off are we from? We're just going to dump the dead body on the side of the road. This is, this is like the stuff that we would, like, how dare we finance this shit in Central America? How many deaths have happened in alligator alcatraz?

and what's going to and what it will change four four people detained in uh by ice in immigration have died in 2026 yes 32 people died in ice custody in 2025 it was the agency's deadliest year in over two decades and uh we still don't have full transparency about that how do we know how do we know it's a complete black box they're blocking members of congress from going into these facilities and checking on the conditions you doubt you had to have people staking out alligator alcatraz checking for ambulances coming and going. And

nearly 75% of the people held in detention have no criminal convictions as they talk about these being criminals. And as there were a lot of people who took this at face-fell, I mean we got to repeat this. Who let us down this road of fascism?

It's the members of the media and the Democrats that thanked ICE or took this administration at face value and said, they're just going to go after the criminals, which, by the way, was the Obama deportation regime. That's what he prioritized. We knew exactly what they were going to do here.

Why are they going after people that are showing up to their hearings to try to get naturalized as citizens? At first, I thought it was just because, you know, they know the schedule and they can get it out. There's another reason, and it would, you just have to remember that ICE agents are cowards. And that is, when they go into courthouses, they are checked for guns. Also, ISIS budget now is equivalent to Israel's entire military budget, I believe. So, I mean, the point is that this is the imperial boomerang in many ways. This is fascism coming home. And if you're going to oppose Zionism and you're going to talk about that as the existential threat that it is in the genocide in Gaza, you also have to oppose when those same systems are used here on Americans. And I don't care what your citizenship status is. These are Americans. These are our neighbors. And these are the exact tactics you see in the West Bank as well. Let's go to, um, like, I'm just sorry, just with the killing

of Renee Good. Like the way that this is like a kangaroo court situation, this is what happens with Israel and how they kill Palestinians. It's here now. Look at the Democrats who, who thanked ICE. And, uh, just look at that list and then just pick a name at random and see if they took money from the Israel lobby. Um, here is. is ice who essentially grab a man at a gas station in St. Paul for videotaping them. Again, it is legal for you to videotape. It is legal for you to swear at ICE agents. You're not allowed to impede them.

But if you're walking backwards and they're just strolling around Target, It's not clear that they were doing anything there other than going to the bathroom. Here is, uh, this is footage, uh, in St. Paul. Get up. Get back. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Don't touch me, don't touch me.

Don't touch me. Don't touch you. Texas patch on that pig's, uh, arm. There's no training. These are just thugs. These are just thugs. Can't regulate their emotions. Scumbag thugs.

Yep. And their faces are covered, too, because we are going to find out eventually who many of these guys are. And when the administration is posting recruitment videos that have like literal Nazi and proud boy signifiers in them, you know who they're appealing to. Stand back and stand by. That's what Donald Trump said about the white nationalist group, the proud boys. They have stood by and then waited for their opportunity to get hired as the Gestapo to break apart families and brutalized teenagers.

And that's what they've been doing over the past, I don't know, a few months. Here is another instance of ICE illegally attacking an observer who is doing nothing. This guy's in his car. There's no impeding here. They just can't find anybody else to harass in that moment. They smash it under. Again, there is no claim that this person was undocumented or any of that. Look at it.

He's given him a chokehold and now he's going to put his knee right on his shoulder. This is in his neck. Incidentally, it is illegal in Minnesota to do this for very obvious reasons. Yep. And this is a guy who is on the ground getting his... a knee to his neck because he dared to videotape ice. And this is what we're saying about what they're trying to provoke here. They are trying to provoke a response so that they can use the Insurrection Act.

That is the goal. We are now, it is now January 13th in, 18 days, 17 or 18, my math is bad, there needs to be the budget deal comes to a head. The House passed some spending bills for some agencies, unclear how the Senate's going to deal with it. They may take up these separate bills. The House was going to vote sometime this week on DHS's funding, but they, they, they, They have held off on voting on that specific agency because of what's going on in Minnesota with the idea, I guess, that maybe things will die down a little bit.

Chuck Schumer is desperate, desperate to just pass whatever funding is, you know, the Republicans want to pass in the Senate so that he doesn't have to exist as a political player because he believes that if we do nothing as Democrats, we are more likely to do well in the elections. Now, of course, that is absurd. And aside from it being just a bad strategy, increasingly you see Democratic approval ratings drop along with Republicans because people are waiting for Democrats to do something. And we know the polling from the last government shutdown. Yeah. And we can see the polling today for what people are saying about ice. About ice. There was a now, UGov skews a little bit more to the left, but this is now UGov economists just came out this morning. It's a plurality opinion.

46% support abolishing ice according to this now versus 43% who oppose it. And that's abolishing ice. Abolishing it. Never mind saying we're not going to okay funding. for a rogue agency. That is absent any real national messaging from leadership on this front, that Chuck Schumer's problem is that local law enforcement should be doing a better job of collaborating with ICE. This is absent messaging from the opposition party. This is entirely organic.

And we've seen that it can get, it can dissipate as quickly as it comes. You could seize on this opportunity to actually fundamentally abolish the agency. but that's exactly the point. I see Matt going like shrugging because Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer. It's ideological. It's ideological. This is the, I'm sorry, like building up these kind of walls

and this sort of hatred of the other. It is a Zionist behavior. And they can't do it. But it also means that they, but, you know, Schumer is hopefully a dead man walking a little bit to a degree and you can put pressure on your lawmakers regardless to build this up to the point

where we could hopefully abolish the agency. Do you want me to just, it is a good opportunity? Well, here's the low-hanging, here's the low-hanging message that exists. Okay. This is super obvious. This is number six. Here's AOC. Again, so easy at this point in terms of the messaging.

So obvious. And she's so far the only one who's delivering this explicit message. I would imagine we are hours, if not, you know, we are days, if not hours away from hearing other Democrats now realize, oh, this is the messaging that's going to work. And essentially saying, I'm sorry, Jeffries, I'm sorry Schumer. I'm not going to go along with just rubber stamping this budget. And before people get upset about her phrasing here, she's already clarified that she continues to support. abolishing ice. She's talking about cutting it here specifically to, in reference to the appropriations bill. She clarified that on Twitter this morning.

Government of funding, we're about to run out of money. What should be the red lines when it comes to ICE funding, you know, when it comes to DHS, should there be any policy or reduction in funding? What should be the options? I mean, you know, in terms of which deadlines line up with which goals, that's a tactical decision to be made. But my position has always been. clear that ICE funding should be cut. We're seeing what they're doing with this reckless explosion in funding. And mind you, just so everybody knows, I want everybody to understand the cuts to your health care are what's paying for this. All that extra money that everybody's paying right now in their premiums, all that extra money that you're paying, it is paid for

with it is all of that extra money that that the government and the ACA subsidies that was given to nearly a trillion dollars in health care was taken out and given to ICE. So understand how these dots connect. You get screwed over to pay a bunch of thugs in the street that are shooting mothers in the face. That's what that is what this administration is doing. That's what the Republican Party did. The messaging doesn't get better than that. And people complaining about what, I mean, come on, it's unbelievable. The idea that a politician shouldn't message to a, like, the people, like, I can't even,

I can't even begin to entertain the idea that people have an issue with that. That is the message that needs to be adopted. But the problem, the problem, the reason why Chuck Schumer can't say that. It's because if Chuck Schumer says that, then he has to hold the line and actually not just rubber stamp the budget for DHS when it comes up for a vote. If Jeffries also echoes that very obvious messaging, you're two things that are happening right now in this country in terms of like we have an affordability crisis that is most acute at this moment. moment when it comes to health insurance. And most acute in that sector with people who, with ACAs, but of course, who had ACA subsidies. But of course, you know, everyone's paying more for their health insurance because of this.

And we have an explosion of fascism where we have thugs on the street attacking people, teenagers for swearing and observers for videotaping and shooting people. in the face for trying to protect or make immigrants aware of ISIS presence. And she has wrapped it up in a bow with about, you know, in less than 90 seconds for the messaging. And the Democratic leadership cannot use that incredible gift that they've just been given because they are so desperate to make sure that no one knows that they exist as a political party in this moment. And and the copy paste that messaging for Israel funding too.

This is a question of priorities by our government. And, you know, the people fundamentally understand that they're getting screwed. And the question is, what are our tax dollars going to? It's not going to improving my life. It's not going to changing the cost of living crisis. It's not going to my rent. It's not going to my wages. It's not going to my health care.

And you can say it is going to the secret police here in the United States. and is going to fund a genocide in Gaza. And whoever is able to make that message simple for people. And we can shift that money away, Claude back, and bring it to you for your life, for child care, for health care. If you can harness that messaging, you'll be the candidate in 2028. No question. No question. The idea that there's this hostility to big government,

and then the Republicans send fascists to shoot people in the face. And Democrats are still afraid of doing single-pans. It's crazy. But I don't know if we want to draw this connection even more finally. Wesley Bell was asked by, I think, KSDK news about his vote to thank ICE last year. And his response isn't super impressive if we just want to run this real quick. Former Congresswoman Corey Bush pointed out your vote to thank ICE or express gratitude to ICE last year. That resolution was about a thwarted terrorist attack.

in Colorado. That's all it was. And so unfortunately, that's how the DC machine works with messaging is to try and, is to try and, um, um, um, misconstrued meanings and things of that nature, but that's what it was about. Okay. Okay. You still voted for it. I mean, look, everybody gets the idea of like, you put certain things into message bills and this and that. but um what was it 75 uh house members 75 okay to thank ice which means that over 125 democrats didn't and this is simple like you just don't look at this like it's success for politics it was so obvious that ice was going to be a problem that ice has been a problem

so obvious none maybe maybe somewhere there's a video of somebody going up to one of those 125 plus congresspeople who did not vote for that are you against the thwarting of terrorist attacks in Colorado because if we just take him at his word here then what he's guilty of is absolute political malpractice and it is it's political malpractice none of this is in any way surprising the whole reason why we wanted chuck schumer to shut the government down the first time and he didn't was because it basically paved the way for the big beautiful bill which politics is about momentum when they have a tiny tiny margin and they feel like they have impunity they have brought the democrats

to their knees which is exactly what they did in that first uh budget uh fight they brought chuck schumer to his knees and had chuck schumer waddle like up on his knees and hand it to them, they were far more able to maintain discipline to vote for that big, beautiful bill that put almost a trillion dollars into ice. I mean, this is so obvious. For an administration that J.D. Vance was saying, we don't have the luxury of due process because it's such an emergency. Okay, give them a billion dollars and not, sorry, understating it, and then not even push them on the due process thing. We are six months away.

Well, actually now, I guess we're only four months out from when Chuck Schumer said, well, according to my plan, it's all going to fall apart by September. They're all going to abandon Trump. Well, they might. They might abandon Trump. Maybe Bovino will be their candidate in 2028. Yeah. But it ain't getting better.

And it's not going to get better with Chuck Schumer saying like, okay. But but but but even the embedded in that is the myopia and the malpractice of focusing purely on electoralism. Like, I mean, it is just unbelievable how they basically are just white knuckling it to the midterms. The American public be damned. Like, why do you think that people don't support the Democratic Party and it's as unpopular as Donald Trump right now? It's because they refuse to stand for anything and they folk and they, and they, make it so obvious that they're so nakedly self-interested. But, you know, if their self-interest was in any way.

But it's not tethered to reality, yeah. But they want to eke it out and they want to win on their terms. That's the problem, too. Yeah, his terms are antithetical to what anyone should be. Right. And on their terms, too, means this dereliction of duty of leadership, of reigning in DHS, of ICE. Well, I was talking to Bill Ackman. Bill Ackman had a point.

I mean... Oh, the number one donor to Jonathan Ross, you mean? Well, 10,000's not much for him. To be fair. $10,000, he's a billionaire, Matt. I mean, come on. Couch cushion change. Come on. That's the... Yeah, he just found that. That could have been

like his per diem for his dog walker. All right. Warren and all those folks, uh, hurry up. Get him out of there. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm, that Warren's speech seems to be an indication. that they're trying to make a move, but as we implored last... We'll play some of this.

But as we implored last week, like, it's got to happen. There's only so much of a move you can make if you haven't been able to convince other senators. And so, you know, clearly what they're doing is, and she's coming public on this, is creating that pressure so that other senators come on board for this. I get it. All right. We're going to take a break. We're going to head into the fun half.

Can we just promote this? Just because, to wrap up our arguments here, I'm going to. saw this the national immigration law center has a really easy tool we'll put this in the link below to implore congress to do what we're actually asking for you can input your name and address and stuff and it will send it to your legislatures but you can just scroll down a little bit you'll see what the asks are in the template keep going um it's here so it'll enter your name and then it says i urge you to refuse to vote for the appropriations bill um that increases funding for ice also said you have to demand that they strengthen restrictions around ICE and Border Patrol's ability to conduct Dragnet Arrest Operations based on their race and accent, etc., ends Border Patrol deployment to our cities.

Also, this is important. Limits DHS's reprogramming and transfer authority, including specifically preventing reprogramming and transferring funds for detention because it's a slush fund here. DHS transfer funds usually require for other government agencies approval from Congress. But because this Congress has given carte blanche, the Department of Homeland Security, they've been just shuttling around funds, also to Donald Trump's buddies as well, for mass immigrant attention. And that's where that money has been going. So these are kind of very basic asks that you can just use here and fire off an email to your representative. Also, while you're at it, you can use this as a template to call your representatives and tell them the same thing.

And if you actually took this and wrote it out in freehand and mailed it to them, it would be worth like literally like 600 people in your district. They've done it. That's the way they have these calculuses. A form email counts for so many people that you represent, phone call more. an email that you would write that would be not necessarily a form letter, but would be more. And to write freehand at this point means that you represent like a, I don't know, some like astronomical number of people or if it's rational. There may be other, they get letters that are maybe not so rational.

But, all right. Just a reminder, your support is what makes this show happens. You can become a member by going to join the majority report.com. When you do, you only get the free show free of commercials, but you also get the fun half and you can IAM us. We're going to take phone calls in the fun half, and I'm going to turn it on just when we go to break. But I only want today, we've got one hour left. We're not going to take too many phone calls. Only want Minnesota people.

Only want Minnesota people. for today. And then maybe we'll have a day this week where we're not allowing any Minnesota people. But today we want to hear from Minnesota people on the ground. 646-257, 39, 20. We'll be right back after this. Oh, Matt, what's happening on the Matt Leck?

Media universe. Yeah, Left Reckoning coming up right after Majority Report today, talking with Motachic about her piece on Marco Rubio, who turns out to have deep state narco-trafficking connections that coincide with Iran Contra and the JFK assassination, which I am ashamed that I had no idea about until I read Mo's piece. And also a candidate for lieutenant governor, Marco Veles in Texas. So check that out.

Patreon.com's left reckoning. Okay, we'll be right back. Three months from now, six months from now, nine months from now. And I don't think it's going to be the same as it looks like in six months from now. And I don't know if it's necessarily going to be better six months from now than it is three months. months from now. But I think around 18 months out, we're going to look back and go like, wow. What? What is that going on? It's nuts. Wait a second. Hold on for, hold on for a second. Emma, welcome to the program. Hey. Fun pack. Matt. What is up, everyone? Fun pack. No, Miquin.

You did it. Fun pack. Let's go Brandon. Let's go Brandon. on. Bradley, you want to say hello? Sorry to disappointment. Everyone, I'm just a random guy. It's all the boys today. Fundamentally false. No, I'm sorry.

Stop talking for a second. Let me finish. Where is this coming from, dude? But dude, you want to smoke this? Seven, eight? Yes. Yes, it is you. It hurts me.

I think it is you. Who is you? No sound. Every single freaking day. What's on your mind? Sports. discuss free markets and we can discuss capitalism. I'm going to guess my life.

Libertarians. They're so stupid though. Common sense says, of course. Gobbled e gook. We fucking nailed him. So what's 79 plus 21? Challenge met. I'm positively clovery. I believe 96, I want to say. 857. 210. 35. 501.

One half. Three-eighth. 9-11 person. $3,400. $1,900. $6.5.4.3 trillion dollars. Sold. It's a zero-sum game. Actually, you're making think less of life.

But let me say this. Poop. You're going to call it satire. Sam goes to satire. On top of it all? My favorite part about you is just like every day, all day, like everything you do.

Without a doubt. Hey, buddy, we see you next. Folks, folks. Obviously. Yeah. Sundow guns out. Don't know. But you should know.

People just don't like to entertain ideas anymore. I have a question. Who cares? Our chat is enabled folks. I love it. I do love that. Got to jump. I got to be quick.

I get a jump. I'm losing it, bro. Two o'clock, we're already late, and the guy's being a dick. So screw him. Sent to a gulaw? Outrageous. Like, what is wrong with you? Love you.

Love you. Bye-bye.