The Young Turks - The Final Countdown

Episode Date: September 30, 2021

The Biden White House appears to support progressives revolting against passing the bipartisan infrastructure bill without also having a deal on the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package. Joe Manchin threw a massive wrench into the negotiations over the budget reconciliation bill. Kyrsten Sinema mocked a question about Democrats not knowing where she stands on reconciliation. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Rachel Maddow she is optimistic about both infrastructure bills passing, and that big donor influence on some members of Congress may be diminishing. Hackers obtained a list of right-wing militia group members that included the names of active NYPD officers. Hosts: Ana Kasparian & Cenk Uygur  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. Why just survive back to school when you can thrive by creating a space that does it all for you, no matter the size. Whether you're taking over your parents' basement or moving to campus, IKEA has hundreds of design ideas and affordable options to complement any budget. After all, you're in your small space era. to own it. Shop now at IKEA.ca.ca. What?

Welcome to the Young Turks, Jake U Granite, Kisperian with you guys. Are we going to have a fantastic show? Of course. I guess. No, I don't guess. This one I know. So after the show today, Po!

Power Hour! That's with Senator Nina Turner. She's in the show today because she made news. Not a big deal. It's not. In fact, the things that she said on CNN today, you saw on the Power Hour last week. Okay?

She used the same lines as she honed here, which is great. I love to see that. Anyway, check out a new live episode with Senator Nina Turner and myself today after the show. That's for members, c.com slash join. Okay, we got tons of news. Dr.ROMS happening in Congress. Casper, a new ooze. All right, you guys ready to be professionals?

Well, that's arguable. All right. Well, conservative Senator Joe Manchin still refuses to support the budget reconciliation bill. But now, for the first time, he has uttered the top line number that he is comfortable with voting for. So the $3.5 trillion price tag on the reconciliation bill is a no go for him. He has offered $1.5 trillion to which leader of the Progressive Caucus, Pramila Jayapal, says you can go F.R. Not those words exactly, but effectively. And progressives overall reject it. We're gonna get to Corey Bush and AOC in just a moment.

But first, reporters over at Capitol Hill caught up with Senator Joe Manchin. Let's see what he has to say. Now, but what do you say to people who feel you and Senator Sinema are holding this whole thing up? I'm not holding it, you know, we only have 50 votes. Basically take whatever we don't, aren't able to come to agreement with today, and take that on the campaign. paint trail next year, and I'm sure that they'll get many more liberal, progressive Democrats with what they say they want. We only got 50 votes.

Yeah, yeah, you're holding it up. There's a slim majority in the Senate with the VP as the tie-breaking vote. Both Mansion and Cinema have proudly served as obstacles to the passage of this wildly popular reconciliation bill, which is not just popular throughout. the country, it's popular within the states that they represent, not just with Democrats, but with Republican voters as well. Okay, so- It's infuriating. We got another great clip of Manchu coming up later, which I'm even more animated about,

but I love this clip because he's like, we only have 50 votes and I'm the 50th, so that's the one why I'm holding it up, so I can get more for myself and my corporate donors. Like they don't even try to make sense. No, you're making our point for us. You're not making your own point, that doesn't make any sense. And they're used to steam rolling reporters, but as you're going to see a little bit later, that steam rolling went awry. And so, but overall, I just wanted to scream, progressives hold the line. They are.

Hold the line, and they're doing a great job of holding the line. They really are. Look at that, man. I mean, all the way from $15 minimum wage collapse to all of a sudden a pillar of strength here. So I love it. And by the way, credit to Bernie Sanders team, they're doing really effective strategy here. They are. And let me also just note that today is the day where the bipartisan infrastructure bill is supposed to get a vote on the House floor.

Nancy Pelosi has said that she will not bring any legislation forward unless she knows she has the votes necessary to pass it. Progressives are staying true to their promise. They're like, nope, we're going to vote no unless we get the passage of the reconciliation bill. And so right now, whether or not the vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill happens tonight, is really up in the air. So we can have our predictions. But Pelosi so far claims that she's still going to hold the vote. But there are other members of Congress who are like, I don't know, because we don't have the votes necessary to pass it. Manu Raju tweeted two totally different realities in the House just now. Representative Gautheimer, a corporate Democrat in the House,

walks in and basically has this confidence that they're not only going to hold the vote, but they're gonna pass it. He thinks he's gonna be sipping champagne later tonight. And then Pramila Jayapal comes in and is like, no, we're gonna vote no. And we have the votes necessary to block this bipartisan infrastructure bill, aka the corporate handout bill. Now, nope, I'm gonna go to AOC. We're going to AOC, guys. Right? So let's go to them because reporters caught up with them on Capitol Hill as well. And I love the statements that they had. So let's take a look. So if this is really about the deficit, then maybe we go after our defense spending and find our savings there instead of going after people's child care. I asked him today, is that his top line number? Would he go up? He said no. He is firm on $1.5 trillion. So would you be willing to come down?

You know what? Where are the investments? My question is who should, who is who is he saying? Who is he pinpointing? You know what? You all don't deserve you all don't deserve the investment in climate. You all don't deserve to, you all don't deserve to you. years of college. You all, who is he taking the money from? That's my question. Because let's be clear, 3.5 wasn't our number. You know, I was more at this, I was at the 6th, you know, and so when you take it down a 3.5 trillion, then you tell us, no, we won't even do that. We want to do 1.5. Who is it that you feel is so set up and stable and in a position to where they don't have needs to where it's okay to make this decision? Because being clear, he does not need any of the resources that we're talking about. This is perfect, right?

Jake, you mentioned strategy. I think the strategy is so good here because it's not just about threatening to withhold your vote. It's also about repetitive messaging and every single progressive who's granting interviews is using the same accurate messaging. In fact, they're doing it so effectively that it's now being repeated by corporate media. Perfect, perfect, that's what Republicans do all the time. I love it and we'll give you other examples. examples in just a minute, Jank.

Yeah, so you're right, let me go over a couple of talking points. People are using incredibly effectively. God, this is such a new day in America. I can't tell you how happy I am. I've never seen progressives hold. I've never seen them affect the vote in 25 years of covering politics. So, and now for finally we have power. And so, and by the way, I've never, we, until 2016, until AOC's win, media never ever covered progressives.

That includes 2015 when Bernie Sanders did a historic 50-point run on Hillary Clinton and barely got no coverage. And so now, though, they're going on air and saying, wait, let's talk about corporate donors. Unprecedented. And now reporters are starting to ask mansion and sit-in-bubon about donors unprecedented. They're asking, okay, you just saw Cory Bush to it. Tell me what you're going to cut. Go ahead. Tell me you're going to cut the child tax credit.

I dare you. Tell me that you're going to increase drug prices. Go ahead, I dare you. Go ahead. All right. Tell me you want to keep taxes for the rich, or that the tax cuts for the rich, which is what cinema is saying. All right, then let's battle on that. And by the way, the third talking point is, we have the Biden plan. This is the Biden plan. This is the Democratic Party unity plan. You guys are against unity. Manchester Cinema, Gottheimer, you guys are the ones screwing up unity, not us. So that is a talking point that has been used to bash progressives. for a quarter century straight. Now they're flipping it and going well, you said unity and you're not doing it and it is being super effective. I want to say two more things. One is Gottheimer one of the most corrupt politicians

in all of Congress, Democrat or Republican, takes the most amount of money from Blackstone. That's his number one set of donors, the employees, the executives, etc. Blackstone is a private equity company. His wife works as consultants for private equity. He himself is invested into a venture capital company and he religiously protects the rich

and Wall Street. So do not ever let those reporters call them moderates. Those are corporate Democrats. I have to jump in on that because just before the show, I was watching CNN to see, you know, the framing of this whole debate, this whole debacle. And what I found fascinating was on Jake Tapper's show, there was a panel, I believe David Axelrod was one of the panelists, and the topic of Axelrod, I'm sorry, the topic of Gottheimer came up. And Tapper was like, you know, progressives keep alleging that there's like a corruption issue

here. But I don't know, I think they genuinely believe the things that they're saying in regard to Gottheimer, right? And of course, Axelrod jumps in and he's like, oh, I'm very good friends with him, and he's a great guy. I don't give a damn who you're friends with. But the reason why I bring that up is because that narrative in corporate media certainly still exists, Tapper is like, I don't know, let me dip my toe in that, you know, denial of corruption nonsense and see if it plays well, and of course, the panel goes along with it. But make no mistake about it. This is about corporate Democrats who are captured by corporate interests and their own personal financial interests versus progressive lawmakers who actually want to do right

by their constituents and the American people. That's what this debate is really about. Yeah, and it's going to do a general shout out here to everyone who believed. Bernie 2016 had staffers that started brand new Congress and Justice Democrats. Those two groups found AOC and Cory Bush. Cory Bush ran twice to win. There's now 10 Justice Democrats, and they're swinging the vote. Who did that? That was staffers for Bernie in 2016 that formed those two groups.

Now, I was part of the Justice Democrat one, but it was mainly the staffers who filled those and found the candidates. and you guys who volunteered, donated, et cetera. And look at that, you got power. I told you you could get power. I told you and you did. You did it, right? Now, keep going.

So anytime anybody tells you there isn't hope, they're liars, they're trying to get you to stand down. Hold the line, we go fight, and we win. Look at this. It's happening right now. So I want to go to the next video because AOC makes it abundantly clear that there were already concessions

by progressives. And what I love about what she says here is that she calls out Manchin for constantly, first of all, confusing everyone about what he actually wants, what his priorities are, but he keeps moving the goalposts as well. Remember, the Senate has not voted on a full reconciliation bill yet. However, they did vote on the framework of the bill, meaning that Democrats in the Senate, every single one of them, including Joe Manchin and Kirsten Cinema, voted to approve the three, $3.5 trillion price tag on the budget reconciliation bill.

Okay, that vote matters. Now, AOC calls Manchin out for moving the Colbos. Let's watch. Some of our Senate colleagues are all over the place. You know, he started off, Senator Manchin started off with an openness to $3.5 trillion. This is reporting as far back as June, and also on the record saying a two-track strategy is the main strategy that we have. So this was what Senator Manchin was saying two months ago, and so the question that we

have is which senator are we negotiating with? Is this June mansion? Is it September mansion? Is it August mansion? Will December mansion be a different, you know, will this be a different senator that pops up? So when you have a moving target and when we've been in infrastructure negotiations for six months and the two main senators after six months of negotiations still don't even have an idea of what their number is that just pulled one out yesterday after being engaged in these conversations for six months, this is what is leading. You know, their lack of consistency and their lack of homework is creating instability to this process. So not only was that a strong statement, it was an accurate description of what went down,

and Mansion really has no credible response. In fact, get a load of the lies. told when reporters asked him about his top line number. Did you share that number with the president and has that 1.5? The last week or so, the last week or so. Have you shared it with Senator Cinema? And did that number go up? Senator Sinema knows that. No, no, my top line has not been.

My top line has been 1.5 because I believe in my heart that what we can do and what the needs we have right now and what we can afford to do without basically changing our whole society to an entitlement mentality. Manchin voted to approve the $3.5 trillion price tag on the budget reconciliation bill. So did Kirsten Cinema. Why did they vote? Yes, if later they're going to come forward. By the way, Kirsten Sinema hasn't given any specifics at all. She's just a massive, poorly dressed troll in the Democratic Party right now. It's like she gets some sort of like arousal off of being a troll.

It's insane. But Manchin is like, no, no, I mean, I was always against $3.5 trillion. No, you weren't. You voted in favor of it. So did Kirsten Cinema. Why did you vote in favor of it if you're going to then turn around and say 3.5 trillion too much. Now I'm going to go down to 1.5 trillion? Please. Please. Okay. So we told you about this fake stalemate that Mansion and Cinema are creating. And now Mansion has done his own version of it. Mansion. Cinema started by saying, oh yeah, I could do this bill, the larger bill. If we get a carbon tax, wink. And then over to you, Joe. Joe goes, there's no way we're going to. going to do a carbon tax. Coal, West Virginia, yeah, right? And now, Mansion has turned around and said, well, we could do it if we raise tax on corporations, by the way, by a smidge, by a scouch, right?

And cinema, that's her line in the sand. Oh, no, my beloved corporations, she has said that she will not raise a tax on them one cent. She agrees with Trump 100%, that it should be at the ridiculously low 21%. Right? So now they go, oh, well, we would love to do this, but we're at a stay on. made because we both say that we won't do these two things to pay for. It's fake. They're on the same side. They're on the corporate side. I think there's some chance that they actually

talked about it and came up with a concerted strategy, probably at the Chamber of Commerce, then told her two waiters, Mansion and Cinema, to go get them their food and said, this is how you'll do it, and this is my order, okay? And those are the orders that are being executed right now that you're seeing. And then Manchin says, oh, they have an entitlement mentality. Wait a minute, we're not talking about how much we've, because he keeps talking about the number of 5.4 trillion since coronavirus started last March. Oh, we spent 5.4 trillion. No, no, it isn't about how much. It's about who. Exactly. When you were spending it earlier, trillions of dollars on large corporations, you never talked about entitlementality. You never worried about the debt.

You never talked about fiscal sanity or insanity. You were totally fine when we were shoveling trillions of dollars to your corporate friends. Now that it's come to the American people, it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, these are bums. These are voters. They haven't even donated to me. No, screw them. They got an entitlement mentality trying to get something from the government without bribing me. What kind of mentality is that?

Well, now you're beginning to get caught, Joe Mansion, and I'm here for it. Well, reporters for the first time, as far as I can remember, are asking about the corruption. And I want to show you just how angry Mansion got when a reporter asked him about his own personal financial interests. But we're gonna do that when we come back from the break. So don't miss it. It's probably my favorite story of the day. We'll be right back. you guys, Diana writes in the member section. Hold the line, Justice Stems. Special shout

out to punk rock Bernie, to both of them indeed. Love it, and thank you to all of you that made that possible. All right, Casper. Joe Manchin has been called out quite a bit by progressive lawmakers who say that he is beholden to his corporate donors. He also has some personal financial stakes that definitely play a role, way into his decision on defeating or attempting to defeat the budget reconciliation bill. What I love though is that the narrative has finally spread to the corporate media, and now they're asking Joe Manchin about his corruption, but he no like that. So when Ari Natter, who is a reporter over at Bloomberg, asked him about, you know, the fact that

he's heavily invested in dirty coal and makes quite a bit of money for it, Manchin kind of threatened him. So let me give you the exchange. So Manchin was asked about how he's invested in the coal industry and makes quite a bit of money. Manchin responded by saying, I've been in a blind trust for 20 years, I have no idea what they're doing. So Ari responds with, you're still getting dividends. And Manchin says, get this, you got a problem, you do best to change the subject. Okay.

What? What was that? No, he would not do best to change the subject. That was a perfect question. In fact, let me provide more context into that line of questioning. Because Mansion, according to his most recent financial disclosure, gained $492,000, nearly half a million dollars last year, due to his non-public shares in a coal company called Ener Systems,

which records show is a contractor for a power plant in the states north that burns waste coal. Meanwhile, Manchin's 2020 income for being a senator was $174,000, which means he makes more than double from his investments in fossil fuels than he does for his Senate salary. So money talks. And I think that that was the right line of questioning. This is the reason why he wants to defeat the budget reconciliation bill, which includes climate action that could hurt his bottom line. Yeah. So look, guys, this is incredible for a couple of reasons. Number one, we've got a breakthrough. The dam is breaking.

Reporters are actually asking about corruption. They're finally thought, huh, I wonder if half a million dollars affects his vote on issues where it goes directly into his pocket. Of course, of course it affects it. 99% of the country thinks it affects their decisions for these politicians. And the last 1% was the national reporters. They're like, huh, I wonder if campaign donations affect them. Huh, let's let those ass around, right?

An actual money going into their own pockets, half a million dollars. I wonder if that, of course, of course it affects. So after 25 years of me covering politics, that most obvious question was never asked. And finally it's been asked. And look at the politician's reaction. You best change the subject. Because he's used to bossing reporters around. I'm an important person, I'm a powerful person.

The mainstream media works for me. How dare you, you insolent, hired hand? How dare you ask a powerful person how they make their money? So he yells at him like the thug that he is. He should get 20 new reporters asking him that question until he answers it. Reporters, that's an open-handed slap, what are you gonna do? You should ask him again and again and again. Is it your personal money that is preventing this vote?

Is it the fact that you make all this money what is preventing you from voting with the Democratic Party, with Joe Biden, and with the voters of America, and with 80% of the voters of West Virginia? So that's the reality of what's happening. So that's a giant breakthrough there. Now, just last night, Senator Manchin had released a statement in regard to his displeasure with the budget reconciliation bill. He didn't provide too many specifics in terms of what it is about the bill that he doesn't like, other than the fact that he thinks the $3.5 trillion price tag is too expensive, and he's allegedly very concerned about the national debt.

But remember, there are pay-fors in the legislation. It's just that the pay-fors would include increasing taxes on the rich, meaning his donors, and also for himself, and he doesn't like that. And so Jennifer Granholm responded to it, I think, pretty well on cable news. Let's watch what she had to say. Mansion also writes, what I have made clear to the president and Democratic leaders is that spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can't even pay for the essential social programs like Social Security and Medicare is the definition of fiscal insanity. Your response.

But that's the whole point, is that, for example, there were 50 corporations who made $40 billion in profit last year who didn't pay one dime in taxes. Tax fairness requires that we all pay our fair share. And Senator Manchin, I think, is very much in favor of reshaping the tax codes that it is fair, that we address those loopholes and inequities. So that is a discussion that's happening right now. But the president, too, wants to make sure that it's fully paid for. And that's one of the fat features of the build back better agenda that has huge support among the population. Now remember, Joe Manchin isn't mentioning that there are pay-for's, because that would require him to say that he's against increasing taxes on the rich and corporations, something that's actually very popular among the electorate, including his own constituents.

So he's pretending, he's lying to people through his statement by claiming that this is going to increase the debt, when in reality he knows, he knows that there's a way to pay for the bill. It's just that he doesn't want to increase taxes on his donors or on himself. Yeah, well, the other lie was in the first clip when he said, oh, how much money am I making him from where? Oh, golly gee, I have no idea. I don't know, Jake. I don't know. He said that's the same thing to me. When I asked him a couple years ago when he was on the show, I said, here are the list of your time.

10 donors and it looks like you voted with them on this bill, this bill, and this bill. And he's like, oh, I don't even know who they are. I don't know who my donors are. Oh, come on. I mean, come up with a credible lie, one that doesn't seem absolutely laughable. And now to turn around and go, oh, janks, or in this case, Ari, oh, half a million dollars. Oh, is that, was that, did I get that? Oh, I don't know anything about it. Money magically pops up in my bank account. I don't even notice half a million dollars. I don't bother to ask, hey, where did that come from? Hey, I wonder where I'm invested.

The same place you've been invested the entire time. Yeah. We all know, do you know. There's nothing blind about it. Your son runs the company. There's nothing blind about that trust. There's nothing blind about it. It's a joke.

It's a Trump-like trust. And look, that is a huge problem in Congress. And I've been talking about it a lot on the show. The fact that lawmakers can have their own personal investments, not just in individual stocks, but their own little side hustles going on. That's unacceptable, especially since we're talking about the same Democratic Party that was crying about the conflicts of interest in the Trump administration, with Donald Trump still very much a part of the business world with his own business ventures on the side.

Oh, it's a violation of the emoluments clause, which by the way, I agree with. But Democrats have no leg to stand on making that kind of argument. when they themselves have massive conflicts of interest, certainly in the case of Joe Manchin. Yeah, and one more thing. So look at that, Grant Home, by the way, long considered a moderate Democrat, but a reasonable person, a good person. We worked with her current TV, we had back-to-back shows. And now here she is representing the Biden administration arguing for a progressive position, and effectively so.

Look at how much the world has changed. And so when he says, oh, I'm worried about the debt, not only does this not add to the debt, But the trillions of dollars that we gave to corporations just last year did add to the debt, and he didn't say a word about it. So there's no question. It is a matter of fact that when you give trillions to corporations, Joe Manchin loves it and is not at all concerned about the debt. When you give it to actual American voters that didn't donate to him, he hates it. And now all of a sudden worried about a debt that in this bill doesn't even exist.

That's exactly right. And finally, $3.5 trillion for the budget reconciliation bill over the course of a decade, okay? Over the course of 10 years, we spent $7.5 trillion on defense over the course of a decade. So just let that sink in. And by the way, are there any discussions about cutting the defense budget now that we've withdrawn troops from Afghanistan? No. In fact, Congress has decided to increase the budget through the National Defense Authorization Act. So just let all of that sink in as the media frames this as if a $3.5 trillion bill through

the course of 10 years is something insane and unprecedented. It's not. We spend that kind of money and way more on defense. So, all right, let's move on. For the first time, in a long time, progressives have some leverage in Congress. And so AOC explained why she plans on voting against the bipartisan infrastructure bill unless she gets the passage of the reconciliation bill. Let's watch. I also want to really thank people at home for supporting House Democrats who do not accept corporate PAC and lobbyist money.

And those sorts of Democrats are not just progressive. They're not just conservative. They really transcend a lot of party ideology, but they're a recent phenomenon and that have really been surging since 2016 and 2018. And I really do believe that that is what is changing the dynamic that we're seeing in Washington today, where that stranglehold that lobbyists have traditionally have had over Washington that's still very much due in a lot of sectors is starting to loosen because everyday American voters and everyday people at home are starting to support. members of Congress and send members to Congress that don't just do what lobbyists tell them to do,

but say we're going to make tough decisions. This is a moment of heartburn, but I want to be clear that not voting for this tomorrow is not a permanent decision. We can always reconsider it when the time is right. And the time would be right as soon as the budget reconciliation bill passes, that's when progressives would agree to voting for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, aka the corporate handout bill, just like they had promised and negotiated on previously. So what I love is that she talks about the distinction between the corporate Democrats who abide by the, you know, demands coming from their corporate donors versus progressives like AOC, Corey Bush, Pramila Jayapal, all these progressives who actually want to represent

the best interests of their constituents because they're not corrupted with corporate cash. Okay, look, we have tons of progressives on the show. We have tons of progressive organizations. We've tried to help everyone that's in the progressive community. And most of all, you guys helped start Just Democrats by doing exactly what AOC is talking about there. Gave $2.5 million in the 2018 cycle and led to these incredibly important victories. I'm going to take a piece of credit here, if I don't care if you mind or don't mind, actually. I remember the call when the four just Democrats, co-founders, me, Kyle Kalinsky, Zach Exley, Shirkout, Chuck Barthi, discussed a no corporate PAC rule.

When I suggested it, we did, and we fought for it, and we agreed, and we instituted that rule. I thought it would make a giant difference, I told you guys on the air, that it would make a giant difference, because it would free the legislators. And here they are, and here's AOC on national television. telling you, we're free. And so we don't have to do what the lobbyists say. And when you don't have to do what the lobbyists say, all of a sudden you actually represent the voters.

And my God, it's made all the difference in the world. And I want to thank all of you guys for having faith that that plan was going to work. And here it is working. And so the next time we ask you guys, hey, maybe you support these candidates or these organizations or these groups, remember that it's already worked. And if we keep going forward, listen to AOC, not just helping AOC's of the world, but the next set. The next Justice Democrats, Odessa Kelly in Tennessee, Jessica Cisneroson, Texas, Morgan Harbor, Ohio, et cetera, et cetera, right? Next set of progressives. So look at that.

If you double their numbers, you'll double their power. So let's keep doubling our power, and we're going to win this thing. And finally, we have progressive legislators on TV saying, it's the corruption, stupid. And so now it's affecting the corporate media, and they're beginning to ask about the corporate donors. Nina Turner, now at TYT, but was on. CNN said, hey, you know what, it's their owner donors, because they own them. And that's really true. So to that point, you go to Chris Cuomo's show, and he had some words for Mansion and Cinema during his show last night. We've got two clips to share with you. Let's go to the first one. Cinema and Mansion say that they won't support the price tag as is. Okay, so give another number.

I think there is another question, though, that the senator is going to have to answer at some point. Is this just about the price or who would be paying it? Is Senator Sinema more concerned about her big pharma friends and corporate lobbyists that fill her coffers than her regular constituents? I think that's a real question. She gets a lot of money from big pharma. They don't like what you're doing with prescription drugs. She gets a lot of money from big money. They don't like that you want to raise the corporate taxes.

So she doesn't like the funding mechanisms, therefore she can't go for the bill. So before we get to the second Cuomo video, I want to give you guys some context in case you've missed some previous episodes of the show where I detailed just where the corruption is coming from. All right. So let's start with Joe Manchin. This is from Jonathan Larson, our reporter here at TYT. He does TYT Investigates, did an excellent job with this particular story and more. He reported earlier that AA property is reportedly 50% controlled by mansion and is an investor in Emerald Coast Realty, which owns a Lakinta Hotel in Elkview, West Virginia. The national average salary for several Lakinta positions is well below $15 an hour. If mansions $11 an hour federal minimum wage proposal were to win out, Lakinta Hotel housekeepers, for instance, would get an average raise of just eight cents an hour nationwide.

Now think about it. If Mansion has a personal stake in a business where he could lose profits if they increase the wages of its workers, you think he's going to vote for a $15 an hour minimum wage? I mean, obviously that personal financial interest is going to have a huge impact on the way he votes on legislation. and to be sure he was against the $15 an hour minimum wage. Also, according to his most recent financial disclosure, Mansion gained $492,000 last year due to his non-public shares in a coal company called Enter Systems, which records show is a contractor for a power plant in the states north that burns waste coal. And as you guys know, his salary as a senator is far less at $174,000. And then when you go to cinema, Cuomo rightly mentioned that she is corrupted by pharmaceutical

companies, and he's absolutely right about that. Kirsten Cinema has received over $750,000 from Big Pharma. Her office is led by a former lobbyist whose firm worked on behalf of pharmaceutical companies, and now she's trying to tank a bill to lower drug prices. This is the power of big money folks. And Cuomo, luckily, continue talking about that. Let's take a look at the second clip. So now is the question, who?

Who is holding it up? Got to be the progressives, right? They keep saying they won't vote on the bill tomorrow. I argue to you, no. The progressives are actually in line with President Biden. These numbers are his numbers. These wants are his wants, and they're all wildly popular with you on both bills. And another reason, I don't think you can put.

this on them. They keep asking the moderates in the House and the two key senators, Mansion and Cinema, to negotiate. Tell us what you like, tell us what you don't like, give us a number. They have gotten none of those from the Senators or in the House, as far as we know, certainly with the Senators. So much so that some are now referring to the two Senators, Mansion and Cinema, as Manchinema. I say they may soon be known as Manchinema because they are really sticking it to their party. So, Jank, thoughts?

Look at that. We told you, hey, you know what? Chris Cuomo, an interesting guy and an open-minded guy. And here he is, one of the rare anchors on television, calling out the donor money. and now correctly assessing, it's not the progressives' fault. It's actually, and by the way, you have progressives on, and maybe even years later, it affects you a little bit, like, maybe we should be fair to.

Stop. Do you know how fast you were going? I'm going to have to write you a ticket to my new movie, The Naked Gun. Liam Nissan. Buy your tickets now. I get a free chili dog. Chili Dog, not included. The Naked God.

Tickets on sale now. August 1st. Progressives. And so he's a very rare anchor on cable news being accurate. It's not just about siding with progressives, there's no question about it. Almost the entire Democratic Party agrees, except for Mansion and Cinema, and they're the ones holding up, there's no question, and they won't even say the number, they won't say what they're going to cut. So that is the most accurate report on cable news. The tide has changed, and it is an amazing day in America.

This is just the beginning, we won't win on everything, and I'm not even sure we're going to win on this. yet, right? But my God, the momentum is on our side. If you'd asked me a little while back, do you think you're gonna get that three and a half trillion dollar bill? I would have said probably no, but as you saw us talk about it, we didn't say no way, we were like, this is interesting, right? We're not sure, but normally it would be a no, right? And now all of a sudden I got it at a yes, it's not gonna come in a three and a half trillion, but I once said 2.1 trillion, maybe it'll be even higher than that. I think they're going to pass the bill.

I think this is too much media pressure on Mansion and Cinema. And so that's the only thing they'll buckle to. Well, earlier in our broadcast, I referred to Senator Cinema as a poorly dressed troll. When we come back from the break, I will explain why. See you then. All right, back on the young Turks, the strong and mighty. Young Turks. Jane Cougar, Anna Kasparian with you guys, and you.

All the members make all of this possible. All right, Casper. Conservative Senator Kirsten Cinema seems to get some sort of rise out of trolling the very people who helped to get her elected into the Senate in the first place. In the meantime, seniors are wondering, is there ever going to be a day where Medicare will allow us to maybe get our teeth checked out here and then? at some point. And so what's fascinating is just like how much she's dismissive of the criticism toward her for attempting to defeat the budget reconciliation bill, which would provide all sorts

of social safety net programs that are wildly popular among Americans. And she had this exchange with a reporter that I think is worth taking a look at. Let's watch. with the White House officials, have you have any questions? Pretty recent. Sorry, gang, we're not anything part of right now, but we're laying out that. Do you have bigger?

So she gives all these wise-ass answers to reporters. For instance, when the reporter asked, what do you say to progressives who are frustrated, they don't know where you are, meaning you're against the reconciliation bill, but they don't know why. Can you engage in the negotiations and let

them know what you'd like to change? She just responds with, I'm in the Senate. There are progressives in the Senate that are also frustrated. They don't know where you're, where you are either. And she's like, I'm clearly right in front of the elevator. Wow, so clever, so clever. Yeah. Look, she thinks it's fun in games.

We're talking about people's lives, okay? We're talking about families who desperately need support. We're talking about universal pre-K. We're talking about an expansion of Medicare to not only lower the Medicare eligibility age, but to include coverage for hearing, dental, vision, you know, parts of the human body that for some reason are not already included in Medicare. We're talking about permanent child tax credits. I mean, the list goes on and on, mandatory paid family leave. So when a family has a baby, they can actually spend a little.

bit of time for the woman to recover and for the father to spend time with the newborn. I mean, these are things that are already offered in developed countries. It's the United States, the only developed country in the world that doesn't offer these things. And Kirsten Cinema, who's good? She's doing well. She's not worried about these programs because they wouldn't benefit her life, but they would benefit the lives of her constituents.

She thinks it's all fun in games. Give these little wise-ass answers, get in the elevator and give a cute little wave. It's not cute, it's not cute. So there are efforts already to find a progressive candidate, to challenge her. She's not up for re-election for several years, about three years specifically, but she needs to be voted out. The fact that she finds this amusing is just absolutely disgusting. So she used to do these things all the time, but now she's getting caught. So, of course, you remember the flamboyance thumbs down in some sort of designer outfit when she voted against the minimum.

wage increase. And so she has adds out in 2018 when she got was in reelection, especially in the primary, talking about, oh, health care, the drug prices. And she had a bunch of seniors around her. Oh my God, we've got to lower them. I'm going to fight for you on that. Now she jokes around about how, no, she's not going to lower the drug price at all. She works for the drug companies. She got $750,000 from them and she works for them, right? And she used to do all of that and get away with it. it. So she would, and the press would say, oh, the colorful cinema because of her outfits and et cetera. And then they would say, oh, and in fact, they just said a couple of weeks

ago, we covered on the show. Oh, she's got an accountant-like focus on spreadsheets and all this fluffery, right? Now when she's getting called out, she's shocked. She doesn't know what's going on. So she's like, I'm by the elevator. He's like, no, I was asking you a serious question because progressives in the Senate want to know where your positions are. I'm in the Why, is it not working? Is my cuteness not working? No. Well, you're not cute. It's when you take the bribes and you screw the rest of us over. It's decidedly not cute. So she's shocked that the refs are calling fouls. Yes. So for all this time, you know, it's like Jordan versus the pistons, right? Jordan's the best player, but the pistons would come in and hammer him

and the refs wouldn't call any fouls. And now what the media is saying foul, you actually should tell people what your policy position is. She's like, what? I used to just screw them over in the middle of the night and you guys would cover for me. What the hell's going on? It's a whole new world. No, can I just, I see it a little differently than you do, right? Because Mansion, who was recently asked about his corruption, got angry because he's not used to it. So he got triggered by that line of questioning. Cinema seems to enjoy, like she almost seems to relish the hatred that's directed toward her after she votes down a $15 an hour minimum wage. She thinks it's funny, right?

Like, she's like the troll of the Senate. Like she's constantly trolling everyone. And I want to also just note that recently she started deleting some of her older tweets. Oh, maybe she does care. So I want to go to this tweet from 2011 that she deleted. I mean, look, it's hard to wipe your record of things. So she had written, asking big corporations and the rich to pay their fair share is common sense, not class warfare. Now think about that.

She deleted that tweet because she now wants to support corporations and the rich. That's an amazing tweet to delete. Like normally people delete like things that are like, oh, racist or sexist from the past. I didn't mean it. I was 17, et cetera, right? She's like, oh my God, I was young and I thought I wasn't yet bought off by the rich in corporations. I'm so sorry, corporate America. And she deleted that tweet.

It's amazing, amazing admission. Okay, but Anna, the reason, I know it's a funny little disagreement, but I have a prediction for you, next time that somebody asks her a tough question, she's going to get angry. Because she's playing it off. I can smell insecure people, right? Like, whatever, like, I'm in the Senate, I'm by the elevator. And but next time they challenged her again, she's going to snap because she's not used to it at all. And, but it's not that you're wrong. She's a Trumpian troll, right? She loved being a troll, but it had no downside. Now all of a sudden a bit of a downside.

Now you remember she had that ring that says F off to her voters basically, and then she went and kissed corporate ass to collect more checks, didn't tell them the F off. And to me, that ring was a Melania Trump like, I don't really care about you, okay? Remember that I really don't care jacket that Melania wore. So that's who Chris Sinema is. She's a Melanian Democrat. A Melanian Democrat. Yeah.

Yeah. All right, fair enough. We'll see how she, you know, handles herself moving forward. But for now, I want to reset and talk a little bit about how awesome Nina Turner is. Yes. Because she is a badass and it shows in everything she does, including her cable news interviews.

So, Nina Turner, who I'm proud to call a colleague because she works here now, recently got interviewed on cable news about the corporate Democrats in the Senate who are attempting to defeat the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill. And of course, that's the bill that has all sorts of human infrastructure proposals and provisions that would really improve Americans' lives. Now, what I love here is that she's on this show with a former advisor for Senator Joe Manchin. And she goes at it. Let's watch. It's always curious when people want to know how you're going to pay for something, when it's going to help Main Street and help people in neighborhoods.

But when it comes to allowing the wealthiest people in this country to get away with not paying taxes, when it comes to endless spending on wars, nobody ever asked how much does this cost. Both Senator Joe Manchin, also Senator Sinema, should absolutely tell the American people what they want them the cut. Do they want them to cut the expansion of Medicare that increases access to vision, dental and hearing? Do they want them to cut child care? What do they want them to cut? Let's go on and be bold and lay it on the line and let the American people know that they are answering first and foremost to their owner-donors and not the people that they serve. And by the way, Arizona and West Virginia are two of the poorest states in the United States of America

and the people of those states deserve better than what they're getting right now from their two Senator. She's absolutely right about that. And when you look at polling, I mean, nationwide, the popularity of the budget reconciliation bill is clear, upward of 70% of Americans support it. You go to West Virginia, which is a red state, and the numbers are actually higher. 80% of West Virginians want that bill passed. And Joe Manchin's like, I don't I don't know. I got the corporate donors and also my daughters all tied up with the pharmaceutical industry. I'm heavily invested in dirty coal. I just, that's what's motivating them. I love that it's being called out, and I love hearing Nina Turner, especially saying it on cable

news. Guys, look at a brand new day in America. Now, Nina Turner, you see her saying it on young Turks. If you watched Power Hour last week, that's the members show that Nina does every Thursday here at 5 o'clock Pacific, 8 o'clock Eastern, which check out, t.yt.com slash join. But seriously, you see or see it here, say it here, and then you see her now saying it on national media, and all of a sudden, it's in the anchor's heads. And they're going to start asking other politicians. In fact, Berman turns around and asks the mansion's guy. He's like, Well, those are interesting points. So what are those great progressive points we used to never get out, but now we're finally

breaking out and are so persuasive, because we're right, we're right. Why do you only ask how we're going to pay for it when it goes to the American people? It's a question we've asked on the Young Turks for the last 20 years, and finally it's breaking through. And did you notice she's called them owner-doners? She's saying they're owned by their donors. That is a heavy comment. Now you're used to it on TYT, you're not used to it on CNN, and the anchor didn't blink. And Manchin's guy had no answer for him.

He knows. And because they know, because we're right, we're right. And then that talking point she lay down on him is perfect. What are you going to cut? Go ahead, go ahead, Manchin, tough guy. What are you going to cut? You're going to be shocked to find out, he didn't have an answer. Okay, because they used to do that stuff in the middle of the night.

of the night, and the reporters would never report on it, and that's how they would cut everything for us and hand everything over to the corporations. No more, progressives are on the watch. Now, if you thought that was strong, this next clip is even stronger. Let's watch. One thing I do agree with what Jonathan said in terms of what the needs are in this country. So then why hold out? Overwhelming majority of the Democratic caucus agree. Let both senators come in and talk this through right now and let's go ahead and have this vote today and pass this so that the people on Main Street and in neighborhoods across this country don't have to continue to suffer while people got the luxury who have the luxury to banty about and take their

time to make a decision why people's livelihoods hang in the balance. This is about the pandemic and this is about the people and they deserve better than what they're getting right now. So come on Senator Manson and Senator Sinema. Get with the program and stop trying to be the shadow president and vice president, and let's deliver for the American people. I love that. That was, I love that moment. Bante about will now be part of what I say on a regular. Banty about is so perfect. I mean, Mansion sleeps in a yacht. He sleeps in a yacht when he's in D.C. He's like carefully like putting his head on that plush down pillow in his yacht, while senior citizens in this country are wondering whether they're going to be able to get their

eyes and their teeth checked out through Medicare, okay? But he's not worried about that, collecting $500,000 a year from fossil fuel companies. No, I love it. I love what she said there. It was great. But guys, there's something even more amazing about this, and it's so wonderful. That's why I love making this show participatory, okay? So she said three of those points on Power Hour last week.

And you guys loved them. And she saw your feedback on how much you loved them, including her line about how they're the shadow president and vice president, including the owner-donors, and the next clip I'm going to show you, okay? So since you guys loved it, she said it on CNN, and everybody's like, damn. Speaking of which, let me show you the last one, and you'll see the anchors reaction too. Watch. Yeah, there is no.

Oh, I thought there was one. Oh, no, the, it's okay, the, the, because I, you have it in the, sorry, that was the one we just watched. About the West Virginia? Yeah, that was what we watched. Oh, damn it, I missed it in the beginning. Okay, anyways, it worked. The bottom line is it worked.

And so you're going to see more and more of that and keep participating. Keep telling us what you like, don't like, et cetera. It's making a giant impact. All right, that does it for our first. hour. When we come back, we'll switch gears a little bit, talk about some other stuff that's going on in the news, including NYPD members who have now been named as part of the Oathkeeper's militia. We'll tell you all about that. An incredible story from the Gothamist. We'll be right back. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work, listen to ad-free,

access members-only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at apple.com at apple.com slash t yt i'm your host jank huger and i'll see you soon