The Young Turks - The Young Turks 01.23.18: School Shooting, Stopped CNN Shooting, FBI Agent, and Andrew McCabe

Episode Date: January 24, 2018

A portion of our Young Turks Main Show from January 23rd, 2018. For more go to http://www.tytnetwork.com/join. Hour 1:  Segment 1  Cenk. At least two students were killed and 17 other people were in...jured in a school shooting on Tuesday at Marshall County High School in Benton, Ky. Authorities arrested a Michigan man last week after he allegedly called CNN several times, threatening to kill employees at the network's Atlanta, Georgia, headquarters, according to a federal affidavit. Brandon Griesemer made 22 calls to CNN on January 9 and January 10 and four calls, which were recorded, contained threats, according to the affidavit, which was unsealed Friday. Griesemer, whose age was not given, also made disparaging statements about Jewish people, African-Americans and the network in several calls, the affidavit said. Segment 2  FBI Agent Peter Strzok was dismissed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s team after messages he sent that demonstrated a bias against President Donald Trump. Oddly enough, that same agent almost didn’t even join Mueller’s office because he didn’t think here was any evidence of the Trump campaign colluding with Russia. Attorney General Jeff Sessions — at the public urging of President Donald Trump — has been pressuring FBI Director Christopher Wray to fire Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, but Wray threatened to resign if McCabe was removed. Chuck Schumer is taking his big spending boost for Donald Trump’s border wall off the table. The Senate minority leader, through an aide, informed the White House that he was retracting the offer he made last week to give Trump well north of the $1.6 billion in wall funding Trump had asked for this year, according to two Democrats. And now they say Trump will simply not get a better deal than that on his signature campaign promise. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 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. This year, TYT's been making a lot of moves. Now, you can too. Now, how are you going to do that? You want to launch a new business?
Starting point is 00:00:16 That sounds fun. You're going to change careers. Jesus and Lord Mercy. You're going to need a website for all that. Lucky for you, Squarespace, also making moves. You're going to go to Squarespace.com slash TYT. You're going to get 10% off your first purchased, and you're going to get to build anything you want on that website with a unique domain. What are you crazy?
Starting point is 00:00:35 Go do it now. All right. Well, I'm the Young Turks. A huge day ahead for you guys. We've got the Bernie Sanders Town Hall on Medicare for All. That's coming up in about an hour. Anna Kaspare is going to be hosting that from Washington, D.C., obviously featuring Senator Bernie Sanders. After that, we will have a panel discussion for you guys about Medicare for All on that issue and the town hall.
Starting point is 00:01:01 And we've got some great TYT host to cover that. And then after that, we're not done yet. We're going to be on here for a while. We're going to bring on Nina Turner at Rebel headquarters to talk about our revolution and their stance on Medicare for All. She's, of course, the president of our revolution. That's the group that Bernie Sanders started. So it's a huge day ahead for you guys. Unfortunately, also in the news today that I'll be covering the first hour, the Democratic
Starting point is 00:01:29 cave in why they caved, and we now have quotes from Democrats and Democratic Gades, and how Trump has taken it, and it is not going well in that regard. And a disastrous turn of events in something they snuck into the budget bill and how it creates an unaccountable mercenary army. great story on that as in great reporting from the Intercept and Ryan Grimm, disastrous in its results. So all that is coming up with the program. Let me unfortunately give you two quick stories here in the first segment about shootings and potential shootings. All right. So we have another shooting at another high school in Kentucky. And here we go, round and round we go. And
Starting point is 00:02:13 it is unfortunately, having looked at all the news sites, a relatively minor story now. Now we've gotten so used to school shootings and massacres that this becomes a blip. That's the state of what's happening in America. So CBS News explained that the Kentucky governor Bevan and other officials have given an update on the high school shooting, which I'm going to share with you guys in a little bit. And there you're seeing obviously some footage of what happened inside and outside the high school and the aftermath of the shooting.
Starting point is 00:02:47 the gunman whose name is still unknown was a student at the school and will face murder and attempted murder charges. Two have been killed, 19 injured, 14 shot, and it is a terrible day in America when it's no other way to call these shootings other than massacres. And I think that we're not using the right word when we omit that. When a massacre at a school, we're 14. kids are shot. 14 people, 19 in the hospital overall. And it's a relatively minor story in the news. We've just, we've become like those lab animals that have been shot so often and so
Starting point is 00:03:33 indiscriminately and randomly that we've appeared to have stopped trying to fix the problem. So if you want to know what's endangering our lives, yes, we should talk about terrorism of all stripes. Yes, we should talk about foreign policy issues. Yes, we should have checks at airports. But my God, you want to see what's killing you and your neighbors? It's the guns next door. So, yet another
Starting point is 00:03:58 shooting at another school and yet empty talk, as always, from the politicians. Here is the governor of Kentucky. Respect the fact that these children
Starting point is 00:04:15 belong to this community and to specific families in this community and this is a wound that is going to take a long time to heal and for some in this community will never fully heal that is going to take a process of time and respect and I'm asking you please to respect these families this is an opportunity for us to show
Starting point is 00:04:45 How these situations can be handled, the respect, the love, the sticking to the facts in allowing the process to proceed. I'm just asking you, please have respect for these families. What does that mean respect for the families? Who wouldn't have respect for the families? We all do. We're all incredibly concerned about them. We're concerned about our own families because this shooting is going to happen in a corner near you real soon. It happens every day in America.
Starting point is 00:05:13 We have a mass shooting on average about once a day in America. So who isn't concerned? Of course, we're all concerned. So what are you actually saying? What are you actually saying, Governor Bevan? What you're saying is, now this is not the time to talk about guns. Okay, so let's not jump to conclusions. Let's not say anything that might actually fix the problem.
Starting point is 00:05:30 Remember, I, along with all my Republican buddies, get funded by the NRA. So whatever you do, respect the situation and don't try to solve it. Well, that's how we got here in the first place. You told us not to solve it in the last mass shooting. And the one before that and the one before that. And after every massacre, you told us, no, no, no, you can't do anything about guns. How about we said the simplest regulation of the world? Federal background checks, 93% of Americans agree.
Starting point is 00:05:55 You know why? Because we're all getting killed out here. And you said no. And you said, and all your donors said no. And your Republican colleagues said no. And now it comes to you and you with your fake emotions and the pauses. Oh my God, respect the families. Don't hide behind the families.
Starting point is 00:06:11 That's what you're doing. You're hiding because what you don't want people to say is Governor Bevin did nothing about the issue of mass shootings and nonstop massacres and because he got paid by the NRA. And whatever you do on a day like today, don't mention that. Yeah, sorry. We do not agree. We will mention it.
Starting point is 00:06:32 The day to fix massacres like this is yes. The minute it happens, that's when you go to fix it. And you told us the delay and delay and delay. And what has that gotten us? Nothing but more massacres at more schools. Guy didn't go in there with rope or a knife. They went there in. The one thing we know is went in with a weapon and got to shoot a lot of kids with their weapons.
Starting point is 00:06:58 But yet the Republicans say over and over again, and some Democrats, whatever you do, I have a hobby. My hobby allows other people, including people on a terrorist watch list, including people who have mental issues, even people that have committed violence like domestic violence before, my hobby allows them to murder other people. But I got a hobby. I got a hobby. And whatever you do on a day where we have school kids massacred, don't talk about my beloved hobby slash my donors is what that politician is saying. My donors want you to buy more and more weapons, so we have more and more shooters. But whatever you do, don't talk about it. We do not agree.
Starting point is 00:07:42 I don't want another school shooting. It's way past time that we did something about this. Okay, now let's go to another story about a potential shooting, because it's nonstop in America. So Donald Trump attack CNN over and over and over again. And look, you want to talk about bias perspective in the media. Yes, everybody does it. Nothing wrong with that. That's also part of freedom of speech.
Starting point is 00:08:11 But Trump had videos that he tweeted on Twitter earlier, which, you know, in the beginning when he did the body slamming one, I said CNN was getting bent out of shape. It's just a stupid reference to wrestling. It doesn't actually mean violence. And then there was more attention. attacks against CNN also running them over. And then they're on the bottom of his shoe. And then he does those stupid fake news awards and says CNN is the worst of the worst.
Starting point is 00:08:42 And CNN is ruining this country. To me, the worst of any of that stuff. All that one of those by itself doesn't mean anything. But in mass, it is constantly telling his deranged followers, make sure you do something about CNN. CNN is the enemy. So that is why I say the worst of the worst is when he said, that these news outlets were the enemy of the people. But that's what fascists say.
Starting point is 00:09:07 That's not what an American president says that has ever read the First Amendment or respects it. So what has happened now? Unsurprisingly, a Trump fan has decided to threaten CNN with murdering everyone in the building. Are we surprised? Don't pretend you're surprised. This is exactly what the right wing agitated for, and here you go. And then they tell us, oh, well, he didn't do it yet, so take it easy. No, no.
Starting point is 00:09:37 If you're in that building, and then there's a mass shooting every day in America, and this guy's coming and saying, I'm going to kill you all, you'd be insane not to be worried. So let's go to the story here. Talking points, ma'amow explains over two days earlier this month, 19-year-old Michigan resident of Brandon Grysmer made close to two dozen medicine calls to CNN's Atlanta headquarters. He threatened to kill everyone in the building in several of those calls, according to court documents filed on Friday. So what was Brandon saying?
Starting point is 00:10:08 He called on me and he said, CNN is, quote, fake news. She, I wonder where he got that into his head. I can't quite tell. Then I'm going to give it to you with the curse words. I don't want to say the N words. So he said, I'm going to gun you all down. fuck you fucking N words. Huh.
Starting point is 00:10:28 Reference the fake news with racism and violence mixed in. Gee, I wonder where that came from. I can't quite tell. He went on to say I'm coming for you, CNN. I'm smarter than you. I agree to disagree. More powerful than you.
Starting point is 00:10:44 I have more guns than you. More manpower. Your cast is about to get gun down in a matter of hours. But what? Oh, just trolls online. Just trolls. I mean, they're threatening to murder people and put bullets in their heads, but don't worry about it. Meanwhile, Trump is threatening to arrest people he doesn't agree with politically and in the media, but don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. I mean, as fascism sets in day
Starting point is 00:11:09 after day, we're told not to worry about it. No, thank you. I think we should take precautions. And by the way, great work by the authorities in apprehending this man. Later on January 9th, An investigator hired by CNN traced the calls to a number registered to Grysmer's father. Turned out to be the same number that Grysimer had used to call the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor in September and make derogatory comments about Muslims. According to police records, cited in the same court documents. No, he's also anti-Muslim. Well, I didn't see that coming. Gee, I wonder where he got that idea.
Starting point is 00:11:44 And on and on it goes. Now, look, his father, I don't blame him at all. I hold the person responsible, not people around him, not his father or mother. And I get his instinct as a father to defend his son. Of course he's going to want to do that. But he said this comment. He said this whole thing has been a mistake. He really didn't mean any of it.
Starting point is 00:12:09 Now, again, as his father, I get that you want to say that. But no, we do not take your word for it. And we do not take his word for it. Because earlier, his word was that he was going to murder everybody in the building. In fact, I'll give you one more quote. He said, I'm coming to Georgia right now to go to CNN headquarters to fucking gun every single last one of you. We need to talk about a relatively new show called Un-F-The Republic or UNFTR. As a young Turks fan, you already know that the government, the media, and corporations are constantly peddling lies that serve the interests of the rich and powerful.
Starting point is 00:12:46 But now there's a podcast dedicated to unraveling those lies, debunking the conventional wisdom. In each episode of Un-B-The-Republic or UNFTR, the host delves into a different historical episode or topic that's generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated by the so-called powers that be. Featuring in-depth research, razor-sharp commentary, and just the right amount of vulgarity, the UNFTRTR podcast takes a sledgehammer to what you thought you knew about. some of the nation's most sacred historical cows. But don't just take my word for it. The New York Times described UNFTR as consistently compelling and educational, aiming to challenge conventional wisdom and upend the historical narratives that were taught in school. For as the great philosopher Yoda once put it,
Starting point is 00:13:35 You must have learned what you have learned. And that's true whether you're in Jedi training, or you're uprooting and exposing all the propaganda and disinformation you've been fed over the course of your lifetime. So search for UNFDR in your podcast app today and get ready to get informed, angered, and entertained all at the same time. Luckily, he was stopped by authorities before he did any of that. That is a crime. It should be punished as a crime. We defend freedom of speech. I, defend CNN's freedom of speech, we defend our own freedom of speech, we defend our critics'
Starting point is 00:14:21 freedom of speech. But saying you're going to murder people is not uncovered under freedom of speech. That is a direct threat, it can be considered assault, and in a country filled with lunatics, all with weapons, you'll excuse us if we take your insane threat seriously and take precautions surrounding it. So absolutely should have been arrested. And thank God they got to him before he actually did anything. It is not cute or clever or part of the First Amendment to go around online or on the phone and tell people that you're going to murder them. This is the state of the country we have now. And some people think, oh, Trump, what's the big deal? only eroded all norms in the country and has degraded our culture, degraded our constitution,
Starting point is 00:15:23 and brought a culture of violence and hatred and fear. She, I wonder what's wrong. This is what's wrong. And if you can't see it, you don't want to see it. And you're probably part of the problem, young Turks. You're right in the middle of this podcast. We've got another great segment coming up for you. If you'd like the full show, which is actually five segments, go to t-y-tnetwork.com slash join.
Starting point is 00:15:47 You become a member, you support the show, you support independent media, and you get the whole two-hour show ad-free every day. Let's go do it now. All right, back on a young turks. Let me read some tweets for you. Jim Chilson says, I have a question that I would like to ask Bernie Sanders for the town hall today. How do I do that? Too late. So, Jim, that's why I got to watch the show every day or become a member.
Starting point is 00:16:10 Okay, but seriously, like we asked you guys for submissions earlier and we will take questions from the audience, but you had to submit that a long, not a long time ago, but a couple of days ago so that we actually have time to take the video and then show it during the town hall. So guys, keep watching the show. When we ask you to participate, please participate because, yes, one of you will get to ask a question to Bernie Sanders today. You'll see in the town hall who that is, okay? Andrew says, so curious, is TYT only an hour and then the town hall? Yes. For today only, Andrew, we got an hour and then in about 40 minutes, the town hall with Bernie Sanders starts, hosted by Anna Casparian. Anthony says, Jen, keeps saying a shooting will soon or later affect everyone. I have a co-worker whose daughter attends this school. She called dad from the girls' locker room telling him that someone was shooting up to school. That is the very last thing that I want to tell you guys told you on. Jesus Christ, man. It's around the corner for everyone. when we're not doing a goddamn thing about it. Oh, the Muslims, the Latinos, the guy who crossed the border, a guy who crossed the border doesn't have a dime to his name, let alone a gun.
Starting point is 00:17:16 The guy living next to you probably has 13 guns and is a thousand times bigger threat. All right, I got a lot more stories. Let's go over here. Okay. So the Republicans are on the war path on this issue of texts between two people at the FBI who were part of Mueller's investigating. in the beginning. Peter Stork and Lisa Page. So first of all, it should be noted that the FBI says that there is five months of text missing. That's unacceptable. It's unacceptable when the CIA loses the torture tapes where they tortured people and they had it on tape and they had a court
Starting point is 00:17:57 order to retain that evidence and they just trashed it. And so I don't know why or how the FBI lost these texts, but it's not an acceptable situation. So now, Having said that, there's a piece of information shared by a Republican senator here, which I don't think helps their cause, but of course they're going to twist that into trying to appear that way anyway. So let's give you the context here. I'm going to go to law and crime. FBI agent Peter Stork was dismissed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team after messages he sent that demonstrated a bias against President Trump.
Starting point is 00:18:32 So just to remind you of the background here. And by the way, yes, he was dismissed. The minute they found out about the text messages where he was saying, that he doesn't like Trump, he was off the team like that. Well, no, nope, not good enough. Well, if it was a deep state plan, why did they kick him off the team? Why don't they just let him continue? Hmm, okay.
Starting point is 00:18:51 In one of the messages, though, Stork apparently wrote, you and I both know the odds are nothing about this investigation coming up with something. If I thought it was likely, I'd be there, no question. I hesitate in part because of my gut sense and concerned that there's nothing big there. Whoa, that's super interesting. I thought this guy was part of the deep state conspiracy, according to the right wing, to make sure that he gets Trump. But in text messages from back then, he writes to Lisa Page,
Starting point is 00:19:20 I don't think there was anything to the Trump investigation. Well, then how is he part of a secret cabal? Okay, more from law and crime. They say these texts, of course, came well before news came out about Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian attorney with hopes of getting dirt on Hillary Clinton. and prior to the guilty pleas of Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos for providing false statements to federal agents. So you shouldn't take at face value that he thought there was nothing there about the investigation today. That was before the investigation began.
Starting point is 00:19:53 But here's the guy who's supposed to be plotting this whole thing against Donald Trump. Why is he saying in private, I don't think there's a big deal there? If he was going to do a hatchet job on Trump, wouldn't he be saying, oh my God, it's a giant big deal? going to go get him. Instead, he says the opposite. But it doesn't matter. Senator Ron Johnson, Republican from Wisconsin, twists it and says this. Still, Johnson believes that this is evidence that the investigation has a political agenda. Well, if it's evidence that the investigation has a political agenda, well, I guess the political agenda is they did, they did not intend to get Donald Trump. The guy that you think is most guilty wrote a text message saying, I don't think
Starting point is 00:20:37 Donald Trump is guilty. Wow, what a plot to undermine him. Ladies and gentlemen, you got him. No, he went in, apparently, even though he really doesn't like Trump, but that is clear in the text messages. He really doesn't like Trump, but he goes in with an attitude of not only an open mind, but one that actually favors Trump in this investigation. But there's nothing the Republicans can't twist. So then we go to Fox News, of course.
Starting point is 00:21:05 Lou Dobbs is somehow on still on television. I think it's Fox business but he never talks about business. He just talks about conspiracy theories, etc. So he's going to then say, okay, great, let's use this as an excuse of a purge of law enforcement so that we can put the lawless
Starting point is 00:21:21 people in charge and or we could, hey, anybody got a brown shirt? Anybody got a brown shirt? Lou Dobbs would like one. Let's watch. The Justice Department and the FBI. Again, two agents, an agency, and a department sworn to preserve the national security, violating law, violating law and order, and the Constitution, and denying Congress the fulfillment of its
Starting point is 00:21:48 responsibility, which is to oversee those two organizations. This is reprehensible. What do you think can be done most expediently to preserve evidence and to bring people who are in positions of authority to bay to prevent further corruption. So now, if you started with, hey, they shouldn't have gotten rid of the text messages or should have made a bigger effort to keep them, well, then as I explained in the beginning, I'm with you. You're outraged by that. I don't mind that.
Starting point is 00:22:19 I don't mind it. Fine, of course. You're outraged by it. God bless, right? But then when you take the extra step and say, we need to bring them to pay, these political opponents of ours, okay? Now, you just found a text message of the guy saying, I don't know. think Trump is guilty. It doesn't matter. Fire anyone investigating Donald Trump. He's on
Starting point is 00:22:38 to John Bolton. John Bolton's a maniac. He's a guy who said we should get rid of 10 floors of the UN building. And then of course, Bush made him a UN ambassador. He couldn't even get Bolton agreed. He's like, Bolton's like, well, they are the FBI. I mean, I think, don't we need them? And so Lou Dobbs is going to double down. The rank and file, this is not a issue. The people who lead those, the Department of Justice and the FBI are corrupt, they're crooked, and they need to be removed forthwith. So now we're talking about removing the heads of the FBI, their leadership, and removing the leadership at the Department of Justice. Who would want to remove all the people in charge of enforcing the law? The people that have
Starting point is 00:23:29 either already broken the law or are interested in further breaking the law. This is exactly how fascism begins. Those are political enemies. They're investigating our lawbreaking. Well, then we just round them up. And on Fox, they've already suggested not only arresting, not only firing them, but arresting them. We're just Lou Dobbs.
Starting point is 00:23:50 You know, it's interesting. Trump has been clarifying. Because Lou Dobbs has been hiding that brown shirt in his closet for all these years. But the minute he gets a chance, all of a sudden, he's like, oh, it's time to put it on? Yes! Round up our political enemies! At TYT, we frequently talk about all the ways that big tech companies are taking control
Starting point is 00:24:13 of our online lives, constantly monitoring us and storing and selling our data. But that doesn't mean we have to let them. It's possible to stay anonymous online and hide your data from the prying eyes of big tech. And one of the best ways is with ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN hides your IP address, making your active ID more difficult to trace and sell the advertisers. ExpressVPN also encrypts 100% of your network data to protect you from eavesdroppers and cybercriminals. And it's also easy to install. A single mouse click protects all your devices.
Starting point is 00:24:42 But listen, guys, this is important. ExpressVPN is rated number one by CNET and Wired magazine. So take back control of your life online and secure your data with a top VPN solution available, ExpressVPN. And if you go to ExpressVPN.com slash TYT, you can get three extra months for free with this exclusive link just for TYT fans. That's E-X-P-R-E-S-S-V-P-N.com slash T-Y-T. Check it out today. Not in America, not according to our Constitution. We're supposed to have rule of law, and no one is above the law, including the president.
Starting point is 00:25:21 And if you don't respect that, you're not a true American. And look at these Republicans who pretended for all these years to be for law and order. Now talking about firing everybody at the FBI and the Justice Department because they're investigating their dear beloved crooked corrupt leader Donald Trump. They sicken me. All right. Now let's go to an actual decent human being. Probably disagree with them on politics on 98% of stuff. But let's take a look at what he's doing.
Starting point is 00:25:51 So, you know, Donald Trump, of course, fired James Comey, former head of the FBI. Why? He said on national television. in an interview with NBC because of the Russia thing. He said he was investigating Russia. Well, thank you for admitting obstruction of justice. But he's not done yet. He also wanted to get rid of Jeff Sessions, who's his attorney general, because he wasn't
Starting point is 00:26:11 sufficiently loyal enough. He led Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, appointed special counsel. So he's agitating. Fire everyone who's investigating me. Gee, I wonder why. I wonder if it's because Donald Trump is a criminal who wants to hide his criminal activity. Okay. So now what does he want?
Starting point is 00:26:29 Well, it turns out, Axios has new reporting, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, at the public urging of President Donald Trump has been pressuring FBI director Christopher Ray to fire Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. But Ray threatened to resign if McCabe was removed, according to three sources with direct knowledge. So it turns out Christopher Ray, the hero in this story. Now, I don't know Christopher Ray's politics, and given that he's appointed by deep, right-wing forces, my guess is that he is not going to agree with me on much politically. But if you stand up to people who are trying to destroy rule of law in this country, destroy our constitution and our system of government, then God bless your heart, you are an American hero, at least on that. So, and by the way, Comey for all of his foibles and all of his ups
Starting point is 00:27:20 and downs, remember, forget Trump, forget Clinton. He also stood up to Bush. When Bush was trying to undermine the rule of law, James Comey stood up. He stood up against Trump when Trump demanded loyalty and said, you better be loyal to me and end the investigation of Flynn and Comey didn't do it. That's why he was fired. So there are a couple of heroes in our government. So Sessions told the White House counsel Don McGahn about how upset Ray was about the pressure on him to fire McCabe. And McGahn told Sessions this issue wasn't worth losing the FBI director over, according to her source familiar with the situation. So there is sessions trying to please Donald Trump going, oh, yes, yes, yes, after you told me that I should resign and I'm a loser and I'm, and I should be fired, okay, now I'll do whatever you say to your leader, I'll do whatever you say to your leader.
Starting point is 00:28:12 And he goes to fire the deputy director that Trump doesn't like because of the investigations of himself. And it doesn't work because Ray stands up. And even the White House counsel says, don't do it. It's going to be an absolute mess. Now, why do you think Donald Trump is trying to fire everyone who is investigating him? By the way, also people investigating Russians like Preet Bharara, doing a massive investigation of Russian oligarchs in the Southern District of Manhattan. And then, even though Trump had said he would stay on, he was fired immediately.
Starting point is 00:28:45 And then the case was settled right after that the Russian oligarchs were free to go. They paid a minor fine in that case, and they wrapped it all up. So fire anyone who's investigating Donald Trump or the Russians. Gee, I wonder why. But I'm told there's no evidence. Well, golly, gee, what would be the connection of Russia and Trump? Trump being worried about a criminal investigation of himself? What would give you that idea?
Starting point is 00:29:12 You would have to be absolutely blind not to see that Donald Trump is trying to cover his own ass and fire anyone who investigates him. Gee, I wonder why. I have a guess, because he fucking did it. That's why. Wake up. Okay. I'm a little animated by that because I've got Russian bots right now on Twitter.
Starting point is 00:29:34 Oh, no, I think Russia's awesome. And Putin is a friend of democracy. But I'm not a bot. No, I have convinced some lunatics that there's no evidence at all. No evidence. Where's evidence? I don't know. Of course, if somebody's investigating you and you're innocent,
Starting point is 00:29:52 you'd fire all of them, wouldn't you? at the risk of your own presidency, you would do that. Why? Because you're monumentally stupid? No, because you're monumentally guilty. That's why. I don't see any evidence. Yes, I'm mocking you. All right, let's move forward.
Starting point is 00:30:06 How could you not see evidence? Jesus Christ. Okay. All right, we're moving on. All right, this is all in a lead-up to my anger about the Democrats. So that was the appetizer. Okay. So the Democrats had a winning hand in the budget showdown.
Starting point is 00:30:34 By a 20-point margin, Americans said that they would blame Donald Trump and the Republicans. Well, the issue that they were fighting over, there was two of them. One was CHIP. Well, that has about an 80% popularity. And the other one, CHIP is Children's Health Insurance. It's been an incredibly successful program. It was bipartisan to begin with. The Republican said in September, we're going to end it, we're going to hold it hostage.
Starting point is 00:30:56 We're great. If you don't know anything about politics, you go, oh, you would like to attack me on an issue where I have 80% popularity, have at it, hoss. But Democrats are like, oh, no, okay, as you're going to see in the quotes here in a second. And then the second hostage they took was DACA. So that's the DREAM Act protecting the Dreamers. That has one poll had it around 70%. I saw another poll had a popularity of 84%.
Starting point is 00:31:21 Oh, you want to attack us on that issue where I have an 84% approval rating. You have added, hoss. But no, what are the Democrats do? Oh, no, oh, no. And so they came in. Now, they did us three-week compromise. Yesterday, we broke down the upsides and the downsides of that deal. But overall, the message that they sent was, we are weak, and you can push us around.
Starting point is 00:31:47 And even if we have an issue where we have 70, 80% of the American people on our side, we will not fight. So what has happened since then? Well, we've got a White House source telling the Hill, or I'm sorry, telling CNN, quote, Trump wins again. They're rubbing it in. And another administration aide told CNN, Democrats caved, they're gloating, they're gloating, they're hooding, they're rubbing,
Starting point is 00:32:17 high stepping. So here is Donald Trump. Now, in the midst of this tweet, he's taking the White House sources and he misunderstands and he thinks the CNN is saying this stuff. But he's bragging about it. But so that's his usual idiocy. But the thing to focus on is him saying basically ha ha Democrats. God, you were so stupid to cave in. So he says, even crazy Jim Acoso of fake news, CNN agrees. Trump world and White House sources dancing in the end zone. Trump wins again. Schumer and Dembs cave, gambled and lost, and then Trump says, thank you for your honesty, Jim. Hey, idiot, he's quoting people inside your White House. He's not saying that Jim Acosta thinks and CNN thinks you want.
Starting point is 00:32:59 But it doesn't matter. The whole point is, they're dancing in the end zone. And then Trump does it publicly. You didn't have to do it anonymously because he couldn't help himself. He goes on Twitter and starts, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we want Schumer, you're an idiot, forever believing anything I said, and forever giving Mitch McConnell anything he ever wanted. And then one more, he says in a tweet, the Dems have just learned that a shutdown is not the answer. So one more just in your face.
Starting point is 00:33:29 Okay, so now we go to the Hill for an explanation from Democratic senators. Why did you guys do it? Well, it turns out, and you know, we're putting it on Schumer. And yes, he's the leader, so he takes responsibility. But, no, he has a bunch of cowards in his caucus. Absolute cowards. So we get a load of these quotes. One Democratic senator said, we went in with a very weak set of cards with 25 people
Starting point is 00:33:59 off for reelection. Why in the world is that a weak set of cards? But you have 70 to 80% approval on your issue. Why is that a weak set of cards? Because you're a coward. you never want to fight. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever. Oh, well, I'm up for re-election. Yeah, that's not when you run. That's when you fight. No wonder you lose elections. Oh, I'm up for real election. I want to just give it. I want to give it to Republicans.
Starting point is 00:34:29 What kind of a pathetic person does that? The kind of pathetic person that keeps losing to Republicans when they have 20, 30-point leads. Okay, if that was it, it's all, well, hey, Jank, maybe it's just the one guy. Oh, no, no. I got a lot more where that came from. Another Democratic senator said almost every local news channel he spoke to over the weekend began its interview with the same question. Why did Democrats shut down the government?
Starting point is 00:34:56 Oh my God, they asked me a question that was written by the right wing. I don't know if you know this Democratic senators. You also have this thing called a mouse where you get to speak words out of it. so you could make your own position clear. How about you tell the local news guys, I didn't shut the government down. Donald Trump shut the government down. Who's in charge of the government? Hey, maybe as an idiot local news reporter who gets his talking points from the right wing,
Starting point is 00:35:25 you don't know that the White House, the House of Representatives in the Senate, is all controlled by Republicans. Do you know that, do you know that? Oh, you don't know. Oh, you do know that. So why would you use a right wing talking point against me? The reality is these programs are enormously popular. Why?
Starting point is 00:35:41 You don't want children to get health insurance. Is that what you're saying? You counterattack, you moron. But no, they've never heard of it. They're like counterattack, fight. What does that mean? Why is the base so upset at us? Why do progressives get frustrated?
Starting point is 00:35:55 I can't, well, I can't tell. Okay, here's another Democratic senator. You can't win. I mean, look at the beginning of that fucking sentence. You can't win. I know if you're a loser, coward Democrat. party official. That's what you always think. You can't win. He says you can't win. McConnell used craven politics by putting one group of children versus another, referring to CHIP,
Starting point is 00:36:15 Children's Health, versus the dreamers. No, you can win. You have over 70% approval on both of those. So what do you do? Here's how you win, because apparently you guys are so stupid. You can't see it. But it's not a matter of being stupid. The donors did exactly what they were supposed to do. They found the worst, weakest, so-called progressives in the country. And they said, oh, would you like to take my money to be a loser, to be a professional loser whose job is to get their back broken by Republicans? Well, yes, sir, I would. Okay, good.
Starting point is 00:36:47 Here's millions of dollars to go lose for a living. So what do you do? You protect both sets of children. The Democrats never thought of that. Protecting both sets of children. We're popular on both issues. Well, how come nobody told us that we did tell you? And you're like, oh, but you gave in, as always.
Starting point is 00:37:06 Now, it turns out, though, one of the reasons that some of the Democrats wanted to fight actually had nothing to do with the children, had nothing new with the Dream Act. To get a load of this, the shutdown battle became portrayed in the media as Democrats taking a stand for dreamers facing deportation. But Democratic senators say that was only a small part of it. They felt they had to object to the month-long spending bill, House Republicans unveiled earlier last week, because it had no input from Democrats. Oh, turns out the only reason they wanted to fight was because, oh, well, I do declare
Starting point is 00:37:41 I have had no input at all. That affects me. The dreamers, that doesn't affect me. My kids aren't dreamers. Children's health insurance, I'm rich. I don't need that. That doesn't affect me. my power and privileges were trampled upon, well, then I do declare I might fight a little bit
Starting point is 00:37:58 and then give up. One more along those lines, Democrats felt the lack of consultation and the failure to address their non-immigration priorities were so insulting that they had to take a stand. So for a couple of days because they weren't consulted, not because of you, not because they care about you, not because they care about any of those issues, but because they felt personally insulted, they did a BS kab kibuki feeder, stand for a couple of days, and then buckled. And one last piece of, I keep saying it over and over because they earned it, cowardice. There was another Democratic senator, there was inexorable trajectory towards now my anxiety is
Starting point is 00:38:41 officially high, it's a week later, and what are we doing here? You understand that? Oh, the government shut down is gone on a couple of days. My anxiety is so high. They're never going to fight. Never. So, hey, great. Let's run primaries against them.
Starting point is 00:39:02 And we are. I mean, pick any group you like. You pick the Justice Democrats. Pick another group. Pick any group you like. Just primary the hell out of these guys. Because as long as they're in charge, resistance is a joke. It's a punchline.
Starting point is 00:39:16 It's a gimmick. they're never going to resist all they're going to do the minute they meet this much of actual resist oh my god a local reporter asked me a question they shut down went on for a couple of days they fold they fold they fold that's all they ever do get them all out they're all bums they're not progressives they never cared about you all they care about is their own power and privileges throw the all out get real progressives on corrupted progressives If they're taking big corporate money, they're going to care about the stock market, their beloved, beloved stock market, a thousand times more than they'll ever care about you.
Starting point is 00:39:58 Get them all out, Young Turks. Thanks for watching. We're listening to this free version of the Young Turks podcast. You know that the full show is at t-y-tnetwork.com slash join. If you become a member, you have the full show ad-free. We love you for watching or listening either way. There's going to be a new free podcast tomorrow. You can keep on doing that, but if you want to get to full show ad-free,
Starting point is 00:40:19 t-y-tnetwork.com slash join. 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 slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Shank Yugar, and I'll see you soon.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.