Bernie Sanders issues NIGHTMARE blow to Trump

I'm joined now by Senator Sanders. Thank. you so much for taking the time. My. pleasure. So, Senator, we got some. pretty surprising news this morning as. it relates to Donald Trump and the. economic numbers. There was a net loss. of 92,000 jobs, which means that since. April, this administration has seen a. net loss of jobs. There have been no new. jobs added in the last 10 months of this. administration, which would be bad. enough onto itself, even worse given the. fact that Trump has branded himself the. jobs, jobs, jobs president. And this is. actually a recurring theme with.

Republican administration. So, can you. speak a little bit about the the the. chasm between what Republicans promise. when they're on the campaign trail with. regard to these these populist fever. dreams versus what they actually deliver. when they're in office? Well, I think what you're saying is. true. The historical record is pretty. clear. When Republicans control the. White House, the job situation is often. not good. Uh one of the factors here, no one is. quite certain, Brian, uh is to what it means in terms of.

today's numbers, uh is the growth of artificial. intelligence and robotics. Uh this is an issue I have been. increasingly involved with because I. fear very much that the American people, and certainly the Congress, do not have any sense uh in terms of the. cataclysmic impact these technologies. are going to have on our lives, including the economy. So, you're having pretty knowledgeable. people about AI who are saying, "Guess.

what? Uh if you're a white-collar job. within a X number of years, there will be artificial intelligence. that can do your job better than you can. do it today. If you're working in a warehouse, or. you're working in a factory, well, guess. what? In Y number of years, there's going to. be a robot. that will take your job. Robot costs. your employer $20,000 to buy. That robot. works 24 hours a day, doesn't need any. health care, doesn't need time off when.

they have a baby. So, I think we're looking at a very. significant transformation. of American society and in fact global. society as a result of AI. and robots and I suspect it's beginning. We're beginning to see it in terms of. these job numbers. So, I I know that this is pretty broad. question here, but but. well, let's start let's start with a. baby step then. What is the first step.

that we need to take in terms of fending. off what would be a pretty cataclysmic. impact on on the economy and on you. know, American society? Okay, well, there are a number of steps. First of. all, we need to understand who is. pushing. this technological revolution. And I think you and many of your viewers. may know that it is the wealthiest. people in the world. All right, it's the same old names, the. same old oligarchs. It is Elon Musk.

putting hundreds of billions of dollars. who's saying, "I Elon Musk, I want to. build not just millions of robots, literally billions of robots, all. right?". It is Mark Zuckerberg. It is Jeff Bezos. It is Larry Ellison. It is Bill Gates. The wealthiest people in the world are. pushing. this technological transformation. And. people got to take a deep step back and. say, "Do I have confidence that Jeff.

Bezos. and Elon Musk are really concerned about. me as a working class person?". And you got to be nuts to think that is. the case. They want more wealth, they. want more power, all right? So, we got. to take a deep breath, we got to stop. them. Now, I have introduced will. introduce legislation calling for a. moratorium on data centers. And I'm doing this not only because of. the environmental impact that data. centers are having in terms of. raising electric rates, the use of.

fossil fuels to generate electricity, the use of limited water resources. That's important. But we got to get a handle on this thing. and make sure that AI and robotics work. for ordinary people, not just for Mr. Musk and the wealthiest people on the. planet. Uh number two, what can we do? Right. now, and this gets right into the. corruption of our campaign finance. system. The people in AI, it's not just. AIPAC and it's not just other big. corporations.

Uh the people in AI are prepared to. spend hundreds of millions of dollars on. campaigns. What is their goal? Their. goal is to tell the candidates that they. elect is you leave us alone. We will do. whatever the hell we want, no regulation. in any form, way, shape, or form. And they're being. pushed and working with Donald Trump in. this. All right. So, what we've got to say, "Sorry, you're not going to transform. humanity, you're not going to transform. our economy, you're not going to put the. entire world at an existential threat.

if AI becomes independent of human. control, by the way. Of course, there's. going to be regulations. If you go to a. a restaurant shop this afternoon to get. a sandwich, you know what? That. restaurant shop is regulated by the. health department. These guys don't want. any regulations. That has got to change. So, we're working on a number of things. But the bottom line right now, by in my. view, we got to slow it down to. understand its impact on the economy and.

on humanity as a whole. Elon Musk has, guess what? Work is going to be. obsolete. All right, you're not going to have to. go to work. Well, how do you feed your. family? Yeah. All right. Well, that we don't quite. understand yet. So, we need to slow this thing down. We need. And by the way, on another issue, uh I was in California a couple of weeks. ago talking to some very intelligent. guys who had actually quit some of the. big AI companies, and they're worried.

about, as I mentioned a moment ago, the. existential. threat. that is AI becomes smarter than human. beings, uh they may act independently of human. beings. What the hell does that mean? This is not science fiction anymore. Yeah. You think anyone is seriously. discussing this issue in Washington? The. answer is, uh no. Well, um. what would be the first regulation that.

that is introduced? Have Have Do you. have any um anything in the works right. now? >> We do. And in fact, with a little bit of. luck, we'll do a press conference next. week. Maybe first thought, and this is. baby stuff. Yeah. Well, I I I you know, I can I can commit to I'll make sure to. cover that, and uh and I'll make sure. to, you know, continue keeping uh. keeping my finger on the pulse of. everything that's happening on this. front, too. >> first thought, we want to get some. sense. We got the best minds in the. country to tell us what is going to be. the economic impact. How many jobs are.

going to be lost in the next 10 years? We need a study to start doing that. Uh we need uh work on Give you one. example. Uh right now, uh. on the internet, uh there are what we call deep fakes. You're familiar with deep fakes? >> Yes. And I saw some of these things, and it's. amazing. Right now, we can have somebody. looking exactly like you, you, telling us how you've decided to change. your mind, you really love Donald Trump, right? Yeah. And they can have the words, and people.

say, "Wow, I didn't know that.". >> Yeah. And if you were running for office a day. be, you know, a week before the. election, you say, "Well, Donald I you. come up with some outrageous statement.". So, we got to put an end to deep fakes. We got to work very hard to protect our. children from getting addicted. uh to uh AI and and having their their. uh closest friends be AI agents. I worry. about that as well. So, uh getting a. sense of what it means economically,

protecting the kids, uh and doing deep fakes is something we. want to be talking about literally uh. next week. More importantly, how do you slow it. down? How do you have an international. agreement uh with China and other. countries? I think there are scientists. in China who share uh the concerns of. scientists in this country that AI can. escape human control. So, there's an. enormous amount of work that has to be. done. We got to start focusing on it. Well, you know, you you had mentioned. that this is largely the project of a. few oligarchs and and uh and in in fact,

you'd also mentioned that you were in. California last week. You were talking. about a wealth tax. And um I agree. Um I. I I on the need for for a wealth tax, especially on on the wealthiest. Americans, these people who who, you. know, launch these projects to. ultimately enrich themselves. But my. concern, and I'm I'm sure that the. criticism that's been leveled is if. you're talking about a wealth tax in. California, for example, how do you. combat the risk of capital flight if.

it's not a national policy? Like if you. have if you have piecemeal policies in. individual states, won't you just have. wealthy people leave those states to go. to you know, these these havens like. Florida or Texas or wherever they go. where there's fewer regulations, um. you know, that that that would take. place in the event that there's no. national legislation. All right. This is. what I think. And I tell you this. having been all over this country. Uh. the American people are sick and tired.

profoundly. of an economic situation, and this. frankly goes beyond Trump and his. administration. It's been going on for. years. Where the very wealthiest people in. America are becoming phenomenally. richer. All right? You're talking since Trump, just in the. last, you know, year plus, since Trump was. elected, the billionaires in America, about a. thousand people have become a trillion.

and a half dollars. richer. Yeah. We now have, you tell me. if this makes any. vaguely. if this is vaguely saying, one guy, Mr. Musk, now owns more wealth than the. bottom 53% of American households. Yeah. Top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom. 93%. CEOs make 350 times what their. workers make. So, while the rich become. much richer, 60% of our people live paycheck to. paycheck. Now, to answer your question, I think what we have to deal with.

is not only the the greed. of the billionaire class. I think it's a. profound moral issue. But, what you're saying is, look, these. guys, if they want to do TV ads in. California and say, "Look, we made this money, you know, we stole. the money, we bribed camp. politicians, blah blah blah blah, whatever it is, we have this money. And at the same time as our wealth has. grown, uh Trump gave a. cut Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.

by a trillion dollars and threw all. kinds of people in California, you all. over this country, all health care. We. think it is more important that we have. 200 billion dollars of personal wealth. than children in California have health. care." Yeah. Well, that's a good debate. What do you think? I think 98% of the people would say, "Screw you." Yeah. But, this is what they're doing. And And. we got to take a step back. What they're. saying is. let's not argue about taxes and. morality, let's argue about power. What.

they're saying to the people of. California hey folks, you are powerless. We have all the. power. I know you think that children. and working class people should get. health care. I know you think we should. pay more in taxes, but there's nothing. you can do about it because if you do. the right thing and vote for the. children and vote for working class. people, we have the power and we are. going to punish you. We're going to take your jobs. We're. going to move to Florida. We're going to. move to Texas. We are the elites.

And ain't nothing you can do about it. So, I think in California and all over. this country, we got to take that on. And to talk about. that. uh their their desire to punish people. for standing up and doing the right. thing. It really tells me they live in. another world. where they think they have the divine. right to rule. Nationally, we are have introduced and. will introduce shortly.

a wealth tax. And I want to talk what. this does. It's a 5% annual tax. on only billionaires. You make a nine. You have $900 million in wealth, you're. not going to pay a nickel. All right? What it does is in the first year you. get a $3,000 check to every man, woman, and child in this country. People are. struggling to pay their bills right now. And the other thing that we do is end. Trump's uh cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, Affordable Care Act. We deal with child.

care. We deal with the basic social. crises facing this country. Bottom line. here is. if you know, Justice Brandeis, I don't know if you ever heard this. He. said in the 1930s, said you can have in a paraphrasing, you. can have a country where people have. incredible wealth or you can have a. democracy, but you cannot have a country where you. have massive concentrations of wealth. and democracy. That's where we are at. right now. We got to deal with it. I mean, the reality is I I Democrats. should run on that. Like [laughter].

there the the notion that in a country. of 350 million people that. that would not get the majority of. support. where. all of the all of the folks who are not. billionaires are voting for a tax on. just this small sliver of people who. have concentrated so much wealth is is. you know. obviously impossible. So I I I do think. that Democrats should should run on that. as we you know move forward into these. next cycles knowing full well that. Republicans and and Trump are not going.

to you know abide by it. Like Trump is. not Trump would not sign legislation. like that into law. Um. With that said, you know I think I think. that that kind of lends itself to this. to this idea on a new topic of Trump and. Republicans feeling like they're not. accountable to the same rules as. everybody else. We saw military. incursions into Venezuela, military. incursion in Iran, and now Trump has. just floated the idea of Cuba next. And. so he's kind of wetted his appetite in.

terms of these these foreign invasions. Can I have your response to to to this. idea that that. Trump is now looking into any country. where he feels like he could put his. thumb on the scale and topple regimes. and continue to engage in foreign. interventionism. even despite the fact that he ran on. this idea that there was going to be a. focus on America first. Right. Let me. pick up on your last point. This is the. guy who ran on I am the peace candidate. Remember? Yeah. I am against endless.

wars. Uh we put up on our social media a quote. of his. I think it was in 2020 when he. said, "How crazy is it that we're. spending trillions of dollars on the. Middle East and yet our own. infrastructure, we don't have money to. deal with our own infrastructure.". That's what Trump said. Well, he was. right then. And now he's continuing that. uh, process. Uh, a couple of things. Uh, it's. I think most Americans now understand.

that tragically, and it is a real. tragedy, for the first time, uh, in modern American history, we have a president who does not believe. in the Constitution. And the Constitution is pretty clear, uh, that it is the Congress of the. United States that decides when we want. to go to war. This wasn't suddenly. suddenly an emergency response, right? Iran did not attack us, and the. president had to act immediately. They. have pre- This was premeditated. They've.

been thinking about this for weeks. So, once again, the president of the United. States is acting against the. Constitution, which he does quite. frequently on domestic issues, and, uh, against the rule of law. Uh, second of all, what I think is. of great concern, is Trump is taking the world into. barbarism in the sense [snorts] that. if the president of the United States.

can violate international law, not just. the United States Constitution, right? He can wake up in the morning and say, "Mhm, let's see. I think we'll go after. Venezuela. What's today? Wednesday? Uh, let's go after, uh, Iran. Oh, it's. Tuesday. Let's let's invade Cuba or. whatever.". If the president of the United States. thinks he can do that, why should any other governmental or. terrorist leader in the world think that. they don't have the right to wage a. military attack against anybody they.

dislike? Right. You know, after World War II, the. horrors of World War II, 50 million. dead, the world came together and said, "All right, if we're not going to. eliminate war, let's at least establish. some rules.". You know, and that is that you don't. simply attack another country without. reason. That we try to work to eliminate war, to. to to solve problems diplomatically. So what Trump is basically giving a. green light, he's saying essentially to. Putin, right? Hey, Vladimir, you did the right.

thing. You invaded Ukraine. That was pretty good. You know, we're. going to do the same thing. How are you. going to criticize. uh Putin's invasion of Ukraine if you do. you wage a unilateral attack? Right. Uh. the second of all, in many ways what. this war is about is fulfilling, you. know, Netanyahu is a right-wing. extremist. who committed horrible crimes, uh I think genocidal crimes against the. people of Gaza. Uh and now for years, for decades,

Netanyahu has begged American. presidents, Democrats and Republicans, to join him in trying to destabilize. Iran. He finally had a in Trump a. willing dupe. And uh Trump is now doing Netanyahu's. work in Iran. And and I think most. Americans, whether you're conservative, progressive, or in the middle, think that that is a pretty. dumb way to do American military and. foreign policy. Senator, what could we. get with the amount of money that's. being spent right now on all of these.

foreign incursions? Like there there is. an opportunity cost to all of this. And. so what are we missing out on here in. the United States by virtue of engaging. in, you know, these these wars, whether. it's. in Iran, whether it's in in Venezuela, or who knows what incursion is going to. be next. Brian, thank you for asking that question. And what the moneyed interest and the. establishment and the corporate media. want us to believe. that in terms of domestic policy, we.

need scarcity. I was just meeting the. other day. uh with members of the paralyzed. veterans of America. People who got. paralyzed serving, you know, in war. And they're arguing. that they don't even have enough The VA. is not providing the kind of health. benefits that our paralyzed veterans. need. Not to mention the child care. system which is now broken and. dysfunctional, health care system which. is falling apart, a major housing. crisis, kids can't afford a higher. education, etc., etc.

Meanwhile, Trump and his friends after. spending a trillion dollars. on the military, they got a trillion. dollars a year. They may want a supplemental. of God knows how many billions for the. war in Iran. And oh, by the way, next. year around they're thinking about. another 500 billion, a 50% increase in. military spending. Meanwhile, all over this country people are. sleeping out on the street, can't afford. housing, can't afford health care.

We are the richest country in the. history of the world. And we have got to bring our people. together to demand a fundamental change. in national priorities. The billionaires don't need a trillion. dollars in tax breaks. We don't need to. spend a trillion dollars plus on the. military. We need to provide a decent. standard of living for every man, woman, and child. That's what we need to do. What do you say to people though who uh. you know, who voted for Republicans. because that's what they ran on in this. past election cycle? I mean, Trump was.

Trump was pretty laser-focused on this. idea of affordability. Ran as a. populist, talked about the price of. housing and rent and groceries and eggs. He got so granular that he was talking. about the price of an egg. And yet, of. course you know, now now you see how. he's governing, but what do you say to. all those people out there given what. we've seen Trump actually do with their. vote? Look, I mean, my response is is. in two ways. Number one, a lot of that, and I know I. get criticized when I say this, is the. failure of the Democratic Party to stand. up for working class people.

Uh. you know, Democrats have had the. presidency, Democrats have had control. over the Senate, control over the House, and people saying, "Yeah, what did you. do? Did you provide healthcare to me as. a human right like it exists in every. other major country? Are you making it. easier for my kids uh to go to college? Are you lowering the cost of. prescription drugs? Uh etc. etc. So, one of the things that I am attempting. to do every day is try to transform the. Democratic Party to become a party that.

represents working-class people so that. folks who voted at for Trump out of. desperation. will then vote for Democrats and that. Democrats have got to uh deliver. That's. number one. And number two, I think that. people who voted for Trump, I hope are. catching on. And I don't say this, you know, about. Republicans in general. I have I know a. lot of Republicans. I disagree with. them, but they are not necessarily. pathological liars. They're. conservatives. They believe what they. believe. Trump is a pathological liar. He will.

say anything at any time to serve his. own purposes. And sadly, we get used to. the crazy things that he says. So, I would hope that some of my. uh Republican friends understand that. you cannot believe a word that Trump. says. He says he's for affordability, but he gives tax breaks to the rich and. sees healthcare costs soar, groceries. soar, gas prices soar, etc. etc. And finally, Senator, I want to move on. to to one more topic here, and that is.

the Epstein files. We recently saw Bill. and Hillary Clinton come and testify. before the committee. Hillary Clinton. had nothing to do with the Epstein. files, and yet Comer still felt that it. was necessary to haul her in uh to the. Oversight Committee to testify. Do you. think based on this new precedent. established by James Comer that Trump. himself should testify? I think it's a horrible precedent, and. this is bringing former secretaries of. the state, presidential candidates. This. is part of. uh the Trumpist approach that you're not.

a political opponent of mine, you're my. enemy. And I've got to do everything I. can to possibly uh destroy you. And it. is tied into the fact that they are. doing criminal investigations of. Democratic uh senators, uh of even. conservative Republicans like Powell at. the uh. at the Fed uh who disagree with Trump. So, he is using they are using, you. know, powers in a way that we have not. seen uh used before. It is a very.

dangerous uh precedent. But, I think in. terms of the Epstein files, above and beyond the horrible, disgusting. uh manner in which some of these people. treated girls. uh and sexually exploited them, uh. is the understanding that you really do. have a small number of folks. uh in the upper echelons, the the the. elite who all know each other, who work. with each other. Uh. and I think that's a lesson that the. American people are seeing.

What responsibility does Pam Bondi. shoulder by virtue of the fact that she. is in charge of the very DOJ that's. covering up these files? I mean, we know. that 3 million files haven't been. released. We know that co-conspirators'. names have been redacted while victims'. names have been exposed, and yet. obstinately um. they refuse to release anything else. Well, I mean, the demand uh you know, people like uh Massie and Ro Khanna have. done a very good job pushing it. We got. to keep pushing. And uh she has the responsibility to do. what I think my memory is correct, Trump.

campaigned on, right? >> Yeah. Release the files. Well, release. not three-quarters of them, release all. of them. All right, we'll leave it. there. Senator Sanders, as always, thank. you for taking the time today, and. thanks for all the work that you do. Well, you keep up the great work. Thank. you. >> [music].