WHOA: Republicans GET REVENGE on Trump amid primary losses

It looks like some Republicans are now. finally getting their revenge on Trump. So, here's the deal. It's clear that. Trump was successful in ousting a few. more Republicans who committed the. cardinal sin of being even mildly. critical of him. Louisiana Senator Bill. Cassidy lost his primary and Kentucky. Congressman Thomas Massie lost his. primary. But, what Trump is learning in. real time is that every action has a. reaction and he's going to be pretty. pissed off about these. So, immediately. upon losing re-election, Thomas Massie. offered up this warning and while it was.

said at his speech, it was already. abundantly clear who the intended. audience was. And we need we need basic. decency. We need basic decency. That's what the Epstein Files. Transparency Act was all about. By the. way, today is the 6-month anniversary of. the Epstein Files Transparency Act. We've taken out two dozen CEOs and. ambassador, >> [cheering]. >> a prince, a prime minister, >> [cheering]. [applause]. >> a minister of culture,

and that was just 6 months. I got 7. months left in Congress. >> [cheering]. >> Quote, I've got 7 months left in. Congress, which means he's got not only. a moral imperative to keep hammering. away at the Epstein files, but now a. personal one. And I don't think I have. to explain to anyone here why Thomas. Massie continuing to beat the drum on. the Epstein files is a disaster for. Trump, who descends into a full-blown. meltdown the moment anyone even utters.

the name Epstein. There are still 3 and. 1/2 million files that have yet to be. released and the White House is doing. everything it can, its level best to. talk about anything, literally anything. other than the files. Although, something tells me that when Thomas. Massie is going to be laser-focused on. making sure that it stays top of mind in. his last remaining 7 months in Congress, Donald Trump is going to notice. And it. wasn't just Thomas Massie. Senator Bill. Cassidy from Louisiana also poured cold. water on one of Trump's most important. priorities. And no, I'm not talking.

about healthcare or food assistance or. jobs or groceries or housing or any of. those annoying pesky things that he. campaigned on, but rather his ballroom. There is no environmental. there's no engineering. There's no. sense of. when we ask. how did it happen to cost exactly a. billion? In my mind. that is. it could cost a lot less, it could cost. a lot more. I I just don't get it. And look, it.

would be one thing if Cassidy sought to. block something that Trump doesn't. actually care about, which is to say. things that don't impact him personally, but this ballroom, that's clearly a. bridge too far considering it is. basically the only thing Trump does care. about. Case in point? >> did it take to design the underneath. like you said kind of the military like. WHAT WAS THE ARCHITECTURE? >> ACTUALLY THE UNDERNEATH PART schedule. actually is far more complex than the. because what you don't see are the. floors that are believed beneath here. and they have very very.

important rooms down there. Very the. most important. And this was the one. opportunity for the military to do. something. You know, they can't normally I'd build. a ballroom on flat land. I wouldn't have. any of this. I'd have a it would have. been built I would have very fast. I'm a. very fast builder. We're way ahead of schedule here, but we. went down six stories. So then heard us. It's actually far more. complex than what the easy part is up. But again, we have a drone proof roof. We have all it's all sealed and all of.

this stuff you see is totally sealed and. we use it as a drone port. You can have. unlimited drones up there and and drones. are what's happening right now. Which is. to say Cassidy seeking to block it is. not something that's going to thrill the. president. And it's not just Cassidy's. attacks on Trump's ballroom. He also. wasted no time switching his vote on a. bill seeking to end the Iran war, the. War Powers Resolution. And that's a bill. that he had initially supported only to. flip that vote as soon as he lost his. primary. And now, if enough Republicans.

decide that they've had enough of. sending tens of billions of dollars to. an unpopular war that, by the way, Trump. swore would never happen, then that'll. be yet another blow to Trump's agenda. Although, look, I should really note, I. am really tired of these. Republicans managing to do the right. thing only after they lose their. primaries. And I'm talking especially. about Bill Cassidy here, because it. tells us that they actually do know the. difference between right and wrong. They. just make the conscious decision to do. what's wrong because it's more important. to pander to Trump than to actually.

deliver for their constituents or just. do what's right. Trump has created an. environment where politicians in his. party serve him, not their voters. And. that really does put the problem on full. display as far as the GOP is concerned. These people are all wholly-owned. subsidiaries of a megalomaniacal. billionaire narcissist whose sole. priority his only priority is building. monuments to himself. And while it's great that people like uh. Thomas Massie and Bill Cassidy are now. free to vote their conscience, the. reality is that that should happen the.

entire time, not only when they're freed. from the shackles of being Trump's. in Congress. You're watching the. No Lie Podcast. Next up are my. interviews with Jamie Raskin, Keith. Ellison, Tom Steyer, and Harry Dunn. No. Lie is brought to you by Incogni. Ever. wonder how random companies get your. cell phone number? It's not a. coincidence. It is data brokers selling. your life behind your back. It's. invasive, exhausting, and honestly, a. total nightmare to actually manage. alone. You have the right to opt out, but they make the process a bureaucratic. maze. That's why I use Incogni. They act.

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and congressional Democrats are now. taking steps to block that. Can you. explain what's happening on your end? Well, first of all, let's understand. what we're talking about. If you do the. math, it comes to more than a million. dollars per insurrectionist, probably. Oath Keeper. So, they want to take money. from the taxpayers and give it to people. who violently assaulted our police. officers and tried to overthrow a. presidential election. Congress never. appropriated a dollar for that and never. would appropriate any money for that.

So, this is just a highway robbery. They're stealing money from the. government and from the taxpayers. So, we're going to be doing everything in. our power to block it. We need some. Republicans in order to come with us. in order to legislate that no money can. be spent in that way, but we will be. asking for Republicans to take that. position and if they don't, the whole. country and their districts will see. exactly where they where they are. But, we need.

three or four of them in order to sign. the discharge petition to get it out to. block. the spending of the money in this way. And then, you know, it's a lawless. situation with the administration, a. lawless. situation with the Supreme Court, but. there might be federal district courts. and appeals courts that are willing to. take seriously the fact that this is an. absolute violation of the appropriations. powers of Congress and it's also a. violation of section 4 of the 14th. Amendment, which says that no federal.

dollars should be going to pay for the. debts of insurrection and rebellion. against the United States. Right. It was. important enough to put that exact. clause in the Constitution, so important. was it not to have this happen. You. know, you had mentioned that we need. three Republicans, three or four. Republicans on board. Is there any indication that any. Republicans have an appetite for this? And I ask that especially in light of. the fact that Bill Cassidy just lost his. primary, that Thomas Massie. is may very well be on the verge of.

losing his primary, and so this is kind. of a shot across the bow by Trump that. if you if you defy him even on an issue. where Republicans kind of coalesced. around. Like, Thomas Massie only broke. with Trump on Epstein. So, the notion. that he's getting punished now for being. consistent on that issue is is, you. know, obviously absurd other than the. fact that really the ultimate goal has. to just be blind deference to Trump. All. of that is to say, is there any appetite. among Republicans that you know of to.

really defy Trump and sign on to this. effort to block this allocation of. spending. Well, I mean you saw what just. happened in Louisiana and you see what's. going on in Kentucky. I mean Trump comes. down like a ton of bricks on anybody who. departs 2 cm away from his absolute. autocratic rule. But then there are also. some Republicans who've got to be. listening to independents and Democrats. Otherwise, they're not going to They. have no prayer of getting elected. Look. at Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania. And people should be saying to him now, "Will you sign on to a discharge.

petition to get a bill out of the House. of Representatives to block this. outrageous, illegal, unconstitutional. expenditure of money?" And he can't get. away with saying, "Oh, there's not going. to be a bill." There will be a bill. Will you sign it or will you not? Your. constituents want to know. Any. Republican, my friend Kevin Kylie from California, he's running as an independent now, left. the Republican Party, will he try to do. everything in his power to block this. outrageous spending of money for. insurrectionists. So, people in those.

districts have got to put pressure on. them now to take the position. Would this create a precedent? And And I. ask this because, you know, Republicans may be in a position where. there's a Democratic president. What if. he or she decides, 4 years from now, that, you know, why not create a $500 billion. slush fund using the Trump precedent and. fully fund Planned Parenthood from now. until the end of time, fund the NAACP,

fund. every town for gun safety, fund any. pro-democracy or left-wing priority, and. use the Trump precedent? I mean, is that. what it would create or is it just, you. know, that that he's relying on this. idea that that the judges will defer to. him? If they can get away with it, um. then that does open the door to it. He. does think that he's got the judges in. his pocket like a mob boss. But look, this is not his first slush fund. I. mean, let's be clear about it. The Board. of Peace is nothing but a global slush.

fund for. Donald Trump. He took 1.5 billion. dollars from the State Department. That. was money that was set aside for. disaster relief around the world. He. gave it to the Board of Peace. He took a. billion from the Saudis. He took a. billion from the United Arab Emirates. Took a billion from the Qataris. I don't. know how much he's got in there now. We. don't know. Is it public? Is it private? Is it not-for-profit? Is it profit? Is. it international? We don't know anything. other than he is chairman for life. He. has decreed it. And he controls who's. going to be on the board. And with his.

1.7 billion-dollar slush fund, courtesy. of the American taxpayers, that will be. run by a committee that reports. exclusively to him for people who he. feels were victims of, quote, "weaponization of the Biden Justice. Department." Well, tell you what, if. somebody thinks their rights were. violated, they can go in and sue. You. know who did that? Michael Flynn. He. lost in court, and yet the Trump DOJ DOJ. just gave him 1.25 million dollars. The. same thing with Carter Page. He wasn't. able to get anything.

any satisfaction in court because these. people don't have a cause of action. Their rights weren't violated. They. weren't damaged in any way. And yet now. Trump is just giving them all the money, and it's going to be the same with the. writers and the insurrectionists and the. Oath Keepers, the you know, the Proud. Boys and on and on. And it's to pay for. his private militia. So, they've got. some money. What do you make of the fact that Donald. Trump came into office pretending to be. this populist champion. He was talking. about helping the forgotten American,

the little guy, talking about housing. and rent and groceries and eggs. Comes. into office, first thing he does is cut. health care, then food assistance, raised the cost of everything through. his trade war. Now, gas is nearly the. highest it's ever been as the result of. this Iran war. No money to fix any of those things, but. apparently there are just endless funds. for ballrooms and Qatari jets and and. renovating the Rose Garden, and building. arches, and redoing the reflecting pool, and now a $1.7 billion slush fund for. his insurrectionist pals. How do you.

make sense of the fact that there's no. money for any of the things he actually. campaigned on, but endless sums of money. when it comes to his own pet projects? Cuz he told us last week, he said. literally, "I don't care about the. finances of the American people." He. doesn't care that people are suffering. under his ruinous illegal tariffs, that. people are suffering with a buck 50 more. you got to pay for a gallon of gasoline. because of his illegal, unconstitutional, disastrous war in. Iran. He doesn't care. I mean, he he.

barely cares about anybody outside of. his family. I'm not sure he does. I'm. not sure he cares about everybody in his. family. Uh I mean, he's an absolute narcissist, and he's driven to pillage the federal. government, and that's what's going on. The reason he wants to support his. insurrectionists is because that's his. private militia for political purposes. He knows his poll numbers are sinking. like a stone. They're absolutely. cratering, and so all he's got is his. lingering ability to control with all he.

can, with all of his might, the federal. government of the United States and his. hold on power. We've got to keep people. organizing and people engaged against. all the racist gerrymandering, against. the voter suppression tactics that are. going on because we need a landslide. We. need an exorcism of this kind of. authoritarian politics. Last question, Congressman. Um I think. you had rightfully pointed out that that. Trump is kind of giving a green light to.

these insurrectionists around the. country who are looking to um go out. there and commit violence on his behalf, and knowing that not only will they not. be prosecuted, you know, he'll he's. pardoned 1,500 of them, but it's. actually a financially advantageous. exercise to do this now. He wants to. make all of them millionaires. And so, how are you looking at this in light of. the fact that this is somebody who's. already shown to be to be um ready and. willing to commit violence if it means. it can help him steal an election as we. head toward other elections where he's.

acting increasingly desperate? Well, he is accompanying all of these. financial maneuvers with the claim that. once his ridiculous ludicrous case. against the IRS for $10 billion. is settled, that that will be a. statement that he in fact won the 2020. presidential election. Even though. there's nothing in his case about the. 2020 presidential election, even though. 60 different federal and state court. judges, including eight that he.

appointed to the bench himself, determined that there was no election. fraud, and there was no electoral. corruption, and that Joe Biden beat him. by more than 7 million votes, 306 to 232. in the Electoral College. And yet, that. now is the defining litmus test issue. within the Republican Party. And if you. cross him on that, like, you know, Mitt Romney or Liz. Cheney or Adam Kinzinger, um if you know, you cross him, then he. will bring down the full weight of his.

mega apparatus against you. But if you. stand with him so far as to commit. violence against police officers, he. will do anything for you. It's like, uh. you know, who wants to be a mega. millionaire? Uh you you go to war for us. and uh we'll find a way to give you a. million dollars of the taxpayers' money. Yeah, I think that's uh that's that's. well said. Congressman, thank you for. fighting back against this. Thanks for. taking the time today. Thanks for having. me, Brian. Hang tough, man. I'm joined. now by the Attorney General of. Minnesota, Keith Ellison. Thanks so much.

for taking the time. Great to be with you, Brian. So, you've now taken some action against. some of the ICE agents uh. in Minnesota. Can you explain some of. the action that's been taken just as of. today? Well, as of today, uh the Hennepin. County Attorney's Office and the. Attorney General's Office together. uh have filed charges. uh against the people who shot Julio. Sosa Solis in North Minneapolis on. January 14th. Uh the officer involved is a fellow who.

is now there's an active arrest warrant. for him. And uh you know, he is an individual who. is being sought out. His name is. Christian Castro. He is a an Immigration. and Customs Enforcement agent. Uh and he. is charged with shooting Julio Sosa. Solis. uh as I noted before. So, that's what's. going on. That charge is as of today. Already the Hennepin County Attorney. without my uh involvement has charged.

individuals who in a road rage incident. uh were were pointing guns. through in in to at a moving car in. traffic. Uh and that was that was. charged out as a second-degree assault. terroristic threat only a few days ago. Uh and that individual is not yet in. custody, but there is an active warrant. for his or his arrest. So, right now there've been two criminal. charges and there is an active.

investigation on the individuals who you. may remember this dragged a Hmong. individual a Hmong man out of his home. in the freezing cold. The man had on. under He had on underwear and Crocs. And. he was the wrong person. They weren't. look He wasn't even the guy they wanted, but they dragged him out of his home and. had him in sub-zero temperature. There. the Ramsey County Attorney is actively. pursuing that matter. Now, you may want.

to know about the Good matter and the. and the Pretty matter. They are under. active investigation right now. We still. have not received any cooperation from. the federal government. That is no. deterrent. There's no such thing as. absolute immunity in the context of this. matter. So, those would just because you don't see. it every day doesn't mean we're not. working on it every day. We are working. on it every day. Now, in terms of these. cases. prior to you discussing Pretty and Renee.

Good, has the federal government been an. obstacle to those charges or have they. been cooperative or neither? They have. never been cooperative in any sense. They simply have not been helpful. And. this is you know, I will tell you Brian, this is weird because. we work with the feds all the time. >> Right. We work with the feds on task. forces involving everything from.

sex trafficking, human trafficking, labor trafficking. You know, fentanyl, drug drug trans drug trafficking. We. work with the feds on the regular. And. I'm saying FBI, DEA, Treasury, different types of officers. are very familiar to us around here. So, simply because Trump wants to do this. this what I regard as an illegal action. against the state of Minnesota and we.

filed a civil lawsuit on on that. But that is when the cooperation ended. By the way, Brian, let me just remind. everybody. these folks are always saying, "Oh, the. state of Minnesota should have just. cooperated when it came to Operation. Metro Surge." Well, we did. But they they they never. cooperated with us on anything. And they. demand cooperation, but you know, the. fact is we've always complied with what. the law required. Has the federal.

government threatened to deprive you of. any resources given the fact that you've. gone after ICE agents who have broken. the law? They Not in connection with that. So, we. haven't heard. you're not prosecuting these people, so. we're going to take this from you. Not. that. But, they've done it in a in in. multiple other occasions, right? So, they're they're saying that they're good. they're withholding our Medicaid. funding. They're withholding our. educational funds. They're withholding. funds connected to They tried to. regarding National Institute of Health.

We sued them and got that back. They. They tried to withhold money regarding. AmeriCorps. We sued them on that one. They tried to withhold withhold money on. a whole range of things. I could keep. naming them, but I don't know if you. want a comprehensive list. Folks can go. to my website and see it all. But, like. whether it's National Institute of. Health, AmeriCorps, uh the Supplemental Nutrition. Assistance, they have been trying to. take money that has. rightfully come supposed to come to. Minnesota on multiple occasions.

The total, Brian, is 7.3 billion that. they've tried to take from us, but we. have successfully defended from them. In terms of the impending or possible. um prosecutions of the ICE agents who. shot and killed Renee Gooden and Alex. Preddy, is there some concern that the. federal government might try and bigfoot. you guys at the state level so that they. can take over the prosecution and then. of course just. basically seek to dismiss it in very.

much. >> it in very much the same. >> Yeah. I mean very very much in the same. way that they did for for Eric Adams in. New York, where they have I mean they. can you know, they wanted to be able to. wield him as as a tool at the at the. local level, but ultimately their goal. was never to prosecute him. Well, what you're saying, I mean I had. no role in the Kyle Rittenhouse case, but when I watch it, I look at a. prosecutor who doesn't seem very. motivated right to get a conviction. So, I mean I I if you're thinking that, you. know, we're going to take the case and. then not really prosecute the case, uh.

yeah, there there is that that could. happen, but the state has an independent. and separate right to prosecute this. case all on its own. So, we would never. do what Trump does is and and engage in. vindictive prosecution. I think that's. morally wrong. But, we certainly would. uh charge out a case where the facts. uh of the matter violate, you know, the. law and hold those people accountable, and they can't stop us from doing that. The reason that we haven't charged the.

case out isn't because they they can. stop us, it's because they have withheld. the file. And, you know, I'll tell you, Brian, I used to be a criminal defense. lawyer for 16 years. And, if I was a. criminal defense lawyer, first thing I'd say is, "Where's the. file?" They didn't They didn't have the. whole file, you know. So, I think. there's probable cause in both Pretty. and Good to charge the case. I just think that we should try to do. all we can to get the file. You may know.

we have filed a lawsuit against the. Department of Homeland Security because. they're with They have a final agency. action denying us access, and there's no. legal basis for them to do so. So, we're. That matter is being litigated in the. civil context to make them give us the. documents and materials that we're. entitled to. to complete our investigation. There There was reports of some federal. prosecutors who had left the DOJ as the.

result of how the DOJ was comporting. itself, you know, with these ICE agents. and and and so on. Are any of those. folks working alongside you all at the. state level, um given the fact that, you. know, if the DOJ isn't going to do it, at least there are prosecutors, good. prosecutors, who are willing to do this. work at the Minnesota state level? Well, I'll tell you, man, I think I. hired maybe about four or five of them. Okay. You know, we we have a bunch of feds who. have former feds who are working here. and are doing really [snorts] good work. Yeah. And I you know, quite honestly,

man, you know, as I told you, Brian, I. used to be a criminal defense lawyer, now I'm a prosecutor. I've done various, you know, roles in the criminal justice. system. And what I learned over time is that a a. ethical, good, conscientious prosecutor. is actually um. uh really a joy to work with because. they'll dismiss cases that ought to be. dismissed. They'll charge what they can prove. They'll ask for the proper amount of.

time or whatever the sentence should be, and you understand that you're going to. have to argue with them because as a. defense counsel, you have a duty of. zealous representation to your client. But you don't feel that there's. something underhanded or bad going on. And the content and you know, so these. these folks had they felt that that a. moral imperative and they said, "We. cannot square working at this in under. this Justice Department uh with our. conscience." And so they quit, and I. think that's what ethical people do. I mean, that that's the reason that.

they're not in the DOJ because you can. see by the way the DOJ has comported. itself over the last year and a half. that their their allegiance is to is to. Donald Trump. It's not to the law, it's. not to the Constitution. >> Right. I mean, they're they're there. expressly because they are going to be. loyal to him and do his bidding. That's. why there prosecutors like Lindsey. Halligan and Alina Habba um who can stay. in these positions as long as long as. they can before they're rightly um. rightly thrown out. But like but these. people their their their allegiance is.

to is to Trump and his and and um you. know, his his uh. prosecuting his political opponents and. uh That's true. So So, let me say, Brian, you know, uh. there were people in the Minnesota uh. US Attorney's Office who were told. "No, you're not going to investigate and. prosecute the people who killed Renee. Good. You are going to investigate and. potentially prosecute her wife who was. on scene." Yeah. And they said uh.

"Here Where do I Where do I submit my. resignation?" Yeah. We There were over. 14 of them who fit and fell into that. category, maybe more now. I haven't been. keeping track, but it began You begin to. wonder. who's there? Right. >> Well, for a while they got a bunch of uh. judge. judge advocate general people to just. try to fill in, but you know, JAGs had their own jobs to. do, you know? So, you want to drop them. into here and use their obligation to. follow your orders uh to do their do the.

work but that they've never done before. and probably haven't done the same way. So, that's what they were dealing with. That's why when under Operation Metro. Surge you had all these uh these uh. habeas corpus petitions that were not. being uh addressed and the There were. cases that were actually dismissed. because they got rid of all the good. people, they brought in some uh. replacements, and then that the real.

cases started piling up, and then you. got up against the uh due process the. right to speedy trial right, and there. had to be some cases dismissed. So, they're actually Trump's making us less. safe. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm I'm glad. that y'all are working um not only not. allowing the federal government to. dictate who gets to be above the law by. allowing these ICE agents to commit. criminal acts with impunity, that you're. taking this on, but also that you've got. prosecutors uh who weren't willing to. allow that, you know, to allow.

themselves to be uh run roughshod over. by staying at the DOJ. Um with with the. last couple of minutes that we have. left, I wanted to ask uh one question on. a different topic entirely, and that is. the topic of redistricting. So, can you. give me a lay of the land of and and I. should let folks know that that. Minnesota's congressional map is 4-4. Republican and Democrat. It's a pretty. blue state. You know, I've been on a tear about. redistricting since we've seen what the. Republicans are doing in state after. state after state across the country, be. it from Texas to Ohio, Missouri, North.

Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama. And what. Democrats have to show to push back is. like California, and that's it. And so, can you talk about what the process. would look like for redrawing the maps. in Minnesota and the appetite for. redrawing the maps in Minnesota? Obviously, too late for 2026, but moving. forward. Well, you know, um. there's a strong sense of basic fairness. in Minnesota. There's a strong sense.

that if you want people to vote for you, you don't redraw the map. You go talk to. them and sell them on the program that. you're going to govern on. And so, it's nothing that we want to. rush into, but we have seriously considered it. because. of what Trump is doing in Texas and in. other places. >> Yeah. And it's deeply, deeply. disturbing. And so, I think that we're going to pick up some. some seats in Minnesota without changing. the map at all. But, you know, to answer.

your question, it's something that we. would entertain, but we're 50/50 in the. statehouse. and we're and we have a slight majority. in the Senate. So, we're really not in a. position to do it, but would we do it? I. mean, as long as Trump is pushing Texas. and Tennessee to cheat, what other choice do we have? My my my. hope would be we would have independent. redistricting every state of the union.

We don't need an unfair advantage, but. we're not going to sit by and let them. have an unfair advantage. Yeah. So I. think I think pushing back against this. idea that the Republicans that the. Democrats will unilaterally disarm, I. think is is the right move in this. >> No, I mean, but at the same time, Democrats want to play by the rules and. be fair, uh but they don't. So, what do we do? Just sit back and take it on the chin? Absolutely not. Perfect perfectly put. We'll leave it. there. Attorney General Ellison, thank.

you so much for taking the time. You have a good one, Brian. Stay in. touch. I'm joined now by candidate for. governor of California, Tom Steyer. Thanks so much for joining me. Brian, thank you for having me. So, I want to start off with a little. bit of national news before we get into. California specific news, but we just. found out that Donald Trump has been um. so gracious as to drop his $10 billion. lawsuit against his own federal. government and instead offer up a. compromise, a generous compromise where. he only pillaged US taxpayers uh to the.

tune of $1.7 billion so that he could. pay January 6th insurrectionists. So, before we get into the California stuff, can I have your reaction uh to this. latest move by Trump? I mean, Trump's [clears throat] Trump. Trump's a criminal. You know, I got 8. million signatures to impeach him in. 2017 and 2018 because. been in enough boardrooms to know a. crook. He's a crook. This is a crooked, completely illegal thing to do and it's. completely consistent with his behavior. throughout his first and second terms,

but in the second terms, his grifting. has moved to a completely different. level, but it's consistent and it's. completely illegal and this is the idea. of granting himself $1.7 billion of. taxpayers' money. You know, it's a it's a new level, but. he's only going to get worse, honestly, Brian, and so. you know, yeah, this is completely. wrong. So, a lot of people are going to look at. Trump and look at the fact that the way. that he branded himself was as a wealthy.

businessman who would use the tricks. that he learned um to to I think his. exact words to be greedy for the nation. instead of being greedy for himself. You. know, a a lot of your success is the. fact that you are a wealthy businessman. And so for people who see that and say, "Well, that's a cautionary tale then.". What would your reaction to those people. be? Well, look. I started a business from scratch. He. inherited $450 million from his papi. I've said I started a business and. walked away from it and left billions of.

dollars on the table and my wife and I. said we're giving the money away while. we're alive. He keeps stealing money. He's not a. business person, he's a thief. That's a. different thing, Brian. If you look at. He's one of the people who went I think. he went bankrupt four times in casinos. How do you do that? You're the house. You know, it's like that's a math. problem. So, to a very large extent I. Look, he is someone who has consistently. a crook.

He continues to be a crook. I've never. been a crook. I built a business and. said. I care about other things much more and. we're going to use the money to push. progressive causes and protect working. people and protect the natural world. You know, that. is You know, he also has two ears and. two eyes, but that doesn't make us the. same person either. Yeah. Um all right, so I want to go into a few. of the priorities that I have in. California, but before we do that, um I. want to give you the opportunity to let.

me know what your priorities are in. California um as you as you run this. campaign. Look, I've been very clear about this. Biggest problem in California is. people can't afford to live in. California anymore. So, it's about, you know, the buzzword. is affordability, but it's really about. costs at the end of the month. And that starts with housing. It goes to health care. It goes to. electricity rates. It goes to how much. we're paying at the pump. And it goes to. food. And in every [clears throat] one. of those, I have a specific policy.

solution. Many of them involve taking on. corporate special interests that are. driving up the costs. and continue, you know, are feasting off. Californians' misery. And I've also said. I will I'm the person. in this race, and the only person who. will admit. to be wanting to tax billionaires like. me more, tax close corporate tax. loopholes, and get the money to working. people, and basically have a system.

where. you know, we're the richest state in the. richest country in the world, and we. have the highest poverty rate in the. United States of America. That doesn't. seem like success to me. So, what does success look like at the. end of your first 4-year term? Well, if you if you had some benchmarks. that you could point to, and I've asked. this question to to mayoral candidates, for example, um as it relates to. homelessness. And I've heard Nithya. Raman tell me that, you know, she wants. to see 50% reduction in homelessness in. LA by the time the Olympics rolls. around, 100% reduction in those.

encampments uh by the end of her first. term. And so, she she was able to offer. up some concrete examples, viability. notwithstanding. What would some What. would some metrics be for you that that. that you could point to as success? Long-term, the way we're going to drive. down housing costs, both rent and home. ownership, is by producing houses much. more inexpensively. And we We have five. points on this. I don't want to I don't. think we have enough time, but but I'll. say this, we're going to build a million. houses. We're going to make it possible. for people to buy a house and to afford.

rent. I'm I've been saying we're going to. create local competition for the. electric monopolies that dominate this. state and charge us twice as much as the. rest of the United States, and we're. going to drive down the cost by 25%. That's a metric. We are going to close a corporate tax. loophole and use the money part for. healthcare to fill in the hole from HR1, Mr. Trump's throwing people off Medical, and partly for education, and we're. going to use that education.

money to. to hire, train, and support fantastic. teachers so that our kids get better. outcomes, and we're going to go back to. being a top 10. education state. You know, those are three things right. off the bat that to me. I could keep going. Honestly, I'm for. single-payer health care. You should You. know, I I'm sitting here thinking of all. the things I I'm for single-payer health. care. We have by far, Brian, our campaign and our website has by far. the most and the most detailed policy.

prescriptions of how to change. California. And we're not shy about it. And many of them involve structural. change and change to the control that. corporate special interests have, and. that's why corporate special interests. are spending tens of millions of dollars. against me. And that's why billionaires. are supporting everybody in this race. but me because they know that I'm the. only person here who's really for. structural change for working people to. make this state affordable, and you. know, to sort of rebuild, rejuvenate, make real the California dream. Great.

public education, housing you can afford. to buy. In terms of building up housing, and. especially, you know, this this metric. hitting 1 million houses built, um. to what extent does. as we head toward the 2020 the 2030. census and the prospect of California. losing electoral votes, and not just. losing them, but losing them to a state. like Texas or Idaho, for example, to what extent is that important as well. in all of this to make sure that.

California retains kind of its its. stature as um as a state that has 54. electoral votes and and therefore has. such an outsized impact in the. presidential election? Well, what I'm really interested in, Brian, is for Californians' lives to be. materially improved by their government. And I believe that if we create. the society I'm describing, which is so. much more positive for people that. reinvigorates the idea of California.

and the California dream and that we. have a different vision for the 21st. century, everybody around the country and. everybody around the world is going to. go, you know what? I want that. I want a successful society that has. free health care, great schools, you. know, basically an incredibly beautiful. place and is diverse as possibly could. be imagined. I want that because that's. the way you're supposed to be living in. the 21st century and I think that the. job is to make sure that happens and.

everything else will follow. So, one of the um points of criticism. that folks have of California is the. fact that it's exceedingly difficult to. build infrastructure here, not just. housing, but we obviously have this. train that was supposed to go from Los. Angeles to San Francisco. What we ended. up with was a train that went from uh. the the bustling metropolises of of. Merced to Bakersfield and and uh even. then we don't have anything running.

right now. And so, can you diagnose the. issue uh that prevents us from being. able to build basic infrastructure? I. mean, I don't know the exact statistic, but I mean, if you look at what China. was able to build in the time and with. the amount of money that we are trying. to build a train from one city to. another city, it it would I mean, it. just you know, it's just the. >> Bob's your uncle. Right. And so, um and. so, can you can you diagnose the issue. here and then how would something like. that be solved so that we can actually. build again?

>> um high-speed rail, which is the example. you're using in which everybody feels so. embarrassed and upset about and I me, too. As you said, we started with the wrong. strategy. A rail system to have uses. You need to have people who want to ride. the rail system that can make it pay for. itself. And so, as you said, we started in a. place because that's where the federal. government was willing to give us money. We knew it was a mistake, but we made. the mistake because we thought first.

we'll get this done and then we'll do. the one we wanted to do. Huge mistake. Secondly, the perfect is. the enemy of the good. You know, we are trying to do everything. so perfectly, you know, that we can't. get anything done. And so, there's been. massive overthinking and consultants. and, you know, rethinking and all this. stuff. Spending billions of dollars not. on building a railroad, but on thinking. about building a railroad. And so, I think we, you know, I've.

talked to those guys and I'm a huge. believer in public transportation. It's. critical for California. Yeah. But we. have, but you know, it's like, "No, no, don't come to me with some plan that. doesn't make sense.". That that just is not going to work. You. know, we are going to have to be. results-oriented in this and literally, you know, we're going to have to be. hard-nosed that this has got to be done. on a reasonable basis and we're going to. have to do it fast. And the longer it. takes, the worse it is. And if we're not. going to be efficient about it, that's. not going to happen. But there is clearly a gigantic need for.

public transportation in the state of. California. And I'm a gigantic believer in that. And. I'm also going to be really, you know, it's exactly like building houses. Like, we have a five-point plan on how. to build houses in California much. cheaper. And it involves finance, how we. do construction, how we get along with. cities and counties, as well as what. everybody else talks about, which is. permitting and zoning. Yep. So, in terms of um. another industry that obviously uh.

I have been following closely along with. and that is uh the entertainment. industry. Can you talk a little bit. about what your plan would be to bring. these jobs back to California? Because. this was, you know, especially where I. am in Los Angeles, this was, I mean, what this whole town was based off of. And in the 15 years that I've been here, I have watched the industry kind of. crumble to the point where I have. numerous friends who's not who have not. only left, uh, this state, but also this. country in seeking worse work elsewhere. I have friends who have moved to the UK.

to follow the jobs. I have friends that. moved to Canada to follow those jobs. Toronto and Vancouver have bustling film. industries. And of course everybody. knows about the fact that we have. Atlanta, New Jersey, New Orleans, New. Mexico, uh, New York. All of whom have have taken, uh, our. jobs. >> New Zealand, Australia, England, Saudi. Arabia. So, so what would the plan be, uh, to. bring those jobs back, uh, back to this. state? So, first I want to start by echoing. what you said, Brian.

LA invented the film business and. entertainment business. The greatest group of people to work on. this industry exists in Los Angeles. It's the best ecosystem by far in the. world. And so, I'm on team California. I'm 100% behind. this industry, the people in this. industry. So, let's start. I want to get to that, but I want to. start by saying this. I'm completely. opposed to mergers in this industry. From an anti-competitive standpoint, basic anti-trust law, not even close.

Not even close. Huge job destroyer. Obviously done so that Donald Trump. could hand major information businesses, uh, you know, CNN to another right-wing. crony, so they could control the. information in our industry. You know, the the rule for a dictator is you have. to do two things. You have to own the army, and you have. to own the TV station. He's in effect trying to own the TV.

station in the United States for a. minute by controlling the information. industry. It's a terrible decision. I think we. should be fighting it every single way. we can. I also believe that we cannot allow. other people to buy our business. That's all they're really doing. They're. giving. tax credits at a much higher level so. that they can buy our business with. money so that we'll go to. Canada, so we'll go to New Zealand or. Australia, so we'll go to Hungary. And. we cannot allow them to do that. So that.

means we have to fight fire with fire. And let me say this. The way that I see that tax those tax. credits is they return a dollar 14 to. California for every dollar that goes. in. So I don't look at as a cost. I look. at as an investment. >> Yep. And I said, I'm on team California. And so I want to make sure that there. are no regulations that stop us from. shooting here, particularly small. productions that are unnecessary and. expensive. That's the other thing I. definitely want to do. I want to make. sure that we invest in apprenticeship.

programs so that we we can continue to. build the greatest ecosystem. I'm for. public art funding. And I want to say. the last thing is this. It's not fair that AI can take the. creativity and the output of people in. this industry, steal it and not. compensate. That's absolutely wrong. So. let me be clear. I will state again, I'm. competitive. I don't know if you know. that, Brian. I may seem like a low-key. friendly guy.

Underneath that genial service, I'm really competitive. And I am on team. California. And I refuse to have the. greatest industry in the world. be looted by foreign countries with. money, not talent, and take advantage of the people here, the tens of thousands of talented. professionals in in and around Los. Angeles by their paying putting up tax. credits. And the other thing I want to. say is this. I'm talking about dropping the cost of. housing. I'm talking about dropping the.

cost of health care. That is another. critical long-term way to make sure that. the film and entertainment business can. compete around the world based on. talent. And so to a very large extent, everything I'm talking about I want to. make sure in the short run we keep this. business, that we keep this ecosystem, that we keep the your friends, incredibly talented friends from going. to England or British Columbia. And I. want to make sure in the long run we. drive down costs so that in fact we're. on even footing with those people. And. if it's if it's about the talent, we.

win. And we have to make sure it's about the. talent. Recognizing that for every dollar spent. we get a dollar 14 back, and that. the more money we put into this, the. more money we get out. And it's not just. money, it's making sure that people's. livelihoods are protected, making sure. that our tourism industry is thriving. It's helping all of those people from. transportation to craft services to. producers, editors, PAs, you name it. I. mean the the whole industry isn't just. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and George. Clooney. It is the millions of people.

who are who are doing work behind the. camera, doing work in the offices, making sure that this whole industry can. sustain itself. Recognizing that all of. those things exist and that we actually. garner. more money from investing more through. these tax credits, would you be in favor. of an uncapped tax credit? So I don't. have a limit on it, Brian, but I want to. make sure that we have are doing this in. a careful way that we're. controlling. and and not just going hog wild on. So I.

don't have a limit on it, but I do have. a desire. >> to me how like how does that work in. practice? I think what it means is that people. apply for tax credits and you know, it's. not just you know, you say I'm a film. producer, I need money. And so it's got to be a credible. production. And so but I but I think I I don't think. that's unreal I think that's completely. the way it works now. You know, you've. got to be a credible production to get. tax credits and that should continue to. be true and we should have people from.

the industry, you know, who know what. they're talking about a finding on that. to make sure that in fact we're pushing. stuff that really. can succeed. I I know this is a hits. business and I know if you can believe. it when I was at Fairlawn we were the. biggest financiers of independent films. in the world for years. So I'm I know sometimes these things. happen and sometimes they don't happen, but I also know that there is something. about understanding this business. It's. not just the crap shoot. It's a lot more. than that.

Last question here. As folks are trying to figure out who to. vote for, I'm sure there's a lot of. people who are undecided between you and. Javier Becerra and so for folks who are. Democrats who are looking to vote for. one of the Democratic candidates, why. should they vote for you over your. opponent? Well, let me put it to you this way. The oil companies are spending millions. of dollars against me. They have maxed out to Javier Becerra. He has said we need more oil drilling in. the state. He has said they're not bad.

guys and that we need Chevron. He has no environmental policy to speak. of. In terms of single payer, I've said we. are going to push as hard as possible. for single payer on day one starting day. one. No questions. And as a result the nurses support me. He has said behind closed doors we're. not going to go for single payer and the. biggest lobby against single payer maxed. out to him and endorsed him the next day. and he got $120,000.

yesterday. from the health insurers, which is the. opposite of single payer. Yesterday at. the same time he's saying, "Oh, I'm for. single payer." So the truth is. it's not just what I say I'm going to. do. Follow the money and the endorsements. I. say I'm going to make the schools better. and the teachers and the school. employees and the educators are all. endorsing me. I don't know what he's saying, but the. big oil companies are supporting him. The health insurers are supporting him.

The um. electric monopolies. Look, this is a. question of. I'm trying to change things that I'm. willing to take on the corporate special. interests. He's paid for by the corporate special. interests. So, to me, if you think everything's. fine. and you want more of the same, that's. what he's offering. I'm offering a. change. I'm the only person offering a real. change. I'm the only person willing to. take on the big money interests in the. state of California to say, working. people, this game is rigged against you.

We need to unrig. For folks who are looking to help your. campaign, where can they go? tomsteyer.com. Look, the biggest thing people can do at. this point, if you support me, is to tell your friends. Is to support. me online. Is to go out and spread the. word. Because really this is about. people under Look, I. by now I say to people, this is a simple. campaign. Do you want the billionaire. who's going to work and fight tirelessly. for working people? Or do you want a. career politician who's going to work.

and fight tirelessly for billionaires. and big corporations? That is a strange choice. We'll leave it. there. Tom Steyer, thank you so much for. taking the time. Best luck in the. campaign trail. Thanks, Brian. Thanks. for having me. To listen to the audio. version of this episode, click the link. right here on the screen and please make. sure to subscribe. And of course, to see. more video content, that subscribe. button's on the screen as well. >> [music].