00:00So, Mr. President, yesterday, an Ipsos poll found that fewer than one in four Americans
00:06think Trump's war in Iran has been worthwhile.
00:10And who can blame them?
00:12Every metric indicates that Donald Trump's handling of Operation Epic Fury has been an epic failure.
00:21Donald Trump promised this war would be won in a matter of days or weeks.
00:26It's now day 47.
00:27And let's take stock of the 47 days into this historic blunder.
00:3313 U.S. service members have been killed.
00:37Thousands of civilians have been killed and injured across the region.
00:41The Strait Hormuz is not only closed, it's become an Iranian cash cow,
00:47and Iran controls the Strait is greater today than before when Trump started the war.
00:54Iran's nuclear ambitions have only grown.
00:58And the Iranian regime is even more radical than before the war.
01:03Americans, meanwhile, are shelling out more than $4 for a gallon of gas on average.
01:09Now Donald Trump says that gas prices could be the same or a little higher by November.
01:15That's his words.
01:15Trump says gas prices could be, quote, could be the same or a little higher by November.
01:22Unbelievable.
01:23Look, the 25th Amendment, which everybody's talking about, is all about continuity in office and the stability of the government.
01:30And the first provision is about what happens if the presidency is vacant.
01:34The second provision is about what happens if the vice presidency is vacant.
01:38The third provision I think of is the colonoscopy provision, because it says the president can voluntarily, temporarily turn over
01:45power.
01:46But the fourth provision is the one everybody's talking about.
01:48But section four is about what happens if the president is unable for physical reasons or mental or cognitive reasons.
01:56Or mental or cognitive.
01:57Let's emphasize that piece.
01:58What if the president cannot satisfy the duties of the office and discharge the powers and duties of office?
02:03And it says the vice president and a majority of the cabinet can act to transfer the powers to the
02:09vice president.
02:09Everybody seems to know that.
02:11But there's another little known part which says or the vice president and a body set up by Congress can
02:17make the same judgment.
02:19And since 1967, Congress has never set up the other body called for by the Constitution in the 25th Amendment.
02:27Hey everyone, we are here with the esteemed ranking member of our Judiciary Committee, the great constitutional scholar Jamie Raskin,
02:36who is the congressman for Maryland.
02:39And today you filed a bill that many of us co-sponsored.
02:42Tell us a little bit about this bill.
02:43And thank you for joining me, Congresswoman Stansbury.
02:46Hello to my friends in New Mexico and everywhere across the country.
02:50Look, the 25th Amendment, which everybody's talking about, is all about continuity in office and the stability of the government.
02:57And the first provision is about what happens if the presidency is vacant.
03:01The second provision is about what happens if the vice presidency is vacant.
03:04The third provision I think of is the colonoscopy provision because it says the president can voluntarily, temporarily turn over
03:12power.
03:12But the fourth provision is the one everybody's talking about.
03:15Section four is about what happens if the president is unable for physical reasons or mental or cognitive reasons.
03:22Or mental or cognitive. Let's emphasize that piece.
03:24What if the president cannot satisfy the duties of the office and discharge the powers and duties of office?
03:30And it says the vice president and a majority of the cabinet can act to transfer the powers to the
03:35vice president.
03:36Everybody seems to know that.
03:37But there's another little known part which says or the vice president and a body set up by Congress can
03:44make the same judgment.
03:45And since 1967, Congress has never set up the other body called for by the Constitution in the 25th Amendment.
03:54And so we're setting that body up.
03:56And I just want to emphasize that this is really about Congress asserting its constitutional authority.
04:03The 25th Amendment was established after JFK died.
04:08It set up and clarified the line of succession if a president is incapacitated.
04:14Many of us feel like he is incapacitated in the present moment.
04:18But it's not clear what happens if the president contests a vice president or cabinet call on him to step
04:25down.
04:25And this is really about Congress asserting our authority under the 25th Amendment and saying we'll create a bipartisan body
04:33that will ultimately make that determination.
04:36It would require a cognitive test.
04:39What else would it require?
04:40Right.
04:40Well, let me just let me just add one detail, Melanie, to what you just said, because under the 25th
04:46Amendment,
04:47if the president, if the vice president and a majority of the cabinet act or the vice president and a
04:52majority of our new body act,
04:53still the president can say, no, no, everything's fine and would need to be overruled by a two thirds vote
04:59of the House and the Senate.
05:01So it's you know, it's not a perfect arrangement for our situation if people are going to act with their
05:07partisan blinders on.
05:09But the new body at least would interpose some objectivity.
05:13It would be composed of doctors, psychiatrists, cognitive scientists, but also veterans of the executive branch of government,
05:20former presidents, vice presidents, attorneys general, secretaries of defense, treasury, surgeon generals and so on.
05:27So it calls for those people to be able to meet in the event of a real crisis.
05:31It's serious business.
05:31This is not just for Donald Trump.
05:33This is a permanent standing body that should have been set up long ago.
05:37So we can rectify that oversight and also deal with a very serious crisis is that people are flipping out
05:45all over the country,
05:45as you know, about Trump, you know, pretending to be Jesus Christ in his little online renderings,
05:53attacking the pope, going to war without any congressional consent or authorization,
06:00engaging in crazed fulminations, profanity and so on.
06:05So people are upset about it and we need to deal with the problem.
06:07So we're taking action right here in Congress.
06:10And thank you for your leadership.
06:11Thank you, Melanie Stansford.
06:13All right. Bye, everyone.
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