- 21 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:03From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central, it's America's only source for news.
00:10This is The Daily Show with your host, Sean Stewart.
00:35What up? Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to The Daily Show.
00:40My name is Jon Stewart. Man, do we got a show for you tonight.
00:43Civil Liberties attorney Janine Yunus will be here later.
00:46Civil Liberties we're going to be talking about.
00:49They don't care. They don't care.
00:52Or we'll talk about whatever the government deems appropriate.
00:54I really, you know, I'm trying to keep myself spirited here.
00:58How was your weekend? Was it good?
01:01Yeah, yeah. How was your weekend? Yeah.
01:04What the f*** is happening?
01:10What the f*** is happening in this country?
01:16From Minnesota, to Venezuela, to Iran, to Greenland, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, to Philadelphia.
01:32Well, I'm sorry. Not all the news was bad.
01:45Why is the president of the United States declaring on Wikipedia
01:48that he is now the president of Venezuela?
01:53That's real.
01:55Why is our Fed chairman making what appears to be a hostage video?
02:02How the f*** did steak become the healthiest food in the country?
02:08What is happening?
02:09We are on the Donald Trump gravitron.
02:13We don't know what up or down is.
02:14We just know it feels like we're all going to vomit.
02:17Each moment brings another event with cataclysmic implications and consequences.
02:21And the guy at the center of it, the instigator, the catalyst of all this chaos and confusion,
02:27he's just out there TGIFing it.
02:29Oh, hey, what's up, everybody?
02:31Hey, see you soon.
02:32Not if I see you first.
02:33Boom, boom, boom.
02:36Just look at Venezuela.
02:38We took it over, what, three days ago, four days ago, five days ago?
02:40I don't f*** remember.
02:42Meanwhile, our State Department says if you're an American,
02:44there are armed gangs in Venezuela trying to kill you.
02:48So you would think that maybe this calls for a little gathering in the situation tent
02:52or wherever is operationally right for talking about Venezuela right now.
02:58But the president had a different idea.
03:00President Trump convening top oil executives at the White House
03:04to talk about divvying up Venezuela's oil.
03:07What the f*** is happening?
03:10Yes, a meeting of all of the most important stakeholders.
03:15Exxon, Chevron, Halliburton, and, of course, the guy from Dune who lives in the oil bag.
03:26By the way, I think you can tell I don't use that treatment.
03:32And by the way, lest you worry that Donald Trump is in any way feeling the burden of this moment,
03:40the terrifying responsibility of so many lives held in his hands,
03:44let me reassure you, he's fine.
03:48Here we are.
03:49And in fact, if you look, come to think of it,
03:53well, I gotta look at this myself.
04:12Sir?
04:14We're trying to have an urgent meeting on possibly the collapse of a petrostate.
04:19You're gonna just gotta walk over the window and look at f***ing Rubio and Vance.
04:24Look at the faces on Heckle and Jekyll over there.
04:29Just looking and smiling like, oh, Paul, Paul.
04:34He's so cute.
04:35You should see him when the ice cream truck goes by.
04:40What a view.
04:42This is the door to the ballroom.
04:47Well, what a job.
04:52Really?
04:52This meeting is the moment for your funny ballroom act-em-out?
04:57Armed gangs are roaming freely through both of the countries you say you run right now.
05:01But go ahead.
05:03Take a moment to look at what might be through the window.
05:08You're like the Walt Disney of chaos.
05:11All it takes is imagination.
05:15And by the way, if you're getting up and walking through the window,
05:18and you don't think that's enough of a doddering old man move,
05:21old cankles McGee had one more chewable Tums up his sleeve.
05:26You're all gonna do very well.
05:27I think really very well.
05:29Marco just gave me a note.
05:31Go back to Chevron.
05:33They want to discuss something.
05:35Go ahead.
05:35I'm going back to Chevron, Marco.
05:37Thank you, Marco.
05:47Does anyone else have a private note they'd like me to read aloud?
05:52Anybody?
05:54Now, by the way, there was an oil company, Exxon,
05:57that expressed some reservations about investing money
06:01and rebuilding the infrastructure of a country that is, and I quote,
06:05not ours, and is somewhat volatile at the moment.
06:09How did the president handle this somewhat rational cost-benefit analysis?
06:13I'd probably be inclined to keep Exxon out.
06:16I didn't like their response.
06:18They're playing too cute.
06:21They're playing too cute.
06:22You just made yourself the president of Venezuela on Wikipedia.
06:26But they're the ones that are being glib.
06:28Do you see how f***ed up everything is right now?
06:30First of all, I have to offend the good faith of an oil company
06:34because they don't think they can safely extract another country's resources
06:37in as cost-effective a manner as might benefit their shareholders?
06:41Who am I anymore?
06:45And by the way, Donald, why are you the president of Venezuela?
06:50Doesn't your oath of office to America have a non-compete?
06:53What are we doing?
06:56What, are you just trying to pick up a few extra hours?
06:59What, the holidays hit you hard?
07:02I just need a little couple extra bucks until, like, February, March.
07:06That ballroom's not going to pay for itself.
07:08Meanwhile, in Iran, protesters have taken to the streets
07:11tired of the totalitarian rule of the mullahs
07:14and have been gunned down in the streets.
07:16Protests and violence have broken out throughout that country.
07:18It is chaotic and fragile.
07:20So guess who's thinking about stepping right in?
07:23That's right.
07:24The president of Venezuela!
07:27I have options that are so strong.
07:29So, I mean, if they did that, it'll be met with a very, very powerful force.
07:35I have options.
07:37Did you hear what he...
07:38I have options.
07:40Not Congress, not the American people.
07:42I.
07:43Apparently, Trump is the sole factor in all decisions everywhere,
07:48throughout the world now.
07:50He just wants to take a little more time staring out the window
07:52before he lets us know what fresh hell he will unleash next.
07:55And the most confusing thing about his reason for intervening in Iran
08:00is his reason.
08:01President Trump has warned of striking Iran if the regime kills protesters.
08:05There seem to be some people killed that aren't supposed to be killed.
08:14We may have to bomb Iran to prevent Iran's government from shooting protesters.
08:23Look directly into camera with an expression of half-bewilderment and despair.
08:29P.S. John, don't read this part.
08:45And if that's not enough, in the middle of all this,
08:48we are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not.
08:51I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way.
08:54But if we don't do it the easy way, we're going to do it the hard way.
08:56And the f***er, it's Greenland!
08:59Based on my knowledge, everything there is done the hard way.
09:04You know, when you order food in Greenland, Uber Eats takes eight days.
09:08And they don't deliver over fjords.
09:12So the point is, people, don't fill up on Iran and Venezuela and Minneapolis.
09:17You've got to save room for this other invasion.
09:19It's like a whole mukbang of catastrophic possibilities.
09:22It's exhausting.
09:24This is all just one weekend.
09:26And why do we even need Greenland?
09:28We need Greenland very badly.
09:30Why?
09:32And why do we suddenly need all of Venezuela's oil?
09:36And whatever is buried under Greenland?
09:38And what is...
09:39Can I ask a question?
09:45Are we broke?
09:53Is that why we have to do all this?
09:57Did you lose your job?
10:00Did you somehow Trump casino the United States?
10:03Because if the country needs money, we can all get second jobs.
10:08We'll all be president somewhere if Wikipedia will have us.
10:15I don't understand.
10:16Why do we have to take over Greenland?
10:19If we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland.
10:23And we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor.
10:43We're already f***ing.
10:47Russia's already our name.
10:48This is where Greenland is.
10:51Russia's closer.
10:53Unless, in your mind, you think Alaska lives in a box next to Hawaii.
11:00No, no, no.
11:00I get it.
11:01I get it.
11:01I get it.
11:01We don't want Russia or China to take over Greenland.
11:06Oh, you know what we could do to deter it?
11:09Not through arrogance or conquest.
11:11But what if we formed, like, kind of an alliance with Denmark and Greenland?
11:16We could include all the North Atlantic nations.
11:21What would we call this?
11:24Like, almost like a North Atlantic treaty organization that we...
11:31I don't know what we could...
11:32I guess we'll never know.
11:35But, again, since we all now dance to the tune of one piper,
11:40what possible justifications could you have for just taking someone else's land?
11:45And please, if you would, irony-proof your answer.
11:50I'm a fan of Denmark, but, you know, the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago
11:54doesn't mean that they own the land.
12:02Can someone pass him a note?
12:08How do you think we got our land?
12:12We landed here on a f***ing boat 500 years ago, and it was ours.
12:18And you're out there, hey, Denmark doesn't own it because they landed on it 500 years ago.
12:22That's like the argument you make when you want to give land back to the people who were already there.
12:28Not for you to then take it, because you've got a bigger boat.
12:32You're doing some weird reverse woke land acknowledgement.
12:37I would like to acknowledge that Greenland sits on colonized and conquered indigenous people's land.
12:45And I would also like to say dibs.
12:57Why am I even trying, by the way?
12:59Why do I even care to figure this out?
13:00It's not like anyone on your side ever takes the effort to convince all of us
13:04on the United States' long-term policy goals.
13:08It all just appears to be like a lazy Susan of vengeful whims
13:12from our all-powerful mad king.
13:16Did you know Trump doesn't like Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell?
13:19Because Trump wants to be able to dictate our country's interest rates himself.
13:23Now, this poor Jerome Powell.
13:25Now you've got him looking like he's broadcasting from Taliban territory.
13:29The Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas,
13:34threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony
13:37before the Senate Banking Committee last June.
13:41That testimony concerned, in part, a multi-year project
13:44to renovate historic Federal Reserve office buildings.
13:51Can someone get this mother f***er glass of water?
13:57And by the way, I don't feel good about this next joke, but I'm about to do it.
14:04It's not politically incorrect.
14:07It's just inside finance.
14:08So anyone who doesn't listen to Bloomberg surveillance in the morning,
14:11you can just leave the room.
14:12I'll wait.
14:14Okay.
14:15Wow.
14:17That dude, he's struggling.
14:19It appears the chairman of the Federal Reserve is having a liquidity crisis.
14:39That's going to kill at the terminals.
14:44I'm going to remind you, all of this is happening in one weekend.
14:51All of it.
14:52One weekend.
14:53This president has made monumental changes to the manner in which this country operates.
14:57And the American people are rightfully feeling a vertigo
15:00about how a country born on self-determination
15:03and constitutional republic principles can turn into
15:06whatever you say, boss.
15:07Sounds like a good idea, boss.
15:10So I think the American people reasonably have questions.
15:13But when the American people raise those questions...
15:18What a stupid question.
15:20Are you stupid?
15:21Are you a stupid person?
15:23It's a stupid question.
15:24It's a terrible question.
15:25You are a terrible reporter.
15:27You're a terrible person and a terrible reporter.
15:30You've got nothing about nothing.
15:31You're fake news.
15:32Quiet.
15:33Quiet.
15:35How dare we?
15:37How dare we?
15:38How dare we question his excellency?
15:42I don't know what we were thinking.
15:43You know what?
15:44I'm so sorry.
15:45We owe you an apology, sir.
15:52Mr. President, sir, we are so deeply sorry to have questioned your singular and delicate genius.
16:07It's just that this is a kind of an adjustment for us because we've all been raised in the American
16:16system of government.
16:18I'm not going to get into the weeds with it.
16:20Three co-equal branches of government, checks and balances, something about quartering soldiers.
16:25I think it's quartering.
16:25It's in cursive.
16:26The Q could be a P or an S.
16:28The point is this.
16:30That's what we've been operating under for the last 250 years.
16:34If you want to learn about it, President Trump, you can ask all your acolytes.
16:37They say they keep it in their pockets.
16:39I guess it's kind of a relic.
16:42So just have to give us some time to adjust to this new world of total compliance so we can
16:49understand the rules.
16:50Because, you know, it's confusing.
16:52Like, for instance, we all watched the footage of January 6th, but I think we may have gotten a very
16:59different interpretation of it rather than the correct interpretation of it, which, of course, is yours.
17:05So help me out here.
17:07We'll play a game.
17:09On January 6th, a bunch of...
17:12They were peaceful people.
17:14These were great people.
17:15Went to the Capitol...
17:18Peacefully protesting a stolen election.
17:20I have never seen such spirit and such passion and such love.
17:28But while they were there...
17:30Capitol Hill police officers instigated the violence that day.
17:35So the people we saw earlier beating the shit out of police officers were hardworking, loving people provoked by law
17:42enforcement.
17:43And ultimately, they deserve a...
17:46Full pardon.
17:48Got it.
17:49Don't agree that's what actually happened or what should have happened afterwards, but at least it sets a precedent.
17:54But now let's jump ahead, I don't know, a day.
17:58To January 7th.
18:01We've all seen that footage.
18:03I think I know what I saw that day, too.
18:05But let's go through it again with the correct interpretation.
18:08On January 7th, a highly disrespectful, deranged lunatic woman, professional ice agitator, domestic terrorist, did what?
18:19This woman used her car as a weapon and tried to run over an ice agent.
18:23An attempted murder.
18:25And so she was shot and killed.
18:29So while very little of the descriptions that you were saying matched what we all saw on the tape, the
18:36important lesson here is what?
18:38She brought it upon herself.
18:44Motherf***er.
18:45We are in a confusing, dark place.
18:48And this is where, quite frankly, rule of law and institutions are kind of an important framework.
18:53But now that those are gone, what's our North Star?
18:58Do you see any checks on your power on the world stage?
19:02Is there anything that could stop you if you wanted to?
19:04Yeah, there's one thing, my own morality, my own mind.
19:11So nothing.
19:13But thank you.
19:14I'm no longer confused.
19:16Couldn't be more clear.
19:18In America today, Donald Trump is the sun.
19:20And if you revolve around him and worship him, his warmth shines upon you.
19:24You could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose his support, as long as it's done on his behalf.
19:29But if you do not support him, if you live in the darkness of what I guess we will refer
19:33to from now on as blue states,
19:37fearing the day he turns his terrible wrath towards you,
19:41whether you're a single human woman on a side street somewhere in Minneapolis
19:44or a sovereign nation that happens to have land and resources that we, a larger sovereign nation, think we also
19:51might want.
19:52And so his people are making a bet that adhering to a principle of forced compliance and coercion
20:00will give us a more stable and prosperous America than a principle of shared alliance and common interest.
20:07It's kind of a tough bet because I read somewhere, I don't know where,
20:12that people have inalienable rights granted by a creator, not a king.
20:17So holding that coerced world together is going to be kind of a tall task.
20:22But if anybody's up for it, it's Donald Trump, a man with unrivaled focus and discipline.
20:29Actually, you know what? Could you give me a second?
20:32I'm just, you know, I'm so curious.
20:36I just want to go and see.
20:44When we come back, Janine Lunes will be here and she'll go for it.
21:06Welcome back to The Daily Show.
21:07My guest tonight, she's a civil liberties attorney and co-host of the podcast Previously Prohibited.
21:14Please welcome to the program, Janine Yunus.
21:28Hello.
21:29Hi.
21:31I feel so bad that, you know, we've taken a long time taping tonight
21:35and you were nice enough to come up here with your family and your small child.
21:41And you are now apparently living in our green room.
21:45But thank you for being here.
21:46Oh, thanks for having me.
21:47Janine, I wanted to talk to you because we are in a moment where consistent courage seems in short supply.
21:55Uh, you are a civil rights attorney who has been canceled by both the right and the left.
22:02Which means you must be doing something right.
22:07Uh, what in your mind is the civil rights moment we're in right now
22:14and how it compares to some of the work that you're previously doing.
22:17And is this of a continuum or, or, uh, an acceleration in your mind?
22:22It might be an acceleration.
22:24Uh, so I've done a lot of free speech work specifically.
22:27And I actually sued the Biden administration.
22:29That was where I got my start on free speech.
22:31Right.
22:31Um, but I will say...
22:32Is that how they talk about that in law terms?
22:33Like, I got my break...
22:36On a Biden censorship.
22:38Sort of.
22:39Yeah, yeah.
22:40Uh, I will say I think Trump is worse on censorship and civil liberties generally.
22:44Right.
22:45But that is not...
22:46It's an...
22:47That's an interesting thing to hear because on the right,
22:50censorship and civil liberties was such a rallying point.
22:56And he so clearly isn't.
22:57But they've...
22:59They've flipped that.
23:01Well, I don't think a lot of them were that principled to begin with.
23:03Uh, but I worked with a lot of people who, uh, are quite MAGA, I guess, um, on lawsuits,
23:09including the current Solicitor General of the United States, um, and various other people
23:14who are relatively high up in the administration.
23:16And they've taken a totally different tack, uh, this time around.
23:19So they're on the censorship side.
23:21How were they dealing with you?
23:22So you were representing them in censorship cases during the Biden administration.
23:27What specifically were those surrounding?
23:29The main case I worked on that went to the Supreme Court had to do with, uh,
23:32the government involvement in social media censorship, the Biden administration mainly,
23:36uh, especially COVID stuff.
23:38So I worked with a lot of these people.
23:40Um, I represented a couple of them, uh...
23:42Who had been...
23:42Had their accounts removed and other things that had happened
23:45and that they felt that the government had been responsible for pressuring.
23:48That's right. Yeah.
23:49Right.
23:50And were those...
23:51What was the outcome?
23:52Uh, well, we lost at the Supreme Court, actually.
23:55And our, as I warned a lot of liberals who were celebrating that decision,
23:58it would be cited against us.
24:00And it is being cited now, in fact.
24:02In many cases where we're suing the...
24:04People are suing the Trump administration.
24:06When did you get the sense that this was going to flip when they came into power?
24:09Or is it always that way, that whoever's in power is more...
24:13Is going to be more coercive?
24:14I wanted to believe a little bit that the Trump administration would hold true to its word
24:18because he specifically talked about our case and this kind of censorship.
24:23And one of his first executive orders was actually called
24:25Ending Federal Censorship and Restoring Free Speech in America.
24:28So I thought maybe they would do something,
24:30but it became rapidly clear, uh, within a few weeks.
24:34You believe that they might do that.
24:35That's adorable.
24:39It is.
24:40I thought for a second that he might not be principled
24:42when one of his first moves was threatening to jail Mark Zuckerberg.
24:46That's when I thought,
24:46well, that doesn't sound like a free speech thing.
24:48Now, specifically now,
24:50uh, you just recently sort of, uh,
24:53got a lot of viral attention from, uh,
24:55in this case in, in Minneapolis.
24:58Uh, you were writing on, on Twitter about
25:01sort of, uh, what you thought were
25:05the overreaches of the government
25:07in this, uh, ICE raid
25:10and what happened to this, uh, Rene,
25:12the terrible incident.
25:15J.D. Vance saw what you wrote
25:18and started going at you.
25:22Feel good?
25:23Actually, it kind of did.
25:24Did it really?
25:25Yeah.
25:26It's not, it's not nerve-wracking?
25:28I would be very nervous.
25:30No, actually, I, I wasn't that.
25:33I looked at it and I was like,
25:34oh, J.D. Vance quote tweeted me
25:35and he seems to be insulting me.
25:37Uh, he seems to be insulting everyone.
25:41Uh, what was the gist of the argument?
25:44Where did it, where did it split?
25:46So, I would say two things.
25:48He thought that the officers had a right
25:49to arrest her and to sort of start
25:52the whole confrontation
25:53and also then to shoot her.
25:55And I disagree on both of those things.
25:57I don't think the officers had a right
25:58to arrest her and to stop her
25:59or to shoot her, obviously.
26:06And this is, it's so fascinating
26:08because now this feels like
26:10it's the moment that we're in
26:13feels very fraught
26:15because there doesn't appear to be any,
26:18as he said in that clip,
26:20the only thing that will stop me
26:21is my own morality.
26:23That's something Thanos would say
26:26in an Avengers movie.
26:27Like, this is why we have
26:30due process and those things.
26:32So, what was it in your training
26:35that made you think they don't?
26:36Because my understanding is
26:37the cops have a right to arrest you
26:40if they think you're obstructing.
26:41Is that not the,
26:42what are people's rights
26:43in that situation?
26:44Well, they're not cops.
26:45I mean, ICE officers are not.
26:46ICE officers are federal
26:47Immigration and Customs
26:49Enforcement officers.
26:49So, they don't actually have the right
26:50to do traffic stops
26:52and that kind of thing.
26:53So, they could not pull you over
26:56and say,
26:57do you know how illegal you are?
26:58Like, they can't,
26:59like, they're not allowed
27:01to without probable cause.
27:03No, and if they had probable cause
27:05to believe you had someone
27:06illegal in your car
27:07or you were an illegal alien,
27:08I suppose,
27:09maybe they could pull you over
27:10but not absent circumstances like that.
27:12Right.
27:12So, in this circumstance,
27:13but if she's obstructing them,
27:16does that then give them the right?
27:17Because my understanding is
27:18they do have a right
27:19to arrest people
27:20if they are obstructing them.
27:21I expect if this case goes to trial,
27:23that will be a litigated issue
27:25because the obstruction
27:26has to be pretty serious
27:27and it has to be of their
27:29enforcing the immigration law.
27:31So, just blocking traffic,
27:32I would think,
27:33probably wouldn't rise to that level.
27:34But I'm sure, again,
27:35if it goes to trial,
27:36that will be an issue that comes up.
27:38And then there was
27:39the second part of it,
27:41which I think is the one
27:42that I think,
27:43I think what threw me off the most
27:45was the dogmatic certainty
27:48of the administration
27:50without any fact-finding.
27:51They just went,
27:52this is a domestic terrorist.
27:54This person's life was in jeopardy.
27:56He had to,
27:59was well within his rights
28:01to kill her.
28:02I am, look,
28:03I come at this,
28:04this is probably, like,
28:05I'm very close to a lot of, like,
28:08cops and vipers and those guys.
28:10And so I do,
28:13I am very sympathetic
28:15to what they go through
28:16and to what we as a society
28:19ask them to do
28:20and the danger
28:21that they put themselves into.
28:25But even they looked
28:26at this situation and went,
28:28that might be the worst
28:30police work I've ever seen.
28:32First of all,
28:32you never put yourself
28:33in front of a vehicle
28:34or behind a vehicle.
28:36Those two shots,
28:37shots two and three,
28:38were from the side of the vehicle.
28:40There's no way to justify that
28:42once you're already,
28:43uh, passed there.
28:45Is that, like,
28:46I'm trying to wrap my head around,
28:48are we litigating civil rights
28:50or are we litigating competence?
28:53I think what was being litigated
28:55was whether or not people liked
28:57ICE being there in the first place.
28:59And the administration,
29:00you know,
29:00felt as though
29:01what they feel as though
29:03what they're trying to do
29:03is being impeded
29:04by these crazy left-wing activists,
29:06as they would put it.
29:07And so their perspective
29:08or their take on the whole thing
29:10started with that.
29:10And, uh,
29:11I think they dug themselves
29:12into a bit of a hole
29:13because they,
29:15within minutes or hours,
29:16they were saying
29:16she was a domestic terrorist.
29:18She had purposely tried
29:19to ram the officer over.
29:20There's no way you can look
29:20at that video
29:21and think she purposely did it.
29:22I think one can maybe argue
29:24about whether there was some,
29:25you know,
29:26a justification defense,
29:27a self-defense theory
29:28could work at trial.
29:29Right.
29:29But to say she purposely did,
29:31and then they didn't know
29:32what to do
29:32because they had already,
29:33you know,
29:34started going around saying this.
29:35And so in their mind,
29:37so you believe this is purely
29:39like a double down
29:40of a, uh, you know,
29:42a theory of the case
29:43that they developed.
29:45Yeah.
29:45Let me ask you,
29:46you know,
29:47it brings to mind,
29:48Tom Holman said
29:49something interesting.
29:50He said,
29:50we've got to tone down
29:51the rhetoric against ICE officers.
29:53But in my mind,
29:54there is also something,
29:56a responsibility on their end.
29:58And they've been provocative
30:00and confrontational as well.
30:02In America,
30:03have you ever seen
30:05an immigration enforcement
30:07regime like this?
30:09No.
30:10And I think...
30:10It is unusual, yes?
30:11It is, yeah.
30:12Okay.
30:13Yeah.
30:13And I think we saw someone today.
30:14There was a 17-year-old kid
30:15who actually turned out
30:16to be a U.S. citizen
30:17taken out of a target
30:18and beaten up.
30:19And then...
30:20And left like 10 minutes away
30:21from the target to get home.
30:22Yeah.
30:23Here's...
30:24So my understanding
30:25of immigration enforcement
30:26had always been like,
30:27and I think most Americans
30:28would agree with this,
30:29if there are rapists and murderers
30:30and people who have committed crimes
30:31and they're in this country illegal,
30:32get them out.
30:33But it's generally
30:33a fishing expedition.
30:35Yeah.
30:35I have a name,
30:36I have a person,
30:36I'm going to do that.
30:37I don't think we're comfortable with,
30:39I'm going to throw a net
30:41on this area
30:42that I generally think
30:44has people that look like
30:46they might be
30:47in this country illegally.
30:49And I'm just going to do a group
30:51and if I end up with citizens
30:53and non-citizens
30:54and...
30:55I don't care.
30:56Yeah.
30:57Is that what
30:58has provoked some of this?
31:03Um...
31:03Yes.
31:04Take your time.
31:07Yes, I mean,
31:08it's, you know,
31:08they're trying to,
31:09they're trying to have
31:10a mass deportation policy
31:12and so they're
31:13just taking a lot of people
31:15in who shouldn't be.
31:17And what's happening
31:18is people's civil liberties
31:18are being violated
31:19because you're not supposed
31:20to just, you know,
31:21arrest people
31:22or put them in ICE detention
31:23or whatever
31:24without some kind
31:25of basis.
31:26So how...
31:27And it does seem
31:28very punitive
31:29because I read a statistic
31:32that 70% of these operations
31:33are in blue states
31:34where they're doing...
31:36Like, in red states,
31:37they're not doing
31:38these sweeps
31:39where they go in
31:40and just grab a bunch
31:41of people in a parking lot
31:43or shut down a business.
31:45They're doing it
31:46in blue cities
31:46and blue states.
31:47Yeah, that's definitely
31:48what's happening
31:49and I think they're probably
31:49targeting sanctuary cities too,
31:51so-called sanctuary cities
31:52because they think
31:53they're not complying.
31:54Now let's...
31:55So, I hear that a lot.
31:57What is a sanctuary city?
31:59Does that mean
32:00you don't have to comply
32:01with ICE
32:01for even civil deportation
32:03or just criminal deportation?
32:04What does it mean
32:05to be a sanctuary city?
32:06I don't think
32:06there's just one definition
32:07but generally speaking
32:08they're not helping
32:09immigration authorities
32:10and to greater
32:11or lesser extents
32:12they are not looking
32:14at people's immigration status
32:15and dispensing
32:16like social services
32:17and that kind of thing.
32:18But what is...
32:19So, my understanding
32:20of the law is that
32:21if you are a criminal
32:22and you have a warrant
32:24or a detainment
32:25they have to...
32:26You have to cooperate still
32:27even if you're
32:28a sanctuary city.
32:29Yeah, of course.
32:30Yeah.
32:31Right.
32:31Yeah.
32:31So, the story
32:33we're being told
32:33about sanctuary cities
32:34seems not necessarily
32:36the case.
32:37Probably it's exaggerated.
32:39Yeah.
32:39But they are not
32:41necessarily complying
32:42and they are not
32:43turning people
32:44so normally
32:45if, you know,
32:46someone will be flagged
32:47in the course of things
32:48if they're getting benefits
32:49or something
32:49and, you know,
32:50you're asking for
32:50some kind of identification
32:51so they're not
32:52turning those people in
32:54or...
32:54Right.
32:55Whether those people
32:56have a criminal record
32:57or not.
32:58Well, they would have to...
33:00I mean, if they knew
33:01they had a criminal record
33:02that made them deportable
33:03presumably they would...
33:04They would have to turn them.
33:05Yes.
33:05Okay.
33:06So, what is...
33:08What can people do
33:10if they view...
33:11Is this purely a question
33:12of, you know,
33:15it seems they're primed
33:17for a fight
33:18and an escalation
33:19of protest
33:20is going to be met
33:21with an escalation
33:22of violent tactics
33:24and the fear is
33:25that it's a purposeful
33:27provocation
33:28into
33:30what they would consider
33:31the Insurrection Act.
33:33That's sort of like
33:33the online version of it.
33:36In your mind,
33:37what's the proper way
33:39to go about
33:39any of this
33:40for citizens
33:41that are concerned?
33:42Well,
33:44that's a very
33:44complicated question.
33:46That's why I brought up...
33:47That's why I brought
33:48an attorney.
33:49I mean...
33:51I don't know
33:52that anyone can resolve this.
33:54I think one of the problems
33:55is both sides
33:56have become so extreme
33:57in their rhetoric
33:58and their beliefs.
33:58I mean,
33:59as you pointed out earlier,
34:00most of us would agree
34:01that people who've committed
34:02heinous acts
34:03and are not in the country
34:04legally should be removed.
34:05But I think
34:07there's been a dogmatism
34:09on both sides
34:10and I think
34:10we need to meet
34:11in the middle
34:11as, you know,
34:14should be the case
34:15with actually many issues.
34:16I mean,
34:16the only thing about that
34:17is only one side
34:18really, though,
34:18has the guns.
34:19Right now.
34:20Because it's...
34:21You know,
34:21when I look at...
34:23When I look at that video,
34:26I don't see both sides
34:29in a dogmatic stance.
34:31I see a woman,
34:32maybe naive,
34:33sitting in a car
34:35thinking she has to do something
34:37and she's going
34:38to block something
34:39and a wildly extreme
34:42overreaction
34:43to that small act
34:45of defiance.
34:48And then...
34:49And then, like,
34:51I just...
34:52When they say, like,
34:53she was radicalized,
34:54I just think,
34:55well, there are masked gunmen
34:57in her neighborhood
34:59who she's read about
35:01taking 17-year-old kids
35:03and pulling them
35:04off the street.
35:05That wasn't...
35:08It didn't feel like...
35:10I'm used to...
35:11I know what a terrorist attack
35:12looks like.
35:13Yeah.
35:14That was not a terrorist attack.
35:16Right.
35:16Definitely.
35:17But I think one thing
35:18that many people
35:19on the left are missing
35:20is that people on the right...
35:23The rhetoric
35:24that the administration
35:24is using
35:25when it comes to immigrants
35:26is appealing to them
35:27because they think...
35:27They truly believe
35:29that their lives are worse
35:30and part of the reason
35:31is illegal immigrants.
35:32I'm not going to weigh in
35:32on whether or not
35:33that's true.
35:34That's not my...
35:34Right.
35:35But I do believe
35:37that there's an ignoring
35:38of the problems
35:39that working-class Americans
35:40face is part of the issue
35:42and that the Democratic
35:45establishment
35:45has been part of that
35:46and that's why
35:47there's so much hate.
35:48So that's why
35:49it locks in
35:51and then even though
35:52those are the same people
35:55who a few years back
35:57would say,
35:58hey, I got my guns
36:00to keep...
36:00You know, I remember,
36:01you know, during COVID,
36:03like, they made people
36:05in Michigan mask
36:05for two weeks
36:06and, like, the militia
36:07stormed the Capitol
36:07and was like,
36:08we can't take it anymore!
36:10Yeah.
36:10These are the same people
36:11saying, hey, man,
36:13it's just guys
36:14with guns and masks.
36:15Yeah.
36:16Why don't you comply?
36:17They meant it applied to them.
36:19You know, they have the right
36:20to fight for their civil liberties,
36:21but other people don't.
36:22That's...
36:23But isn't that the situation?
36:24I mean, have you seen
36:25any of these homeland security,
36:26like, website things
36:28where they're like,
36:29your heritage,
36:30your homeland,
36:32take it?
36:33And I'm like,
36:35what the f***?
36:36Yeah.
36:37There was a new one
36:38from the Department of Labor
36:39today that was, like,
36:40a Nazi slogan.
36:41Was it really?
36:42Yeah.
36:43So it was like,
36:44one people,
36:46one...
36:46I forgot the exact thing.
36:48Right.
36:50Is some of this based on
36:54because Donald Trump's methodology
36:56is so coercive
36:57and confrontational
36:58that he might be able
37:00to get the result?
37:01What it looks like to me is,
37:03you know how sometimes
37:03at the end of the month
37:04they say, like,
37:06cops are on a quota,
37:06so watch out,
37:07there's going to be
37:08some speed traps?
37:09Yeah.
37:09It feels like this government
37:11said, we got a quota,
37:12and it's 3,000 or 4,000 people,
37:14and you're not hitting it,
37:16so hit it.
37:17Yeah.
37:17It's like they've
37:18incentivized them
37:19to be as non-due process
37:23and untargeted as possible.
37:25Just get as many people
37:26as you can.
37:26Absolutely, yeah.
37:27And that's part
37:28of what led to this.
37:29I mean, these officers
37:29are acting like thugs.
37:30They're not trained.
37:31You know, they're not acting
37:33like normal police officers should.
37:35As a civil rights attorney,
37:37is there...
37:37So who files the lawsuit?
37:39I mean, I'm assuming
37:40there'll be due process
37:41for that as well,
37:41although they've already...
37:42And he'll pardon them.
37:43Yeah.
37:44But, like, how do you stop it?
37:47Well, the courts
37:48have been somewhat good
37:49when it came to...
37:51You know, last year
37:51when it came to
37:52some of the immigration stuff
37:53where they were sending people
37:54to other countries.
37:56But the problem
37:57with the courts
37:58is that they move slowly.
37:59And so the administration
38:00can do quite a bit
38:01before anybody
38:02gets their day in court.
38:03And what they do, actually,
38:04is they violate people's rights,
38:06and then by the time
38:07you get the case to court,
38:08they've moved on
38:09to something else.
38:09Right.
38:11And so that...
38:12So do you see this,
38:13in your mind, escalating
38:14or getting slightly...
38:18You know, do you see this now
38:19as a perpetual escalation?
38:20I think it's
38:21a perpetual escalation, yeah.
38:22And the way the administration
38:24doubled down
38:24on what happened here
38:25I think is a really bad sign.
38:26If they had said,
38:27you know what,
38:28this was a horrible situation,
38:29we're going to investigate,
38:30as they should have done,
38:31we don't know what happened,
38:32that would be different.
38:33But the fact that
38:34they immediately decided
38:35she was a domestic terrorist
38:36and they're continuing with that
38:37is, I would say,
38:39not a good sign at all.
38:41Yeah, I was going to try
38:41and end on a hopeful note.
38:45I'm the wrong guest for you, then.
38:46You got nothing?
38:49Do you think
38:50an election could help?
38:53Do you think
38:53there'll be an election?
38:55Well, I'm not actually
38:57super hopeful
38:57because whoever wins,
38:59we continue to see
39:00a denigration
39:00of our civil liberties.
39:01This administration
39:02is very blatant,
39:03but the one that came before
39:05was kind of bad, too.
39:06That's why I was
39:06suing them all the time.
39:08What I would give
39:09for subtly invading
39:10people's rights.
39:12Thank you for being here
39:14and thank you for
39:15keeping your principles up
39:16and doing the best
39:17that you can
39:18to try and keep those
39:20and protect the people
39:21that you think
39:22are most vulnerable
39:23and need protecting it.
39:24It really is
39:24something to be commended.
39:26So thank you for being here.
39:27Be sure to check out
39:28the podcast
39:28to the Superheroes.
39:30Janine Yunus,
39:31quick break
39:31and we'll be right back
39:32after this.
39:48That is our show
39:49for tonight.
39:50Before we go,
39:51check in with your host
39:51for the rest of the week,
39:52Jordan Klepper.
39:53What are you looking at, Jordan?
39:54Yes.
39:55Jordan Klepper.
39:56What have we got this week?
39:58Well, John,
39:58we will be talking about
39:59New York Mayor Zorat Mamdani's
40:01plan to build $4 million
40:03worth of new public bathrooms.
40:06And, yes, frankly,
40:10I hate this idea.
40:11The thing I love most
40:13about New York
40:14is the fact you can piss
40:15wherever you want,
40:16whenever you want,
40:18legally.
40:20Legally?
40:21No, that's...
40:21You're not allowed to do that.
40:23That's...
40:24That's against the law.
40:25That's not a law.
40:26Really?
40:27Then how come everyone's pissing
40:29wherever they want,
40:31whenever they want?
40:32Looks like a supply
40:33and demand issue
40:34because there's
40:35not enough bathrooms,
40:36but it's still not allowed.
40:38Right, right.
40:39Well,
40:40then I should go apologize
40:41to that Philharmonic orchestra.
40:44Although you could say
40:45the pit is entrapment.
40:47I think if you look at it,
40:48yes.
40:48Jordan Klepper, everybody.
40:49That's not correct.
40:50Here it is,
40:51your moment of death.
40:53On CNN,
40:54it's Nicolania Maderiania,
40:56where in reality,
40:57here,
40:58it's just
40:58Nicolas Maduro,
41:01Nick for short.
41:02Nick Maduro.
41:04Nicolas Maduro.
41:05Not Nicolania,
41:06Maderiania,
41:07and Guatemaliania.
41:09This is CNN.
41:10Guatemala.
41:12Sorry.
Comments