WEBVTT - Congress Blocked From Entering the DOE with Lateefah Simon | SoloPod 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.640 Native Land Pod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:10.719 with Reason Choice Media. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Hey, everybody, 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:14.280 it's Angela Rae. Welcome home. This is a special edition 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:17.400 of a solo pod with my good friend, Congressoman Latifa 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:21.280 Simon of California's twelfth Congressional District to talk about what 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:25.159 in the actual hell happened outside of the Department of 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.479 Education last week. So we had a conversation that same 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:32.240 day to talk about everything that happened and what recourse 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:37.760 members of Congress have to protect taxpayer money, taxpayer resources 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:40.280 and all of the things, and what is the role 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:44.000 of Congress and overseeing this government that is clearly going rogue. 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:46.640 So please tune into this conversation I first had on 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:54.400 Instagram live. Welcome Home, Happy Friday, y'all. It is a 0:00:54.480 --> 0:01:01.240 special podcast, non podcast live. We're about to get into 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:03.120 what's happening in these DC streets. 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:04.200 That's what we're about to do. 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:07.800 You all probably have seen footage of our members of 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:11.960 Congress outside of the Department of Education at an all 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:15.679 access entrance by the way, and some random was out 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:19.680 there and wouldn't let them in. So I am going 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:27.920 to add this wonderful human being to this thread. She's here. 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:32.840 How you doing, sin, I'm good, I'm good. I'm amped up. 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.600 It's been a long week, but this is the work 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:37.680 that I'm so blessed to do. 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:40.320 They're messing with the wrong one and the best coast 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:41.959 is out here. So for those of you who do 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:46.720 not know, this is Congresswoman Latifa Simon. She represents California's 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:50.680 twelfth district, following in the shoes of a deer mentor 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:54.600 and sister of ours, the Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and Latifa 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.040 is a force to be reckoned with. And if y'all 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:02.680 didn't see it already today, you will learn quickly. Today, Latifa, 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:07.600 you joined members of Congress outside of the Department of Education, 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:11.440 and I keep pointing out at an all access interests. 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:14.400 Can you talk about why you guys wanted to go 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:16.799 down to the Department of Education today. 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:17.480 And what happened. 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:19.959 For those who haven't seen the footage yet, well. 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:22.440 I'm so happy to tell these stories. Sometimes a little 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.720 clips on the news station. Yes right, don't tell you 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:28.560 I didn't have a bullhorn, but I'm a thirty year organizer, 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:30.800 so I was screaming. My mom called me and said, 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:34.000 stop screaming, and I'm never going to let down for 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:34.639 our babies. 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:34.880 Ever. 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:38.040 I haven't since I started working in juvenile halls and prisons, 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.839 in jails when I was seventeen year olds years old, 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:42.960 and on the streets of San Francisco and in Oakland. 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:45.120 It's what I do, is what you are paying me 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:48.639 to do, to not hold back. So a couple of 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:51.800 days ago, members of Congress, we wrote a letter to 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.120 the Department of Education. We have an acting director under 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:59.400 the Trump administration, and we asked if we could have 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:03.799 a Congress station because here's what happened last week. When 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:08.120 federal funding freezes were on the horizon. We were getting 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:13.920 thousands of calls from special education teachers, from organizations working 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:18.519 and headstart mothers who were like, if they cut off funding, 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:21.240 what are we going to do? We got calls from 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:25.360 mothers with children with autism saying that they had a 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:29.200 full time aid for their children. And with the federal 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:33.040 funding freeze arise, and with this threat to close the 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:38.040 Department of Education, millions millions of children were literally going 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:40.160 to be thrown out of support services. We wrote the 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:44.280 letter requesting a meeting. We didn't get a response. We called, 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:49.360 so today we came and we rolled up. It is 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:52.760 a public building. In fact, everybody on this line is 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.080 paying a little bit of money every time they get 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:59.400 their paychecks to ensure that we all were elected representatives 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:01.040 and you yourself. 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:06.040 Have access to the Department of Education. They literally sent. 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:09.720 Out a security guard. There were dozens of members of Congress. 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:12.720 They sent out a security guard. They locked the doors, 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:15.840 and they sent out Homeland Security. You couldn't see that 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:19.599 behind those those dark doors, but there was a line 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:23.599 of officers from Homeland Security ready to take down members 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:26.320 of Congress should we enter. They blocked the building from 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:27.560 American citizens. 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:30.599 And when you do talk about that, just for a moment, 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:32.640 here's the thing that was astonishing to me. The first 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:37.320 video that I saw Latifa was Queen Maxine, who is 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:40.840 some people call her AUNTI max Queen Maxine with her 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:44.599 little bit powerful self standing in front of this white 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:46.640 man who I think, you know how like they tell 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:48.720 you to id people, so my ID might be wrong. 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:52.520 He's in a brown shirt like layman's clothes, with like 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.680 a fluorescent bandage on his neck. So this could be 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:57.600 like anybody like I'm like, I don't know if I'm 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:01.120 looking at an insurrectionist or a plane police officer. I 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:04.360 don't know who this man is in front of Congresswoman Waters, 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:07.359 but he's telling her that she can't get in. I 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:09.839 remember there was a back and forth of members saying 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:13.400 he's a contractor and him telling her that he's an 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:17.039 official government employee. Did you all ever resolve that, Like, 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:18.960 what's this man even a government worker? 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:22.000 So what I want you all to understand is what 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:25.000 I'm learning to understand. But you already know what we 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:30.279 are seeing on Capitol Hill. It is shockhocking because our 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:31.640 grandmothers want order. 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:34.640 Let's just be clear, we want order. We are orderly people. 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:38.000 We are working for communities that have order and promise. 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.400 The folks who are in the administration don't believe that 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:42.920 anyone should follow the law. 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:45.080 Clearly, Clearly, if they were. 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:48.200 Law abiding folk, they wouldn't have let out dozens of 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:51.520 folks who attack police officers on January sixth. Regardless what 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:55.320 you want to think about law enforcement, the hypocrisy is insane. 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:59.960 This man who's playing clothes did not clearly identify himself 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:02.719 as somebody who's taught folks who are going up against 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:06.320 law enforcement, you always ask them to identify themselves. Their 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:11.400 badge he threw out, you know, after questioning some kind 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:11.760 of badge. 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:15.920 Who knew what it was. But he didn't. 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:18.400 Clearly articulate what department he was working with and who 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:19.720 he was, So. 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.480 He continued, he did have a badge, he. 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:27.200 Saw, he pulled it out. We didn't know what kind 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:29.480 of badge it was. Was it made from a printer? 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.240 You're if you're a member of law enforcement, you know, 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:35.880 and you are trying to clearly identify yourself, if you're 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:39.200 doing the right thing, You're certainly not supposed to stand 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.640 in front of a building surrounded by members duly elected 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:47.040 members of Congress and look at them smugly. The disrespect 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:50.800 was palpable. But the real injury is to. 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:52.360 The parents on this phone. 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.760 The real injury is we were going to do, I 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:59.599 believe the people's business to ask what were we supposed 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:02.960 to tell our constituents? What are we supposed to that 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:06.120 you all want to close down a department? Then I 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:09.279 just give me a couple seconds here about DOE, the 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:13.880 Department of Education. They set national standards, not just on 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:17.280 basic curriculum, what we should be learning, because that's really 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:21.200 that happens at the state level. They set national standards 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:26.360 for obedience to federal laws like Ada. So imagine you 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.680 have a child, your baby is wheelchair bound, and your 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:32.800 baby is in California and they can get into any 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:36.040 school they have support services. That's the law that California 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:40.440 abides by, but it's pushed by the Department of Education. 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.560 You move back to Arkansas to be closed to your people. 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:46.640 If in fact they close down the Department of Education, 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:51.600 there are no national standards for accessibility. There are no 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:58.120 national standards for entries into our state and local universities. 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.720 There's no financial aid as you've known it. This is 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:05.200 critical stuff. I don't care how you vote, who you 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:06.040 voted for. 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:09.040 What I do know is we have babies in our 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:13.080 communities who deserve the best. Does the Department of Education 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:15.720 need to be stronger and better yes. Do our teachers 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:18.520 need to be paid more and trained and loved on 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:22.600 and unionized, Yes, But you don't get there from closing 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:27.160 down really the essential department that is supposed to provide 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:29.400 national standards for our children and our teachers. 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:32.120 So you, for the people who just join you talked 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:35.800 about you all writing this letter last week about what's 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:38.160 happening with the Department of Education. A lot of folks 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:41.240 who are following the news know that what Donald Trump 0:08:41.320 --> 0:08:44.160 is talking about doing is shuttering the Department of Education. 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:47.720 What we have seen, Latipa, and now I'm talking to 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:49.920 you like a sister too. Yeah, what we have seen 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:54.760 is a very very clear fight that's easy to follow 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:58.199 in the news. On the judicial side, right, a lot 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:00.560 of cases there have been thirty six law suit file 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:03.080 that I know of so far on the fifty four 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:06.200 executive orders and actions from the Trump administration, that's right, 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:08.760 has not been as clear, and I'm hearing a lot 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:10.680 of pushback about it. You know, I get sensitive because 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.319 the CBC is my family, the Hills Ranch. One of 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.520 the things that I keep hearing is that where like, 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:18.880 where are the members of Congress? What's going on? Why 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:21.199 are they confirming? And this, of course is not that 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:23.920 person's not you all, but why is the Senate confirming 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:27.160 people like RFK and Tulca Gabbert. Where is the fight? 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:28.280 Where's the legislation? 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:32.680 Not understanding necessarily that we don't have the executive branch 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:35.000 and we don't have the legislative branch. 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:35.719 So when you're in. 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:37.880 The minority, just for a moment for those who are 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:40.880 really just starting to understand and pay attention to how 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:44.440 this works. When you're in the minority, what does the 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:47.000 fight look like? What are you all talking about doing. 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:49.400 I know you all are involved with the lawsuits. When 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:51.760 you think about as my role as a member from 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:55.040 California's twelve, this is what I see my role in being, 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:57.440 my role being in this fight right now. 0:09:57.920 --> 0:09:59.040 I think it's three things. 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:02.440 One, we have to continue to tell folks what it 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:07.320 is with love and respect and understanding under a trifecta, 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:10.960 like you said, House, Senate right, and honestly, they have 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:14.640 the courts. So we still believe, if we will still 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:18.200 want to believe in this thinly veiled democracy, we are. 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:20.320 Going to sue, sue, sue, sue, sue. 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.240 Their organizations like the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights under 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.600 Law and Democracy Forward NAACP. I can go on and 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:30.600 out Asian Law Caucus. They are holding this administration to 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:34.600 the fire. The judicial system is it's not perfect, but 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:37.520 judges have been doing the right thing in the last 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:41.160 week and throwing these executive orders right back to the 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:44.800 White House and saying this is unconstitutional. This is unconstitutional. 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:48.560 That has taken a level of coordination that unfortunately we'd 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:50.959 all don't see. But that's why we're having this conversation 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:54.880 right now. But two, there's two other things that Congress 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:58.240 can do. We can block our votes. We can hold 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:03.959 our votes. You don't get votes to racist You don't 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:05.560 give votes to folks who. 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:07.040 Don't care about our children. 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:11.600 You don't give votes to folks who who don't believe 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:15.200 in the most basic of healthcare principles. And we have 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:17.320 been doing that in the Senate, and I got to say, 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:18.760 my heart has been breaking. 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:20.800 You don't give votes to. 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:25.880 Policies that want to send you two thousand pound bombs 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.920 over to kill twenty thousand children. I think we got 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:31.160 to hold the line. And again, we are a part 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:35.040 of a body, and our leadership is saying, let's be strategic, 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:38.520 and I agree with that. For me, my focus is 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:42.240 making sure that one we are heard, our stories are clear, 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:44.920 that I am fighting with integrity on the streets and 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.800 inside the Congress. But more importantly for me, I represent Oakland, 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:51.680 I represent Oakland, I represent Berkeley, I represent the Bay, 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:55.040 and I need folks to know that one my office 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:57.680 is we are day in and day out, and they 0:11:57.720 --> 0:11:59.679 have a fighter, but more importantly, they have. 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:02.480 A key this government. This government. 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.520 What's important too for folks who know who are on 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:11.280 the ground. These funding freezes affected federally qualified health centers. 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:12.640 You know, the health centers right in. 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:15.280 Your community that you'd rather go to sometimes in the hospital, 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:18.320 that are wonderful, that have positions that look like us. 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:20.560 Those folks this week didn't know if they were going 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:23.120 to get paid. So I've been meeting with our health centers. 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:25.679 I've been meeting with our school principles. 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:26.920 We've been meeting. 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:29.440 We took I took Catherine Clark, who is right under 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:32.800 Hakien Jeffrey. She's a Democratic leader in the Congress. I 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:36.400 took her on a tour of the Children's Hospital of Oakland. 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.000 There are parents who literally are scared to bring their 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:46.120 children in for scheduled, scheduled heart transplants and sickle cell 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:49.240 treatments because they believe that they may be deported. These 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.240 are our Haitian brothers and sisters. These are our Latino 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:57.320 brothers and sisters. This chaos is killing people, and so 0:12:57.480 --> 0:12:59.960 for us to be there on the ground, but listen, 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.520 and the last thing I want to say in my 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:15.800 TED talk, sister, I am reminding folks that you and me, 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:18.240 our parents were born into segregation. 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:22.080 We have been here. Black folks have been here, and 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:22.520 we have. 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:29.719 Consistently with praise, worship, policy again, and culture, through litigation, 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:33.520 through movement, building, through study, through discipline, we have fought 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:35.480 horrific policies back. 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:38.480 No freedom has ever been given to us. 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:42.520 We've always had to take those freedoms through again. The 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:45.920 systems that have promised us, that have promised them, We've 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:47.040 held those promises. 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:49.640 Both want to go super hard. I think we should. 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:53.280 The ground is strong, the legislative body, we must be 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:56.800 stronger than we've been. But I'm not going nowhere. I'm 0:13:56.800 --> 0:14:00.240 four weeks in and this is where I think to 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:00.880 be exists. 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:03.480 I'm proud of you. I'm proud that you were there. 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:06.400 I was so proud to hear your voice earlier. I 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:08.880 think the one thing, like I try to look at 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:10.719 the comments. I try to sit past the trolls and 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:12.200 look at the comments. And one of the things that 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:15.680 we're seeing is people saying, what do we the people do? 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:19.480 And they're also asking, like one of the things that 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.960 I'm kind of frustrated by is there are Republicans who 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:27.040 just barely eat their way into Congress. You guys have there. 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:32.000 It's the smallest majority, the smallest great depression, and so 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:36.240 there's leverage points that y'all have to get people to 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:39.440 vote with you. Yes they're opposed to recommit, that you 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.200 can force them on the issues to say that Elon 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:46.480 Musk South Africans, Elon Musk does not have the power 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:50.400 that he thinks he has. That the Department of Government 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:54.560 Efficiency is a random hair brained idea from Donald Trump, 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:56.760 who ain't even the real president. I would say Elon 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.640 Musk is the president of Stephen Miller's vice He did 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.120 not even been in control of this project twenty twenty 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:05.520 five by the Heritage Foundation is running this. And so 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:08.840 when you consider what levers you have with your colleagues, 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:11.680 who's in charge of going across the island being like, 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:14.520 if y'all don't vote with us over here, I guarantee 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:16.800 you you're going to be a one term wherever district 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:17.560 you came from. 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:21.160 I think that's on the line. There's a march is 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:22.240 going to be crazy. 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:27.000 In the United States Congress without without the Democrats, the 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:31.160 Republicans have no way forward, so we have to hold 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:34.359 our vote. We have to hold our votes for reconciliation. 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:37.000 That's a budget process. We have to hold our votes. 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:41.720 And the majority is so thin. If for of them 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:44.000 don't come to work, we win a vote. Hey, it 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:48.400 is so thin, and that's why I have I have hope. 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:50.480 But you know, Angela, I also know we are going 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.520 to win back the House in twenty twenty six because 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:55.880 poor folks, people of color, They're going to see the 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:59.760 very demonic ways of an administration that doesn't love its people. 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.040 They'll be able to see through the lives right. They'll 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:07.760 be able to see through the attacks on the smallest, 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:12.360 most critical safetyiness that unless you've lived it, you don't know. 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:14.720 Listen, I was a team mom. You know. I got 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:17.320 a twenty eight year old daughter. I had SNAP and 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:19.160 I also had WIG and I. 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:22.200 Would be at the counter and the grocery store having 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:23.320 to put back groceries. 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:25.960 I know what that feels like. I know what that 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:26.480 feels like. 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:29.000 I know what it felt like when a community college 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:31.920 finally transferring into a four year university. 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:32.960 I have an MPa. 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:35.600 Now I can look through a budget. I can be clear. 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.840 I can educate our folks. They can educate me. I'm 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.800 not going anywhere. I think our people are doing the 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:45.040 right thing by calling members of Congress. I want you all, 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:49.800 particularly you all in Republican districts, to call them, to 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:53.320 call them every day. The Democrats in fact, and we 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:56.720 should be. We're getting more calls than the folks who 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:58.160 are complicit in this mess. 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:02.200 Enjoy all up their line. The majority has the power 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:04.760 right now. Phone number which we can sue. 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:09.040 The phone number is two zero two two two four 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:13.080 three one two one. That is the Capital switchboard operator. 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:16.000 You can have her send you or them. I don't 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:17.399 know who's going to answer the phone, I said her, 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:20.320 that's bias. You can have the person who answers sends 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.879 you to your respective members' offices, even if you're adjacent. 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:26.159 Let's say you work in that Republican members this year, 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:29.800 whatever it is, if you are impacted by that district 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:32.680 at all, they are beholden to you. Why because whether 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:35.120 you voted for them or not, you pay their salary. 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:38.000 And that is exactly why our members today went to 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.480 the Department of Education. They said, if you're not going 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:43.840 to listen to oversight, we're gonna go and oversee you 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:48.320 on federal land that is paid for by our constituents. 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:51.440 And I was it was remarkable to me to see 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.680 what's happening. Donald Trump is saying he's given over Department 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:58.080 of Education in the Pentagon to Elon Musk next to 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:02.800 go through everything. Meanwhile, the courts have said, actually, Elon Musk, 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:04.600 you're now barred from handling any data. 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:05.200 At Treasury. 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:09.560 They're saying the actually the federal funding freeze is unfrozen. 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:12.840 They said USAID employees who are supposed to be placed 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:16.320 on administratively by midnight tonight, not so fast that would 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:18.399 have And then they were cutting five thousand workers to 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:22.399 two hundred and ninety workers at USAID. They said that 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:25.199 for all of the foreign aid that was supposed to 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:28.200 be frozen for ninety days, that's on hold as well. 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:31.440 So the courts are playing their part. Ye are saying, 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:31.960 what do we do? 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:32.680 We're sewing. 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:36.080 Yeah, exactly, you guys are suing. But it also is 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:39.520 important to make sure that the people are supporting you 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:41.879 in your efforts to switch sway some of those votes, 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:44.600 to win some of those votes. Thank you for the 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:47.320 person who puts the number two zero two two two four, three, 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:49.439 one two one on there. And the last thing I 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:51.359 want to just have you in on because there are 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:54.560 a couple of questions that came in. Somebody said it's 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:56.760 a coup. Yeah, and there are a lot of people 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:59.600 who've been saying it's not a coup because the American 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:02.719 people voted for this. But really, what the American people 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:04.920 voted for when you look at the majority of voters, 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:08.000 they voted for the couch, They voted to be absent, 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:12.800 they abstained. So when you look at the terminology of 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:15.520 a coup and what you see happening, is it reminiscent 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:16.959 of a coup to you? 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:19.560 You know, it does feel like a takeover because this 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:20.800 administration isn't. 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:21.400 Following the law. 0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:25.919 They don't follow the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:29.560 Federalist papers. We all know who the Framers were, but 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:33.680 they're not even respecting. They're not even respected in that word, right, 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:36.679 And so in the sense that it feels chaotic and 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.760 crazy and it's by design, yeah, I think we can 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:42.399 own that that it does feel like a coup. I 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:44.760 want to push back and I don't think that majority 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:49.080 of the American public, as brilliant as we are, from 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:51.600 you know, the person who just got out of prison, 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:54.920 to the homeless person who is struggling to get housing. 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:55.600 Who voted that day. 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.639 I don't think that folks could have imagined that a 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:03.840 administration would go after the snap benefits of or. 0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:06.840 What where we talked these people. You know, let me 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:09.440 let people and I just want you to see this. 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:10.919 Let me just tell you what I've been doing. I 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:13.600 just want you to see this. I have literally been 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:14.440 You're gonna laugh. 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:20.520 This is hold on. Let me close this. 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:24.960 So you can see them look here. Yeah, so I 0:20:25.000 --> 0:20:27.920 have since the summertime, I have been studying this. This 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:30.160 is Project twenty twenty five. G You know, I printed 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:31.919 it because I was not gonna give them my book money, 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:35.360 so I got it printed at the FedEx Kikos. And 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:39.159 this is every time there's some another executive order he passes, 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:42.800 I literally go through here and find the page or 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.680 find the person he appointed to fulfill whatever the job is. 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:48.359 This is so beyond Donald Trump. 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:55.159 This is Harriet Foundation since years and you know, they 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:56.400 just remained this. 0:20:56.400 --> 0:21:00.480 This is a strategy to destabilize the social state net. 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:03.199 But what folks didn't understand is that it was going 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:06.160 to be them too. So for young women who are 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:10.800 forced to give birth in over twenty two states, your childcare. 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:12.720