Summary
Republican governors continue shipping migrants across the country. The January 6 Committee releases walkie-talkie recordings from the Oath Keepers inside the Capitol on January 6. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg discusses the tentative deal reached to avert a national railroad strike. A judge rules in favor of Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago documents case. Actress Ann Dowd discusses the post-Dobbs America.
Transcript
ARI MELBER, MSNBC HOST: We wanted to give you that update in that final word.
Thanks for watching "THE BEAT WITH ARI MELBER".
THE REIDOUT WITH JOY REID is up next.
JOY REID, MSNBC HOST: Tonight on THE REIDOUT:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: They are begging for more diversity. Why not send migrants there in huge numbers? Let`s start with 300,000 and move up from there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REID: Tucker asks, and Republican governors deliver, exploiting and abusing human beings, men, women and children, to score cheap political points on immigration. How do these people sleep at night, let alone square this dehumanizing behavior with their supposed Christianity?
Plus, new tonight, the January 6 Committee releases walkie-talkie recordings from the Oath Keepers inside the Capitol on January 6.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in the main dome right now. We are rocking it. They`re throwing grenades. They`re freaking shooting people with paintballs, but we`re in here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be safe, be safe. God bless and Godspeed, and keep going.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get it. Jess. Do your (EXPLETIVE DELETED). This is what we (EXPLETIVE DELETED) lived up for, everything we (EXPLETIVE DELETED) trained for.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
REID: But we begin tonight, on the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, when Americans are supposed to celebrate the culture and contributions of Americans with ancestors from Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
It was President Lyndon Johnson who created Hispanic Heritage Week back in 1968, after repealing America`s most xenophobic anti-immigration law that was meant to preserve the ideal of U.S. homogeneity.
Today, while many Americans are honoring those Hispanic contributions, last night, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had a different idea, proudly taking credit for sending two planeloads of Latino migrants to Martha`s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Roughly 50 Venezuelan and Colombian migrants, many fleeing Venezuela`s Maduro regime, said they had come from San Antonio, Texas, where they were offered flights to Boston, not Martha`s Vineyard, which is roughly 100 miles away. They had no idea what was really going on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA BELCASTRO, HARBOR HOMES: Some of them had been through really horrific things. So they need a break, and they need help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REID: This was part of a plan that DeSantis hatched back in 2021, where he created a new state program to transport so-called unauthorized aliens out of Florida.
And please allow me just for a moment to take a moment of former Sunday schoolteacher privilege, because this tactic by supposedly Christian rights politicians like DeSantis, Arizona`s Doug Ducey, and Greg Abbott of Texas, is about as un-Christian as it gets.
Deuteronomy 27:19, which, strangely, Bible verse tweeter Marco Rubio has yet to share with us today, states: "Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow," while Leviticus 19:34 says, "The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native- born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt."
Oh, there`s also that, as you have done the least of these -- done to the least of these, you have done to me, that part from the New Testament. FOX News was, of course, given the exclusive heads-up and broadcast footage throughout the night.
And that is not the only exclusive that they scored. Abbott shipped two busloads of migrants to the Washington residence Vice President Kamala Harris, where a FOX camera was waiting.
Abbott began busing thousands of migrants to Washington back in April. Ducey has been doing it since May. And it should come as no surprise to you that all three have oversized political ambitions.
And FOX News, well, they were in just hog heaven.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Everybody basically that you know on the left has a home there. Do you think they`re going to be embracing their new neighbors?
(LAUGHTER)
MIKE POMPEO, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: You know, these are all sanctuary cities until they`re in their sanctuary.
WATTERS: Right.
POMPEO: I doubt they will embrace them.
MARK MEADOWS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: It`s not only a good political move. It`s actually making those Democrat governors and mayors actually start to be border states.
CARLSON: What`s your view of this?
KARI LAKE (R), ARIZONA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I actually -- I get a kick out of it watching these liberal mayors just throw their hands up and say we can`t handle it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REID: For the record, Massachusetts has a Republican governor.
And also for the record, no officials on Martha`s Vineyard threw up their hands and said, we just can`t handle it. Local authorities actually rushed in to help feed these people and find them temporary housing.
And, today, community leaders are working with the state attorney general`s office to get immigration lawyers to the island. It turns out that the place to find Christian love is in the supposedly godless wokescape of Martha`s Vineyard, where actually decent people, Jews, Muslims, real Christians, and people with no religion at all stepped up, while, for DeSantis, as always, the cruelty is the point.
[19:05:11]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): If you have folks that are inclined to think Florida is a good place, our message to them is, we are not a sanctuary state. And it`s better to be able to go to a sanctuary jurisdiction. And, yes, we will help facilitate that transport for you to be able to go to greener pastures.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REID: Joining me now is Massachusetts state Representative Dylan Fernandes, who represents Martha`s Vineyard, David Ovalle, staff writer for "The Miami Herald," and Adelys Ferro, who is the co-founder and director of the Venezuelan American Caucus.
Thank you all for being here.
I do want to start with you, Representative Fernandes. What is the state of play right now on Martha`s Vineyard for these families, these human beings, men, women and children?
STATE. REP. DYLAN FERNANDES (D-MA): Sure.
Well, this is an island that sprang into action to get everyone the beds, the shelter, the food, clothing, water, medical resources that they needed as soon as they arrived. They`re going to be on island here again tonight, and we have all the resources for them.
The island community actually pulled together a Spanish mass that folks were just attending. And we`re a community that embraces diversity. We`re an incredibly diverse community here. And we`re -- we`re going to treat these people with this respect and dignity that all human beings deserve.
REID: And were people telling their stories? And have you been able to learn -- these are reportedly mostly Venezuelan and Colombian migrants, some of which I have heard were fleeing the Maduro regime. Have you heard any of those kinds of stories yourself?
FERNANDES: Yes, some of these have been harrowing stories of people traveling two months just to get to the border. And then they were shipped here, rounded up and shipped here on a lie.
These people were told that they were going to, I`m told, New York to go to their -- and other cities around the country. Some were told they were going to their immigration meetings. Others were told -- a lot of them were told that they would -- once they arrived here, they would get -- they would immediately got jobs and shelter.
And just think about that. Think about kind of the depravity of lying to these people. And, look, the people here, these are human beings. These are children. These are families. These are women. And for the past weeks, days now, the governor of Florida has not been serving the people of Florida and the issues down there, but has been working to hatch a secretive political plot to use people for his own political pawns, women and children, just so he can get on "Tucker Carlson" and FOX News.
REID: Yes.
FERNANDES: That is profoundly inhumane.
REID: It`s twisted. I mean, he`s trying to win the FOX News primary, as are Ducey and Abbott.
Let me go to you, David Ovalle, because it isn`t new, this plan. Back in the 1960s, segregationist governors did the exact same thing. They would take black folks during the Freedom Rides and, as their response and retaliation for the Freedom Rides -- I will just read what NPR wrote about this.
"Fuming over the civil rights movement, Southern segregationists had concocted a way to retaliate against Northern liberals. In 1962, they tricked about 200 African-Americans from the South into moving north."
They would drop them off, claiming they were going to be there and get jobs and they were going to have housing. And when they got there, they were literally just abandoning them there just to sort of own the libs, their version of it.
And so basically, Mr. Ovalle, you have this -- the Southern governors and one Western governor playing the same role. What was the calculation, from your reporting, of this governor in doing that? Because, recently, didn`t his lieutenant governor also mess up and claim they were going to do the same thing to Cubans, only to have to take it back?
DAVID OVALLE, "THE MIAMI HERALD": Right.
So the calculation, of course, is, he`s running for reelection. He`s running for, presumably to be president of the United States. So he`s really pitching this specifically to his base, right, the right-wing base. So none of this was new.
We knew that this was a program that the legislature here had -- had approved and they just hadn`t got it up and running yet. So this was a little bit of a surprise to a lot of people who had been kind of waiting and watching to see when this was going to happen.
But I think most people thought it was going to be by bus. I think it`s still a little confusing. His office has yet to release details about how much it cost and how they went about doing it, why Texas, why people were taken from Texas. At least one flight stopped in Florida first and then went on to the New England area.
[19:10:03]
So there`s still -- we still don`t have a lot of answers as to the mechanics of this and sort of how it played out. But, certainly, here in Miami-Dade County, which is a largely Hispanic community and largely Democratic, although -- although it`s changed a lot in recent years, it`s - - people are watching this very closely. They`re talking about it, and many people are outraged.
REID: Yes, absolutely. And you`re a very kind of person for not getting me for mispronouncing your name. It`s Ovalle. And I apologize for that. And thank you for being such a gentleman.
I do want to bring Adelys Ferro.
You represent the -- there is a -- it is a very large Venezuelan community. It`s the fastest growing Hispanic cohort in the United States in three states, Texas, California and Florida. And I used to live in South Florida. And I remember that we used to call Weston Westonzuela because there were so many Venezuelan nationals living there.
This seems to me to be an incredibly stupid move on DeSantis` part, because he is offending a growing, vibrant, very large and vocal community. And, again, he claims that he`s against regimes like the Maduro regime, and then he does this to people that are fleeing it.
Your thoughts?
ADELYS FERRO, DIRECTOR, VENEZUELAN AMERICAN CAUCUS: He -- first of all, thank you so much for having me. I live in Westonzuela actually.
Governor Ron DeSantis is using us as political pawns, as props for his -- he is trying to galvanize a very extremist base in order to get his presidential nomination of the Republican Party.
And I think that thinking about Venezuelans and about immigrants, about Colombians, about Haitians, about Cubans, about Middle Easterns, thinking about them as human beings is not something that is on his agenda right now. I think we are just some kind of little chips on a game that he`s playing, and we are not qualified as human beings anymore.
He has been very vocal against Maduro regime, because he has called Maduro socialist, authoritarian, cruel, criminal. But -- and this is the little tiny detail -- is that 6.5 million Venezuelans fled the country, running away from that cruel socialist and criminal regime.
And we need help. And the Venezuelans that are already here, in their immense majority, are people that just want to work and these people that has been through some unimaginable pain and suffering.
And what -- he only support us whenever he called Maduro cruel and criminal. But the people that are -- is suffering because of Maduro, he just despise us.
REID: It`s clear, right?
Let me play another child of immigrants, and I am one as well. And so it offends me as a daughter of immigrants. And I think it offends anyone who understands what the American story is supposed to be. Here`s what Karine Jean-Pierre, the first Haitian American woman to be the press secretary of the president of the United States, this is what she said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There`s a legal way of doing this and for managing migrants. Republican governors interfering in that process and using migrants as political pawns is shameful, is reckless, and just plain wrong.
And, remember, these are people who are fleeing communism, who are fleeing hardship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REID: David Ovalle, is there any conversation that is being had, per your reporting, about whether or not this is a crime? Because this has been called trafficking.
There is a lot of chatter now that what these governors, including Ron DeSantis, have done is to have trafficked these families.
OVALLE: Right.
And that`s something that a lot of people are asking the Department of Justice to look into that, including California Governor Gavin Newsom and Democratic -- Democrat Nikki Fried, who is our agriculture commissioner. It`s really kind of hard to tell because it`s such a unusual thing that happened, and we still know so few details about the mechanics of how this happened.
But I`m pretty sure DeSantis and his people are pretty smart. And I`m sure they probably ran through a lot of different scenarios in hashing out this plan.
[19:15:01]
REID: Yes, I`m sure that they didn`t care.
I mean, the bottom line is, the message to "The New York Times" and others that are hailing this guy as the solution to Trumpism and MAGA, if this is what you guys think is the moderate version of Republicanism, I don`t know what that means anymore. I don`t think that word has any meaning. And words should have meaning.
It`s just cruel, and it`s sick, and it`s sadistic. And that is me saying that. I will not put that on any of my guests.
Massachusetts Representative Dylan Fernandes, David Ovalle of "The Miami Herald," Adelys Ferro, thank you, both -- all three very much.
All right, coming up on THE REIDOUT, breaking news on the Mar-a-Lago special master.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:20:12]
REID: Breaking news tonight in the many, many investigations into all things Trump.
Judge Aileen Cannon has denied a Justice Department request to carve out access to 100 classified documents seized in the search of Trump`s Florida resort home and has appointed one of the Trump legal teams picks, Judge Raymond Dearie, a Reagan appointee, as special master.
It comes as also tonight the House Judiciary 6 Committee -- the House January 6 Committee -- sorry -- has released damning new evidence that it received in the form of walkie-talkie communications between members of the Oath Keepers inside the Capitol that day discussing violence against lawmakers.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN just said that they evacuated all members of Congress into a safety room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no safe place in the United States for any of these (EXPLETIVE DELETED) right now, let me tell you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump just tweeted: "Please support our Capitol Police. They are on our side. Do not harm them."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s saying a lot by what he didn`t say. He didn`t say not to do anything to the congressmen.
(LAUGHTER)
(END AUDIO CLIP)
REID: It`s yet another signal that the committee is gaining momentum and it`s ongoing investigation, after committee Chair Bennie Thompson said the committee has received new information from the U.S. Secret Service, thousands of exhibits, including text messages, e-mail communications and radio traffic.
The texts do not, however, include missing texts from specific individuals on the 6th that were permanently deleted, weirdly enough.
Joining me now is Tali Farhadian Weinstein, MSNBC legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor who clerked for then Judge Merrick Garland, and Kurt Bardella, adviser to the DNC and the DCCC.
And, Tali Farhadian Weinstein, I`m going to go with you -- to you on this first.
Your thoughts on this decision by the judge? Our understanding is that Judge Dearie is -- seems to be a pretty straight-up, stand-up guy. He was a FISA court judge. So he`s obviously got this kind of security clearance you would need. What do you make of her denial of the request to have access to those records?
TALI FARHADIAN WEINSTEIN, MSNBC LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Joy, you`re right. Judge Dearie is a very fine judge. I actually appeared before him many times when I was a prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York.
But the assignment that he has been given makes no sense, because the issues that Judge Cannon has passed on to him to resolve are really defenses that are supposed to be adjudicated after somebody`s indicted. So, imagine that the government had a search warrant to seize illegal drugs from Donald Trump`s residence, right? It had probable cause to believe that he was storing cocaine, and it took some bricks of white powder.
And he said, oh, no, that`s not what you think it is. That -- those bricks of white powder actually baby powder. That`s not something that he could say before he was indicted. And it`s not something you would have a special master conduct a mini-trial about at this juncture. That`s something that he could bring up later. He could say, well, the drug testing that the government does isn`t effective.
And that`s really what he`s saying here, that these documents that you`re telling me are contraband, that I was not supposed to have, I think I was supposed to have them, for example, because I declassified them.
And, of course, he wants to do this and she has allowed him to do this because he would rather push off that indictment, should it come, as far as possible.
And, Joy, I will just say this. I don`t know why she is passing on her responsibilities to another judge. If she thinks this stuff is supposed to be decided now, then I would have expected her to take on that responsibility herself.
REID: Well, I mean, currently, the Occam`s razor answer is because she`s a politician at this point. She`s there to protect Trump.
It`s hard to get around it when every single -- I mean, the thing,the consistency can be the hobgoblin sometimes of little minds, but in the case of lawyers, when lawyers all say the same thing, you can basically believe it, because every single legal expert we put on this -- Tali here has said it, everyone has said it -- this judge is doing something that is completely unorthodox.
No one has ever heard of this idea. So how do we get around the idea that this lady is not just in the tank for Trump?
KURT BARDELLA, DNC AND DCCC ADVISER: Well, I think that we`re seeing, without question, that there is an implicit bias and corruption -- corruptive element here on the bench that`s very troubling and disturbing.
And it really illustrates the consequence of, when you let these people take power, the cronies that they install, there can be very serious repercussions that we had not even thought of. When Donald Trump was president, I don`t think anyone thought that we would get to a point where one of the judges he appointed would have to adjudicate something like this involving sensitive, classified, top secret information being stored at Mar-a-Lago illegally. Yet here we are.
[19:25:06]
This is why it`s so important that we do not take elections for granted, that we actually pay attention to the type of judges that are being appointed and make sure Republicans aren`t in a position to do this, because it`s very clear the rule of law means absolutely nothing to these people.
They do not care about our Constitution. They do not care about what`s lawful. They just care about power and doing everything they can, using all the instruments of power to help either cover it up or let them get away with it blatantly. And that`s what we`re seeing right now from the bench, and it`s incredibly disturbing.
REID: Tali, what are the potential -- what can the government, what can the DOJ do at this point?
I mean, we know that there were leave-behinds, right? Jeffrey Clark, who was one of the leave-behind -- leave-behinds, is now under some pretty serious investigations. He had his phone seized, and they`re looking at obstruction with him. He was a -- he was one of those late -- they tried to shove him into the attorney general`s office.
You now have this judge, who was also a leave-behind, somebody that Trump nominated after he`d already lost the election. He -- she`s now there. It feels like she`s doing his bidding. Does the government have any recourse? Or are they stuck with this situation?
FARHADIAN WEINSTEIN: Well, the government told Judge Cannon last week that, if she did not grant them that carve-out that they asked for by today, that they would take an emergency appeal to the 11th Circuit.
And I imagine that that thing is written and we are going to see that motion really soon, because they have maintained throughout that this is a state of emergency. And another really troubling thing in this opinion that we are processing right now -- it just came out a few minutes ago -- is, they said, look, we cannot do a security assessment because of your order, because it`s intertwined with the criminal investigation.
And she said basically, yes, you can.
REID: Wow.
Just move on just for a second, because we do have this other piece of breaking news, Kurt, this new audio from the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers communicating. I can imagine that, despite the fact that definitely he`s got a judge that`s very helpful to him, the Trump team has to be concerned, because there`s just more and more documentary evidence of the violence that was intended toward lawmakers.
That`s really what this piece of sound, these pieces of sound sort of illustrate. What do you imagine they`re thinking now, with Bannon under guard now, because he`s under indictment in the state of New York, with all of these potential charges facing Donald Trump? What do you think is going on in their minds tonight?
BARDELLA: Well, we recently even heard audio of Donald Trump talking about there potentially being grave consequences if he is indicted or if anything happens on the legal front.
It`s very clear that this entire orbit of people believes that violence is an acceptable form of protest in this country, that, when they don`t get their way, when the voters reject their ideas or their candidates, that exercising violence against their political opponents is the way to do it.
I was just at yesterday the official portrait unveiling of the late Elijah Cummings.
REID: Yes.
BARDELLA: And it was held in the Cannon Caucus Room, where the January 6 Committees actually -- actually do their hearings.
And I think about all the times that Elijah would sit there at the Oversight Committee, where I used to work, and say things like, "We`re better than this."
He would be heartbroken that January 6 even happened and even more heartbroken that so many of his former colleagues have tried to dismiss what happened that day, have tried to call it just another tourist day, have tried to exonerate Donald Trump and keep from being held accountable.
REID: Yes.
BARDELLA: And it just goes to show again the lengths to which these people will go to justify their venom and that January -- we have said this so many times on this show.
January 6 was just the beginning for these people.
REID: Yes.
BARDELLA: And they are telegraphing it every single day that they intend to do more.
REID: Elijah Cummings is very much missed. He was a very, very good man. And one of the people he considered a friend and defended when he really needed defending, Mark Meadows.
Tali Farhadian Weinstein and Kurt Bardella, thank you both very much.
Coming up: An 11th-hour tentative deal has been reached to avert a national railroad strike.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joins me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:34:03]
REID: You might not know it, but one of the most influential leaders of the American labor movement at the turn of the 20th century was a woman in her 60s known as Mother Jones. Yes, the magazine is named after her.
She fought for workers across the country, including minors and textile workers and steelworkers, demonstrating the power of labor. Unions have ebbed and flowed over the past century, but we are currently seeing a resurgence, from nurses to teachers to Starbucks and Google and Amazon employees to rail workers.
Today`s railroad workers are facing a similar battle. They currently face penalties for taking time off, even for an emergency. And labor groups say that workers have been fired for going to routine doctor`s appointments or family funerals. They had threatened to strike starting on Friday, which would have had a disastrous impact on the economy, costing $2 billion a day.
[19:35:00]
But a tentative deal has been reached to avoid that strike. Employees will for the first time be able to take unpaid time off for medical care. They will also get a 24 percent wage increase. This deal came together thanks to the direct involvement of Joe Biden, who ran for president the way he`s always run for senator, as pro-labor and pro-union.
"The Washington Post" reports that he was personally involved in the talks, calling into the negotiations and growing animated in recent days over the lack of scheduling flexibility for workers, expressing a mixture of confusion and anger that management was refusing to budge on that point.
And joining me now is the secretary of transportation, Pete Buttigieg.
And great to see you, Secretary Pete.
And this is very, very good news for these workers. I know that Marty Walsh, the labor secretary, and yourself were involved in these negotiations too.
How did this team and how did President Biden help to get the two sides together? And what are the contours of the deal?
PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Well, we -- you`re right. We were deeply involved. The president was personally engaged.
Secretary Marty Walsh convened the parties at the Department of Labor for the final stretch of negotiations. I was on the phone constantly. So was Secretary Vilsack, agriculture secretary, because, of course, resolving this is so important to American farmers.
And I really believe it was the direct intervention of the president, as well as all the other things the administration did, that helped move this toward a deal before it was too late. The outlines of the deal include a significant pay increase for workers, about 24 percent cumulatively, but also, as you mentioned, very important quality-of-life concessions that were very important for the unions and that they won at this bargaining table.
One thing that we`re seeing clearly across the transportation sector is an attention not just to compensation, but to quality-of-life issues. You have got essential workers who don`t have the kind of normal schedules that so many American workers can count on, don`t have the flexibility that a lot of us would take for granted.
And whether we`re talking about flight attendants, whether we`re talking about truck drivers, whether we`re talking about these union rail workers, they are focusing on that. And I think that was one of the key things that needed to be resolved in order to get to this deal that is now good news for workers, I think good news for railroads in general, and, of course, very good news for the American economy that we didn`t face a shutdown.
REID: Absolutely.
And it`s actually interesting. We were talking about this earlier when we were talking about doing this segment and talking about it on the team call, is that it really does make a difference. And I know that you are a lover of history, such as myself. I will class you as a fellow nerd.
And it depends -- there`s a lot that depends in these historical moments on who the president is, right? When it was Ronald Reagan, it was bust the unions. That was the idea with the air traffic control union. When it`s the civil rights movement, it mattered that it was Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, who were open. And so a lot of people were like, don`t march on them with the March on Washington. And it`s like, no, that to you march on, because those people are actually willing to talk.
What kind of a difference do you think it made that Biden, that President Biden, does have this history of being a pro-union guy and a trains guy? Because the trains guy thinks seems like it`s important too.
(LAUGHTER)
BUTTIGIEG: That`s right.
You have got a president who is passionate about making sure we have excellent rail in America and a president who was proud to be the most pro- labor, pro-union president that we have had in modern times, perhaps ever.
And I think that that led to a lot of credibility, especially when he was making these calls, like last night around 9:00 in the evening, as the talks were already going into probably their 12th hour or so, calling on the parties to get to -- get to that solution and find that deal space.
I think he`s earned a lot of trust and a lot of credibility. And it comes from the heart. We saw it also yesterday when we were with the United Auto Workers at the Detroit Auto Show. For him, the technology that`s happening, the electric vehicle revolution, this is all about making -- doing it in a way that makes sure workers can win.
Today, we were celebrating the administration`s buy clean initiative. It was in -- I was in Detroit, along with the soon-to-be national climate adviser in the White House Ali Zaidi and our General Services administrator, Robin Carnahan, with steelworkers.
And they have participated in what`s called the BlueGreen Alliance, a pro- climate and labor movement that is insisting that we break this old idea that there`s a -- there`s a choice between climate action or good jobs, and instead make sure that we`re getting good-paying union jobs through what we do on climate.
So it`s really a through line through everything we`re doing in the administration that I think served the president and the administration well, in terms of credibility, at this absolutely critical juncture for our economy that we went through last night and into the wee hours of this morning, but also is something that`s part of what we`re doing every single day.
REID: And we know that this is a tentative deal. Is there a definitive date when this thing is solid? Like, what is the timeline for it to go from being a tentative deal to a deal-deal?
BUTTIGIEG: So that plays out over the next few weeks as it goes to the members for ratification.
But what I will say is that, as that process plays out, you now have a deal that has the backing of the unions that fought so hard for these concessions and these improvements and the railroad companies that were at the table negotiating this, and, of course, the administration and a lot of others, who are eager to see this succeed.
[19:40:10]
So, we will follow that process closely, but, again, just so thankful for everybody who got us to this point. And I`m thankful and proud to serve under the leadership of a president who was willing to roll up his sleeves and get directly personally involved to get this thing over the finish line.
REID: I have one question. It`s related, but it`s not exactly in the same thing -- the same exact vein.
One of the things that the president has talked about in terms of the initiatives, to get more electric out, he was at the Detroit Auto Show talking about and getting in electric vehicles and that sort of thing.
What`s the timeline on rolling out more help for those of us who do have a hybrid or an electric vehicle? Because charging stations are kind of few and far between. And it`s kind of hard to push that initiative if you can`t charge the thing. So what is the timeline on getting more of that kind of infrastructure out? And what`s the jobs picture going to look like for that?
BUTTIGIEG: Well, that`s right. We need to get to where you can count on finding charging stations just as easily as you can a gas station when you are going on a road trip.
The good news is, there a lot of opportunities to charge at home or charge at work for some Americans, which, of course, you can`t do when you`re filling up with a gas car. But a lot of folks living in multifamily dwellings, especially in lower-income neighborhoods, where it`s not yet profitable for companies to put in those chargers, we`re going to have to take steps to make sure those are available, and the same thing to make sure we have that full national network.
This week, we actually announced a big step on this. Ahead of schedule, we were able to clear 35 of the states so far that have come to us with the plans for how they`re going to use this new federal funding through the president`s infrastructure package to deploy those chargers.
The president`s vision is 500,000 chargers by the end of this decade across the country.
REID: Yes.
BUTTIGIEG: And we know that won`t happen on its own. We`re working and partnering with the states to make it happen.
And that will make it more convenient and accessible for everybody to take advantage of these E.V.s.
REID: Secretary, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, I`m going to have to have you come back, because I want to talk to you about electric buses and mass transit. But we will we will have do that -- we will have to do that another time.
Thank you very much. Really appreciate you being here tonight.
All right, blessed be the fruit. Actress Ann Dowd, the menacing Aunt Lydia on "The Handmaid`s Tale," is here to talk about the real-life Gilead, AKA post-Dobbs America. Under his eye.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:47:03]
REID: The new season of "The Handmaid`s Tale" has started streaming on Hulu, at a time when Margaret Atwood`s fictionalized version of a repressive theocracy is very much a real thing.
And when it comes to art imitating life, one character really stands out. Aunt Lydia, Gilead`s fanatical, menacing overseer, makes sure that the handmaids obey the rules, believing it is God`s will that they give birth to the commander`s children.
It`s a line of thinking that feels very familiar right now in the United States of Gilead, AKA red America. Aunt Lydia mirrors that current -- mirror what current members of the Republican Party believe, as they implement draconian measures to control women and girls and mandate pregnancies.
Today, a near total abortion ban takes place -- takes effect in Indiana, as Republicans fight to dismantle abortion from coast to coast. Senator Lindsey Graham has introduced a nationwide ban on abortions after 15 weeks, with the narrowest of exceptions for conditions, for situations that Graham will never have to think about or endure.
Yesterday, at Graham`s press conference, a woman shared the story of her non-viable pregnancy and the excruciating loss that came with it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: What would you say to somebody like me who found out that their son had an anomaly that was incompatible with life at 16 weeks?
I had regular appointments. I did everything right. And at 16 weeks, we found out that our son would likely not live.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Yes.
QUESTION: When he was born, he lived for eight days.
GRAHAM: Yes.
QUESTION: He bled from every orifice of his body. But we were allowed to make that choice for him.
GRAHAM: OK.
QUESTION: You would be robbing that choice from those women. What do you say to someone like me?
GRAHAM: Here`s what I would say. The world pretty much has spoken on this issue. As to your particular case, there will be exceptions for life of the mother and rape and incest.
QUESTION: There are no exceptions in this bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REID: Joining me now is Ann Dowd, the Emmy Award-winning actress who plays Aunt Lydia in "The Handmaid`s Tale" on Hulu.
I am so excited to talk with you. Welcome, welcome, welcome.
ANN DOWD, ACTRESS: Thank you.
REID: And I wonder what you make of that, because we say the cruelty is the point, Adam Serwer`s brilliant line, but it`s also the difference.
I was struck by how -- how he just -- he just couldn`t wait for that lady to stop talking. He just was like, I don`t want to hear this. I don`t care.
What do you make of all of this?
DOWD: It`s disgusting. That`s what I make of it. And, honestly, watching that right now, how dare, how dare he claim himself a servant to the people? Best I don`t watch before I speak.
As to "Handmaid`s Tale" and comparing it to the world we`re in, let`s just be clear about one thing. What we do is make-believe. When I go home at night, I know that no woman has been forced to be pregnant because of our show and stay pregnant. What`s happening in our country is appallingly different, because, in our country, we have made a very blind and costly mistake.
[19:50:05]
And just set aside for a moment, if we can, the nonnegotiable right of a woman to choose. But where do they think abortions are going? Away? Abortions are going underground, and women will die, and children will be forced into this world without love, without a chance to believe in themselves and the hope of life, which every single child deserves.
Who`s going to suffer? The poor, the disenfranchised, people of color. And how dare, how dare they use the phrase pro-life? This is not pro-life, because, if you open your eyes, and look around, think of all the children without homes, without love, without care, desperate for a chance.
Having been familiar with the foster care system and the gift of my son, who is now my adopted son, and those lonely, desperate kids who have been let down, don`t you dare use the phrase pro-life. Look after those who are on this earth in need of help.
And, frankly, don`t use -- don`t dare hide behind God`s word, because God would never put people in this circumstance. And the thing about Lydia is that she`s coming forward in our make-believe world, and the walls are dropping. And she is looking and saying, wait a minute, what am I doing? What am I doing?
REID: You know, I...
DOWD: I say I`m helping?
Sorry, please. Sorry. Too much.
REID: No, no, no, I have -- and I love just listening -- I just love to listening to your voice. It just so -- it`s so freaky for me to listen to your voice, because I just know that voice so well from the show.
And I have to tell you, I watch the show with one hand over one of my eyes, because it is...
DOWD: I hear you.
REID: It feels too real to me now, right? It feels...
DOWD: I got you.
REID: It`s hard for me to watch it sometimes.
And this is what Margaret Atwood said. She "The Los Angeles Times" this about the world, as you said, the make-believe world that she created.
She said: "Any totalitarianism always has views on who shall be allowed -- who shall be allowed to have babies and what shall be done with the babies. It`s been going on for a really long time."
So what you`re saying is so true.
And now I do want to play a clip. And this is a clip specifically of Aunt Lydia, and this is an episode two. This is not a spoiler. Anybody who hasn`t seen it, look away, put your hands on your ears and go, la, la, la, la.
(CROSSTALK)
REID: Here`s a clip.
DOWD: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOWD: Even through the tragedy of Commander Waterford`s death, our good lord has found a way to grace us with opportunity.
This is your moment to shine in the sunlight of the spirit, girls, a chance to impress prospective commanders, to do his good works, and to make yourselves truly worthy. Oh, blessed be this day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REID: You know, what strikes me Aunt Lydia is her fanaticism, her true belief in the system, but also the fact that you realize that she gains power from the system. And that`s one of the reasons she seems to stick with it.
What do you make of that kind of fanaticism? For me, it feels like it is what we`re living through in real life, that these people are fanatics.
DOWD: Well, yes, the desire for power is remarkable. Power over integrity is just -- you`re really going to give it up, and this supposed -- I can`t even say his name. Really? He`s worth that?
No, he is not.
Lydia, it depends -- if you read "The Testaments," the beginning of Gilead is terrifying. And it`s all about survival. Now, that`s not how we look at "The Handmaid`s Tale."
"Handmaid`s Tale," Lydia grew up raised on shame, with a father, deeply, deeply religious, shamed by sex and everything else that goes with it. So, her walls are strong, and they are tall and the alleyway is narrow.
Her belief in God, to her, is real. Above anything else, it`s real. What she learns in this season is to open her eyes and look and see what`s really going on. Now, will she get to a place where she realizes her profound belief is based on something that is not real, it was produced from the opposite of God, which is to say, shame and cruelty and you don`t count?
We`re not there yet for her. But she`s moving forward. So, I`d say to the fans, hang on. This is a shocking season, but, boy, it is well thought out.
[19:55:00]
And I`m just saying, hang in there. Not bingeing for mental health purposes, but just hang in.
(LAUGHTER)
REID: I can`t binge it. It`s too hard.
DOWD: You too, Joy.
REID: I can`t do it. It`s too hard.
Let me ask you my last question, exit question.
DOWD: Yes.
REID: For you -- and it has to be a little traumatizing and a little triggering to play this role and to be in this world as an artist.
Do you come away from just experiencing this world yourself fictionally and then looking at the real world and how they`re kind of getting closer together? Do you feel hopeful?
DOWD: Yes, I think we`re in a very, very bad way, without question. We have lost our way on many levels.
As to leaving behind the show and going home...
REID: Yes.
DOWD: ... you see, that`s crucial, has to happen, or we can`t do it.
REID: Yes, absolutely.
Ann Dowd, you are a treasure. Thank you so much for being here.
DOWD: So are you.
REID: I truly appreciate you. Thank you.
DOWD: I thank you.
REID: Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.
DOWD: Thank you.
REID: All right. Cheers.
DOWD: Good luck to you.
REID: We will be right back.
Thank you.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
REID: And that is tonight`s REIDOUT. Under his eye.
"ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES" starts now.