John Fetterman and Symone Sanders-Townsend on House Chaos (Live from DC!)

Virginia State Senate candidate Jennifer Carol Foy is here.

Chef Jose Andres is here.

And we are so lucky to be joined by our old friend, part of the Crooked Family and now the host of Simone on MSNBC, Simone Sanders-Townsend.

It's competitive, pay, great benefits. Second in line to the presidency, the House of Representatives has now been without a speaker for 16 days. First, Republicans took down Kevin McCarthy, then they voted down Steve Scalise, and now they have twice denied the gavel. To a guy who never really liked elections in the first place, Jim Jordan. So they almost decided to give the job to interim Speaker Patrick McHenry, at least until January. But when Republicans realized that would require them to do some truly crazy shit, like work with Democrats, hold votes, govern, they ditched that plan.

And then they started screaming and swearing at each other. In a closed-door meeting today, some Republicans complained about the death threats they were getting because they voted against Jordan. Some of them were waving around their pocket constitutions, apparently.

One guy left to go pray the rosary, and then one guy looked like he was about to kick Matt Gaetz's ass.

I mean, sounds like a great workplace culture.

I wish I was there, Simone. What do you think Matt Gaetz and his seven goofballs have accomplished by overthrowing Kevin McCarthy?

This is something new. I just think it's so insane because, like, where does it end, you know? Like my money was always on that speaker. McCarthy was going to get ousted, he wasn't going to survive the whole continuing resolution debt limit situation. But where do we go from here?

Because the only person that has managed to get enough votes to get close to 217 has been Hakeem Jeffries like.

Where are five of those Republicans that sit in districts that Joe Biden won? Where are five of those Republicans who are willing to say, you know what? We're going to vote for Hakeem and maybe he'll back us next year and give us a little money so we don't lose. I don't know, it's just absolutely crazy, it's embarrassing.

And Joe Biden can send whatever packages he wants to send to Congress. Without a speaker of the House, no package is going to pass anything.

KEVin McCarThy By the way, he's been saying this every day for the last two weeks. He's still saying it's Democrats fault, even after everything that happened today, it's Democrats fault that they can't elect a speaker.

You know, Mom is the one who you can hurt and dad's fucking gone.

Disrespectful.

Now, the second problem is the Republican Party is no longer a coherent party. For a long time, they at least organised themselves around smaller government, lower taxes. Let corporations do whatever they want, invade countries willy-nilly. But they have nothing in common. Now. It's just a coalition of people who largely disagree about what they stand for and disagree on who they hate.

And so you have people who are neocons who want to invade every country, you have people who are supporting Russia and opposing all this funding that Biden wants to spend. You have people who love Trump, people who hate Trump, people who pretend to love Trump, you have the people. The Matt Gateses and the Marjorie Taylor Greens are just kind of there for the LOLs. You have the Paul Ryan descendants who want to cut Medicare.

You have the populists, they stand for none of this. They can't. There's no purpose, collective purpose for being there, so they won't, they can't, There's no urgency, There's nothing they want to pass collectively.

That would make them actually put aside petty grievances to pick a speaker. And the third reason is the House of Representatives is one-sixth of the government. And they hate government like they don't want to do anything they exist to destroy government.

And so the idea that they would put aside, take tough votes to try to make government work is such a foreign concept to them that they can't possibly do it. Like, you don't hire arsonists to be firefighters, and that's what this is.

They make the argument that government can't work, and then they go about proving it. So, Tommy, I will admit I was kind of surprised that Jordan didn't get it today or yesterday. Only because I figured when everyone was like, Oh, you know, Sean Hannity's producers sending out letters, they're threatening people, right? And I was like, usually when the MAGA wing of the party, which is now most of the party. When they start threatening more establishment Republicans, they end up getting their way, and the Republicans cave. But apparently, were you surprised that not everyone caved to Jim Jordan's threat?

There's some people like Dan was just saying, there's some people who perform MAGA, and then some people who believe the MAGA. And he believes the MAGA. And I think he has read one history book and he knows that. Congressional leaders....

That pissed off all the people on the right, and now they're just scrambling and basically all they're doing is making poor Jake Sherman sprint up and down the Capitol. We found the one place that gets that joke.

But they don't get sharing yet.

Here's what surprised me. Some of the people who voted against Jordan are in safe districts, and they voted against them for different reasons. Some of them are much more conservative than you would have expected. About a dozen, I think a dozen. Republicans who are sitting in districts that Joe Biden won, voted for Jordan, for Jim Jordan as speaker. They are sitting there in Biden districts, and they voted for Jim Jordan.

How much of a political liability do you think that will be all the way in 2024? When people go vote? A year from now? And if you were running a race against those Republicans, what would you say?

He voted for Jordan. Most of the people I represent wouldn't know the speaker of the House if they backed over them with a pickup truck.

Which is quite an endorsement of Jim Jordan. I don't think they could identify the body. Therefore, I'm a yes. I do think it's incumbent upon us to make it a liability. And look, do I think that we'll be still talking about this speaker's race a year from now?

Probably not, but I do think we'll be trying to tell a story about Republican extremism. And in one of the most important votes, these people will ever face a moment where voting no could really make a difference, deciding to say no to Republican extremism could really make a difference. They decided that, for their own personal craven, partisan needs, they were going to support an agenda of someone who believes in an abortion ban. Not at 12 weeks, not at 6 weeks, but at the moment of conception. Someone who voted for the insurrection, who participated in the insurrection. One of the most extreme members of Congress, and beyond his terrible policy views, is one of the most radical and toxic and mean-spirited people in politics. Who practices the kind of politics that the vast majority of Americans say they reject and don't want to have to vote for. So I think we have to tell that story and this is a part of that story.

It's not going to happen. I don't think I have the powers of the speaker without a vote, so I don't know. I actually don't know where they go from here, because it seems like unless. First of all, if there was a Republican who could get to 217, we would know who that person is by now. So I don't know that this gets resolved without them finally reaching out to Democrats or doing it with Democratic votes.

I think eventually this is where they will land. It is already utterly embarrassing. But there are catastrophic consequences for not having a speaker of the House, for the House of Representatives not to be able to do business. And a number of Republican members of Congress went on television today and said, No. The business of the House is still happening, and we were on recess last week. No, the business of the House is actually not happening. And the government runs out of money. On November 17th.

Joining us now, the junior senator from Pennsylvania and a friend to all of us who believe that every day should be casual Friday. John Fetterman.

Hello there.

It doesn't mean you don't know how to read, of course, it's just it's a tool, and this is a tool that allows me to fully participate.

And if I just will say that it has made me, I already thought I was a very empathetic kind of guy. But now, after this, now just how incredibly important that we have the kind of technology for anyone with disabilities and making sure that they are to participate fully in our society.

Yeah, it's all going to work great. After the doctors, it was just kind of like, Yeah, well, but thankfully I was able to make a really recovery. And then after the campaign and realizing that. I'm going to have to run for the Senate in the most visible and the biggest race in the nation, and the Senate control is riding on it.

And I had to relearn how to speak and do it in a way that doesn't become the brunt of Fox News. And it really became a fetish and it was like candy for Fox News. And I just had to realize that's how it was going to be. But then throughout all of it, and then after after, I won.

And that's when the depression really hit.

And I broke my children's heart and they didn't understand why. I couldn't get out of bed the day after the election, I couldn't get out of the bed, not because I was tired, but because I didn't want to. And they were like, Daddy, you won.

What's wrong? Why aren't we enough and everything? And I continued to, really, and I knew that I wasn't going to come back in. And after nearly dying from a medical crisis, to be put on the path of losing your life by your own hand was part of how things went.

And now I'm so happy to talk about mental health because I want everybody to understand that. If you are suffering from depression or you have these issues, I'm begging you please get help, please, please seek it out. You do not need to suffer, you do not need to suffer.

And absolutely, absolutely, please, please, please listen, I know you have a huge platform. To anyone who hears this, please don't ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever hurt yourself. Because it's a kind of blackness that I've never encountered in my life. And you can taste it and you can smell it. And it's so dark that I will never, ever go back to that.

And please, people need help.

All right, so I heard you tell a reporter we were just talking about the speaker race. I heard you tell a reporter this week that House Republicans need to get their act together and decide which dick is going to be speaker.

So it was kind of dying off. And then, of course, my colleague from West Virginia, you know, kind of took it upon it to really honor, you know, everything. And he said, I'm going to have this resolution, you know, and can I support this? And I was like, Sure, because I never. I want to be clear, I never asked for that. I mean, I never went to Leader Schumer and like, Hey, dude, you know, I want to dress like this, you know, is that cool?

So, but again? And he's like, Well, here, I hope you can, you know, sign this. And I'm like, Sure, sure, I'll take it. And I'm like, I'll go back to the office and read it. And then a staffer said, Hey, it's called Shorts, it's the Shorts Act.

So he created like an acronym to be clever, like, you know, I was just like, Giggle. They were sitting around their office thinking how clever.

We have to make sure of the welfare of the civilians. But but, you know, it's to remember that Hamas doesn't want peace, he doesn't want to be negotiated with. Or, I mean, and you know, they massacred, you know, innocent children, women, and now they have over 200 hostages with them right now as well, too. So I really believe that I'm always going to decide to stand on the side of Israel, you know, in this place.

And and and also after the the hospital tragedy, now everyone now we know that it was, it was the, you know, it was Islamic Jihad, and they tried to blame it on Israel. On top of that as well, too, compounding that. And I was disappointed by a lot of the out the media outlets that now kind of pushed that narrative, coming out immediately, saying, Well, well. Hamas says that it was, it was an Israeli rocket, which we all now agree that it's. That wasn't the case.

Who, who? You apparently confronted on an escalator this week about his refusal to resign after being indicted for bribery and acting as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government. So, first of all, good for you.

Does. Does anyone keep a half a million dollars in cash randomly across your house, you know? And he? He claimed it was for emergencies. And then I thought, Yeah, okay, well, you know, you know, my wife and I, we went to Costco, got an extra flashlight for emergencies around the house.

So I'm sure it's pretty. And then, so let's double down, let's double down on the sleaze, where now it was. It was discovered that his then girlfriend, you know, slammed into and killed a pedestrian. And and was just talking about how it jumped on on her windshield and everything. And she was never tested or anything like that and was worrying about, how do I get a new car? And then, if you just can't get any more sorted, it was like, now he's a foreign agent, so.

And if you're more offended, because the way I dress versus. And I also want to recommend this is the second, the second time to the dance of being indicted by the Feds. So, I mean.

So voters, and and not just Republicans and independents, but also Democrats, keep telling pollsters they are worried about Joe Biden's age. And and they're. They don't think he's done enough to bring down prices, even though inflation is starting to come down. What advice would you give to the president on how he can keep Pennsylvania blue, very tough state, very competitive state in 2024??

If it is Trump, you know, Joe Biden will win in Pennsylvania. I absolutely, you know, allegedly, allegedly, he won in 2020,.

But but you know, you know, Pennsylvania loves Joe. And really, I will say that I don't believe that. You know, some of the really pointed kind of criticisms of fellow Democrats against the president aren't, they're not helpful at all. And I really would like to remind everybody just how tough he was and he went through, you know, I thought I had it rough in my race, you know, as the Senate. But you know, he had the ultimate crucible in 2020 and said that through it. And he did the right thing. And he did a great job, you know, after it.

And he's still doing it, and here he just put on a masterclass of diplomacy, going to Israel just a couple of days ago.

And and again, I will say, I will say, this true is is like, can you imagine what this circumstances would be like now? If Trump was in the White House? What would be happening now in in the Middle East? Or any of these other things, too? And you know, you cannot avoid a story about inflation. But guess what? They addressed it and it's going down and what happened to all the the articles or anything? And so I'm, I'm. I'm proud to stand for Joe Biden with Joe Biden, and he's, he's, he's incredibly strong and and I really believe he is going to prevail on that.

Thank you so much.

All right, let's get into the fun stuff. President Biden has returned from a quick trip to Israel, where he met with Bibi. Netanyahu convinced him to allow food and medical supplies into Gaza and pledged a hundred million dollars in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.

Biden is now the only president to have visited not one but two active war zones. And just minutes ago, right before we started, finished up a primetime Oval Office address to the nation, where he asked Congress for a hundred billion dollars to support the people of Israel and Ukraine. Uh, whose struggles he linked in his speech, Let's listen.

Uh, so we just watched the speech backstage. Tommy, what did you think of Biden's message and then overall his trip to Israel?

I mean, that takes a lot of guts, it really does. I know people who were in the room with him in Israel that had a meeting with him. Like, it's incredibly meaningful to a country that's gone through just unbelievable, historic, horrific trauma, and I think it meant a lot to the entire country.

I I think that, you know, I hope that behind the scenes, he was able to talk to Netanyahu about not rushing whatever happens next, whether it's a ground offensive. Hopefully reining back the clip of these airstrikes, focusing more on allowing humanitarian relief into Gaza. Because you know, there are a lot of innocent people who are, who are suffering, you know? I saw that he got on the phone with the President of Egypt. On the way home from Israel, he convinced them to allow 28 trucks into the Gaza Strip. That is a start. We should just be honest, though, that 20 trucks is not going to do what it takes to take care of 2 million people.

I think the message that he brought of, like, Let's not repeat the mistakes that we made in America in 9-11 was a powerful one and a really important one. I just want to make sure that Netanyahu listens. And some of the initial reports coming out of the trip suggest that it's. It's going to take a bit, it's going to take some more. Repeating of that message, like the Israeli War Cabinet does not have a plan for the day after a ground invasion. And like, that is understandable, because they didn't know that the the attack on the 7th was going to happen.

So obviously they didn't have time to plan, but hopefully they heard that note of caution. My anxiety, long-term, though, is that the picture of Biden and Netanyahu hugging at the airport, sort of sitting side by side. Will suggest to a lot of the world that Israel's response is also America's response, no matter how well or badly it goes. And it just means we take ownership of something that could be very scary, could lead to a lot of civilian casualties. And so, you know, that's my note of caution. But I hope that Biden, through this aggressive diplomacy and really bold diplomacy, is able to get Netanyahu to think twice. Be cautious, not act rashly, and hopefully he can save some civilian lives.

It's like, I've known Bibi for 40 years and that's true. And so I think that he himself, just from my reading of it, felt, felt that he had to go and be there and be on the ground. And he knows this issue and has such a connection to the Prime Minister that it was important that he is very much so. I mean, he's always involved. But like, leaning in, and in every nitty gritty detail of America's not just response, but their court, our coordination with the government of Israel. That being said, I don't know if initially folks were thinking about a domestic response. And that's what it felt like from the outside looking in.

I think from people that I know who are currently inside the administration, there were voices that did raise some things about just the optics domestically. But I also know that a number of Arab Americans who serve in the administration initially did not feel as though that they were heard, that that their concerns were being taken into account. You know, they raised the potential for the humanitarian issues early. And it wasn't until, maybe, you know, a week later, that everybody started talking about the humanitarian crisis. That we all knew, if we were just watching, would be unfolding in Gaza. And so I think the thing that the administration has to keep in mind is that there is a generational divide within the Democratic Party apparatus. When you talk about what is happening in the Middle East and you, you've seen that in the response over the last two weeks, and because of that generational divide there. I think there are some younger Democrats that may view the president's trip and his speech tonight differently than some older Democrats.

I also think, frankly, that there are people across the country who say, yes, what Hamas did was terrible. Yes, we have to stand with and support our friends. But also, why do we have all these millions of billions of dollars for Israel and Ukraine, but we don't have money domestically? Now? People don't understand these two separate buckets. I'm just telling y'all what the people said, I'm not saying that's how I feel.

I'm just, I'm just reporting on the news and so.

And a lot of, I think, exposure to history that just hasn't happened over, say, the last 10 or 20 years. And what you see online, I think, is a lot of, I think, right wing pro-Israel rhetoric, and then I do think you see a lot of left wing rhetoric. That is, if not just anti-Zionist, it is anti-semitic. I do think that there is this big space for, like, I draw a very big distinction between protesters who were at the Capitol yesterday.

For for, if not now, who believe, who believe in Israel's right to exist, who do not believe Israel is fundamentally illegitimate. But for the sake of the future of a democratic and Jewish state, that restraint is necessary. That Israel will not be free unless Palestine is free, Palestine will not be free unless Israel is safe. Israel will not be safe unless Palestinian people have hope for a better future. And that that together.

And that that that story, I think, is not really a story that's being told. I think that's the story Joe Biden has been telling over the past week and even tonight. Making reference to the importance of a two state solution, making reference to the importance of the humanity of the people of Gaza. But I do think that it is a that, that is the kind of message we need to carry. Because otherwise, I think there's a lot of young people who don't understand this issue, who don't understand that. That. It is possible to believe and support Israel's right to exist and defend itself, while also believing in the humanity and the dignity and the rights of people in Gaza. And the way in which people in in Gaza and the West Bank have been so poorly represented by their leadership and are not represented by a terrorist organization like Hamas. So I think that is the the job. And I think that requires some nuance on the part of those of us that feel right now, I think surprised by some of the vitriol and antisemitism that we see.

And also the kind of quiet conversation and worry about how fragile Israel is. Especially given the fears people have of what their neighbors might do or the way this conflict might escalate. While at the same time understanding that the that, that, the that, that. What we're hearing from the far right is not persuasive and only pushes people away from from supporting the humanity of both Israelis and Palestinians.

They missed a clap cue. I also think that, to to Lovett's point, there's just a lack of, like, some of y'all missed AP World history, or just world history, period? It's like, it's very clear that people were not paying attention during that section of the class, if that class even existed in your school in the first place. Which is a whole nother conversation.

And I would just implore people to look at the video, to look at the pictures, to to read the accounts of the young people who survived that festival on October 7th. Cause it is harrowing and I I feel as though a lot of people have not actually read and looked and listened and heard what actually happened. Because if so, I do not think a lot of my my extremely progressive friends would be so quick to say, Oh, well, you know. When a people are living under occupation for x amount of years, this is bound to happen. No, no, no, no, no.

Two things can be true at the same time. The Palestinian there, there's a there is a very complicated situation and the Palestinian people, they have been living under occupation and Hamas terrorized, killed, raped.

Kidnapped children, babies, burned grandmothers in their homes. There is no equivalency here. And I really think we just need to pay attention and get off the damn internet because it is. It's harrowing. And I frankly, was I, frankly. And the last thing I'll say is I frankly was disgusted as a as a young person who spent a lot of time near movement politics. For a while. I have been disgusted by what I have seen from some of, not all of, but some of the activist community in equating Hamas with the struggle.

For you know, Black Lives Matter here in the United States, it is that those ain't our people. The people is the Palestinians, Hamas is not your people.

You can support a country and its people and its ideals, and dislike its leaders, right? I think a lot of people abroad love the United States, what it stands for the people who live here. They didn't love Donald Trump, right?

That's how I feel about Israel, like it, I want Israel to exist. It's got an incredible dynamic. People. I think it is suffering from terrible leadership under BB Net and Yahoo. And I think Point. Talking about his leadership and policy failings is an entirely different thing. That we should all do and then feel comfortable.

Yeah.

Like, not everyone has to give their take on everything in that moment or ever. Um, and like, this is just like it's fog of war and for everyone to take a breath. And like you said, like, there are. Like. There are families and children who were massacred in Israel, and there are civilians and children and families who have been killed for nothing in A Gaza right now.

And there is antisemitism that we are struggling with, and there's Islamophobia that we're struggling with. And part of this is being able to take a beat, take a pause, give people grace. Who are trying to understand this and recognize that there is a common humanity here. Um, which, like the information environment we live in right now, does not really allow for. And that's just some. But that we have the choice to to, to decide to, uh, to just take a beat on that, so.

Um.

All right, so, uh, Biden's likely opponent in 2024? Um, who is, you know?

But this is what we go through because they want to keep me here instead of.

Dan What's going on?

Donald Trump is running for president.

They just have it like that has not processed for most Americans yet. Most Americans have not seen Donald Trump speak since January 6th, 2021. They have not. Maybe they've seen a picture of him at a courthouse, they don't really know the context is, but that is it.

And so people are not engaged with the race. And so the most optimistic glass half full take. The ones I'm most famous for is the idea that when the race engages, the anti-Maga majority in this country will reconstitute itself. And the reasons to believe that, because the reason Joe Biden is losing to Trump in these polls is that. Joe Biden's getting about three quarters of the voters who voted for him in 2020, and Trump's getting about 85 of the people who voted for him in 2020, so that's the difference.

And these things are, these things could both be true at the same time, the more alarming thing to think about. And it doesn't mean that Joe Biden is going to lose now, Trump's going to win, but it's something we have to think about is. I think most people who work in politics and think about politics and podcasts and politics don't fully understand the political environment we're currently in. It is, it's a reason we keep getting everything wrong right. It's why we thought Joe Biden was going to win by a lot and he wins by a little.

That's why we thought Democrats would get destroyed in 2022.

And we pick up a Senate seat. It's why we thought Donald Trump would suffer by getting a dead dining one times. And he goes up on the polls. And there is this poll from that Pew did last month that I cannot stop thinking about.

You have the largest share of voters ever. 30 of Americans disapprove of both parties. There is something that is going on and if we really step back and we like.

Distrust of the federal government, it's the highest level ever. distrust of the Supreme Court, disapproval of the Supreme Court. it's highest level ever.

Disapproval of Congress highest level ever, disapproval of the media highest level ever. It explains a little bit why a series of indictments from government entities reported on by the media is not moving a lot of voters when it comes to Trump.

That's number one, and then number two. If they have consumed the speech, are they going to think, well? I still feel like I'm seeing all these headlines that inflation is coming down, but the prices still seem a little high. And I still have student debt and my healthcare is kind of expensive. And I'm like, wondering, I'm seeing all this chaos in Washington and the Republicans seem like assholes. But I also am wondering, who's going to speak to me, who's going to help me? And when you start thinking about that, you're like, Oh, yeah, how does? Like, how does Biden, who's got to deal with all these international challenges because they've fallen in his lap and he has no choice? How does he do that?

And still have a message that says, by the way, like, I know that you're still hurting out there. But Donald Trump's going to be a disaster. And I have a better plan here, I mean.

The House of Representatives is up for reelection. 11 states are going to choose new governors on top of the presidential, on top of key Senate races. Where I think the the the chamber, you know, control of the chamber is going to be decided, and look, I think that.

And this is a very funny because I I do feel like we're in a bit of a role reversal here. Dan Because back in the day, Ben Rhodes and I would come into Dan's office and he'd be like, What the fuck are you two looking for? You know what I mean? Because Dan's view on this was like, any minute wasted. Talking about what these nerds want to talk about is like, time we could be talking about something else.

So normally, I would think, yes, Joe Biden has to talk about Ukraine, he has to talk about, um, what's happening in Israel and Gaza. And of course, like as president, people turn on the TV, they see scary things, they want to know you're managing it, that's fine.

But also, you know, Joe Biden just kind of, like, took two big guns out of the communications, Uh, where do you keep guns?

And again, things I really want. But I think, to Simone's point, is sort of leaving out this vast domestic list of priorities that I think most Americans are really focused on.

And so, if his take is, my best way to prevent that from happening is to go to Israel and try to convince Bibi. And that's going to come with great risk. Then that's what we do because that's the long game. And so, you know, so I think that that's all, like all the politics of what you say is going to matter less than what's actually happening. And that's the stuff you're trying to affect. Both by going there and then also giving this address so that you can get the aid that will hopefully hopefully prevent the worst stuff from happening.

Thank you for being here.

We did a show in Richmond and we came down and we did a canvas event and we went canvassing for your campaign. And did you have two small children at that time?

It honestly felt like a presidential election. Here we are all these years later. How does it feel in Virginia right now?

Because that was the feeling, that was the vibe, that was the momentum. You had support coming in from all across the country because we knew what was at stake and we needed to save democracy. After we had elected one of the most bigoted and competent men to be leader of the free world. So now it just feels different, it feels different because people believe that Virginia is a blue state. And I like to tell....

So he is.

Listen, you said it.

And let's be clear whether you call us blue, you call us purple, you do have to call us. The last southern state without an abortion ban since Roe fell.

What we needed to do, we did it. And that's why this is so important. Because the Republicans playbook is just to undo all the great work that we have done. So we have to acknowledge what's at stake. Abortion is on the ballot in Virginia. Book banning is on the ballot in Virginia.

And let's be clear that if Governor Yunkin flips the Senate, we will have all these things happen. And it will empower other purple states to believe it can happen in their state as well. So now we're all at risk, we're all in danger. So it is so exceptionally important that we show this country what Virginia can do. And I can say I'm excited that as a delegate, I was able to carry and pass the Equal Rights Amendment so we can finally enshrine women's equality into the United States Constitution.

That is on the potential ballot when I tell you I'm excited to. Chief co-patient the Reproductive Health Act, removing politically motivated and medically unnecessary restrictions on people's access to abortion. That's what we got done in Virginia.

So again, we have an argument to make on the state level, but let's also look at the federal. Because when the Democrats had a slim majority in the House of Representatives, what did we get done? We passed the American Rescue Plan, providing transformational, historic funds to help people navigate through COVID-19 and cut child poverty by 50. We passed the infrastructure bill, providing millions of dollars to repair our roads, bridges, our ports, right in order to expand rural broadband. And now Republicans have a slim majority.

And what have they done? We have a budget crisis, we have a House with no leader, so no legislative progress can be made because we have no elected speaker. Which, by the way, is the first time it's ever happened in our country's history. We in less than 30 days will have another federal government shutdown.

So the choices are very clear you're either for Democratic progress or Republican extreme dysfunction.

And all of that is on the ballot and at risk if we don't take Virginia elections seriously, because I like to think of Virginia as the bellwether. If you care about what happens in this country, then you care about Virginia and our elections. Because it's not just about November 7th, 2023, it is really about President Biden in 2024 and whether or not Trump takes back over. This country continues to have a national abortion ban.

It's really about whether we lose the Democratic majority in the U.

S Senate, because Senator Tim Kaine is up in 2024. And we have to send America's dad back to D.C. to do all the good work that he is doing.

And the challenge is that Republicans fall in line and Democrats fall in love. And y'all know, we gotta date y'all, we gotta take you out, you know, you gotta see us a couple times, we gotta have multiple conversations. And so that means it costs more, it's more time-consuming and tedious, but we know that it's so important. And so, while Governor Youngkin has shown that attacking our schools, defunding education, trying to attempt book banning and saying that critical race theory is being taught in our classroom was effective. Because that's how he won. We are now seeing what their playbook is, and it's so important that we don't fall victim to what they're saying. We have to address it, but remember that it's always about the fact that we're on the right side. We're on the right side of history, we're on the right side of progress and we have to make sure that we are on the right side when the day is done.

This is the first time in any election I've ever heard strong Democrats saying that they are concerned for their safety. And I can tell you y'all that as Democrats, we've got to do better. We cannot secede that to the Republicans. We've got to get stronger messaging on how we're going to keep our communities safe. We cannot run away from that because it is real and I'm hearing about it.

And it's also abortion rights, because that is also real. And never did I think that in 2023 I would be living in a country that feels like 1953, but that's where we are as well. And lastly, because of the attacks on our schools, I'm hearing that our trans children need to be protected. Our teachers are being vilified and demonized.

There will be no book banning on our watch, and we have to make sure that we protect the most vulnerable amongst us at all costs.

And then I need all of you to take out your phones. Go to jennifercarolfoy.

Com and find out how you can support some of our most competitive contested races. How you can give us your time, talent and treasure to ensure that the right thing happens. And we protect democracy in Virginia because we have to win at all costs.

They said this day would never come. Oh, no.

John.

You put it on this stuff called popper.

Those will appear in the book, too.

We can't let them beat us on the New York Times bestseller list, so please, please, please pre-order the book.

So you founded your nonprofit World Central Kitchen after the Haiti earthquake in 2010.

World Central Kitchen is now the biggest food aid organization operating in Ukraine. You recently said about your work there and what it's like to be there. That you can be afraid and fearless at the same time. What did you mean by that?

And has been a before and after. Because, you know, I'm a cook that feed the few. Washington, D.C was my home for the last 30 years.

Washington, D.

C is the place I met my beautiful wife, who gave me everything I am.

But I never imagined that I will be in a situation that usually the simple fact of trying to feed people.

I will lose people. World Central Kitchen lost six people in the simple act of feeding people. Only because we have one person called Putin, I will not use the name president. That decided the best action was to try to kill as many civilians, women, children and elderly as possible. And for me, this has been a life-changing event.

Because now, in more ways than one, I give meaning to life in ways I never thought I would. Because it takes you to go through a process like this to understand what you're here for.

What we are here for is to understand that we will never change anything we see in the world that is not right without taking risk, speaking up and have boots on the ground. We can all clap every time. Everybody gives a speech, but if that speech is not followed by people that really are on the ground, making change happen, nothing will ever change. We lost six people and I wanted to pull World Central Kitchen out of Ukraine.

And the Ukrainians told me, Jose, we are here with you or without you, but with World Central Kitchen, we will be better. We all need to take risk to make change happen. At the end, you learn that life starts at the end of your comfort zone. It's good to have good times in the good times, but sometimes we all need to get to the edge of our comfort zone to make meaningful, real change. I don't know if this answers the question you asked me, but this is all I have to say about that.

Many people know that I will be there by now, but me, I like to go in the moments that I really believe I can make meaningful change. But right now, we are doing already meaningful change. The first thing we did was going to Israel because it was the right thing to do in the very early hours after. Hamas, the terrorist organization, not the Palestinian people, Hamas, the terrorist organization, did an attack that should never happen. And we were there, next to restaurants and next to Israeli and Jewish people, just doing what we do, supporting them.

Even they were organizing themselves very well at the same time. Many times before we've been in Gaza, we've been with an organization called Anera Who. They do an amazing job. You don't know who to support. Anera.org is a great organization and we're able to support them because American people like you support us. And if you see my tweet and World Central Kitchen, you will see that we were delivering today fresh fruits and vegetables and water and other things.

Why? Because Anera is already inside. And every time everybody asks me in emergencies, where do you get the food? they're like, well, from the food warehouses. Obviously, the situation there is very terrible.

But still, we have ways to be buying from farmers that they don't know how to buy, but if you are able to buy from them. Still, they have tomatoes and eggplants and things you can sell, you can buy and you can give away. And so the situation is dramatic. We have teams positioned right now in Egypt, but we are....

You need to understand that World Central Kitchen is an organization nobody sees coming. We're unofficial, we don't partner with governments, but we are in Egypt because we are positioning ourselves behind the U.N. envoys. To go in as soon as it's safe and we are able to go. Why are we in Jordan?

Because Jordan has very good connections with all Palestine and Israel, and we have good friendships with a lot of people in Jordan. And if we can, we're going to be sending things into Cisjordania from Jordan, but also using planes to ship to Egypt and from there go inside Gaza. And we are obviously waiting in Israel to, hopefully things become peaceful, where nobody is shooting at anybody, where nobody is killing anybody. Where we believe in longer tables, where we all respect each other, give empathy to each other, give dignity to each other. And where weapons of destruction will never have, ever again, a place on Earth. We keep fighting each other for things that sometimes doesn't make sense. I'm sure many of you I have friends that are obviously Catholics like me.

Good thing about Catholics I go on Sunday and I ask for forgiveness and I'm clean again.

It's a great religion to have.

It's a great guy.

That's crap, and that's the issue with him. He, I'm sure he's a decent man.

But he doesn't understand crop business.

Therefore, I'm not running for congressman because I don't have time. But somebody should be running on the Maryland First District to unseat that congressman because the people of Maryland don't deserve him. And that's all I have to say about that.

And it was well said before we let you go, you graciously agreed to play with us a very brief game. Simone and Dan are going to come back out to join us because because you are a world renowned chef, we are going to do something.

Disgusting. Here's what's going to happen. We are going to rank together five tick tock food trends, from fifth to first, from worst to best. From the one you would want the least to the one you'd be willing to eat. OK, you're going to have to choose which of these things is the one you'd want to eat.

You don't know how much worse what will follow will be.

So here we go first up cheesy ramen from Helm.

The third, let's sprinkle these packets all the way across. We're going to take our tomato sauce.

Jose Andres You're world renowned for your, for your, your inventiveness with food, your, your, your, your exploration of, of, of.

I mean, it's like, it's like it's like Congressman Jordan, or.

That's really at the end of the day, that's that's all you'll have to do.

So, cheese ramen?

That's a big, big round, raw put it, so it's sort of Jose.

Let's see what's next.

This is, oh, this is called leprechaun chicken.

Oh, right, what do we have here?

What y'all mean, one? I am sorry, but I didn't ask you for your opinion this time.