• While Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are vying for the White House, neither will be able to make good on their campaign promises if they don’t also get some help from their respective parties in Congress. Control of both the Senate and the House are up for grabs this election cycle. And right now, Democrats’ quickest path to victory in the House runs through two unlikely states: California and New York. California Democratic Rep. Mike Levin talks about his experience flipping a longtime Republican district.
• And in headlines: Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney campaigned with Harris in the birthplace of the GOP, former First Lady Melania Trump says she supports access to abortion in an upcoming memoir, and the union representing tens of thousands of longshoremen agreed to call off its walkouts at East and Gulf Coast ports.

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TRANSCRIPT

Jane Coaston: It’s Friday, October 4th. I’m Jane Coaston and this is What a Day. The show that is standing up for Nibi the beaver. Nibi has been living in captivity in Massachusetts since she was orphaned. But a court could soon decide whether she has to return to the wild. Nibi’s interests include grooming and playing with sticks. Politicians on both sides, including the governor of Massachusetts, are saying, and I join them, let Nibi the Beaver be. [music break] On today’s show, former first Lady Melania Trump says she supports abortion access. Plus, Vice President Kamala Harris campaigns with former Republican Representative Liz Cheney in the birthplace of the GOP. But first, we’ve been talking a lot about the presidential race on this show for obvious reasons. Whether Harris or former President Donald Trump ultimately wins the White House in November, they’ll need help from their respective parties in Congress if they want to make good on some of their campaign promises. And right now, control of the House and Senate is totally up for grabs. Either party has a chance to win one or even both. But in the House, the path to Democratic victory runs through two surprising states, New York and California. In fact, of the roughly 70 districts that are actually competitive this election, seven are in New York and ten are in California. So for more on what the party needs to do to help Democrats win these races and ultimately control of the House, I spoke with Congressman Mike Levin. He represents parts of San Diego and Orange Counties in Southern California. And in 2018, he flipped a district that had been held by Republicans for 16 years. Representative Levin, thank you so much for coming on What a Day. 

Mike Levin: Thank you for having me. 

Jane Coaston: So I think a lot of people listening would be surprised to learn that California, a state with a reputation of being very liberal, is also the state with the most competitive House races. Why is that? 

Mike Levin: Well, I think for one, we’re just a big state. So we’ve got a big delegation, 52 member delegation, and we’ve got, in addition to myself and one other frontline member, Josh Harder, the two incumbents. We’ve got six races that are very close. We’ve got Katie Porter’s seat that we’ve got a great candidate running in named Dave Min. And then we’ve got five other seats that are currently held by Republicans where we’ve got outstanding Democratic candidates. So really could be that California determines the outcome of the House elections. And that’s why we you know, we have to do all we can. We’re not going to have that presidential race as meaningful in California. We know that Vice President Harris is going to do very well. But we have to make sure that we win all these or as many of these races as we can to give ourselves the best chance of making Hakeem Jeffries the next speaker of the House. 

Jane Coaston: How is campaigning in a swing district in a solidly blue state, as you mentioned, different from campaigning in a swing district in a state like Pennsylvania or Georgia? Do you get a sense sometimes that because the top of the ticket seems determined, people are paying less attention? And what are some of the other unique challenges that you and other California or New York swing district Dems face? 

Mike Levin: Well, I think anybody running in a competitive swing district has unique concerns and needs in that district. And I’ve been laser focused in my now almost six years in Congress on the needs and concerns of our district. And I think at the end of the day, people are concerned about national issues. Certainly the news of the day is impactful and important for all of us. But often we win or lose these elections on the type of services and and representation we’ve provided at a district level on very parochial things. And I think my colleagues will all have a good story and good results to show. 

Jane Coaston: Well, I have no doubt that you are doing a great job for your constituents. But, you know, you mentioned the presidential campaign is just not as exciting here and abortion is protected here. It’s not as much of a salient issue. And those are issues that tend to get people, specifically Democrats, to the polls. Is that a challenge? 

Mike Levin: Well, I think it’s very salient if you consider that the Republicans in their Project 2025 Agenda very much have a national abortion ban on the table. We know that there are 20 states that have either a full ban or nearly that. And 44% of the women in the United States do not have access to reproductive rights. I’m running against a opponent who claims to be pro-choice, but I don’t think anybody who’s pro-choice would agree that it’s acceptable to have abortion outlawed in 20 states, 44% of women across this country. For me, it’s just incongruent to say you’re pro-choice and have the Dobbs decision undo 50 years of precedent. So I do think that people in California need to understand that a federal ban would supersede state law. And, you know, forgive me if I don’t trust Donald Trump and Mike Johnson when they claim that they’re not going to enact a federal ban. 

Jane Coaston: What? You mean Donald Trump might not be on the level on this particular issue? 

Mike Levin: Yeah, I don’t trust him. [laughter] I don’t trust him with gold watches or gold shoes or any of the the grifts that he’s had over the years and I certainly don’t trust him to stick to the same policy opinion at more than a week at a time. 

Jane Coaston: You’re in one of ten California House districts that [?] Politico report rates as competitive this election cycle. The outlet rates your district as likely Democrat, but you mentioned there are five seats currently held by Republicans that are considered pure toss ups. That’s control of the House right there. As someone who flipped a longtime Republican district a few years ago, what advice do you have for those Democrats running in those districts? 

Mike Levin: Well, first is you’ve got to own the ground. So you can have the best communication, the nicest TV ads, the nicest digital ads, really nice mailers. But if you don’t have a good grassroots operation, if you’re not engaging the VIPs, the volunteers in politics, going door to door, making sure that you’re getting the word out, doing really great on the phones and text messaging as well, you have to do all that. And in a race that is so close, if you’re talking about a couple of thousand votes here or there or maybe even a few hundred here or there, the strength of a ground operation I think really does make the difference. 

Jane Coaston: What do you think have been the most effective arguments to convince those swing voters or longtime Republican voters in districts like yours to vote for Democrats? 

Mike Levin: One is that we’re not trying to undermine free and fair elections. The Republicans that I knew when I was growing up in Orange County, California, the Reagan, Bush, Dole, McCain, Romney, Republicans. I don’t know what happened to that era. I mean, I see Vice President Harris out there campaigning with the Cheneys. It’s extraordinary. My opponent has actually fomented some of the election fraud claims. He’s originally from Wisconsin and he’s cast doubt on some of the 2020 election results from Wisconsin. On top of that, if you look at what Trump is offering with tariffs and massive tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations and mass deportation of millions and millions of people, the independent economic analysis out there suggests that that will lead to up to $10 trillion in additional debt and deficits over the next decade. And on top of it, higher inflation and potentially even recession. And on the other hand, I think the Harris Walz policies, the things that they’re promoting, like the 6000 child tax credit in the first year and actually making sure that we grow the economy from the middle out rather than from the top down. I hope that appeals to a lot of folks. 

Jane Coaston: California often gets overlooked by presidential campaigns outside of candidates coming for fundraising, but what more do you think the Harris campaign or the Democratic Party could be doing to help Democrats over the line in these very tight races? 

Mike Levin: Well, the Harris Walz campaign actually did send $10 million to help House Democrats win back the House. That’s huge. That’s unprecedented. And it’s a clear contrast with our friends across the aisle. So I think that at the end of the day, Vice President Harris has definitely done a lot in our campaign. We track the number of doors we’re knocking, the number of calls we’re making every week, really every day. And it’s the highest it’s ever been in the roughly, what, six weeks since Vice President Harris became our nominee. So, so long as we have that momentum for the next month or so, I think we’re going to be in very good shape. We’ve got the momentum. We’ve just got to sprint to the finish and good things will happen. 

Jane Coaston: Congressman Mike Levin, thank you so much for joining me. 

Mike Levin: Thanks for having me. 

Jane Coaston: That was my conversation with Congressman Mike Levin, who represents a swing district in Southern California. We’ll get to the news in a moment. But if you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts. Watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. [music break]

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Jane Coaston: And now the news. 

[sung] Headlines. 

[clip of Liz Cheney] I was a Republican even before Donald Trump started spray tanning. [laughter]

Jane Coaston: Former Republican Congressman Liz Cheney did something unimaginable on Thursday. She campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, and she did it in Ripon, Wisconsin, which some consider the birthplace of the Republican Party. Cheney is also the daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney. Remember him? Liz has been a vocal critic of Trump ever since the January 6th insurrection. And both Cheney’s endorsed Harris back in September. In Wisconsin on Thursday, she spoke about the importance of putting country over party. 

[clip of Liz Cheney] Donald Trump was willing to sacrifice our capital to allow law enforcement officers to be beaten and brutalized in his name and to violate the law and the Constitution in order to seize power for himself. I don’t care if you are a Democrat or a Republican or an independent, that is depravity and we must never become numb to it. 

Jane Coaston: Cheney then introduced Harris, who reiterated the importance of keeping Trump out of the Oval Office. 

[clip of Vice President Kamala Harris] And therein lies the profound difference between Donald Trump and me. He who violated the oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. And make no mistake, he who, if given the chance, would violate it again. 

Jane Coaston: Speaking as someone who lived in D.C. at the time, no one wants a repeat of the Capitol riot. Former first lady Melania Trump has a new book coming out on Tuesday, and the publicity around it has me wondering, has she ever met her husband? Here’s an example. Melania has been promoting her memoir with a series of videos on social media, including this one from Thursday, where she says she supports abortion rights. 

[clip of Melania Trump] Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard. Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right. That all women possess from birth, individual freedom. What does my body, my choice really mean? 

Jane Coaston: But her husband, former President Donald Trump, loves bragging about how he helped overturn the federal right to an abortion. She said something similar in her self-titled book, according to The Guardian, which obtained an early copy. But Melania Trump’s stance on abortion isn’t the only mildly interesting thing to come from her book. She also writes about how she told her husband to end his hardline family separation immigration policy. That was the 2018 policy that separated migrant children from their parents when they crossed the US-Mexico border without permission, even to claim asylum. In the memoir she writes, she told her husband, this has to stop. Personally, I’m guessing that what we’re seeing is less a new expression of altruism from Melania Trump and more abortion and separating children from their parents are really, really, really bad issues for Republicans. And hey, fun fact, she joins an unbroken line of Republican first ladies, going back to Betty Ford, who all privately or publicly supported abortion rights. Interesting. Israeli officials expanded their evacuation orders to residents in southern Lebanon Thursday. The move suggests the Israeli military intends to expand its ground offensive in the country against the Iranian backed militant group Hezbollah. Nearly 2000 people in Lebanon have died since fighting broke out after the October 7th attack. Most of those deaths have come in the last two weeks. That’s according to Lebanon’s health minister. Israel’s latest escalation in Lebanon comes after Iran shot almost 200 missiles into Israel on Tuesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate. And President Joe Biden said Thursday that there are ongoing, quote, “discussions” about a potential Israeli strike on Iran’s oil fields. Such an attack could have global implications in the price of oil and further destabilize the Middle East. Jurors in the federal trial of three former Memphis police officers for the lethal beating of Tyre Nichols in 2023 returned a mixed verdict on Thursday. They convicted all three officers for witness tampering during their cover up of the beating, but they were acquitted of the most serious charge, violating Nichols’s civil rights by causing his death. Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, gave her reaction to reporters outside the courthouse. 

[clip of RowVaughn Wells] This has been a long journey for our family, and I’m actually in shock right now because I still can’t believe all this stuff is going on. But we’re happy that they all have been convicted and they have been arrested. 

Jane Coaston: The former officers were taken into custody and their convictions carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison. Meanwhile, the officers still face trial in state court for second degree murder. The court date for that case has not yet been set. And in some good news for dockworkers and really all of us who love to shop. The union representing tens of thousands of longshoremen agreed to call off its walkouts at East and Gulf Coast ports on Thursday. The International Longshoremen’s Association said the decision came after a new wage offer from port employers. Citing anonymous sources, multiple news outlets report that port employers agreed to a more than 60% pay bump over the next six years. That’s lower than workers initially sought, but would still bring top wages up to more than $60 an hour by the end of the contract. The union also agreed to extend the existing contract through mid-January, while it negotiates the final details on a new one. Union members will still need to ratify any deal. The strike had threatened to hammer the economy weeks before the presidential election and the holiday shopping season. And that’s the news. If you’re a police officer in the United States, you have a ton of responsibility. Yes. But you also have immense and almost stupefying amounts of power. And some police officers are even willing to go to great lengths to wield power they don’t actually have. Case in point, if you live in New York City, you know that members of the New York Police Department have had a longtime habit of illegally parking squad cars while every other car owning New Yorker struggles with finding a place to park in the most densely populated city in America. NYPD officers park pretty much wherever they like, like in front of a fire hydrant or on the sidewalk. And this is not a new issue. Here’s a CBS New York report from four years ago. 

[clip of unnamed CBS news reporter] Every day, cars are blocking the bus stop and the placards in the windows say the vehicles belong to the NYPD. 

[clip of unnamed person interviewed by CBS] I have a disabled daughter who has a wheelchair, and a lot of times the cars are in the crosswalk so you can go on the sidewalk. 

Jane Coaston: So it stands to reason that a Brooklynite named Paul Vogel would call 311, the city’s complaint hotline to, well, complain. Leaving his name and number, along with complaints about police cars being parked illegally around his building. What doesn’t stand to reason is that in response, a NYPD officer named Brendan Sullivan would spend the next ten months harassing Vogel, calling him repeatedly and leaving the weirdest possible voicemails like this one, in which, for reasons I will never understand, he played dolphin sounds [clip of dolphin sound plays] or this one in which Officer Sullivan simply yelled Paul’s name and demands he pick up the phone.

[clip of Brendan Sullivan] Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul pick up.

Jane Coaston: I repeat, this was a police officer harassing a civilian because a civilian wanted the officer and his colleagues to stop breaking the law. Last month, Officer Sullivan was ordered to pay $500 to the city’s conflicts of interest board, and he lost 60 days of leave. In response, Sullivan said that the punishment was, quote, “pretty significant” for what are ultimately some prank calls. Nationwide, too many police officers and law enforcement officers have decided that not only do they have the right to break laws, they have the right to harass people who complain about it. And our courts have, through legal creations like qualified immunity, often decided that those officers should then be immune from civil penalties. But seriously, you harassed a man with dolphin sounds because you wanted to keep parking on the sidewalk? Come on. [music break]

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Jane Coaston: That’s all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe. Leave a review. Don’t leave weird messages for everyday civilians and tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading and not just doing research on what wild animals are and aren’t legal to own in California like me, What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston and justice for Nibi. [music break] What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded by Jerik Centeno and mixed by Bill Lancz. Our associate producer is Raven Yamamoto. Our producer is Michell Eloy. We had production help today from Ethan Oberman, Tyler Hill, JoHanna Case, Joseph Dutra, Greg Walters and Julia Claire. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison and our executive producer is Adriene Hill. Our theme music is by Collin Gilliard and Kashaka. 

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