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TRANSCRIPT

Jane Coaston: It’s Thursday, July 10th, I’m Jane Coaston, and this is What a Day, a show that salutes U.S. President Donald Trump on his firm command of the English language, which also happens to be the official language of the nation of Liberia, whose president met with Trump Wednesday. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] Well thank you, and such good English, such beautiful. Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where? Were you educated where? 

Jane Coaston: Rare is the president to whom I can say, oh honey, and yet here we are. [music break] On today’s show, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waltzes around Capitol Hill chatting with lawmakers, and the CEO of the platform formerly known as Twitter coincidentally quits just a day after Elon’s AI bot went full anti-semite. But let’s start with immigration. Earlier this week, federal agents descended on a park in the middle of Los Angeles in the middle of the day. They showed up on horseback in armored tanks carrying rifles, and of course most of them have their faces covered. Why? As of Wednesday, that still wasn’t at all clear. Here’s a dispatch from the local ABC News station, which was on the scene. 

[clip of unnamed ABC News reporter] And at times they just kind of stood there in formation lines. At other times they moved in unison throughout the park. Now from our vantage point we never saw those officers make any arrest, but we did see Mayor Karen Bass show up as she pressed the agents to get out of there. 

Jane Coaston: Okay so no arrests that we know of, no detentions, but shortly after the exercise or whatever it was, Gregory Bovino, a Customs and Border Protection Chief in Southern California, told the local Fox News station the country should get ready for more. 

[clipi of Gregory Bovino] Better get used to us now because uh this is going to be normal very soon. 

Jane Coaston: And that’s not out of the question. President Donald Trump’s big Republican spending debacle disaster adventure law explodes the budget for immigration and border enforcement. It includes around $170 billion to realize Trump’s mass deportation agenda, with $75 billion for immigration and customs enforcement specifically spread out over the next few years. ICE’s current annual budget is $8 billion. The bill will make ICE the most highly funded domestic law enforcement agency within the federal government. So what are they going to do with all that money? According to CBS News, around $45 billion will go to expanding detention facilities so that they can hold more than 100,000 people at any given time. And $30 billion is expected to go to funding the deportation process itself, hiring immigration officers and prosecutors and modernizing ICE’s fleet of deportation planes. And there’s still more money available, money for border patrol and Trump’s wall, money to reimburse states for their own immigration enforcement efforts, and a few extra billion for the Secretary of Homeland Security for reimbursement of quote, “costs incurred in undertaking activities in support of the Department of Homeland Security’s mission to safeguard the borders of the United States.” Sure. All of this is intended to fuel mass deportations, not of the evil criminals of the Trump administration’s fevered imagination, but of people without criminal records, the fastest growing population of people in immigration detention right now, a fact which popular podcast host Joe Rogan found surprising and horrifying in an immigration discussion last week. 

[clip of Joe Rogan] There’s two things that are insane. One is the targeting of migrant workers, not cartel members, not gang members, not drug dealers, just construction workers. Showing up in construction sites, raiding them. Gardeners. Yeah. Like really? 

Jane Coaston: Yeah really. Rogan has reportedly discussed the matter with Trump himself. One person who has actually been speaking out and standing up against ICE has been California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla. I spoke to him about ICE, how immigrants in California are feeling right now, and what Democrats can do to respond. Senator Padilla, welcome to What a Day. 

Alex Padilla: Thank you so much for having me. Crazy times we’re living in. 

Jane Coaston: Indeed. President Trump’s spending bill just gave the Department of Homeland Security $170 billion for immigration enforcement efforts and border security. What will this massive influx of cash to deportation operations mean for the country? 

Alex Padilla: Yeah, look, I’m glad you’re asking that question because there was a lot of attention on the budget reconciliation bill in terms of cuts, right? Cuts to Medicare, cuts to nutrition assistance programs, etc. Not enough attention on what this means for immigration enforcement and ICE activity. I mean, with this huge influx of money, they wanna make ICE the largest law enforcement agency in the country. A larger agency than the military of most other countries. All because they’re hell bent on detaining and deporting as many immigrants as possible. We’ve seen how cruel it’s been, you know how legal immigrants have been caught up, even United States citizens have been caught up uh in this uh overreach by the administration but they want more and uh till something changes it’s not only gonna be more but it’s gonna be worse. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah, I mean, to your point, after agents ascended on a park in a largely immigrant neighborhood in L.A. earlier this week, they were on horseback and armored tanks carrying rifles. Gregory Bovino, a Customs and Border Protection chief in Southern California, told a local Fox News reporter, quote, “better get used to us now because this is going to be normal very soon.” I just want to pause on that, because what he’s suggesting there is that armed federal troops storming around America’s cities. On horseback and with tanks, at minimum inciting fear, at worst rounding people up, is going to become an average day in America. I know this administration runs on bluster and fear-mongering, but also, what is stopping the White House from making that a reality at this point? 

Alex Padilla: Yeah, well, first of all, let’s not use the word normal because this is not normal. The fear and the terror that they’re striking into communities like Los Angeles is not normal and it’s certainly not right. You know, you mentioned MacArthur Park. Let’s talk about MacArthur park because I know MacArthur park. It’s an iconic park in Los Angeles. Before the tanks arrived, before the agents on horseback arrived, before the military weapons arrived. It was host to a summer day camp for kids. That’s what was going on there at the park. You know but despite the show, the spectacle that Donald Trump loves at the cost of who knows how much in taxpayer dollars, not one arrest, not one detention, but clearly escalating the fears in the community. So that’s what they’re signaling they wanna do across the country. And with the increase in funding because of the budget plans of Republicans in Congress. That’s what they want to bring to every corner of America. So we need the general public to continue to speak up, to continue to stand up, refuse to accept this as normal, and not just call your congressman, not just, you know, support an advocacy organization, but my god, if you’re eligible but haven’t registered to vote yet, register to vote. Spread the word amongst your friends, your family members, your co-workers, because the mid-term elections will be here before we know it. And that’s going to be the biggest way we can rein all this in. 

Jane Coaston: But Senator, is that it? Like, you know, vote in the midterms? That’s more than a year away, and I live in L.A. 

Alex Padilla: No, that’s not it. But when it comes to a check and a guardrail to reign in this administration, that’s a huge next step. In the meantime, we have to keep speaking up and demonstrating, right? Look, don’t be fooled. The White House certainly heard and felt the millions of people who were out there on no king’s day just a few weeks ago. And so my appeal to the people, not just in Los Angeles, but throughout the country is that cannot be a one and done. We have to keep marching, keep rallying. Keep organizing. Let’s help our immigrant brothers and sisters know their rights, because you have due process rights in the United States of America, despite your immigration status. Of course, the Trump administration doesn’t want you to know that, and people like, you know, the Homeland Security officials are not going to be the ones to remind you of that. So this is what community coming together needs to continue to do. 

Jane Coaston: What can Democrats do in Congress and in cities where we’re seeing this happen to gum up the proverbial works? Because as you are acutely aware, lawmakers are also facing threats. You were tackled at a press conference for trying to ask a question. 

Alex Padilla: Right. And so that’s been my appeal to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, but especially on the other side of the isle. Look, this can happen in any city in your state on any issue. This happens to be Los Angeles. It happens to be about immigrants rights, but Donald Trump will clearly try anything to quell dissent on any issue anywhere in the country. It’s a dangerous precedent. The mission of the Marines in his eyes was to liberate Los Angeles from the governor and the mayor. That’s a very dangerous notion to think that the president of the United States and any presidential administration could and should dictate which governors, which mayors should represent the people that voted them into office. So it’s very fundamental. We’re living in precarious times and people need to wake up. My colleagues need to wake up. 

Jane Coaston: On Tuesday, you introduced a bill with New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker to require federal agents to clearly identify themselves when engaging with the public. It would also prohibit them covering their faces. I’ve talked about this on the show. ICE agents covering their faces and not identifying themselves is not only a danger to everyone around them, it is also a danger to them because for understandable reasons, people will not react well to being thrown into a van by people wearing masks and in plain clothes. But can you explain a little bit more in depth what’s in the bill? 

Alex Padilla: Yeah, no, look, I appreciate that and the bill really is that straightforward. If you’re an ICE agent or another federal agent involved with this immigration enforcement activity, then you should have to identify yourself. You know, you can’t be masked up. Some exceptions, right, if it’s a covert operation going after a truly dangerous criminal or for a medical purpose or something like that. But short of something like, you can’t cover up your face. You should have to identify what agency uh you’re working with and if not your name at least a badge number or something for accountability purposes. This is already required of other federal law enforcement officials. This is already a requirement for so many state and local police agencies, but not ICE at least you know that’s been a gap in the law that we’re trying to fill now. 

Jane Coaston: I want to go back to something you said earlier. You said, my colleagues need to wake up. Can you expand on that? What do you mean? Like who isn’t awake to what’s going on right now? 

Alex Padilla: Yeah, well, clearly the other side of the aisle isn’t. What happened to me, and you’ve heard me, I think over the course of the last three weeks, continue to repeat. If this is how this administration responds to a United States Senator with a question, then imagine what is happening in corners across the country as these immigration raids are happening without cameras being on. My colleagues need to take that seriously because the only way to reign this in is for a co-equal branch of government to stand up and do its job. 

Jane Coaston: I mean, are you talking about fellow Democrats, too? Do you think that there are some of your colleagues in Congress of the same party who don’t understand what’s really going on here? 

Alex Padilla: Yeah, I think a lot of my Democratic colleagues have certainly have expressed their words of support, but depending on the state, this may be not happening in your state, at least not yet, because we know the immigrant community in the country is in every state in America and working in essential jobs in every sector of the economy. So if these raids aren’t happening in your state, it’s only a matter of time. We all need to care. We all to feel the urgency. 

Jane Coaston: It’s been about a month now of raids in LA, and many people, Latinos and immigrants and a whole bunch of people, are afraid to leave their homes. Religious officials are giving dispensation so that people don’t have to go to mass because they are so afraid of being arrested on their way to mass. It seems like a hopeless situation over here, but have people shared any glimmers of hope with you? 

Alex Padilla: Yeah, look, the fear is real, right? California is home. Los Angeles is my home. It’s where I was born and raised in an immigrant community. My parents came from Mexico in the 60s in pursuit of the American dream. So this is all very, very personal for me. You know, you’re touching on what I think is one of the cruel ironies of what’s happening here. We know that the vast majority of people that are being detained, that are being caught up, that have been deported, many without due process. Do not have criminal convictions or a dangerous criminal history. So who are they? Increasingly, it’s clear that it is maybe people who are undocumented, but have been in the United States for years, if not decades, working as my father did, as a cook in a kitchen or in landscaping or in agricultural fields or in construction or on and on and on. Out to the COVID-19 pandemic, these were all workers that were deemed essential workers by the Trump administration, part one, to cruel, cruel irony here. We have to keep organizing. We have keep resisting, protesting peacefully, preparing for the next election, and so much more. My message is really, look, keep the faith, because it’s tough times right now. We will get through this, but we have to keep organizing 

Jane Coaston: Senator Padilla, thank you so much for joining me. 

Alex Padilla: Thank you so much. 

Jane Coaston: That was my conversation with California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla. We’ll get to more of 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]

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: Here’s what else we’re following today. 

[sung] Headlines.

[clip of Benjamin Netanyahu] President Trump wants a deal, but not at any price. I want a deal but not at any price.

Jane Coaston: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waltzed around Capitol Hill Wednesday. He gave reporters an update on the war in Gaza and said he and Trump share common goals. 

[clip of Benjamin Netanyahu] We want to achieve the release of our hostages. We want to end Hamas rule in Gaza. We want to make sure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel anymore. In pursuing this common goal, we have a common strategy. Not only do we have a common strategy, we have common tactics. 

Jane Coaston: On Wednesday, he also chatted it up with a bipartisan group of senators and posed for a photo-up. Netanyahu, who arrived on Monday, has really been keeping busy in D.C. on this trip, snagging meetings with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and House Speaker Mike Johnson. He held multiple public and private meetings with President Trump. Trump has been pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza. Negotiating teams are working in Qatar to flesh out an agreement between Israel and Hamas. Trump told reporters at the White House Wednesday a cease-fire was on the horizon. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] Well, we’re talking about Gaza for the most part. I think we have a chance this week or next week. Not definitely. There’s nothing definite about war and Gaza and all of the other places that we all deal with so much. But there’s a very good chance that we’ll have a settlement, an agreement of some kind this week and maybe next week if not. 

Jane Coaston: Two weeks. It’s always two weeks. 

[clip of unnamed journalist] Sir, can you explain how you calculated your latest round of tariffs? Was there a formula that was used? And do you expect any of these countries to face tariffs as well? 

[clip of President Donald Trump] The formula was a formula based on common sense, based on deficits, based on how we’ve been treated over the years, and based on raw numbers. 

Jane Coaston: Trump still has few answers when it comes to his tariff policy. On Wednesday, he sent out another slew of tariff letters to countries including Brunei, Libya, Iraq, and Algeria. Brazil received an extra special letter from Trump threatening a 50% tariff, in part because of, quote, “the way that Brazil has treated its former president, Jair Bolsonaro.” Reminder, Bolsonaro is facing trial for allegedly attempting a coup. Hmm, wonder why Trump is so incensed about the whole thing? The administration’s initial push for 90 deals in 90 days didn’t exactly pan out. It was 80-ish deals short. So Trump signed an executive order Monday pushing back the deadline. In a post on Truth Social this week, our fearless leader reiterated, quote, “all money will be due and payable starting August 1st, 2025. No extensions will be granted.” We’ll check back in on August 1st. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune is hoping his colleagues are ready to move forward with new sanctions against Russia in an attempt to end its ongoing war on Ukraine. 

[clip of John Thune] I think it’s an important message to send, especially now, and I think it’s leverage that we need and that, frankly, the White House needs in their negotiations with the Russians. So in my view, the sooner we can execute on that, the better. 

Jane Coaston: Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson shared the sentiment, telling reporters, quote, “Vladimir Putin has shown an unwillingness to be reasonable and to talk seriously about brokering a peace.” Gosh, which is also totally true. As we are recording Wednesday evening Pacific time, Russia is raining missiles on Kiev. A bipartisan sanctions bill has already been written in the Senate. The bill has over 80 supporters and Thun says he hopes it will be ready for a vote before the August recess. At the same time. The Republican infighting over last week’s surprise Pentagon decision to stop some weapons shipments to Ukraine continues. The decision was quickly reversed by Trump earlier this week. Some are blaming the confusion on the Pentagon’s top policy chief, Elbridge Colby, who has reportedly pushed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to make several major decisions without consulting the White House. And he’s not making any friends by doing so. One source told Politico Colby is quote, “pissing off just about everyone I know inside of the administration.” A historically great way to keep your job in politics, especially when your boss’s catch phrase is, you’re fired. A lot is happening in the Twitter sphere, or as Elon Musk would probably call it, Xosphere, including the departure of the social media platform’s CEO on Wednesday. Let’s start with last week, when Musk said his AI chatbot, Grok, had been improved and that users, quote, should notice a difference when they ask it questions. And boy, did they ever. Grok appeared to go on an alt-right bender Tuesday. Here’s an example of one of Grok’s responses. Quote, [bleep sound] So, we can’t actually air what was said because it was that horrible. According to screenshots of posts that have since been deleted, Grok appeared to praise Hitler, allude to the Holocaust, perpetuate stereotypes, and make incredibly vulgar comments about real people. For example, screenshots showed the chat bot referring to itself as, quote, “MECHA HITLER.” I feel like that’s enough said. So who’s taking accountability for the new and improved rogue racist Grok? Certainly not Musk. He tried to deflect blame, writing in a post that Grok was, quote, “too eager to please users and was easily manipulated by them.” Musk said those problems were being addressed. Problem solved! Right? And that’s the news. [music break] One more thing, earlier this week, a reporter asked Donald Trump about Jeffrey Epstein. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy’s been talked about for years. You’re asking, we have Texas, we have this, we all of the things. And are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah, yeah we are. By now, you have probably heard more than you ever really needed to know about Jeffrey Epstein, the sex criminal billionaire who died in jail in 2019. As we discussed in the show this week, the Department of Justice announced Monday that there was no evidence Epstein kept a client list or blackmailed anyone, and that he did in fact die by suicide at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. I wasn’t going to write about this again. Then I saw that MAGA World is mad. Very very mad about all of this. And honestly, why wouldn’t they be? Because they have been told again and again and again and once again that Jeffrey Epstein was involved in trafficking young women to powerful elites who always just so happened to be Democrats, and that his many secrets resulted in his death. And those secrets would all be revealed someday. And yes, I know, Trump knew Epstein quite well, actually, and was photographed with him numerous times. But when have facts ever gotten in the way of malicious conspiracies? The Maga-right were told this by the very people now saying that actually Jeffrey Epstein lived and died just the way the federal government said he did in 2019, and that’s all there is to it. Here’s acting U.S. Attorney for the state of New Jersey, Alina Habba, speaking to Piers Morgan in February. And it’s this video that pissed me off enough to talk to you about it right now. 

[clip of Alina Habba] In Epstein’s case. It is incredibly disturbing. We have flight logs. We have information, names that will come out. 

[clip of Piers Morgan] Is it going to be shocking? 

[clip of Alina Habba] I don’t see how it’s not shocking that there were so many individuals that were hidden and kept secret and not been held accountable. Let’s talk about the reverse. I believe in accountability. 

Jane Coaston: Do you? And of course, there was also Attorney General Pam Bondi that same month speaking on Fox News. 

[clip of Fox News reporter Jesse] People are wondering, because you said last week that you have the Epstein files on your desk, is when can we see them and what’s taking so long to release them? 

[clip of Pam Bondi] I do. Jesse, there are well over, this will make you sick, 200 victims, 200 so we have well over, over 250 actually. So we have to make sure that their identity is protected and their personal information. But other than that, I think tomorrow, you know, the personal information of victims Other than that, I think tomorrow, Jesse, breaking news right now, you’re going to see some Epstein information being released by my office. 

Jane Coaston: We didn’t. We can keep going. Back in 2021, now Vice President JD Vance tweeted, quote, “What possible interest would the US government have in keeping Epstein’s clients secret?” Oh, adding, quote, “if you’re a journalist and you’re not asking questions about this case, you should be ashamed of yourself. What purpose do you even serve? I’m sure there’s a middle-class teenager somewhere who could use some harassing right now, but maybe try to do your job once in a while.” But that was then. There’s a lot of truly disgusting shit being done by the Trump administration right now. I know. But this bothers me a lot. Actually, it makes me fucking furious. Rather than focus on the women who survived Epstein’s abuse, or provide answers as to how he was able to abuse so many women, the MAGA-right spent more than half a decade using Epstein to accuse Democrats of being elite pedophiles, whose crimes could only be brought to justice by electing Donald Trump. And now, here we are. With markedly few answers to questions of how Epstein was able to commit his crimes so brazenly. And with an administration full of conspiracy theorists who suddenly don’t wanna talk about their favorite conspiracy theory anymore. [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, please let me cancel my old gym membership easily, 8th Circuit, and tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading, and not just about how the 8th circuit court of appeals throughout the click to cancel rule finalized during the Biden administration because we can’t have good things like me, What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston, and I just want to cancel my subscriptions without needing to talk to anyone with my mouth. [music break] What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producers are Raven Yamamoto and Emily Fohr. Our producer is Michell Eloy. We had production help today from 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 Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. [music break]

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