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TRANSCRIPT
Jane Coaston: It’s Friday, January 9th, I’m Jane Coaston, and this is What a Day, the show that is thrilled to learn that President Donald Trump’s ballroom will be just as tall as the White House. Thrilled. Jazzed. Enthused. Invigorated. Just so happy. Can’t wait to tell my family. [music break] On today’s show, President Trump reportedly wants to bribe every citizen of Greenland with greenbacks. That’s right, cash money. And back in the U.S., New York City is taking baby steps towards universal child care. But let’s start with Minneapolis. On Thursday, protesters continued to gather in Minnesota’s largest city to stand up to immigration and customs enforcement after an officer fatally shot a woman on Wednesday. Here are protesters offering immigration officers some helpful advice.
[clip of protesters chanting] Quit your job! Quit your Job! Quit your job!
Jane Coaston: The victim’s name was Renee Good. She was a U.S. citizen, a parent, and a recent transplant to Minnesota. She is being remembered as a deeply loving person, her mother telling the Minnesota Star Tribune she was, quote, “one of the kindest people I’ve ever known.” But none of that has mattered to the White House, which has been slandering her memory. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Wednesday that Good’s actions constituted, quote, “an act of domestic terrorism,” and on Thursday, Vice President J.D. Vance defended the shooting during a press briefing blaming the media and I quote, “lunatic fringe for demonizing law enforcement officers.” He alleged that a shadowy leftist network was somehow responsible for an ICE officer shooting a mom at point blank range while she sat in a Honda pilot full of stuffed animals.
[clip of Vice President J.D. Vance] There’s an entire network, and frankly, some of the media are participating in it, that is trying to incite violence against our law enforcement officers. It’s ridiculous, it’s preposterous, and part of our investigatory work is getting to the bottom of it. Who’s funding it, who’s supporting it, who’s cheerleading it, and of course, if there’s illegal activity related to that, we’re going to get to the bottom of that and prosecute it where we can.
Jane Coaston: Gross. President Trump said both on Truth Social and to the New York Times that Good had run over an ICE officer with her car. Then he watched the video of the incident with reporters from the Times, which showed she did not, in fact, run over anyone and said, and I quote, “I, the way I look at it.” The administration doesn’t seem interested in avoiding any future violence either. According to local officials, two more people were shot by federal agents in Portland, Oregon on Thursday afternoon. This time reportedly by customs and border protection agents. So to talk more about Minneapolis and the administration’s disregard for Americans and American life, I spoke to Alex Wagner. She’s the host of Crooked Media’s podcast, Runaway Country. Alex Wagner, welcome back to What a Day.
Alex Wagner: I mean, and in person.
Jane Coaston: And in person!
Alex Wagner: Why us, this day?
Jane Coaston: Exactly.
Alex Wagner: But what a day it is!
Jane Coaston: What a Day. Let’s start with Minneapolis.
Alex Wagner: Yeah.
Jane Coaston: Vice President J.D. Vance gave a press conference on Thursday morning that was supposed to be about announcing a new assistant attorney general position focused on fraud. During that press conference, he slandered the victim of a shooting by an ICE officer in Minneapolis as a, quote, “victim of left-wing ideology” and said the victim was part of a, quote, “broader left-wing network to attack, to dox, to assault, and to make it impossible for ICE officers to do their job.” What was your take?
Alex Wagner: I think, and I’m with Adam Serwer from The Atlantic on this, the administration’s ability to do even sort of the basic function, the do no harm response is not even in their–
Jane Coaston: No.
Alex Wagner: –rolodex anymore.
Jane Coaston: There’s no like, you know, this is a tragedy. Let’s wait for more information.
Alex Wagner: Exactly.
Jane Coaston: It’s like they immediately got to, we got to make content for the worst right-wing people on the internet.
Alex Wagner: Well, we need to smear the memory of the–
Jane Coaston: Yeah.
Alex Wagner: –person who died here.
Jane Coaston: Yeah.
Alex Wagner: Because we know we might have done something wrong. Unless we be held in any way accountable here, let’s make it so that her death is a thing to celebrate. And the only way they can do that is by suggesting she’s a nefarious actor. I mean, you know you’re on the wrong side of things when Tom Homan, the Borders czar, is the one speaking in semi-measured tone saying, let’s see what the results of the investigation turn up. Um. But it’s part of a pattern of you know dehumanizing and directly suggesting that those who are of opposing ideologies in this country are worthy of not only punishment but now death.
Jane Coaston: My question for you because so much of your work, and we’ll talk about it in a little bit, is about talking to everyday people who are not super online and who are not super polarized, people who are everyday Americans and everyday folks around the world. Do you think that this propaganda is very effective? Like, the administration being like, actually ICE is amazing and this woman deserved to die. Like.
Alex Wagner: Yeah.
Jane Coaston: It didn’t work on me, but I’m curious as to whether it’s working on anyone?
Alex Wagner: I’m going to put it on my crazy cynic hat, and I think this is different because it involves a white woman, and, I think Americans have become very numb to the plight of Brown and Black Americans, um especially in the context of shootings by law enforcement, right? But I think that this is different because it’s a white women who’s a mom in a Honda in Minneapolis, and as much as we like to pretend that all unlawful deaths, unwarranted deaths–
Jane Coaston: Mmm.
Alex Wagner: –are cause for concern. That’s just not true in this country. We excuse or look the other way when it’s people who don’t look like us or don’t have the same backgrounds as us, the same socioeconomic status. And the fact that this is a woman who is every woman, every woman that knows a white woman.
Jane Coaston: Right.
Alex Wagner: Everyone who drives a Honda and touches on quote unquote “more universally American” um identification, at least in the eyes of the Trump administration. That’s why I think this resonates, right, that this is happening in Minnesota, which has a very large Somali population and is racially diverse, but I think is thought of as a you know sort of white suburban state where nothing ever goes wrong, well with the exception of some very bad racist violence. And also, look, I do think it supercharges interests when you have video. And the video, I don’t know, I’ve watched it many times from different angles. This woman isn’t trying to run over an ICE agent.
Jane Coaston: Right.
Alex Wagner: And I think that because it’s gone viral and because there is visual evidence to support the appalling crime, therefore it raises indignation to a different level than usual.
Jane Coaston: What do you think the events in Minneapolis can tell us about how this administration perceives blue states more broadly? It seems to me that the Trump White House thinks of blue states as less American and just more broadly criminal and undeserving, kind of like, you know, a satellite states they need to bring under control.
Alex Wagner: Yeah, I mean, I think you can just scratch the it seems to me, I think they do not believe that people that live in blue states hold quote unquote “American values.” It’s not a mystery, right? They’re this administration is acting explicitly to create almost a caste system.
Jane Coaston: Right.
Alex Wagner: Where blue states and blue residents are less than red states. And in this instance, suggest, not that subtly, that they’re deserving of death.
Jane Coaston: You know, to that point, Jesse Waters basically said that she had pronouns in her bio online and that she was gay.
Alex Wagner: Exactly.
Jane Coaston: And was just like, ipso facto, deserved to die.
Alex Wagner: Therefore exactly. I mean and and and, you know, honestly, in my most charitable moments, I think, okay, I’m going to accept the fact that the right wing is largely calling for the extermination of the opposition and try and think ahead to the moment when they lose power and what is incumbent upon progressives, Democrats, and people who like democracy, what they do, because the desire for retribution is going to be so pointed after three more years of this. Like this is unconscionable behavior. This is decidedly un-American behavior, what you’re seeing from this [?]–
Jane Coaston: It also it seems to be coming from people who firmly believe that they will never lose another election–
Alex Wagner: Well.
Jane Coaston: –ever again. And that like it’s interesting to me I mean I think that this is a more broad thought and we can get into it because I want to talk to you a little bit about Trump’s foreign policy adventures so much of this seems to be occurring in a way in which you would just assume that elections will never take place again and elections don’t matter and everyone’s already super into you. But also you’re a besieged minority.
Alex Wagner: Yeah.
Jane Coaston: Which I’m like these are all very difficult thoughts to hold in your head at once. But dang it the Trump administration can do it.
Alex Wagner: Yeah, totally. I mean, I was talking about this with Ben Rhodes for my podcast this week, and I don’t think we should wave away this notion that they have a hard time imagining they won’t be in power because I think it might also be a tell. Do they intend on giving up power? I mean this is the behavior of people who embrace autocracy and fascism and dictatorship. They’ve done it on many levels. And they are in some ways telegraphing, we’re not gonna lose power because we’re not gonna give up power. And that is my great fear, right? Like they’ve already suggested they’re gonna try and steal the 2026. They’ve tried to use the levers of government and the powers that they do rightfully have to try and sort of legitimately steal the 2026 election. God knows what’s gonna happen in 2028. Um. You know, I greatly worry about a party that and a leader that acts with so much impunity, Not because he’s a lame duck. But because he believes he is impermeable.
Jane Coaston: Right.
Alex Wagner: And that his party is and because it suggests to me that they no longer believe in representative democracy.
Jane Coaston: I mean, to that point uh Donald Trump told the New York Times Thursday that his power was restrained only by quote, “my own morality,” which does not sound good knowing literally anything about anything or about Donald Trump. But–
Alex Wagner: Does Donald Trump even have morality? I sort of wonder about that as well.
Jane Coaston: I’m I’m very curious about this. Um. But it’s interesting. Also, again, I’m so interested because so much of your show is about talking to everyday people about the events that have shaped our lives, the people who are kind of left in the middle and kind of left as the in some ways, I think in so many of our media, the flotsam and jetsam of the decisions that get made by really powerful people.
Alex Wagner: Yeah, and the people who were at the center of the stories that we’re covering [indistinct]–
Jane Coaston: Yes, exactly.
Alex Wagner: You know?
Jane Coaston: And so the people, you know, I just keep thinking about the people who keep being like cheerleading for war in Venezuela. And I’m like, you’re not going to have to go and your kids aren’t going to have to go.
Alex Wagner: Yeah.
Jane Coaston: And so I’m curious to hear from you about Trump’s foreign policy goals. What are they? And how much do you think he’s considering what everyday Americans want in the process? Like, because it just seems like he doesn’t care at all.
Alex Wagner: Okay, so this week on Runaway Country, my podcast, I talked to two Venezuelans to get their thoughts about this. And what was so interesting to me about one of them who’s here in the United States um with papers is she said, I’m really overjoyed about what happened.
Jane Coaston: Right.
Alex Wagner: I think you guys in the U.S. don’t understand the crushing brutality of Maduro and the degree to which we don’t give a shit if it’s U. S. imperialism, we need help.
Jane Coaston: Right.
Alex Wagner: This country is broken.
Jane Coaston: Which makes total sense.
Alex Wagner: And that desperation, I think, shouldn’t overlooked right like they obviously this person isn’t speaking for all Venezuelans, but they have hit such rock bottom that um I guess Viceroy Rubio seems like maybe not the worst outcome in the world.
Jane Coaston: Right.
Alex Wagner: Having said that, the plans that were released by the White House this week to effectively occupy Venezuela and steal their oil at gunpoint like that seems–
Jane Coaston: While also keeping the same people in charge.
Alex Wagner: In charge!
Jane Coaston: Like you’ve got roving gangs of militias.
Alex Wagner: Yes.
Jane Coaston: Stealing people’s phones to see if they’ve posted anything anti-Maduro and I’m like it’s the same thing!
Alex Wagner: Or anti-U.S.
Jane Coaston: Yeah.
Alex Wagner: Could be colectivos, who are a hallmark of the Chavez government and also of the Maduro government. I mean, it’s still fucking Orwell down there, right?
Jane Coaston: Yeah, it is.
Alex Wagner: Delcy Rodríguez, who has been named the vice president, who was the stooge of Maduro, is now running the country, presumably in the words of this administration, because she can like keep the peace. But there are so many huge questions about the stabilization of that country, whether we’re going to need to bring in U.S. military to keep the peace, what it actually means for the U.S. to be in that country given how anti-American the position of the military is at this state, you know, like, and the oil, like oil’s at $60 a barrel, Jane. Like there’s nobody, the oil companies don’t want to flood the market–
Jane Coaston: No.
Alex Wagner: –with oil. It’s going to take years to get the infrastructure back up and running. Jon Favreau thinks this is a jobs creation program for Americans who may be put out of work due to AI in five years. But the reality is, I don’t think there’s any political upside to this, aside from the sort of jingoistic imagery that the Trump administration is going to pump out with like Hegseth and, you know, whatever special ops forces taking a leader and throwing him in a tracksuit and–
Jane Coaston: –But I mean–
Alex Wagner: –on to court, but how long does that last? Like–
Jane Coaston: Right, it also seems like there has been so little effort put into this, like–
Alex Wagner: Well yes.
Jane Coaston: I’ll say this, like in 2002, there was some work being done. There were some, there were press conferences, you had Colin Powell going out like–
Alex Wagner: I was going to say. Colin Powell.
Jane Coaston: –holding vials.
Alex Wagner: We remember you.
Jane Coaston: We were going to Congress, they were putting in work. But–
Alex Wagner: They did.
Jane Coaston: Your show, to your point, is all about talking about the people at the center of our politics who often are not heard from. Right now, I feel deranged. I am furious. I am depressed. And I am so irritated that there are so many people in, like especially in our media circles, who I feel as if aren’t taking this seriously enough, or are thinking of it in terms of horse race politics.
Alex Wagner: Yeah.
Jane Coaston: And it makes me feel insane. So what is bringing you hope right now?
Alex Wagner: Listen, I think the media’s done a terrible job of covering the real grassroots resistance there is to this administration. I think the no king’s protest was a big fucking deal.
Jane Coaston: Yeah.
Alex Wagner: That got not nearly enough coverage in, not just because the media is lazy and not just because it’s overwhelmed by, you know, the sins of the Trump administration, but also it’s a sort of a headless movement that is not asking for a specific thing, which I don’t take issue with. It’s just I think harder for the media to ascribe the power that that movement has when the demand is not so explicit.
Jane Coaston: I also think that the media does this thing where they basically are like, well, most people who I hang out in my actual life agree with this, agree with no kings. So we cannot cover no kings because we already know too much about it.
Alex Wagner: We are no kings!
Jane Coaston: Yes, but I think that there’s a real sense for people, I mean, that’s why you got that like Trump voters and diners situation.
Alex Wagner: Yeah.
Jane Coaston: Where you have Republicans and Trump viewed as like a, you know, some sort of weird weather phenomenon and not as an entity that will face repercussions and there could then could be creating a backlash. But I’m just thinking about like there is a real opposition to everything that’s going on and you’re seeing it in Minneapolis, you’ve been seeing it in Chicago, you’ve been seeing it–
Alex Wagner: Yeah!
Jane Coaston: –all over the place.
Alex Wagner: And largely, let’s just say, citizen-led. And I think that 2026 is going to be a really interesting and important year for people who um you know stand in opposition to Trump and his values, because I do think Democrats are going to take back the House. And and you know I’m not sure about the Senate, but I think you’re going to have just more infrastructure of resistance from the top levels of government, which I think will help a moment where you have like a kind of big faceless citizen-led movement that doesn’t have the sort of tip of the spear action in Washington And so I mean, I don’t know is this hope? I guess this is my version of help for you, Jane
Jane Coaston: Alex, as always, thank you so much for joining me.
Alex Wagner: Thank you for having me, my friend.
Jane Coaston: That was my conversation with Alex Wagner, host of the Crooked Media podcast, Runaway Country. 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]
Jane Coaston: Here’s what else we’re following today.
[sung] Headlines.
[clip of Mike Johnson] On this vote, the yeas are 230, the nays are 196, the bill is passed, and while objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.
Jane Coaston: In a rare bipartisan moment, House lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that would extend the lapsed Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that expired late last year. Remember those? They made health insurance more affordable for millions of Americans. They also were the central sticking point for Democrats during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. A handful of Republicans joined Democrats to force the issue over GOP leadership’s objections. The 230 to 196 vote came after lawmakers used a discharge petition, a legislative tool that allows members to bypass Speaker Mike Johnson, putting on display his weak, waning grip on his caucus. The bill now moves to the Senate, where senators are also feeling the heat to reach a bipartisan compromise on enhanced subsidies. I guess as higher health care costs loom for millions, some Republicans, many facing tough midterms, suddenly found bipartisan cooperation more appealing. It’s almost like they could have realized this before shutting down the government and wasting billions of dollars for 43 days straight. Hmm. In a second showing of bipartisanship Thursday, the Senate took the rare step of telling President Trump to cool it. Lawmakers advanced a war powers resolution that would limit his ability to carry out future military attacks against Venezuela. But there’s a big old but. The measure would still need approval from the House, where a similar effort nearly failed last month. And you can almost hear Trump warming up his veto pen. So if it’s dead on arrival, why does it matter? It matters because five Senate Republicans joined Democrats in passing the resolution, meaning five Republicans didn’t fall into lockstep. California Democratic Representative Adam Schiff shared his reaction with What a Day’s Matt Berg.
[clip of Representative Adam Schiff] If the administration believes that we should risk the lives of American service members in order to secure the oil resources of another country, let them make that case. But I think we’re seeing increasing Republican uncertainty and concern over these uses of the military by the Trump administration around the world and the danger of getting bogged down in Venezuela.
Jane Coaston: Dare to dream, representative. President Trump hailed the vote as a moment of bipartisanship. I’m joking, of course. He ranted about Senate Republicans on Truth Social, saying, quote, “Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again.” CC, the Democratic party. So Republicans didn’t exactly stage a mutiny against the captain, but a few sailors did politely slip their concerns into the ship’s suggestion box.
[clip of Kathy Hochul ] This is the day that everything changes.
[clip of crowd cheering] Woo! [applause]
[clip of Kathy Hochul ] I am so proud to be here at the Flatbush Y to declare that New York State is open for families.
Jane Coaston: New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed their commitment to universal child care at a press briefing Thursday. The pair announced a plan to provide parents in New York City access to free child care for two-year-olds. Hochul also debuted a wider proposal to expand statewide access to child care in the coming years. Mamdani, whose campaign focused on affordability, told Crooked Media’s Pod Save America that New York is investing over $1 billion to help families with child care.
[clip of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani] And what that means at a tangible level is that we’re going to be fixing 3K here in New York City and delivering universal 2 care for every single two-year-old across the city in the next four years. And this is something that will transform the ability for working families to actually raise their kids here because it’s a city where up until today, child care has cost an average of $22,500 a year.
Jane Coaston: Officials said the proposal would first focus on high-need areas in the city before gradually expanding. Mamdani told reporters he expects the program to cover around 2,000 kids this fall. Donald Trump famously tried to buy Greenland in 2019. That failed. Now he may be trying to buy its people instead. Four sources told Reuters that U.S. officials have weighed offering cash payments to Greenlanders to massage them toward seceding from Denmark and potentially joining the U. S. While the exact details are unclear, internal discussions reportedly have included payments spanning from $10,000 to $100,000 per person. [?] leaders in Denmark and Greenland insist it’s not for sale. How the payments would work and what Greenlanders would be expected to give up in return is still very much an open question. But Trump’s strategy to acquire Greenland with that sweet, sweet cheddar offers a glimpse into how the U.S. could try to buy the island of just 57,000 people. Six billion dollars. That’s how much it would cost if Trump doled out $100,000 to every citizen of Greenland. So much for investing in the land of red, white, and blue. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has plans to meet with Danish officials next week to discuss options. So to our listeners in Greenland, if you get a 3 a.m. text from Trump asking what’s your Venmo, now you know why. And that’s the news. [music break].
[AD BREAK]
Jane Coaston: That’s all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, contemplate how in a conversation with the New York Times, President Trump referred to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance as kids, and they were wearing shoes he had bought them, and tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading, and not just about how Rubio is 54 years old and Vance is 41 years old, but remember, men are children forever while women become adults when they’re 10, like me, What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston, and side note, if my boss bought me, an adult, shoes, I would need to be put into a torture device before I’d admit that fact in public. [music break] What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producers are Emily Fohr and Chris Allport. Our producer is Caitlin Plummer. Our video editor is Joseph Dutra. Our video producer is Johanna Case. We had production help today from Ethan Oberman, Greg Walters and Matt Berg. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison and our senior vice president of news and politics is Adriene Hill. Our theme music is by Kyle Murdock and Jordan Cantor. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.
