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Jane Coaston: It’s Tuesday, November 11th, I’m Jane Coaston, and this is What a Day, the show that lives in a country where millions of people might soon lose access to healthcare, but according to a whistleblower complaint, convicted child sex trafficker, Ghislaine Maxwell, received a puppy to play with at her minimum security prison camp in Texas. Poor puppy. [music break] On today’s show, the Supreme Court rejects a long-shot ask to consider overturning its landmark 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage. And President Donald Trump hands out early Thanksgiving pardons to Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and a whole flock of 2020 election conspirators. But let’s start with health care, the government shutdown, and a lot of Democrat on Democrat fighting. On Sunday night, eight Senate Democrats agreed to vote with Republicans on a plan to end the longest government shutdown in American history. With no guarantee of extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies, the entire shutdown was about in the first place. But according to New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan, this is a win! Or maybe the first step on the road to a win? 

[clip of Senator Maggie Hassan] So my Democratic colleagues and I have been ready to work on this issue, on extending these tax cuts, for months. With the government reopening shortly, Senate Republicans now finally have to come to the table, or make no mistake, Americans will remember who stood in the way. So, I urge Speaker Johnson to finally return the House of Representatives into session and quickly reopen the government. 

Jane Coaston: Virginia Senator Tim Kaine also expressed optimism and relief on Monday. 

[clip of Senator Tim Kaine] I got the first good night’s sleep last night that I’ve gotten since October one. Because I wasn’t worried about being able to look Capitol police in the eye when I walked in or what a furloughed federal worker would say to me at church or what somebody would say to me about their SNAP benefits. 

Jane Coaston: None of the senators who broke ranks face re-election in 2026, and two are retiring. So as you might be able to guess, their positivity was not shared by pretty much anyone else. Multiple Democratic members of the House, including California Representative Ro Khanna and Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib, have called for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step down from his leadership position. And California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom also had some strong words for Senate Democrats during remarks made at the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

[clip of Gavin Newsom] I worry now though, that it sounds like some of my colleagues and friends in the United States Senate, some of my Democratic colleagues, just decided that we’re playing by the old set of rules, not the new set of rules, and may have rolled over a little bit. 

Jane Coaston: And in case there was any doubt that the Democrats who struck a deal with Republicans will have little to show for their compromise, here’s Ward Smith and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talking with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday. 

[clip of CNN’s Jake Tapper] So you’re not committing to bringing up a bill that deals with the Obamacare subsidies before they expire. 

[clip of House Speaker Mike Johnson] I’m not committing to it or not committing to it. What I’m saying is that we do a deliberative process. That’s the way this always works and we have to have time to do that and we will in a bipartisan fashion. 

Jane Coaston: Sure. Among the toughest in the senators, who one could argue caved like spelunkers, was Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders. I spoke to Senator Sanders on Monday afternoon, ahead of a vote by the Senate to back a spending package that could end the government shutdown. Senator Sanders, welcome to What a Day. 

Bernie Sanders: My pleasure. 

Jane Coaston: You’ve spoken out against the deal that eight Democratic senators reached over the weekend to possibly end the shutdown. To me, it doesn’t do anything. It doesn’t include an extension on the ACA subsidies that Democrats have been demanding this whole time. What message do you think your colleagues are sending to the American public with this deal? 

Bernie Sanders: Well, let’s be clear. They are eight out of 47 people in the caucus. But what those eight people are saying is, look, we’re not prepared to stand up and take on Trump and the Republican Party, which up until this point, in an unprecedented way, has refused to negotiate anything. We think Trump is too strong, too powerful. We can’t do anything. Let’s end the shutdown. That’s the message that gets that’s getting out. I think that’s a terrible message. I think as Tuesday’s election showed, the American people are sick and tired of Trumpism. We are gaining more and more support. And certainly, to your point, uh what passage of this bill does, it will raise ACA premiums for over 20 million people and pave the way, we don’t talk about this enough, Jane, for 15 million people to be thrown off of Medicaid. And studies suggest that some 50,000 of those people will die every single year, because they no longer have healthcare. That’s what’s at stake here. 

Jane Coaston: Now as part of this deal, Republicans will guarantee a vote on extending ACA subsidies in the Senate. First of all, do you think that vote will happen? 

Bernie Sanders: Here in the Senate? Yeah, I think it probably will. But it doesn’t mean anything. And it’s this is what bothers me. It’s a totally bogus gesture. I trust everybody knows that we have two branches of the Congress, the Senate and the House. And what Johnson over in the House, the Speaker has been very clear about, of course he’s not going to allow that vote to take place. So you can win the vote here by 100 to zero, and people can jump up and down and talk about how great it is. Doesn’t mean anything. It’s going no place, period. 

Jane Coaston: Over the weekend, Republicans, including President Trump and Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, talked about alternatives to the ACA subsidies. Senator Cassidy proposed sending federal money directly to flexible spending accounts, which sounds like nonsense to me, but that’s what he said. Trump was less clear about how the money would be distributed because I don’t think he knows what health insurance is. [laughter] What do you make of these proposals? I’m asking you this, would you be willing to support any version of them? 

Bernie Sanders: No. Well, you know, when you were speaking, you reminded me of of you remember during the debate that Trump had with Kamala Harris during the campaign and somebody asked about health care and he says, well, we are contemplating, we’re working on a proposal. He was president for four years, had four more years to think about it, running again and today, they do not have any serious proposal, all right? So let’s talk about healthcare for one second. All right, can we do that? 

Jane Coaston: Absolutely! That’s what I’m here for! 

Bernie Sanders: Alright, lets do it. The function of the current health care system is to make the insurance companies and the drug companies very rich, it is succeeding. But for the average American, it is a total complete failure. So where do we go from here? What we need to do, and I wish I could be more original than I am, is to learn from every other major country on earth. I live 50 miles away from the Canadian border. Okay, Jane. If you’re in Canada, you’re a Canadian citizen, you have a heart transplant, you have serious surgery, okay? You’re in the hospital for a month. Do you know what the bill is? 

Jane Coaston: I believe it is zero. 

Bernie Sanders: It is zero, unless I gather you parked your car in the parking lot and then you’d have a fee for parking. Other than that, it is zero. If you go for cancer treatment, it is zero. And you know how much they spend per capita, per capita compared to us, half as much. So the next question is, okay, the rest of the world is doing it, why aren’t we doing it? Well, then you’re into a corrupt campaign finance system. In which the drug companies, drug companies themselves have 1,800 paid lobbyists right here in Washington, D.C. Insurance companies have all kinds of lobbyists. They make huge amounts of campaign contributions. So what you’re dealing with is not a healthcare debate, but really a political debate as to whether elected officials have the guts to stand up to the insurance company and the drug companies. 

Jane Coaston: Senator Sanders, you’ve been talking about Medicare for all for years. And, you know, to your point, and especially because I think that something that struck me about this past election was the way in which you started to hear Republicans saying like, it’s time to take on insurance companies. It’s time to take on big pharma. And then they didn’t do any of it because they didn’t mean any of it. 

Bernie Sanders: Right. 

Jane Coaston: But that’s neither here nor there. But since Medicare for All is not likely to pass while Republicans control the White House and Congress, because of all the reasons you’ve pointed out. What alternatives to Medicare for All would you like to see in the meantime? Are there short-term solutions beyond extending the ACA subsidies? 

Bernie Sanders: Well, Jane, we have to at this particular moment, we have to, at least for a year, extend the ACA subsidies, or else it will be a disaster for so many people. And throwing 15 million people off of Medicaid is really incredibly cruel. So you’ve got to do that. But what I would hope and it’s important to understand that when I talk about Medicare for all, it’s not that on you know next Thursday we’re going to transform the entire healthcare system. It is a five-year transition period. All right, you tell me, all right, will the American people support a first year which says, okay, what we’re gonna do is lower the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 55. What do you think? You’re a good politician. 

Jane Coaston: I think that they would get into it especially if the alternative is their health care premium spiking like immediately. 

Bernie Sanders: Right, right so I think they would. And then we say in the first year, let’s include all of the children, all people under 18. And the next year we go from 55 down to 45, following year 45 to 35. In other words, it gives the system time to work out the problems. It’s not a one day transition. So I think that is the direction we have got to go. And that is why I am working really very hard to see that we elect candidates to the United States Senate and the House of Representatives who are strongly supportive of Medicare for all. 

Jane Coaston: I mean, to that point, you endorsed Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan in her state’s Senate primary race. You’ve also endorsed Senate candidates in Michigan and Maine. How do you decide when to weigh in on these types of races, and is support for Medicare for All the main factor for you?

Bernie Sanders: It is for me. It’s not the only factor, but it is the main, all three of those candidates support Medicare for all. And in fact, in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed is a doctor. He’s a medical doctor. He wrote a book. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. We’ve had him on the show. He’s great. 

Bernie Sanders: The book is called Medicare for All. So he knows a little bit about the subject. And those are the kinds of folks that we need in the U.S. Senate. I think we have you know above and beyond healthcare. What goes on in this country is I think people feel so beaten down politically that we don’t ask the simple questions. And that is we are the richest country on earth. We got a guy, Mr. Musk, who’s on his way to become a trillionaire. And you’ve got millions of families struggling to put food on the table. Why is that? Why is that? And people, I think, you know, just have a lot of ways have given up. And we’re trying to bring those folks into the political process to say things like, healthcare for all is not a radical idea, it exists all over the place. That’s kind of what we’re trying to do without political movement. 

Jane Coaston: Well, Senator, I think to your point, I was, I’ll tell you a little story. I was at church this past weekend and I was hearing from people at my church who were talking about SNAP and they were talking about healthcare premiums. And they were about how this very issue is so direct to so many people. And, you know, it seems small ball to even ask you this, but do you think the millions of Americans who’s healthcare premiums, like the people I go to church with, the people I’m around every day, they’re about to spike. Can they realistically expect any help from Congress for the coming year? 

Bernie Sanders: Uh yesterday’s vote was a real step backwards. I can’t say, I mean, it depends on how effective we are in rallying the American people, but that’s what yesterday’s vote was about. So we’re not giving up by any means. The worst thing in the world is that I want to see is people in your church and all over this country saying you know what, nothing we can do the you know Trump and his billionaire friends are just too powerful. We’ll just have to gonna get by. I wanna, from the bottom of my heart, I want us to regain the hope and the belief that we can’t do great things. We can, you know, we’re smart people. We are, God knows a hardworking people. But we gotta begin to understand and work to make sure that we just don’t have a political system and an economy that works for Elon Musk and his friends. Rather than ones that work for all of us. 

Jane Coaston: Now, some Democrats have called on Senator Chuck Schumer to step down as minority leader over this vote, over the defection from moderate Democrats to end the shutdown. Do you still support him as minority leader? 

Bernie Sanders: That’s not a question of supporting him. I’m a little bit at a disadvantage. I’m not even a Democrat. I’m an independent caucusing. 

Jane Coaston: Right. 

Bernie Sanders: Within the Democratic Party. But the question is fine. If Schumer were to resign, who would take his place? The issue is not the personality of Chuck Schumer. The issue was, you know, Chuck is part of the Democratic establishment. That’s no secret. And so are, you know, that is what most of, or many of my caucus members are as well. So to replace Chuck with somebody else whose views are not different, that doesn’t make a whole lot of difference. What I am trying to do is to change the nature of the Democratic caucus so that we have leadership which is progressive. We’re not there yet by any means. That’s why I’m working so hard on trying to win Senate races and in the House as well. 

Jane Coaston: Senator Sanders, thank you so much for your time. 

Bernie Sanders: Well, thank you very much, Jane. Take care. 

Jane Coaston: That was my conversation with Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders. 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 President Donald Trump] I like them, I get along with them, the president, the new president of Syria, and we’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful because that’s part of the Middle East. We have peace now in the Middle east, first time that anyone can remember that ever happening. [applause]

Jane Coaston: No, we don’t. But President Trump declared it so after hosting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday, the first ever visit by a Syrian president to the White House. It’s a significant 180 for the former militant who Trump appeared to welcome with open arms. U.S. Officials said Monday that Syria has joined the U.S. led global coalition to fight the Islamic State group, according to the Wall Street Journal. Al-Sharaa was named the country’s interim leader in January after rebel forces toppled Bashar al-Assad’s brutal government last December. But al-Sharaa once had ties to al-Qaeda, as well as a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head. Nonetheless, Trump told reporters after their meeting Monday that he has confidence in the new Syrian president. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] We want to see Syria become a country that’s very successful and I think this leader can do it. I really do. I think this leader can do it and people said he’s had a rough past, we all had rough pasts, but he has had a rough past and I think frankly if you didn’t have a rough past you wouldn’t have a chance. 

Jane Coaston: Some pasts are like al-Qaeda rough, but I digress. Trump and al-Sharaa’s Oval Office meeting was closed to the press, but we know what was on the Syrian leader’s agenda. A permanent repeal of sanctions known as the Caesar Act, imposed on Syria during Assad’s rule. Trump waived sanctions in May, and on Monday, the Treasury Department suspended them for another 180 days. A permanent appeal would require an act of Congress. The Supreme Court has rejected a call to consider overturning its landmark 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Without comment, the justices turned away the appeal on Monday. That appeal was brought by Kim Davis, a former Kentucky court clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same – sex couples after the high court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which recognized a constitutional right to gay marriage. Davis had been fighting a lower court order that she paid $360,000 in damages and attorney’s fees to a couple she denied a marriage license. Time to get a hobby, Kim! Pack it up. Legal experts had noted the appeal by Davis was a long shot, but nonetheless, it still caused anxiety among many Americans. Davis’ lawyers repeatedly invoked the words of Justice Clarence Thomas, who has called for erasing the same-sex marriage ruling. Thomas was among four dissenting justices in 2015. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito are the other dissenters who are still on the court today. Alito has continued to criticize the decision, but he said recently he was not advocating that it be overturned. Sure. 

[clip of Hakeem Jeffries] Well, Donald Trump, in terms of the exercise of his pardon power and commutations, is completely and totally out of control. 

Jane Coaston: Exactly my sentiment, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Convicted felon Donald Trump has pardoned his former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, his one-time chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and a slew of others accused of backing Republican efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Can he do that? Yes, but it only applies to federal crimes and none of the dozens of allies named in the proclamation were ever charged federally. The pardons underscored Trump’s continued efforts to promote the idea that former President Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election. He did! Courts around the country and Trump’s own attorney general at the time found no evidence of fraud that could have affected the outcome. Among those pardoned were Sidney Powell, an attorney who promoted baseless conspiracy theories about a stolen election, John Eastman, another lawyer who pushed a plan to keep Trump in power, and Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who championed Trump’s efforts to challenge his loss. Ed Martin, The Department of Justice’s point man on pardons linked his announcement of the pardon Sunday night to a post on Twitter that read, quote, “no MAGA left behind” because no one is above the law unless they’re a MAGA Republican. The shutdown continues to impact the skies, as the Federal Aviation Administration pushes ahead with deeper cuts to flights at dozens of major U.S. Airports. Airlines canceled nearly 5,500 flights since Friday, with one in ten flights nationwide scrapped on Sunday alone. Staffing is collapsing as unpaid air traffic controllers near their second missed paycheck and more retire or quit by the day. Some controllers can’t afford childcare, while others are moonlighting as delivery drivers, or even selling plasma to pay their bills. Ever the motivator in a time of selling bodily fluids, President Trump hopped on Truth Social to demand that controllers, quote, “get back to work now,” and floated a $10,000 bonus for those who stayed on the job without taking leave, while threatening to dock the pay of those who did. And the cuts are only accelerating. The FAA-ordered flight reductions jump from 4% to 6% today, and to 10% by week’s end, at a time when fliers are understandably anxious. Delta pilot Captain Christopher Pennington took to the intercom to deliver a reassuring pre-flight speech to passengers on a flight to Raleigh, North Carolina on Thursday. 

[clip of Christopher Pennington] I know we probably have quite a few nervous fliers today. It is perfectly understandable. I want to emphasize this aircraft does not move a single inch unless both my co-captain Michael and myself are absolutely certain it’s safe to do so. To top that off, before I left the house on this trip, my little one has learned the word ice cream and she made me make sure I promised her to get her ice cream when I get back home from the trip. That being said, nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing unsafe, comes in between me and that little girl and her ice-cream. 

Jane Coaston: Good for Captain Pennington. 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 the many mysteries of our universe as seen through the eyes of Donald Trump, and tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading, and not just about how: 

[clip of President Donald Trump] Nobody knows what magnets are. 

Jane Coaston: Like me, What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston. And would you be surprised to know that this is not the first time Trump has displayed an impressive lack of knowledge about how magnets work? Here he is in January, 2024. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] Now, all I know about magnets is this. Give me a glass of water. Let me drop it on the magnets. That’s the end of the magnets. 

Jane Coaston: Magnets do, in fact, work under water. [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 video editor is Joseph Dutra. Our video producer is Johanna Case. We had production help today from Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Caitlin Plummer, Tyler Hill, and Ethan Oberman. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison, and our senior vice president of news and politics is Adriene Hill. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. [music break][AD BREAK]