Original subtitles

(upbeat music)

Good morning everyone.

Welcome to the Down Lemon Show,

Hot Topics, 10 a.m. Eastern time.

I wanna start with something

that's gonna be very helpful for you,

especially now during the fall season

because a lot of people are gonna be out and about

and they're going to be doing their fun things, okay?

So let me tell you about something

that's gonna be a game changer for you.

It's a game changer for me.

Support for the show comes from Z-Biotics.

You don't have to tell you about this product

that I used before at Night Out with drinks.

It's called Pre-Alcohol.

Z-Biotics is the world's first

genetically engineered probiotic

and is invented by PhD scientists

to tackle those rough mornings after drinking.

So here's how it works.

When you drink, alcohol converts

into a toxified product in your gut.

That buildup, it's not dehydration.

That's what causes those rough mornings.

So Pre-Alcohol creates an enzyme

that will help break that down

so you can wake up feeling fresh and at your best.

I first tried it, you guys know.

I told you about it when I first tried it

and they became a sponsor.

Tried it for a dinner party.

It was a friend's birthday party.

Couple glasses of wine and the next morning

I was sharp energized and ready to do this very show.

So follow me is games, tailgates, celebrations.

So before you raise that glass,

make Z-Biotics your first drink of the night.

Go to zbiotics.com slash lemon.

Use the code LEMON for 15% off of your first order.

It's backed by a 100% money-back guarantee.

No questions asked.

Zbiotics.com slash Don Lemon.

So good morning, everybody.

Welcome to the show.

I'm gonna get right to it

because we have a very special guest.

As you know, we are into a week of the shutdown

and it is, I believe it's six days, maybe seven days.

And Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries serves

in New York's 8th congressional district

and helms the House Democratic Caucus.

He is here with us this morning.

Good morning, Leader Jeffries.

Morning, Don, great to be with you.

Look, we are honored to have you on this morning.

Thank you so much.

What do we, is this day seven?

It's day seven.

Day seven of Donald Trump shutdown,

day 262 of the chaos that the Trump administration

has been visiting on the American people since January 20th.

Is there any movement whatsoever to reopen

or any negotiations, anyone,

are they moving in your direction?

Have the president and the speaker of the House

even reached out about restarting negotiations?

You know, there's been no outreach from the president,

from the vice president, from Mike Johnson,

from John Thune, from any Republicans on the Hill directly.

They basically have gone radio silent

ever since the Oval Office meeting

that took place last Monday.

In fact, their behavior has been unserious since that point,

including the president trying to flood the zone

with deep fate.

Videos make threats, canceling projects, threatening us,

but Democrats aren't backing down

because we're standing up for the healthcare

of the American people.

At the same time, we've repeatedly said,

we'll sit down with anyone, any time, any place

in order to reopen the government,

to pass a spending bill that actually makes life better

for the American people,

and of course, to address the Republican healthcare crisis

that's devastating people all across America.

So why won't they do it?

What's their excuse, Leader?

You know, it's interesting because they talk a big game,

but then there's no willingness to actually sit down

and have a discussion in good faith

to try to find the common ground necessary.

I think they know their position is indefensible.

Basically, Don, I think they wanted

to shut the government down,

and they thought that Democrats would then back down.

But we've made clear,

this is a devastating healthcare crisis

that they've inflicted on the American people.

Largest cut to Medicaid in American history,

hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based health centers

all across the country are closing down

because of what Republicans have done

in their one big, ugly bill.

They've triggered a possible cut to Medicare of $536 billion

if Congress doesn't act by the end of the year.

And of course, given their refusal

to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,

tens of millions of Americans are about to experience

dramatically increased premiums, co-pays, and deductibles

for their healthcare that's gonna bankrupt some people

or deprive them of the insurance they need for themselves,

their children, and their families.

Leader Jeffries, I wanna play something.

This is from your Republican counterpart yesterday,

Speaker Mike Johnson, saying that House Republicans,

in fact, that Republicans are the Republican Party

is a party that cares about healthcare.

Let me play the clip and then I'll get your response.

Here it is.

So they created a red herring.

A red herring is a distraction.

They decided that they would pick a fight on healthcare.

Let me look right into the camera and tell you very clearly,

Republicans are the ones concerned about healthcare.

Republicans are the party working around the clock every day

to fix healthcare.

We're not, this is not talking points for us.

We've done it.

A big part of the one big, beautiful bill,

the Working Families Tax Cut, was to fix healthcare.

Healthcare is broken in America.

It's too expensive.

The quality of care needs to rise.

We need more access for more people,

and we have lots of ideas to do that.

But that issue is for debate in the next few three months.

It always was.

We have members working on that.

What do you say to that?

This is my thing.

I don't hear so much, Leader Jeffries,

them talking about, this is about transgender people,

or this is about giving, you know, Cadillac, I don't hear.

I think you guys have pushed them into having,

you forced them into having,

to have a discussion about healthcare,

and that's an uncomfortable spot for them.

I think that's absolutely correct, Don.

Initially, they came out of the gate

lying to the American people, as they always do,

trying to actually make this

about something that it's not about.

It's about the healthcare of the American people,

and the fact that Republicans

have launched this devastating attack

that has impacted people in rural America,

working class America, urban America,

black and brown communities all across America,

small town America, and the heartland of America.

And Mike Johnson, it's interesting to me,

he says there's time to deal with the healthcare crisis

that they've created,

when the Affordable Care Act tax credits

and their unwillingness to extend them,

the open enrollment period starts in a few weeks,

and notices are going out right now

to tens of millions of people,

including many of your listeners,

indicating that your healthcare costs

are getting ready to go up dramatically,

in an environment where the cost of living

is already too high.

Donald Trump and the frauds connected to him,

they promised to lower the high cost of living on day one,

but we know costs aren't going down, they're going up.

Electricity builds through the roof,

rent through the roof, housing costs out of control,

grocery prices too high,

and now they wanna jam these massive

healthcare premium increases

down the throats of the American people,

and it's just not acceptable.

And Democrats have made that clear.

This is the president commenting on the state

of the shutdown yesterday.

To me, it's pretty incomprehensible,

I wanna know what you think,

here's the president in the Oval Office.

So now Mr. President, if a vote today failed

from the Senate, will that trigger layoffs?

It could, at some point it will,

and the Democrats are the ones that started this,

and if you think about it,

it's about healthcare to a large extent,

it's about we want great healthcare for people,

we don't wanna give the money away to other people

that come pouring into our country,

and they've already poured it,

because nobody's coming into our country,

now we have the border totally stopped.

In fact, numbers we just announced again,

we're at another zero,

so we have zero for four months in a row,

zero people coming into our country illegally,

and that's a pretty good number.

I'm not sure, even I can believe that Doug,

if you wanna know the truth, zero.

We went from millions of people to zero,

but it's pretty close to that number,

and we, the way you stop them is not to give away,

not to announce that you're giving everybody

free healthcare, free this and that,

but what that does is it affects the American people,

because the American people are unable

to get good healthcare.

Obamacare has been a wreck, as you know,

and to do that, we have to keep it propped up,

and do the best you can with it, it's a mess.

But a lot of things are going on in that,

we talk about Hamas,

then we talk about negotiations

that we have going on right now.

We have a negotiation going on right now

with the Democrats that could lead to very good things.

What kind of things are we talking about?

And I'm talking about good things

with regard to healthcare.

Are you speaking with democratic leaders?

What kind of decisions do you want?

Well, I don't wanna say that,

I don't wanna say that,

but we are speaking with the Democrats,

and some very good things could happen

with respect to healthcare.

What is he talking about?

That's a good question, I have no idea,

because I've gotten no outreach from the White House

since the meeting, notwithstanding the fact

that we repeatedly have said,

and I'm not hard to find here in Washington all week,

last week, and we'll continue to be in Washington

to reopen the government,

so we can stand by our hardworking

federal public servants,

but we need to actually enter into a spending agreement

that helps the American people,

as opposed to hurting the American people.

What we've seen from the Trump administration

and Republicans on the Hill,

is that they're practicing what I would call

legislative insanity.

They have now tried to pass

the same partisan Republican spending bill

that guts the healthcare of the American people five times,

and it's been rejected five times,

because Democrats in the House and Democrats in the Senate,

led by Chuck Schumer, are holding the line,

yet they continue to bring this bill to the floor.

It's the classic definition of insanity,

doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

Now it's interesting that they now acknowledge

that healthcare is a serious issue.

You know, in that White House meeting,

Speaker Johnson said, "It's extraneous."

I said, "Healthcare is extraneous, excuse me,

"it's not extraneous, it's central

"to the well-being of the American people,

"particularly as it relates to trying to deal

"with the cost of living crisis that Republicans

"have made worse in this country."

I wanna put this up, that I saw,

"Dear Speaker Johnson," it says,

"I write to challenge you to a debate on the floor

"of the House of Representatives any day this week

"in prime time broadcast live to the American people."

And then you go on, you're challenging him and it's signed,

Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic leader.

No response to that, to your challenge, to debate.

That's pretty good, I would like to see that.

And maybe we can get you to be the moderator, Don.

He has not responded formally.

He has, I think at his press conference yesterday,

they indicated that that's theatrics.

Really, theatrics?

They refuse to sit down to negotiate privately,

they can't defend their position privately.

And so my point was defend your position publicly.

We will, we're ready to do it,

we're standing on the side of the American people.

Our view is pretty simple, cancel the cuts,

lower the cost, save healthcare.

Their initial position was they're just lying

to the American people and we've dismissed that reality

because this is not about trying to provide healthcare

to undocumented immigrants because the law prohibits that.

And that's been pointed out repeatedly.

And so I don't get, it's very interesting to me,

Republicans canceled votes this week in the House

after canceling votes last week.

Democrats are on Capitol Hill on duty,

Republicans are on vacation.

This is crazy.

We're in a shutdown and they are on vacation

all across the country and the world.

So the least that they could do, Don, in my view,

is that the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson,

defend your position on the floor.

And then the American people can understand

what this shutdown is all about

and what the Republican refusal

to address the healthcare crisis

that they've created is all about.

So just real quickly before, no progress.

You have not heard from them.

They're on vacation and we're just waiting right now.

People, I don't know if you're looking in the comments,

people are like, we stand with Jeffries,

don't back down this time.

Democrats, toe the line, hold the line.

Are you going to back down?

Well, I think what Donald Trump and the Republicans

have encountered is Brooklyn, Hakeem.

So the reality is we are of course going to hold the line,

by the way, as House Democrats did in March

and as Democrats did in the House and the Senate

against the one big ugly bill,

which let's remember the largest cut to Medicaid

in American history.

This is what Republicans did.

Then they ripped food out of the mouths of children,

families and seniors in order to reward

their billionaire donors with massive permanent tax breaks.

The Democratic position is, okay,

if you can pass tax breaks for the wealthy,

the well-off and the well-connected

to subsidize the lifestyles that are rich and shameless,

your donors, Republican donors,

you're trying to tell us that we can't extend

Affordable Care Act tax credits

to benefit working class Americans,

everyday Americans, middle-class Americans,

black and brown Americans all across the country.

That's why they're running scared.

They want to defend that position

because it's indefensible.

Well, if you look at, I mean,

if you look at the polls, the latest full CBS You Got poll

found that 39% of respondents believe

that Trump and congressional Republicans deserve

most of the blame for the shutdown,

30% that blame Democrats.

I went out and I spoke to people on the streets of New York

on Sunday night and to every single person said

that it was the Republicans' fault.

I want to move in, I want to talk about what's happening

in Portland and Chicago and on the streets of some cities

here in the United States.

Some of them have been really quite frightening.

I just want to play this match that my team found

and I want to get you to respond to it.

Leader, here it is.

(dramatic music)

(whistle blowing)

Fuck you bitch, fuck you.

Fuck you bitch, fuck you motherfucker.

He's not doing anything, you're saying nothing.

Oh my God.

Go, go.

(crowd chattering)

So Leader, you see police officers being tear gassed

by the so-called federal agents that are out there.

You see citizens being roughed up, there's no due process.

They won't even show warrants.

What is going on here?

Have we slid into fascism?

Yeah, you know, the Department of Homeland Security

is out of control, the so-called Secretary of Homeland

Security out of control and unleashing these massed

ICE agents in such an extreme fashion on the American people

and on law abiding immigrant communities is totally

out of control, which is why the American people

are rejecting it.

And so we're going to continue to stand by the law abiding

people in Portland, in Chicago, in Washington, D.C.

and in other parts of the country in the face of what is

being unleashed on them by our own government.

And the American people know local law enforcement

should be supported, but they don't want to see American

military troops occupying American cities or towns

or counties.

I'm thankful that we've seen the governor of Oregon

and the governor of Illinois stand very strong

against the actions of the Trump administration.

And we will continue to support them every day, every week,

every month, until this type of tyranny ends.

You know what occurred to me is that would you ever

consider, for example, using the government shutdown

negotiations to demand that ICE agents stop going into

communities with masks on, terrifying families and children?

Well, one of the things that I think we definitely need

to do is hold the extremism of the Trump administration

accountable.

This particular fight has been about healthcare,

but it's also about all of the things, because what we've

seen from the beginning of this administration is the

unleashing of an extraordinary attack on the economy,

attack on healthcare, attack on nutritional assistance,

attack on the rule of law, attack on law abiding immigrant

communities, attack on civil rights and voting rights on

the American way of life and on democracy itself.

And so I think we're in a more is more environment and we

just have to continue to stand up, do more, push back

aggressively in defense of the American people and the

American way of life.

And that's what you can expect from House Democrats and

Senate Democrats as we move forward.

Yesterday I spoke with Congresswoman-elect

Edelita Grijalva from Arizona.

She came to Washington this week expecting to be officially

sworn in by the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.

Why has he not done so?

He's declared this, I believe, an official work week,

I think this week or next week.

Is it just because she plans to vote for the release of

the Epstein files?

What is this all about?

Yeah, that's our view at the moment.

There's no rational reason why Representative Elect Grijalva

has not been sworn in.

There was what we call a pro forma session on the floor of

the House of Representatives yesterday.

Republicans this year have been sworn in as members of

Congress in those pro forma sessions,

but Republicans refused our demand to do so yesterday.

We're gonna continue to make that demand.

It appears that because Representative Elect Grijalva

has promised that she's gonna be the 218th signature on

what we call a discharge petition that will force a vote

on releasing the Epstein files.

And we know from the beginning that House Republicans,

along with Donald Trump and the administration,

despite promising to release the Epstein files,

have done everything to cover it up.

And so in addition to not being able to justify and defend

their position related to the Republican Trump shutdown

of the government, being unable to defend their position

on ripping healthcare away from the American people,

being unable to defend their position on providing massive

tax breaks to their billionaire donors,

they of course are unable to defend their position with

respect to hiding the Epstein files,

which is why they have denied seating

Representative Elect Grijalva,

but we're gonna stay on the case until she is sworn in

as a member of Congress.

And then those Epstein files and that legislation

is gonna get an up or down vote on the House,

and it's gonna pass.

What do you say that was someone who was just on who said,

please help us, sir, I'm afraid to leave my house.

It was just a comment up on the screen.

What do you say to that person?

Because they're looking for you guys,

the Democrats to do something about this.

Yeah, no, listen, without question,

and there's a lot of pain throughout communities

across the country, because of what has been unleashed,

the extremism that has been unleashed from day one,

this parade of horribles that continues

from the Trump administration.

And it's an all hands on deck effort.

And we've got to continue to battle them and push back

aggressively in the Congress.

We have to do the same thing in the courts,

and we have to do the same thing

in terms of the people public sentiment.

It was said, Don, at the beginning of the country,

that when the people fear the government, there is tyranny.

But when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

And if liberty is gonna prevail,

we need the people to make their voices heard,

as folks have been doing all across the country,

and we're gonna stand shoulder to shoulder

with the American people.

My final question to you is that this is,

I would be remiss if I didn't ask you,

if you have any reflections on,

you might have on the second anniversary of October 7th.

Yeah, it was a painful day.

Of course, that will never be forgotten.

More than 1200 Israeli and American citizens were killed,

hundreds kidnapped.

I'll be meeting with several hostage families later on today.

And in fact, some hostages who are now free,

and we're thankful for that.

We also need to continue to push aggressively

to get a ceasefire back in place.

Donald Trump inherited a ceasefire,

and then that was broken in a matter of weeks.

We need to make sure that every single remaining hostage,

as well as the remains of those who have been killed

that are still in Gaza, are returned.

And we have to surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza

so we can provide decisive and comprehensive relief

to Palestinian civilians who are in harm's way.

We gotta end the devastation.

We need a path toward a just and lasting peace,

and we will continue to support those efforts.

Leader Jeffries, I thank you for your time,

and thank you for respecting

and supporting independent media.

It's really important to us and to the folks out there

who are watching us.

They're over corporate media.

You can do all the cable interviews you want,

but folks love you here.

It's great to be with you,

and shout out to all the Lemonheads.

(laughing)

Thank you, Leader Jeffries, we appreciate it.

Goodbye.

Yes, thank you so much.

So look, there you go.

I think that the Democrats have done,

I have to be honest in this,

I think they've done a really good job

of holding the Republicans,

at least pushing them to talk about healthcare,

because before, it was about everything but,

it was about everything but the healthcare.

Well, in any legitimate terms,

healthcare in the sense of,

well, Democrats wanna give Cadillac insurance

to undocumented immigrants,

or as they call them, illegal immigrants.

None of that was true.

Or that this is about transgender, somehow athletes.

None of that's true or just transgender as well.

None of that's true as well.

So there you go.

You heard from him on this anniversary of October 7th.

I'm gonna tell you what's happening

in the country, especially this outrageous things

that are happening on the streets of America.

On the streets of America, okay?

First, Andy, do you have the sponsors

or do I have to do it?

I got them.

Ah, Andy coming through in a clutch.

First, two minutes, a word from our sponsors.

The "Down Limits" show is brought to you

by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Let's talk facts, because all across America,

politicians are pushing religion into public schools,

hosting the 10 Commandments in classrooms,

hiring chaplains with no clinical training,

and diverting public funds to private religious schools

that often exclude LGBTQ students and non-Christians.

But Freedom From Religion Foundation is fighting back.

In a recent victory, a federal court blocked a Texas law

that required every classroom

to display the 10 Commandments.

They defend the First Amendment in court and Congress

and in classrooms to protect students

from religious coercion and keep public education

truly public.

Learn more at ffrf.org slash school or text Don,

that's D-O-N, to 511-511.

Don't let your rights be rewritten.

Go to ffrf.org slash school or text Don,

D-O-N, to 511-511.

Text fees may apply.

This episode of the "Down Limits" show

is brought to you by Graza.

Look, my olive oil of choice is Graza, all right?

Everyone knows I love to cook for my friends, for my family,

and what's taking my food to the next level

is Graza's extra virgin olive oil.

Fresh, simple, delicious, and at an everyday price.

That is the surprising part.

Here's what makes it special though.

They pick, press, and bottle all their olives

in the same season, and you can see the harvest date.

It's right on the bottle.

They've got two different options.

Sizzle for cooking, drizzle for finishing.

I use sizzle when I'm sauteing or roasting,

and drizzle when I want to finish something special.

Even over ice cream or even in a martini.

Yeah, trust me, it works.

And right now, Graza's annual site-wide sale is on.

Everything is 20.74% off, 20.74% off,

through October 21st.

No code needed.

So stock up today, take your food to the next level,

visit Graza, G-R-A-Z-A dot C-O, that's G-R-A-Z-A,

Graza dot C-O.

So thank you to all of our sponsors.

You know what's interesting is like 24.7,

that's an interesting, come on, you must admit

that that's an interesting percentage to have off.

Graza, all right.

Anyways, it's delicious, and I would not steer you wrong.

So let's get back to the program.

I wanna know how you guys, what you guys are feeling.

Also, I wanna know what you think about

what Hakim Jeffery said.

He's saying that they are not caving,

that they are, this time that Democrats

are going to hold the line.

And those were his words.

We are going to hold the line right now.

And they believe that they have Republicans

backed into a corner.

Now, look, this is an issue, especially as it relates

to Americans and healthcare.

This is an issue because people have to be able

to afford to pay their bills, they have to have a paycheck.

And so some folks are not getting that right now.

Let's just be honest with the government shutting down.

And then, coming up soon,

you're gonna have open enrollment.

What happens if those tax breaks

for the Affordable Care Act?

What happens, those tax credits,

if they, or those healthcare credits, excuse me,

if it goes up, your premiums would go up by 75%.

But also on the streets of America right now, chaos.

You saw some of the video that I played

for the leader Jeffries.

Here's more.