Rahm Emanuel (4:18)

In three days. I heard it from Putin. In three days.

Bill Maher (4:21)

It's going to be a very hard thing to do, business like this. Have you said thank you once this entire meeting? No, in this entire meeting, have you said thank you? The Real Housewives of the Whites. And then afterwards, it's a press conference, and a reporter asked Trump said, do you still believe that Zelensky is the dictator? And Trump said, did I say that? I can't believe I said that. Also, those tariffs. Who ordered those tariffs? I mean, the problem we have is the man who's running this country, who is running this country, is hell bent on sowing chaos, and Trump is doing nothing to stop him. Oh, Elon, Elon, come back. Come back to normal. Elon. What the fuck happened? Really? I mean, Elon sent out an email to every single federal worker this week that said, name five things you've done this week or you are fired. And a lot of people took this as a direct threat to Congress. I mean, is there bloat in the government? Yes. I've said it here many times. Yes. And we should get rid of it. And we've already trying. But, I mean, air traffic controllers, they're getting rid of and first responders and disease experts and nuclear scientists. The Parks Department this week got rid of 1000 people. Smokey the Bear is now working at Starbuck. And, oh, my gosh, I don't want to say federal workers are on edge, but today I saw my dog growling at the mailman, and the mailman bit him. I mean, it's. And, you know, I think what bugs people more than the fact that this isn't working is just the glee that they take in it. I mean, Musk is always up there now with a chainsaw. He was at CPAC with a chainsaw.

Fareed Zakaria (6:41)

Ha ha ha ha.

Bill Maher (6:42)

Chainsaw. And Bobby Kennedy saw it and said, oh, good. Well, for. But you know what? This is not going to come out well for them. There's already a lot of blowback. They are realizing that, yes, you elected the bull in the China shop, and we're the China. This is even going on with Republicans. It was a town hall and the Republicans were screaming at each other. And so one of them finally stood up and said, please, people, we're all in the same culture. And okay, I could go on with everything that happened this week. But one more Trump says now we're making for the first time in America an official language. It will be English. That will be the official language. Wow. First he comes for the non binary, now he's coming for the bilingual. Not a great week for Amelia Perez. All right, we got a great show. We have Rahm Emanuel and Fareed Zakaria. Oh, that's gonna be. But first up, she is the former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, now a candidate to be its next prime minister, the honorable Christia Freeland. Hey. Hi. Great to see you, O Canada. All right. I hope there's some Canadians here. You look like you are in full campaign mode there.

Christia Freeland (8:14)

I am. And is there any Canadians here?

Bill Maher (8:17)

Oh, I know there are. They're not all Canadian. Well, you are going to be the next prime Minister of Canada and we're very proud here because you were on our show many times in the past when you were, what were you? The finance. You are the finance minister. Just until recently, right?

Christia Freeland (8:35)

That's right.

Bill Maher (8:35)

When you were on our show, what was your title?

Christia Freeland (8:37)

I was the U.S. managing editor of the Financial Times.

Bill Maher (8:40)

The Financial Times. Well, you're moving up in the world and now you're going to be the, I guess the governor of our 51st days.

Christia Freeland (8:47)

Never.

Bill Maher (8:49)

Never.

Christia Freeland (8:50)

That is not the job I'm campaigning for.

Bill Maher (8:53)

Well, let me.

Christia Freeland (8:54)

And I want to be really like Clear Bill, because Canadians, we started off being sad because Americans like, you're our friends, you're our neighbors. And it was just a shock for Canadians. But then Canadians got really angry because it's the President of the United States is saying repeatedly that he wants to use economic coercion to force us to become the 51st state.

Bill Maher (9:23)

I mean, do you take it seriously or do you think it's just trolling?

Christia Freeland (9:27)

No, I take it seriously. And Canadians do, too. I am in full campaign mode. And so a couple of weeks ago, I was in a small city called Saskatoon and a little four year old girl came up to me with her mother. Her name was Ari. And she said to me in a serious way, a little four year old, can, can you stop Trump from invading Canada? So right now we are a country where four year old children are saying, how do we stop this guy from invading my country?

Bill Maher (9:59)

Okay, so I have a question for you. Can you stop Trump from invading Canada?

Christia Freeland (10:09)

I mean, I never thought you and four year old girls from Saskatoon had that much in common, Bill. But I'll tell you what. Yes, I can. And not because of me, but because of Canadians. You know, Canadians, we're not really people who wear our flag on our lapel. But right now there is this wave of patriotism across Canada. Hockey fans are just like singing O Canada. Restaurants are pulling US wine from their menu. Snowbirds. It's a cold winter, but snowbirds are not flying south.

Bill Maher (10:47)

I'm wearing a Tim Horton cap these days. That's good.

Christia Freeland (10:54)

I think. Like that.

Bill Maher (10:56)

I'm Team Drake. How about that?

Christia Freeland (10:59)

Yes.

Bill Maher (11:03)

But I mean, the truth is, this has helped your campaign. I mean, you were the Liberals. Now this is. You're about to have the primary, basically, is how we would describe it. If you get that, because Trudeau's out, he's already quit, you were in his Cabinet, you would become then the Liberal leader. And then in the election, if you won, the Liberals were way behind in the polls until Trump did this. He kind of saved your ass. Is that not true?

Christia Freeland (11:28)

I think that the election, now, the ballot question in the Liberal leadership race and in the general election is who can stand up for Canada and who can fight for Canada? And that's like the pitch I'm making is I'm saying to Canadians, I can fight for you and I can win.

Bill Maher (11:51)

Right. But as soon as the Conservative here in America said he was going to invade Canada, suddenly the Conservatives in Canada didn't look too good. I mean, the guy you will be running against, Paul Pierre. How do we say his name? Pierre?

Christia Freeland (12:07)

Well, I call him Maple syrup Maga or Mini.

Bill Maher (12:13)

Okay, well, well, first, that doesn't help with my pronunciation.

Christia Freeland (12:22)

Sorry.

Bill Maher (12:23)

And also, like, you know what, this is sad to me that everybody becomes more like America in our worst kind of ways. I remember seeing an ad not that long ago when I was playing up in Canada. It was campaign season. It was almost comically polite. Whoever Trudeau was running against, I mean, it was ridiculous. They certainly weren't calling each other names. But I hear this guy, Pierre Poliev. Poliev. I had it with the poutine. It's terrific.

Christia Freeland (12:53)

Well, I heard you talking about bailiff. Bilingualism. That's actually our thing. We are bilingual.

Bill Maher (12:58)

Yeah. Who is this guy? I never heard of him. I mean, I should maybe, but I try to follow a little bit of Canada. Who is he? And he sounds very Trumpy. I mean, this is sad to me that people in Canada are Losing their polite.

Christia Freeland (13:13)

Well, I think it's sad for us too. And he is pretty Trumpy. And I think he built a campaign on trying to imitate Trump. But now that Canadians see President Trump wanting to turn us into the 51st state, it's not going so well. And look, Canadians are very smart and Canadians understand that right now what we need the most is someone who can stand up for our country.

Bill Maher (13:47)

So Justin Trudeau, who's on his way out, used to be very popular. I mean, he still has his fans three and they may be asking, why did you turn on him? Because, you know, you were part of his government. What was it? And also, what would you do differently? And if you watch the election here, don't ever say nothing comes to mind. That's the bad answer to that one. What would you do differently?

Christia Freeland (14:13)

Well, you know, with the Prime Minister, I think every politician has their sell by date and that's part of what happened. But I think the other thing that happened is my party, we're actually called the Liberal Party and I am an old school Liberal. And Liberals in Canada win when we are focused on people and on what they need in their lives. And we lose when people think that we're focused on virtue signaling and identity politics.

Bill Maher (14:46)

So it's the same thing that sunk the party here in America when they went too far left. And that's the impression I got from Justin Trudeau. Why did he go and become one of those elitist type of scolds who looked like he was just overbearing? That sort of left wing overbearingness I saw recently, I think it was last week, I think Ottawa, I see, is trying to pass a law limiting the amount of time you can idle your car. Now, I've been in Canada in the winter, it's pretty fucking cold out there.

Christia Freeland (15:17)

That's why we used to have snowbirds before we decided we didn't want to spend our money in the United States.

Bill Maher (15:23)

And I don't think this, I mean, the reasoning is it's going to put a dent in global warming. I don't think it is that you can only idle your car for a minute. I think remotely in three minutes if you're in it before you can get going to warm it up. This just pisses people off. And it looks like, as in America, they still haven't gotten the memo that this shit don't work. So you're against that kind of stuff, right?

Christia Freeland (15:54)

I have got the menu. I have received the memo to be a polite Canadian. I have received the memo Sir.

Bill Maher (16:01)

Yes.

Christia Freeland (16:02)

And you know, politicians win when they listen to people sincerely and hear what people are saying to them about their lives. And politicians lose when we think we are smarter than the people we work for and when we think are. Our job is to lecture people. That's not how democracy works.

Bill Maher (16:30)

People don't like bossy and they don't like snobs.

Christia Freeland (16:33)

Yeah, that's exactly right.

Bill Maher (16:35)

Always trying to tell the lie.

Christia Freeland (16:38)

Although people right now in Canada, people do like strong. And people do want a leader who is strong, a leader who can unite the country and a leader who can figure out a smart way to talk to everyone here, all our American friends and neighbors, and say, let's not have a dumb tariff war. Let's get back.

Bill Maher (17:06)

Insane. And didn't. Aren't you the, as Finance Minister, aren't you the one who negotiated the treaty in 2020 that we have now with Trump?

Christia Freeland (17:16)

Yes. He said it was the best ever.

Bill Maher (17:21)

No, he didn't. No.

Christia Freeland (17:23)

I think it's called the usmca and I think this could be one of the only things that both Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi support. It's a really good deal. And the relationship between Canada is balanced. It is mutually beneficial. I think you guys are really lucky to have us as your neighbor.

Bill Maher (17:42)

I agree. We got my vote. That I can't give you Mr. Freeland, the next Prime Minister of Canada. All right, thank you very much. Meet our panel. Okay, gentlemen. Okay. He is the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria's GPS economist for the Washington Post and the bestselling author of Age of Revolution. Fareed Zakaria back with us, and he's the former mayor of Chicago and former union ambassador to Japan under President Obama. Rahm Emanuel is right here. Okay. Would you want to see a little more of Trump and Zelensky? Let's just see where America is now. I just want to see a little more of this, please. You're not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now. You're gambling with World War Three. You're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel.

Rahm Emanuel (18:47)

You have to be thankful you don't have the cards.

Bill Maher (18:50)

Then you tell us. I don't want to cease fire. I don't want a ceasefire. Great day to be an American. I mean, my first thought is he's having this big brow bidding with a guy who speaks English as a second language. I just. It's just. I mean. And so we're all agreed this is deplorable you know, I've tried to not use the word deplorable as much as I can, but when it's deplorable, it's deplorable and anyone likes it. I mean, that's a deplorable point of view. But here's my question to you guys. I always said Trump is a coalition winner like every politician is. It's about a third of the country that loves this and will love anything he does. He got elected with that other part that's not the half that's liberal and Democratic, but thinks that he was in some way less crazy than they are. Does something like this change that? Does this move the needle on the people who are that part of the coalition? He needs to stay popular.

Rahm Emanuel (19:49)

Do you want to go look? I hope it does, because I think what we're seeing, it'syou know, it's funny and it'sbut it's really tragic because first of all, to see the President of the United States and the vice president bully, berate, demean, you know, cajole somebody who, you know, who it depends on, you know, the United States for its survival. But more than that, you know, over the last hundred years, the United States, whether it's supported Britain at the right moment, whether it's supported, you know, the Allies in World War I, it was always clear morally, politically, whose side we were on. We were on the side of the victim of aggression, we were on the side of the democracies, we were against the dictators, we were against the aggressors. And to see this bizarre moral reversion, you know, I mean, it was absolutely clear in that listening to Trump, he's much more comfortable and sympathetic with Vladimir Putin and he doesn't like from the beginning.

Fareed Zakaria (20:53)

So a to the core part of your question, this will not work with the American people. First of all, the president's underwater and it's only going to drive this. And they have a. And I want to pick up on what Fareed said. Look, for a long time, our foreign policy has been basically internationalist versus isolationists. That's kind of been the structure. Now we have a foreign policy of either principles or predatory. And I don't think the American people who think of themselves are going to want to see themselves as we want those minerals for this price. We're going to take Greenland for this. We're going to take panel. That is not where the American people have a self image and especially not the way it's being done and conducted this way. And second of all, if you. There's a common thread here. There are three times I've seen Donald Trump, I said I've never seen that before. And I've been in the Oval Office in and out for eight years. I've been in obviously other situations with congressional leaders, foreign leaders. And this moment today, well, I've never seen an Oval Office like this. This looks like the Emanuel family on Thanksgiving. Number two. Number two was when Nancy Pelosi in the Cabinet Room stood up and said, all roads with you lead to Putin and Russia. And then third in Helsinki when he was standing there with Putin at a press conference and he took Putin's side against the American national security apparatus and the Intelligence Committee. What is the common thread through all three of these very, very low, very bizarre moments? Donald Trump defending Putin. And that is the only thing. And I think, and then I think this is now beyond this to I think a more serious and I think consequential. When you look at just five weeks that feel like five years. I spent a lot of time in the Far east during President Biden's term with Japan. We worked very hard to keep Korea, South Korea from going nuclear and they agreed to it. You now have an election where the new chancellor of Germany is saying we have to think of our own nuclear protection. We spent 75 years on non proliferation of nuclear weapons, so there would not be many countries with nuclear weapons. We're about to enter the era of proliferation five years from now.

Bill Maher (23:06)

The nuclear, you're saying because they don't think they can count on America.

Fareed Zakaria (23:09)

They cannot count on, they need their own protection. South Korea is not leaving their dependent, their security to Donald Trump and the United States. Germany and Europe are not leaving their security to the United States and NATO. And you're looking at Ukraine. The only reason Ukraine's invader is because we convinced them in 1994 to give up the nuclear weapons. And I think as to quote my grandfather, when Germany with a neo Nazi party is running, number two gets nuclear weapons. The great political sage, my grandfather, Herman Smolovitz. That is not a good point. You know that translation I'm familiar with.

Rahm Emanuel (23:53)

I think that it's beyond even the things that Rahm is talking about. Every country, now every ally of ours is asking themselves how do we become less dependent on the United States so we don't have this shakedown. I mean, you heard what Christopher Freeland was saying. The debate in Canada is now, we've made a big mistake being this economically dependent on the U.S. u.S. We've got to find ways to separate ourselves. The debate in Europe and Germany is exactly that. The debate in Asia is that I was talking to, I was in Australia last year and those guys were telling me, look, we want to be close to you, but we are taking on a very hostile position toward China because of you. We don't, you know, we don't. They're our biggest trading partner. What happens if you cut a deal with Putin, with Xi and leave us hanging? So in a weird way, the whole world is asking themselves, if the United States can betray Ukraine, if it can turn on Canada, where do we stand?

Fareed Zakaria (24:50)

Okay, so let me just grab one thing.

Bill Maher (24:52)

Yes, sir.

Fareed Zakaria (24:54)

Weakness invites aggression. You were watching Ukraine, Europe, what's going on? China.

Bill Maher (24:59)

That's an old Republican line.

Fareed Zakaria (25:01)

Yeah, well, you're seeing it play out of the Indo Pacific. China just put a whole military operation, closest they've ever been to Sydney, Australia. They just did it to Vietnam because they see the United States now and they're saying to the whole region, you can go with us or you can go with this guy. And the whole region's got it. They got to make a self interested calculation and they're not going to be dependent on the United States and this will become a more dangerous.

Bill Maher (25:27)

So what do we say to the people who are watching and saying, oh, well, you guys are saying the world's going to hell in a handcart. So what do we do about it now? Last week I opened the show by saying, you know, there's a pattern in American politics and it's about overreaching whenever someone wins an election big time. And Trump kind of did they overreach. And that seems to be what's going on. And I said, you know, maybe the best thing the Democrats are going to do is just be as lame as they are. And that strategy's working perfectly. And James Carville this week kind of one upped it. He said, what the Democrats. I'm just asking, I'm not saying I necessarily agree with it. He said they need to just play dead because this administration, only five weeks old, is making itself so unpopular that the worst thing anybody else can do is just get in the way. They're digging a hole. Let them dig. Do you, do you? Well, okay, okay, that's, that's James Carville.

Fareed Zakaria (26:24)

That must be the applause for the whole part.

Bill Maher (26:28)

That's James Carville. I'm just asking if you agree or if not, what is the strategy?

Fareed Zakaria (26:32)

Well, one, I want to correct one piece of the premise. When you get 49%, which is a plurality, not a majority. It's not a mandate.

Bill Maher (26:39)

No, it's not a mandate.

Fareed Zakaria (26:40)

Okay, but so one, they overinterpreted, just like George Bush did in 2004. And he said, I got a mandate. And he went to privatize Social Security and he got smacked in 2006. They do not have a mandate.

Bill Maher (26:51)

Who gives a fuck? He won. He won the election. He won all seven swings.

Fareed Zakaria (26:55)

Because they are trying to believe something. And that's misinterpreting. Now, number one. Number two, let me say one, it changes nothing. James Carville, who is a dear friend, said two things in there that aren't the same. He said retreat. And he said rope a dope. And rope a dope is not a retreat. It was using your strengths against your opponent's weaknesses. And rope a dope in the sense of what allowing Donald Trump to do what he is doing. And I think the biggest fight beyond what we just saw in the Oval Office will be when he literally tries to cut people's health care to pay for tax cuts for the rich people, for Elon Musk and the rest of the people he's hanging with. And that's. That is where you're going to see the biggest fight. And I think there is where you engage. I don't agree with the idea now, genetically, I don't agree with the idea of retreating. It's just not in my DNA. But rope a dope and retreating, which he used in that piece, is not the same strategy. And I would not retreat.

Rahm Emanuel (27:49)

But I think there's something. I love James Carwell. I think he's a super smart guy, but I think it's a somewhat old fashioned view of how politics works. What Trump has understood better than really almost anybody is the attention economy. He knows how to dominate the narrative. He knows how to be there all the time shaping it. He knows how to make you think that he's won when he's lost. So when you see things like this happen, Trump and his people are going to go out and say, this was a great victory. Zelensky humiliated us. We had to push back. You need to be controlling the narrative. And the Democrats, I think, too often fall into this view. Well, it's obvious this was a humiliation. It was obvious that this was bad diplomacy. No, you have to shape that narrative. You know, look at Kamala Harris. She goes on one television show, 60 Minutes, and does this 12 minute interview, carefully choreographed. He goes on for three hours on Joe Rogan. He goes on for 25 hours on six other podcasts, and he is relentlessly pounding the narrative. Democrats need to understand that's the new attention economy. If you're not shaping it, you are. You are. You are being shaped by it.

Fareed Zakaria (28:59)

Here's the one I'd like you right heroes.

Bill Maher (29:03)

Donald Trump.

Fareed Zakaria (29:06)

He knows. He already deal. He knows how to do a deal. Well, wait a second. In his first term, he did a deal with China. He tried to do a deal with North Korea, and he also talked about the USMC deal there and the Afghan deal. There's one constant in all of these. He put publicity ahead of principle. He is actually the worst negotiator, and we should be actively pointing out and saying, here's the other course we would take. You never leave that field for him. I would not do that because he has to be confronted now. I would be more selective. I would not go, as I've said before, I wouldn't go sit there in my first protest, be in front of USAID's office. I would pick a place that matters to the American people. I'd go to a grocery store and show all the open shelves on eggs. The fact is, we have no eggs, and inflation is way up on eggs. And he's now fired everybody that will keep our eggs.

Bill Maher (29:55)

And he said he was going to have this great strategy to end the Ukrainian war. You know, we couldn't hear what it was. And then when he got into office, what was the strategy? Give up, Just give up. He just surrendered everything immediately. I've never seen anyone negotiate.

Fareed Zakaria (30:09)

Nobody negotiate. You haven't seen it because nobody negotiates like that.

Bill Maher (30:12)

Right. It's crazy. I mean, he could have asked for a few things before he just capitulated.

Fareed Zakaria (30:17)

He said, I mean, well, I don't mean to cut. So you wanted to say something?

Bill Maher (30:21)

No, no, no.

Rahm Emanuel (30:21)

It's just.

Fareed Zakaria (30:22)

It's a rare moment in me giving the microphone away. So go ahead.

Bill Maher (30:27)

He could be able to jump in.

Rahm Emanuel (30:31)

You know, what's sad about this is you watch foreign leaders, and they've figured him out. So if you watch, you know, Justin Trudeau, he said, you begin by praising him lavishly. You say, oh, you did everything right. Then you give him none of what he wanted. You announce some bullshit concession. There was some stuff you had already done. And he beams. The King of Jordan did it brilliantly. He said, you know, Trump asked him to take 2 million Palestinians from Gaza. And he says, because of your wisdom and your leadership and your foresight, we're gonna take 2,000 kids to treat them medically and send them back and Trump beamed.

Bill Maher (31:05)

It was like, I won.

Rahm Emanuel (31:08)

So in a strange way, I do feel like Zelensky should have studied this a little bit more. He's an emotional guy. I've met him many times. He's very brave. He's been fighting a war and he let his emotion get the best of him. The way to have gone in there is first, you begin by saying, president Trump, you are a genius. You have completely transformed the landscape. I have with me the order of highest merit. Ukraine has never created a civilian honor this big for you have a big medal.

Fareed Zakaria (31:40)

Put it on him.

Rahm Emanuel (31:43)

And then say to him, I look. I look forward to welcoming you in Ukraine so that we can build the tallest Trump Tower in the world.

Bill Maher (31:54)

I gotta.

Rahm Emanuel (31:57)

That would have saved Ukraine's ass.

Bill Maher (31:59)

I'm trying to catch people up on a few other stories this week because.

Fareed Zakaria (32:02)

I would just like the record to show that he swore twice. I have yet to do it. It's like I'm having an out of body experience.

Bill Maher (32:07)

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Fareed Zakaria (32:23)

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Bill Maher (32:26)

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Christia Freeland (32:54)

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Bill Maher (33:16)

So Luigi Mangione is always in the news and this wow. This week he was getting so much positive fan mail. He's the guy who shot the health care guy. Okay. The health care CEO. 1 applause okay, great. He's getting so much fan mail that he had to say, please, I can't read it all. You're over. I'm crowded into my cell with all the Fan mail. And I did a thing about him about a month ago. I'm not a big fan. I don't think he really did anything great by shooting somebody in the back, but, okay, some people do. But I was trying to make the point that I think this is romanticized in America because every time I try to find a movie anywhere on streaming, it's about a hitman. Oh, look, Black dove. That looks interesting. What's. Oh, it's a hitman. Yeah, I mean, it's a. Oh, good, Mark Wahlberg has a new one. What's that about? Oh, he's a hitman. Is every fucking person a hitman? Everybody in America is a hitman. I just made a list off the top of my head. Just people of, like, franchises. Denzel and Liam Neeson and Keanu and people. These are actors. I asked who's played a hitman twice? Not even the same type of hitman. Just Statham, Brad Pitt, Colin Farrell, Mark, everybody. There's even subgenres, old hit men. There's more than one with mental problems, women. So it's inevitable there would be a magazine that came out. And we have it. It's called Murder Aficionado, and Luigi's on the COVID Would you like to see some of the articles on the inside? Okay. For example, travel Spotlight. Book depositories in Europe, your area 7. Easy to prepare meals for lying in wait. Why did it have to be a hitman? How squeaky from broke up the assassin Sausage party Hitting on a hitman. When to take. Take your shot. We don't kill people in a disco. Real life assassins on what John Wick gets wrong. Joker's wild Is Timothy Chalamet hot enough to play the Boston Bomber? Help. It's prison visiting day and I don't have a thing to conceal up my ass. And one on one with Vladimir Putin. I blew up a fucker's plane. Top that, bitches. Okay, so let's put some specifics on what we're talking about, on what's going to probably make this administration unpopular. The budget, they just are passing it now. Mike Johnson's got a tough job there. He's got to find a lot of new savings and also new tax cuts. At the same time, the spending bill they passed the other night cut 2 trillion. And the reporter said to Trump, can you guarantee that you're not going to touch Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security? And Trump, of course, got pissed. He said, I've said it so many times, you shouldn't be asking me. Read my lips. Remember George Bush, he's read my lips. He said, now we are going to be looking for fraud. I'm sure you're okay with that. I am okay with that. And there is fraud in there. Okay, well, all right, yes, we all hate fraud, but here's the thing. Medicaid, you would have known this. I didn't. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is who oversees Medicaid. I don't know why that is, but we don't have time. Anyway, they've been instructed to find $880 billion over the next decade in savings. It sounds like they know the amount of fraud they're going to find before they're looking for the fraud the ethics is in. Huh? I'm just saying, I wonder when people's Medicaid gets cut, is that when they. What I call the China shop moment. Oh, where the china.

Fareed Zakaria (37:46)

First of all, this also relates to Elon Musk's project. If you go every year, they aggregate all the Inspector General's savings, 20, 23, it was $93.1 billion. They found the some savings in Medicare that can be done, some in Medicaid that can be done. If you're very serious about that, you would do that. You would have a vote on it instantaneously. You would have the savings. Second is there isn't that type of savings. And they're going to cut people's health care for a tax cut for the wealthy. And that should be the first of all has the benefit of being true. And second of all, it is exactly the type of debate we want to have going into the midterm election because they're going to cut premium support for middle class families to getting health care on the exchanges. They're going to cut Medicaid, they're going to cut Medicare, and it's going to directly impact the people's ability to afford health care. And remember, the leading cause for individual bankruptcies in the United States is health care costs. Everybody is one illness away from the poor house and they are going to take, they are going to literally cut people's health care to pay for tax cuts. And the last thing that Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and everybody that was at that inaugural needs is another tax cut. That is not what they need. That's not what they're trying to do.

Rahm Emanuel (39:06)

So, you know, I agree with you about the fraud and the waste. I think, you know, if they can find it, great. But it's important to understand where the money is. You know, the kind of Willie Sutton question. The American government, federal Government. Ezra Klein has this line which is completely true. It's an insurance company with an army. Most of what the American government does is check writing, very efficient writing of checks. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans benefits, interest on the debt. When you add that plus The Pentagon, that's 80% of the budget.

Bill Maher (39:40)

Yeah.

Rahm Emanuel (39:40)

So you can find, you can demonize foreigners and find USAID. USAID is 1% of the federal budget. Medicare, Social Security, that basically 20%. So you know, what you really have to be talking about is cutting, which he said he won't do. Right. So here's the other solution which gets to what Rahm was saying. I have a very simple idea. And this will get us $4.5 trillion over the next 10 years. Just don't extend the Trump tax cuts, which go mostly to rich people and corporations. That's. That's $4.5 trillion. Elon Musk can go home and run his companies. We've now found 1000 times as much as he's trying to find. And guess what? That will take us back to the horrible years of the Obama tax regime, during which period the American stock market doubled and the US Grew faster than every Western economy in the world. Was it so bad?

Fareed Zakaria (40:41)

Debbie, can I say one, if you really is thinking in the system, and there is, let's just take the health care space, waste and fraud, et cetera, then you would start not where the government is. You start with who gets the money. And who gets the money is going to be the hospitals, the insurance company, the providers on pharmaceutical products and health care products. That is where there's a tremendous amount of waste, fraud and abuse, where people are overcharging constantly. So now the question is, the question is, is it fraud in your health care or is it fraud in the people that manage your health care? And I guarantee you they're not going to go to that space because that means you're going to have to take on really powerful interests. And I used to, I did that on the children's health insurance against the insurance companies for President Clinton, did it for President Obama. I used to be 6, 2 and £250. I'm now only 5, 8 after that fight. Okay, but there's a real question. They're going to go, oh, it's waste, fraud and abuse. Well, you're going to have. That's going to be in the hospitals and how they charge for a room. That's going to be in the insurance companies and how they charge and try to deny you health care. That's going to be in the pharmaceutical prices, where they bump it up, etc. So the fact is, is it going to be against the interests or is it against your interest? And that's where this battle is going to be. And I'm saying, suit up, let's go. I'm ready to have that fight.

Bill Maher (42:01)

Okay, let me switch topics because you guys are both real experts on international affairs and JD Vance, while we were off the other week, made a speech in Munich. A lot of people were shocked by it. I thought half of it was pretty shocking because it was about this election that they just had in Germany, where there is a party on the ballot that is very Nazi friendly. But the first part of the speech was about free speech that I didn't think he was so wrong about, especially since I had just seen the 60 Minutes report. Did you see that the week before about how they handle free speech in Germany? Wow. This is not the only country where the pendulum doesn't land in the middle. Apparently Germany is so afraid to look like their Nazi past that they're literally knocking on people's doors and taking their phones and their computers. If you just insult people online. They brought up this example of pimmel means cock in German. You can't call people a dick. I'd be in jail 10 times a week. You would have a life sentence. Absolutely.

Rahm Emanuel (43:10)

So I agree with you on that part of Vance's speech. He's basically right. It's important to remember European countries have never had the First Amendment type protections that we have. No, Europe has always had a more regulated speech. I mean, as a journalist, you know. I know. So it's always easier to get sued in Britain because, again, we have an amazing set of protections with the First Amendment. And the Germans have a particular history. You're right. You know, for example, Holocaust denial, which is allowed in the US Anyone can say whatever they want. It's illegal in Germany because they're sensitive to the Nazi past in much of Europe, mostly in Germany. But what I really thought was offensive about that speech was the premise of the speech was that this is the greatest danger facing Europe today. Not Russian aggression, not Chinese or lack.

Bill Maher (44:01)

Of speech in Russia.

Rahm Emanuel (44:02)

I mean, you know, here you have a continent which is dealing with the largest land war since World War II. The biggest aggression, you know, the tearing up of international norms. And he's saying, because you guys don't do speech exactly the way we do, that is, you know, that is your existential danger. I just think, again, J.D. vance is so polemical. He's using it to play to an audience at home. It is, you know, that is not the greatest danger facing Europe.

Fareed Zakaria (44:29)

If I could. First of all, the neo Nazi party in Germany is so far to the right and so closely associated with.

Bill Maher (44:38)

Well, they are not specifically a neo Nazi party.

Fareed Zakaria (44:40)

Yeah, but wait, no, wait. But Bill, none of the other right wing parties in Europe will associate with them.

Bill Maher (44:45)

I understand.

Fareed Zakaria (44:46)

And then to let being a party of what happened on January 6, to lecture people on the operations of democracy and the integrity of democracy. I'm sorry, hypocrisy. You just got a new face.

Bill Maher (44:57)

But here's the. But here's the question. What do you do when people like a party and elected because they can't. He talked about. I never.

Fareed Zakaria (45:05)

They're going to be in the boots and stuff.

Bill Maher (45:06)

Wait a second. I'd heard this, I'd not heard this story. He cited this. He said Romania cancelled an election recently. Apparently there was Russian interference. I think there's going to be foreign interference in every election from now on for the rest of our lives. And somebody from the European Union said, well, we might have to do that in Germany too. What do you do when the people get it wrong? Because sometimes they do. I remember in Algeria in the 90s, they had an election and the people got it wrong and they elected, you know, the Islamists. And after the Muslim, the Arab Spring in 2011, Egypt voted and they voted for the wrong people, the Muslim Brotherhood. You know, sometimes they do get it wrong. What do you do when the people do that? When the people want the wrong party? Do you cancel elections? Cuz that doesn't seem like the right thing either.

Rahm Emanuel (45:55)

So, you know, many years ago I coined this phrase, illiberal democracy, meaning when a majority of people vote for a party that then systematically gets rid of freedom of the press, gets rid of independent judiciary. You know, you do. And it's a danger. It's a really dark place because. And it's not just a theory. This is what Viktor Orban does. In fact, Viktor Orban cites my illiberal democracy article and says that is what we want to be. We don't like liberal democracy, we like illiberal democracy.

Fareed Zakaria (46:23)

So you're to blame.

Rahm Emanuel (46:27)

Erdogan in Turkey does this. You know, he's. His independent courts are much less independent. So some people would, you know, look at some of the things Trump is doing here and wonder whether that's the direction we're headed to. You're right. The answer is not to annul the election. The election was annulled because there was fairly good evidence of massive Russian interference. And it is ironic, as Rahm was saying, this is the vice president who said that he would have annulled the election of 2020.

Bill Maher (46:57)

The worst possible messenger for this message.

Rahm Emanuel (47:00)

He's the guy saying, they're in a null election.

Bill Maher (47:02)

They have no sense of null elections. Do it the way we did it.

Fareed Zakaria (47:06)

With a good riot.

Bill Maher (47:07)

That's what you can do. They have no sense of cognitive discipline. It's amazing.

Fareed Zakaria (47:13)

Quickly, I'll be quick. One, you have to use a dis. First of all, they're going to be in the government and they're going to be exposed. And you have to expose what they're trying to do. And the Germans just had an election which is slightly different than what the Romanians did. But I don't think the President of the United States, the vice President of the United States should be in there saying, this is your crisis, when you have the Russian bear, which they all have history with, literally standing over there and starting a war on a sovereign nation that's in violation of the UN charter.

Bill Maher (47:39)

Thank you, guys.

Rahm Emanuel (47:40)

Those guys only got 20% of the vote.

Bill Maher (47:43)

All right, time for new rules, everybody. Thank you very much. Ok. All right, new rule. The captain of the USS Harry S. Truman, who crashed his aircraft carrier into a merchant ship, must do two things. One, accept your new nickname, Captain Crunch. And two, tell us how, with the most sophisticated navigation systems in the world, you rammed your boat into another boat on an ocean. And no, this doesn't count as one of the five things you did this week. Nooral. If you're planning your retirement and want financial advice, don't choose Schwab Fidelity or JP Morgan. Choose Ashley Saint. She's the lady who made the smartest investment decision of the year getting pregnant with Elon Musk's 13th child. And yes, this does count as one of the five things you did this week. New role Oscar winners must stop saying they're proof that dreams come true. Your dreams came true for every one of you. There are hundreds of thousands of actors whose dreams don't come true. And I'm not saying those people should give up on their dreams. I'm just saying they should focus on the moment and bring me my dressing on the side. Neural nemethyes. The US Egg shortage has become so acute that people aren't just ordering their eggs online, but also live chickens. Someone must order a chicken and an egg and let us know which one came first.

Fareed Zakaria (49:58)

Neural.

Bill Maher (49:59)

Neural. If Mikey. Oh, shit. If Mikey Madison, the star of Enora wins an Oscar this Sunday. The Academy has to create a new category in the future called Best Actress. Not playing a hooker. Man, does Hollywood love hookers. 14 women have won an Oscar for playing one. Yeah. Charlize Theron, Anne Hathaway, Kim Basinger, Mira Sorvino, Jane Fonda, Liza Minnelli, Elizabeth Taylor, Donna Reed, Jo Van Fleet, Shirley Jones, Leah Kudrova, Shelley Winters, Susan Hayward, and Helen Hayes. That whore. More prostitutes have gone home with Oscars than Charlie. She and seven more hooker portrayers have been nominated. Yeah. Julia Roberts, Elizabeth Shue, Audrey Hepburn, Julie Christie, Jodie Foster, Madeline Kahn, and yes, Jon Voight in midnight cabin. That's 20. 20 women and one guy. Shame on you, Hollywood. I thought you cared about diversity. And finally, new rule. To everyone who's been stopping me lately and asking Bill, if by some weird fluke, Stephen A. Smith doesn't run for president, who are we gonna get? Well, I'm going to tell you, but first, a word from common sense. The Democratic Party's current approval rating is 21%, which is only slightly more popular than Kanye's swastika shirts. Maybe that's why, according to a new Gallup poll, 45% of Democrats want the party to move to the center, which is up 11 points from four years ago. Now, whenever a political party finds a real star president, the other side always says, well, we have to find our Bill Clinton, our Reagan, our Obama. Well, the Democrats need to find their Trump. Not the authoritarian part, but the part where a politician bonds with everyday Americans because he talks like them. The good news for Democrats is they have that guy and his name is John Fetterman. After the election, instead of curling up in a ball, Fetterman went to Mar A Lago, where Trump assumed he was one of the guys from January 6th. And afterwards, Trump said he's not liberal or conservative, he's just a common sense person, which is beautiful. And that's the kind of gay adjacent respect Trump usually reserves for Putin. Trump and Fetterman actually have a lot in common. They're both plain spoken, anti elitist, who come from money, married exotic immigrant ladies, went to Ivy League schools, and aren't afraid to take on their own party. And when the wind catches Trump's hair just right, they're both 6 foot 8. Look, here's the thing. Voters aren't really savvy about the issues, but they do have an issue, made it clear what is important to authenticity, balls and charisma. Trump has that package and so does Fetterman. He's Only been a senator two years and he's already more famous than most of his colleagues. Quick, I dare you to name this sad looking lady from Washington state who's been in the Senate for 30 years. You can't teach charisma or balls. Fetterman is that rare Democrat who's not afraid to put the woke nonsense peddlers in his own party in their place, saying things like wanting a secure border and realizing that it was out of control. That doesn't mean you're a xenophobe or a racist. He's been unequivocally pro Israel, as are most Americans. And when pro Palestinian protesters showed up at his home, he went up on the roof and waved an Israeli fl. Fetterman says the four words that strike fear in the heart of every Republican who wants to hang on to I am not woke. That's why Trump won. Not because Americans were clamoring for tariffs on margarita mix. Going where the American people are on crime and immigration. Gosh, it's so crazy, it just might work. See, that's how you get these things called. And once you do, you can take office. I know it's more fun to make memes of Trump sucking Elon's toes, but. But John Fetterman doesn't play that game. He says, I don't give a fuck. I left all my fucking and my other pants and I don't wear pants. But you see, again, like Trump, Fetterman understands the value of having a distinctive look, a brand. Trump, with his yellow top and 4 foot rayon red tie, mimics the colors that every fast food franchise. It's true. Every fast food franchise knows this, that for some reason, it gets people excited. Who knows why it works, but it does. And I think Fetterman's look works for him. It's a look that says, I'm just like you. I've given up. John's the only person in America who goes to CVS for the clothes. When the fashion. When the, when the fashion police see him, they say, we're going to need backup. And there's something else Fetterman have in common. Brain damage. Okay, okay, all right. Neurological issues. Trump has the whole malignant narcissism thing that makes it difficult for him to distinguish between reality and whoever's kissing his ass. And Fetterman has had a stroke and been hospitalized for depression and needs a special speak and say device to communicate he's legally a disabled person, which is actually great news for the Democratic ticket because. Okay, look, I don't just have the top of the next Democratic ticket. I'm also going to throw in the best bottom the Democrats have. Pete Buttigieg. Remember Mayor Pete? He used to be everyone's favorite boy genius from Indiana. Well, he's all grown up now, and he, too, seems to be trying to send a message that he wants to join the reality wing of the Democratic Party. A month ago, he stopped posting his pronouns, and Pete now says that liberals would do better, quote, if we were more serious about the actual values and not caught up in vocabularies and trying to cater to everybody only in terms of their particular slice of combinations of identities. Exactly. Fetterman's problem is he doesn't check any box for gender or race, which could hurt him in getting the nomination. John, are you sure you don't have any Latino blood? How does Juan Fetterman sound? So let me suggest this. Since Fetterman checks the disabled box and Pete is gay, can we, just for the sake of the next election, say that on the intersectionality conversion chart, gay plus disabled equals one person of color?

Fareed Zakaria (59:21)

Could.

Bill Maher (59:31)

Because I think it's a great ticket. Especially since Pete has lately been finding the strength to say things like democrats should stop, quote, making people sit through a training that looks like something out of Portlandia. Out of Portlandia? Where did he get that line? The entire Democratic Party has become a Portlandia sketch. Oh, I'm not mad. Please steal all my jokes. I'm going to actually get somebody elected. All right, that's our show. I want to thank bereaved Zakaria, Rahm Emanuel and Christopher. Now go watch Overtime on YouTube. Thank you, folks. You agree?

Christia Freeland (60:26)

Catch all new episodes of Real Time.

Bill Maher (60:28)

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Christia Freeland (60:30)

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