Beverly Gage and the "No Kings Day" rally in Minnesota confront the Trump administration's authoritarian overreach, citing federal agents' deaths of Renee and Alex Goode during Operation Metro Search. Speakers like Bernie Sanders and Ilhan Omar denounce unconstitutional wars in Iran and Ecuador, while Jane Fonda and Maggie Rogers advocate radical kindness against fear. The event underscores a broader resistance to oligarchy, demanding justice through community solidarity and mutual aid amidst claims of government corruption and reckless military spending. [Automatically generated summary]
Now, when biographers spend five years, ten years, 15 years or so with a person, they often fall in love with them because they spend so much time with them.
Did you fall in love with J. Edgar Hoover or did you come away saying, geez, he's not as good as I thought or wished he was?
To me, I was just fascinated by him the whole time.
I thought that he was important, and I thought that he was really an interesting, complicated character.
We mostly know him as a villain, and I did find that he was much more complicated than that one-dimensional portrait.
unidentified
Watch America's Book Club with Beverly Gage today at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on C-SPAN.
On C-SPAN's Q&A, former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, author of the memoir Streetwise, on his upbringing in public housing in Brooklyn, attending Harvard, and rising through the ranks of one of the world's largest investment banks.
He also talks about the 2008 financial crisis, which happened during his tenure as CEO, and the power and influence of Goldman Sachs executives within the U.S. government going back decades.
There's a lot of ex-Goldman people, you know, so much so that there was a time, and this was meant as a pejorative, government facts, as if going into government service was a pejorative.
We took it as a compliment.
And then there were comments about revolving door, but our door didn't revolve.
We didn't hire from government.
Government hired from us because the ethic at Goldman and the people we hire tend to be service-minded.
unidentified
Lloyd Blankfein with his memoir Streetwise tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN's QA.
You can listen to QA and all of our podcasts on our free C-SPAN Now app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Minnesota Stands Against Injustice00:06:51
unidentified
Anti-Trump administration protesters held rallies around the country.
Here's what happened at the No Kings Day event from the Twin Cities in Minnesota.
no kings is proud to welcome to the stage 41st governor of the great state of minnesota Tim Walz and first lady Hello, Minnesota.
A state where you make your health care decisions.
A state where you worship or not according to your own beliefs.
And maybe most importantly, a state where everyone belongs.
Thank you to all the organizers.
Thank you to our sisters and brothers in labor for the work you do every day and being here making this possible.
Look, When the wannabe dictator in the White House sent his untrained, aggressive thugs to do damage to Minnesota, it was you, Minnesota, who stood up for your neighbors, who stood up for decency, who stood up for kindness.
And at this moment that we are still in, when democracy itself seems to be at risk, it was Minnesota who said, not on our watch, not on our watch.
You are the heart and soul of what the nation saw that is good in this nation.
But make no mistakes about it.
They did damage.
They killed Rene and Alex.
They traumatized our neighbors.
And just be very clear: our weather may be a little cool, but our people are warm and we're fierce.
And my message, because this is not over, don't ever mistake our kindness for weakness.
We demand justice for Renee Goode and Alex Predi.
We demand justice for every single person who was hurt or traumatized.
We will never forget what they did here.
And I have a message to our immigrant community here in Minnesota.
You are seen, heard, valued, and loved.
You add value to our state.
You are part of the fabric of what is good about Minnesota.
And I have to tell you, that is a hell of a lot more than I'll say about anybody in the White House.
And I will add a special, a special thank you, and a special acknowledgement that we will never leave the side of our Somali Minnesotans.
Here's our pledge to you.
Our Somali Minnesotans, your great-grandchildren, will still be here when that orange clown is in the dustbin of history.
You will be here.
They call us radicals.
I see that.
I see that the president said it's a bunch of radicals.
You're damn right we've been radicalized.
Radicalized by compassion.
Radicalized by decency, radicalized by due process, radicalized by democracy, and radicalized to do all we can to oppose authoritarianism.
So for those of you watching at home, welcome to the North Star State.
Welcome to the land of hope and dreams.
And it's my pleasure to be able to welcome somebody who has spent a lifetime giving voice to the working class, expressing our hopes and dreams, our fears, all of the things that make us human, and has done that with a voice that resonated across generations.
So I have to tell you, we're damn sure about this.
it's turning into a beautiful day well this past winter federal troops brought death and terror to the streets of minneapolis Well, they picked the wrong city.
The power and the solidarity of the people of Minneapolis and of Minnesota was an inspiration to the entire country.
Your strength and your commitment told us that this is still America.
And this reactionary nightmare and these invasions of American cities will not stand.
And for those who gave their lives, Renee Goode, mother of three, brutally murdered.
Alex Predty, VA nurse, executed by ICE, shot in the back and left to die in the street without even the decency of our lawless government investigating their deaths.
Their bravery, their sacrifice, and their names will not be forgotten.
Well, through the winter's ice and cold, down Nicolette Avenue, a city of flame fought fire and ice, neath an occupier's boots.
King Trump's private army from the DHS.
Guns belted to their coats.
Came to Minneapolis to enforce their law.
For so their story goes against smoking river bullets.
Well, by the dawn's early light, citizens stood for justice, their voices ringing through the night.
And there were bloody footprints where mercy should have stood.
Two dead left to die on snow-filled streets.
Alex Pretty and Brennanapolis, I hear your voice singing through the bloody mist.
We'll take our stand for this land.
Stranger in our midst.
Here in our home, they killed and wronged in the winter of 26.
Who'll remember the names of those who died on the streets of Minneapolis.
Trump's ugly face and his chest.
Hellen, we heard the gunshots and Abbas pretty lay in the snow did their claim was self-defense, sir.
Just don't believe your eyes.
It's our blood and bones and these whistles and phones against Miller and Norm's fucking eyes.
Minneapolis, I hear your voice crying through the bloody mist of those who died on the streets of Minneapolis.
Well, they say they're here to uphold the law, but they trample on our rights.
If your skin is black or brown, my friend, you'll be questioned or poured on sight.
Well, Minneapolis, I hear your voice crying through the bloody mist here in our home.
They killed and roamed in the winter of 26.
We'll take our stand for this land and the stranger miss.
We'll remember the names of those who died on the streets of Minneapolis.
Remember the names of those who have died.
St. Paul, no kings, no war.
unidentified
Let's hear it again for the boss.
Bruce Springsteen.
Minnesota has inspired the world with its courage, resilience, and resolve.
And that takes leadership.
Please welcome three Minnesotans who rose to the moment.
Carolina Ortiz, Malaika Deheer, and your mayor, Kalee Herr.
That's right!
Eyes out now.
Good afternoon, America.
I am Carolina Ortiz, Associate Executive Director of Copal and a leader with the Immigrant Defense Network.
I am an immigrant, a former undocumented person, a DACA recipient, and I stand here because as a child, I learned what it means when your life can be decided by a fear when you're carried fear, but I also carried something stronger.
And that day is today.
So let me say this very clear.
We are not the problem to solve.
Immigrants are a blessing to this country.
Say it with me.
Immigrants are a blessing to this country.
For too long, the story about immigrants has been written in fear.
But fear is a poor storyteller because fear only knows how to divide.
It cannot see who we really are.
We are the hands that build.
We are the hearts that care.
We invest in this country even when it does not always believe in us.
During Operation Metro Search, our communities were targeted, silenced, and criminalized.
Families stopped going to work, to school, because even a normal day no longer felt safe.
But even in those moments, we showed up and we protected one another.
And across Minnesota, we built something powerful.
Together, we trained over 33,000 constitutional observers, neighbors who stood in our communities watching, documenting, and saying if they come for one of us, they will have to face all of us.
This is what courage looks like.
This is what people power looks like.
This is organized collective love and action.
So look around you.
People choosing each other again and again, standing shoulder to shoulder, not divided by fear, but united by purpose.
That is right here is what done, this right here is what democracy looks like.
So today, from St. Paul, we send a message to this country and to the world.
We are essential.
We are organized and we are no longer afraid because this moment, this moment right here is bigger than politics.
This is about dignity because no system built on fear will ever be stronger than a community built on love.
So today, I ask you, do not leave unchanged.
Leave louder.
Leave braver.
Leave ready.
Because power does not belong to presidents or billionaires, and it does not belong to anyone trying to rule through fear.
Power belongs to the people.
Power belongs to all of us.
Yo aquiero de cir algo en español, a mi comunidadas que estáquí presente.
Acados familia que estido miedo.
Acada persona que estenido que ence el fuerte incluso cuando no podíamos.
Aquí los organizamos, nos cuidamos, y los defendemos.
Porque somos una comunidad de dignidal de fuerza y víamor.
Yá un que intentendividirnos, a un que intente silenciernos, no podrenacerdo.
So let this moment travel across the United States, across the world, and let it be clear to every single corner of this country.
We are here, we belong, and we are a blessing to this country.
Thank you.
Gracias.
I greet you with the Muslim greeting of peace.
As-shalamu alaykum, may peace be upon you all.
I also greet you with the Somali greeting.
Galabuanagsen.
I want to begin by grounding us in truth.
This land is home to the indigenous peoples, the original stewards whose presence, care, and sovereignty did not begin with history books and does not end here today.
We must also acknowledge our African American sisters and brothers whose ancestors were forcibly brought here through slavery and who build, shape, and sustain this country through generations of struggle, resistance, and brilliance, and who are still waiting for justice and reparations.
And then there's the rest of all of us.
All of us.
Whether we come from Asia, the African diaspora, Latin America, North Africa, or Europe, we are all immigrants in this land.
Many of us are here because of movement, whether by choice, by force, or by necessity.
Whether our ancestors escaped monarchies, wars, persecutions, we crossed oceans and borders in search for a better life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Naming this matters.
It reminds us, while our stories are different, they are deeply connected through histories of displacement, resilience, and the struggle for dignity.
And now I'm going to holler a little bit at my Somali sisters and brothers.
Somali people are people who have known hardship, war, displacement, famine, the uncertainty of starting over.
Many of us carry stories of loss, but alongside these stories is something just as powerful: survival, strength, and the refusal to be erased.
Because even when borders shift, our identity does not.
As a Somali American, we carry the stories of a thousand sunrises over the Horn of Africa.
We carry the strength of our mothers, the resilience of our fathers.
We come from people who have survived war, displacement, and started over and over from nothing.
So understand this.
If we have survived all of that, we will survive your harsh words.
As immigrants, we rebuild, we adapt, we learn new languages while teaching our children our old ones.
We contribute to the places that we arrive in with our labor, our culture, our ideas, and our very spirits.
We stand as proof that identity can survive distance, that culture can survive disruption, and that people can rise again and again under the warmth of other suns and the cold of Minnesota winters.
Refugees Rebuild Their Communities00:16:02
unidentified
What we ask is simple: the right to hold on to who we are while becoming a part of where we are.
The right to belong without having to erase ourselves.
Because when immigrants thrive, our communities grow richer, not just economically, but culturally, socially, and morally.
Over the last few months, Minnesotans have shown up in record numbers to protect one another.
We showed the nations that our differences are our special sauce.
Our neighbors' dignity will not be tied to where you were born.
We showed the nation that it is tied to our humanity.
Today, we stand in a moment in history that demands more than reflection.
It demands action.
Across the world and here at home, we are witnessing rising tensions and rising gas prices.
We see policies that reshape who belongs and who is protected.
We are seeing our authorities tested, expanded, and sometimes concentrated in ways that call for vigilance.
This is not a moment for silence.
It's a moment for clarity.
And let us no throats, no crowds, and no...
So America, Minnesota, what do we do after this moment?
That is what counts.
We must act with urgency.
We must widen the circle.
Bring more voices to the table.
Invite more communities into the conversation.
Look around you.
Who is missing?
Bring them into the circle.
We attend community meetings.
We contact our elected officials.
We advocate for policies that protect immigrants, refugees, and all marginalized communities.
For policies that allow us to put food on the table and a roof over our heads.
We organize, we participate, and we show up.
And Minnesota, we showed the country that that is what we do.
So let's continue to show up.
Not just today, not in this moment of crisis, but consistently, ongoing, relentlessly, in our commitment to justice and inclusion, We roll up our sleeves and get to work towards meaningful and systemic change.
I want to welcome everyone in St. Paul here, communities across Minnesota, and all across the nation.
As the mayor of our beautiful capital city, I welcome you.
Today we stand up to declare that 250 years later, that this is a land without a ruler and we are a people without a king.
Donald Trump tried to make an example of Minnesota.
Get in Trump's way and he will do to you and your community what he did to our beloved Twin Cities.
But I tell you, do not be afraid.
Trump and Christy Noam illegally sent thousands of masked, unaccountable agents to occupy our streets for months.
And like so many of Donald Trump's other ventures, he failed.
We delivered groceries to neighbors, raised funds, protested, and stood vigilant so that our children could go to school without fear of abduction.
Because of our solidarity, Minnesota became the model of resistance for the country.
My grandfather fought in the secret war for America, a country he had never set foot in, because he believed in democracy and freedom.
My family fled this war as refugees to bring their children to a country where they would be free from tyranny and oppression.
They could never imagine their children would end up living in an occupied city, too afraid to open their blinds and leave their homes.
The occupation our community experienced is not who we are or should be as a country.
I shouldn't.
You shouldn't.
Your children should not have to carry around their passports in fear of unlawful detention.
We are not defined by the tragedy we experience, but by how we respond to it.
Donald Trump, your actions speak for who you are, and the chaos of your lawless agents is yours to bear.
St. Paul and Minneapolis have shown that strength comes from the people, not from a king.
The lessons we learned, the unity we built, the communities we created during this crisis will endure.
We know who our neighbors are, and we will always stand with them in power and in love.
As mayor of St. Paul, I want to thank our partners in the state, Governor Walls, Lieutenant Governor Flanagan, Attorney General Keith Ellison, my partner across the river, Mayor Fry,
our neighboring cities and communities, the Minnesota ACLU, Twin Cities Indivisible, and most of all, I am grateful to all of you who stand with me when I say, no kings.
People across the Twin Cities have stepped up over many months to protect their neighbors and push back against authoritarianism.
Now it's time for the world to hear their stories.
Give a warm No Kings welcome to Flannery Clark, Nick Benson, Natalie Arett, and Nakima Levy Armstrong.
Hello Minnesota!
Hello, I'm Nick Benson.
I like airplanes, and I'm a plan-clad working dad.
Most importantly, I'm a Minnesotan.
Six months ago, I was chatting with a fellow aviation geek, Seth Miller.
He's an outspoken critic of ICE deportation flights.
I said, Seth, I really admire your courage.
I wish I could do that.
He replied, It's not that hard.
You just have to do it.
Now I'm here volunteering with Minnesota 5051.
We count every person being loaded on ICE flights at MSP.
There were 19 yesterday.
We revealed that Delta Airlines is flying Minnesota kids to concentration camps.
Seth told me it's not going to be that hard, but truthfully, it's been a struggle, hasn't it?
We've been remembering Victor Manuel Diaz, Renee Good, Alex Pretty.
We've been thinking about our neighbors who've been stuck at home, unable to go to school, work, or the doctor.
We've been thinking about the kids who are not sure if mom or dad will be home tonight for bedtime snuggles.
The students who are not sure if their friend with a cute hat will ever get to play with them ever again.
We've knelt in apartment hallways, Spanish over speakerphone, explaining that we were there to help.
We've woken up full of rage after a nightmare, discovering ICE agents lurking in another place that used to be safe.
It wasn't easy, but we had to do it.
But what if Metro Surge wasn't the end?
What if it was just the beginning?
What if the upcoming year is worse than the year before?
Silent businesses, complicit institutions, and cowardly politicians keep failing us, but you don't have to.
My fellow Minnesotans, I'm giving each one of you here today explicit permission to act with courage.
It's not that hard.
You just have to do it.
Be the neighbor that Mr. Rogers knew you could be.
Be a helper.
When the government fails to meet our needs, we meet them ourselves.
We feed each other, clothe each other, and care for each other.
We keep us safe.
So when others are silent, speak up.
Stand up for health care, education, child care, and housing.
No kings is a great start, but we also need to be done with cowards.
When I say no kings, you say no cowards.
No kings.
No kings.
I love you, Minnesota.
They put my babies right in front.
That's not fair.
I probably should have prepared more for this.
This is so outside of my comfort zone, but that's partly intentional because what Haven Watch did, what Minnesotans did when faced with injustice, wasn't comfortable.
It wasn't organized or well rehearsed.
We didn't know to do until we were already doing it.
We just acted.
Haven Watch began on January 12th when I took my 11 and 21-year-old sons to the Whipple Federal Building where people were being released from detention.
I took them to see the protests there and to learn how to use their voices and their bodies to stand up.
At one point, my 21-year-old son went off on his own and called from his phone shortly after.
He told me he had found two girls wandering in the cold, freezing without phones, and he had them in our car, giving them food and water and letting them use his phone to call home.
My son Jack did that night what Haven has done every day and night since then.
If anyone was going to be the spark that started Haven Watch, it was him.
Three years ago, Jack was diagnosed with brain cancer his senior year of high school, and he went through more in that year than many of us will in a lifetime and nearly died more than once.
He has always been kind, but that experience changed him.
He understands now what most of us don't, how short life can be, and how important true human connection and kindness is.
While I don't wish his forced perspective on any of you, I think we can learn from it.
Don't walk past suffering.
Act, even when it's not easy.
Because that's what he did, and that's what Minnesota did, and that's what our incredible volunteers did.
They paused their lives, mostly strangers, and showed up to stand and watch at a gate.
Minnesotans acted on behalf of each other without a plan or regard for their own safety or comfort or even lives.
We acted for each other and that's something we should expect from ourselves every day.
There is nothing extraordinary about me or Haven Watch.
Sorry, guys.
And I mean that in the best way possible because it means what we did is something anyone could do.
Don't notice the small everyday opportunities to show kindness that are so easy to ignore and don't ignore them.
While ICE presence in Minnesota may be less visible, the struggles of many in our immigrant communities are no less real.
Their need for continued support and care is real.
It doesn't stop when the attention fades and it requires us to keep showing up.
The only reason I did this, and I'm up here incredibly nervous and uncomfortable, is because I hope people here can see themselves in what we did and say I could do that.
I I could bring two people who are freezing into my car and let them use my phone Thank you.
I'm Nakema Levy Armstrong, civil rights attorney, activist, and someone standing firmly against authoritarianism, tyranny, and fascism of the Trump administration.
Standing Up for Immigrant Rights00:05:27
unidentified
They tried to underestimate the people across the state of Minnesota, but we showed them, hell no, we won't go.
That we'll continue standing up for the rights of our immigrant brothers and sisters.
That we're standing up for those who are being ignored, those who are being treated as if their lives are disposable, and who are being treated as if their lives don't matter.
But we have to remember that this struggle did not start with Donald Trump taking office again.
It started with our Indigenous brothers and sisters standing up for their land, for their people, their dignity, their traditions.
And I'm here standing on the shoulders of the black women and the black men and children who came before me.
Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Sojourner Truth, and so many others who stood up for freedom, justice, and equality.
We cannot forget about the struggle of those women who organize in our communities, who taught us that we matter.
Monique Cullors Doty, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota.
Also, co-founder, along with myself and Jaylani Hussein, of the National Target Boycott.
the national target boycott started right here in minnesota where target is head target
before we saw target capitulate to donald trump and align itself with authoritarianism we decided that it was time to hold a hometown company accountable for their actions when they decided to roll back diversity
equity, and inclusion, we the people decided to roll back our dollars and shop elsewhere.
I don't care what mega passers they sent from Atlanta or the two stooges with them.
Continue the more than 200 Minnesotans who are currently facing state and federal charges for standing up against the Trump administration.
We are calling on our state and county elected officials to drop the damn charges.
These people put their lives, bodies, and livelihoods on the line for our freedom and the freedoms of people across this country.
Myself, along with Monique and other black women, are also co-organizers of the city's church protests that took place on January 18th during Dr. King weekend.
There are 39 of us right now, the righteous 39, who are being charged by the Trump administration for standing up for freedom, justice, and equality.
We need to stand behind those of us who are calling out ICE, fascism, tyranny, and authoritarianism on behalf of the people, standing up for our immigrant neighbors, Standing up good, standing up for Alex Preddy and calling for justice.
I just want to say to the people of Minnesota, you stood up, you fought, you put your bodies on the line, you spoke the truth.
and you let them know we're not stepping back.
We're not afraid.
We will continue to rise up for the people of this country, for our immigrant neighbors, and for the future of our democracy.
Defending Democracy in Minnesota00:08:53
unidentified
My name is Flannery Clark.
I'm from the south side of Minneapolis.
And for 117 days and counting, I've been wearing this whistle around my neck.
I have no plans to stop anytime soon.
I'm here representing tens of thousands of ordinary Minnesotans who, when faced with masked and armed ICE thugs abducting our neighbors, said not here, not now, not ever.
Since December 4th, armed with whistles, phones, and our deep love for our neighbors, my community and I have built systems of protection in nearly every neighborhood of our city.
We did this to ensure our neighbors would not be abducted and disappeared into DHS prisons.
We did this to keep families together.
We did this because we knew even if we could not stop every act of terror, the least we could do was bear witness.
We've built neighborhood alert networks that are so effective that at the height of the occupation, our response time to an ICE sighting in South Minneapolis was less than two minutes.
Networks so strong, in fact, that we retired Greg Bovino and we cost Christy Noam her job.
Simultaneously, we created a mutual aid infrastructure that has paid over $10 million in rent, taken thousands of kids to and from school, and delivered meals for countless families.
There were thousands of us in the streets in early December, and after our neighbor Renee Goode was murdered by ICE on January 7th, there were tens of thousands.
We know what happened to Renee and Alex because of the observers and responders who filmed state violence at great risk to themselves.
We mourn for every neighbor abducted, every neighbor sent to a camp, and families torn apart.
And we will never know how many families were kept together safely in their homes because of the courageous actions of our neighbors.
How many were warned with a whistle or a signal chat or a patroller on the corner?
The rapid responders of Minnesota are heroes, but they are also ordinary people.
These neighbors of mine, these absolute heroes, were tear gassed, harassed, and came right back in the streets.
Heroes who unfailingly blew a whistle every time they saw an ICE agent, who recorded every abduction so no neighbor would disappear in darkness.
Heroes who understand that it's our moral imperative to stand up even when it's scary, even when we are terrified, even when guns are pointed at us.
I am representing tens of thousands of people whose names you will never know.
I'm not here to take credit for them, but I am here to tell you that your neighbors are heroes.
They are heroes in thousands of different ways, most of which we will never know.
I've never been so proud to be from Minnesota.
I am so proud to have seen us step up and become the community we have always needed to build the world that we know we won't ever stop fighting for.
And now, no keys is pre...
I'm going to do one quick chant.
Who keeps us safe?
Oh, power to the people.
And now, No Kings is proud to welcome to the stage Senator Bernie Sanders.
And let me thank Invisible, Move On 5051, and all of the organizations that have made this great event possible.
And thanks to the millions of Americans from our smallest towns to our largest cities in every state in our country who are gathering today at thousands of rallies.
It is absolutely appropriate that we hold a major No Kings rally right here in the St. Paul, Minneapolis area.
When historians write about this dangerous moment in American history, when they write about courage and sacrifice, the people of Minnesota will deserve a special chapter for themselves.
In the face of unprecedented occupation of this city by ICE, Trump's domestic army, this community stood up and with extraordinary solidarity fought back and won.
Minnesota showed the American people and in fact the world what democracy is about, what grassroots activism is about, and what standing up for the American ideals of freedom and justice is about.
And I want to thank my colleagues, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, for their leadership in the Senate on this issue.
And today we remember and honor two brave Americans, Renee Good and Alex Preddy, who lost their lives in the struggle.
And we promise their families and their friends that these two heroes will not have died in vain.
Their sacrifice has inspired and will continue to inspire the American people in the never-ending struggle for justice.
As all of you know, we are living in an unprecedented and dangerous moment in American history.
In many ways, the future of our country and in fact the entire world is hanging in the balance.
And the actions that we take now will determine what the future looks like.
The choices that we face are clear.
In the wealthiest country in the history of the world, at a time of massive breakthroughs in technology, we now have the opportunity to create a nation in which all people can enjoy a dignified standard of living,
where we wipe out bigotry and hatred, and where all of us can live in peace and participate in a vibrant democracy,
Where the foundation of our nation is built on love, compassion, human solidarity, and an understanding.
As your great former Senator, the late Paul Wellstone said, We all do better when we all do better.
And that is one vision for the future, a vision that, in my view, the vast majority of the American people share.
But there is another vision out there as well, a darker vision.
It is a vision which says that we must give up on democracy, that we are too stupid and inept to govern ourselves, and that we must put more and more power into the hands of one man.
It is a vision that says we should accept an economy in which a handful of oligarchs have unbelievable wealth while the vast majority of our people struggle to put food on the table.
It is a vision that says that the only thing that matters in life is the accumulation of money and power.
And that it is okay if we lie, cheat, and steal to achieve those goals.
It is a vision which says that we must hate each other because of where we were born.
Hate each other because of a different language that someone speaks.
Hate each other because of the differences in the color of our skin or our religion or our sexual orientation.
It is a vision that foments hatred and hatred and hatred, division, division, and division.
It is an Orwellian vision which says that we must live in a constant state of fear, that we must always have an enemy, and that we must always be at war.
It is a vision which says that we have unlimited amounts of money for bombs and guns and killing, but never enough money to feed our children, provide affordable housing, or enable our parents to retire with dignity.
Today, here in Minnesota, In Vermont, and in every state in the country, we say loudly and proudly that as Americans, we will never forsake our heritage.
And we will never accept a president who is a pathological liar, a kleptocrat, and a narcissist who is undermining the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law every day.
We will never accept government policy that gives massive tax breaks to billionaires, throws 15 million Americans off the health care they have.
breaks unions, denies women the right to control their own bodies, and is pushing the planet closer and closer to a climate crisis.
In the last year, I must confess, I've been thinking a lot about American history, about the men and women in 1776 who, with unbelievable courage, announced to the world that they would no longer be ruled by the King of England who had absolute power over their lives.
These patriots demanded freedom and they fought a bloody revolutionary war against the most powerful military in the world to achieve that freedom.
And they won.
And after their military victory, they established the first democratic form of government in modern history.
In 1789, they said loudly and boldly to the entire world, here in this new nation of America, we don't want kings.
And let us never forget the extraordinary and powerful words they left to us.
Quote, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal as they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
And today, in 2026, our message is exactly the same.
No more kings.
We will not allow this country to descend into authoritarianism or oligarchy.
America we the people will rule.
But let us be clear.
This moment is not just about one man's greed, one man's corruption, or one man's contempt for our Constitution.
This is about a handful of the wealthiest people on earth who, in their insatiable greed, have taken over our economy, have taken over our political system, have taken over our media in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the working families of our country.
Brothers and sisters, never before in American history have so few had so much wealth and so much power.
Never before in American history has there been such extreme levels of income and wealth inequality, with the top 1% now owning, if you can believe it, more wealth than the bottom 93 percent.
Never before in American history had we seen the super rich expand their wealth so rapidly.
Last year alone, after receiving the largest tax break in history, 938 billionaires in America, fewer than 1,000 people, became $1.5 trillion richer.
And our president, honest Donald Trump, became over a billion dollars richer himself.
Never before in American history have we seen a ruling class within a corrupt campaign finance system spend so much money to buy politicians.
In the coming midterm elections, the billionaires will spend many, many hundreds of millions of dollars to make sure that government continues to work for them and not working families.
Meanwhile, while the richest people in America become much, much richer, 60% of our people here in Minnesota, in Vermont, and all over this country are living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to put food on the table, struggling to pay their rent and their mortgage,
struggling to pay for child care and education, and struggling to put a few bucks aside for a decent retirement.
In America today, tens of thousands of our people die every year unnecessarily because they cannot afford to go to a doctor.
And unless we change how our economy works, our younger generation, our kids, for the first time in modern history, will have a lower standard of living than their parents.
So today, we not only say no to Trump's authoritarianism, we say no to Mr. Musk, no to Mr. Bezos and Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Ellison and all the other multi-billionaires.
You cannot have it all.
We will create an economy that works for all Americans, not just the 1%.
Brothers and sisters, it is not just the authoritarianism of the Trump administration that we must combat.
It is not just the oligarchs and their insatiable greed that we must combat.
Now, as the news literally of today reminds us, we have got to stop the out-of-control militarism of the Trump administration, whether it is here, at home, in cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul or abroad.
Let us be honest.
The American people were lied to about the war in Vietnam.
We were lied to about the war in Iraq.
And we are being lied to today about the war in Iran.
This war must end immediately.
In the last election, Donald Trump pointed out correctly the huge amounts of money that had been wasted in wars that should have been spent rebuilding America.
He campaigned as a peace candidate and he promised no more forever wars.
He lied.
One month ago, Trump and his partner, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started a war with Iran.
This war is unconstitutional.
Trump did not seek or receive authorization from Congress.
This war is a violation of international law.
One sovereign nation cannot simply go about attacking another sovereign nation for any reason it chooses.
Since this war began, 13 American soldiers have been killed and hundreds have been wounded, including another 12 yesterday.
In Iran, nearly 2,000 civilians have been killed and many more wounded, and 498 schools have been bombed by American and Israeli missiles.
In Lebanon, more than 1,000 people are dead and more than 1 million Lebanese people, 15% of their population, have been displaced from their homes.
In Israel, 20 people have been killed and over 5,000 wounded.
In the West Bank, Israeli vigilantes are burning down homes and killing Palestinians.
At a time when gas prices are soaring, when many Americans cannot afford the basic necessities of life, it is estimated that this war has already cost a trillion dollars.
At a time when the American people are politically divided, there is one issue that is bringing us together.
Conservatives, moderates, and progressives are speaking out in unison.
this war
And as a U.S. Senator, I want to just mention to you about what I intend to do about it.
First, we have got to make sure that Congress does not send another $200 billion to fight this war.
Trump's supplemental appropriation for the war in Iran must be defeated.
Secondly, I will be forcing a vote in the Senate on legislation to block the sale of nearly a billion dollars in weapons to the Israeli military for bombs and bulldozers.
A nation, a government that has committed genocide in Gaza does not need more military support from American taxpayers.
My fellow Americans, we are all proud to live in a country which throughout our history has inspired people throughout the world to struggle for freedom, for democracy, and justice.
And we understand that when we stand together and not let demagogues divide us up, we can continue to inspire the world to believe in a brighter future.
Yes, we can create a vibrant democracy by ending Citizens United and not allow billionaires to buy elections.
Yes, we can create an economy that works for every man, woman, and child in our country and not just a handful of billionaires.
Yes, we can make certain that the revolutionary technologies of artificial intelligence and robotics are used to improve life for all of us and not just make the rich owners of that technology even richer.
Yes, we can and must join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee health care as a human right for all of our people.
Yes, instead of spending a trillion dollars a year on the military, we can wipe out homelessness and build millions of units of low-income and affordable housing.
Yes, in the richest country on earth, we can have the best public educational system in the world, tuition-free from childcare to graduate school.
Yes, we can expand Social Security and radically improve our pension system so that every senior in America can retire with dignity.
Yes, we can raise the minimum wage to a living wage and guarantee every worker the right to join a union.
Yes, we can guarantee that every woman in this country has the right to control her own body.
And yes, when billionaires are paying an effective tax rate lower than a truck driver or a nurse, we can and must make certain that the top 1% and large profitable corporations start paying their fair share of taxes.
My fellow Americans, the establishment, including the corporate media and many of my colleagues in Congress, want you to believe that you are powerless.
They want you to believe that you cannot change the status quo, that because of their wealth and their influence, there is nothing you can do to combat them.
I have hope in every one of you that is here today.
I have hope in people across this country.
We are going to speak up.
We are going to continue to show up because we refuse to believe in a future ruled by fear, corruption, and chaos.
We are not a country of kings.
We are a country of laws.
We are a country where people look out for one another.
And we are a country that will fight peacefully, powerfully, and persistently to protect our democracy.
I love you, Minnesotans.
Thank you so much for being out here.
It is my honor to introduce a lifelong hero of mine, the incredible, brave, courageous Jane Fonda.
unidentified
Yeah.
Hi.
I'm not going to make a speech because we're running late and there's a bunch of people who have to catch planes.
Let me just say thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Minnesota.
Thank you, all the unions.
Thank you, all the churches and mosques and synagogues and clergy and neighbors.
We are learning so much from you.
Now, when I point to you, you're going to say, Minnesota, okay?
When people ask me how I know we will win, I have one word to say.
When people ask me how I know love is stronger than hate, I say, when people ask me how nonviolence can win, I have one word to say.
Thank you, Minnesota.
Now, Becca Goode, the wife of Renee Goode, has asked me to read a statement, which I am honored to do.
Hello, Minnesota.
This is from Becca Good.
I am so proud to call Minneapolis my home.
I can't stop talking about how absolutely beautiful it is to see how Minnesota shows up for its people.
I want to say thank you for how you've shown up for me, how you've shown up and shown out for all the people victimized by this horrible moment in history.
So many people have reached out to me and surrounded me with safety and care.
And I know I am not alone in feeling in awe of your generosity.
Neighbors are paying people's rent and groceries.
Hundreds of businesses become community hubs.
This is beautiful.
And beyond Minnesota, people all over the country and the world care about what happens here to all of us.
I've received cards from elder grandmas saying, this is not what I voted for.
I feel it, Rebecca says.
I feel it.
The immense love.
And now other cities are taking their cue from what we've learned and creating new ways of caring for each other.
Right on.
And I want you to know that my sweet dog, Wopsy, is okay.
All right.
We love dogs.
She is my sidekick and best friend for 12 years.
And she is healing alongside me from what we lost that day.
The reality is I am so heartbroken.
I miss my wife.
The world now knows that my wife sparkled with sunshine and shone with kindness that is unmatched.
We were robbed of an incredible human.
It has made people pause and take a breath and have to choose sides.
We choose the side of love.
Everyone who was there when my wife was taken from me has had their lives destroyed that day, including those agents.
What we need is to stop destroying life.
What is happening now is the result of far deeper issues that have been simmering across this country for a long time.
We have to address the root causes of these issues and stop this violence where it came from.
Renee and I stood for radical kindness.
I love that notion.
Radical kindness.
Renee and I believe that one of the things that will foster a world of radical kindness is to be able to admit mistakes and learn from them.
We are allowed to decide that what we believed before isn't what we believe anymore.
To change your mind is beautiful and powerful and brave.
Renee and I believe that the love that's needed to build a world where we care for everyone already exists.
Yeah, it already exists.
Look at you all.
And I see now that this is true.
I have seen it.
We have all seen it.
And it sparkles because we know we can do better together.
This is not the America I was told existed.
I was told we are the people.
I did not ask to be thrust into the spotlight or to be expected to speak out.
It's a circumstance I unfortunately found myself in.
But regardless of how I arrived here, I feel it's my responsibility to send a message that hate has divided us and destroyed so many lives and families.
But we can choose something else.
We can choose radical kindness.
So let's do this.
And now, it is my honor to introduce a young woman whom I love a lot, a great singer and a great soul, Maggie Rogers.
Minnesota.
I have been so inspired by the resilience and the fortitude that has been coming out of this state.
So much love in the face of evil and hate.
And the best way that I know how to give a little bit of love back to this city that has been such a beacon of it is to sing a song.
This is called Different Kind of World.
Thank you so much for having me.
There's nowhere else in the world I would rather be today.
One more song, I'll sing a song and make it a song for peace.
Though we only carry on, we do so decently.
My hands are shaking, bombs are sweating, thinking about the state of the world.
But when we're running all together, it's a different kind of world.
One more song, I'll write a song in.
Know that it's for you.
The new friend I haven't met with a different point of view.
My knees are aching, back is breaking.
Thinking about the state of the world.
When we're together.
A different kind of girl, a different.
I'm a different kind of girl.
It's my honor to introduce to you a good friend of mine who's also one of my heroes.
Please welcome the great Joan Baez to the stage.
Joan Baez Sings for Change00:05:24
unidentified
Are we going here?
All right.
It's going to be about a tiny thing, and then I'll come and sing with you.
Thank you, Maggie.
I'm honored to be standing in resistance with all of you today on this stage in this city at this moment.
For those of us who believe in the power of nonviolent resistance and those of you who didn't, you have shown the way with your courage, determination, and decency.
Thank you, Minneapolis.
Here you are.
We just have the microphone.
Yeah.
Take it out.
There you are.
Thank you.
Joan, there is.
Oh, you don't.
Yeah?
Yeah.
All right.
I'm going to stand right here.
I'm going to stand right here.
Perfect.
All right.
I think you first sang this song on the March on Washington.
Is that right?
I sang this song for the first time with Dr. Martin Luther King in Grenada, Mississippi, actually, and then again on the March on Washington.
Come gather round people, wherever you roam And accept that the waters around you have grown And accept it too Soon you'll be drenched to the bone And every time to you is worth saving.
And you better start soon like a stone For the times they are changing.
Come, rising critics, prophesies with your ball and keep your eyes wide if your chance won't come again.
And don't speak too soon, for the wheels still in spin, There's no telling who that it's made, Or the loser now will be later to win, For the times they are changing.
Come senators congressmen, please hear the call.
Don't stand in the doorway, Don't block up the hall, For he who gets hurt will be he who has thought.
And there's a battle outside and it's raging.
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls For the times they are changing.
is rapidly aging, so get the fuck out the way if you can't lend them.
unidentified
Because the times, they are a-changing.
The line is drawn, the curse it is cast.
The soul now will later be fast, As the present now will later be passed.
The order is rapidly fading.
Yes, one now will later be fast, And the times they are changing.
For the times they are changing.
Thank you Minneapolis you're an inspiration to the nation Thank you Tom Morello Today our coverage of the Artemis II crewed mission to the moon continues with a QA with the astronauts at 1130 a.m. Eastern.
They'll answer reporters' questions from their quarantine facility as they prepare for launch on Wednesday.
And then at 2 p.m., NASA officials give a flight status update.
Watch our coverage leading up to the Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight to the moon in over 50 years on C-SPAN.
C-SPAN Now, our free mobile app, and online at c-span.org.
Beverly Gage on J. Edgar Hoover00:02:30
unidentified
Watch America's Book Club, C-SPAN's bold, original series.
Today, with our guest, Beverly Gage, a professor of American history at Yale.
Her book, G-Man, J. Edgar Hoover, and The Making of the American Century, received numerous literary awards and prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, the Bancroft Prize in American History, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Biography.
Her most recent book is This Land is Your Land, a Road Trip Through U.S. History.
She joins our host, renowned author and civic leader David Rubinstein.
Now, when biographers spend five years, 10 years, 15 years or so with a person, they often fall in love with them because they spend so much time with them.
Did you fall in love with J. Edgar Hoover or did you come away saying, geez, he's not as good as I thought or wished he was?
To me, I was just fascinated by him the whole time.
I thought that he was important, and I thought that he was really an interesting, complicated character.
We mostly know him as a villain, and I did find that he was much more complicated than that one-dimensional portrait.
unidentified
Watch America's Book Club with Beverly Gage today at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.
Only on C-SPAN.
Coming up on Washington Journal this morning, along with your calls and comments live, we'll talk about the political fallout from the ongoing Iran conflict and other political news of the week.
First, with nationally syndicated radio show host Eric Erickson, and then Katrina Vandenhoevel, editorial director and publisher of The Nation magazine.
Washington Journal is next.
Join the conversation.
Good morning.
It's Sunday, March 29th, 2026.
The conflict in Iran has now lasted one month.
In that time, 13 U.S. service members have died.
Over 300 have been wounded.
Meanwhile, thousands of Marines and Army paratroopers are on their way to the region, even as the Pentagon says that more than 15,000 airstrikes have crippled the Iranian regime and already eliminated its nuclear threat.
So we began this morning with your views on the Iran war at the one