randi weingarten, president of the american federation of teachers will join.rg. ♪ vonnie: president donald trump reiterated his preference to dismantle the department of education but indicated he preferred to build consensus around the idea. president trump: i think we would work with congress, work with the teachers union. they are the only ones opposed to it. nobody else would want to hold them back. we have to tell the teachers union, we are rated last in the world and education of the top 40. vonnie: that is president donald trump. the president and elon musk are scrutinizing and cutting federal organizations. american federation of teachers president randi weingarten's call of the cuts unlawful. we are joined by her now. her organization represents 1.9 million teachers and other education professionals. thank you so much for joining. tell us how you can fight this, if this is something that you think is unlawful, is there a way through the courts? randi: first off, there is a way through congress, and then a way through the courts. but we are not about k

you saw randi weingarten. where will the money go? >> she is one of the worst culprits.19-year-old genius to tell you that the teachers union have always fought for themselves. we look at the educational budgets over the last 20 years and it is all staffing. all bureaucrats. none of it is teachers. no hiring of real teachers or anything that helps out the teachers, layer upon layer of the administrative state and scores gone down. they've been opposed. as administrators and teachers, weingarten has been at the center of this. she is a power broker and the unions particularly teachers unions and democratic party but none looking out for taxpayers or our kids. >> dana: for students. you do and we'll see you at 2:00. >> can't wait. this is an amazing time. it is amazing and great to be able to talk about it and live through it. >> dana: it is a big story. >> martha: we're all trying to hang on. thank you, charles. thank you. >> dana: treasury steak temporary vowing to roll back regulations and unleash domestic production. how does he plan to do it? energy secretary chris wr

teachers union president randi weingarten throwing a fit making wild claims about where the educationactually going. >> you are talking about millions of kids and what the department really does is make sure the money goes out and it's not stolen. it is actually used for the intended purposes. >> where's the money going? was taking it? are they trying to take the money that kids get for tax cuts for billionaires? it is illegal to take that money out of children's mouths and give it to billionaires. >> she's not the only one. unhinged democrats surrounded the department of education building yesterday demanding to be let in and slamming the trump administration in. >> there's lack of transparency here. everybody at the department of education are here because we pay for them to be here. >> all access entrance two should be clear if you want to advocate on behalf of your children, you are not allowed to come into this building where you pay taxes. >> president trump blasted the democrats back doubling down on his own education vision. >> the same ones, i see maxine waters and all these

randi weingarten is the president of the american federation of teachers. all right. to make a quick clarification about a segment we did earlier in the show about the great nadir, the racist backlash to the reconstruction era after the civil war and the end of slavery, and the argument that we are experiencing a second nadir now, a backlash to racial progress. in that segment, i spoke with nikole hannah-jones, and i read from a boston review article by this man, nb connolly, who's a history professor at johns hopkins university, and i inadvertently attributed some of the passages from this man from from connolly to nikole hannah-jones. we did correct it at the time, but that was our error. i am going to post a link to his article. this our second nadir on all my social media accounts, and we're grateful to him for writing such a thoughtful article. that does it for me. thank you for watching. catch me back here every saturday and sunday morning from 10 a.m. to noon eastern, and follow me on threads, blue sky, linkedin, and mastodon where i post daily inside with jen

. >> laura: teacher's union president randy weingarten i know you got texts she went after doge todayut. >> what is now coming down the pike in this aura of efficiency is not efficiency, it's evisceration. it is an attempt to take the funding and take the right away from each and every child. >> laura: alina, we know that our public school students continue to lose ground, especially in blue cities across america. and randy weingarten thinks the real villain here is the guy trying to make the system more efficient because she's for the kids. >> yeah. the only thing we are dissolving, to use her words, the dissolution. the only thing we are dissolving right now. people, lobbyists and god forbid politicians who have being funded by things like pharmaceutical companies and not caring about things that really matter. woke dei, contractor. thacrt.going to make way it sho, strong. >> we should not have children who can't read. we should not be weak in math. that's what we have seen in the last administration. it is a priority for president trump to have these children educated, but we know

griff gruff but, corey, randi weingarten says this is a direct attack on public schools. >> look, the money belongs to the parents and the taxpayers. it's for the kids. education funding is meant for educating children, not for protecting a particular institution it's time to fund students, not systems. and guess what? the public schools are going to be fine. there's a lot of great public schools out there, and families are going to continue to send their children to those institutions. so randi weingarten's just worried about her knot of $500,000 -- north of $500,000 a year paycheck, and she's worried about the money that she's going to funnel to the democrat party which is a wholely-owned sub subsidiary of the teachers union. her union funneled 90% of the campaign contributions to the democrat party in 2024. that's too bad for randi, but great news for parents, kids and even teachers. griff: that's not the only executive order the president signed this week. another sought to get critical race theory out of curriculum -- curriculums. corey deangelis, thank you for taking time to joi

joining me right now is the president of that union, randi weingarten. randi, great to see you.hat is it about? >> great to be. >> with you. thank you. so what is it about this executive order that you find really potentially harmful? >> so because you can't rob from peter to pay paul, if you want. to create other options which have been available for kids forever. i mean, when i was growing up, we had parochial schools. i had friends that went to parochial schools, people had scholarships for parochial schools. if you want to do that, then find other means to do that. don't take it from the kids who are going to public schools. and in fact, when this went to the voters in three states this year, two of those three states voting for donald trump, they overwhelmingly voted against taking public monies that are needed for the 90% of the kids that go to public schools and giving them somewhere else. and in fact, in the voucher programs we have right now, what we've seen is that they divest money from public schools like in florida and arizona, and the people that use them are basic

former secretary arne duncan, randi weingarten and doctor david thomas of morehouse college. after the pride comes the fall, the black or black church is taking control of a powerful name in white nationalism. more on that after nationalism. more on that after a short break. despite being on an antidepressant, i was still masking my depression symptoms. my doctor said it could be because my antidepressant alone wasn't enough. so she recommended an add-on treatment. she recommended adding rexulti. when taken with an antidepressant, rexulti was proven to significantly reduce depression symptoms more than an antidepressant alone. so with my antidepressant, rexulti could provide a boost. elderly people with dementia-related psychosis have increased risk of death or stroke. antidepressants may increase suicidal thoughts and actions and worsen depression in children and young adults. call your healthcare provider right away to report new or sudden changes in mood, behavior, thoughts, or feelings, or if you develop suicidal thoughts or actions. report fever, stiff muscles, and confu

let's discuss with randi weingarten, the president of the american federation of teachers. ne of the things that we're learning here is that trump's order would acknowledge that, yes, only congress has the power officially to shut it down the department of education. but before that happens, it would still work to dismantle the agency from within. according to three people briefed on its concerns that we're talking with the washington post. what's your reaction to this plan? >> so it's not. >> what the american people voted for. meaning? >> yes, i know. >> that donald trump frequently talked about the department of education. you know, that he wanted to eliminate it, but at the same exact time, people all across america, even people who voted for trump, voted against vouchers, voted against cutting education, voted for education. so let me just say to the american people what the money in the department of education does. 26 million kids get money from title one? 7.5 million kids get money from the individuals with disabilities act. 13 million kids get money from pell grants

so for more on this, randi weingarten joins us now. she's the president of the american federation of teachers, one of the largest teachers unions in the country. what are you hearing, randi, from your members who have woken up to these letters? >> um, so, you know, our members work in the field in schools. um, we don't have members that actually work at the department of education, but we have people like, for example, the head of all of career tech, ed, um, at the department of education. this is career tech month. so we were talking to her when she was put on leave. and she's the one who actually makes sure that the that school districts all across america have the money that they need for kids to become welders and for kids to have apprentice programs or for things like that. so what we're hearing is just complete chaos. and frankly, a whole bunch of cruelty, because at the end of the day, um, you can make departments more efficient. and i'm not a big believer in bureaucracy, but this feels like, as elon musk said to you, eviscerati

american federation of teachers president randi weingarten says will hurt public school students so that0% of the kids >> go to public schools because of the big weingarten says the push for school choice won't help the students who need help. the kids that are basically going to these voucher schools. >> but our people have already been there. donald says he expects to see school choice legislation in the upcoming government funding package in washington. i'm maddie biertempfel. >> trump administration officials are reportedly taking steps to fire certain fbi agents and prosecutors involved in investigations related to trump in the january. 6th riots at the capitol sources with the associated press say the administration is working to identify participated in what they call politically sensitive investigations for potential termination. similarly, a top justice department official ordered the dismissal of prosecutors involved in the cases against writers charged in the january 6th incident. this comes just days after trump pardoned more than 1500 in vivid individuals charged with federa

american federation of teachers president randi weingarten says will hurt public school students so that 90% of the kids go to public schools because the big weingarten says the push for school choice won't help the students who need help. the kids are basically going to these voucher schools. >> our people have already been there. donald says he expects to see school choice legislation in the upcoming government funding package in washington. i'm maddie biertempfel. >> the trump administration is reportedly taking steps to fire certain fbi agents and prosecutors involved in investigations related to president trump in the january. 6th riots at the capitol sources with the associated press say the administration is working to identify fbi agents who participated in politically sensitive investigations for potential termination. similarly, the top justice department official ordered the dismissal of prosecutors involved in cases against people who charge to january 6 capitol riot. this comes just days after trump pardoned more than 1500 people charged with federal recall federal crimes re

teaching union head randi weingarten is calling on elon musk for wanting to audit the education departmentis complete chaos and a whole bunch of cruelty because at the end of the day you can make department more efficient. i'm not a big believer in bureaucracy. what this feels like as elon musk said to you a destination. here's a guy who has hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts from these departments and is not touching them but what he is doing is taking money from kids who really need it in the field and these departments. ashley: what do you make of that? >> let me tell you what is cruel. what is cruel is forcing parents by rule of law to send their children every day for 8 hours to a school that's not teaching them to read or do math, not giving those parents any other option outside of that failing school, that is cruel. it is cruel to say from the federal government we are giving funds to students with special needs to meet those needs and not meeting those needs i know is occurring as a former school board member and school leader. that is cruel. cutting bureaucracy and wast

randi does. donald trump is the chief executive something ms. weingarten called the executive branch.nd the staff that he appoints in senior roles have the duly delegated authority of him to use data to determine program efficacy. not to intrude in people's lives. but we don't need an audit really to know how badly the department of education has failed our children it's self-evident. [chanting] >> we are honor all our mothers. >> laura: recall that on the way out the door president obama urged young people to engage in community organizing. after all he did socialist highest calling on the hill. >> look very different from the first trump administration. decentralize local protest around particular departments, particular agencies, particular towns and cities are going to proliferate. we are going to stop them and use every means available to us. >> laura: by any means necessary. well, rules for radicals. solenski would be very proud of what he is hearing. and, remember, democrats are all about just a few things. they are experts in a few things. protesting and partying all on your d

harvey randi weingarten seems concerned now. >> what is coming down the pike in this aura of efficiency, it is eviseration. it is an attempt to take funding and take the rights away from each and every child. >> todd: she sounds like someone who is about to lose a lot of power. what does getting rid of department of education mean for teachers unions and people like her? >> i've seen first hand union bosses lead to learning losses and they bargain for teachers at the table, not the teachers in the classroom. we have seen corruption since teachers unions have been involved. we need to make sure kids are learning in school. >> todd: push from trump and mcmahon, to give more power to states and take from the feds. what will happen to test scores when the fed gets out of the way? >> we just saw in the nation's report card, scores and states like louisiana, and scores are going up. he does something called letting teachers teach. go figure. focus on basics, reading, writing and math. states are using tools to teach kids to read and i'm excited to see what lin dladoes. imagine if you made sea

randi weingarten and the teacher unions of this nation are doing the opposite of that. been plummeting so less than half of students k-12 are proficient in math and english. >> trace: some people in massachusetts pushing to be a sanctuary city. >> i don't want to spend an hour applying glitter on my face so that you will hear and see me. >> i need the city to protect me because the federal government won't. if you think you're afraid of trump, you should see how afraid of trump i am. >> it demands a response from elected officials, to say, we recognize that you are under attack. in worcester, we are going to protect you. >> trace: they got their wish. what do you think? >> i think it's so interesting. i'm curious what they are so afraid of happening. the majority of americans agree that minors should not undergo any sort of sex change. that's just common sense policy. to they think that it's okay for minors to be able to change their gender when they can't even drink alcohol? it makes zero sense. >> trace: they can't get an aspirin without the school calling the parents

democrats led a rally against mcmahon along with the american federation of teachers, president randi weingartennnounced the group is talking about taking elon musk and doge to court to prevent them from gaining access to the department of education and dana we've seen a lot of folks here from the national education association in the audience. the largest labor union in the country. of course, it helps educators, teachers, schools get grants and programs which might now be on the chopping block. they are inside. we're waiting to see if there are any protests that happen during the hearing. >> dana: i'm fascinated by this whole thing and appreciate the update. thank you. >> president trump: we had a great call and it lasted for a long time, over an hour this morning. i also had with president zelenskyy, a very good call after that. and i think we're on the way to getting peace. i think president putin wants peace and president zelenskyy wants peace. and i want peace. >> bill: a chance we may be going into a new era. president trump engaging in telephone diplomacy looking for a way to end the war

." >> i heard randi weingarten say teachers can do a better job of bringing test scores and student educationion from the federal government how to do it. i think, what have they been doing all the shares? >> great point. that his wife a lot of the folks are wondering if the days in that department are numbered. >> john: they only talk about the local level. thanks. >> jacqui: our next guest says foxnews.com piece the education department has failed and it is time to restart from scratch. let's bring it betsy devos, secretary during trump's first term. thank you for being here. i want to read a piece of what you wrote for us to get us started. you right, we must make meaningful change to put students first and economic security, national security, innovation edge and way of life hanging in the balance. america cannot continue to lead the world if rising generation can even read let alone excel in math and science. you are looking at the nation's report card as sort of the basis for what you have said. outline white the explanation is there. >> absolutely we know the department has been -- and

i wish these congresspeople were more animated about the department of education when randi weingarten unions were saying oh, we don't want to go to school, we don't want the schools to open, it is too dangerous for the teachers, and for the kids. you know, this is all political theater. >> dana: greg, i don't know if people at home realize but they might not be surprised at this point, the department of education spent a billion of our tax dollars promoting dei in k-12 and 60% of kids in america cannot read at grade level. >> greg: not surprising. i am just kind of shocked and disappointed that i am the only one here wearing black. why didn't you guys wear black? it is national constipation awareness day. make poo great again. is this an attack on me? i can't believe you're not asking me about big balls. >> dana: i did. >> greg: spelled big balls with a s, not a z. could be for debutante coming out parties. this reminds me of the scientist -- do you remember, we did this on "the five" like ten years ago, he landed a spacecraft on a comet, but he was forced to apologize for wearing a h

is i wish these congresspeople were moreple animated about the department of education when randy weingartennions were saying we don't want to go to school wes don't want theto school's open it's too dangerous for the teachers and the kids. it's allu political theatre ata people home realized they might not be surprised that thet, department o tf education spento billion of our tax dollars promoting dei in k-12 and 60% to kids in america cannot read at grade level. >> is not that surprising. i'm just shocked anddisa disappointed i'm the only oneon heree wearing black why didn't you guys were black its national constipation awareness day. make it great again what's with all the red if is this an attack on me. one thing to point out can't believe you aren't asking me about big balls. >> i said he could probably read that grade level he spelled it with an s and not the letter z so he's serious about this you never know. this f reminds me of the scient matt taylor we did this on the v five like ten years ago he o landed a spacecraft on a commenc but was forced to apologize for wearing a hawaii a

senate republicans as that nomination moftsd forward american federation of teachers led by randy weingartenfter elon musk and doge to try to stop them from digging through the files of the department of education. bret? >> bret: aishah hasnie live on the hill. thanks. five nominees have cleared the committee hurdle and now awaiting final confirmation from the full senate. fbi director pick kash patel was the latest nominee to get the go ahead to the full senate. but, as correspondent david spunt reports, the favorable vote did not come easy. >> a fight over fbi director nominee kash patel. >> this patel guy will come back to haunt you. every piece of evidence shows that, and it is not democrat evidence, it's his own words. >> why do they fear him? i think the answer is so very apparent. they fear him because yes, indeed out of the box. >> the president's choice to lead the bureau voted out of a senate committee this morning. next stop, the senate floor expected next week for likely confirmation. >> mr. patel has spent his whole career fighting for righteous causes. >> patel has said he want

>> dear member that randi weingarten travel to ukraine to help them recover from the pandemic and warfare in their educational systems, yet here we are, and it's been a complete failure for the american children? she was probably being flown on taxpayers dollars for her role to teach other countries how to -- a robust education system. >> and talk about the universities pick the department of education also -- look at what has happened to the nation's universities since october 7th and these protests have happened. all the other departments -- >> they are not results oriented. there is no countability. parents should be outraged, and they should be happy to toss the apple cart right over and see if they have a better result. >> when i was in middle school, so 100 years ago, i was part of the school district where it went bankrupt, so halfway through the school year all of a sudden we were going to go home and not have the rest of the year. obviously, that crisis was averted. we had to switch to the west -- school district because the loans were under rusd, so to get more money means to sw

joining me right now is randi weingarten, president of the american federation of teachers, one of the largest teachers unions in the country representing educators, school staff and government employees. randi, this reporting from the wall street journal. just to dive into it a little bit more, is there basically weighing how to dismantle and how far they can go to dismantle the department of education? here's the line. the officials have discussed an executive order that would shut down all functions of the agency that aren't written explicitly into statute, or move certain functions to other departments. that's according to people familiar with the matter. do you think this move is legal? can they do it? so the. >> move is not legal. >> meaning? i mean, and even. >> there, first off, thank you for having me on. >> the move is not legal in that even they recognize that. there are lots of. >> things about the department of education that. >> are in statute. let me just talk about the most important things. the money that goes out for kids with disabilities, the money that goes out for

i wish these congresspeople were more animated about the department of education when randi weingarten and the unions were saying, oh, we don't want to go to school. we don't want to, you know, we don't want the schools to open. it's too dangerous for the teachers and for the kids. you know, this is all political theater. >> greg. i don't know if people at home realize, but they might not be surprised at this point that the department of education spent a billion of our tax dollars promoting dei in k through 12, and 60% of kids in america cannot read at the right level. >> it's not surprising. >> i can probably. >> read it. i'm just kind of shocked. >> and. disappointed that i'm the. >> only one here wearing black. why didn't you guys wear black? it's national constipation awareness day. make poo great again. what's with all the red? is this an attack on me? look, the one thing to point out, i get. i can't believe you're not asking me about big balls. >> i did, i said big balls could probably read at this grade level. >> you know, he spelled it big balls with an s and not a z. so he's

. >> well, randi weingarten, thank you so much for coming in, making the case and helping to educate all of us on what the department of education does and its importance. we appreciate you. that does it for us today. i'll see you back here tomorrow. same time, same place. i'm ana cabrera, reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. >> good morning. 11 a.m. eastern, 8 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. we have breaking news out of. >> capitol hill. where a. >> senate panel. has advanced robert f. kennedy jr. >> s bid to. >> become the next. secretary of the department of health. >> and. >> human services. >> it comes. >> after republican senator. >> bill. >> cassidy. >> a. >> doctor, signaled he. >> had reservations over kennedy's qualifications, citing his past as a vaccine skeptic. >> but in. >> the. >> end. >> cassidy voted yes after citing the opportunity to work together on other issues. >> kennedy's nomination will now face a full senate vote. joining us now. co-founder of punchbowl news. jake sherman, also an msnbc contributor. >> so, jake. >> g