FEATURING TIM KARR – Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is under fire for meeting recently with conservative political figures in private including Fox News’ Tucker Carlsen and right wing radio shock jock Hugh Hewitt. In the face of pushback under the hashtag #DeleteFacebook, Zuckerberg defended the meetings saying he meets with people from across the political spectrum. 

Meanwhile, Democratic Presidential frontrunner Elizabeth Warren has been in a feud with Zuckerberg over his platform promoting and profiting off of fake news and violent content. Warren recently launched a series of provocative ads on Facebook taking on the issue. 

Read Karr’s article ‘Can Anyone Stope Facebook from Poisoning Democracy,’ HERE.

Tim Karr, Senior Director of Strategy and Communications at Free Press.

** This segment was originally broadcast on October 16, 2019.

FEATURING JOHN NICHOLS – Elections on Tuesday in various states and cities around the country resulted in big wins for Democrats, most notably in Virginia where all 140 seats in the State Senate and House of Delegates were up for grabs. Democrats, who already controlled the governorship wrested control of both legislative bodies in a massive upset for the GOP. While Republicans held on to a governor’s seat in Mississippi they may have lost Kentucky. 

John Nichols, national affairs correspondent for The Nation magazine and host of their new podcast, ‘Next Left,’ featuring interviews with rising progressive politicians who explain how they plan to change the country. He is a contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times and the associate editor of the Capital Times. He is also the author of numerous books including Horsemen of the Trumpocalypse: A Field Guide to the Most Dangerous People in America (Nation Books) and his 2006 book, The Genius of Impeachment (New Press).

Democrats won major victories in elections on Tuesday, most notably in snagging majorities in both of Virginia’s state houses and possibly beating an incumbent Republican governor in Kentucky. Specifically in Virginia the Democratic Party now controls 21 seats in the State Senate to the Republicans’ 19, and in the House of Delegates the party breakdown is 54 Democrats to 43 Republicans. Among the victors is a woman named Ghazala Hashmi, who beat Republican Glen Sturtevant to become the first Muslim woman to ever be elected to a state elected seat in Virginia. Hashmi is a first generation Indian immigrant who campaigned on gun control among other things. Along with two other candidates, Joshua Cole and Dan Helmer, Hashmi also backed a Green New Deal, leading climate activists to declare the issue a winning one. Democrats now control the State Senate, the House of Delegates, and the Governor’s seat in Virginia for the first time in more than 25 years. 

In Kentucky, Trump loyalist Matt Bevin is refusing to concede his governor’s seat after Democrat Andy Beshear who has been the state’s Attorney General, claimed a narrow victory. According to Associated Press, “With 100% of precincts reporting, Beshear … had a lead of 5,333 votes out of more than 1.4 million counted, or a margin of less than 0.4 percentage points.” Mr. Beshear on Tuesday night hoped Bevin would accept the outcome of the vote count. Both the Virginia and Kentucky elections are being seen as a test of the Trump effect. 

In Mississippi, Republicans managed to hold on to the Governor’s seat with Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves beating Attorney General Jim Hood. Reeves’ margin of victory was slimmer than expected given the large margin by which Trump won that state. Trump had also rallied for Reeves. Another major election coming up is a run-off governor’s race in Louisiana taking place in the middle of the month. President Trump plans to rally support for the Republican candidate Eddie Rispone who faces Democrat John Bel Edwards. It is not clear if Trump’s support translates into victory or is more of a political liability these days. 

A number of other smaller elections took place in states and cities around the country. In Arizona, voters in Tucson rejected a plan to make their city a “sanctuary city” for immigrants. In New Jersey voters chose to regulated AirBnB rentals more tightly. New Yorkers chose a ranked choice voting system for some types of elections. In the city of Lewiston, Maine, a Somali immigrant who has survived severe Islamophobia, went on to win a seat on the city council. Safiya Khalid is only 23 and may be the youngest person to sit on that city council. And in the state of Washington voters chose to bring back affirmative action hiring policies in some public laws. Specifically in Seattle, Washington, where the

FEATURING DUSTIN CRAUN – Police in San Diego, California are investigating as a hate crime, a vicious attack against a 17-year old Syrian refugee. The young man was riding the Metro trolley car when a man asked him if he was Mexican. When he replied that he was Arab, the man allegedly beat him leaving the boy’s face injured. 

The attack on the high schooler is emblematic of what growing numbers of Arab, Muslim, and those perceived to be Muslim face in a country headed by a President who openly promotes Islamophobia. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) just released its annual report on bullying in schools and found high rates of hateful behavior aimed at Muslim school children. 

Read the report ‘Singled Out: Islamophobia in the Classroom and the Impact of Discrimination on Muslim Students,’ HERE.

Dustin Craun, Executive Director of CAIR San Diego.

**This segment was originally broadcast on October 22, 2019.

FEATURING ROB BOSTON – State Secretary Mike Pompeo is in the crosshairs of the House-led impeachment inquiry facing President Donald Trump. But his conduct at the US State Department could be worthy of its own inquiry. Aside from failing to keep his staff immune from the pressures of Trump’s political machinations, Pompeo has taken the US State Department in a distinctly theological direction. Most recently he gave a speech called “On Being a Christian Leader” under the official auspices of the State Department – not the first and likely not the last time he violated the tenets of separating church and state. 

Rob Boston, Senior Adviser at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

FEATURING LINDSAY KOSHGARIAN – Healthcare reform is the single most important election-related issue for Americans. The vast majority of Americans dread a medical emergency even when they are covered by a health insurance plan. It is no surprise that poll after poll shows strong and growing public support to expand the government funded health plan for seniors called Medicare to all Americans. 

But, the pull of the insurance lobby is strong and both establishment Democrats and Republicans strongly oppose moving to a Medicare-for-All system. At the recent Democratic Presidential debate in Ohio, Senator Elizabeth Warren was challenged on how she would pay for such a plan and her answers were vague. Senator Bernie Sanders, the strongest champion of such a system admitted that taxes would have to be raised but they would be compensated by zero costs for premiums, co-payments and deductibles. My next guest, writing in the New York Times, says that we can have Medicare-for-All without even raising taxes. 

Read Lindsay’s New York Times’ Op Ed ‘We Don’t Need to Raise Taxes to Have ‘Medicare for All,’ HERE. Also, visit www.peopleoverpentagon.org.

Lindsay Koshgarian, Research Director at National Priorities Project, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies.

**This segment was originally broadcast on October 21, 2019.

One of President Trump’s lawyer’s associates arrested on charges of campaign finance violations has decided to cooperate with the House impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. Lev Parnas, who was arrested along with Igor Fruman at the airport ready to the leave the country on one-way tickets, has apparently had a change of heart. Parnas and Fruman had lunch with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani right before their arrest and are implicated in his search for political dirt on Trump’s potential reelection rival Joe Biden. A lawyer for Parnas told Reuters, “We will honor and not avoid the committee’s requests to the extent they are legally proper, while scrupulously protecting Mr. Parnas’ privileges including that of the Fifth Amendment.” 

Meanwhile, Roger Stone, a close associate of President Trump is facing a trial this week. Jury selection began on Tuesday for Stone’s trial in charges that were an offshoot of the Special Counsel’s investigation. Associated Press explained that, “Stone is accused of lying to lawmakers about WikiLeaks, tampering with witnesses and obstructing a House intelligence committee probe into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to tip the 2016 election.”

Two new transcripts were released on Tuesday from depositions conducted by three House committees overseeing the impeachment trial. Transcripts of closed-door hearings with Gordon Sondland, the US Ambassador to the European Union, and former special envoy Kurt Volker were made public with redactions. Sondland had been called in last week to revise his testimony given earlier and 4 new pages of interview transcripts shows the Trump loyalist now admitting that the President had engaged in a quid pro quo with Ukraine. A day earlier transcripts of testimonies from former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and ex-State Department adviser Michael McKinley were released. Analysis of those transcripts reveals that Ms. Yovanovitch felt “threatened” by President Trump in the days before she was fired from her position, and that she still feared retaliation. She was deeply concerned about the transcript of Trump’s phone call with Ukraine’s President in which Trump called her “bad news” and said that she would “go through some things.” She said, “I didn’t know what it meant…I was very concerned. I still am.” She also used the word “shocked” multiple times during her testimony in reference to the phone call. 

The transcript of McKinley’s testimony raises specific concerns about State Secretary Mike Pompeo. McKinley told lawmakers that he raised concerns about the treatment of Yovanovitch at least three times to Pompeo. But in news interviews, Mr. Pompeo said McKinley never raised the issue. McKinley also told lawmakers that he resigned from his position because he was disturbed by the White House’s use of Ambassadors, “to advance domestic political objective.”

The transcripts also reveal the

FEATURING JOY MING KING – It has been more than 6 months since Hong Kong’s mass movement began, triggered by a controversial extradition agreement with China. In spite of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam first putting the bill on hold and then revoking it altogether, protests have continued strong. Documented actions of police brutality have provoked even more anger from Hong Kong’s residents. Now, as economists say that the mass uprising has triggered a recession, we examine what lies in Hong Kong’s future. 

Joy Ming King, activist born and raised in Hong Kong and participating in the ongoing protests through organizing and direct action both outside and inside Hong Kong through his work in Lausan Collective.

FEATURING STEPHANIE ABRAHAM – Just about six months after plans to print the face of Harriet Tubman on the new $20 bill were put on hold by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a new biopic of the legendary abolitionist is out in theaters. 

The film, titled simply “Harriet,” is directed by Kasi Lemmons and stars Cynthia Erivo as Tubman – a British actress of Nigerian descent. Critics have hailed the movie as the story of a real-life superhero and joining me to discuss whether it meets the hype is our regular film critic. 

Stephanie Abraham is the Pop Culture Correspondent and Film Critic for Rising Up With Sonali. She is a writer and media critic, she helped found the feminist magazine make/shift and was the founding editor of the feminist magazine LOUDmouth. Her works have been published in McSweeney’s, Al Jazeera, Mizna and Bitch Magazine.

House Democrats released the first two transcripts of closed-door testimonies gathered as part of their impeachment probe of President Donald Trump. The transcripts are those of former US Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch and high-level State Department official Michael McKinley. In a statement the heads of the three committees overseeing the probe said, “the American public will begin to see for themselves the evidence that the committees have collected. With each new interview, we learn more about the President’s attempt to manipulate the levers of power to his personal political benefit.” But Republicans, who also have seats on the committees denounced the release of the transcripts just days after denouncing their secrecy. Representative Mark Meadows, a Trump loyalist, said, “I don’t think that’s fair, transparent, and certainly we need to make sure that there are no select edits.” 

Meanwhile the whistleblower whose complaint about President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky first triggered the inquiry, has reportedly agreed to answer written questions from Republicans. CNN explained that, “The whistleblower previously offered to answer lawmakers’ questions under oath and in writing if they were submitted by the House Intelligence Committee as a whole. This new offer would be a direct channel of communication with the Republicans who are in the minority on that committee.” President Trump’s response was to request that the media expose the identity of the whistleblower. Trump also demanded that the whistleblower testify in person, saying on Twitter, “He must be brought forward to testify. Written answers not acceptable!” Incidentally, Trump had refused to be interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and insisted on submitting written answers in that probe. 

Trump on  Sunday made a claim that even if he engaged in a quid pro quo, it was not an impeachable offense. He wrote, “False stories are being reported that a few Republican Senators are saying that President Trump may have done a quid pro quo, but it doesn’t matter, there is nothing wrong with that, it is not an impeachable event. Perhaps so, but read the transcript, there is no quid pro quo!” Meanwhile a slew of White House current and former officials who had been subpoenaed for testimonies before House Committees have refused to turn up. A number of associates of Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney have announced intentions to defy subpoenas including Russell Vought, who leads the White House Office of Budget and Management. A top national security aide named Robert Blair who is also an associate of Mulvaney’s and was on the July 25th phone call, has objected to appear before committees. And, National Security Council lawyers