FEATURING JEFF COHEN – Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has been in a tussle with corporate media outlets like the Washington Post over what he says is biased coverage of his campaign. Indeed, groups like the media watchdog FAIR have been able to definitely show that bias. More recently media coverage of the Democratic Party debate has shown that Sanders’ claims on Medicare-for-all, especially the cost of the proposal, are being poorly reported on. The same holds true for other progressive proposals like the Green New Deal. 

Read his article ‘What George Carlin Taught Us About Media Propaganda by Omission: On Bernie Sanders, Medicare for All, and the Green New Deal,’ HERE.

Jeff Cohen, media critic, writer and retired journalism professor at Ithaca College. He founded the media watch group FAIR, as well as the group Rootsaction.org.

FEATURING MIKE ELK – The United Auto Workers this weekend announced a massive strike aimed at General Motors. Fifty thousand autoworkers have walked off their jobs at GM factories in a number of states saying they want the company to spend some of its profits on wage increases and benefits. UAW says workers want “Fair Wages, Affordable Healthcare, Our Share of Profits, Job Security, and A Defined Path to Permanent Seniority for Temps.” The strike began on Sunday night at 11:59 pm.

Mike Elk, Senior Labor Reporter, PaydayReport.com.

The House Judiciary Committee is holding its first hearing on an impeachment investigation aimed at President Donald Trump. The key witness at Tuesday’s hearing was Corey Lewandowski, former Trump campaign manager and outspoken supporter of the President. Lewandowski’s name appeared several times in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report into 2016 election wrongdoing and the President’s attempts to obstruct justice. The Associated Press summarized Lewandowski’s role saying, “Mueller’s investigators detailed two episodes in which Trump asked Lewandowski to direct then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to limit Mueller’s investigation. Trump said that if Sessions would not meet with Lewandowski, then Lewandowski should tell Sessions he was fired.” Meanwhile two other former Trump aides, Rob Porter and Rick Dearborn are defying Judiciary Committee subpoenas in deference to Trump who has claimed executive privilege. Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler slammed their refusal to testify saying, “The President would have us believe that he can willfully engage in criminal activity and prevent witnesses from testifying before Congress — even if they did not actually work for him or his administration.” Nadler added, “If he were to prevail in this cover-up while the Judiciary Committee is considering whether to recommend articles of impeachment, he would upend the separation of powers as envisioned by our founders.”

The Manhattan District Attorney has subpoenaed 8 years of Trump’s state and federal personal and corporate tax returns from the accounting firm Mazars USA. The DA’s office is investigating whether the Trump organization or Trump family members broke any New York state laws in making hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, the woman Trump allegedly had an affair with. The Justice Department, which under Trump appears to be highly partisan, decided not to pursue charges in the matter.  Mazars USA has so far responded saying it, “will respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations.”

President Trump made a major campaign rally speech in New Mexico where he attempted to woo Latino voters in a bizarre series of sentences. Trump heads to California from New Mexico where he plans to spend two days traveling to San Diego, Los Angeles, and the Bay area. Trump has rarely visited California, a state where he remains deeply unpopular and has frequently targeted. There are reports he is likely to face protests during his visit. In recent weeks, the White House has made claims to want to take on the crisis of homelessness in the state. The White House Council of Economic Advisers released a report on Monday called The State of Homelessness in America in which it mentioned a role for police and Trump’s strong support for law enforcement but did not elaborate on what police would do about homelessness. 

In the latest on allegations of sex abuse against Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh, the New York Times, which broke the story of new allegations, said that Senator

FEATURING ARIEL GOLD – The US and Saudi Arabia appear to be readying a retaliatory attack on Iran for major airstrikes on Saudi oil fields that severely damaged the Gulf Kingdom’s oil output. Without presenting evidence, US intelligence officials are saying that Iran was the staging ground for the attacks, not Yemen. Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they launched the attack in retaliation for the Saudi war on their nation.  

Meanwhile, in Israel, which has long backed a US war on Iran, voters are gearing up for a major election on Tuesday where incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hopeful of retaining his position. Netanyahu has promised to annex parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank if he is reelected and has hinted that President Trump has signed off on the move. If Netanyahu is reelected and keeps his promise, decades of hopes for a 2-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be compromised. 

Ariel Gold, national co-director of CODEPINK. She manages the organization’s campaigns for Palestinian rights.

FEATURING KSHAMA SAWANT – The Republican Party has deliberately crafted a strategy to win elections by painting their opponents “socialists.” When President Donald Trump was accused of using racist language against the Squad of four Congresswomen of color, his GOP defenders justified his words by claiming that the targets of his vitriol were socialists. Republicans want to make the 2020 election be about “freedom versus socialism.” Are Democrats capable of handling these attacks? 

We turn to a proud socialist who has not only embraced the label but lived up to it, won an election, and is running for reelection.

Kshama Sawant, a member of Seattle’s City Council and the first socialist to be elected to that body. She is affiliated with the Socialist Alternative party and is up for reelection. 

**This segment was originally broadcast on July 25, 2019.

Drone strikes aimed at Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure have severely damaged the Gulf kingdom’s oil production cutting it by nearly half. The coordinated strikes took place on Saturday morning with drones making 19 strikes against two major facilities called Abqaiq and Khurais operated by Aramco, the national Saudi oil company. Saudi authorities say it will take weeks to repair the damage. While the Houthi rebels in Yemen say they are responsible for the attacks in retaliation for the Saudi-led war on their nation, Saudis and the US have insisted that Iran is the culprit. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there was, “no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.” On Monday Saudi officials said that the attacks did not originate from Yemen and that Iranian weapons were used. US intelligence officials have now concurred that Iran was the staging ground for the attack and have apparently shared the information with the Saudis. 

 On Sunday President Donald Trump tweeted that Saudi Arabia would be defining the terms of the US response to the attack, saying, “There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!” Trump is meeting with the Defense Secretary and his National Security Advisor on Monday to discuss how to proceed. Meanwhile, oil prices spiked for a time after the attacks, but Trump made an emergency declaration releasing US oil reserves to ensure global supplies were not impacted. Oil prices are expected to rise slightly over the rest of this year. 

The United Auto Workers have announced a massive strike aimed at General Motors this week. Fifty thousand autoworkers are walking off their jobs at GM factories in a number of states saying they want the company to spend some of its profits on wage increases and benefits. UAW says workers want “Fair Wages, Affordable Healthcare, Our Share of Profits, Job Security, and A Defined Path to Permanent Seniority for Temps.” The strike began on Sunday night at 11:59 pm. These are the sounds of workers in Flint, Michigan, kicking off their strike.

The New York Times on Saturday published a bombshell excerpt from a new book by two of its reporters, Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly about the allegations of sexual abuse against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The Senate last year held a one-day hearing over allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh during which they invited Dr. Christine Blasey Ford to testify. But they did not invite other accusers, nor did the FBI interview them. Now, the Times reporters have made public the testimony of Deborah Ramirez who had said that Kavanaugh exposed hims...

FEATURING JOHN BONIFAZ – The latest Democratic Presidential debate on Thursday evening, hosted by ABC and Univision showcased only the top 10 out of 20 candidates vying for their party’s nomination. Julian Castro, who is struggling to maintain traction on his campaign took on former Vice President Joe Biden in a powerful exchange over healthcare. Mr. Castro says he was not making an implication about Biden’s age in that exchange. Protesters challenged Biden during the debate challenging his participation in the Obama Presidency’s deportation program. In what was perhaps the most bizarre moment of Thursday’s debate, Biden was asked a question about what he was doing to further the cause of racial justice and the former Vice President appeared to lose his train of thought. Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke also made headlines with his principled stand on gun violence. O’Rourke was later targeted by a Texas Republican lawmaker named Briscoe Cain who said on Twitter, “My AR is ready for you.” Progressives were appalled at the fact that there was only one single question on the climate crisis that activists are gearing up to take on globally on September 20th. Also missing from the debate was any question of impeachment of Donald Trump which we’ll be covering next.

John Bonifaz is the Co-Founder and President of Free Speech For People, co-author with Ron Fein of The Constitution Demands It: The Case for the Impeachment of Donald Trump.

FEATURING LUCINDA EVANS – Thousands of South African women and girls have been protesting alongside their supporters to demand action against sexual violence. The South African government’s own statistics show the shocking rate of one woman being murdered every three hours in the country. It has the fourth highest femicide rate in the world. 

The recent rape and killing of a 19-year old woman named Uyinene Mrwetyana, who was a student at the University of Cape Town, sparked so much anger that many are now calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a national emergency. 

Women are organizing under the social media hashtag #AmINext, reminiscent of the US-origin #MeToo movement. 

Lucinda Evans, Executive Director of Philisa Abafazi Bethu Women and Children’s Program in Lavender Hill in Cape Town. She is also the coordinator of One Billion Rising South Africa.

The latest Democratic Presidential candidate debate took place on Thursday, for the first time airing over only one evening instead of two. Ten of the top candidates were featured including front runners Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris, and others such as Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke, Julian Castro, Andrew Yang, and Corey Booker. Biden and Castro clashed a few times with Castro challenging Biden’s memory lapse in one instance around a healthcare debate question. Biden notably rambled on nonsensically during one answer about his support on the issue of racial justice, veering off into a rant about bringing social workers into the homes of poor parents, and parents needing to play their record players for children before bizarrely pivoting to Venezuela. Sanders maintained his strong positions on healthcare spending and denounced the bloated size of the military budget. And O’Rourke resolutely maintained that he did indeed want to take people’s guns away – of the military assault type.

A Republic political action committee paid for a provocative political ad to air during the Democratic debate that showed a picture of New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bursting into flames and then cut to images of mass deaths in Cambodia as a critique of socialism. The ad’s narrator is a Cambodian American woman named Elizabeth Heng. Ocasio-Cortez slammed the ad saying, “Republicans are running TV ads setting pictures of me on fire to convince people they aren’t racist.” She added separately, “Know that this wasn’t an ad for young conservatives of color – that was the pretense. What you just watched was a love letter to the GOP’s white supremacist [b]ase.” ABC, the network that hosted the debate and aired the ad in some of its markets, came under fire for promoting violence by agreeing to play it.

Meanwhile President Donald Trump visited the city of Baltimore, Maryland where he addressed House Republicans. Trump had come under fire for making degrading comments about the city as “rat infested,” and during his speech on Thursday he alluded to that criticism saying he would, “fight for the future of cities like Baltimore that have been destroyed by decades of failed and corrupt rule.” Outside the gathering protesters carried an inflatable balloon of Trump as a rat. During his speech, Trump also made slammed Californian cities for the crisis of homelessness and said he was putting the Democratic-controlled areas on notice and that the federal government would be intervening.

There are new revelations about the Air Force’s refueling stops in Scotland near Trump’s private resort in Turnberry. According to Politico, the USAF has put its crews up in Trump’s Scottish resort more than 40 times since 2015, which is far more often than previously thought. Although the blatant conflict of interest is under investigation by Congressional Democrats,

FEATURING CHARANYA KRISHNASWAMI – The US Supreme Court this week struck down a lower court ruling on President Trump’s new immigration rule denying asylum to those passing through a third country. For now, the ruling means that those seeking asylum in the US would be turned away if they have passed through another country to get to the US. This makes asylum out of reach for the vast majority of refugees who arrive at the US’s borders. 

What does this rule mean and how will it impact the thousands of people who are waiting for decisions on their cases?

Charanya Krishnaswami, Advocacy Director for the Americas at Amnesty International USA.