FEATURING DAVID DALEY – Next week’s midterm elections are critical on many fronts. But what is getting little attention is how, despite all odds and facing great unpopularity, Republicans might still win House seats because of a little thing called “gerrymandering.” The GOP has played a long game, taking over state legislative bodies and winning governorships and slowly but surely tilting the shapes of Congressional districts in their favor. The practice is so insidious that in the state of Michigan for example, Republicans have managed to win 9 out of 14 Congressional seats in spite of losing the popular vote, three elections in row.

On the bright side, there are so many state legislative and gubernatorial seats in play on November 6th that just enough wins by enough Democrats could change the political power that has controlled redistricting. Earlier this year legal challenges to gerrymandering against both major parties headed to the Supreme Court but justices refused to rule on the cases.

David Daley, senior fellow for FairVote, former editor-in-chief of Salon, Digital Media Fellow for the Wilson Center for Humanities and the Arts, and the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia, author of ‘Rat F**ked: The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America’s Democracy.’

FEATURING TALLIE BEN-DANIEL – When President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump paid tribute on Tuesday to the 11 victims of the synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh, they were met by a mass protest. More than a thousand protesters gathered outside the Tree of Life Synagogue where a white man named Robert Bowers opened fire last Saturday. The protesters chanted, “Words Matter,” and, “Trump, Go Home.” As the Presidential motorcade passed by, someone held a sign saying, “It’s your fault.” The Synagogue shooting was, “the worst single attack on American Jews in the history of the country.”

Just minutes before he committed the massacre, the gunman posted a note to the right wing social media outlet Gab that HIAS, the Jewish nonprofit that resettles refugees in the United States, “likes to bring invaders that kill our people.” He added, “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.” The timing of his actions are likely linked to Trump’s whipping up of anti-immigrant hysteria against the “caravan” of refugees heading to the US from Central America.

Tallie Ben-Daniel, Manager of Research and Education at Jewish Voice for Peace.

President Trump has announced that he plans to end “birthright citizenship” in the US by executive order. He made the surprise announcement during an interview with Axios that was released on Tuesday. Birthright citizenship means that anyone born in the US, regardless of their parents’ immigration status, is a US citizen. Here is the interview exchange with Trump made public on Tuesday.  Contrary to the President’s claim, the US is not the only country in the world to have birthright citizenship. There are at least 30 other countries with similar policies. According to the media outlet, “This would be the most dramatic move yet in Trump’s hard-line immigration campaign.” There are sure to be major legal challenges to such an executive order and most legal experts consider it unconstitutional as birthright citizenship is enshrined in the 14th amendment.

Following his announcement, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham offered his support for the President’s idea, tweeting, “I will be introducing legislation to deal with the issue of birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants — in a prospective manner — as I have always contended it has become a magnet for illegal immigration in modern times.” According to The Hill, “If Graham is going to propose legislation to amend the Constitution, his bill would need to win over not only two-thirds majorities in Congress, but also be ratified by three-quarters of the states.”

Trump and First Lady Melania Trump paid tribute on Tuesday to the 11 victims of the synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They stopped at the Tree of Life Synagogue and lit candles for each of the shooting victims before heading to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to check on survivors who were recovering. Outside the Synagogue more than a 1,000 protesters gathered chanting things like “Words Matter,” and, “Trump, Go Home.” The Presidential motorcade passed a sign saying, “It’s your fault.” According to AP, “As Trump’s motorcade wound through downtown Pittsburgh, some onlookers saluted the president with upraised middle fingers and others with downturned thumbs.”  Last week’s Synagogue shooting was “the worst single attack on American Jews in the history of the country.”

Many are blaming Trump for unleashing dormant anti Semitism and other forms of racial hatred among his base. Trump has been slow to denounce Nazism and hate crimes and even said of the extremist right wing attendees of last year’s Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that there were, “very fine people,” among the torch-wielding racists who chanted “Jews will not replace us.” Just minutes before he committed the massacre, the gunman posted a note to the right wing social media outlet Gab that HIAS,

FEATURING ALAN ZIBEL – With just days to go before the history-making midterm elections in the US, Public Citizen is reporting that the races that are pitting Democrats versus Republicans are awash with so much cash that it is diluting our democracy.

There are 14 races across the nation that are highly competitive where outside spending is exceeding money spent by the candidates themselves. A whopping $715 million in outside spending has flooded the races with nearly 60% of that figure focused on just 39 races. The Center for Responsive Politics has determined that this is a record breaking amount of outside spending in any election season. Public Citizen President Robert Weissman concluded, “This is the world Citizens United made.”

Read the report ‘Outside, Super PAC Spending Tops Candidate Spending in 14 Critical ‘Tossup’ House and Senate Races,’ HERE.

Alan Zibel, Research Director, Corporate Presidency Project at Public Citizen.

FEATURING AIMEE ALLISON – As we continue our coverage of the She The People Summit on September 20, 2018 in San Francisco, California, we turn now to Aimee Allison, the lead organizer of the summit and President of Democracy in Color, an organization that focuses on race, politics and the New American Majority. She is the author of Army of None and the host of the “Democracy in Color” Podcast. In addition to spearheading the entire event, she spoke at She The People and was a guest on a live broadcast on KPFA Pacifica Radio in Berkeley that Sonali Kolhatkar co-hosted along with writer, journalist, and activist Antonia Juhasz.

Special thanks to KPFA Pacifica Radio for sponsoring this coverage.

Aimee Allison, President of Democracy in Color, an organization that focuses on race, politics and the New American Majority. She is the author of Army of None and the host of the “Democracy in Color” Podcast.

**This segment was originally broadcast on September 23, 2018.

FEATURING LINDA SARSOUR – As we continue our coverage of the She The People Summit on September 20, 2018 in San Francisco, California, we turn now to Linda Sarsour, the co-chair of the historic Women’s March 2017. She is also the former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. A rising star in political activism Sarsour has also been targeted by the Alt-Right and vilified for her strong criticism of President Trump and her support for Palestinian rights. She spoke at She The People and was a guest on a live broadcast on KPFA Pacifica Radio in Berkeley that Sonali Kolhatkar co-hosted along with writer, journalist, and activist Antonia Juhasz.

Special thanks to KPFA Pacifica Radio for sponsoring this coverage.

Linda Sarsour, Co-Chair of Women’s March 2017 and former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York.

**This segment was originally broadcast on September 23, 2018.

FEATURING RASHIDA TLAIB – As we continue our coverage of the She The People Summit on September 20, 2018 in San Francisco, California, we turn now to Rashida Tlaib who won a primary race in Michigan to replace out-going Representative John Conyers. In 2008 she became the first Muslim woman to ever serve in the Michigan Legislature. Tlaib was one of several women of color running for office who spoke at the historic summit. She was a guest on a live broadcast on KPFA Pacifica Radio in Berkeley that Sonali Kolhatkar co-hosted along with writer, journalist, and activist Antonia Juhasz.

Special thanks to KPFA Pacifica Radio for sponsoring this coverage.

Rashida Tlaib, Democratic Nominee for Michigan’s Congressional District 7, running unopposed, and former member of the Michigan House of Representatives.

**This segment was originally broadcast on September 23, 2018.

FEATURING CONGRESSWOMAN PRAMILA JAYAPAL – Hundreds of women of color gathered at the She The People Summit on September 20th, 2018 in San Francisco for an event organized by Democracy in Color. The summit was intended to pull together women of color who are in office, running for office, or supporting those women in office. Sonali Kolhatkar attended the summit and was able to speak with Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of the state of Washington who has been a progressive trailblazer in the House, pushing for policies like Medicare-for-All, and confronting President Donald Trump on immigration, the Supreme Court and more.

Special thanks to KPFA Pacifica Radio for sponsoring this coverage.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, currently serves as a Representative from Washington’s 7th congressional district, which includes most of Seattle.

**This segment was originally broadcast on September 23, 2018.

FEATURING LESLIE MAAS CORTEZ – When we think of contaminated drinking water in the US we often think of Flint, Michigan. But in fact, after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico last year, water quality on the island has now plummeted so far that Puerto Ricans appear to have the worst quality water. Drinking water is not tested very often, and even if it were, deep distrust of the government has left many residents wondering where they can get clean drinking water.

Now, an independent project to provide clean drinking water to Puerto Rico is relying on making available water filtration system to address the contamination and also prepare for future hurricanes.

For more information visit www.puertoricansinaction.com and www.prsciencetrust.org/proyectoagualimpia.

Leslie Maas Cortez, Program Director of Proyecto Agua Limpia of the Puerto Rico Science, Technology, and Research Trust.

FEATURING MUMIA ABU JAMAL – We air one of Mumia’s latest radio commentaries in which he makes the links between the epidemic of rape during the American era of slavery and how that same culture is prevalent today. A warning for listeners, some of this content is disturbing.

Visit prisonradio.org for more commentaries.

Mumia Abu Jamal is a political prisoner and award-winning journalist. His latest book is called Murder Incorporated: Dreaming of Empire, co-written with Stephen Vittoria. The book is Part 1 of a 3-part series and Part 2 will be out in November.