05/04/22 05/04/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i think it will be overturned and will be a war on women's rights again something our mothers and grandmothers to before and i can't believe they have to live through it again. back alley abortions again. abortion is never going to go away. all they're doing now is sacrificing women's health. amy: protests erupted across

united states after a leaked supreme court opinion reveals the court is preparing to overturn roe v. wade. we will go to arizona to speak with a doctor and an activist. dr. deshawn taylor, ob/gyn physician, the only black independent abortion provider in arizona. and alejandra pablos, reproductive justice community organizer targeted for deportation. >>hy areou afrd to retn to mico? >> if do not n this alum case, iear thwork i do, if i do that in mexico, i will be in danger. amy: we will look at how the supreme court 600 conservative majority was designed -- 6-3 conservative majority was designed by conservative dark money network. we will speak with andrew perez and also look at how progressive

candidate nina turner lost her race for congress in ohio after facing massive spending and attacks by super pacs. now she says she may run for president. >> we going to be all right1 amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. protests are continuing to take place across the country following the publication of a leaked supreme court opinion that reveals the court is preparing to overturn roe v. wade, the landmark decision that established a constitutional right to abortion in the united states. on tuesday, supreme court chief justice john roberts confirmed the leaked document is authentic but said it is only a draft opinion. roberts has launched an

investigation into the leak. president biden and vice president kamala harris both spoke out in defense of reproductive rights on tuesday. harris spoke at a gala hosted emily's list. vice pres. harris: if the court overturns roe v. wade, it will be a direct assault on freedom. on the fundamental rights of self-determination to which all americans are entitled. amy: legal experts are warning the overturning of roe could pave the way for the conservative justices to also end same-sex marriage and access to contraceptives. on tuesday, congressmember pramila jayapal spoke at a protest in seattle. >> there is a straight line from a bending abortion rights to getting rid of excess to contraception to banning gay marriage and are low income

community's, black and brown community, lgbtq community's will be the ones who pay the steepest price because abortion won't go away. but safe and legal abortion will , endangering millions of people. amy: on capitol hill, senate majority leader chuck schumer said the senate will soon vote to codify abortion rights into law but the effort is expected to fail. even though democrats control both houses and the presidency. this is in part because democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia and kyrsten sinema of arizona continue to oppose changing the filibuster rules. on tuesday oklahoma's republican governor kevin stitt signed a law banning abortions after just six weeks of pregnancy. the bill is modeled on texas' anti-abortion law that took effect in september. oklahoma's new law allows any state resident to sue doctors who perform abortions or anyone

who aids or abets an abortion with rewards of at least $10,000. according to the guttmacher institute, oklahoma is one of 26 states where abortions could be banned once the supreme court overturns roe. the european union has unveiled a proposal to ban all russian oil imports by the end of the year as part of a new round of sanctions over russia's invasion of ukraine. european commission president ursula von der leyen spoke earlier today in brussels. >> today we are addressing our dependency on russian oil. let's be clear, it will not be easy because i member states are strongly dependent on russian oil. but we simply have to do it. so today, we will propose to ban all russian oil from europe. this will be --

[applause] this will be a complete import ban on all russian oil, crude, and refined. amy: the european union is allowing hungary and slovakia to keep importing it for a longer period of time. parts of the western ukrainian city of lviv remain without power and water after russian missiles hit three power stations on tuesday in the first attacks on the city in over a week. in eastern ukraine, local authorities in donetsk say 21 civilians have died after russia attacks on tuesday. in the southeastern city of mariupol, there are reports russian tanks are storming the azovstal steel plant where ukrainian fighters and civilians have holed up. in recent days, over 100 civilians were able to evacuate the plant. meanwhile, the belarusian

military has just begun lae-scale military drills to test its army vehicles for combat readiss. belarus is a close ally to russia and shares a nearly 700-mile border with ukraine. on tuesday, president biden visited a lockheed mtin plant in alabama where javelin anti-tank missile systems are made. biden called on congress to approve his request for $33 billion more for ukraine, including over $20 billion in military funding. pres. biden: as i said from the beginning, this fight is not going to be cheap. but caving to aggression, we either back ukrainian people as they defend their country or standby as russia continues its atrocities and aggression. amy: pope francis has revealed that he asked to meet with russian president vladimir putin in moscow three weeks ago in an effort to end the war, but the

pope says he has not yet received a response. in an interview with an italian newspaper, the pope appeared to lay some of the blame on the ukraine conflict on nato. the pope said putin may have been reacting to "nato's barking at russia's gate." the pope went on to say, "i wouldn't know if this provoked an ire but perhaps it facilitated it." the u.n. food program says about 4.5 million tons of grain is stuck in ukraine due to russia's blockade of ukraian ports on the black sea. the u.n. has been warning for weeks that the war in ukraine could lead to a spike in global hunger and famine. the u.s. state department has declared that wnba superstar brittney griner is being "wrongfully detained" in russia in a sign the biden administration may begin to press harder for her release. she was jailed in february after cannabis oil was found in her luggage when she flew into russia to play during the wnba's offseason.

brittney griner is a two-time olympic gold medalist, seven-time wnba all-star. she is also a black lesbian who has been outspoken for lgbtq rights. the state department has now transferred her case to the office of the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. the office played a key role in securing the recent prisoner swap with russia that led to the release of former marine trevor reed. bp has become the latest oil giant to announce massive profits. the company made $6.2 billion in profits in the first three months of the year. that's almost $3 million in profit every hour. in other oil news, "the wall street journal" has revealed liam birds made a secret trip to saudi arabia last month where he met with the crown prince mohammed bin salman. the meeting came as the biden administration is pushing the saudis to pump more oil.

back in the united states, voters in ohio and indiana went to the polls tuesday for two of the first primaries of this mid-term election cycle. in ohio, jd vance won the republican senate primary after securing the backing of donald trump. vance praised the former president during his victory rally tuesday night. >> thanks to the president for everything for endorse me -- i have to say, a lot of fake news media is out there. there are some good ones in the back and some -- some bad ones, too. they wanted to write a story that this campaign would be the death of donald trump's america first agenda. amy: jd vance is a venture capitalist and author of the best selling book, heavily backed by right-wing tech billionaire peter thiel. politico reports thiel spent more than $15 million to back

vance who will face democratic congressmember tim ryan in november's election to fill the seat currently held by republican senator rob portman. his wife clerked for justice kavanaugh. in another closely watched race, democratic congressmember shontel brown has defeated challenger nina turner, the former co-chair of bernie sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. it was a rematch of last or special election that brought brown to congress. we will have more on the ohio election later in the program. a former philadelphia police officer has been charged with murder and is being held without bail for fatally shooting a 12-year-old boy named thomas siderio in march. philadelphia district attorney larry krasner accused the officer edsaul mendoza of shooting the 12-year-old while the boy was face down on the sidewalk after a foot pursuit. prosecutors say the 12-year-old

had fired a gun at one point but had discarded it about 40 feet away from where he was shot. a former new york city police officer has been convicted of assaulting a d.c. police officer during the deadly january 6 insurrection. thomas webster was found guilty on six counts. prosecutors accused webster of attacking a d.c. police officer with a flag pole and then tackling the officer to the ground. webster retired from the nypd in 2011. he used to work on former new york mayor mike bloomberg's security detail. former defense secretary mark esper says that president donald trump wanted black lives matter protesters to be shot in 2020 as protests calling for racial justice spread across the country following the police

killing of george floyd. in his new book, esper quotes trump saying "can't you just shoot them? just shoot them in the legs or something?" u.n. secretary general antónio guterres has warned the war in ukraine is aggravating a food, energy, and financial crisis across africa. guterres made the remarks during a trip to west africa where he also called for debt relief for african nations and for the military juntas in burkina faso, guinea, and mali to hand over power to civilians as soon as possible. the head of the military government in guinea recently said a 39-month transition period is needed before civilian rule returns. israel is now holding 600 palestinians without charge or trial, the highest total since 2016. this according to a report by the israeli human rights group hamoked. palestinians are often arrested on secret evidence and not given a chance to defend themselves in court while being held in what's

known as administrative detention. north korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile off its east coast. this comes about a week after north korean leader kim jong-un vowed to develop its nuclear arsenal at "the fastest possible speed." today's test also comes just days before the may 10 inauguration of south korea's new president yoon suk-yeol. the independent news outlet consortium news, which has criticized u.s. policy on ukraine, the editor-in-chief said "given the current political climate it is more than conceivable that paypal is reacting to consortium news' coverage of the war in ukraine, which is not in line with the dominant narrative that is being increasingly enforced."

paypal also recently froze the account of another site, mintpressnews. and norman mineta has died at the age of 90. he was the first asian-american cabinet secretary serving under presidents bill clinton and george w. bush. mineta was the son of japanese immigrants. as a child, he spent two years living in an internment camp in wyoming. as a member of congress he held push for the passage of the civil liberties act of 1988 to grant reparations to japanese americans who were interned by the u.s. government during world war ii. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, as protests erupt to protect abortion rights, we will go to arizona to speak with an activist and a doctor, the states only black independent abortion provider and a reproductive justice activist targeted for deportation. stay with us.

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amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'amy goodn in new york, joined by democracy now! co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: massive protests have

erupted across the united states following the publication of a leaked supreme court opinion that revealed the court is preparing to overturn roe v. wade, the 1973 landmark ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion nationwide. supreme court chief justice john roberts confirmed the leaked document is authentic but said it is only a draft opinion. he has launched an investigation into the leak. thousands took to the streets around the country any outrage tuesday, just hours after reproductive justice groups called for actions with rallies in california, arizona, washington state, oregon, texas, alabama, georgia, nebraska, illinois, pennsylvania, here in new york, and dozens of other cities. protesters also gathered in front of the u.s. supreme court in washington, d.c., for a second straight day tuesday. >> i think it should be overturned and then it will become a war on women's rights

again, something our mothers and grandmothers already did before ani can't believe ey have to live through this again. back alley abortions again. abortion is never going to be van. it will never go away. i'll they're doing now is sacrificing women's health and a medical issue. amy: grassroots groups have called on people to donate to abortion and reproductive health funds. meanwhile, many democratic-led states are preparing to receive a growing number of people seeking abortions if roe v. wade is struck down. at least 16 states and washington, d.c., have already codified abortion rights into state law, including new york and colorado. here in new york, lawmakers have now introduced measures that -- legislation that would expand abortion access to all. new york assemblymember jessica gonzález-rojas made the announcement tuesday. >> everyone should be able to

access the care they need new matter their immigration status, their identity, sexual orientation, racial identity, disability status -- every single person deserves access. i am so proud to stand with you today as we introduce the freedom and equity act. abortion providers on the front lines for our essential workers are able to get the resources to ensure that new york state will be a safe haven for every single person for access of care. amy: for more on how grassroots organizers are responding to the leaked supreme court opinion, we're joined by two guests in phoenix, arizona. a doctor and an activist. alejandra pablos is a

reproductive justice community organizer and storyteller based -- who has been targeted by immigration and customs enforcement for her activism and has been in deportation proceedings for over a decade. and dr. deshawn taylor is an ob/gyn physician, abortion provider, and owner of desert star family planning in phoenix, arizona. dr. taylor is the only black independent abortion provider in arizona, where republican governor doug ducey in late march signed into law a measure banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. we welcome you both to democracy now! dr. deshawn taylor, talk about your response to hearing this leaked opinion, that was leaked by political yesterday, and what this means. >> i would say although

logically i knew that this opinion was possible, are newer justices had been sick noodling -- our newer justices had been signaling about their thoughts on what they wld do during the oral arguments, actually, so although most of us who work in abortion care on the day-to-day thought this was possible, it is still hard to see it on paper. it is still hardo hear that justice roberts, you know, confmed the authenticity of this document. what this means for us is that we really have to deterne what we have a 15 weekan that the governor signed or does the w that bs aborti entirely come

into play with this rulinfrom the supreme court? whh would completely criminalize abortion, make it illegal in arizona. juan: dr. taylor, even with the law that was passed senate bill 1164 and the governor signed in march outlawing abortions after 15 weeks in your state, what has been the impact on your practices that lawas passed? >> i am ying to make sure people understand that abortion tour current legal limit is still available to people. when our governor signed at bill into law, it does not take effe until 9days after legislative session ends. people don't understand that. in all of the discussion around it, the diourse the media, it has created an affect

people where there is a fever of peop trying to get into clinics, receive abortion clinic before they can't anymore. there is definitely the fear that people will not be able to get there abortion and it is a re fear even with the opportunity to have an abortion up to 15 weeks bause of all the restrictions that already exist arizona, people essentially have to trave into thphoenix metro area fmll the state. and there's a 24 hour forced delay. so there could be weeks for someone can actually get that initial, -- also take should have an abortion procedure and then there might even be another week or so before they can then actually have the abortion because it is not they're going to come in and then have their abortion the very next day in most instances because of the

decrease access that has occurred in our state overtime due to all of the restrictions that have been passed over the past decades. juan: i want to bring alejandra pablos into the conversation. can you talk about your reaction to the court's ruling and how you see it affecting your work as a reproductive justice community organizer? >> grassy us. thank you for having me back. for me, even as i was listening to the beginning of the program, i just started to get overwhelmed. just a reminder i have already been in the state of threat due to my deportation case unstuck i have seen my name on paper, multiple identities as a woman, a noncitizen, as queer person, pro-abortion activist i know she will already.

-- i know too well already. i know people say it is a aft, but to m it is a warning of what is going to happen. i the need to be just as outraged in june when we hear this again. the same people that would force me to be deported, send me to a place i've never lived at and don't choose to live at, the same people that will force me to be pregnant when i don't want to. i think right now i'm thinking of all of the people that w share our stories r every day so we can release stigma. we have to do more than fight, lift or repeal laws now for our daily reproductive health care. amy: can you talk about the scene yesterday in arizona, all over the country, people rising up? thousands of people coming out to protest against -- again, it

is a leaked opinion, not a decision that has been handed down yet. it can conceivably change because of this response, but you are a longtime activist. if you can describe that and talk about your own story in having an abortion, being a community organizer, and feeling that you yourself were targeted by ice on it why you are in deportation proceedings. >> thank you, amy. in arizona, we are about to be one of the 22 or 28 states that already with legislation copied from mississippi, overall racist legislation. 500 restrictions since 2011 to ban our right to full reproductive health care. we know what is at stake. i think the work any of are doing as storytellers and abortion activist is to get us

ready for this moment, to support one another. we need to take care of one another. fighting policing of our lives, our bodies, our sexuality. for me, facing the threat of immigration from excited to share around my asylum hearing. it is been a long decade of fighting to stay with my family, making decisions of my own life. it is a moment to shout out the activists that have been in more hostile countries. in the u.s., we have a lot of rights but we see the attacks on our bodies are daily. i want to shut out the work of people in mexico doing this work because we don't give them enough credit. i want to shout out to all of the activists because it is dangerous. in arizona, we are being criminalized for protests. i am an abortion dula. and the one who gives people

rides to clinics. i talked to those to make sure people have the support they need. day in and out, we're talking about how abortion access is an immigration justice issue. the most impacted people that don't even get access to health care because of here of -- because of fear of hospitals and police working together. we're not going back to hangers. i don't know why people believe to put people in fear and throwing this hanger -- we are practically taking care of one another. we are experts. we have pills. abortion pills exist and we will never stop having abortion. we cannot force people to be pregnant. this is a racial justice issue and we need to be talking about

it as is. amy: and your own experience? >> well, i mean, for myself, i shared publicly i had -- i have had more than one abortion and i shared publicly i think in 2017 i shared for the first time because of taboo, we don't share publicly our stories with more than one person but we always have someone who loves us. we know six out of 10 people havingbortions are already parents. eight out of 10 people would support is whether they would have one. i shared my story. i was having my fourth abortion in 2017. that was during my deportation case. the same people would force me to have a baby would take my baby away if i were to take the pregnancy to full term. literally after sharing about my fourth abortion, i get picked up by ice a year later and spend another two months finding to be

released. -- fighting to be released. immigrants like me are facing mandatory detention and deportation. we don't know when we don't know en we're going to get deported. we know how dangeus -- we get to decide when a where we want toreate r families. it is about when and where you want to create families. that you do so in safe environmen as long as police and cages exist, i cannot feel safe. we will keep fighting for us to have abortions that are safe, lel, and accessible to evyone no matter where you're coming from. juan: dr. taylor, in terms of this whole issue, clearly, people will continue to have abortions either in states that permit it or otherwise. how does self managed abortion

look today in 2022 compared to the early 1970's before roe v. wade? >> iant to thank alejandra for referencing this old coathanger imagery. it is outdated and we really want good-intentioned advocates because we have abtion pills and it has definitel made self managed abortion safer. self managed abortion is someone takes some type of substance to induce their own abortion. and we have seen that increasing rrently while roe v. wade is stil the law of the land.

because of all of these restrictions that have been passed across the count, people a already taking their abortion care into their own hands most there have already beenommunity networksormed to ensure that people have acss to abortion pills and that they have community support and theyo throh this process. i will say my clinic was a site for the study with some researchers out of ut austin in tes where we wanted to see at people knew about self managed abortion and had they try to themselves a what type of things peoplare trying to use. sohat has really been helpful over these last couple of years of the pandemic is the increased access to the drugs and now the ability to mail them together

therotocol to take the fit medication and then the second medication a certain amount of time later to induce the expulsion of the pregnancy. we now have e fda removinthe restriion so that permanently in states that don't have restriction for this, people can receive the drugs by mail. the idea that you're going back to back alley abortions like at person athe supreme court rally mentionedwe definitel not there but make no mistake, people should be able to access abortion care as part of the general health care that a pregna person or any other person would seek to help them let and thrive.

abortion care should n be mething on the french of health care -- fringe ohealth care people suld be able to go to their primary care provider and have an abortion. that is how it should . that's what reproductive justice calls for is our government to create the condition for conditions to be safe, affordable. more sacred than it was before the roe v. wad decisio it should not be something that people should think about at all. we are in one of the richest countries in the world. we should not be in a situation whe pple are needing to create networks unr their community to make sure that people receive essential health

care. juan: dr. taylor, have you thought about what you will do in your activists, assuming the supreme court -- practice, assuming the supreme court leak becomes the final decision of the court, and of course was the arizona law comes into effect, what you will do in terms of providing abortions? >> right now we are waiting to see ultimatelwhat the final decision is. my clinic would not necessarily close. i provide holistic community care and abortion is -- abortion care is part of the care provide. paicularly, if abortion was illel and arizona, our family planning would still exist. we do provide miscarriage management a well. what i suspect to be able for the communit is a sa haven for people who have questions,

who may have an incomplete -- present aan incomplete miscarriage because ty may have started a process at home that did not complete. i think it is really important to tie this into what alejandra pablos mentioned about policing and thencreased police state. the fact a health car wker called the police on a young woman for miscarriage in texas. people are going to be afraid. i want people to knostar family planning is a safe place for them regardless of the outcome of the supreme court decision. amy: alejandra pablos, the effect particularly on undocumented people who what abortions in arizona? >> yeah, the state is getting even more hostile and it is really unfortunate because of the resilience and resistance of our people here is what drives mend keeps me going.

it is interesting to remember back in 28 when i got rearrested and taken away by ice d got interviewed shortly after being released and reporters told me, we shared we would be fighting for a pardon in the future. we don't fight pardons here in arizona stuff we c see the governor is not very welcoming or vy nice governor. the reporters would tell me, the governor's not going to giv you a pardon for your deportation, not because you don't deserve it but because of your abortion activism. three years later, look at where we are at, right? let the same governor being ready to ban abortion here. when we are talking about undocumented people, dupe rotation cases, more than wanting to win a deportation case.

we already know we have dignity and we are performing freedom every day, right, so i think from myself, it is about fi ghting control. abortion is not even in the bible. i think it is a lot of having to unlearn and have conversations with one another, conversations that are accessible to spanish-speaking community's, african immiants and arizona, ruraimmigrants from all over the world. right now we're talking about the people deserve to have abortion because of a piece of id. everyone should be having an abortion and we should stop making it harder for people to access abortion. amy: a quick question, just have 15 seconds. your senator kyrsten sinema least a statement tuesday pledging her support for

abortion rights but she did not say she would change her opposition to reforming the senate's filibuster rule to pass legislation that would codify the right to an abortion. your thoughts? >> i don't understand what we keep asking sinema. she is not going to give me reproductive health care, relieve any threats here for anyone locally. we are being watched by the whole of arizona. i think sinema is better not saying anything at all and leing people share their stories of resistance and supporting one another. amy: alejandra pablos, thank you for being with us, reproductive justice community organizer and speaking to us from phoenix, as is dr. deshawn taylor ob/gyn , physician, abortion provider, and only black independent abortion provider in arizona. next up, how the supreme court was designed for this moment by a conservative dark money network and also go to ohio to talk about the race that nina

turner just lost for congress. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. the leaked draft of the supreme court's decision to overturn roe v. wade was anticipated by many who say the court's current 6-3 conservative majority was designed for this moment by a conservative dark money network. these include groups like the judicial crisis network, which does not disclose its donors, and key players like leonard leo, the vice president of the federalist society who advised former president donald trump on all of his judicial nominations. the supreme court's anticipated reversal of federal constitutional protections of abortion rights is out of step with the views of a majority of americans, as well as the democratic majority in the congress and president biden. some put the number, the

percentage of americans for abortion at 70%. for more, we are joined by andrew perez, senior editor and reporter at the lever. he co-wrote the new piece "the roe disaster -- and what to do about it: reproductive rights are on the chopping block because of dark gop schemes and democrats' duplicity -- but this fight is not over." andrew, white -- why don't you take it from there. follow the dark money trail for us. looks sure. leonard leo is a longtime senior executive at the federalist society and he played a huge role in building this court the way it is, making it so it is poised to overturn roe v. wade. since 2005, he has been leading a dark money network. its owners are pretty much unknown. we really have no idea whhas been funding it but they been highly influential. they have run a lot of tv ads,

boosting candates or judges. they player just played role in fighting merrick garland's nomination. cut to help make the court picks for trump as chief judicial advisor. juan: could you talk specifically about the amounts of mey involved here? you traced enormous sums of money that were plowed into building support for justice amy coney barrett and brett kavanaugh and how the network actually -- >> nearly $10 billion per pick. that group and its affiliates also then definitely donated some millions of dollars to other groups that were

supporting gorsuch, cavanaugh, and amy coney barrett. they also spent around $10 million to block gland's nomination in 2016. juan: this wasn't just money spent on the supreme court, right? in terms of the impact of leonard leo on many other lower federal court appointments by both president trump and president bush? >> definitely. they have been active, especially recently another court nominations and also been involved in the state supreme court fight like in wisconsin. i believe they also helped finance and effort in nebraska to basically reinstate the death penalty.

amy: i would ask you about the primary and ohio, jd vance won after eating the back of donald trump, although he had attacked trump years ago. even though his opponents had aired months of ads highlighting his anti-trump statements in the past, including saying trump could become america's hitler. he has since become a supporter of trump and praised him tuesday night. >> i got to say, a lot of fake news media out there. there are some good ones in the back, some bad ones, too, let's be honest. but they wanted to write a story that this campaign would be the death of donald trump's america first initiative. amy: jd vance is a venture capitalist and author who was heavily supported by right-wing tech billionaire peter thiel and

will face off against democratic commerce member tim ryan in november's election to fill the seat currently held by republican senator rob portman. vance's wife clerked for justice kavanaugh. in another closely watched race in ohio, democratic commerce member shontel brown defeated progressive challenger nina turner from the former cochair of bernie presidential campaign. turner teased a 2024 presidential bid in her concession speech last night. >> let me say this simply, nina turner is going nowhere. i resolved tonight is attacked. this is what i do know. [indiscernible]

that is why that money came in here because they know i was going to shake that sucker. on behalf of the poor, the working poor, and the barely middle-class. this black girl magic. what i'm going to do is i'm going to take this magic all of this country and shake it that way. 2024 is coming. the great state of california got something to say. the great state of iowa got something to say about what nina turner can do. the great state of nevada has something to say. we ain't going nowhere. and because this comes as the intercept reports nina turner had faced opposition from

several political action committees, including the democratic majority for israel pack and the protect our future pack. she also did not receive support from several progressive groups that had backed her previous run. one of those groups, the justice democrat, said in a statement, "unit is a giant in the progressive movement and we are proud to have gone all in for her campaign last year. the reality is our organization has to be strategic about our priorities as we are getting massively outgunned by republican donors funneling millions to superpacs like aipac and dmfi against our existing candidates." for more would continue with andrew perez, senior editor and reporter at the lever. he brought about this in a piece titled "oil mogul bankrolls attempt to buy democratic primary." explain what you found.

>> what we found was the dmf ipaq has been heavily funded by an oil heiress who runs a company that donated i think $2.5 million to dmfi pac since march. they spent at least $1 million in the race cycle, really under the last few weeks. also spent almost $2 million last election against nina supporting shontel brown who won. a big part of the campaign really was just saying nina turner was not a real democrat because she's been critical of joe biden and critical of the party establishment. what the results really show is especially because it was much closer last time, this time it

was not a close election at all but if progressive groups don't back candidates, especially candidates like nina who been really critil of the establishment, like the party will -- the party and its operatives will really sell out to destroy them. we really saw what happened this time. juan: in the first race last year, there was only five percenge points difference between them. this time nina turner lost two to one in the vote total. was your sense that it was largely a result among the progressives or did she not run a stronger campaign this time around as previously? >> it sounds like a big issue really was that groups were not really involved -- groups ke fi spent big in the last few weeks and shontel brown also had

support from super pac led by a crypto billionaire. that group also spent around $1 million. $2 million in one congressional race in a few weeks is pretty staggering sum of money. it was clearly a lot to overcome. juan: i want to ask you about another issue that you have followed a lot. you recently wrote a piece with david sirota titled "the means-test con," published at -- in which you discuss how the biden administration is considering forgiving some student loan debt, but not the $50,000 democrats have pushed for. can you talk about that in the battle over what the biden policy should be on student loans? close the student loan issue, and job i did promise to cancel at least -- job i did promise to

cancel at least $10,000 of student debt, but also pledged to cancel all federal student debt and right now we don't really know what the number is going to be. he says it won't be 50,000 but his adminiration is signaling it will be at least $10,000. for a lot of borrowers, it is good money but it is not altogether that helpful if you have larger loans or if you just have older loans with ballooning interest. the her issue is, the fact they're talking about imposing an income limit, also known as a miens test, it polls well, popular among pundits because there is this odd argument that student loan cancellation would really benefit the wealthy -- which is really not borne out by fax at all or by data. the issue is it creates a paperwork headache foreople.

there is also the universlity issue. the u.s. has some universal programs on their popular like social security and medicare are very popular. when you start creating this means testing program, it starts to be vieweds a welfare program and is much easier for opponents to attack and they can were difficult for people to have their loans canceled. amy: i want to move onto another piece you have done on mayor alana -- marijuana legalization. he wrote about the cannabis dream -- short-lived cannabis dream. >> joe manchin is one of a handful of conservative democrats who are standing in the way of federal legalization of marijuana.

a bunch of those democrats, the handful that are being talked about right represent states that have either legalized weed free the recreation or medical use, just like west virginia has. west virginia legalized for medical. we have found records showing joe manchin's son registered inllc for the purpose of getting into the marijuana business. it is detailed in state records. we got to speak with him and he told us he did not end up getting into the business because it just does not make a lot of financial sense right now. we also saw the llc he had been using to buy -- was given deeds to two homes right around the start of the pandemic. he assured us he had reached agreements with those people to allow them to stay in their homes or that they're working on

payment plans to take back their homes, as we speak. juan: andrew perez, in terms of the prospects for the midterm elections, given the events of the last couple of weeks, clearly, what appears to be a supre court decision that will end roe v. wade and now of course the victory of the trump-backed jd vance and the republican primary in ohio, what do you see from your perspective of the prospects the democratic party faces as it heads into the midterm electi? >> i guess pretty widely accepted that things are not looking good for democrats. there has been a whole lot of blame shifting going on about how the party is not messaging properly or certain left-wing agenda items are hurting the

parts because. there's also t issue the party really hasn't done a whole lot in terms of direct aid to people at all since the covid relief for little over a year ago. they have spent the better party -- part of last year debatg an agenda bill they failed to enact entirely. what you are hearing today is democratic operatives in washington think the end of roe might help them mobilize voters. but it is definitely to be determined. it is not obviously an issue that has giant repercussions for people, especially poor people, people of color. it is definitely a big issue and it is not just a political ring that will have a giant effect on people's lives. amy: finally, andrew, let's end

with where we began, the elections in ohio, jd vance, the best selling author of "hillbilly elegy," trump-supported senatorial candidate winning. it's significance? >> it is definitely going to be perceived as a win for trump because donald trump did endorse his campaign. his son has done a lot of rallies with him, as did the former president. both candidates were pretty conservative. i guess jd vance is seen as a more indie establishment but i guess it is probably not terribly different than it josh mandel had won. amy: andrew perez, we will into your reports at democracynow.org . a clarification to one of our headlines, paypal has canceled the account and frozen the funds of the independent news outlet consortium news, which has

criticized u.s. policy on ukraine. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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