[captioning made possible by democracy now!] ♪ amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> president biden: we will forgive 10,000 dollars in outstanding student loans. in addition, students who come from low income families which allow them to qualify to receive a pell grant will have their debt reduced $20,000. amy: president biden announces a student debt relief plan that

could help as many as 40 million borrowers. republicans decry the plan as "student debt socialism" but many debt relief advocates say biden's plan doesn't go far enough. we will speak to astra taylor of the debt collective. she just directed a new documentary short entitled "freedom dreams: black women and the student debt crisis." >> the debt collective which has been fighting for full cancellation doesn't think this is enough but we know this is a major milestone on the path to full sdent debcancellation and transforming the way that higher education is funded in this country. amy: that we go to oklahoma, where the state is set to execute james coddington, the first of 24 more executions over the next two years. we will speak to connie johnson of the oklahoma coalition to abolish the death penalty and sister helen prejean, the author of “dead man walking.” >> we have a terrible situation

going on right now. all the killings have been terrible by the state of human beings. but we have a man ght now, james coddington, whos in the torture chamber, all stone chamber in oklahoma, where he was put 35 days ago, to await his upcoming execution. amy: and we will look at how a secretive chicago industrial mogul has quietly given $1.6 billion to the architect of the right-wing takeover of the courts. it is the largest known political advocacy donation in u.s. history. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president biden has announced plans to cancel as much as $20,000 in student debt to help

as many as 40 million borrowers. response to president biden's cancellation plan has been mixed across the political spectrum. vermont senator bernie sanders hailed the plan as a big deal but added, we have got to do more. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell condemned the plan as student loan socialism. meanwhile, many student debtholders who own more than the $20,000 say the plan does not go far enough. this is an artist to hold about $100,000 in student loan debt. >> biden's announcement means that we need to continue to apply pressure. it is great that he has made that decision, is going in the right direction, but also as people we don't have to accept crumbs. amy: after headlines, we will hear more from members of the debt collective on president biden's student loan forgiveness

plan. a federal judge has blocked a part of idaho's trigger ban from taking effect payment a district judge struck down a provision of the law making it a crime for doctors to provide abortion care to a pregnant person facing medical emergency. federal law requires hospitals participating in medical care to provide abortions when a person's life is at risk. the remainder of idaho's near total abortion ban takes effect today, the same day that other trigger bands go into effect in tennessee and other states. one in three u.s. women do not have access to abortion in their state. in ukraine, at least 25 people were killed, and more than 30 others injured wednesday as an explosion ripped through a train station in the eastern town of chaplyne. two children were among the dead. russia's defense ministry confirmed the missile attack but said that only ukrainian

soldiers had been killed. the attack came as ukraine marked 31 years of independence sincthe collapse of the soviet union, by canceling public gatherings, citing the threat of russian strikes on civilian targets. here in new york, the united nations security council met wednesday to dcuss the war in ukraine on the six-month anniversary of russia's invasion. un secretary-general antonio guterres urged an end to what he called russia's "senseless war." >> during these devastating periods, thousands of civilians have been killed and injured, including hundreds of children. countless others have lost their family members, friends, and loved ones. all of this is in violation of international rights law and humanitarian law committed with little to no accountability. millions of ukrainians have lost their homes and worldly possessions becoming internally displaced or refugees. amy: in russia, police arrested

a prominent opposition leader wednesday on charges of "discrediting" the russian army. yevgeny roizman, the 59-year-old former mayor of russia's fourth-largest city, faces three years in prison under a new censorship law signed by president vladimir putin in march. roizman said wednesday his arrest came after he refused to describe russia's war in ukraine as a "special military operation" and instead publicly called it an "invasion." in ethiopia, the united nations is calling for a renewed ceasefire after fighting erupted between government forces and separatist rebels in the northern region of tigray. both sides are accusing each other of being the first to break a five-month-old truce. the united nations is calling for the resumption of peace talks and full access to the region, where some 30% of children face malnutrition amid one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. in california, environmental regulators are voting today on a

plan to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered automobiles by 2035, with only zero-emission vehicles and a limited number of plug-in hybrids available after that date. the decision by california's air resources board will likely accelerate the u.s. transition to an electric vehicle fleet. passenger cars that burn gasoline or diesel account for about 40% of u.s. transportation-related emissions. in texas, the uvalde school district has fired police chief pete arrendondo over his response to the may 24th mass shooting at robb elementary schoolwhich left 19 fourth graders and two teachers dead. arredondo is the first law enforcement official to lose their job over the bungled response to the massacre. video from the scene shows police under arredondo's command waited one hour and 17 minutes passed before they finally

entered the classroom to confront the teenage gunman. in total, three hundred 76 law enforcement officers spotted to the attack in uvalde. the school board's decision to fire arredondo came exactly three months after the mass shooting. it followed angry public calls for his ouster. this is 10-year-old kaitlyn gonzalez, a robb elementary school fourth grader who lost two of her best friends in the shooting. >> it is the law enforcement's to protect and serve. why didn't they protect and serve my friends and teachers on may 24? i have messages for pete aaron donned out and all of there that day. turn in your badge and step down. you don't deserve to wear one. amy: pete arredondo skipped wednesday's meeting, saying he feared for his physical safety. in a statement, arredondo called his firing an "unconstitutional public lynching" and demanded he be immediately reinstated with full back pay and benefits.

in oklahoma, republican governor kevin stitt has ordered condemned prisoner james coddington to be put to death by means of lethal injection today, despite a vote by oklahoma's pardon and parole board to grant him clemency instead. coddington is the first of 25 oklahoma men scheduled to die over the next two years. many suffer severe mental illness and had trials marked by racial bias and prosecutorial misconduct. it's oklahoma's fifth planned execution since october, when it resumed the death penalty after a six-year hiatus that followed a botched execution in 2015. after headlines, we'll hear from anti-death penalty activist sister helen prejean and get the latest from oklahoma. a new report finds nearly 50,000 prisoners across the united states are being held in prolonged solitary confinement, conditions the united nations considers tantamount to torture. researchers at yale law school

found some 6,000 of the prisoners have been held in isolation for over a year. the un's special rapporteur on torture says such practices are prohibited under international law and can lead to severe and irreparable psychological and physical consequences. in related news, brown university says it acquired personal papers of longtime prisoner and author, including his prison record, correspondence, and artwork. the materials will anchor his new collection at the john hale library focused on first-person accounts of incarceration. in columbus, ohio, 4500 unionized teachers have ended their strike after reaching a “conceptual agreement" between the columbus board of education . the teachers, librarians, counselors were seeking pay increases, smaller class sizes, and improvements to heating and

air conditioning in classrooms. and in the occupied west bank, palestinian hunger striker held by israel is in critical condition and could die at any moment, according to the doctor who examined him earlier this week. khalil awadeh has been on a hunger strike since march in protest of his so-called "administrative detention," the israeli policy of holding palestinians without charge for up to years at a time. awawdeh spoke to reporters from his hospital bed, wednesday. >> my health condition is extensivy deteriorating. i feel like i am entirely collapsing. i feel like my body is consuming itself internally in a strange manner. amy: on sunday, israel's supreme court rejected an appeal by awawdeh's lawyers demanding his immediate release due to his failing health. his family called the court's decision a "death sentence.” this is khalil's father, mohammed awawdeh.

>> when we first saw his picture on his lawyers camera, we were surprised and shocked over his health condition. he now weighs 38 kilograms, he used to weigh 86. what can he be other than skin and bones? amy: meanwhile, over 50 civil societies have condemned the actions. israeli soldiers confiscated ident before leaving behind notices clearing groups unlawful. in october, israeli defense minister benny gantz labeled the groups "terrorist organizations." many internationally have questioned the designation. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

president biden has announced plans to cancel as much as $20,000 in student debt to help -- per borrower to help as many as 40 million people. the president outlined his plan during a speech at the white house on wednesday. pres. biden: if you make under 125 thousand dollars, you get $10,000 knocked off your debt. if you received a pell grant, you'll get an additional $10,000 knocked out of that total, for a total of $20,000. 95% of the borrowers can benefit from these actions. that is 43 million people. of the 43 million, over 60% are pell grant recipients, 27 million people who will get $20,000 in debt relief. nearly 45% can have their student debt fully canceled, that is 20 million people, who

can start getting on with their lives. amy: president biden also announced plans to extend a moratorium on alltudent loan payments through the end of the year. as god and away from the podium reporters shouted questions. >> is this unfair to people who pay student loans or those that did not take out student loans? pres. biden: is it fair to people who do not own money dollar businesses? is that fair? amy: response to biden's student debt cancellation plan has been mixed across the political spectrum. democratic senator elizabeth warren said, "today is a day of joy and relief.” senate minority leader mitch mcconnell condemned biden's plan as "student loan socialism.” meanwhile, the naacp resident derrick johnson said canceling just $10,000 of debt is like pouring a bucket of ice water on

a forest fire. many student debtors also say biden's plan does not go far enough. this is the artist and writer maddy clifford of the debt collective. >> what we are doing with the debt collective is pushing and applying that pressure. a full cancellation -- you are asking for too much. i am asking to be back at zero. i am asking for a fair chance to actually build wealth. they are always telling us it is not enough. two years ago, 10k was a ridiculous thing to ask for and now we have just won it. that shows us that we have to keep on fighting. amy: those are the words of the artist and writer maddy clifford speaking after president biden unveiled his plan to cancel as much as $20,000 in student debt for millions of borrowers. in a moment, we will hear more from maddy clifford, who is featured a new short documentary from the intercept titled

"freedom dreams: black women and the student debt crisis.” but first we are joined by astra taylor who co-directed "freedom dreams.” she is also an organizer with the debt collective, an organization with its roots in the occupy wall street movement, and she wrote the foreword to their ok, "can't pay, won't pay: thease for economic disobedience and debt abolition." astra tayor, welcome back to democracy now! first, respond to president biden's plan, the executive order yesterday. astra: it's important to be very clear that the debt collective is always for student loan abolition and free public college for all, to stop the crisis of student debt at its source. that is our position, that is what we think needs to happen. president biden did not campaign on that. he was boxed in and enforced to campaign on some debt relief. this proposal he offered yesterday doesn't even meet the full threshold of his campaign promise, nonetheless, it is a

steppingstone for this movement. my reactions are mixed. it is bittersweet. assuming there are problems in terms of them requiring people to fill out applications to get the relief, assuming people do that, up to 20 million people can have their balances wiped out. that is absolutely game changing. we are hearing from friends and families, they are crying, their lives have been changed. but also $10,000 or $20,000 does not touch what they have accruing for millions. mixed reaction. incredibly significant when you think about it we have been as a movement not long ago. amy: what do you say to those who say this is bailing out the higher education industrial complex? that they should be lowering their tuition. together they have billions of

dollars in endowments. why should they be bailed out? astra: we are not bailing out the higher education system right now, we are bailing out human beings who have been told for decades the only path out of poverty is to pursue an education. united states has substituted labor policy -- we should have been strengthening labor unions, telling people to take yourself up by your bootstraps so you can have the credentials to be employed. these policies need to be coupled, debt cancellation plus restructuring the political economy, so that public colleges are actually public again, and people can go to school and pursue higher education if they want to without the burden of debt. but we will have to fight that fight. it is often a false opposition in the way that people frame this thing. often people who point out that student debt cancellation doesn't get to the root of the problem had no intention of

fighting for the root of the problem, free college. that is the horizon that we, and a growing collection of allies are working toward. amy: mitch mcconnell says this is socialism, a slap in the face to everyone who paid off their college, every american who chose a different career path, who chose to serve in our armed forces. astra: so cynical. first of all, i am one of the people who had to pay my debt. i paid it in full. i don't want anyone else to suffer just because i did. social progress means other people do not have to suffer through something that previous generations did. polling shows most people have that attitude. most are not as selfish and cynical as mitch mcconnell. student debt cancellation is more popular with people who didn't go to college than people who did, probably because they understand the cost are rising so fast they are prohibitive.

this is something people are celebrating. let's not forget, where was this great concern when large corporations and millionaires were getting forgivable ppp loans, on average about $90,000? where were they when the banks were getting bailed out? where were they wh the government was buying billions of dollars of corporate debt? i think you can judge a policy by its enemies. the fact that mitch mcconnell, betsy devos, others are so upset shows you that this will help working-class and low income people. amy: i want to go to your article, "freedom dreams: black women and the student debt crisis," struggling under the weight of hundreds of thousands

of dollars in student loan debt. it begins with former ohio state senator nina turner. >> let me give my testimony, if i may, that i am a first-generation college graduate. i tried to break the cycle of poverty in my family's lives. everybody has a hope and a dream for better. but because you decided to go and advance yourself through higher education, -- no how, no way. >> student debt punishes poor and working-class people for pursuing higher education.

today, student debt is a nearly $2 trillion weight crushing 45 million people, with women, and especially black women, disproportionately burdened. debt teaches us that education is a commodity, that we need to choose degrees and careers based on pay. that we are alone in our financial struggle. that we do not deserve to be free. >> i owe over $120,000 in debt. i did not talk about it. anytime i did i automatically felt ashamed. >> probably $80,000 in debt. until recently, my roadway shame, too, but really it is

regret. >> i decidedo go to college because am a nerd, i love school. i thought it doesn't matter how much it costs. it is going to pay off. >> i had to go to school. they were the first generation in their family. you have the opportunity. you are going to college. >> i was really adamant on moving toward my career goals, so i pushed myselfnto this program without thinking hoam i going to pay for it? >> a lack of intergenerational wealth and a lack of other structures about black women in particular to fall at his proportionate rates, and wage discrimination makes it that much harder to escape. for every dollar white men make, black women earned $.61, a lifetime loss of almost $1 millio >> we have been told, working-class people, as long as you get an education, you'll

have j prospects, you'll be able to take ce of your family, you can have a future. i used to blame myself a lot, used to feel a lot of shame, and then i looked at the policies. is it personal responsibility or is it really that policy? i realize it is bad policy. >> the in excess ability to hire education is preventing us to take care of our families. the in accessibility to higher education is keeping us in poverty. >> this loan debt was never explained to me. no one ever said, this is how you are going to pay for college. >> that means over time we are growing further and further in de due to these inequitable systems. >> i originally borrowed $203,000, and that has since grown to $238,000. i love being in the classroom but teachers do not make enough money to survive in l.a.

i have a masters degree and that a doctorate, became a principal, which is pretty much the highest position you can be at school, and i'm still not making enough money to pay my student loan debt balance. >> i feel like i'm in between a rock and a hard place when i talk to students about their postsecondary education goals. i'm teaching them to navigate the system in a way that i was not taught, but i'm still fearful for them. there are days when i am filled with regret. that balance does not leave. that $238,000 is with me every single seconof the day. you work for these companies, you can make $300,000 and not have to worry about how you are going to p back the debt. i could have done that, i am smart, but i took on this commitment to become an educator, and i am being penalized for it. >> actually, the roots of a

student debt crisis started in california. it started around t 60's and 70's when people were becoming really revolutionary. black panthers going t college, more women going to college, and at the time college was free in california. >> in 1966, ronald reagan furnished his image by attacking the antiwar and racial justice movement taking route on university campuses. he proposed rolling back california's program of free public college and charging tuition. taxpayers should not be subsidizing intellectual curiosity. >> we are providing a premium service, and education superior to most d equal to the bt. so far, those receiving this education have not been required share in the cost. >> went black and browneople started going college in california, that is when you see

public education fall away. the burden of paying for education was placed on families. >> i feel like this is another way to block access to education. our grandparents overcoming integration. we are going to get our education. but now we still have the debt. >> anying lesshan full debt cancellaon is a loss espeally for the most marginized. >> let's talk about it. i have 250k in student loan debt. i'm a phd and i am now working at harvard. i am part-time. i will not be able to pay 250k. >> i am differently abled. it took me eight years to get out of my undergrad because i was not well. the only path for me at that moment, i havto take a whole bunch of loans. >> for me personally, $230,000

worth of student loan debt means i cannot purchase a home. >> i was sold on this myth of society that when i got my phd, i would be able have upward mobility. tt t access to genetional wlth uld open up for me. >> tt is a misnomer. is that the word upward mobility. that is a lie. this idea of gd dbet and bad debt. you just bought a home, good debt. we cannot even get good debt. we can get bad debt, though. >> i wanted to be the educator that told the truth. the educator that unlocks the dreams. >> if the system was no longer what we see right now and we were able to imagine something different, that we were able to embody it and do it, what does that look like?

>> a system where black women do not have to beubject to crushing debt is a system that would benefit everyone. amy: an excerpt of the documentary "freedom dreams: black women and the student debt crisis" narrated by nina turner, codirected by astra taylor, who we are speaking to today, organizer with the debt collective. the percentage of fourth-year undergraduate students aged 18 to 24 with student loan debt by race, african americans, 90%. pitino's, 72%. asian americans, 51%. where'd do you go from here after the partial debt forgiveness that president biden issued by executive order yesterday? astra: we are going to keep fighting. debt collective has been organizing on the basis that our debts are actually a source of

power when we organize. individually they can overwhelm us. but when we come together we can use our debt as leverage to demand change. we have done that steppingstone by steppingstone, beginning with our campaigns of corinthians. they launched a debt strike, coupled with a creative legal strategy. after seven long years, full automatic cancellation for over half a millioneople. we built on that. students from itt tech and other predory colleges, they just won $4 million, and now this announcement that debt would be canceled for tens of thousands of americans. we are strategizing and creating solidarity among us debtors. there is actually a debt strike

launching because they have extended the payment pause moratorium until january 1. thousands of people are saying we cannot pay, we are never going to pay. this cannot be the final extension of the payment pause. we have a growing number of debtors joining the movement including a growing number of older debtors who are suffering under these enormous burdens. older people are often left out of the debate, the fastest growing demographic of debtors. the flight will keep going. we are going to continue our work on medical debt, they'll debt, until we can win as a society where people are not forced into debt to survive. amy: we will link to your new short documentary, "freedom dreams: black women and the student debt crisis." thank you so much. next to oklahoma, where the state is planning to execute a

person a month for the next two years, starting today. ♪♪ [music break] amy: "i rise" by dominique

fils-aime. in oklahoma, republican governor kevin stitt has ordered the execution of james coddington to go forward today, despite a vote by the state's pardon and parole board to grant him clemency . this marks oklahoma's fifth execution since october, when it resumed the death penalty after putting it on hold in 2015 after prison officials botched an execution by using the wrong lethal drug. coddington is the first of 25 oklahoma men scheduled to die over the next two years. many suffer severe mental illness and had trials marked by racial bias and prosecutorial misconduct. after coddington, richard glossip is set for execution, but the government delayed his execution until december so an appellate court can consider new evidence of his claims of innocence. after glossip, the state plans to kill benjamin cole, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia and catatonia. in a minute, we'll go to

oklahoma city, but first we turn to one of the world's most well-known anti-death penalty activists, sister helen prejean, author of "dead man walking: an eyewitness account of the death penalty.” she spoke to democracy now! tuesday night about oklahoma's scheduled execution spree. helen: we have a terrible situation going on now. all the killings have been terrle by the state of human beings. but we have a man right now, james coddington, who is in the torte chamber, all stone chamber in oklahoma, where he was put 35 days ago to await his coming execution. yesterday, they did a mock execution. he could hear everything going on. he has bright lightsn him 24 hours a day. three video cameras framed on hi his phone has been taken away from him and he has been removed

from the compaonship of all the other people on death row. awaiting his debt. -- death. we in the united states, the supreme court, cannot interpret the word in the eighth amendment about not punishing people with cruel punishme. they have not en able to cognize the torture that happens to conscious, imaginative human beings put in a tiny sound as small as a bathroom, 20 years or more, to await their killing at the hands of the state. james coddington awaits his death tomorrow at 10:00 in the morning. and he follows a number of people, 1 oklahoms killed. why is it at this time the attorney general of the state fe he could schedule 25 human beings to be killed over the next two years, roughly one a

month? why did he feel he can do that? when is behind him doing that? we have the way the supreme court set up the death penalty, theyave complete discretionary power to prosecutors to seek death or not. it is in the hands of a trial individual ,biased, politically dren human beings to decide if people die or not. i think the ag of okloma is doing what former president trump did with his attorney geral willm barr when he announced he was going to kill 13 people on federal death row before he left office. there had been 17 years of no federal executions. how did those 13 human beings suddenly got word that they would be killed within six

months? and indeed theyere. they were all killed. why? because the one in charge, the one with the power to psecute, decided, for whatever reason, political, whatever reason, that they would die. when the supreme court setp the death penty, it had default lines from the beginning. it was bound to fail, that we would have these pockets of prosecution arbitrarily happening around the country, as has continued today. first they put in impossible criteria because of set guideline, to narrow it down for germany's, not to give the death penay for what they called ordinary murders. who knows what that means? only for the worst of the worst, and coupled it with this discretionary power of prosecutors. we see it happening in oklahoma now.

our death penalty is broken, it ways was from the beginni. it can never be fair. the cour are clogged. i know a woman in california on death row waited 19 years before the court even reviewed her case. we have a million reasons why we have to stop ts thing. i hold in my heart tonht james coddington, in that stone cell, awaing his deh tomorrow. i recognize this is torture and an abuse of human rights. with our help, as we continue to get the word out, the american people will see that, too, and we will end this thing. amy: that's world-renowned anti-death penalty activist, sister helen prejean, speaking to us from new orleans last night. we go now to oklahoma city where protests are underway ahead of today's execution scheduled for 10:00 a.m. local time, the first 25 executions set to take place

nearly every month for the next two years. what has been described as a mass scheduling of executions. we are joined by connie johnson, a retired oklahoma state senator who now serves on the board of the oklahoma coalition to abolish the death penalty. she herself has lost a family member. her brother was murdered in 1981. welcome to democracy now! welcome to democracynow, connie johnson. tell us who coddington is. you have the former director of the oklahoma department of corrections, clergy, a number of people demanding that the execution be stopped but governor kevin stitt has denied his clemency. tell us the story and why. connie: thank you foraving me here.

james coddington clearly murdered someone. however, during his time o incarceration, he has been a redeeming individual. he has been a role model for s many. based on that rlity, his attorneys have requested mercy basically. we have a pardon and parole boarthat is very uniquely composed in terms of the number of law enforcement field representatives there. 3-2, a guy who would never normally vote for clemency, believes that james coddington deserves mercy. this is an issue of mercy. justin jones, a friend of mine, glad to hear him speak out as the director of corrections who had to oversee executions in oklahoma. our history of botched

execions, wrongful conviction's. like sister helen said, gives great pause for concern. myself, my family, murder victims. my brother was killed at langston university, oklahoma's only hbcu. there was the option of the streets taking him down and i couldn't say yes because it would not bring my brother back. through 20ears, i went through a process of forgiving the guy, rren smi, ofhe homicide that killed my brother. i hope to et him one day.

i don'tnow about the rest of my family. but at that point my life took off. i became a state senator. i introduced legislatioto abolish the death penalty. just believing and knowing and understanding that it costs more to kill someone, in oklahoma, it is racially and geographically and economically discriminatory. we get it ong here often. i helped exonerate two people from death row. like you said, we also have severe cases of prosecutorial misconduct. and then the botched executions. we had a moratorium for a while on executions. then three people were executed in two cases. the cases of two black guys who were executed, the drugs, something went horribly wrong.

amy: can you tell us who richard glossip is? he has faced one execution warrant after another, he continues to say that he is innocent. what about this case? a television series has been made about h case. connie: sure. to talk about all the cases in oklahoma, you have to talk about the elected officials. sister helen referenced, the political aspirations behind these death penalty cases. we had a d.a., bob macy, who was known as the hanging d.a., known for prosecutinpeople and getting convictions. we have had candidates for governor who oversaw 34 executions. and these were democratic candidates for governor.

the political aspects of this israel. -- this is real. but for most of oklahoma, it is a lackf education. i was the chair of the coalition to abolish the death penalty at the time that ricrd gloss's case originally came to life. the da at that time, david crater, like i said, was politically motivated. mr. glossip has been able to escape execution. it was interesting that the governor granted a temporary stay, interestingly, until after the election. oklahoma is a pro-death penalty ate. in 2016, put it in the constitution.

i led the campaign to keep it out of the constitution. we were predicted to lose 75-25, but through a process of educion, the reason the death penalty does not work, we were able to ma that margin 68-32. i think the recent julius jones case raised a lot of awareness, the efforts of movie stars, local personalities like jb williams, really put the case on the forefront. i believe we have fewer people that supporthe death penalty now. i would be supportive of floating the question one more time, to take the death penalty out of the constitution. the polical implications of a case like richard glossip, who did in fact, and he still claims his independence -- innocence. prosecutorial misconduct, withholding information,

everything that could lead to a wrongful conviction, i believe was applied in mr. glossip's case. the contrast of what the governor did for mr. glossip, how he is going ahead with mr. coddington's execution, all of these things have to have a political backdrop. amy: let's go to the oklahoman death row prisoner james coddington set to be executed today. here he is pleading to the pardon and parole board earlier in the month. >> i try to help anyway that i can to keep the younger guys coming in to make thmistakes that i made. if i had a lot of misconduct in my teena years, in 25 years i have had one. there is a reason for it.

for someone to say that i don't care, i don't have remorse, that is not true. i have never forgotten how. he was one of my friends. he tried to help me. anytime i needed it. for that, he lost his life. my attorney told you all about each day. if i deserve it, it is in your hands. if i don't deserve it, it is also in your hands. that is all i can say. i don't know what else i can say. amy: that was james coddington's plea to the pardon and parole

board who would later vote 3 to 2 recommending james coddington be granted clemency by governor kevin stitt, which he denied this week. 25 men are slated to be killed, one a month for the next two years. connie johnson, your final thoughts? connie: i had not heard mr. coddington's conversation. it reveals the tuma of the base of what is wrong in oklahoma. we are just calling for mercy. i want to be clear, t coalition to abolish the death penalty, the death penalty alliance, also which i'm an affiliate member, we don't want anyone executed. what is going to happen today, what appears what ll happen today, is not in our best

interest as a state. i don't want the state of oklahoma, i don't want governor kevin stitt murdering james coddington in my name. we will keep our fight going. the fact that you will see displays of 25 crosses here in oklahomaity, there will be vigils. there is one this morning at 9:00 with the coalition to abolish the death penalty. certainly over the nex potential 25 executions, the voices of oklahomans will start to be heard better. i, as one, under my company, we will be there on the front lines. amy: thank you so much for being with us, former chair of the oklahoma coalition to abolish the death penalty. coming up, how an ultra secretive chicago industrialist has quietly given $1.6 billion

to the architect of the right wing takeover of the courts, the largest known political advocacy donation in u.s. history. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break] amy: "the first time i ever saw your face" performed by acker bilk. we and the shower looking at how an altar secretive conservative mogul has quietly given $1.6 billion to the architect of the white ring -- right wing

takeover of the courts, the largest known political advocacy donation in history. reports have revealed how barre seid, a conservative 90 year old has given $1.6 billion. the donor is barre seid, a 90-year-old conservative industrialist from chicago. over the past two years, seid funneled hundreds of millions of dollars through secretive transactions to a nonprofit led by leonard leo, the co-chair of far-right federalist society who's known as donald trump's "supreme court whisperer.” andrew perez, senior editor and reporter at the lever. he is the co-reporter along with propublica's andy kroll & justin elliott of the new expose "inside the right's historic billion-dollar dark money transfer." it is difficult to even find pictures of barre seid. tell us about this historic

money shift. >> sure. thanks for having me. we have reported on how barre seid, an unknown businessman from chicago, donated really his entire business empire to a nonprofit run by leonard leo, which then sold the company which was called tripp lite, 41 $.6 billion. we believe it is the biggest ever donation to a politically oriented dark money group in u.s. history. the way this transaction was designed, it shielded seid from paying roughly $400 million, which then became a public subsidy effectively for this nonprofit, this conservative accuracy group run by leonard leo, as trump's judicial advisor flipped the supreme court,

helped to build a super majority which just overturned federal protections for abortion rights. amy: talk about his company, how you got this tip, and what it means, this transfer of wealth. andrew: this company is called tripp lite, and electronics manufacturer. they make surge protecto, equipment sold for both at home use and commercial, data centers. we learned about this from a source who provided us documents detailing the transaction, showing how seid managed to build an unprecedented warchest, and already highly successful conservative operative. amy: barre seid has donated over

the years. talk about his role in distributing dvd's entitled "obsession," andrew: he was believed to be the donor and the reporter on that story, justin elliott. he was believed to have donated $70 million to this group called the clarion fund that distributed those dvds, a really islam a phobic campaign, during the 2008 campaign. his team always denied that. they have always worked hard to donate money behind the scenes. what we have learned is he has both become exceedingly wealthy. he was earning up to $150 million a year in recent years, mostly from tripp lite. he was also giving behind the

scenes a pretty massive amount of money. between 1996 and 2018, we believe he donated $75 million. he claimed that much in charitable deductions, so the number could be higher than that. amy: the washington post reported, george mason university law school changed its name to the antonin scalia law school due to a $10 million donation from the charles koch foundation and a $20 million grant from an anonymous donor and that the name change was a condition of the anonymous donor's gift. the activist group unkoch my campus later discovered that the anonymous donor was barre seid. talk more about what he has done and what this means to work with leonard leo. andrew: we believe he was the donor who funded the name change at george mason university law

school. that gift was apparently coordinated by leonard leo. we know their professional relationship stretches back at least a decade. they served on a small chicago charity together, on the board of that organization, which seid funded as well. we believe seid has also been a big donor to the heartland institute, a climate denier group. this is still the clearest indication of his giving, the amount amount of trust he has in leonard leo. he really put his entire business fortune in the hands of leonard leo to deploy at his discretion. amy: who changed the face of the federal judiciary, not to mention the supreme court. your news organization obtained a photo of barre seid that shows

him as a 14-year-old walking among -- walking among a group of students in the university of chicago where he was accelerate through a program. talk about the possible impact of the "“chicago school" of economists on his thinking. also about what seid dodging up to $400 million in state and federal income tax, from your piece, you said that seid transferred tripp lite to a trust exempt from federal income tax, before the electronics company was sold. lawyers say he avoided up to $400 million in state and federal income tax, preserving those funds for leo's new operation. andrew: barre seid is quite old, 90 years old. he attended the university of

chicago right around the start of the chicago school. we understand he is a pretty big fan of milton friedman. this transaction was all structured in a way that really gamed the rules around donations to nonprofits, donating appreciated property. if he had sold his company for $1.6 billion, he probably would have owed up to $400 million. by structuring it this way, having this trust to sell the anthony, it saves him a pretty hefty tax bill, and also preserves the amount of money available for leonard leo's new group. i should stress, this money all came after his network and leo remade the supreme court, building a conservative super majority there.

this is all money that can be used for the future, building and. expanding the conservative movement amy:

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