09/07/22 09/07/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we are going to continue to press hard to closely review policies and practices on rules of engagement. >> still has not taken action. he does not -- continues to ignore the importance of this case. amy: as israel admits for the

first time one of its soldiers may have shot dead palestinian-american journalist shireen abu akleh when she covered an israeli raid on the jenin refugee camp, will pressure israel to re-examine its rules of engagement. her family says that is not enough. we will speak with shireen's niece lina abu akleh abu akleh who's calling for a meeting with president biden and was the u.s. to conduct aindependt inveigation. then in victory rrump, federa jude apinted ha grantehis request f special masteroeviewlassified documents the fbi seized from mar-a-lago. we look at this and other investigations into trump from the january 6 capitol insurrection with elie mystal, author of "allow me to retort: a black guy's guide to the constitution." and we continue to remember the life and legacy of the author and activist barbara ehrenreich. >> i thinkhe real issue here

is the mainstream media, corporate media's theory of poverty, which is that it is a character failure. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the international atomic energy agency is calling for a safety and security protection zone to be immediately set up around the russian-held zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in ukraine in order to avoid a nuclear disaster at europe's largest nuclear power plant. the iaea issued a report tuesday on the dire conditions at the plant after investigators visited the site last week. russia and ukraine have accused each other of attacking the plant, which has been controlled by russia since march. iaea director general rafael grossi spoke on tuesday.

>> the physical attack wittingly or unwitngly, the hits this facility has received and that i personally have assessed together with my experts, is simply unacceptable. we are playing witfire. something very, very catastrophic could take place. amy: "the washington post" is reporting a highly classified document detailing a foreign government's military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities, was found by the fbi during its search of donald trump's mar-a-lago property. "the post" reports some of the documents uncovered were so sensitive that even many senior national security officials would not normally have access to them. the fbi has also revealed it

found 48 empty folders marked "classified" during its search. a state judge in new mexico has removed a county commissioner from power for taking part in the january 6 attack at the u.s. capitol. the judge ruled otero county commissioner couy griffin had violated the 14th amendment by taking part in what the judge ruled to be an insurrection against the u.s. government. the judge also barred griffin from holding any future state or federal position. griffin, who founded the group cowboys for trump, is the first insurrectionist to face such a penalty. nbc news has obtained surveillance video showing a republican official in coffee county, georgia, escorting operatives tied to donald trump into an elections office on january 7, 2021, the same day that a data breach occurred at the site. the local official seen in the

video is cathy latham, who was one of the fe electors in georgia o claimed trump had won the state. latham is seen escorting constants whwere worng with trump attorney sidney powell. a day after the visit, one of the men seen in the video photo powell sang "sidney, everything was smoothly yesterday with the coffee county collection." a separate surveillance video shows jeff logan, the ceo of the company cyber ninjas, also visited the elections office along with another security consultant named jeffrey lenberg. both men are under investigation for a breach of voting machines in michigan. former trump advisor steve bannon is expected to surrender thursday in new york where he faces state charges for defrauding donors to an anti-immigrant nonprofit called we build the wall. he is accused of personally pocketing donations that were given to privately fund sections of a barrier wall to be built along the u.s.-mexico border.

bannon was first charged by federal prosecutors in 2020, but then he received a pardon from donald trump. those were federal charges. what he faces now is state charges. it is believed he pocketed something like $1 million. in massachusetts, the state's attorney general maura healey won the democratic nomination for governor on tuesday. if she wins in november, she would become the first woman elected governor in massachusetts. she also becomes the second open lesbian to win a gubernatorial primary this year, joining democrat tina kotek in oregon. "the advocate" reports the two could make history in november as the first out lesbians to be elected governors in the united states. in massachusetts, maura healey will face off against the trump-endorsed geoff diehl, who won e republan gubernatorial race on tuesday. michael regan, the head of the environmental protection agency, is heading to jackson,

mississippi, today where a massive water crisis has left 150,000 without drinking water. while water pressure has been restored in the city, an order to boil water to make it safe to drink remains in place. this comes as mississippi's republican governor tate reeves is floating the idea of privatizing jackson's water, a move opposed by many. civil rights attorney sherrilyn ifill tweeted, "beware privatization." ifill is the former head of the naacp legal defense and educational fund, which has warned water privatization can jeopardize "the human right to affordable, clean water." temperatures in sacramento, california, reached 116 degrees fahrenheit tuesday, making it the hottest day ever recorded in california's capital as a record-breaking heatwave continues to scorch california. some cities have broken previous daily heat records by 10 degrees. officials urged residents

tuesday to cut back on their energy use to reduce the risk of power outages during the heatwave as energy use soared to new highs. 4000 firefighters in california are battling 14 large fires across california. at least four people have died in fires since this weekend. in news from brazil, an indigenous activist with the group forest guardians was shot dead saturday in the northeast of brazil. "the guardian" reports janildo oliveira guajajara is the sixth member of the group to be murdered since 2016. the group was formed to help protect the brazilian rainforest. in health news, new research shows more than 10.5 million children have lost a parent or primary caretaker due to the covid-19 pandemic. a study published tuesday found the hardest hit areas were southeast asia and africa. here in the united states, it is

estimated 250,000 children lost one or both parents. the study appears in the journal "jama pediatrics." in media news, a russian court has revoked the license of the independent newspaper "novaya gazeta," which is edited by the nobel peace prize winner dmitry muratov. the move effectively bans the newspaper from operating. muratov spoke against the ruling on tuesday. >> the decision is a political hit job and has no legal basis whatsoever. we were in court for allegedly not handing over some documents 20 years ago was the in reality, it is obvious to everyone what is behind this. amy: russian president vladimir putin will reportedly meet with chinese president xi jinping in uzbekistan on what would be xi's

first foreign trip since the pandemic began two and a half years ago. the two leaders will meet at a summit organized by the shanghai cooperation organization. in news from china, at least 74 people have diedn an rthquake in sichuan province. 26 people are reported missing. in uvalde, texas, students returned to classes tuesday for the first time since the may 24 mass school shooting, ich left 19 fourth graders and two teachers dead. no classes are being held at the site of the shooting, robb elementary school, which is slated to be demolished. on tuesday, texas state senator roland gutierrez visited uvalde as students returned to classes. >> families are upset, frustrated -- rightfully so. there are still kids that go to trauma therapy every day. their kids in robb in adjacent classrooms that were stuck in this classrooms that will never be the same again. the people of texas need to

understand that, that these families are never going to be the same again. if we don't do something, this could happen in your community. amy: this comes as the austin-american statesman is reporting five officers with the texas department pf public safety are now under investigation for their role in the response to the school shooting. two of the five have already been suspended with pay pending the investigation, which is being carried out by the texas inspector general. the electronic cigarette maker juul has reached a tentative agreement to pay nearly $440 million to settle a probe by 33 states into the company's marketing practices targeting underage buyers. the company has been widely blamed for the surge in teenage vaping. in labor news, teachers in seattle have voted to authorize a strike beginning today, forcing the city to cancel the first day of school. the seattle education association says 95% of teachers supported the strike in a recent vote. key demands by teachers include

better support for special education and multilingual programs and smaller class sizes. and members of the u.s. women 's soccer teams have signed a historic collective bargaining agreement with u.s. soccer guaranteeing equal pay for the teams. the agreement comes six years after players on the u.s. women's national soccer team filed a complaint with the equal employment opportunity commission. in 2019, players filed a federal lawsuit over unfair pay practices. women's soccer superstar megan rapinoe praised the new agreement. >> it is so good. it is such a proud moment for all of us, thinking back to all of the players that have come through. the work that was done, specifically on the cba, but really before that, to lay the groundwork iknowing how much we put into it, how much effort we put into it and that the

saying never say die on the field, that is the same vibe brought to this. a super proud moment. really excited for everyone and really excited to see where this pushes the game on. amy: that is soccer star megan rapinoe. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman 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: israel has for the first time admitted one of its soldiers may have been responsible for the death of palestinian-american journalist shireen abu akleh, who was shot in the head may 11 while covering an israeli raid in the west bank city of jenin. israel said monday abu akleh may have been accidentally hit by israeli troops' gunfire after they came under fire from palestinian fighters. but eyewitness accounts and

videos of the area where shireen was killed don't show a gun battle. she also wore body armor and a helmet clearly labeled "press." investigations by "the new york times" and cnn and "the washington post" and other media outlets also challenged the official israeli version of abu akleh's killings. "the times" said there were "no armed." your which was shot." in ramallah, al jazeera's west bank bureau chief rejected the israeli claims. >> it is clear there trying to perpetuate ambiguity and deception on the one hand while at the same time there themselves of wrongdoing by claiming there was an exchange of fire. these are all lies because all the accounts and videos and weaknesses disprove their claims. amy: meanwhile, israel still

says it will not launch a criminal probe into shireen abu akleh's killing. biden administration continues to face backlash over its response to her death, with u.s. officials accused of trying to cover for israel. u.s. state department deputy spokesperson vedant patel spoke tuesday. >> we're going to continue to press our israeli parties to closely review as part -- practices on rules of engagement and take additional steps to mitigate the risk to civilian harm, to protect journalists, and prevent similar tragedies in the future. amy: on tuesday, democratic u.s. senator chris van hollen of maryland dismissed the allegations from the israeli army that abu akleh was killed in the midst of a gunfight between israeli soldiers and palestinians. tweeting -- "the crux of the 'defense' in this idf report is that a soldier was 'returning fire' from militants.

but investigations found no such firing at the time." marilyn senator van hollen and abu akleh's family are calling for the u.s. to launch an independent investigation. for more we're joined in new york by lina abu akleh, niece of shireen. welcome to democracy now! first, our condolences to you and your family. >> thank you so much, amy. thank you for having me. amy: you're here in new york and have been in washington, just look at the national press club. can you respond to israel's report saying they may well likely have accidentally -- the -- an israeli soldier, unidentified, killed your aunt. can you talk about that report and what you're calling for? >> of course. that statement did nothing other

than obscure the truth and avoid responsibility and accountability. time and time again, we have seen how israel is unwilling to hold itself accountable for killings. the family, and as her knees, we are infuriated. we were not expecting a statement from the israeli government, the israeli army, because we have seen over the past months they've been changing the narrative and shifting the narrative. here's what we know, we know the facts, we know shireen was in jenin covering aaid. she identified herself to the army in addition to her colleagues who were all wearing press vests and a protective helmet. we're talking about the most advanced army, one of the most technologically advanced armies. and they still were able to aim

precisely in the area right beneath her head and shoot her. in addition, there were continuous fires right after they killed my aunt, even when they were trying to help her, they were still being fired at. to us, the statement is nothing but obscuring the truth and they still are tryi to escape any form of possibility. juan: i wanted to ask you, lena, the fact that clearly this was an accurate hit by a soldier, most likely using a telescopic sight, he could shoot your aunt but supposedly not see she was clearly marked with the words "press" on her? >> you know, it -- there were

"press" written in the front and back. they were identifying themselves before they were about to report and the area was very quiet when they were there. we have seen videos. we have seen palestinian eyewitnesses at the scene. so for us, that is nothing but obscuring the truth and trying to spread disinformation. shireen was a very well-known journalist. she was reporting from the west bank, from jerusalem, for the past 25 years. there is no way she was misidentified. juan: you have said that your aunt was killed twice. once in jenin and once in jerusalem. could you explain further? >> yes, i would say she was killed twice on may 11 in jenin and the second time in jerusalem

during her funeral on may 13 at the hospital when the funeral was brutally attacked by israeli paramilitary forces who were armed to the teeth, attacking the mourners, the pallbearers who are caring the casket. it was very disturbing and traumatizing to say the least. we were being pushed, beaten by batons only because we wanted to put our dear aunt to rest. but impartially, even during her funeral, she was still being attacked, she was still trying to be silence. that was a scene that will forever be entrenched in the minds of all palestinians -- and the world. this is something that was not really unprecedented but something that was just very, very disturbing. it was brutal, to say the least.

amy: lina, for people not familiar with what happened at the funeral, this is at the time israel saying it was palestinians who had killed shireen. what the israeli interior or police did at the funeral. and also the israeli government sang they had agreement with shireen's brother tony? >> that was again part of their way to shift the narrative, to spread disinformation. before the funeral, they summoned my father tony and they tried mourn shireen, limiting the number of mourners, putting restrictions on who can access the hospital. of course, my father did not agree to anything. we did not have any agreement with them. we made it clear this is not just a funeral for our family, but this is the national funeral. shireen was loved and respected

by everyone. everyone was there to mourn her. from the moment we made our way to the hospital, there were multiple israeli checkpoints in jerusalem restricting their access to the hospital. it was like a war zone outside the hospital. when we got into the hospital and we were trying to take the casket into the hearse, we were attacked brutally by the israeli forces. they were trying to restrict the funeral procession to the church. it was in that moment where the entire world peers witness to what -- bears witness to what it is like to be living under occupation and have our entire lives controlled. this is the same army that the u.s. continues to findnnually

with $4 billion. that day is a moment that will never be forgotten. even on her funeral, my aunt shireen was still reporting and her voice was even louder than any other moment on that specific day. amy: we want to play a montage of shireen abu akleh covering the middle east. she did it for more than two decades for al jazeera. let's go to some of those reports. >> there have been cases of suffocation. dozens of palestinians were injured after the firing of teargas canisters. this wall inhibits the view. even more importantly, it is threatening their dream of having a geographically continuous nation. it might not be easy for me to change the reality of the situation on the ground, but at

least i was able to contribute by helping those voices reach the world. i am shireen abu akleh. amy: shireen abu akleh. she was 51 years old, worked for al jazeera. a very familiar face and voice to the arab world. lina, you are here in the united states. when president biden visited israel, your family wanted to meet with him. instead, you are invited to washington. you met with tony blinken, the secretary of state? but you are demanding a meeting with president biden? can you talk about all that you are demanding the significance of chris van hollen come the senator from maryland, not accepting the israeli report on her death and calling for that independent investigation? >> when president biden was in the middle east when he was in jerusalem, specifically, he was 10 minutes away from our house,

from shireen's house where she was born. yet he refused to meet with us there. instead, our family had to come to d.c. we met secretary antony blinken. but we're still calling for a meeting with the u.s. president, with president biden because that will show he is serious about the case an that he is willg to take action. ever since my aunt was killed, all of the statement released by the u.s. state department, this administration have been nothing but empty words followed with no action. that is why we will continue to demand an investigation, a u.s.-led investigation for the killing of a u.s. citizen. this is what would have happened if it was any other u.s. citizen killed abroad, and this is what usually happens.

second, because a u.s. investigation will inevitably show -- conclude the same as all reports have shown that shireen was killed, she was targetedy an israei soldier, and will help identify the soldier and have accountability. again, this is not just about shireen, but this is about ensuring no other family of u.s. citizen, of palestinians, have to suffer, have to go through what we have been going through. therefore, it is so important the u.s. opens an investigation, a transparent investigation to hold the israeli soldier accountable, the israeli army accountable for the killing of shireen. we are not the only ones demanding this. as you stated, we have members of congress, senators,

representatives -- a majority of them are backing out calls. we saw how senator van hollen dismissed the statement. we also saw how andrew carson as well, stating this falls short of any form of accountability. real accountability includes holding the soldier who killed shireen accountable, holding the person who called for pulling the trigger, and changing the entire system of this entire policy that continues to perpetuate violence against. . palestinian's amy: elie mystal, --lina abu akleh, thank you for joining us, niece of shireen abu akleh. we will continue to cover the story. again, our condolences to your family. next up, in a victory for trump, a federal judge he appointed is granted his request for special master to review classified documents the fbi seized at

mar-a-lago. we will get response from elie mystal, author of "allow me to retort: a black guy's guide to the constitution." stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "babour zammar"by reem kelani. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. with juan gonzalez. we turn now to look a possible delay by months or even years of the fbi's investigation into whether former president donald trump violated the espionage act and presidential records laws and whether he obstructed justice to cover up those crimes. the delay comes after a federal judge agreed monday to appoint an independent arbiter known as a "special master" to review whether fbi agents properly seized thousands of classified documents from trump's mar-a-lago home on august 8.

u.s. district court judge aileen cannon agreed with trump's lawyers that the justice department must halt its review of the documents recovered by agents, many of which were marked "top secret." "the washington post" reports some of the documents were so sensitive that even many senior national security officials would not normally have access to them. judge cannon was nominated to the u.s. district court for the southern district of florida in 2020 by then-president donald trump. she was confirmed nine days after trump lost the 2020 election. on tuesday, former attorney general william barr told fox news the justice department shld appeajudge caon' desion. >> i think was wrong and i think the government should appeal it. it is deeply flawed in a number of ways. i don't think the appointment of a special master is going to hold up.

but even if it does, i don't see it fundamentally changing the trajectory. i don't think it changes the ballgame so much as maybe we will have a rain delay for a couple of innings. amy: this comes as the house select committee to investigate the january 6 attack on the united states capitol is set to resume hearings later this month. for more, we're joined by elie mystal, the nation's justice correspondent whose recent piece looking this and several other investigations into trump is headlined "trump is a criminal -- will any of these 4 investigations snare him?" he's also the author of the best-selling book "allow me to retort: a black guy's guide to the constitution." welcome back to democracy now! why don't you start off by laying out these four cases or investigations into trump? there so much happening it is very hard for people to figure out what is going on right now

and mae even why he has not been charged. >>,, let's do ts lightng round style. case numbeone, the one you've been talking abo, the espionage case. trump stoleocuments, top-secret documents frothe national archives, put them in his sement. that is illegal. the justice department is investigatinhim. doesn't matter if he declassy the documents or not because he had nsitive national defense informatn. weill see how that goes now that he has gotten in front of his hand-picked justices who are biased for him. that is bucket number one. number two, the one we've been talking about since january 6, 2020, the insurrection that he probably should be held responsible for if not leading, certainly encouraging. we have the january six thing committee and we also know the previous hearings over the summer from the january 6 committee kind of lit a fire

under the department of justice, pointed them in new directions. we know the testimony of former white house aide hudson was particularly explosive to the justice department and arguably continuing investigation into trump's role in january 6. there's the actual coup and insurrection. there is the fake electors. there is the obstruction of justice. there are a lot of things wrap up in january 6. but those two buckets are at the federal level. at the state level, he has more legal exposure. there is the new york state investigation led by attorney general james loong into financial crimes and misdeeds from trump's oanization. there are allegations dating backoichael:, trum's former fixer, about when it comes time

pay taxes and to get loans. that investigation is ongoing. nally we have the state of georgia investigation led by fulton county district attorney. she is looking into ump's apparent attempt election fraud and obstruction of justice in georgia specifically. we all heard the incriminating phone calls, donald trump asking the secretary of state brad raffensperger in georgia to find him 11,000 votes. we know lindsey graham has been asked to testify and the judicial system is protecting lindsey graham as well. but we know that investigation is ongoing. as you pointed out this morning, there is even new evidence implicating sidney powell and some stuff. i think that is still maybe the most likely things to land trump and serious legal trouble because literally we already have him on tape committing --

emitting the election crimes, if i can say that way. those are the four main ones. that i kw about. let's ever forget that ump commit crimes like other peopl breathe so who knows what else is lying just beneath the surface? those are the four most furthest alonin terms o investigating the foer preside. juan: elie, isn't there a danger -- i should mention, these different investigations, one that feeds into a narrative by many trump supporters and even some who may not be that supportive of m but that the government is out to get him? and isn't the issue that all of these investigations, and before that, the two impeachments, they keep trump in the news so that he is constantly the story, whether or not he is actually

officially running for office. and the danger of a backfire come the next presidential election about these investigations, that all operating at a snail's pace because the ability of anyone with a lot of money to gum of the works of legal challenges, your potential about the backfire of so much effort but no real indictments yet? >> i don't really concern myself what cultists say in defense of their cult. creating false narratives about what is ppening in persecutions happening to thei dear leader and they are all ong. they are all dumb an wrong, so i n't rry myself with what dumb and wrong people think about these investigations. we have to do at is right regardless of what c thetists

says. getting to your second point, s, there is a lot of investigations going on and yes that create a list a spigot of tential criminality, but what the alternative? theroblem here is trump essentially committed many, many, many crimes. allowi him to get off scott fr for any of the cres, much less all of the crimes, is the bigg danger to democracy and to kindf state and american government. if a person like trump can get away with stealing an election in georgia and committing financial crimes in new york and leading and insurrection and putting forth faith electors and violating the espionage act -- if you can get away with all of that, then we are not a nation of laws. we are a nation of power. we are a nation that exists on the whims of the powerful people

and their judges. it psalmist equipped to pick which nation we want to live in. if we want a nation of laws, we have to ash it is not an option -- we have to prosecute trump for the crimes he appears to have committed. there is no other option that still involves us living in nation under the rule of law. juan: speaking of a nation under the rule of law, in your book "allow me to retort," you talk about the structural problems of our constitution that to you raise serious questions about the ability of our nation to function as a democracy. i am wondering if you coul talk abt some of those structural issues? >> get with the trump jge did in the espionage case. look at aileen cannon. the idea that judges are apolitical impartial arbiters is wrong. it has always been wrong. it haslways been a legal fiction.

we know judges are political actors. if they weren't, would not have dely different judges nominated by each of the different political parties. we know they are non-partial. we just have not been told that because for the most part, they are bias and prejudice has been towards white hetero male people. we act like th is not a bi but that is a bias. that is baked into the system. the people, df people say, the point of lifetime appointments is once a judge is in, they don't have to concern themselves with the litical machinations of e country. we know that noto be true. judge aileen cannon, did she want to be a ccuit court judge one day? does she want to be on the 11th circuit court of appeals? does she want go on the supreme court some day? well, if she does,ouldn'be surising to me, making decisions in concert with the agenda, especially given tru's

svengali like hold over republicans, -- when you look at the structure of our judicial system, it is so primarily based on people and those pple can be biased. those pple can be prejudiced. those peoe can be wrong and w don't do near enough within our system to hold our judges accountae. there is -- they are appointed for life, nway to rove them absent impeachment. these are real problems we have when you run into clear cases of bias or unethil behavior as i believe we are seeing with judge cannon. look, let's remember this. i am suggesting that canon is biased and corrupt based oher opinion, which has no basis in law. the other option is that she has no idea what she is doing. i tend to give her the befit of the doubt that she actuay

knows what she is doing and has decided to help trump as opposed that she truly honors -- honestly doesn't understa how law works. i don't think she isdumb. i think she is biased and prejudiced towards trump. she set it in her opinion. she literally wrote that she was trting tru differently because he was the former president, which is a legal jargon way of saying, if you are i or amy goes into the national archives and steals document, i guarantee you judge aileen cannon is not slowing down the investigation. amy: let's talk about the latest news that nbc is reporting that among those very classified documents are perhaps nuclear secrets of another nuclear armed country, just among the classified documents.

but "the new york times close court reports and a questionnaire, judge cannon, describes herself as having been a member of the conservative federalist society since 2005. you have done a lot of investigation into this and the power of leonard leo now getting $1.6 million to start a new organization and now that populated the court, not just her court, but if the department of justice appeals this to the 11th court of appeals, that court and then of course to the supreme court trump alone got three federalist society judges on -- justices on the supreme court. and in that answer, if you can talk about your call for adding more people to the supreme urt. >> let's start with leo. if you're keeping tabs on what the new $1.6 million man is doing, onef the first things he has done with t money is file an amicus bri for the upcoming supreme court case,

advancing this bonkers theory of an independent state legislature th is allowed to change election laws without regard to their own state constitution of the biggest upcoming case the supreme court docket this year because esntially it will allow or could allow the legislatures, state legislatures to simply throw away. that is what leonard leo is doing with the money. that is what the federalist society is about. that is thereodus operandi t infect democracy and take it away from the people and put it behind closed or. aileen cannon is part of that. she wouldave been appointed by trump. he kind of outsourced the dicial picks to the federalist society. she would have been -- she would not have been aointed by trump without the federalissociety approval. that ion the one hand. if theusticeepartment

because thisuling, which ty should because there is no basis in law, then you go back to t supreme court which also is stacked with republican justices. we have seen what th've been willing to do just last term. there are no good options. that is something i think liberals and progressives ed to understand more generally. there's nothing you can do to t around six conservative justices on the supreme court ana republican justice of judges back up and down through the judicial system. we have already seen with the biden administration they will block executive orders, they will issue sta and injunctions against moves made by biden and congress a seek to overturn laws passed by this congress. weaw last term the clean air act, it doesn't really matter conservatives on the supreme court en it cometo regulati the environment

pollutants in our air. the supreme cot basicall ignored the clean air act. that is what th're going to do again if by some miracle democrats hold on to the house, probably kp the senate because the republicans have dinated terrible cdidates, and has a nationwide abortion rights protections, the supreme court will overturn that. as lonas you let the republicans conol the supreme court, there is nprogresse agenda. there is no democratic agea that gets through these conservatives on the supreme court. the only rational play -- this is beyond politics and reform. the only rational play brady democratic administration company democratic candidate who wants to get anything donfor the ne 30 years, is to add stices to the supreme court. i have a lotf actual reform reass why we shou add justices. in my book i talk about how it is beyond the politics of it.

or justices lead to re moderate decisions. it leads to more diversity of thought. there is lots of good reform reasons to add more justices to the supreme court, but as practical political matter, mocrats want their agenda to be upheld, they need to counteract the power of conservative justices that he been sent there spefically to put stop to progress, to prent the ogressive agenda. a stop to progress. to bring us back to come essam alito did in e dobbs decision overturning roe v. wade, bring us back to a time when women were not considered full citizens and full people. that is the goal of super -- conservatives on the supreme court. as long as we let them have power, that is what they will be doing. juan: will have a minute or two,

but voting rights. nsidering all of the state efforts in the past few years to limit and restrict voting across the country, your concerns about what is going to happen and the upcoming election and in the presidential election in a couple of years in terms of the ability of the majority of the american people to elect representatives that represent them. >> this goes back to chief justice john roberts on the supreme court. john roberts has beean enemy of ving rights, specifilly of bla peopleoting, for h entire career. his fit real jobut of school was to work against the 1982 and minute to the voting rightsct. he gutted section 58 of the voting rightsct 2013 shall be counter v holder and part of the jority that gutted section two of the voting rights act on the 2021 case. john roberts is the reabad guy

here when it comes to voting. how does that play out on the ground? one thing i have learned, and my mother was -- my people go back a long way on this. onehing i've learned in my travels is yo tell people they can't vote, that makes them want to vote more. so there is the opportunity, the possibilit that all of the efforts to suppress the vote backfired people who have been historically challenged in their ability to vote. it could lead to a higher or dedication to go out and have that right -- that republicans are so desperately trying to take away. that is where this critical supreme court case that a been talking about comes into play, this independent state legislature theory that leonard leo toy that would allow states to throw away folks that have already been -- votes that have

already been cast and. republicans are trying to suppress votes and if that doesn't work, trying to put themselves in a position where they can overturn the vote and throw away votes. we're in a crisis of democracy. we are not approaching a constitutional crisis, the crisis is upon us. the esti is, what we do about it? y: elie mystal, we will have you back on deck you talk about what we do about it and your book "allow me to retort: a black guy's guide to the constitution." next up, we continue to remember the life and legacy of author activist barbara ehrenreich. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "all that you have is your soul" by tracy chapman. the late journalist barbara ehrenreich wrote in her book "nickel and dime" i finish up every night at 10:00 or 10:30, depending on how much side work i've been able to get done during the shift, and cruise home to the tapes i snatched at random when i left my real home -- marianne faithfull, tracy chapman, enigma, king sunny adé, violent femmes -- just drained enough for the music to set my cranium resonating, but hardly dead." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. with juan gonzalez. we end today's show with a close

friend and colleague of the writer and activist barbara ehrenreich, who has died at the age of 81. she wrote more than 20 books, including her best known "nickel and dime: on not getting by in america," for which she went undercover as a low income, non-skilled worker. this is a 2006 address by barbara ehrenreich at the 20th anniversary event of the media watch group fair. that's fairness and accuracy in reporting. she was in cooper union's historic great hall. >> i think the real issue here is the mainstream media is corporate media's theory of poverty, which they can't help but come back to, is that it is a character failure. it is manifested by laziness or promiscuity or addiction or something. well, there's an alternative theory of poverty that some of us have been trying to get across, which is that it's not a

character flaw, it is a lack of money. and i think -- [applause] and that it's caused, you know, ultimately, by the pathetically low wages so many americans earn. amy: that is barbara ehrenreich in 2006. she worked at walmart. she was a waitress and had other jobs. she later founded the economic hardship reporting project, which is still going strong. four -- for more, we are joined by its executive director alissa quart. welcome to democracy now! first off, our deepest condolences to you and ben, robert son, for the loss othis remarkable woman. >> thank you so much, amy. it has been really devastating. we loved her very much.

we hope to continue her fight. amy: talk about what the economic hardship reporting project is. talk about what it means to report on poverty and what is lacking in the corporate media. >> barbara once wrote in america only the rich can aord to write about poverty. that meant you had cumnists and pundits pop enough columns abou so-called deadbeat dads with second homes. she wanted to see people who had themselves grown up workg poor or were still working in factories and were professional journalists as well. and also she wanted to keep professional journalists spent weeks, months, years reporting from the front lines of economic jeopardy. so that is what the economic

hardship reporting project us. it gives peoe grants and editorlupport to continue this lacy. juan: could you talk also -- i mentioned in our show yesterday that barbara started working really as a critic and analyst of the health industry in america and the enormous profit drive of our health industry. i am wondering your conversations you had any recent years about the impact of our health system on the poor? >> again, she thought debt caused by health expenses was another way that stigma put on to poor people that should have gone into creating a better structured system of care for all. honestly, her own journey through health care in her later

years -- she is very funny. the thing about getting old, doctors offices are so boring. you can't understand her humor about herself in the world at large. juan: most people are not aware shoot was a democratic-socialist. i am wondering your thoughts about her legacy in terms of the work she d over the years on behalf of people in america? >> it is iortant to think of her as a journalist and an activist. she did not necessarily see the bright line that other kind of [indiscernible] in media were not supposed to have an opinion or voice. she thought the opposite was true. you have people who are able to speak truth to power, contributing to all conversations. co-chair in the early years and

is important to recognize she was also part of women's movements, labor movements. she felt they went hand-in-hand with the kind of critical writing she did and were not separate entities. amy: so as we deal with inflation, as we deal with more and more homelessness in this country, increased poverty, the ways that barbara felt this had to be addressed -- i mean, the classic quote" being poor is not about a lack of reality, it is a lack of money, and whose manatt -- humanizing the face of it and the challenge of it. >> she had another -- money does not bring happiness come only the wherewithal perhaps to endure its absence. she understood that on a basic level. people should see higher wages and more money, basically.

moral or personal vendetta and she dedicated much of her life to creating media around that. the economic hardship reporting project, bringing thounds of people, including working poor people, back into the fold, teaching her method. juan: could youalk about some of the big stories that have co out of the project since barbara founded it? >> i can also talk about some of the when she was most proud of because they are now at the front of my mind. one of them is a writer darrell who wrote about selling plasma in the industry. there is a writer who herself is financially insecure wrote about

taking in an unhoused couple as part of an ngo pogrom. her own phobias and experiences of that. i feel like these are the stories i most proud of bause they he the ring of truth and experience coupled with an understanding of how do we do stigmatized unhoused people? maybe we need to spend time with them. and both othe stories had dark humor that was her signature. amy: her last book was about dying, wasn't it? we have about 10 seconds. >> yes. it was about dying. i think the profound take away for me for that was each of our deaths as part of a broader social struggle and the saga will continue after we go. amy: that book was called "natural causes." and the one she was most famous for come up with nickel and dime to." alissa quart, our condolences as

well as to her son ben and rosa, her daughter. into some of the others who cherished her her whole family. alissa quart, executive director of the economic hardshipwñabúú

(sophie fouron) we're in the middle of the pacific between victoria and vancouver, and salt spring island is the biggest gulf island, but it has a community feel like nowhere else. maybe because half of its population is over 55 years old. there's a very relaxed vibe here. peaceful, respectful vibe. everybody can be who they want to be. nobody really cares about what you did before. music is huge in salt spring. it seems like everyone plays an