10/25/22 10/25/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york this is democracy now! >> the democrats -- election after election, today should have lines lighted prevails today. they don't know how to talk to blue-collar workers. amy: with the midterm election to ask away, we speak with former green presidential candidate ralph nader. he is warning democrats lose

control of the house and senate by failing to connect to voters on the economy and other key issues. we will also speak with mark green, the former public advocate of new york city. then we look at china as xi jinping begins historic third term as head of the communist party. >> and in the space of new challenges and tests on the new journey, we must maintain sobriety -- amy: we will look at what five more years of xi jinping means for china and u.s.-china relations. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in the united kingdom, rishi sunak has been sworn in as prime minister, succeeding fellow conservative party member liz truss, who resigned her post after just six weeks on the job. sunak was a supporter of britain's narrowly-approved 2016 referendum on whether to exit the european union. he's from one of britain's wealthiest families, with a net worth estimated at more than $800 million. he was the wealthiest member of the house of commons. he becomes britain's first-ever prime minister of color and the third british prime minister in 50 days after boris johnson resigned amid a series of scandals. rishi sunak delivered his first address as prime minister from 10 downing street earlier today. >> i will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government's agenda. this will mean difficult

decisions to come. amy: he was the goldman sachs anchor. across the u.k., calls are growing for a general election. the leader of scotland's national party nicola sturgeon said monday the turmoil in the conservative, or tory, party showed the need for greater scottish independence. >> couldn't be the fifth prime minister in the years -- i'm only saying that to illustrate the instability and the uncertainty in the chaos the tories have unleashed on all o us. they have no mandate. it is a democratic necessity that people get their say on who occupies number 10 downing street. amy: representatives rubble forces in tigray gathered for mediation talks. the talks came as the united nations warned the situation in ethiopia is spiraling out of

control with reports of widespread atrocities, including airstrikes and artillery fire that have exacerbated the humanitarian catastrophe. some estimates put the number of dead in tigray at 800,000 in the last two years. the u.n. says the resulting health crisis now threatens 6 million people. the u.n. international atomic energy agency says it will send inspectors to two ukrainian nuclear sites after russia claims without evidence that ukraine was preparing to deploy a radioactive device known as a dirty bomb against russia. ukraine has rejected the charge and plans to bring up the issue at the u.n. security council and meets today. meanwhile, germany's president has arrived in kyiv in the first visit to ukraine since russia invaded in february.

calling for a dramatic boost in german and european union aid to ukraine's military. here in the united states, a group of 30 progressive congressmembers is calling on president biden to pursue direct negotiations with russia. in a letter sent monday to president biden, the 30 lawmakers led by congressional progressive caucus chair pramila jayapal, write -- "we urge you to pair the military and economic support the united states has provided to ukraine with a proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a ceasefire." the letter goes on to state -- "the alternative to diplomacy is protracted war, with both its attendant certainties and catastrophic and unknowable risks." a russian court's hearing and appeal today by wnba basketball star brittney griner, sentenced

to nine years and a russian pinot, after she pleaded guilty to carrying a small amount of marijuana oil into russia. a ruling is expected later tuesday. she was arrested at the moscow airport in february when customs officials found a -- vaped cartridges containing a small amount of cannabis oil in her luggage. in missouri, a teenage gunman shot and killed a teacher and a student at the central visual and performing arts high school in south st. louis on monday. four other students were shot and wounded before the gunman was shot dead by police. police identified him as a 19-year-old recent graduate of the school. he was armed with a long gun and more than a dozen 30-round magazines. witnesses say many more people could have died if the gunman's gun had not jammed during the assault. >> i was trying to run and i could not run.

i am glad i made it out. we saw blood on the floor. amy: in michigan, a teenage gunman pleaded guilty on monday to charges of first-degree murder and terrorism for a mass shooting at oxford high school in a detroit suburb last november. ethan crumbley was just 15 years old at the time of the attack, which killed four students and injured six other people. crumbley may be called to testify against his parents james and jennifer crumbley, who face manslaughter charges for allegedly giving the gun used in the shooting to their son as an early christmas present and for failing to intervene when their son showed clear signs of mental distress ahead of the massacre. in florida, republican governor ron desantis faced off against democratic challenger charlie crist monday for their first-and-only debate ahead of november's election.

desantis refused to say whether he would serve a full four-year term if reelected in november, adding to speculation he wi compete for the republican party's presidential nomination. meanwhile, charlie crist blasted to santos over his anti-scientific views on gender, climate change, and the covid-19 pandemic. >> ron, i would not pat yourself on your back too much about your response to covid. we lost 82,000 of our fellow floridians. when you look at the thanksgiving table, one of those empty seats is probably one of those people from many families watching tonight. and if we had only had the standard of other states in the united states, 40,000 of those people would still be alive -- enough to fill tropicana stadium int. petersburg. that is tragic. amy: charlie crist served a four-year term as governor of florida beginning in 2007 when he was elected on the republican ticket. he later switched party affiliations to become a democrat.

in pennsylvania, democrat john feerman anrepublican mehmet oz are set to meet this evening for their first and only debate. we'll get the latest on the u.s. midterm elections after -- later in the broadcast. the supreme court has put a temporary hold on a judge's order that would require south carolina republican senator lindsey graham to appear before a georgia grand jury to answer questions about his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. on monday, justice clarence thomas granted senator graham's emergency request to put the subpoena on hold temporarily while graham's lawyers push to have it quashed permanently. democrats have demanded justice thomas recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election because his wife ginni thomas spread false claims about a stolen election and lobbied federal and state officials to overturn the election results.

supreme court rules obligate justices to withdraw themselves from cases where there's even the appearance of a conflict of interest. in minnesota, former minneapolis police officer j. alexander king -- kueng accepted a deal monday that will see him plead guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the killing of george floyd in may of 2020. in exchange, state prosecutors agreed to drop a murder charge against kueng, who faces a likely 42-month prison term at a future sentencing hearing. on monday, another former officer, tou thao, waived his right to have a jury decide his fate and will instead have a judge weigh existing evidence against him in a stipulated bench trial. thao and kueng are already serving federal prison terms after they were convicted of depriving george floyd of his constitutional rights. in the west bank, at least six

palestinians were killed and nearly two dozen others injured following raids by israeli forces early tuesday morning. al jazeera reports of the one victims, qusay al-tamimi, was 19 years old and lived in the village of nabi saleh, near the city of ramallah. in related news, amnesty international is calling on the international criminal court to investigate possible war crimes committed by israel during its latest deadly assault on the gaza strip in august. among those killed by israeli forces were a four-year-old child and a teenager who was visiting her mother's grave according to a new amnesty report published tuesday. agnès callamard, amnesty international's secretary-general, said in a statement -- "israel's latest offensive on gaza lasted only three days, but that was ample time to unleash fresh trauma and destruction on the besieged population. the three deadly attacks we examined must be investigated as war crimes, all victims of

unlawful attacks and their families deserve justice and reparations." in iran, over 300 people have been indicted on criminal charges for participating in the massive protests that have rocked the streets of tehran for over a month. at least four of them were charged as enemies of god, an offense that can carry the dth penalty according to iranian officials. despite the brutal crackdown, demonstrations continue in tehran sparked by the september 16 death of 22-year-old mahsa amini while in custody of the so-called morality police. on monday, iranian security forces fired teargas at a girl'' high school. a clash between school staff and students reportedly broke out after the school's principal insisted on checking the students' cellphones. in bangladesh, at least 16 people are dead and millions

were left without power after a cycle triggeretorrential rains, heavy winds and flooding in the capital dhaka and across other parts of the country. cyclone sitrang made landfall in the coastal regions of southern and southwestern bangladesh late monday, destroying homes and cutting up cello committee k lines. about a million people were evacuated. this comes as scientists warn climate change is likely making cyclones more intense and frequent. north and south korea exchanged warning shots in waters off the west coast of the korean peninsula on monday after south korea's military accused a north korean merchant vessel of crossing a maritime boundary. the exchange of artillery fire came after south korean forces joined the uss ronald reagan carrier battle group for u.s.-led war games of the korean peninsula. it follows a record pace of weapons tests carried out by north korea this year.

on monday, south korean president yoon suk-yeol promised a strong military response to what he said were plans by north korea to carry out its first nuclear weapons test in more than five years. >> not only has it openly announced to use nuclear weapons, it appears tests have been completed. we will strengthen our deterrence with overwhelming capabilities. [inaudible] amy: back in the united states, public health experts are warning cases of respiratory virus, or rsp, are skyrocketing among children. overwhelming hospitals nationwide as many are near or at capacity. it starts with mild cold symptoms, can lead to pneumonia can walk your latest and very

young children it can be very dangerous. and penn state university canceled a speaking event monday night with gavin mcinnes, founder of the far-right group the proud boys, following massive backlash and student-led protests. the event was sponsored by the conservative student organization uncensored america. it also featured alex stein. penn state officials on monday denounced the peaceful protests against mcinnes' presence on campus as a form of censorship but reiterated the university didn't support views. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, look at china as xi jinping begins and historic third term. we will look at what five more years means for china and u.s.-china relations. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today looking at china, where xi jinping has begun a historic third term as head of the chinese communist party. the decision came over the weekend during the party's congress which is held every five years. there was also a major shakeup of the seven-member politburo standing committee which is china's most powerful political body. china's premier li keqiang, a longtime rival to xi, was demoted while four xi loyalists were promoted. the party's top official in shanghai li qiang appears set to become china's new premier. he is a close ally to xi. he oversaw the harsh covid-19 crackdown in shanghai. perhaps the most traumatic moment of the chinese communist party's congress came when former president hu jintao was abruptly escorted out of the closing ceremony. he had been sitting next to xi

jinping when two men came to escort him from his seat. some analysts speculated that the move was an assertion of xi's dominance. chinese state media later said it was because the former leader was not feeling well. we turn now to look more closely at the future of china as xi begins a third term. under xi, china has continued a decades long effort to eradicate extreme poverty. some 800 million people have been lifted out of poverty over the past four decades in what un secretary general antonio guterres has called "the greatest anti-poverty achievement in history." but xi has also ovseen a growg surveiance state to silence ssent and taet ethnic minorities, including the uyghurs. and xi's third term comes at a time of growing tension between the u.s. and china over taiwan and other issues. we go now to two guests. yaqiu wang is senior china researcher at human rights watch. she is in new york.

and in bartel more -- baltimore, maryland, we are joined by ho-fung hung, professor of political economy and sociology at johns hopkins university. his books include "clash of empires: from 'chimerica' to the 'new cold war'" and "the china boom: why china will not rule the world." we welcome you both to democracy now! thank you for joining us. professor ho-fung hung, talk about the significance of what happened this weekend. talk about who xi jinping is and how his policies have changed over the years. >> thank you. what happened over the weekend is very significant in the sense that expected to come for a while. xi jinping managed to abolish

the term limit of a chinese president. the term limit -- and the constitution in the 1980's. xi jinping managed --

not only that, but he also managed to put all of his own loyalists in the committee -- it seems in the next five years at least xi jinping his own absolute personal control of everything in china. amy: talk about what happened this weekend. do you think that was deliberately staged to remove the former leader, sitting next to xi jinping come as a message that he was consolidating his power or in fact do you think it is what china said, with the

government said, that he wasn't feeling well? >> nick carefully >> it is unimaginable this kind of incident -- it is a possibility he actually feel unwell. but more footage emerged showing what happened before he was escorted away. it did not seem like he was unwell at all. it appears in the veto footage he tried to open a folder with some documents. then xi jinping called somebody. initially, he appeared to be

reluctant to leave. the guards and the person behind hu jintao seems to be using some kind of force to take him away and eventually he left the congress reluctantly. after he decided to leave -- he could walk on his own. i did not seem to me he is really feeling unwell. why xi jinping called so many to escort him -- somebody to escort him away. carefully calculated to show he can do whatever he wants, even former president from the congress in front of the camera. of course people were speculating reasonable -- not very happy about the so-called

election results. xi jinping my worry he might have a face or clapping hands. it is possibility he estimate he to take him out to prevent embarrassment. amy: yaqiu wang, your response and the significance of xi jinping beginning this historic third term? >> well, i think we expected this to happen because in 2018, the term limit for the president was limited. still very depressing moment because it became a fact -- i talked to friends and family in china, people were depressed because in the past 10 years since xi came to power, the horrendous human rights

violations in committed was just striking. now he's going to have another five years at least. i think people are expecting things can go were so people are quite depressed. at the same time, people now are very angry with the zero covid policy. people are protecting in china -- at that posted a banner on a bridge and people responded to that. on the one hand, i see people are unhappy and depressed. on the other hand, see people are waking up. they want to say, i want freedom, human rights, i want to decide how i am governed by my government. amy: professor ho-fung hung, xi 's human rights record, what that means and your assessment of his role and the effect he has had on the chinese people? and your response to the u.n.

secretary-general talking about what he called monumental taking on -- largest anti-poverty program in history? >> definitely xi jinping's like his predecessor hu jintao is a brutal repressor of human rights . human rights violations -- we already see a lot of crackdowns. very much aware of what happened to the uyghurs. in terms of the repression of human rights, whether it is collective leadership or one man's dictatorship pretty much

the same. once xi jinping brought in compared to hu jintao era, even crackdown rudely on his allies in the communist party. -- cracked down rudely on his allies in the communist party. in elite, private business, people's disappeared or commit suicide or taken to jail under the name of anticorruption campaign. many people would see that -- in china and our days, not only dissidents and minorities are afraid, but also some elites and middle-class and also xi jinping double down on expanding --

jeopardizing a private property as well. in the next five years at the very least, draconian forces -- amy: yaqiu wang, the significance of li qiang come demoted while his loyalist looks like he is about to be china's new premier. you mentioned crackdown in shanghai but talk about the significance of the covid crackdown, what it actually felt and looked like in this massive city. >> it lasted from april to june, for two months the of 20 million people are confined to their

homes. as a result, people had huge difficulties to have food delivered to them and access to hospitals and i've heard stories from people whose parents had a heart attack or other emergency and they could not leave their apartment complex or even if theyanaged to leave, they cannot actually get into the hospital. there were people who died as a result. the lack of access to hospital facilities. then it ended. the people saying -- this guy was promoted so you can see he

is rewarding people who are lawyer to his policy -- loyal to his policy rather than those who are good for the public. amy: professor ho-fung hung, relations with china are if not at an all-time low, extremely bad right now. i am wondering if you can comment on what is taking place and what of the pieces, of the dynamics of the u.s.-china rivalry is an inter-imperial rivalry driven by inter-capitalist competition. could soon turn into intensifying clashes as spheres of influence and even war. so you're not talking about the difference of ideology. and fact you're talking about a similar capitalist ideology. >> yes, indeed. i myself not quite positive

after the framing of the u.s.-china rivalry is a new cold war. [indiscernible] many people already and about what is going on in china. we have got human rights. hope problem in the 1990's. the u.s.-china relations -- what is different now in

comparison to the 1990's and 2000's is back in the 1990's and 2000's, american corporation. they are very happy making money in china. they have a good time in china so they don't care about the human rights. they don't care about labor rights. they don't care about -- so long as they are making big money, they are finding it very profitable in china so they lobbied the u.s. government and the u.s. congress to have a more amicable and harmonious relation with china whenever there is concern about legal rights, human rights violations in china and congress. they will lobby against those bills. so the u.s. corporation happy ambassadors of the china government to soften policy.

what happens after 2000, around 2010, china economy started to lose steam. the economic side no longer expand. the market shares -- chinese government subbing enterprise to expand the market share in china and around the world at the expense of u.s. corporations. it is the turning point u.s. cooperation quite voice concerns about this is a moment in china -- they don't voice concern individually but in the survey, anonymous survey conducted by american chamber of commerce in

china and other associations all show american business in china situation is deteriorating. they're looking for diversifying investment and no longer -- geopolitical differee between u.s. and china, human rights and political difference between u.s. and china can now prevail and influence largely the direction of u.s.-china policy. fundamentally, it is a kind of inter-capitalist competition in the chinese market -- that leads to this deterioration of u.s.-china relation. amy: i want to go to taiwan. xi jinping lauded his government's response to the covid-19 pandemic, address the

economy, foreign policy and praised nations crackdown on hong kong claiming hong kong shifted from chaos to government . also addressed the issue of taiwan which has become this flashpoint between china and the u.s. >> the resolution of the time when issue is a matter for the chinese ourselves to decide. we insist on striving for the prospect of peaceful reunification the greatest sincerity and the greatest effort. however, we're not committed to the use of force. amy: your response? >> i thinkes, it is obvious there's more -- i know people and taiwan are nervous. at the same time, i see people in taiwan are very protective of the human rights they have.

they organize themselves together and want to maintain that freedom. they are alert of the situation. they are active in pushing back the kind of pressure coming from china. also i'm saying governments around the world including the u.s. government need to do more to support the vibrant democracy in taiwan. yes, china is more aggressive. they are more hostile. but the same time, i also see more pushback from taiwan in the democracy around the world. amy: professorh, your response? >> i think there are two sides of the question. on the one hand, china is closer -- zero covid policy --

no longer privatize prosperity and prioritize national security and control even when it comes to sacrificing the economy, they will do it. in that regard, beijing has less restraint when it decides to attack taiwan but on the other hand, -- overseas and military deployment in georgia in 2008, syria, and also ukraine in 2014. [indiscernible] you look at china, with the

leadership is still rational, they will look back to the military history and find the last time china fought a war overseas -- in 1989 against its own people. china has nice the military against any overseas target for decades, so i don't think it will easily jump from zero two not out invasion of taiwan. i think beijing might talk up the military rhetoric and also might even do some letter action on outlying islands of taiwan -- as a kind of threat to create a kind of tent situation to influence the taiwan people might want to elect for if

beijing managed to get some of its allies or agents elected in taiwan elections, then the probation government -- use cannot find a reason to intervene or deter. i' that the taiwan people is clear what is going on and have the will and capacity to defend vibrant democracy, which is kind of a miracle. society is very vibrant and chose democracy can work in chinese society contradict the propaganda that it is not suitable for chinese people. i amonfide the taiwan people

will have the will and capacity and alertness to defend itself. amy: ho-fung hung, thank you for being with us, sociology professor at johns hopkins. and thank you to yaqiu wang of human rights watch. when we come back, midterms are less than two weeks away. democrats are facing tight races. we'll speak with former green party presidential candidate ralph nader and author mark green about their project winning america and the new report "crushing the gop, 2022." stay with us.

amy: "vote for me" by chicago. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. with midterm elections in the united states less than two weeks away, democrats are facing tight races even in places like new york state, where they've been the dominant party for two decades. new york's democratic governor kathy hochul has a single-digit lead over her republican challenger lee zeldin, a trump acolyte. the two have their first and only debate tonight. meanwhile, sean patrick maloney of new york is facing a stiff challenge with his race considered a tossup by analyst. nationwide, 35 senate races are up for grabs. republican held senate seats targeted by democrats are extremely close in wisconsin and pennsylvania were democratic lieutenant governor jo fetterman faces publicanamet oz itheir fit and on bate tonight. for more, we are joined by two

guests who write about this and much more in their new report titled "crushing the gop, 2022." mark green is a political organizer and author and ralph nader is the legendary consumer advocate, corporate critic, and four-time presidential candidate. together they formed a project called winning america. as "the washington post" noted in a recent profile of ralph nader, "for first time in his 88 years, ralph nader is campaigning for the democrats, not against them." ralph nader is the author of many books, including "breaking through power: it's easier than we think." mark green just wrote an op-ed in "the new york daily news" headlined "democrats' closing pitch: the party needs to sharpen its message now." we welcome you both back to democracy now! ralph nader, let's begin with you as you join us on the phone from your home in connecticut. talk about what you feel the democrats are doing wrong right now. >> what they got to do is authenticate their message and

the rhetoric where people live, work, and raise their families. often called kitchen table issues. they have to compare and contrast life under the authoritarian bigoted corporate indentured gop with life the democrats. for example, 20, 20 5 million people will get a raise to $15 minimum wage under the democrats. gop is against that post of assault on children by the gop is absolutely stunning from not using available medicaid funds to ensure them to exposing them to hazardous pesticides and to denying paid family leave and sick leave. the gop is against that. the $300 a month child tax credit that 58 million children in our country, cutting child poverty by one third, was suspended because of gop

opposition in january. it continues. voters will be more repressed under the gop. precinct workers will be more intimidated under the gop. they are trying to steal the election while they accuse the democrats of stealing the 2020 election. in area after area, the democrats are not rebutting and taking the offensive, which is what politics is all about and an electoral campaign. the gop is the party of anxiety, fear, and dread. you can document that from a-z. they are not adequately rebutted. midnight campaigning. over 25 million workers work the midnight shift and are ignored by candidates. with candidates now pennsylvania, ohio, florida, texas have got to do is campaign all night for all the workers who keep the country going well

we are asleep. and recognize them, respect them . there hospital workers, nursing home, police, fire, emergency people, people working the midnight shift in factories. so this report winning america.net is full of the best presentations by 24 civic leaders and advocates who know how to talk to people. they don't stratify people left, right, conservative, liberal when they advance our policies. all of this is presented to the democratic candidates in the democratic party free. the question is, when they will break through the political media consultant force field which keeps them from having input from pacific groups and find all the ways that are very pull have been tested, by the way, that will grab the attention of liberal and conservative voters alike. a lot of the issues are boiled

down in this report under a two page card. the gop is against every one of these. guaranteeing freedom and equality for women. ending the dark money and campaigns posted providing medicaid for all. raising frozen social security benefits. restoring voter rights. finding childcare and sick leave. fighting, violence with renewable energy. reducing skyrocketing drug prices. increasing funding to prosecute corporate crooks. all of those are opposed by the gop. so politics is a practice in contrast most of the democrats have got to get with it and learn how to communicate, especially with millions of blue-collar workers who have deserted the democratic party and broken the fdr coalition

that won so many elections. we need america.net. amy: is seems democrats in some cases are more afraid of being called socialist than they are afraid of -- than they are afraid of republicans. can you respond to that? >> is why they have got to learn how to rebut. it is not too late. it is not too late in the next two weeks do that. when they are accused of being socialist, there are three rebuttals. oh, your republican argued socialism? i know why you're saying that because you hate medicare. you hate the post office. you hate medicaid. you hate public drinking water department. you hate public schools. you hate social security. that is why you're talking socialism. you are a really corporate socialist. you want to ballot every corporation of any size. you don't want to subsidize and

-- all kinds in a mockery of your so-called free market philosophy. the same with the defunding the police. the republicans are defunding corporate crime police. lately tell you when you're talking about death, injury, and disease, corporate crime towers over street crime. just think of the opiates. almost one million americans who died from the criminal promotion of the opiates throughout the country and is corporate crooks got away with it. 90% poll on the -- they went safer guns. they don't want that many guns on the street to the republicans the other side on that. this report winningamerica.net this full of these lots of civic leaders who have helped change

america but have been exclude by the political me to consultants surrounding these candidates because they want the 15% commission on tv ads and they're not interested in a ground game to get the vote out and to get more voter registration because they don't get a commission on that. amy: mark green, you have run for office. you are a keen observer of all these races around the country right now as one after another is now being called, you know, a tossup. what do you think the democrats are failing to do? and particularly talk about the focus on donald trump. >> thank you, amy. thank you, ralph. ralph, as he has throughout public life, comprehensive about how the republicans are blocking democrats from delivering on

their wallets and their rights. that would be a great starting point at the beginning of the midterm election that ultimately is about democracy versus fascism. but now in the last two weeks, you have to know how to be rhetorically muscular against the party, the republicans, who don't hesitate to call democrats not only socialists but communists and murderers. at this point, democrats can't flinch at being blunt and reducing their campaigns 1, 2, or three major phrases and concepts. because like it or not, five second voters, regrettably, have responded to these loaded phrases, woke, cancel, grooming. democrats have better policies. how the hell are they losing to

a party with apparently better messages? biden, who is been very good president and wanted to be and has been uniter, has to rise to the occasion not only the civic and public interest groups that ralph is talking about in our report, but the public hears because the white house has a big decibel count when the president says -- three sentences basically. the overall is that the gop are dangerous extremists who are stealing our freedoms and our wallets. what does that mean? one, social security. the public understands that. you don't spend a lot of money -- they want to have annual budgets rather than mandatory funding for social security, which means they're going to cut social security to you have been paying it for your entire work

life. second, they are the party of violence and corruption. it is not just january 6, which they explain away, but the refusal to have adequate gun laws -- we have far more gun murderers leading to higher crime and their assault at the maga mobs hounding local officials so they deploy violence. while they talk about the language of liberty, they went to band the voters and trans and marriage equality, so social security and they talk liberty but they really are for violence and lawlessness. third, democracy. democracy now! i think that is a good phrase. amy, you have been doing this your whole life.

ralph and i as well. the issue is not merely they want to reduce voting, because that is the only way they can win, being a minority party with bad ideas. connect democracy and economy. an economic writer in his american prospect and now in our volume explains if you reduce the number of minority voters, then and only then can the majority win. why can't we have secure social security? higher minimum wage? the more child tax credits which halves poverty among children? if you focus voters on three issues where republicans are blocking progress and are engaged in violent acts and are undermining democracy, well, extremism is not patriotism.

they have to mobilize all of these issues that ralph listed in ways that the public -- the swing public, those who pay little attention to campaigns until now, get them to turn out and vote. america ralph -- let me ask ralph about the role of the media in this campaign, your assessment. >> if you talk about the main newspapers, they are giving huge plate of these crazed right-wing groups that nobody ever heard of. they put the bop page one. they make them into the act. these groups use it for fundraising. whoever heard of the claremont institute? they give huge publicity to j.d. vance. why take a chance with vance? he is a flip-flop. they only recently give attention to tim ryan,'s opponent for the u.s. senate in

ohio. their constant publicizing the right wing people and groups and give the impression nothing is going on on the progressive side. that there isn't voter registration drives by student groups and citizen groups on campuses. this is very damaging because they are giving publicity to the very groups and political forces, the gop, the authoritarian dictatorial corporatist gop that is going to go after freedom of press. not just criticize the way trump does, they're going after freedom of the press. it is extremely shortsighted. winningamerica.net should be number one in the new york times and the washington post and not the word. 's 24 groups all over the country who have -- know what they're talking about and they're not getting any coverage. this is really the first national program on winningamerica.net.

it is 80 pages long, chock full of ways to landslide this republican party. imagine the way fdr and truman and lyndon johnson would have done to this gop. instead, they're slightly ahead in some of the polls in the congressional races. their positions are routinely against workers. all workers. they don't work workplace safety rules and force, worker pensions protected from corporate looting, work is to have a living wage. they don't want all work is to have health insurance. why are workers voting for? it is the default in the democratic party. this party does not know how to win. amy: ralph, do you think -- >> only once defending our republic. we will show you how to win. amy: do the president biden certain run again? >> now you're getting into the presidential race is here.

it is far too speculative to say one way or another. i don't believe he would be too old to run, but we need a whole new generation of political, civic leaders who understand what the constitution is all about, how to end empire, how to put corporations as our servants are not our masters, and how to develop access to justice and fight corporate judges. biden has done a good job on china fight corporate judges in the nominations he has put to the u.s. senate. amy: ralph nader, or 88 years old and have campaigned as an independent and a green throughout your political life, ran for president four times. why now throw in your lot with the democrats? >> now, this is clearly the most dangerous political movement since the civil war.

the gop -- the corporate fascist trump's thumb, spread agreed of many trumpsters for getting far too much publicity compared to their opponents. everything we fought for for over 50 years is at stake here. they're ready to do everything but tear seatbelts out of cars. they want to let wall street lie, cheat, and steel with impunity. they want to make sure the corporate crime wave continues to roll across america against workers and consumers in the elderly and children. so this is an order of magnitude we have never seen before. we have never seen a party so repressed the vote. amy: 10 seconds. >> we have never seen a party literally trying to repress the vote, miss count the vote, purge the vote, intimidate precinct

worker volunteers come and steal elections. in election we lose is because it has been stolen from us. that is the word of a dictatorship party. amy: we have to leave it there. we want to thank you for being with us, legendary consumer advocate and mark green, pppxxxxo