10/26/22 10/26/22 [captioning made psible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i support roe v. wade. that was the law of the land for 50 years. i would fight to reestablish on roe v. wade. >> i want women doctors, political leaders, many with democracy that allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves. amy: and one of the most watched

races in the country, it's of any senate candidates john fetterman and dr. mehmet oz faced off in their only debate on the november 8 election. it came five months after federman suffered a stroke. we will speak to will bunch with the philadelphia inquirer and also talk to budget and a student about penn state, thei r -- the attempt by right-leaning group to bring gavin mcinnes in not. initially it was approved but authorities canceled it setting "threat of escalating violence." >> it is canceled. the event is canceled. amy: and with the midterms less than two weeks away, we go to georgia to speak with latosha brown, cofounder of black voters matter. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. i ukrainian official is warning russian forces are preparing for "the heaviest of battles" kh erson as ukrainian troops continue to advance. thousands of residents are still evacuating. on tuesday, president biden warned russia against using nuclear or radioactive weapons in ukraine following moscow's unsupported allegation that ukrainians could deploy a dirty bomb. the u.s., along with kyiv and european allies, have rejected russia's accusation. pres. biden: russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake for the use of a technical nuclear weapon -- tactical nuclear weapon. i'm not guaranteeing you it is a false flight operation yet. we don't know. but it would be a serious, serious mistake. amy: the white house said

tuesday that no evidence russia is preparing to use such weapons. meanwhile, ukraine's nuclear energy operator said russian forces occupying the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant could be "eparina terrorist act using nuclear materials and radioactive waste stored." the congressional progressive caucus has withdrawn a letteto the white house just one day after sending it, which urged the biden administration to pursue direct negotiations with russia for a cease-fire in ukraine. the letter, signed by 30 liberal lawmakers, sparked a swift backlash among a number of democrats for undermining support for ukraine and for fracturing the democratic response to the war ahead of november's midterms, as some republicans are calling into question how much the u.s. should be sending to ukraine. progressive caucus chair pramila jayapal said in a statement tuesday -- "the letter was drafted several months ago but, unfortunately, was released by staff without vetting. the letter has been conflated with gop opposition to support for the ukrainians' just defense of their national sovereignty.

as such, it is a distraction at this time." a russian court tuesday rejected an appeal by wnba basketball star brittney griner, upholding her nine-year colony sentence on drug smuggling charges. griner was arrested in february when airport customs officials found a small amount of cannabis oil in her luggage. the ruling increases pressure on the biden administration to free griner through negotiations. according to cnn, her attorney say prisoner exchange is likely her best option. in harrisburg, pennsylvania, john fetterman and mehmet oz faced off tuesday in their only debate in the race for u.s. senate. the men sparred over abortion, the economy, and fracking. fetterman also addressed his health, as he recovers from a strokeast during a heated may. exchange over reproductive rights, republican candidate mehmet oz offered this response on who should be involved in abortion decisions. >> i went women, doctors,

political leaders putting the democracy that has a letter nation to try to put the best ideas forward's of states can decide for themselves. amy: here in new york, governor kathy hochul squared off with republic congressmember lee zeldin in their only gubernatorial debate. governor hochul called out zeldin's positions on abortion rights, gun control, and his suppt of donaltrump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. >> said he would vote once again to overtn a psidential election. i think that is something everyone should know. the fact he sent text messages the chief of staff to the wt has to lay outhe strategy on how to subvert public opinion and try to carve it -- i think that is deeply troubling. amy: ahead of tuesday's debate, climate activists shut down traffic on park avenue as they called on governor hochul to tax the rich and pass a green new deal. police arrested some of the activists who were protesting in front of black rock headquarters.

in washington, d.c.,, activists from the group rise st. james held a funeral procession in memory of those who lost their lives to cancer and other illnesses that have been plaguing residents of st. james parish, louisiana, which has been dubbed cancer alley. the majority-black area has been deemed a so-called sacrifice zone and counts some 200 petrochemical plants over an 80-mile stretch of the mississippi river. from baton rouge to new orleans. this is activist and goldman prize winner sharon lavigne speaking in front of the white house yesterday. >> cancer has taken over our lives. in our parishes dubbed cancer alley and throughout the south. so we are asking president biden to declare st. james parish cancer alley going to declare it an emergency. if he does not declared

emergency, we are going to die. we are already dying. amy: a new greenpeace report finds only about 5% of all plastic products are recycled in the u.s., with the rest ending up in landfills. in fact, no plastic packaging in the u.s. meets the threshold to be called recyclable according to one well-known standard. greenpeace said, "it is time to accept that plastic recycling is a failed concept." the group says more viable alternatives such as reuse and refill systems must be quickly scaled up, adding, "companies can no longer use recycling as a smokescreen to divert attention from the systemic changes that are needed." adidas has ended its multimillion partnership with dollar rapper ye, more commonly known as kanye west, amid mounting fallout over his recent anti-semitic comments. on a recent podcast, west boasted, "i can say antisemitic things, and adidas can't drop me." adidas has its own history with

anti-semitism. the company was founded by a member of the nazi party. the rapper has also repeated anti-semitic conspiracy theories. in recent days, west has also been dropped by his talent agency caa and the gap has pulled the remaining products from his yeezy collaboration with the retail. earlier this month, twitter locked west's account after he posted he was "going death con 3 on jewish people." ter ye was locked out by both twitter and instagram for violating its rules, the right-wing social-media platform parler announced it was being purchased by kanye west. a few weeks ago, kanye west was pictured with african-american conservative pundit candace owens at his paris fashion show, both of them wearing shirts emblazoned with the phrase "white lives matter." he also said george floyd died of a fentanyl overdose, not police brutality. meanwhile, in los angeles, members of a hate group hung banners over a busy freeway overpass sunday as they gave the nazi salute.

one of the banners read, "kanye is right about the jews." several organizations have said the anti-semitic hate group goyim defense league is behind the overpass stunt. in burma, the death toll from military air raids in the northern state of kachin sunday has risen to 80, while some 100 were wounded. sunday night's attack came as hundreds of people had ghered celebrating the founding of the kachin independence organization. it is lily the deadliest aerialssault launched by burma'militaryegime since it seed powern a febrry 2021 coup. human rights advocates have accused the burmese military junta of war cris and have called on e international community to ban the sale of weapons and airplane fuel to burma. in iran, university students in tehran and across the country continue to defy heightened security and a bloody government crackdown on protests following the death of 22-year-old mahsa amini last month.

students refused to return to class after iranian authorities alleged university student in tehran had died of suicide as is authorities have newly been accused of covering up the killing of student protesters by iranian security forces. student-led protests were held at a number of universities in tehran tuesday on the eve of planned ceremonies commemorating 40 days since the death mahsa amini while in the custody of the so-called morality police. mourners and protesters gathered at her grave today in her home city of saqqez to mark the somber anniversary. it is also the end of the traditional mourning period in iran. protesters shouted, "woman, life, freedom" and "death to the dictator." iranian security forces had reportedly threatened amini's family if they held a ceremony saying, "they should worry for their son's life." at least 215 people, including 27 children, have been killed by iranian security forces since protests began. thousands of others have been arrested.

in uganda, at least 11 people, most of them children, have died in a fire that engulfed a dormitory at the salama school for the blind in the district of mukono while students were asleep. police have launched an investigation into the blaze. and writer, historian, activist mike davis has died at the age of 76. he authored of a number of books, including "planet of slums," "ecology of fear," and "city of quartz," a searing look at his hometown of los angeles. in 2020, democracy now! spoke to mike davis during the height of the pandemic. >> it is one thing that open my eyes, my two younger children are still in high school. unless there is serious cnge in t democratic platform.

this is something that, as i say, we need to fight. amy: in with just months to august live, mike davis told the guardian -- "what keeps us going, ultimately, is our love for each other, and our refusal to bow our heads, to accept the verdict, however all-powerful it seems. it's what ordinary people have to do. you have to love each other. you have to defend each other. you have to fight." mike davis died tuesday at his home in san diego from complications related to esophageal cancer. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. benefits of an, senate candidates democrat john fetterman and republican mehmet oz faced off tuesday night in their first and only debate ahead of the november 8 election to fill the seat held by republican senator pat toomey who is retiring at the end of the term.

the pennlvania race will likely help decide which party controls t senate. fetterman is the lieutenant governor of pennsylvania who is running as a progressive populist. oz is a well-known television doctor who is worth at least $76 million. he has been endorsed by donald trump. much of the race has been focused on fetterman's health. just days before the democratic primary in may, fetterman suffered a stroke, forcing him to cancel public appearances for months. he still suffers from auditory processing issues. on tuesday night, a closed captioning system was set up so fetterman could read the questions and his opponent's responses. during his opening statement, fetterman discussed his stroke. >> let's also talk about the elephant in the room. i had a stroke. he has never let me forget that. i might miss some words during this debate, mush two words together. it knocked me down but i will

keep coming back up. this campaign to me is about finding for everyone in pennsylvania that ever got knocked down that needs to get back up and fighting for all, forgotten communities all across pennsylvania. amy: one of the most heated portions of the debate between john fetterman and mehmet oz centered on the issue of reproductive rights. this is dr. oz talking about his support for the overturning of roe v. wade. >> this should not be involvement from the federal government in how states decide their abortion decisions. as a physician, i have been in the room when their difficult conversations happening. i do not want the federal government involved with that at all. i went women, doctors, local or political leaders leading the democracy that has a letter nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so the state can decide for themselves. amy: john fetterman reiterated his support for reproductive rights. >> i support roe v. wade. that was the law of the land for 50 years. he celebrated when it fell down.

i would fight to reestablish on roe v. wade. that is what i run on. that is what i believe in a mostly the choice believes women and our doctors and he believes that the choice should be with him or republican legislative's all across this nation. amy: for more, we are joined in philadelphia by will bunch, pulitzer prize-winning journalist and natiol columnist for "the philadelphia inquirer." welcome back to democracy now! let's start off, the significance of this race. it is one of the most watched races and the country right now. could it determine the balance of the u.s. senate? and then talk about this debate last night. >> it absolutely could. if you look at the polls right now, if all the races went away the polls are predicting we would be at or close to another 50/50 senate. one race could really decide whether it is 50/50 or 51/49. it could decide tohe next

senate majority leader is going to be, whether it is mitch mcconnell or chuck schumer. this race is aolutely important. the polls have showed that it is tightening. last night was truly, in terms of senate races that i've been covering politics for years, one of the most make or break nights i have seen in my time of covering politics. amy: talk about what happened last night. in the beginning when john fetterman addressed the issue of his stroke, very unusual, as he read closed captioning so he could process the questions and minute oz's responses. >> what fetterman and his team did, they tried to prepare the audience for the fact he was going to struggle verbally on some of the answers. they prepared goininto it. i think he played his clip at the beginning where he said he might mush words together, might

struggle some of the answers. i think in a matter where you come down politically, it was a very hard night for john fetterman in terms of where he was at with the stroke recovery and trying to do with a format like this. a lot of people pointed out come the format of the debate last night which was really built around very short answers and have a kind of rapidfire give-and-take was probably the worst possible format for him. he struggled with it. he clearly struggled with some of his answers. again, it is kind of -- it falls on the electric of how you use that. most doctors say fetterman has shown he is recovering from this stroke. he is at a stage where he is not 100% recovered but mainly auditory process issues. the question is whether, as far

as that is concerned, whether the voters are going to look at his/her problem or what is in fetterman's heart. what he would do on voting for things like reproductive rights. amy: reproductive rights is a interesting issue. for dr. mehmet oz to say he doesn't want the fed's involvement in this decision as if he was saying it should be a woman's personal decision, he did say it should be between a woman, her doctor, and local political leaders. >> what was fascinating, fraud the focus on fetterman's performance, the worst gaff of the night was from emmett oz, the fact that line wre he said in abortion is a decision between a woman, her doctor, and local elected officials. pennsylvanians are going to see that moment on a loop nonstop between now and november 8

because that -- it is going to be a highly unpopular position. the vast majority of pennsylvania voters, as with the rest of the country, do not want anyone else involved in that very private decision about reproductive rights. amy: doctors offices are going to have to get digger fit the doctor, the person who is pregnant, and local elected officials all into a little office. >> oh, my gosh. my twitter feed was flooded with tweets from local elected officials saying, i'm the last person you want to hear from on this and you definitely do not want me involved. amy: will, what about fracking? mehmet oz says john fetterman has switched his position on fracking, is to be against it and now says he is for it. >> to me, to be nest, the whole fracking thing was the most disappointing part of the debate.

i think it is a very important issue. basically, both candidates in terms of what they said last night gave a full on endorsement of fracking. there was basically no mention of climate change at all in the debate. the moderators, which was bad, or from either candidate. i thought the second worst moment of the debate aside from oz's abortion gaff, was he said he would do nothing legislatively to raise minimum wage. it is only 70's $.25, like the national -- seven dollars 25 cents, like the national. key also said or fracking which will magical high-paying jobs, which has not been the case since the 2000's. there iso mentioof climate change throughout the debate.

to me, i think the most disappointing moment for fetterman was the fact he did not give a more nuanced answer on fracking, that he had his chance to address climate change and at least say he is toward more environmental regulation on fracking -- which he does most of the truth is, the majority pennsylvanians oppose fracking, which i think is poorly understood by most political experts. that was a bit of a disappointment. amy: i want to go to the part of the debate last night in pennsylvania where john fetterman and mehmet oz sparred over president biden's plans to offer student debt relief to millions of borrowers. this is dr. oz. >> john fetterman's approach, not necessarily high cost, but just to pay it. you're a paid student who do not pay the loans back. basically what john fetterman and joe biden are arguing for is for plumbers who did not go to

college for a bunch of reasons could not afford it, to pay the bills of lawyers who went to graduate school and have not paid their debt back. i don't think that is right for the american people. >> let me ask specifically what the plan to ease student loan debt, the debt forgiveness of $10,000, 20,000 dollars for pell grant recipients, you support that position? >> i absolutely support that. it is about helping young learners be able to get a better start, start of their life. i do believe that and i believe a majority of americans support that as well, too. amy: that last answer, john fetterman. will bunch, have no subject on this subject, "after the ivory tower falls -- you have written a book on this whole subject, "after the ivory tower falls." put what they're saying in context.

>> the bottom line is this, both of them could have and should have given a few mor specifics. fetterman supports student debt relief and emmett oz opposes student debt relief. again, if you want to focus on the issues, i think that is the important take away for voters. oz's answer was not good. you get the standard republican trope about -- not trope. college demonstrators are somewhat overpaid. even addressing that problem is only a drop in the bucket when you're talking about the debt crisis, which is $1.7 trillion, which is an astronomical figure. he also said a language should have got more attention, he thought solution to making college more affordable list of more electronic classes. if you are never the height of the covid era, that was the biggest complaint from students

and administrators, the sterile list of trying to do college online and yet oz was proposing his answer for college as opposed to embracing liberal education and what they can do for our young people. i thought oz's answer was terrible. i would like him to be more specific -- i would like it to have been more specific from fetterman. but his heart is in the right direction, he wants student debt relief and to make college affordable for more people. amy: you have republican-led states, number of them are attempting to stop biden from implementing his plan of debt relief for some people. you write in your book about college problem, she put it, or the college, noncollege divide. how do you see the college divide impacting the midterms and also the presidential

eltion in 24? >> i think it could have a big impact on the midterms. amy: explain what you mean. >> i think the hope is young voters are paying attention to this and that they understand one party is trying to block student debt relief -- the republicans generally think it is a bad idea, but now you have a number of republican officials going into court and trying to block this plan that would be $10,000 or $20,000 relief for millions of young and middle-aged people. president biden is the one who finally took some action for the fit time in dades, really, since the reagan era, to make gher education a public good, to admit we all have a responsible for making higher education affordable and an option for our young people. i think voters should see a contrast. whether the democrats can get that message out and energize

young voters who historically don't turn out in high rates in the midterms, to make them see that contrast andet them to vote. the republicans are trying to play on working-class resentment. they are saying plumbers and taxi drivers and people without bachelors degrees -- 63% of americans do not have a bachelors degree. there try to play on class resentment about debt relief to help them at the polls. i think it is a real misunderstanding of who gets student loans. frankly, a lot of people who live in these red districts either are struggling with student loans or would like to have access to college but are being denied right now. on the republican side, i think there's a fundamental misunderstanding of young people , you know, the college situation and these loans. amy: we are going to go to break. i want, as you correct to me, $1.7 trillion, that is the

student debt issue in this country. we are talking to will bunch pulitzer prize-winning , journalist and national columnist "the philadelphia inquirer." we will look at penn state's insulation of gavin mcinnes and then we will look at the governors race that involves a candidate that chartered buses to go to the insurrection on january 6. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "all you fascist bound to lose" by rhiannon giddens and the resistance revival chorus. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org. penn state university canceled a speaking event monday night with gavin mcinnes, founder of the r right proud boys, citg the "threat of escalating violence." indeed, the proud boys have a history of violence and are under vestigation for their role in the january 6 attack on the capitol. but for weeks, penn state had cited free-speech rights when it resisted calls from students, faculty, and community members to cancel the event, sponsored

by uncensored america, a group that encourages "young americans to fight for free speech in order to make american culture free and fun again." alex stein, who the group describes as comedian, was set to host the event. his show is called "stand back & stand by," a reference to trump's comment to the proud boys during a 2020 presidential debate. when penn state abruptly canceled the talk on monday, protesters still showed up. they were met by proud boys who maced them along with journalist as police looked on. penn state officials accused the peaceful protesters of obstruction and censorship but claimed to not support mcinnes and stein's views. for more, we go to penn state to eak witham ajah,resident of the penn state college democrats club, which had long called for the talk to be canceled, saying, "fascism has no place here." sam, thank you so much for being with us. will bunch, the pulitzer

prize-winning journalist and columnist for "the philadelphia inquirer" is still with us. talk about what happened in state college, at penn state college, nyu opposed gav mcinnes speaking monday night. >> good morning. thank you for having me. the event on monday was supposed to be a scheduled night for mcinnes and steinnd we all know or are aware thate founded the proud boys and still actively involved with it. i and a bunch of other student leaders called on the university to cancel the event and simply say no, fascism does not have a place on our campus. of course like last year, they relented and said, no, we believe these sentiments are bad but due to the set of precedents from the supreme court, we have to have them here. it even though in 2017, i

believe richard spencer was supposed to have an event here but they canceled it due to threats of violence. that is basically where we were. amy: it is interesting penn state's president is the first woman and first person of color to be president of penn state. talk about how things went down as the talk came closer on monday and the pressure front on the administration and were you satisfied with its response? >> so leading up to the event, there was definitely a lot of momentum and tension building up. i think students against -- i forget the name of the organization, but a progressive organization on campus sent out a mass email to students calling on them to go to the protest and announce these fascists in the school was very much adamant about pushing back and saying, we have to allow them to speak even though we don't agree with

what they're saying but please come to our university sanctioned event and you could feel the tension going throughout the school back and forth as monday came. as the event came -- but when monday came and the event started to get closer and closer, there were a lot of protesters very much there to show how much they disagree with the whole situation. i think as the day turns into night, we saw proud boys patrolling campus for away from where the event was happening. they were amazing students. the police -- they were macing students was of the police were doing nothing. i know they attempted crowd control. there were state police in riot gear and it was a very messy scene. i could see easily why they would want to cancel most of i think me and a lot of other

students were very much disappointed and disgusted with university's response for pinning it on students even the we were not walking around with cans of pepper spray and spring proud boys. they were doing that to the students. amy: was organized by uncensored america, which was founded two years ago by a radio host and field organizer for president trump's 2020 campaign was the he attended penn state. lk about this group and what they represent on campus, she said, it is not the first time penn state has hosted racist all figures on campus -- alt-right figures on campus. >> to my knowledge, he was the chair of the party back when he

was a student here. so he already was very entrenched in far right politics. i believe he graduated in 2020 d came back to found uncensored america very much wanted to keep a presence here and help expand far right extremism on campus. this would not be his first performance. i definitely don't get to -- expected to be the last. i think it is very interesting and concerning that and affiliated student organization was allowed to have two fascists come to speak to us twice in a row. i believe there needs to be more introspection and investigation into how these decisions are made and how people can outright lie and say, well, this leader of a neofascist group is definitely a good guy, he has cleaned up his act -- even though if you do a google

search, could see he is very much entrenchein that atmosphere of the proud boys gang that he formed. amy: sam ajah, you are the president of the penn state college democrats club. why do you feel particularly threatened by a like the proud boys? >> i see proud boys as an overall threat to society. but me as a black and a bisexual young man, i view them as a threat because when i hear them talk about how they treat minority communities, it is all most always with disdain and wanting to get us out from the rest of society. as far as i am concerned, i feel pretty comfortable coming to penn state. i have met a lot of amazing communities here. to hear that a portion of those fascists and ideologies were going to come to my campus and start exposing people rhetoric, was really something that gave a

lot of anger. the university has been trying time and again to say they support minority communities but it seems like year after year, they are given a test they keep failing that litmus test and expect us to still have faith in them. as a student leader, i don't have the confidence that i support them nor do i believe they are here to be on our behalf. it is all about the optics and the p.r. of it all, which is really offensive. i am a person, not a prop. to continue to have to witness that and go do that, not only is it disgusting, but humanizing. amy: sam ajah, thank you for being with us, president of the penn state college democrats club, speaking to us from penn state. i want to bring will bunch back into the conversation. you have written about this story at penn state as well as the rise of the far right across

the country. we have talked with you under the first segment about the senatorial debate last night. we did not talk about the gubernatorial debate because it is not happening but in pennsylvania, the republican good nick world candidate doug mastriano, a state senator who attended the january 6 "stop the steal" rally and helped arrange buses for pro-trump protesters to go as well, later wked with former psident trump's legal team to overturn the 2020 election results. talk about this race that is playing out in pennsylvania and then overall, the power of the proud boys and other such groups across the country now. >> when people say the phrase democracy is on the ballot in 2022, nowhere is that more true than pennsylvania. you accurately described doug mastriano's background as an election denier and someone very

and active participant in january 6, which is still being inveigated for his role in that. because much eper than that. one thing is pennsylvania is a state where it's governor, he would be choosing the secretary of state. in other words, the person who oversees the 2024lectn in pennsylvia would be chosen by governor doug mastriano if he wins. clearly, he would pick someone who shares his big lie 2020 election about -- that is pretty alarming. the other thing, mastriano has run with full on embrace of christian nationalism. [no audio] amy: looks like will bunch just froze. are you back with us from philadelphia. continue with what you are saying. you froze. >> here friday night in

pennsylvania to campaign for mastriano. he has not movedo the middle of this general election campgn at al he has embraced his extremist roots and helping a big turnout of people who share his christn national philosophy is what gs him over the top on election day. amy: as we fix your microphone, i what to bring up a final comment and that is or an issue, your recent column for "the philadelphia inquirer" where you look at the right-wing political tv ads that ran repeatey duri the recent basell ayoffs, sang the ges were maed by arring ierruptions fr the mt shockily crude an arguabl racist litical s since llie horn hit the small reen in 88."

thanti-immration a were sponred by new group tha callitself cizens fo nity, lied to thamerica firslegal fodation, unded by forr trp advir stepn miller this is rt of thad. >> chaos hunitarianisaster. thsafety net, shreddg. drugealersoamingree. third worlcountry,o. joe bin and ma kelly, will open the southern border. amy: citizens for sanity has also funded billboards attacking democrats nationwide and ads in newspapers. and there is some pushback. the group everytown for gun safety ran this ad against pennsylvania republican gubernatorial nominee doug mastriano, highlighting his use of the social media platform gab, and its ties to the pittsburgh tree of life synagogue shooter who killed 11 people.

>> bore murdering worshirs of th sagogue - >> mulple gshots. t shoot postedis manifeo on gab. doug masiano paithousas to the se trecrt supporrs. hes a fa rightonspirac theori, compar gun safy meases to nazi germany. doug mastriano is too extreme for pennsylvania. amy: if you could comment on both of these, will bunch, the ad we just played on mastriano and before that, the ads during the baseba playoffs. >> yes, these ads have been very visible in pennsylvania. citizens for sanitunveiled a new crime at that targets philadelphians specifically and aired twice 10 minutes before the fetterman- oz debate last

night. these adsre violent, racist. they make th willie horton ad from 1988 seem remarkably tame in comparison. what is disturbg, i do't see the democrats doing much to counter it. to counter this message. i think the prime message is the reason oz has gotten back into the race. using this crime issue, republicans have successfully muted the things that we are talking about and the message of the mastano ad,bout democracy being on the ballot, threat from far right extremism, you ow, the republicans are going for a certain kind of middlelass voter that is going to see the threat of democracy as abstract but will see the fear, engendered by these ads,

to be very real. the democrats are running out of time, but i hope they find a way to counter the republican messaging crime. i'm really worried is proving to be very effective so far, certainly in pennsylvania. amy: will bunch, thank you for being with us pulitzer , prize-winning journalist and national columnist for "the philadelphia inquirer." we will into our columns. when we come back, we will look at record early voter turnout in georgia. latosha brown, cofounder of black voters matter. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "lullaby in black" by horace tapsott. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

admits to and white supremacy and increasing political, we look at how black voters continue to organize ahead of the november 8 term elections. the group flat voters matter is on a bus tour through 13 states. >> to the people where we are at. we are in louisiana in front of the early voting locations downtown. we are ushering people in to vote. america this comes as new restrictions on voting rights of republican-led states and confusion over the rights of formerly incarcerated people to vote, particularly in a florida, could lead to a decline in voter turnout. last week a court and flautist miami-dade county dropped voter fraud charges against a man who was arrested in august for officers with republican governor ron desantis' new office of election crimes and security.

robert lee wood had a felony conviction but was not aware he was not allowed to vote under florida law. separately judge in texas , a dismissed a charge against hervis earl rogers, who was on parole when he waited over six hours on line to vote in the 2020 primaries in houston. in texas, casting a ballot while still serving a sentence, including parole, is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. for more, we go to georgia where voters shattered turnout records in the first week of in person early voting for tightly contested races for senate and governors this week and last week. black voters comprised 35% of all of those who turn out to vote on the first day. for more, we're joined by latosha brown, cofounder of like voters matter. welcome back to democracy now! give us a lay of the land and what you are taking on right now and shattering numbers of early

voting in your state, georgia. >> we started, she said, we started early voting last week. we've seen record turnout. we have broken all records around midterm elections. and what we're seeing is people are coming out. the interesting thing, for weeks, there hdlines saying there was going -- what we were going to do. black voters were not excited about the election. he came to georgia, you may not have seen -- people are very resolved and determined. that is what we've been saying as we have been going out and organizing. people have not forgotten print cap testing bill that was a blueprint of voter suppression. [indiscernible]

part of what they did not anticipate is we would get two because of voter suppression. we would study the race. [indiscernible] making sure we get people informed, mobilized, making sure we are encouraging people to vote. it is disappointing to hear the republicans are now using this narrative to say, oh, voter suppression a stop in fact. look at the black voters, voter suppression is not a real thing. it is absolutely a real thing. we have seen in countries like gwinnett county and georgia have 60,000 challenges. how did those come about? sb202 bill passed immediately after the 2020 election in a legislative session, gave any

citizen has the right now to challenge the voting rights, voting eligibility of another citizen. we have seen that actors in a group of small group of people attached to trump that challenged over 60,000 votes for no other reason to say, we don't think they're eligible to vote. while it will be determined if they're eligible to vote, it backs up the voting boards in these counties. what it does is it we are expending an enormous amount of resources, time, and energy not just mobilizing people and getting them and informing them about the election, but now we have to combat voter suppression. it is dangerous. it is impactful. we are determined and literally [indiscernible] amy: latosha brown, you and can live albright -- clip albright

have op-ed piece published in "the hill" this morning that is headlined "democrats need black voters: time to campaign and spend accordingly." you say also that it is time to challenge traditional funding models to reflect the new and diverse democratic base and our priorities. so you're taking on the republicans but also the democrats. what do you want to see them doing? we are staying there is inadequate and model that we use, that we've seen that party use based on the infrastructure of a candidate or where the party may have a party apparatus. we are saying that is not enough. we're far beyond the notion it is a two-party fight. we are literally fighting for democracy. pro-democracy grps have been on the ground literally -- this isn't about whether it is the democrats have per or republicans have power, even know it would be extremely

dangers for the republins to go into power -- this is about the people having power. if that is the case, we are the best defenders against democracy. you look at what happened in 2020, that was not just the infrastructure of the political candidates, mostly driven by third rail pro-democracy groups that knew what was at stake in that election and we came together to form this infrastructure and ecosystem to push the vote out. here we are seeing rit now we are in many ways the state of georgia,crabbling for resources. why is it where there are billions of dollars in the selection and you are seeing those pro-democracy groups do not have the resources needed intervene creative trying to pull resources, no, what we see primarily white men ngc that literally are the political consultants, complicit -- advising candidates to put all of their money in television and

support these -- extremely problematic for several reasons. one reason is voters in many communities of color that particularly young voters are not watchi traditional television outlets. we're looking at programs that a more progressive, programs like democracy now!, looking at netflix and youtube and getting -- secondly, this is not an air war, this is a ground war. if we are seriously taking this election, we have to vote where people are mobilizing voters encouraging and inspiring voters to get to the polls. [indiscernib] the third thing we have to think about how to message. oftentim what we see in messaging wh y look at television and you look at the polical ads, one are two issues oftentimes being decided

by some national poll or national consultant that may or y not speak to the issues people care about in the communities we are talking to. those voters who have not been moved to protest up a so far in the election, they have heard all of the soundbites. that is not moving them. they need another message. in order to do that, have to make sure you have the right messengers that are literally putting that out in a different narrative speak to folks to let them make the connection of why the selection is critical to them. they may not care about the issu that are the top issues for the national platform or it y be different priorities, but ose are the people -- bad habits are hard to break. what happened in georgia was not a fluke. that is the future of politics in america. to literally recogze it is going to be community-let efforts of a grassroots, democracy groups that are literally our best defense on

the frontlines for ptecting us from fascism. amy: and the slightest fact that president biden has authorized the democratic national committee to transfer $10 million to the house and senate democratic campaign committees and helping to pledge to raise $8 million for party candidates, this the dnc now has transferred a total of $27 million so far this cycle, a record-breaking amount of money -- where you see that money going and what you want to tell the democrats to do with it? >> i see that money going primarily. on tv. . you can't turn on television d every single at is over and over again and while that may have some impact, what i do know is those voters who have been disengaged in the process, those voters already not moved -- in order for those voters to be

moved, there has to be hand-to-hand communication. there has to be peer-to-peer organizing. what i would like to see and what we attempted to do in this op-ed is to lay it out that there is a winning strategy. we can actually show we are able to win when you're building out and supporting the ecosystem of support of pro-democracy groups, that that is a game changer. we supported that in alabama in 2017 and side and a georgia in 20, 2021. why are we abandoning a strategy that we know works? amy: what about this record turn out that we're seeing in georgia ? would you have this highly contentious senatorial race -- you had this highly contentious senatorial race, rev. raphael warnock and herschel race. and then you have kept versus

stacey abrams, a colleague of yours, a leading voting rights activist in this country, but she is further behind kemp, who you talk about removing people from the voting rolls. that is kemp. >> what the republicans have done, which i think is respect -- despicable, they have used messages to exploit the pain and discontent of black folks. what we're seeing is even with herschel walker, they don't care about herschel walker. for the most part, he is a placeholder. suddenly, hears, and we are seeing have a meltdown daily in terms of literally putting out where he had major, major issues, we know he had major issues around balance with -- violence. and we know if you listen to

him, you can hear their confidence is gone as well. not making an excuse for him because he is accountable to his actions of putting himself out there, but his privacy has been manipulated and used in this moment. because they've decided all they need to do is find somne to find a black base that can support and stand for what agenda, get the vote in georgia. we have seen in recent months, very disheartening to me, this notion that brian kemp is saying,, brian kemp says he is good on business, small business is. how so? he is been in office for four years. what we know is millions and millions of dollars of contracts the state of georgia gives out, black people who make more than 20% or 30% of the population of

georgia have received less than 1% of the business contracts for the state of georgia. here's a person who says -- brian kemp assange he cares about the people of georgia and good for georgia. how so? since he has been in office, six hospitals have closed and we are on the verge of another closing. can we play set his lap? absolutely. he has refused to expand medicaid which is why the latest hospital closing because it cannot handle the weight of so many uninsured patients coming in. could save hospitals, save the one on the verge of closing. he doesn't care about that because he doesn't care about the people georgia. amy: five seconds. well, we have to leave it there, latosha brown, co-founder of black voters matter fund.

speaking to us from atlanta, georgia. tune in on november 8 for our three hour midterm election night special. we will be broadcasting live starting at 9:00 p.m. eastern. that does it for our show. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] ■x■x pppxxxx■]■t■]■o

hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in new york. russian leaders have accused ukrainian forces of planning to use a weapon no army has ever used. they've floated the idea of a device that would spread radioactive material, what's known as a dirty bomb. now president vladimir putin has joined in creating a pr