06/02/23 06/02/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> default hanging over america's head. but because of the good work of president biden as well as democrats in the house and in the senate, we are not defaulting. amy: the senate has approved a bipartisan deal to suspend the debt ceiling, preventing the country from defaulting for the first time in history.

we will speak to california congressmember ro khanna about what he and many progressive democrats voted against the deal. also what he continues to call for his colleague senator dianne feinstein to resign. then we go to atlanta were a police swat team, guns drawn, rated the later solidarity fund and arrested three people who have been raising money to bail out protesters opposed to the construction of a massive police training facility known as cop city. >> we will fight back here in the city of atlanta, in the state of georgia. all across the country to stop cop city. amy: plus the billionaire sackler family gets legal immunity is a federal appeals court has ruled the makers of oxycontin can be shielded from prosecution for the role in creating and fueling the deadly opioid epidemic. >> there is no admission of

wrongdoing and now know individual will ever be able to sue the sacklers in civil court and get them to acknowledge that they ever did anything wrong. amy: we will also speak to a father who lost his 18-year-old son to the opioid epidemic. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the u.s. senate has approved legislation to suspend a limit on the u.s. national debt head of a june fit deadline to avoid a catastrophic default. >> the bill is passed. and because the legislation poses new work requirements on thousands of people receiving food stamps and other forms of

government assistance and rolls back the national environmental policy, fast tracks the approval and construction of the mountain valley pipeline through west virginia and virginia. speaking after the bill's passage late thursday, senate democratic geordie leader chuck schumer defended the compromises which were sought by conservative west virginia democratic senator joe manchin. >> the bottom line is the mountain valley pipeline was part of the whole deal that we had originally -- that i had originally struck with manchin to the ira. you take the whole plan and it does a huge amount of good for the environment. i stayed by my word. amy: just five members of the caucus voted against the debt ceiling deal. president biden is addressing the nation at 7:00 p.m. eastern this evening. the senate voted thursday to revoke president biden student debt plan to give 40 million u.s. borrowers up to $20,000 in loan relief apiece. independent senator kyrsten

sinema toy democratic senators joe manchin and jon tester along with all 49 senate republicans in favor of repealing student loan really. president might has promised to be the bill. the governor of russia's western belgorod region says two people were killed and two others injured earlier today when ukrainian forces shelled a town just inside russia's border with ukraine. this follows a cross-border raid by an anti-putin militia on the town of shebekino, injuring 12 people and setting more than two dozen buildings on fire, including a kindergarten. in kyiv, officials say ukraine's military shot down 36 russian missiles and drones around the capital region overnight. two people were reportedly injured by falling debris. meanwhile, a top ukrainian minister said russia has sowed winter crops for this year's harvest in parts of occupied ukraine claimed by president vladimir putin as russian territory. officials also said russia is blocking the safe passage of

ukrainian shipments of food and fertilizer under the black sea grain export deal. at the united nations, spokesperson stéphane dujarric confirmed russia has recently imposed continuous slowdown at black seaports. >> this is a very serious situation. we need to move forward. the initiative is bound for renewal on 17 july. global hotspots are increasing as we have been noting unready the basis. market volatility lurks in all countries. amy: ukraine's president has made a fresh push for membership in the european union and nato. president volodymyr zelenskyy made the requests at a gathering of european leaders in moldova, where he also called on western nations to come to the aid of moldova's leaders who have accused russia of trying to destabilize and topple their government. this comes as foreign ministers from nato member nations gathered in oslo, norway, thursday to discuss the war in ukraine and the possible expansion of the 31-member military alliance.

u.s. secretary of state antony blinken said he's pushing for sweden's accession to nato ahead of a summit in lithuania planned for july 11. nato secretary-general jens stoltenberg said he'll soon travel to turkey in a bid to convince president recep tayyip erdogan to end turkish opposition to sweden's bid. meanwhile, china's envoy to ukraine has called for the u.s. and its allies to stop sending weapons to the battlefield and hold peace talks. li hui made the remarks from beijing after returning from a 12-day tour of europe and russia. >> russia has said it has never opposed peace talks and has out supported a political solution. ukraine says it cherishes and desires peace. i feel the two sides have not firmly shut the door to peace talks. amy: in canada, hundreds of protesters disrupted the opening day of north america's largest military weapons convention, cansec, taking place in ottawa.

activists on thursday blocked vehicle and pedestrian entrances as they carried banners saying "stop profiting from war" and "war crimes start here." the peaceful action delayed canadian defense minister anita anand's opening keynote address for over an hour, in which she touted a new cybersecurity program aimed at protecting defense officials and contractors and infrastructure. anand told the crowd -- "putin's war on ukraine has reminded us that the cyber domain is crucial to our national security." lockheed martin is one of the convention's largest sponsors as its stock has soared following russia's invasion of ukraine. in iran, the two women journalists whose reporting on the death of mahsa amini in police custody last september, setting off a nationwide uprising, were tried this week in what press freedom groups blasted as a sham trial. elaheh mohammadi and niloofar hamedi had been prevented from seeing their lawyers ahead of the trial and the lawyers were

reportedly not permitted to present a defense in court during the closed-door proceedings. last month, the reporters were awarded the prestigious 2023 unesco/guillermo cano world press freedom prize, alongside a third imprisoned iranian journalist and activist narges mohammadi. thousands of immigrant workers walked off their jobs thursday in florida to protest a draconian anti-immigration law signed by republican governor ron desantis that's set to go into effect july 1. it imposes harsh penalties to certain employers who don't check their workers' immigration status, among other measures. in immokalee, farmworkers and their families led a march denouncing the protest a called a day without immigrants. this is an undocumented farmworker who kept her identity concealed as she spoke at the protest. >> i asked the governor to have

a conscience. all the vegetables and food that arrives at your table go to the hands of an immigrant and that is all i can say stop as mothers, as women, we are honest people who only come to fight for better future for our family. amy: in more immigration news, a federal judge in texas heard oral arguments thursday in a lawsuit led by nine republican states to end the deferred action for childhood arrivals program, or daca. a new version of the 2012 obama-era program was presented by advocates as they fight to salvage the relief, which has provided temporary protection from deportation and work authorization to hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the united states as children. the judge presiding the case, andrew hanen, declared daca unlawful in 2021, blocking all new applications while appeals are resolved in court. a ruling deciding daca's fate isn't expected for months as the case is likely to head to the u.s. supreme court. this comes as the chicago city council voted wednesday to allocate more than $50 million

from a budget surplus to provide emergency humanitarian aid and housing to the thousands of asylum seekers who have been sent to chicago since last august by texas republican governor greg abbott. this is chicago alderman andre vasquez. >> we have got around 10,000 asylum seekers from south and central america, close to 1000 currently living in our police stations, slipping on mats on the floor, sometimes on the floor directly. women, children, whole families. the city is currently looking at a time when we don't have the funding and resources from the state and federal government, to really adequate address this. amy: the supreme court has dealt a fresh blow to u.s. labor unions, delivering a ruling that makes it easier for employers to sue workers who go on strike. thursday's 8-to-1 opinion authored by justice amy coney barrett sided with a washington state business that sued members

of the teamsters union after their work stoppage left wet concrete in trucks, forcing the company to throw away the cement at a financial loss. justice ketanji brown jackson was the lone dissenter. the working families party blasted the supreme court's latest anti-union ruling, writing in a statement -- "the institution that was at one point the last line of defense for working people against oppression and corporate greed is now a bludgeon wielded against those very people by the wealthy and well-connected." in seattle, hundreds of workers at amazon's corporate headquarters walked out wednesday during a lunchtime demonstration to call out amazon's inaction on its climate goals and labor issues at the company. >> we want the warehouse workers to have better conditions. [indiscernible] amy: workers also protested recent layoffs, affecting 27,000 people since november, and a recent forced return-to-office

policy. amazon corporate workers in other cities and countries took part in the walkout, many of them virtually. bill cosby has been sued by another woman for sexual assault. victoria valentino says cosby raped her and sexually assaulted her friend at his home in 1969 after drugging them. valentino, then an actor and singer, filed the lawsuit under a new california lookback law that gives sexual assault survivors a limited window to file civil suits that exceed the normal statute of limitations. cosby, who has been accused of rape and other sexual crimes by dozens of women, was allowed to walk free from prison two years ago i a technicality over his -- two years ago on a technicality over his 2018 sexual assault conviction. a federal monitor is investigating the death of 31-year-old joshua valles and other disturbing events at rikers island jail complex. an autopsy revealed that valles died of a fractured skull, which appears inconsistent with prison

reports. the monitor also accused the city jail of a lack of transparency. this comes as new york's department of correction says it will stop notifying the press when someone dies in one of its jails. the legal aid society said -- "this is another lowlight in the department of correction's campaign to keep outside eyes away from the catastrophe that is the city's jail system and the harm it inflicts daily on new yorkers trapped inside its deadly walls." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president biden is expected to soon sign legislation suspending the debt ceiling after the senate voted 63 to 36 on a bipartisan deal that had been approved by the house earlier. the bill will prevent the united states from defaulting for the first time in history. the legislation also caps domestic spending below the current rate of inflation, while allowing larger increases to the military budget.

senate majority leader chuck schumer spoke after the vote. >> democrats are feeling very good tonight. we have saved the country form a scourge of default. even though there were some on the others who wanted default, want to delete us to default. we may be a little tired but we did it. so we are very, very happy. default was the giant sword hanging over america's head. but because of the good work of president biden as well as democrats and the house and democrats in the senate, we are not defaulting. tonight's vote is a good outcome because democrats did a very good job taking the worst parts of the republican plan off the table, and that is why democrats voted overwhelmingly for this bill while republicans certainly in the senate did not. amy: ahead of the final vote, the senate rejected a number of amendments to the legislation, including one by virginia

democrat tim kaine who wanted to remove a section of the bill to fast track the approval and construction of the controversial, 300-plus-mile-long fracked gas mountain valley pipeline through west virginia and virginia. many progressive democrats voted against the debt legislation due to the pipeline provision, as well as new work requirements for thousands of people receiving food stamps and other forms of government assistance. meanwhile, a number of republicans opposed the deal for not cutting non-military spending enough. some of the senators who voted against the final debt deal include independent bernie sanders, democrats john fetterman, ed markey, jeff merkley, and elizabeth warren and republicans ted cruz, marco rubio, lindsey graham, and josh hawley. we go now to california democratic congressmember ro khanna, who voted against the legislation in the house. can you respond to the passage in both the house and the senate , why you voted against it and

why you also seem to be glad that it passed? >> it is good that our nation avoided default, but it came on the backs of the poor, of students, of the most vulnerable, of women. it was a punch ithe gut to young climate activist across the country by entrenching the mountain valley pipeline. and progressives have been saying, why did increase the debt ceiling back the lame-duck -- why didn't we increase the debt ceiling back in the lame-duck? [indiscernible] the fed is not going to bounce the checks. there are many other ways that we could have avoided this default.

we did not think that we should avoid the default on the backs of the most vulnerable. amy: so why didn't the house, when it was still in control -- the democrats were still in control after they lost in 2022 but the new congress had not taken over, why didn't they do this? >> we should have. some of us were calling for us to do that. back then, we were trying to finish inflation reduction act. that is a very important piece of legislation and i am proud of it, but there may have been a hesitation to negotiate both for that and the debt ceiling increase. that was a mistake. i would have been rather negotiated with senator manchin then -- maybe the mountain valley pipeline my have still been

something that would have been in the agreement, though many would have worked very hard to prevent that, but certainly, the framework which increases defense spending and decrease essentials ending -- social spending for social programs would not have been in that framework. you also would have had some alternative sources of revenue. because even senator manchin believes we need to get rid of the carried interest loophole, that we need to increase taxes. the biggest mistake was that we did not do this in the lame-duck. the second point is, it is not just the lapse of the fringe sing the president is constitutionally obligated to pay the bills of what passed congress is has that. paul krugman has said why is treasury not coming up with multiple places paying these bills? yellen who was warning back in november and december urging congress to do something. amy: house minority whip

katherine clark said republicans forced democrats hand. . >> there is no perfect negotiation when you are the victims of extortion. nobody likes to pay a ransom note, and that is exactly what tonight's vote is. amy: if you can elaborate on that? also, talk about what it means, these work requirements for people who, for example, are sick or hungry? >> let me answer the work requirements first. think of a 51-year-old or 52-year-old mom who is disabled or has back pain or some health condition and she is not able to go to work. now she will be denied money.

if she has custodial custody of a child, it may not be recognized under the law. this is going to hurt women in the early 50's the most according to a lot of the studies. people say the president got an exemption for veterans and homelessness, and i applaud him for that. but you can't penalize and hurt one group of people and then applied another group of people are being helped and think that washes out and is fine. that calculus of the pain of one group is justified by the improvement of the other. i don't believe in that way up reasoning. i believe in the dignity of every individual. you don't hurt one group to have another. democrats should not be for hurting women in their 50's or americans in their 50's to try to reduce the deficit when we could have been reducing

extraordinary defense spending or tax cuts. look, the republicans are the ones who help the economy hostage here, who demanded a ransom note. but we should have been saying, ok, we're going to embrace a framework that adopts their view, that defense should go up and social spending should go down. what we should say is they're going to hold his ransom and we're going to pay the bills. go to the roberts court. is it really going to tell janet yellen to stop paying hills that she is constitutionally obligated to do? is the roberts court going to bounce janet yellen's checks? amy: the issue of m.v.p. is positive when it comes to sports but is the mountain valley pipeline that so many have opposed saying the greenhouse

gas emissions that could result from the fracked gas that goes through the pipeline could be equivalent to something between 26 and 30 coal-fired power plants. within this bill, have biden going forward on the willow project in alaska. can you talk about the significance of this and also the person you have talked about is your friend senator manchin, the power he has almost as the second president joe? >> this is a punch in the gut to climate activists across the country come to young people around the country. they saw some momentum for the inflation reduction act when congress finally passed it, and major investment in solar and wind, in batteries and electric vehicles. and then they see the administration approved the willow project in alaska and

they are bill wooldridge. how can an administration that is focused on climate then be allowing for the drilling in alaska? and now they see the expedited approval of the mountain valley pipeline saying the courts don't matter, if the courts are finding environment harm we're going to go build this pipeline that is going to hurt communities, hurt the environment and we are to do this in a bill that has nothing to do with climate policy. some of us voted no to speak up for them. we really have to understand there is a disillusionment that we risk every time we do this. we chip away at young people's faith that the country serious about climate. i said to senator manchin during the inflation reduction act that

we were going to have to make compromises with him. i was part of some of those conversations. but i think the mountain valley pipeline is a bridge too far. we did make compromises with him. we had monday and -- in carbon capture and nuclear and for technologies of potential carbon removal. the amounts allocated for climate are far less, ultimately, than what we started with. we got rid of a lot of the sticks for the electricity program. we reduced methane. it is not like there was not a compromise. this is a bridge too far. amy: i would ask about a different issue, congressmember khanna. last month your colleague democratic senator from california dianne feinstein returned to capitol hill for the first time since her office announced a diagnosis of

shingles in february. the 89-year-old california democrat said in a statement she would resume her duties with a lighter schedule. she had missed 91 floor votes in the senate, and her absence stalled the advance of president biden's judicial nominees after republicans denied democrats' requests to temporarily replace her on the senate judiciary committee. "the san francisco chronicle" last year published a story raising concerns about feinstein's mental faculties. it was months before this most recent announcement of shingles. and now there has been some discussion i think in "the new york times" and others that it was complicated by encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain. california congressmember, you and some of your colleagues, including new york's alexandria ocasio-cortez, have called on feinstein to retire immediately . in april, nancy pelosi said

calls for feinstein to resign are sest. >> it is interesting to me, i don't know whapolitical agendas e at work going after senator feinein in that way. i've never seen them go after a man who sick in the senate in that way. amy: that was former house speaker pelosi. you are calling for dianne feinstein to resign when she wasn't able to come back. now she is. why are you continued to call for her to resign? >> it is a very bad situation. the reality is that she is not able to do the job. yesterday in my district, someone was talking about vacancies in the district court and could i contact my senator to discuss that. i contacted alex padilla because the reality is, no one can get in touch with her that i know of.

she just has a staff that is running everything. it is a very, very sad situation. she should step down with dignity. "the new york times" had a lump editorial where they reviewed that speaker pelosi's statement and say this has nothing to do with sexism, simply the view that people should be able to do the basics of the job. that in the end respecting the voters. partly i think what is going on in candor, there is a concern about who governor newsom what a point if dianne feinstein stepped down. governor newsom has said he would appoint a black woman. i want to be -- many have speculated barbara lee would be one of the potential people that gavin newsom could appoint.

i think that is coloring a lot of why people want dianne feinstein to stay. for that i have a simple reply. for 250 years in america, we have been tipping the scales against black women. if one time the scales were tipped in their favor, it is not the end of the world. amy: just to be very clear, you are saying that because gavin newsom said he would replace -- appoint an african-american woman -- she said that to replace kamala harris but then ended up appointing alex padilla, the first latino senator to represent california, so now it has come down to this. nancy pelosi has thrown her support to adam schiff. katie porter is also running. if barbara lee were appointed now, the concerns come as all the articles are talking about, is it would give her a leg up in this senate race.

do you think that is the reason nancy pelosi is throwing around these other charges trying to keep dianne feinstein in office? political has a piece of looking at right now, feinstein's primary caregiver for lucy's daughter. -- pelosi's daughter. some are saying she is really preventing her from being exposed to the press and others. is this nancy pelosi is real concern? her favoring adam schiff of the senate? >> i respect speaker pelosi and do not want to speculate on her motive, but i do think more generally, this is the primary concern of what is motivating people to keep dianne feinstein in. in fairness to gavin newsom, and my understanding, get a hard commitment after, harris --

kamala harris to appoint an african american woman. i said he could appoint a caretaker but if he does appoint properly, like i said, i don't think that is the end of the world given how much the country has been tilted against african-american women for 250 years. we don't have a single african-american woman in the senate. i think that broader dynamic of the senate race is what is coloring people wanting dianne feinstein to stay. that is a sad situation. amy: are you concerned just as the republicans said no to dianne feinstein being temporarily replaced in the judiciary committee when she was away, are you concerned that if she resigned and someone else stepped in that somehow they

would control whether or not there would be another democrat allowed to be in the judiciary committee where the judicial appointment's are made? >> that is a fair question. i am not because the republican leadership has said if that situation happened, they would honor the process of allowing the replacement to be on the judiciary committee and make up the numbers because that is the precedent they have and that affects the republicans own assignment and everyone i have talked to on the senate side believes that they would honor that because it affects their own senate seat assignment. amy: congressmember ro khanna, thank you for being with us, democratic congressmember from california, and deputy whip of the congressional progressive caucus. speaking to us from fremont, california. next up, we go to atlanta where police swat team, guns drawn,

raided the atlanta solidarity fund, arresting three people live in raising money to bail out protesters opposed to a massive police training facility known as cop city. opposed to it being built. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we go to atlanta, georgia, where a police swat team, guns drawn, raided a home and arrested three organizers with the atlanta solidarity fund, which is supporting people arrested in the movement to stop the construction of the massive police training facility known as cop city. marlon kautz, adele maclean, and savannah patterson are charged with one count each of money laundering and charity fraud. warrants allege the three were "misleading contributors to fund the actions in part of defend the atlanta forest, a group classified by the united states department of homeland security as domestic violent extremists." as proof of money laundering, the warrants cite reimbursements

from april 2021 to march of this year that total less than $7000 and were for "forest clean-up, totes, covid rapid-tests, media and yard signs." the atlanta solidarity fund issued a statement that it has existed for seven years -- "the soap purpose of providing resources for those protestors experiencing repression." to be clear, none of the arrested cop city activists have been designated as domestic violent extremists nor have they been convicted, just charged. in march, 23 were arrested less than two months after atlanta police shot dead men will tortuguita iran, 26-year-old bimetal activist. an autopsy concluded they were sitting with their hands raised up in front of their body when police shot them 57 times.

in response to the arrest wednesday, the national lawyers guild issued a statement -- "in firm solidarity with the atlanta solidarity fund and all of the stop cop city activists unjustly targeted by law enforcement." they noted -- "bail funds exist to protect people's right to dissent. they are necessary, legally sound resources that help people more safely access their constitutionally protected rights to speech and assembly by lowering the risks of financial ruin or indefinite jail time." the arrests come just days before the atlanta city council is set to vote on the fate of cop city. officials recently admitted the public cost of the project will top $67 million -- twice as high as originally stated. for an update, we go to atlanta to speak with kamau franklin, founder of the organization community movement builders. welcome back to democracy now! can you lay out what happen?

as we look at this image of a swat team moving in, guns drawn, charging this group, ultimately, the authorities, with charity fraud? certainly 70 like george santos was recently arrested, there was not a swat team that moved in on him. can you talk about what took place? >> thank you for having me. what took place was an escalation by the authorities, the state of georgia, the city of atlanta on the infrastructure of the movement. approximately 9:00 a.m. wednesday, the georgia bureau of investigation along with swat teams, reports were personnel from homeland security there, decided to back a truck up in a residential neighborhood, in armored vehicle with armored police personnel, swat teams, to basically go in guns drawn as

you stated to arrest people on essentially would be considered a white-collar crime or a financial crime in terms of what the charges would be. but this use of violent force against the atlanta solidarity fund really shows the real intent has nothing to do with any criminality, which has never taken place with the atlanta solidarity fund, but really an other way of destroying and attacking infrastructure of organizing a movement, particularly against those who have been organizing against cop city. amy: witness to say the least be a deterrent to people who might want to donate to the fund? >> apparently, this is the hope of the atlanta police and the georgia bureau of investigation and again, governor kemp. already the movement had stood strong. the national bail fund stepping

in to support movement organizers and the atlanta folks who were arrested that were part of the atlanta solidarity fund. yes, the very attempt is to ruin the atlanta solidarity fund, an organization that has been around for over seven years -- way before that stop cop city organizing and activism, way before even the black lives matter protest in 2020. these folks have been around organizing and supporting movement activists and organizers, making sure anyone who was arrested in atlanta had an opportunity to receive bail and instead of being locked up and waiting trial, that those folks could defend themselves on any charges once they were out and could resume their lives and resume being active in organizing. they're basically a needed infrastructure for organizing which the state and the city have gone after an attack. amy: i want to go to marlon kautz, one of the organizers

arrested wednesday. they were speaking in february after information surfaced that georgia prosecutors were preparing rico charges against activists who oppose the construction of cop city in atlanta. he is currently in jail. >> we understand this movement is as broad as society itself. it includes environmental activists, community groups, faith leaders, abolitionist, students, artist, and people from all over. but police prosecutors and even governor kemp have been trying to suggest in the media and in court that the opposition to cop city is the work of a criminal organization whose members conspired to commit acts of terrorism. in essence, they're trying to concoct a rico-like story about the movement. amy: marlon kautz and the two others arrested remain in jail from wednesday? >> yes.

they have a bail hearing today at 1:00. i should say based on what marlon was talking about, we have heard rumors for months that the other parts of the infrastructure of the movement would be attacked. we have come out with different videos showing support and analogy this information -- acknowledging come this information, although could not be verified at the time, something that was laid at our doorstep, other parts of the movement to stop cop city would be attacked because the city and the state were scared that all of their tactics, the movement has not gone away. it has grown. we think the attack when it finally did happen, it came at a time when, as you stated, the city of atlanta through the city council was about to vote to give funding to this training center, to cop city after it was exposed that instead of $30 million it would be 67 million dollars -- double the cost,

which they have lied about for two years telling the public "only $30 million." in addition to that, the last city council hearing, hundreds of people turned out to speak. many were turned away. it was the largest gathering in city hall to make comment and protest any incident were built they have introduced. they do repeat what happened this monday, june 5 when they're going to be voting on the resources, giving resources to the atlanta police foundation, a private foundation itself which probably is the real entity that is a criminal nonprofit entity. that is what we think prompted the move by the city and state and the police and the district attorney of dekalb to move now to further criminalize this movement in the face of massive protest against cop city. amy: this would be the largest

police training facility in the country. some would say isn't good for police to be trained? why are you so opposed and so many from indigenous people protesting the use of land environmentalists overall to people who are deeply concerned about brutality? >> because we understand this cop city is not just for training. the officer that killed rayshard brooks in atlanta had over 2000 hours of training. this is not about the training of police, this is about the militarization of police, the over policing of black communities in the attacking of movements and organizations that oppose police violence. this is an extension of that and that is where we are against cop city. this is not about training, this is about police militarization and the over policing of black community's. amy: kamau franklin is the founder of the organization community movement builders. coming up, the billionaire sackler family gets legal

immunity as a federal appeals court the oxycontin makers can be shielded from prosecution for their role in creating and fueling the deadly opioid epidemic stuck back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman. this week a federal appeals court ruled members of the sackler family, the billionaire owners of oxycontin maker purdue pharma, can receive complete immunity from all current and future civil litigation related to their role in creating and fueling the opioid epidemic. the legal shield could lead to a settlement in the range of $6 billion for thousands of plaintiffs, including states, local governments, and tribes. tuesday's ruling reverses a 2021 court decision that did not protect sackler family members from liability as part of purdue pharma's bankruptcy declaration. the case can still be appealed to the supreme court. opioid overdoses have killed over half-a-million people in the united states over the past 20 years, this according to the cdc, including prescription and illicit drugs. for more, we are joined by two

guests. ed bisch's 18-year-old son eddie died of an oxycontin-related overdose in 2001. he was 18. ed bisch founded relatives against purdue pharma. he wrote an essay for stat news titled "my son died of an oxy overdose. drug company execs who are responsible should be sent to jail." he has long called on the department of justice to prosecute the sacklers. and in mexico city, christopher glazek is the investigative reporter who was the first to publicly report how the sackler family had significantly profited from selling the opioid oxycontin while fully aware that the highly addictive drug was directly fueling the opioid epidemic in america. we welcome you both to democracy now! ed bisch, let's begin with you. if you can talk about why you oppose this court decision this week? what it means for you and your

family? >> well, what it means is the best part of this deal is it has nothing to do with criminal prosecution. so for that, i am happy. otherwise, that is, in my opinion, the only good part of this deal. there are many reasons. most of the news stories are saying that 95% of the victims approved of the deal. well, only 20% of the "victims" voted. so, you know, that is very misleading. i have a long list. number one, the total deals valued at about $10 billion. the victims get $750 million, ok? that is 7.5%. that is before the lawyer fees

and expenses. so the "victims" are going to wind up with around 4%. does that sound fair to you? amy: what does that come to per person? >> that is another thing. they have a point system. you need valid records. i told the one lady who actually got addicted to oxycontin, went to prison for forging oxycontin prescriptions defeat heroin addiction -- to feed her own addiction, she filed an lawyer said, well, we need proof. she said, i went to jail for two years, what kind of proof? they want a lot of records and some go back -- a lot of people could not get the records. there are a lot of people who are going to be very disappointed. please follow up with these

people in a year or two. amy: just to be clear, you have been calling for the prosecution of the sackler family. this court ruled they get total immunity. your response to that? >> well, they get civil immunity. they don't get criminal community. maura healey, the massachusetts governor, has stated she has seen evidence and the doj should do their job and prosecute, punishable by fine means legal for a price. these companies, not just purdue, they look at it as a cost of doing business. they made billions and billions. they pay a portion in a fine and they walk away. in this case, the sacklers get to walk away with civil immunity. they get to sleep like a baby at night.

they are still billionaires. without any criminal prosecutions. this is going to go on and on. amy: i want to bring christopher glazek into this conversation. you have been covering this for decades, just as ed bisch has been living the horror of losing his son for over 20 years. he lost them in 2001. can you talk about this latest deal, how it differs from previous ones and the overall scope of it, chris? >> yeah, looking at the agreements, you have to say the sacklers did what they have always done -- they struck a deal, they paid a bride, and they're getting away with it. there's no admission of wrongdoing anywhere in the agreement. the question is, is this really accountability? it is really important for people to understand the deal has a big fancy number in it

like the sacklers are going to pay $6 billion. well, they are going to pay that over 18 years. when you have a giant fortune that is more than $10 million, just the interest you earn every year is going to be another to pay that settlement. it is important for people understand the sacklers are not losing their fortune. there sort -- their fortune will probably be bigger's in five years than what it was five years ago. there's a real question rather there is any accountability here in reality. amy: wait a second. wait, i want to follow up on what you just said. you are saying their profits will grow? what do you mean? >> when you have a fortune that is more than $11 billion, just from your investments alone from interest -- even if you bought t-bills from the federal government, you are earning so much money every year from your investments. so it is not like the sacklers

are going to send a wire tomorrow for $6 billion. they have 18 years to pay a lot of the money. that means the impact on them, on their day-to-day lives, the number of dollars in their bank account is way smaller than it first appears. amy: in 2019 -- close literal dollar terms, their fortune is not going to shrink. it probably will grow larger. when we ask the question, have the sacklers paid -- is this a big judgment for them that will change their lives? the answer is probably not. the question becomes, how did they get such a sweetheart deal? there are a couple of things to say about that. the first, the case was handpicked by the sacklers. they did this crazy legal maneuver where they changed their headquarters at the last minute because there is only one

bankruptcy judge in that district. that judge did that being very favorable for the sacklers. he announced it would be his last case ever that he was retiring. since retiring, he got a job with one of the law firms representing the sacklers. number two, and this is really important to understand, the sacklers had a giant fortune, most of which is held in offshore accounts. a lot of it is in the english channel. it is beyond the reach of u.s. government prosecutors. the sacklers said in the court case, they made the argument, hey, if you don't take this deal, it doesn't matter what judgment you get against us in the future. maybe a court will award you $30 billion. you're not going to get a sense because all of the money is offshore and you cannot get at it. the sacklers had this really big leverage in the negotiation which is that their money was protected. u.s. regulars could not get at

their money. for that reason they said, if you don't take this deal, you're going to get nothing. those two things are really important to point out. amy: and then -- go ahead. >> the third thing, how did this deal come about? they use this novel legal procedure to insulate themselves from any future civil prosecution. the reason it is raising eyebrows is because they had this company that went bankrupt. well, they extracted all the money out of the company so it was really like a shell. as part of the bankruptcy agreement, they said you can't ever go after us as if the family had declared bankruptcy. it is normal we need to clear they could see, people can go after you for of civil judgment. of the family did not file bankruptcy. they remain of the most --

amy: in 2019, the investigative news organization propublica published video testimony of dr. richard sackler of purdue pharma, the maker of oxycontin. part of his deposition he gave in a 2015 lawsuit in kentucky. we're going to play a clip of. the company waged a three year legal battle to keep this video secret. sackler was questioned by attorney tyler thompson. >> sittingere tod, afteall u'veome to lrn as a witness, do you believe produce conduct marketing and promoting oxycontin in kentucky caused any of the prescription drug addiction problems now plaguing the commonwealth? >> i don't believe so. >> sitting here today after all you have come to learn as a witness, do you believe produce conduct in kentucky has led to an excessive or unnecessary amount of opioids being located througho the comnwealth kentky?

don't believ so. >>o you belve any oproduce conduchas led to an increase in people being addicted in the commonwealth of kentucky? >> no. amy: dr. richard sackler was chairman and president of purdue pharma, the maker of oxycontin. ed bisch, you lost your son in 2001 at the age of 18. your response to what he says in this testimony -- that was long concealed? >> i'm glad that it got out. it is -- a lot more documents are going to see the light of day. am i surprised? not even a little. how he sleeps at night, i don't know. the crimes are well documented. chris has written some great articles.

hulu, hbo and on august 10, " painkillers" will show on netflix. 2003, the very first book documenting their crimes "painkiller" was published. 2001 was a very first congressional hearing on oxycontin jeff's. 2001. i went to that hearing. i read the headline "purdue going out of business." "oh, finally." as soon as i started reading and i saw the sacklers were demanding immunity i said, this is a bankruptcy scam. and that is one thing this bankruptcy scam has exposed, the crazy bankruptcy laws like the judge, like these third-party releases. and i hope it does go to the supreme court and they do the right thing. will they? i have no idea.

the only thing that can make up this travesty is the doj, do your job. follow the evidence. maura healey says she has seen the evidence. she was the attorney general and they should prosecute. i pray every night they do their job. amy: christopher glazek, we're going to do part two of this discussion and post it at democracynow.org but i wanted to ask about them in organizations that have dropped the sackler name from buildings like the guggenheim, like the louvre, most recently oxford university. can you talk about the significance of this? also, as just the fact you say their wealth is ever increasing in their offshore accounts? >> yeah, well, so there is one provision in the bankruptcy agreement which is quite interesting and important.

it says any institution that has the sackler name on it can take down the name and the sacklers cannot challenge that even if it has some contracts with prior agreement. you have seen the last few years in the wake of media coverage and activism, there has been this kind of domino effect first museums and then diversities taking down the sackler name. -- and universities taking on the sackler name. i wrote this piece -- there was a lot of media attention around the sacklers in late 2017. but at first, i called these museums and they said, we are not doing anything, we are not taking this down, it is not our business. i called universities, yale, and they said no thank you. in the activism started. there it always been activism but nan goldin in particular in the art world conducted a series of really public actions that got a lot of media attention and really hit the sacklers where it

hurt. she, using her own influence in the art world and gathering these people together, essentially forced a lot of museums to take down the name. amy: we have to leave it there but we will talk about that activism in part two. thank you so much for being with us. investigative reporter.