The Leslie Marshall Show

Lawsuit Challenges Georgia's New SB202 Voter Suppression Law

Leslie begins today's show with her 'Ripped from the Headlines' news segment.

Here are the stories that she gave her take on:

1. AUDIO: 911 call played today at Derek Chauvin trial of witness who called 911 on the officers at the scene because he believed he "witnessed a murder" 

2. AXIOS: "Report: 67% of students who planned school shootings had "potential access" to guns"

3. AXIOS: "Biden announces new actions to combat anti-Asian violence"

4. AXIOS: "Biden's spending plans could remake the economy, says Nobel Prize winner Stiglitz"

5. AXIOS: "Biden's big, global climate power play"

6. AXIOS: "Biden to nominate groundbreaking first slate of federal judges"

Leslie is then joined by Damon Hewitt, Acting President and Executive Director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee), who leads one of the country’s most important and long-tenured national civil rights organizations in the pursuit of equal justice for all.

They discuss a federal lawsuit filed by the Lawyers' Committee and other pro-democracy groups, which says that Georgia’s new SB202 law is a culmination of concerted efforts to suppress the participation of black voters and other voters of color.  The groups allege that SB202 threatens the right to vote of all Georgians, but that its most negative impacts will be felt by communities that were specifically targeted by the Georgia State Legislature.

The website for the Lawyers’ Committee is lawyerscommittee.org and their Twitter handle is @LawyersComm.  Damon's handle is @DamonTHewitt.
Additionally,  the Lawyers’ Committee powers '866-OUR-VOTE,' which is working 365 days a year to advance and defend your right to vote.
You can call 866-OUR-VOTE with your voting questions and issues. Their website is 866OURVOTE.org.

Reaction to Secretary Buttigieg's 1st Congressional Hearing; AR-15 Used In Another Mass Shooting

Leslie is joined by two great guests on two timely topics.

First, she's joined by Greg Regan, President of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, a labor organization consisting of 33 unions that together represent workers in all areas of transportation.

Greg gives an analysis of Pete Buttigieg's first congressional hearing as Secretary of Transportation.  This includes a discussion of infrastructure, unmet congressional mandates, and more.
The website for the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO is ttd.org and their Twitter handle is @TTDAFLCIO.

Leslie's other guest during this episode is Mansoor Shams, a Muslim American U.S. Marine Veteran, Public Speaker, and a Term Member on the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He is also the founder of MuslimMarine.org, where he uses his platform to bridge gaps, create cross cultural understanding and counter hate, bigotry, and Islamophobia through education, conversation and dialogue.

They analyze the fact that an AR-15 style weapon has been used in yet another mass shooting (this time in Boulder, Colorado) and Mansoor highlights how similar the AR-15 is to the M-16 he used while in the Marine Corps.  They also examine how the weapon used in the Boulder, Colorado shooting was banned in the area, but then just days before the shooting, the assault weapons ban covering that weapon was lifted.Lastly, as a practicing Muslim, Mansoor explains how it was painful to see Islamophobia rear its ugly head after it was discovered that the shooter in Boulder, Colorado had a Arab sounding name, resulting in some condemning the entire religion of Islam.

Mansoor's Twitter handle is @MansoorTShams.  The tagline for MuslimMarine.org is “unifying people through conversation."

What the Equality Act Would Mean for LGBTQ+ Americans

Today's guest hosts are Edwith Theogene and Charlotte Hancock, Organizing Director and Communications Director for Generation Progress.

During today's show they discuss the Equality Act, a key piece of civil rights legislation currently being considered by the Senate that would implement uniform legal protections for people regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation. These protections are critical for LGBTQ+ people in this country, whose protected status varies greatly from state to state and city to city.

The Equality Act has already been passed twice by the House of Representatives. The first time it was passed, in 2019, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to take it up for a vote in the Senate—but now, with a different party in control, the Equality Act is moving forward. Last week, it received its first Senate hearing. But the bill is still facing significant backlash that jeopardizes its chances of ultimately becoming law.

To talk with Edwith and Charlotte more about the Equality Act and what it would mean for LGBTQ+ Americans, they’re joined by Sharita Gruberg, the vice president of the LGBTQ+ project at the Center for American Progress, and Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida.

Generation Progress' website is GenProgress.org and their Twitter handle is @GenProgress.  Edwith Theogene's Twitter handle is @WhoIsEdwith and Charlotte Hancock's handle is @CharlatAnne.  Sharita Gruberg's Twitter handle is @SharitaGruberg and the handle for the LGBTQ Research and Communications Project at theCenter for American Progress is @LGBTQProgress.Nadine Smith's Twitter handle is @1NadineSmith and the handle for Equality Florida is @equalityfl.

Strengthening American Manufacturing

Leslie is joined by Roxanne Brown, the International Vice President at Large for the United Steelworkers. For 20 years, she has served USW members from the union’s Legislative Office in Washington, D.C., most recently as Legislative Director.  Brown continues to oversee the union’s public policy and legislative agenda as well as its political work.

The two discuss strengthening American manufacturing.  

Over the last several decades, policy choices led to the offshoring and outsourcing of American manufacturing jobs and weakened our supply chains, leaving us vulnerable especially in times of crisis.  This has: 

- Hollowed out our capacity as a nation to manufacture essential goods, weakening our industrial supply chains and compromising the safety and security of our nation.

- Given business to countries with weaker emissions reduction goals, undermining goals for climate remediation.  Meanwhile, the US has among the cleanest manufacturing standards and processes in the world and a ready workforce to rise to the task of clean production.

- Forced workers and communities to struggle with the loss of good, manufacturing jobs. 

One example is the TIMET plant closure last year: 

- TIMET’s plant in Henderson, Nevada, was the last remaining titanium sponge plant in the United States.

- Titanium sponge is coral-like material essential for manufacturing warplanes, munitions, satellites, civilian jetliners, ships and even joints for artificial hips.

- Around 420 workers lost jobs.

- This left the nation completely dependent on foreign imports of titanium sponge and further decimated manufacturing supply chains crucial to the nation’s security. 

This loss of manufacturing capacity is so dire that last month President Biden signed an executive order instituting a 100-day review of critical supply chains. 

There are a number of policies that unions and others have championed for years that can help to shore up production, strengthen clean energy domestic supply chains, and bring good, union jobs back to the communities that need it most. Some of those policies include: 

- Massive infrastructure investment that rebuilds our country with American-made materials

- Tax credits to support investment in domestic manufacturing facilities

- Investments in clean energy manufacturing, like carbon capture technologies

- Legislation to help prevent offshoring Keeping Section 232 tariffs in place until we can find a more permanent solution to the dumping and overcapacity that threatens our national security

- Buy America, which can drive production and job growth by setting a preference for domestically-sourced content in government-funded projects

- Buy Clean, promotes products that are made in cleaner, climate-friendly manners for federal spending

Throughout her career, Roxanne Brown has worked with members and allies to advance policies on Capitol Hill and with regulatory agencies to help workers. She has extensive experience in defense procurement policy, environmental regulation, energy, cement, specialty metals and biomass carbon neutrality.
You can follow Roxanne on Twitter, where her handle is @BrownRox.  Follow the USW using the handle @steelworkers, and visit their website at USW.org. 

Child Migrant Surge at Border; Anti-Slavery Newspaper Reimagined

The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.

Brad is first joined by Hope Frye, an internationally recognized immigration lawyer focused on disadvantaged populations, especially women and children. She is the Co-founder and executive director of 'Project Lifeline,' a nonprofit focused on children who are or were in immigration detention in CBP jails, ORR shelters or ICE family detention facilities.

Brad and Hope discuss the surge in child migrants to the U.S. southern border, including how we got to this point, and what the best path is going forward.Hope and Project Lifeline are calling for an end to Title 42 expulsions, which currently prevent migrants from being able to enter the U.S. on a public health pretext.Hope also tells Brad and the audience about kids at the border and ongoing family separation.The website for Project Lifeline is ProjectLifeline.us and their Twitter handle is @ProjLifeline. 

During the second half of the show, Brad is joined by Bina Venkataraman, Editorial Page Editor of The Boston Globe and Co-Founder of 'The Emancipator,' an independent anti-racist multimedia platform.
  
Brad and Bina discuss the launch of the 'The Emancipator,' which is a resurrection of an early 19th-century abolitionist newspaper that its contemporary founders hope will reframe the national conversation in an effort to "hasten racial justice."The Boston Globe and Boston University Center for Antiracist Research are partnering to launch the venture.You can read more about 'The Emancipator' at its website, which is www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/the-emancipator/.

Brad writes a political column every Sunday for 'The Hill.' He's on the National Journal's panel of political insiders and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles.
You can read Brad's columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His Twitter handle is @BradBannon.

You can also watch this episode here on Periscope: https://www.pscp.tv/w/1YpKkzWzmlAxj

Or here on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeadlineDCWithBradBannon/videos/261887715550475

Biden Administration Trade Goals, Infrastructure, U.S.-China Talks

Leslie is joined by Scott Paul, President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), a partnership established by some of America’s leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers union.

The two discuss the Biden administration's trade goals, what to expect between Democrats and Republicans in negotiations surrounding an infrastructure legislation package, and the latest on the U.S.-China talks in Alaska.

The AAM website is AmericanManufacturing.org and their Twitter handle is @KeepItMadeInUSA. Scott's handle is @ScottPaulAAM.

Breaking Down HR1, the 'For the People Act,' and the 'American Rescue Plan'

The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.

Brad is first joined by Craig Holman, Government Affairs Lobbyist for Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power.  The two discuss HR1, which is known as the 'For the People Act.'  Craig actually helped to write some of the reforms in the 800-plus page bill, which allows him to explain the grand vision of the bill, and why our government so badly needs the reforms that it offers.  The bill would protect and expand voting rights, institute campaign finance reforms overhauling the corrupting role of big money in politics, and establish stronger ethics rules for all three branches of government.

During the second half of the show, Brad leads a political round-table with Edwith Theogene and Mark Grimaldi. The roundtable discusses the American Rescue plan, which was recently signed into law by President Biden.  Additionally, they discuss cancelling student debt.

Edwith Theogene is the director of advocacy for Generation Progress, the youth engagement arm of American Progress. In this role, Theogene works to develop and lead efforts that translate the experiences of young adults into concrete actions that advance progressive policies and increase voter turnout.Edwith's Twitter handle is @WhoIsEdwith.

Mark Grimaldi has been a progressive political activist for the past 12 years. He volunteered for the campaigns of President Obama (2008 and 2012), Senator Bernie Sanders (2016), Secretary Hillary Clinton (2016), and President Joe Biden (2020). Mark is also involved in campaign finance reform efforts around the country, and philanthropic efforts for Cancer research. His Twitter handle is @MarkJGrimaldi.

Brad writes a political column every Sunday for 'The Hill.' He's on the National Journal's panel of political insiders and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles.
You can read Brad's columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His Twitter handle is @BradBannon.

You can also watch this episode here on Periscope: https://www.pscp.tv/w/1OyJAErjLmWJb

Or here on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeadlineDCWithBradBannon/videos/261887715550475

Interviewing Author of "Turning Oil Green: A Market-Based Path to Renewables"

Leslie begins today's show with her 'Ripped from the Headlines' news segment.

Here are the stories that she gave her take on:

1. AUDIO: Biden Primetime Address - Notes that a year ago we were hit with a virus that was met with silence, and spread unchecked

2. AUDIO: Biden Primetime Address - Says the country will meet his goal of getting 100 million vaccine shots into arms in only 60 days

3. AUDIO: Biden Primetime Address - Announces that all adults will be eligible to get a vaccine by May 1st

4. AUDIO: Biden Primetime Address - If we all do our part in getting vaccinated, then we may be able to safely celebrate July 4th together in small groups 

5. AUDIO: Biden Primetime Address - "We lost faith in whether our government & our democracy can deliver on really hard things for the American people. But as I stand here tonight, we are proving once against something I've said time & time again... it's never a good bet to bet against the American people"

6. AXIOS: "Capitol riot prosecutors ask for delay, citing "most complex" probe in U.S history"

7. WASHINGTON POST: "Companies are scaling back layoffs because of Biden’s stimulus package"

8. AXIOS: "Cuomo again refuses to resign despite mounting pressure"

Leslie is then joined by Dan Dicker, a self-professed 'liberal energy expert,' who has been a registered energy-futures trader and energy finance advisor for 35 years. 
They discuss Dan's new book, "Turning Oil Green: A Market-Based Path to Renewables," which is available at DanDicker.com.
His Twitter handle is @Dan_Dicker.

Democracy Reform Is Key To Action On Young People’s Priorities

Today's guest hosts are Edwith Theogene and Charlotte Hancock, Organizing Director and Communications Director for Generation Progress.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1—also known as the For The People Act—for a second time, and the bill is now on its way to the Senate, where it will receive its first hearing on March 24th. H.R. 1 is a critical piece of legislation that would address many of the flaws in our democracy that prevent people from participating and being represented in the political process. 

These flaws have also led to dangerous inaction on many of the issues that young people care about, in part because their voices and perspectives are not being adequately represented in the electoral process.

And it's not only the current flaws that young people are up against—just a few months after an election in which those same young people turned out to vote in record or near record levels, state legislatures have pushed back—introducing over 250 bills across 43 states to restrict or limit voting access. 

To talk to Edwith and Charlotte more about democracy reform legislation like H.R. 1 and its potential impact on the issues that young people care about, they’re joined by Morgan Stahr, the co-founder and co-executive director of Blue Future. 

Generation Progress' website is GenProgress.org and their Twitter handle is @GenProgress.  Edwith Theogene's Twitter handle is @WhoIsEdwith and Charlotte Hancock's handle is @CharlatAnne.  Morgan Stahr's Twitter handle is @_MorganStahr and Blue Future's handle is @BlueFutureNow.

Interview With Gun Reform Advocate Fred Guttenberg On His Book, "Find the Helpers"

Leslie begins today's show with her 'Ripped from the Headlines' news segment.

Here are the stories that she gave her take on:

1. FORBES: "Senate-Passed 'American Rescue Plan' Would Cut Taxes By An Average of $3,000, With Most Relief Going to Low- And Middle-Income Households"

2. NBC NEWS: "Blinken reportedly offers sweeping plan to bolster Afghan peace"

3. AXIOS: "Report: "Clear evidence" China is committing genocide against Uyghurs"

4. AXIOS: "DeSantis faces deepening controversy over vaccines for ultra-rich Florida community"

5. AXIOS: ""No more money for RINOS": Trump urges supporters to donate to his PAC"

6. AXIOS: "First major U.S. offshore wind project moves closer to reality under Biden"

Leslie is then joined by Fred Guttenberg to discuss his new book, "Find the Helpers."
Fred began his public life after the murder of his beautiful 14 year old daughter Jaime in the Parkland school shooting on Feb 14th of 2018. Only four months prior to the murder of his daughter, Fred’s brother Michael passed away in October 2017 from cancer related to his service in 9/11. Fred has traveled the country talking about both events but also talking about perspective, perseverance, and resilience. Fred’s mission ultimately led him to write his new book, "Find the Helpers."
You can purchase Fred's book and find out more information about what events he's participating in at FredGuttenberg.com.  His Twitter handle is @Fred_Guttenberg.