The Leslie Marshall Show

Accessing Capital for Women Entrepreneurs; How to Overcome America's Current Political Divide

Today the awesome Moe Vela guest hosts my show! Moe served in President Obama’s administration as the Director of Administration and Senior Advisor in the Office of then Vice President Joe Biden. The stint was the second White House appointment for Moe, who served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Advisor on Hispanic Affairs for Vice President Al Gore. Moe holds the distinction of being the first Hispanic American and gay American to serve twice in a senior executive role in the White House.

Moe is first joined by Stacie Olivares, Chief Investment Officer of Lendistry, a minority-owned CDFI and fintech lender that provides small business loans at affordable rates.  Stacie is also a Trustee of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest public pension in the United States.
Moe and Stacie discuss her plight as a woman in a 'man’s industry,' as well as the challenges of access to capital for women entrepreneurs. 

Then Moe is joined by Eric Mitchell, a National Media Contributor, the CEO of Lifeflip Media, and a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.  Eric tells Moe how and why he went from a conservative former military guy to a progressive advocate.  He also talks with Moe about how we can overcome the current political divide in the United States.

You can follow Moe on Twitter where his handle is @MoeVela.

The Biden Administration's Climate Policy and Possibilities

Today's guest hosts are Brent J. Cohen and Edwith Theogene, Executive Director and Organizing Director for Generation Progress.

During today's episode, they discuss how the Democrats now controlling the White House and Congress has massive implications for many different policy areas, including climate. In President Biden’s first week in office, his administration has already signed several executive orders reversing harmful policies from the Trump administration and establishing new policies that experts agree will help us better address the climate crisis. Today, declared “Climate Day” by the White House, Biden signed an executive order establishing a White House interagency council on environmental justice, creating an office of health and climate equity at the Health and Human Services Department, and forming a separate environmental justice office at the Justice Department. 

To break down some of the immediate actions that the Biden administration has taken on climate and where policy experts and environmental justice advocates hope that the administration and Congress will go from here, Brent and Edwith are joined by two expert guests:

They are LaTricea Adams, the founder, CEO, and president of Black Millennials 4 Flint, and Alexandria Villaseñor, the founder of Earth Uprising.

Here are the Twitter handles for today's guests and their organizations:

Black Millennials 4 Flint - @BM4Flint, Earth Uprising - @Earth_Uprising, Alexandria Villaseñor  - @AlexandriaV2005  

The website for 'Generation Progress' is www.GenProgress.org and their Twitter Handle is @GenProgress.  Brent J. Cohen's Twitter handle is @BrentJCohen and Edwith Theogene's handle is @CharlatAnne.

COVID-19 Variants; Ramping Up Vaccinations to Get to Herd Immunity

First, Leslie gives her take on today's news in her 'Ripped from the Headlines' segment.

Here are the stories that she covered:

1. WASHINGTON POST: "White House expected to tell governors they will get more coronavirus vaccine starting next week"
2. Axios-Ipsos poll: Trust in federal coronavirus response surges
3. WASHINGTON POST: "Biden to reopen ACA insurance marketplaces as pandemic has cost millions of Americans their coverage"
4. AXIOS: "McConnell drops filibuster demand, paving way for power-sharing deal"
5. AXIOS: "Sanders says Democrats will push coronavirus relief package through with simple majority"

Then, Leslie is joined by Dr. Bob Bollinger, the Raj and Kamla Gupta Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Bollinger holds joint appointments in International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and in Community Public Health at the JH School of Nursing.

They discuss the latest news surrounding COVID-19, including:
- Moderna announcing that its COVID-19 vaccine is effective against new variants of the virus that first appeared in the U.K. and in South Africa
- President Biden saying that he thinks that any American adult who wants a vaccine can expect to receive one by spring
- What rate per day that the U.S. needs to be vaccinating people at in order to reach herd immunity against the virus
- Communities of color falling behind in America's vaccine effort

Dr. Bollinger is Founding Director of the Center for Clinical GlobaJohns Hopkins Center for Clinical Global Health Education (CCGHE). Their website is main.ccghe.net and their Facebook page is Johns Hopkins Center for Clinical Global Health Education.

Trump's Senate Impeachment Trial; Racism's Role in America's Governing and Politics

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 new show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.

Brad is first joined by Paul Lisnek, a multi-Emmy, Cablefax, Telly and Beacon Award winning television host and analyst. Paul has been the political analyst for WGN-TV since 2008, appearing on all the station’s newscasts discussing political issues of the day. He is the host of Politics Tonight on CLTV, on which he interviews the leading political figures in the city, state and country, and also serves as a fill-in anchor. Paul has interviewed presidents, governors, senators, congressmen, local representatives and mayors too numerous to count over the last 25 years.  His Twitter handle is @PaulLisnek.

Paul and Brad breakdown the upcoming second impeachment trial for Donald Trump in the Senate.  They also analyze Justice Merrick Garland as President Biden's choice for Attorney General, plus whether they think that Biden will have to govern by executive order due to Senate filibuster rules.

Brad is then joined by Jeneé Osterheldt for the second half of the show. Jeneé is a Boston Globe culture columnist who covers identity and social justice through the lens of culture and the arts.

Brad and Jeneé discuss what role racism is playing in our country's governing and politics at the moment.  They also analyze the huge impact that National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman had on President Biden's inauguration.

The Boston Globe also has a vertical that is curated by Jeneé called, "A Beautiful Resistance."
It is a series of stories about Black joy and Black lives. The aim is to amplify the truth of Black folk and other people of color living as their fullest selves in a region, in a country, set up to keep them from doing just that – their lives are more than police brutality and suffering. Black lives are a beautiful resistance, and the platform is providing the space for Black people to tell their stories in their own terms, because “even the most well-meaning white person will never tell our stories how we tell our stories.” A Beautiful Resistance, which features an Instagram channel (@abeautifulresistance), features videos, events and stories of blackness  – through stories and struggles of six people in New England, under the lens of love. (Link here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/special-reports/a-beautiful-resistance/)

You can follow Jeneé on Twitter, where her handle is @SincerelyJenee.

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.

Watch a video broadcast of the show here: https://www.pscp.tv/w/1lPJqXqYLLeGb

President Biden's Plan for Infrastructure, Clean Energy and American Manufacturing

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 President Biden's 'Build Back Better' plan, his invoking the Defense Production Act to fight COVID-19, and what Donald Trump accomplished for American manufacturing during his time as President.

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

Biden Presidency Begins

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 new show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.

Brad is first joined by Sarah Jones, Editor-in-Chief of PoliticusUSA. The two discuss President Biden's inauguration, the first series of executive orders that he signed, as well as what former President Trump's the legacy will be.
Sarah is a 2 time Telly Award winner, and now hosts Politicus News and co-hosts Politicus Radio. The website for PoliticusUSA is www.PoliticusUSA.com and their Twitter handle is @PoliticusUSA. Sarah's handle is @PoliticusSarah.

During the second half of the show, Brad leads a political round-table with Will Jawando and Mark Grimaldi.  The roundtable continues discussing the topic from the first half of the show, while also analyzing whether Democrats should continue impeachment proceedings into the Senate.

Will Jawando is Councilmember At-Large for Montgomery County, Maryland.  Described as “the progressive leader we need” by revered civil rights activist and Congressman, John Lewis, Will has worked with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senator Sherrod Brown, and then-Senator Barack Obama.

During the 8-year Obama Administration, Will had the honor of serving as Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, followed by a position as an advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in the U.S. Department of Education.

Will's handle on both Twitter and Instagram is @WillJawando.

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-Elect 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.

Watch a video broadcast of the show here: https://www.pscp.tv/w/1BdGYYVrQMQGX

Inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris

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

Here are the stories that she gave her take on:

1. A selection of audio clips from today's inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris

2. AXIOS: "Voters favor Biden's climate policies, but few view issue as top priority"

3. NBC NEWS: "Some QAnon followers lose hope after Inauguration"

She's then joined by Moe Vela, who served in President Obama’s administration as the Director of Administration and Senior Advisor in the Office of then Vice President Joe Biden. The stint was the second White House appointment for Mr. Vela, who served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Advisor on Hispanic Affairs for Vice President Al Gore. Mr. Vela holds the distinction of being the first Hispanic American and gay American to serve twice in a senior executive role in the White House.

Leslie and Moe discuss today's inauguration, and what happens to former President Trump and the Republican party after losing control of both the White House and the Senate.

You can follow Moe on Twitter, where his handle is @MoeVela.

President-Elect Biden's Pro-Worker Agenda

Leslie is joined by Roy Houseman, Legislative Director for the United Steelworkers.
The two discuss President-Elect Biden's pro-worker agenda.

Here are more details on the specific items that they touched on during their conversation.

Joe Biden’s campaign centered on calls for pro-worker legislation that would strengthen organizing rights and increase unionization rates in workplaces. Now that the American people have voted into office a candidate who ran on the strongest pro-worker stance in decades, Biden’s administration has the opportunity to advance the interests of working people through several legislative and policy initiatives:

- For short-term relief, Biden has indicated he will immediately pass relief aid for workers in the form of direct payments to curb the economic depression felt by the working class during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- He’s also called for legislation that increases the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, which would increase pay for tens of millions of workers. The minimum wage was last raised in 2009.

Biden’s administration must also support workers in the longer term. He could do this by passing a number of pro-worker policies championed by the USW and the labor movement, for example:

- Increasing retirement and healthcare security by:
- Strengthening the social security trust fund
- Lowering drug costs
- Replenishing the Medicare trust fund
- Protecting the pension funds of millions of working Americans

Passing legislation that will protect fundamental rights for working people, including:

- The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, the most comprehensive pro-labor law since the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which would give workers more bargaining power on the job

- Appointing National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) leadership with pro-worker agendas and track records, so the agency protects workers instead of corporate interests

Investing in America’s workers and the environment through:
- Addressing America’s infrastructure crisis through investments to modernize both cities and rural areas
- Increased attention toward clean technologies and efficient manufacturing processes
- Using American labor to manufacture materials domestically for infrastructure projects
- Purchasing American-made materials for construction projects

Hard-working Americans have spoken by electing a pro-labor candidate to office. It is now up to the labor movement and its allies to push for the swift passage of these and many other important policies that will protect current and future generations of the working class.

The website for the United Steelworkers is USW.org and their Twitter handle is @steelworkers. Roy Houseman's handle is @RoyHouseman.

Can Biden Fix Trump's Vaccine Rollout? Capitol Rioters Meant to Capture and Assassinate Govt Officials

Leslie begins today's show with her 'Ripped from the Headlines' news segment.
Here are the stories that she covered:

1. WASHINGTON POST: "Vaccine reserve was already exhausted when Trump administration vowed to release it, dashing hopes of expanded access"

2. AXIOS: "Biden on his nearly $2 trillion plan: "We cannot afford inaction”"

3A. NEW YORK TIMES: "The Capitol Police is investigating whether lawmakers gave pre-riot building tours, as Pelosi names leader of security review"

3B. AUDIO: Speaker Pelosi says if members of Congress are found to have aided the insurrectionists then they should be prosecuted

4. WASHINGTON POST: "How the rioters who stormed the Capitol came dangerously close to Pence"

During the second half of the show, Leslie is joined by Olivier Knox, new Anchor of 'The Daily 202' at The Washington Post, a midday newsletter about politics and policy.

They discuss President Trump's approval rating falling to an all time low, a new court filing by federal prosecutors stating that Capitol rioters intended to 'capture and assassinate' government officials, and how some members of Congress are being investigated by the Capitol Police to see if they gave pre-riot building tours to those who then participated in the riots.

Olivier's Twitter handle is @OKnox, and the website for 'The Daily 202' is TinyURL.com/TheDaily202.

House Votes to Impeach Trump for Inciting Capitol Riots

Leslie's Executive Producer, Mark Grimaldi, guest hosts today's show.

He shares what he finds to be the most consequential and interesting floor speeches from today's House impeachment vote.

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-Elect 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.