The Leslie Marshall Show

The Fight to Secure U.S. Elections; Latest on Impeachment

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 Aquene Freechild, Co-Director of Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People Campaign.  She also leads Public Citizen’s advocacy work on election security and holding voting system vendors accountable for ensuring machines are safe from hackers. She co-founded the Secure Our Vote coalition, which works on the state and local level to encourage election officials to secure the vote and allow for recovery should a computer error or hack occur.

The two discuss the latest on the efforts to secure American elections ahead of the federal, state, and local contests taking place in 2020.  This includes two election security bills that have passed the House of Representatives, and have then been blocked by Senate Republicans, as well as threatened with a veto by President Trump. 

 

The two bills are the “Securing America’s Federal Elections Act” (SAFE Act) and the "Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy Act" (SHIELD Act).  The SAFE Act would, among other things, require voting systems to use backup paper ballots, mandate tech safeguards, and provide resources to states to improve their election-security measures.  The SHIELD Act would require that candidates and political committees notify the FBI and other authorities if a foreign power offers campaign help. It also tightens restrictions on campaign spending by foreign nationals and requires more transparency in political ads on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.  It would also explicitly prohibit campaigns from exchanging campaign-related information with foreign governments and their agents. The latter provision was aimed at reports that officials in Trump’s 2016 campaign shared polling data with a person associated with Russian intelligence.

 

Public Citizen is calling on Americans to take action on Nov 13th, a week before the Congressional funding deadline. Folks can find an action near them, or host one, at www.SecureOurVote.us.  Their Twitter handle is @SecureourVotes.

During the second half of the show, Brad leads a political round-table with two guests who discuss the impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives, including the rapidly growing support to have President Trump impeached and removed from office.

The two round-table guests are Anisha Singh and Mark Grimaldi.  Anisha is Director of Judicial Nominations at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.  She is an Attorney turned Organizer and Democratic Strategist who brings with her more than a decade of experience in public interest and social justice work, with a strong grassroots organizing and legal background.  Her Twitter handle is @Anisha_S113.

 

Mark Grimaldi, or 'Marky Mark' as Leslie Marshall calls him, is the Executive Producer of this show and a Progressive Activist.  His Twitter handle is @MarkJGrimaldi.

Brad writes a column every Monday on the 2020 Presidential race 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.
You can read Brad's writing at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His Twitter handle is @BradBannon.

The Impeachment Inquiry: What's Going On?

Today's guest hosts are Brent Cohen, Executive Director of Generation Progress, and Charlotte Hancock, Communications Director for Generation Progress.

 

They discuss the House of Representatives' formal impeachment inquiry to investigate the conduct of President Trump. The decision to do so was based on a revelation that on a phone call in July, President Trump asked the president of Ukraine to investigate one of his political rivals for his own benefit—and according to an anonymous whistleblower and text messages from State Department officials, President Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine to coerce them into opening that investigation.

To break down exactly how we’ve gotten here and talk about what’s still to come, Brent and Charlotte are joined by two experts from the Center for American Progress’s Moscow Project: Max Bergmann, Co-founder and Director of The Moscow Project and James Lamond, Managing Director for The Moscow Project.

The website for the Moscow Project is www.theMoscowProject.org and their Twitter handle is @Moscow_Project.  Max Bergmann's handle is @MaxBergmann and he has his own podcast called, 'The Asset,' which is a deep dive into Trump's history with Russia.  You can listen to it at www.TheAssetPodcast.org.  You can find James Lamond on Twitter with the handle @jdlamond.

The website for "Generation Progress" is www.GenProgress.org and their Twitter Handle is @GenProgress.  Brent Cohen's Twitter handle is @BrentJCohen and Charlotte Hancock's handle is @CharlatAnne.

Protecting the Right to Organize with the PRO Act

Leslie is joined by United Steelworkers (USW) President, Tom Conway.

The two discuss Protecting the Right to Organize, via the PRO Act (P.R.O. = Protect the Right to Organize).

Here are some important points that Tom and Leslie brought up when analyzing the need for the PRO Act, and how it would help.

The PRO Act, which received its final markup by the House Committee on Education and Labor last month, is a pathway to power for workers:

- It helps tip the balance of power away from CEOs by strengthening labor laws

- The defects of the current law can be clearly seen inthe case of Kumho Tire,a Korean company that has operations in Macon, Ga. as workers there tried to organize

- Workers trying to join the USW were subjected to anti-union videos put on repeat in the break rooms and threats of plant closure

- Kumho then fired the lead organizer and suspended pregnant worker, Victoria Whipple

- Kumho spend $500,000 on an anti-union campaign

- Kumho also racked up more than 30 'unfair labor practice' charges

The PRO Act would:

- Establish stronger and swifter remedies to stop employers from breaking the law

- Make companies recognize contractors as part of the collective bargaining process so they can no longer continue to whittle down Union membership by subcontracting

- Force an employer to reach a first contract in a timely manner with a newly organized group of workers. (No more dragging out first contracts!)

- Reverse so-called 'Right to Work,' regardless of state laws(!)

- Prohibit employers from forcing employees to attend anti-union meetings

There’s no dispute, workers in unions fare better than their non-union counterparts:

- Average union weekly earnings are significantly higher than non-union earnings

- On average, union members also have better benefits and more retirement security than their non-union counterparts

- Strengthening workers’ rights is essential to reducing economic inequality

The website for the USW is www.USW.org. Their handle on both Twitter and Instagram is @steelworkers.
The USW urges passage of the PRO Act. To help promote passage of the Pro Act, please post about it on social media using the hashtag #ProActNow.

Tom Conway was elected by the International Executive Board to succeed retiring International President Leo W. Gerard as leader of the United Steelworkers (USW), the largest industrial union in North America, effective July 15, 2019.

Previously, Conway served as International Vice President, a position he held since March 1, 2005, and was re-elected to four separate times.

During his 14-year tenure as International Vice President, Conway became the union’s most experienced contract negotiator in steel, aluminum, oil and other major industries where USW members work, often directing bargaining during crises.

You can read Tom's weekly blog at www.usw.org/blog.

Bernie's AOC Endorsement, Warren's Medicare for All Plan, Mayor Pete's Surge

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 Amie Parnes, National Political Correspondent for 'The Hill' and co-author of 'Shattered,' the number one New York Times' best selling book on the 2016 presidential election. Amie's Twitter handle is @AmieParnes.

The two discuss what effect Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders will have on his 2020 bid for the White House.They also analyze how heavily Senator Elizabeth Warren's evasiveness on how to pay for her 'Medicare for All' plan is weighing on her presidential campaign.
To close the interview, Amie gives her take on how Hunter Biden's business interests in Ukraine have affected Vice President Joe Biden's 2020 run.

During the second half of the show, Brad leads a political round-table with two guests who discuss whether Bernie Sanders can make a resurgence toward the top of the 2020 Democratic field for President.  The panel also analyzes Mayor Pete Buttigieg's surge in the polls following his recent strong debate performance.

The two round table guests are Kimberly Scott and Mark Grimaldi. Kimberly is the Founder and Publisher of DemList, LLC, a free national daily political column, calendar and resource site for Democrats and allies - a unique, central source that connects people to the who, what and where of Democratic events, issues and activism.

You can find out more about them at DemList.com and follow them on Twitter @TheDemList.

Mark Grimaldi, or 'Marky Mark' as Leslie Marshall calls him, is the Executive Producer of this show and a Democratic Activist. His Twitter handle is @MarkJGrimaldi.

Brad writes a column every Sunday on the 2020 Presidential race 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.
You can read Brad's columns at MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His Twitter handle is @BradBannon.

Reproductive Justice is a Human Right

Today's guest host is Edwith Theogene, Organizing Director for Generation Progress.  She's joined by a trio of special guests to discuss why reproductive justice is a human right.

At a high level, Reproductive Justice is the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. It is a movement and a framework that was coined by visionary Black women activists in 1994 to recognize people who felt marginalized or sidelined by the existing women’s rights movement, which centered the experiences of white women and primarily focused on abortion, often without discussing non-legal barriers to abortion access, including cost, travel time, and lack of childcare.

Reproductive justice is an issue that Edwith is very passionate about—as she previously managed the 'Act for Women Campaign' at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is a national campaign to support the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA)—federal legislation that ensures that pregnant people can have a safe and accessible abortion no matter where they live.

To dive deeper into this subject, Edwith is joined today by three experts in the reproductive justice field: Margie Del Castillo, the Director of Field and Advocacy for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (www.latinainstitute.org), Jessica Pinckney, the Vice President of Government Affairs at In Our Own Voice (www.blackrj.com), and Jaclyn Dean, the Public Policy Manager for the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (www.napawf.org).

The website for "Generation Progress" is www.GenProgress.org and their Twitter Handle is @GenProgress.  Edwith Theogene's Twitter handle is @WhoIsEdwith, Margie Del Castillo's handle is @margieinthedmv, Jessica Pinckney's handle is @jnpinckney, and Jaclyn Dean's handle is @jacryndean.

Winning with Progressive Political Messaging

Leslie is joined by two different guests during today's show.

She's first joined by Morris Pearl, Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, a group of hundreds of high-net-worth Americans who are committed to making all Americans better off by building a more prosperous, stable, and inclusive nation. The group focuses on promoting public policy solutions that encourage political equality, guarantee a sustaining wage for working Americans, and ensure that millionaires, billionaires, and corporations pay their fair share of taxes.

Leslie and Morris discuss his organization's relaunch of 'Patriotic Millionaires University,' also known as PMU. They created PMU as a one-stop-shop for polling, policy, and communication insights on the GOP tax scam. It was a winning message in 2018 and has never been more important or more effective with 2020 right around the corner.

Since there has never been a more important time to be involved in the political process, they’ve also updated Patriotic Millionaires University for Citizens.
This grassroots-focused sister site to PMU is built to help all participants in our democracy fight inequality and build a more prosperous country for everyone.
You can find Patriotic Millionaires University (PMU) on the web at pmuniversity.org.The website for the Patriotic Millionaires is www.PatrioticMillionaires.org, their Instagram handle is @PatrioticMillionaires, and their Twitter handle is @PatrioticMills. Morris Pearl's Twitter handle is @Morris_Pearl.

During the second half of today's show, Leslie is joined by Anat Shenker-Osorio, Founder and Principal of ASO Communications. Anat examines why certain messages falter where others deliver. She’s led research into how to persuade and mobilize on issues ranging from tackling right-wing race baiting to promoting clean energy and from honoring the rights of immigrants to reforming criminal justice.

The focus of today's discussion is Anat's new podcast, 'Brave New Words.' 'Brave New Words' takes listeners on a journey around the globe with Anat as she unpacks real-world narrative shifts that led to real-world victories. From electing the dynamic Jacinda Ardern Prime Minister of New Zealand, to repealing a national ban on abortion in Ireland, to beating back right-wing race baiting in Minnesota, Anatand her guests explore what made it possible to engage the base, persuade the middle, send the naysayers packing, and win.

Anat has delivered her findings at venues such as the U.S. Congressional Progressive Caucus, Centre for Australian Progress, Irish Migrant Centre, Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, the European Commission and LUSH International.

You can find the 'Brave New Words' podcast on the web at BraveNewWordsPod.com. Anat's Twitter handle is @anatosaurus and the handle for her podcast is @_BraveNewWords.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month—Examining Impacts of DV and IPV on Marginalized Communities

Today's guest hosts are Charlotte Hancock, Communications Director for Generation Progress, and Edwith Theogene, Organizing Director for Generation Progress.
They discuss National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which is in the month of October.

The month of Domestic Violence Awareness was brought into existence in 1981 by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence as a day of unity for domestic violence prevention advocates across the country. Since then, the conversation around domestic violence has evolved significantly—between 1993 and 2010, the overall rate of domestic violence dropped nearly two-thirds thanks to the tireless work of activists and advocates to change the conversation around domestic violence and introduce and pass legislation to target perpetrators of domestic violence and abuse. Still, roughly 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men have experienced severe intimate partner violence. Domestic violence and intimate partner violence affect people of all races, genders, income levels, and geographic areas—but people from marginalized communities who have experienced domestic violence aren’t often centered in that conversation or given the resources and support they need.

To discuss the work that’s being done in the domestic violence prevention space, and what still needs to happen to make all people safer, Charlotte and Edith are joined today by Mohini Lal, the staff attorney at the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and Kimberly Inez McGuire, the Executive Director of URGE (“Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity”).

The website for the National Network to End Domestic Violence is www.nrcdv.org and their Twitter handle is @nnedv. Mohini Lal's handle is @moh_in_law. URGE's website is www.URGE.org and their Twitter handle is @URGE_org. Kimberly Inez McGuire's handle is @KimberlyInezMcG.

The website for "Generation Progress" is www.GenProgress.org and their Twitter Handle is @GenProgress. Charlotte Hancock's Twitter handle is @CharlatAnne.

National Security Implications of Trump's Moves with Syria, Turkey, Ukraine & Russia; Impeachment 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 Colonel Cedric Leighton (Retired-Air Force), Founder and President of Cedric Leighton Associates, a strategic risk and leadership consultancy serving global companies and organizations.  Colonel Leighton's Twitter handle is @Cedric Leighton.

The two discuss whether President Trump is sacrificing the national security of the United States in pursuit of his own personal and political self interests. 

This includes Trump's actions with Ukraine, Russia, and China.

 

They also discuss Trump's widely criticized decision to pull U.S. forces out of Syria while allowing Turkish forces to invade.  Critics are concerned that the sudden decision of a full withdrawal will leave Kurdish forces, who have fought ISIS alongside U.S. forces, vulnerable to being slaughtered by Turkish forces (who concerned the Kurds terrorists).  There is also great concern that this move will allow ISIS to regroup, just as they seem to be defeated.

 

During the second half of the show, Brad leads a political round-table with Will Jawando and Mark Grimaldi.

 

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.. His Twitter handle is @WillJawando.
Mark Grimaldi, or 'Marky Mark' as Leslie Marshall calls him, is the Executive Producer of this show and a Democratic Activist. His Twitter handle is @MarkJGrimaldi.

The round-table discusses the politics of impeachment, as well as the Democratic Primary race.

Brad writes a column every Sunday on the 2020 Presidential race 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.
You can read Brad's columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His Twitter handle is @BradBannon.

The Fight to #DefundHate

Today's guest hosts are Charlotte Hancock, Communications Director for Generation Progress, and Brent Cohen, Executive Director of Generation Progress and the VP of the Center for American Progress.

They discuss the fight to #DefundHate.  The Trump administration has been particularly cruel on the issue of immigration (for example, it was reported this week that President Trump sought out quotes for the cost of building an alligator-filled moat at the southern border and advocated for shooting people in the legs as they attempted to cross the border), but United States immigration policy, and the enforcement of those policies by Homeland Security, ICE, and CBP, has always been deeply flawed. Some of the most egregious actions of this administration have been highlighted fairly extensively by the media—the family separation policy comes to mind—however, the consistent violence, neglect, and physical and psychological harm experienced by people crossing into the United States who are held in our detention facilities is an enormous and ongoing crisis.

In order to address this, activist-led movements have called on the government to abolish ICE and/or significantly cut funding for ICE and CBP, but due to loopholes in the congressional appropriations process, ICE is still managing to claim more and more funding for themselves at the expense of other agencies like FEMA that desperately need the money.

To walk everyone through what’s happening with the #DefundHate movement, congressional appropriations, and immigration policy more generally, Charlotte and Brent are joined today by Yesenia Chavez, the Immigrants’ Rights Policy Analyst at the ACLU, and Amy Fischer, the #DefundHate Coordinator at the Detention Watch Network.

The website for the ACLU is ACLU.org and their Twitter handle is @ACLU.  Yesenia's handle is @MsYeseniaChavez.   The Detention Watch Network's website is DetentionWatchNetwork.org and their Twitter handle is @DetentionWatch.  Amy Fischer's handle is @AmyWFischer.

The website for "The Center for American Progress" is www.AmericanProgress.org and their Twitter Handle is @amprog.

Charlotte Hancock's Twitter handle is @CharlatAnne and Brent Cohen's handle is @BrentJCohen.

Fixing MadeInUSA Mislabeling; Making Sure Transit Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act Has Teeth

Leslie is rejoined 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 a pair of topics related to American Manufacturing.  First is the issue of fraudulent 'Made in USA' products, and how the FTC can strengthen its enforcement mechanisms to stop the cheaters from getting away with it.

 

Second, Leslie and Scott touch on the Transit Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act (TIVSA).  Congress is passing its annual defense spending bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Attached to this giant bill is legislation – TIVSA – that would ban Chinese state-owned or -backed enterprises from access to the federal procurement market for big-ticket transit items, specifically buses and railcars. It would mean: If a local city transit agency wanted to buy railcars for its subway from a giant manufacturer like CRRC, (a Chinese state-owned enterprise), it wouldn’t be allowed to use federal funding to do so.

But a competing version of the TIVSA legislation is significantly weaker – it creates a huge loophole for the purchasing of buses. Scott discusses which version may end up in the final bill and why.

 

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

 

*Now is your chance to weigh in: The FTC is accepting public comments through Oct. 11, and you can take part by signing AAM's petition that asks the FTC to strengthen its enforcement of 'Made in USA' labeling. Just go to http://tinyurl.com/FTCMadeInUSAPetition*