The Young Turks - Nearly Fatal

Episode Date: June 27, 2022

Protester Zoe Warren tells MSNBC that Democrats fundraising off the reversal of Roe is some bullshit. President Joe Biden was rebuked Saturday for doubling down on his opposition to expanding the U.S. Supreme Court even after its deeply unpopular right-wing majority spent the past week ending the constitutional right to abortion care, weakening gun restrictions, undermining the separation of church and state, and eroding hard-won civil rights. Video shows LAPD officers shoving “Full House” actress Jodie Sweetin to the ground during protests for abortion rights. A Republican lawmaker called the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the nationwide right to abortion established nearly 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade a “victory for white life,” which was met with cheers at a rally held by former president Donald Trump. Many U.S. companies are planning to pay travel costs for employees seeking abortions. Rudy Giuliani got someone arrested for assault and described what the man did as a slap. Video surveillance captured something else. *** The largest online progressive news show in the world. Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. LIVE weekdays 6-8 pm ET. Help support our mission and get perks. Membership protects TYT's independence from corporate ownership and allows us to provide free live shows that speak truth to power for people around the world. See Perks: ▶ https://www.youtube.com/TheYoungTurks/join SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ http://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks TWITTER: ☞ http://www.twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM: ☞ http://www.instagram.com/TheYoungTurks TWITCH: ☞ http://www.twitch.com/tyt 👕 Merch: http://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. Welcome to TYT, I'm your host, Anna Kasparian, and we have a fantastic, although devastating show ahead for you, I say fantastic because it is just chock full of incredibly important topics to discuss news that broke over the weekend following the reversal of women's reproductive rights and control over their own bodies. So we'll get to some of that. We're also going to be joined by Jessica Burbank in the second hour, which I'm really looking forward to. And we will lighten things up in the bonus episode, which of course is available to all

of our members. Members help to keep the show sustainable. They keep us free from corporate influence. And if you would like to help TYT be as sustainable as we are, please support us by going to TYT.com slash join. Or if you're watching us on YouTube, you can always click on that join button and you'll be given different levels or different tiers of membership to join. I think now more than ever, it's important to have empowered media outlets like the young Turks who speak truth and do so unabashedly without fear. And with that said, I also want to just thank members of our audience who have shared videos of TYT over the last several days. My religion rant has gone viral now for, I don't even know, it's gone viral so many different times, but following the reversal of Roe v.

Wade, it went viral again. And I think it just speaks to what a lot of people, both women and men have been feeling in response to the theocratic rule that we're increasingly living under thanks to this decades long right wing project in this country. It's culminated in the worst possible ways. But before we get to some of that Supreme Court related news, I do want to encourage you guys to like and share the stream. I know times are tough for a lot of us. So if you can't support us financially through becoming a member, you can always support us simply by sharing our message, like and share the stream if you're watching us on YouTube. We really appreciate that. All right, well, without further ado, let's get to our first story because

I saw a woman this weekend who really spoke to my heart and I want to share her with you. You mentioned your anger because you had received a text message from the Biden campaign. Why is that? So I received a text message from Joe Biden's campaign yesterday saying that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe versus Wade and that it was my responsibility to then rush 15 The Democratic National Party. And I thought that was absolutely outrageous. The woman you just heard from was a pro-choice demonstrator. Her name is Zoe Warren.

And honestly, it is rare to see that kind of honesty, especially on cable news, especially on an outlet like MSNBC, which has consistently ran cover for the Democratic Party and its failures. And so I want to watch a little more of what she had to say in context. And then I'm going to support what she's saying by providing the receipts. She's a smart woman who knows exactly what she's talking about. Let's watch. Something that struck me was when you were speaking earlier and you mentioned your anger

because you had received a text message from the Biden campaign. Why is that? So I received a text message from Joe Biden's campaign yesterday saying that the Supreme Court had overturned versus Wade and that it was my responsibility to then rush $15 the Democratic National Party. And I thought that was absolutely outrageous because my rights should not be a fundraising point for them or a campaigning point. They have had multiple opportunities to codify Row into law over the past 20, 30, 40, 50 years, and they haven't done it. And if they're going to keep campaigning on this point, they should actually do something about it.

I mean, where was the lie? Everything she said there was accurate and I will provide evidence to back that up in just a moment. But first, it's worth discussing the kind of response that one can notice on social media if you come across that video. It's mixed. Half of the response is positive, people who feel the frustration, the very justified frustration over the Democratic's failure to protect women's reproductive rights. And I would argue that it's just another needle in the haystack, right? I'm not a needle in the haystack. It's a straw that broke the camels back because they also abandoned Democratic voters who supported them because they purported to support police reform.

They claimed they were going to do something about police reform. Well, that federal police reform bill fell by the wayside. Same with the Voting Rights Act, the Democratic Party under the leadership of Joe Biden, with a majority in both chambers of Congress failed to pass a voting rights bill, even though they campaigned on wanting to protect our democracy, even as they make a big deal, as they should, about the January 6th House Select Committee and its investigation into what happened on January 6th, when pro-Trump zealots tried to overturn the result of the election by storming the U.S. Capitol.

Now, that frustration is something that I feel deeply. Then you have individuals who love to provide cover for democratic failure. Individuals who use the same talking points that we hear over and over again from the Democratic Party, which is listen, we know that we haven't really accomplished anything for you. We know that we don't really plan to accomplish anything for you. But we're better than the Republicans, right? We're better than the Republicans. I would argue there was a time when the Democratic Party, in the bare minimum, would stop the bleeding. But voters today are going to notice that they have less rights and the stripping of their rights happened when a Democrat was sitting in the executive branch as the president of the United States and Democrats had control of both chambers of Congress.

Ordinary Americans are not interested in hearing about arbitrary Senate rules like the legislative filibuster. Ordinary American voters are just gonna notice, hey, is my life better or worse under Democratic leadership? And to be quite honest, it feels like we still have Republicans in charge. And the response we've gotten from Democratic leadership following the reversal of Roe v. Wade tells us. you everything you need to know about how ineffective and impotent this party really is. Now before I get to the fundraising numbers, for all the critics of Zoe Warren, an incredible young woman, you might wonder, well, what's her plan? What's her plan? What's her plan? She doesn't want to support Democrats. What's her plan? She's actually quite articulate

in regard to what we should do when it comes to electoral politics, which I've argued on this show is not the end all be all. But let's hear a little more from Zoe. It seems like you have obvious anger towards the Democratic Party because you feel as if they've missed chances to codify Roe up until this point. And then here we are. What does that mean for you when it comes to midterm elections and getting more Democrats elected to move forward with trying to codify Roe? Well, when it comes down to the primaries, which I think are coming up in the next couple months, it means that we need to get as many people to the polls as possible to vote from more progressive Democrats. We need to get the old white Democrats out of office. and put in new younger people who will actually defend the rights of women and people all over this country. And then when it comes to midterms, we need to make sure that we have those same people who voted for the progressive people in the primaries coming back to the midterms and voting again and making sure that these more progressive Democrats get into office and can actually make the change that we need. Gotta say, strong, intelligent women like Zoe Warren, give me life. Give me something worth fighting for in a country that increasingly is true. crampling over our rights. Now, I want to add some evidence to what she's saying here, because she's furious as anyone should be over how Democrats have both failed to accomplish what

they have campaigned on, including the bare minimum of protecting our rights. And their attempts to essentially fundraise off of this, right? The amount of money they've managed to fundraise off of this after the draft opinion was leaked more than a month and a half ago. What What have they done since then? They have fundraised. In fact, in just a few days following the leak of that draft opinion, which is a massive red flag, a warning sign indicating that Roe would be reversed, Democrats raised $12 million after Supreme Court leak of draft abortion opinion.

Let's get into some more details on that, as the Hill reports, Act Blue, a small donor fundraising initiative that supports Democratic candidates reported the 12 million was raised from the time of the leak, which was on a Monday night through midnight on Wednesday. Okay, so over the course of two days, they raised $12 million from individuals who were like, what can we do to stop this, okay? Iceberg, straight ahead, what can we do to stop this? And the Democratic Party, of course, they sent their fundraising emails. The situation's dire. We got to support the Democratic Party. And unfortunately, some unfortunate souls thought that this opposition party to the Republicans would actually do something effective with that money. But no, they actually

ended up using that money to support anti-choice candidates, including Henry Quayar in Texas. More on that in just a moment. But the Democratic National Committee's website, by the way, this is after the leak. Now includes a pop-up for quick donations that reads, quote, there's never been a more important time to fight for reproductive rights and elect Democrats in every corner of the country who are ready to do the same, but we can't do that without you. So please give us your money. Give us your money so we can help Representative Henry Quayar, a conservative anti-choice Democrat get reelected even though there is a progressive running against him, even though that's a tight race and there's a good chance she could win,

Jessica Cisneros, but no, no, Democratic leadership did not endorse the progressive challenger to this conservative Democrat. They did quite the opposite. So let's talk a little bit about some of the response that we saw following the official reversal of Roe. Well, first off, the Biden administration is not at all interested in expanding the Supreme Court to make it less ideological. So a lot of left wing pundits, activists have been calling on the Democratic Party to expand the Supreme Court to dilute the conservative activist majority. But Biden's like, nah, nah, I can't do that. I can't do that. Okay, what about doing away with the legislative filibuster that Biden has cited, that the Democratic Party has cited over and over again as the

excuse for why they have failed to accomplish a damn thing, even though they have a majority. Is he willing to do away with that legislative filibuster? Is he willing to, at least in the minimum, reform it? I remember the legislative filibuster means that you need 60 senators to vote in favor of legislation in order for it to pass, meaning anything is going to be, anything we care about will be blocked in the Senate. Is Biden willing to do a damn thing about that? Now knowing that women's Reproductive rights are not constitutionally protected as a result of this right wing theocratic Supreme Court. No, he's not willing to do that either. So in other words, he's willing to do Jack, Jack, but donate money to him. Because what? He's going to give a

sleepy speech. He's going to call on Congress to do what he knows Congress cannot do as long as a legislative filibuster is in place? No. Let's go to Clyburn. What's Clyburn up to? Well, let me just note, Clyburn, Jim Clyburn, is the House Majority Whip, who also endorsed Henry Quayar in Texas, allowing Henry Quayar, the incumbent conservative Democrat to win in his reelection bid, even though there was a progressive challenging him who would have been far better. Did I note, by the way, that Henry Quayar is currently under investigation for shady dealings with the Azerbaijani government? Seems like that could be a little bit of a liability in the general election. But it's okay. Clyburn and Pelosi decided to endorse that goon instead. But let me give you more.

So Dylan Wells tweets just asked whip Clyburn about the Dobbs decision. It's a little anti-climactic, he says. I think we all expected this. And I'm hopeful, you know, I have to read the decision to see exactly the extent to which we can move legislatively to respond to it. Hey, ladies, Democratic leadership thinks the reversal of Roe, the reversal of your ability to make decisions about your own body was anticlimactic. Donate money to that guy. Because what? What is he going to do with it? Help support more conservative Democrats who are under FBI investigation for shady dealings with the foreign government. Is that, is that where the money's going to go? And as we know, that is where the money went, at least a portion of that money.

Now, I want to fast forward to just how common this kind of failure is. And the Democratic Party gets very touchy over this type of critique toward Barack Obama, former President Barack Obama, because the fact of the matter is back in 2009, he had a super majority. First two years of his first term, he had a super majority, meaning that even that legislative filibuster in the Senate was no biggie. He had enough Democratic senators. But then what happened? Well, in 2007, Obama said something really, really interesting. Okay, this is campaign Obama. We got to make that distinction.

Let's actually go to the video guys, okay? I want you to go to 2007 Obama, okay? I believe this is the, yes, the last video here. Just notice what he said he'd be willing to do and what he ended up doing. Well, the first thing I do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. Freedom of Choice Act is not my highest legislative priority. So in the beginning of that video, you have 2007 Obama and in the end, you have 2009 Obama. Let me give you more context. In 2007, Obama promised, promised Planned Parenthood that the first thing I do as president would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which effectively codifies Roe v. Wade.

Now he says the bill is, quote, not my highest legislative priority. As he put it at a recent news conference, this is from a New York Times piece in May of 2009. And then in that same piece, by the way, you have Obama capitulating to the right wing zealots, to theocratic authoritarians in this country to craft abortion policy. I'm not even kidding, let me read you. Obama is also reaching out at his direction. His top domestic policy advisor, Melanie Barnes, is convening a series of discussions with people on both sides of the debate, with a goal to draft a set of policy recommendations by late summer. We're not interested in what right wing zealots have to say about women's bodies and whether or not they should be able to control their bodies, not interested in individuals who don't respect our constitution. Don't respect equal protection regardless of what your identity is.

This is a complete and utter disaster, not just for women. And let's be clear, the priority here happens to be the women who will suffer the consequences of the democratic incompetence here. But let's also keep it real. This is a disaster for the Democratic Party. They are in denial about it. They think that everything, politics as usual, everything is totally fine. everything is totally fine. All we're gonna do is talk about the boogeymen on the other side and

people they're gonna do as they're told and they're gonna support us no matter what. Because what other option do they have? Well look, as Zoe Warren pointed out earlier, you can support anyone who is challenging corporate incumbent Democrats. And when I say anyone, Obviously, I'm referring to progressive challengers. That's why primaries are so important. That's why TYT does extensive coverage of the primaries, including the primary elections that will take place tomorrow night. Make sure you check that out starting at 5 p.m. Pacific, 8 p.m. Eastern.

But aside from that, if you're looking to financially support anyone, the last people, group of people you should be supporting, are members of Democratic leadership or the Democratic National Committee, when they have abandoned you, when they have not fought for you, when they've taken your money and they've done terrible things with it, including supporting people like Henry Quayar. By the way, Pelosi and Clyburn supported right wing Democrat, anti-choice Democrat Henry Quayar after, after the Supreme Court leak.

Now, they don't care about you. But that money could go to organizations that are helping women who are living in states where their abortion rights have been completely stripped away from them, people living in red states. So look into those organizations. Go to t-y-t.com slash my body, my choice. There are some resources there. If you're looking to financially support an organization that's actually effective, I should also note that Zoe is with an organization herself known as rise up for abortion rights.org. That's rise up for abortion rights.org. And look, for the Democratic defenders on social media, if you think you're going to shame women who are enraged today

into supporting candidates and Democratic Party members who have failed them, you got to think about a different strategy. Brothers and sisters, you got to wake up. That is incredibly insulting. And I think it's really important for the Democratic Party to have a rude awakening regarding their failures. If we keep providing cover for them, they're going to keep failing us. And they have failed us in the worst possible way. All right, we got to take a break. We will be back with more news, including, well, what protesters were met with over the weekend, including one actress in LA who was roughed up by the LAPD. Don't miss that story. We've got that more coming right up. of Zoe Warren, that is the protester we were talking about earlier in the show.

It's like that protester watches TYT, good for her telling Joe's campaign to stick it. Yeah, I don't look, I don't know if she watches TYT, but her argument was very TYT-esque, and it felt good to hear it on another platform. It felt good to hear it, especially on a cable news channel like MSNBC. So I really want to thank her from the bottom of my heart because that kind of message is important to get to the Democratic Party. And I know for a fact that Democrats are paying attention to outlets like MSNBC. So I have no doubt they've heard that message. And thank you to Alyssa Young who sent a super chat as well with the comment right on Anna. Really appreciate everyone's

support. All right, well let's move on to how the protesters were treated over the weekend because it was not good. That processor that you just saw get roughed up by cops happens to be an actress. Jody Sweden is the person who got thrown onto the freeway by members of the LAPD. So in other words, Stephanie Tanner from Full House apparently was such a a threat to cops that they decided to grab her and throw her onto the freeway where protesters were protesting the reversal of Roe v. Wade, meaning that constitutional protections for women's reproductive rights have been done away with. Now that is to say the least a very worthy cause

and I'm very supportive of the protesters, but Sweden was trying to do something very specific before she was roughed up by the cops. She was trying to lead them away, away from the freeway. She was trying to lead a group of peaceful protesters away from the freeway. LAPD, what are y'all doing? And this is a tweet from Mike Aid. Jody is the definition of a real one and fortunately she's okay. But for others who choose to protest today, move with caution and keep your head on a swivel, it's going to be a very long summer.

So for those who think, no, no, no, police brutality is totally fine if people are blocking the freeway. She was not trying to block the freeway. She was trying to get the protesters safely off the freeway before she was thrown onto the freeway in a vicious manner. Luckily, she did not get hurt. That is the good news. In fact, in a statement to people, she said, quote, our activism will continue until our voices are heard and action is taken. this will not deter us, we will continue fighting for our rights. We are not free until all of us are free. So I commend her for that. I commend people who have taken to the streets to protest what is

happening right now. I think that protests are important, but we also have to acknowledge and accept that protests without a structure behind it, without a real plan behind the demonstrations have limited outcomes. And I think that we experienced that after the summer of 2020. And this is why it's so incredibly important to start building labor power in this country, right? Because I'm sure many of you who are paying attention to what's happening, the possible solutions to kind of hinder or counteract, mitigate the damage that's being done by corporate, you know, politicians,

You probably saw general strike, we need to do a general strike, which I hear you, general strike is great, but we need to really inform ourselves about what is necessary to have a general strike in place, right? There's a lot that goes into that. You can't just snap your fingers and expect a general strike the next day. And what you do is you build power through organized labor, organized individuals who are able to coordinate with one another and carry out something like a general strike. So it's important for us to understand the work that goes behind that, and in coming episodes of TYT, we'll talk about that in more detail. I think it's a really, really important part of, you know, counteracting what we're seeing

with just the reversal of so many of our rights. But at the same time, I will also be honest, you know, I'm of two minds about some of the protest tactics that we saw over the weekend. Now, generally speaking, I'm supportive of the protesters. I hate when the protest, the protests themselves and the tactics used become the focus of national discourse. I hate that because that is not what the point is here. The point is people are legitimately and legitimately frustrated, infuriated, want to speak out, and that's important to protect. But I also think, look, protests are not supposed to be convenient for people, right?

So if you just do a protest where you're roped off, roped off in a corner somewhere and you've got the right permits for it and you've done everything you're supposed to do to ensure that people aren't made uncomfortable by you speaking out, well, then that protest isn't really a protest. It doesn't really accomplish much. It certainly doesn't get the attention that it deserves, especially considering what these protests are trying to draw attention to. So I think that protests, you could be as critical of them as you want, you can be upset about maybe being stuck in bumper to bumper traffic because protesters are blocking the streets. If you're a protester in some of these red states, please know what the laws are because some

state lawmakers have passed legislation that would make it okay for drivers to run protesters over if they're blocking the road. So I want to make sure people have the information necessary to keep themselves safe. But again, protests are not, in my opinion, supposed to be convenient. They're supposed to send a message, a strong one. Conservative justices in the Supreme Court sent us a strong message. And so it's really, really important that we send a strong message back, right? Now, we don't do it in a violent way. We don't threaten their lives.

You lose the argument immediately when you do that. But I really think for anyone who is being overly critical about some of the tactics that are used, take a step back and think about the rage that people feel. Think about why they're feeling that rage. And think about what you can do to help, maybe steer the demonstrations or steer this movement in a direction that you think is more productive. But again, it's not just about these demonstrations. It's about building power, building a successful and persistent outside pressure campaign. So it doesn't just devolve into, we did a few protests, people were really mad for a few weeks, and then it fizzled out.

There needs to be lasting and persistent action here. And it needs to go beyond electoral politics. I think that's the important thing to keep in mind. The other thing I just want to note is, yeah, the cops aren't there to protect and say, they're not there to protect you if you're a demonstrator, clearly. And I think what we saw in that Sweden video was cops essentially retaliating against her as she was trying to get these protesters off the freeway. I mean, unbelievable, and I do think that it amounts to an act of intimidation.

It sends a message to demonstrators, hey, if you speak out, if you voice your rage at what's happening now with your rights being stripped away by ideologues in the Supreme Court, well, there are going to be some consequences, both legally and physically. And I'm really happy to see the protesters, including Jody Sweden, are undeterred and they are still going to speak out because it's what we really need. But anyway, just wanted to share that with you. I agree with the journalist here, Mike Aid, who says keep your head on a swivel, be careful, just keep yourself safe out there. And if you can work from home, try to work from home because if they shut down freeways, you shouldn't be upset at them, right? Your focus should be on, Well, what is it that they're trying to communicate about? What can we do to help? Because again, you might think it's not a big deal if it's just women's reproductive rights.

But Clarence Thomas is making it very clear that he wants to reverse other constitutional protections that give, say, gay couples the right to marry. He wants to take another look at media libel laws. I wonder what that means. I mean, all of these rights that we have enjoyed are now. on the table for reversal. And so instead of being overly critical, let's think about ways that we can help to make this as productive as possible and successful as possible. All right. Well, let's move on to our next story. I want to talk about these Nazis that we have in Congress, unfortunately. Let's do it.

President Trump, on behalf of all the MAGA patriots in America, I want to thank you for the historic victory for white life in the Supreme Court yesterday. No, you heard that right. You heard that right. That was Republican lawmaker, Mary Miller, who had a mask off moment during a pro-Trump rally that took place in Mendon, Illinois. She specifically said that she wanted to thank Trump for protecting white life, for protecting white life. Now, following that statement, there was an attempt to backpedal, an attempt to say that she misspoke. No, she didn't mean, she didn't mean white life. She meant right to life, right to life. Notice though that the audience didn't even flinch. The audience heard protect white life and proceeded to provide a round of applause. Because I don't believe for a second. And I refuse to accept

that she misspoke. How do you mix up protect white life? life to with protect the right to life. I mean, the words are spelled a little differently. I don't know if conservatives know that, but yeah, white and right, meaning right to life. Two different words, spelled differently, not buying her excuse here at all. But what is her excuse?

Well, she has a spokesman who came out. His name is Isaiah Wartman. He said the Illinois Republican misread her prepared speech and was supposed to declare the divisive court ruling a victory for the right to life. You can clearly see in the video, she's looking at her papers and looking at her speech. Yeah, but even if she's looking at her papers, as I explained, how do you mix up those two words that are spelled differently? It just doesn't make any sense. And how do you explain the pro-Trump crowd in that rally, in Illinois, continuing to clap, even though she clearly said protect white life.

And this feeds into what has been a rallying cry for right wingers in this country. The conspiracy theories about white replacement, that is not some fringe group that happens to be the loudest. No, these conspiracy theorists who are terrified about the declining population of white individuals in America are definitely fearful, are definitely, you have politicians and conservative pundits alike promoting that conspiracy theory, fear mongering about the white population in America. And that's the reason why you have all those people in that audience at that rally clapping after she clearly says, we want to thank you for protecting. white life and make no mistake about it. The reversal of women's reproductive rights in America absolutely has something to do with wanting to repopulate this country with white people, with white babies. So for all the white women out there who love to support the right wing movement, love to vote for right wing politicians, can't go a night without watching Tucker

Carlson, they want to force you, you to have forced pregnancies. You're part of their master plan. You are considered a second class citizen who does not have the right to make decisions, medical decisions about her own body. Without the government getting involved, without you being surveilled, you're just seen as a vessel for their white repopulation of this country. They see in the future, mass deportations, they've already taken asylum seekers and legal means of immigration to a minimum, to a standstill at the border, with the help of the federal courts, of course. This is why elections do matter, especially when it comes to a president's ability to appoint federal judges and Supreme Court justices. This is not a mistake.

I don't want anyone, I'm tired of them gaslighting us guys. We cannot let them gaslight us. Don't accept whatever excuses they throw out you because you have to take this moment that that we saw in this one rally and to put it in a broader picture of what we've been experiencing with Republicans in this country. In fact, let me give you more because Miller has said some other super problem things in the past, including the fact that last year, she was forced to apologize after quoting Hitler.

She quoted Hitler at a Moms for America event in Washington. Hitler was right on one thing. He said, whoever has the youth has the future, Miller said during the rally, I wonder what she meant by that. Her remark, just two days after she was sworn in as a House member, led to calls for her resignation on social media from, from and from Democrats.

And she later apologized saying, quote, I sincerely apologize for any harm of my words caused and regret using a reference to one of the most evil dictators in history to illustrate the dangers that outside influences can have on our youth. You know, the dangers that I'm concerned about, the dangers on our youth typically come from the right wing in America, typically come from the Republican Party. You know, these are individuals who purport to care about human lives, want to protect human lives. Oh my God, we care about those zygotes and those fetuses so, so much, those embryos, those embryos, we got to protect those embryos. It's all about the right to life. But the Republican Party is pretty vicious when it comes to their austerity measures. when they want to protect the corporate interests who fund their campaigns,

who provide the donations for their campaign coffers, those are the people they want to protect. And in order to do that, that would mean they have to keep cutting taxes on the rich. They got to not only protect, but expand the ever-growing inequality in this country that has an increasing number of hardworking Americans end up on the streets. with their children, by the way. Right wingers would much rather cut social spending programs that keep children fed, housed and alive in order to do right by their corporate donors. And then they look at us with a straight face and they tell us they care about babies.

They care about children. They care about human lives. Action speak louder than words. And to be quite honest, I have yet to see a Republican Party. in this country that has ever given a damn about human lives. They're pro-execution in our criminal justice system, meaning they're pro-state government execution while again purporting to be pro-life. They wind like little babies over a temporary act of putting a mask on to prevent the

spread of a lethal virus during the global pandemic. They continue to chip away at our already minuscule social spending programs, knowing very well that the food stamps that they're cutting funding for overwhelmingly help families with children, children who need nutrients to survive. These people are monsters. They have shown us over and over again that they're monsters. So when they tell you who they are, believe them. And when they try to backtrack because there's a little bit of backlash, give them the middle finger because they're lying to you. Stop letting them gaslight you. They're telling us who they are. We should believe them. All right, we got to take a break. We'll be right back.

Welcome back to TYT. I'm your host, Anna Kasparian. Let's get right to our next story, because I'm noticing a lot of positive PR for US corporations following the reversal of Roe v. Wade. And I want to crush that narrative because it's BS. So several United States companies have announced that they will help their employees who are seeking abortions now that the Supreme Court has effectively reversed Roe v. Wade. And how are they planning on doing it? Well, if you work for one of these companies and you reside in a red state that has banned abortion, they will pay for the travel costs associated with getting you to a state where you can access abortion. And there's been a lot of positive

coverage on this. Now, it is not only far from the ideal solution, but it also helps corporations cover up their shady history of donations to politicians who have fought aggressively and have succeeded in reversing women's reproductive rights. I'll get to those numbers and those receipts in just a moment. But first, the heart of the story, who's doing this? And is it really going to be effective. Well, many banks and tech firms, according to the Guardian, have announced they will cover travel expenses for U.S. workers in need of abortions as part of their medical benefits. After the reversal was announced Friday, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs joined Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase in offering travel benefits. Oh, thank God. You guys, thank God.

No need to worry. No need to worry. The big banks are going to save us, everyone. The big banks are going to save us. They're going to protect our rights. I mean, they've collapsed our economy, they've led to the housing crisis, I mean, hundreds of thousands of Americans are homeless as a result, but don't worry that they're going to pay for the travel expenses of their employees who need to go out of state to get an abortion. Now, there are issues with this. Let's name some names though. Apple has said the existing benefits package allows employees to travel out of state for medical care. And Facebook parent meta has said will offer travel expense reimbursement to the extent permitted by law, Zuckerberg, a little

concerned about state laws that would prevent, you know, people from traveling to other states to obtain an abortion. But just to continue that, in entertainment, Disney, Condé Nast, Warner Brothers, Discovery, and Netflix are among those that have said they will offer travel reimbursements. Great. So, you know, got to say, as a woman, nothing feels better than go into your boss and telling your boss, hey yo, I got to take some time off and take advantage of that medical benefit of you paying my travel expenses because I got to get an abortion. What woman doesn't want to tell their boss that they have an unwanted pregnancy and they want to travel out of state for an abortion? Let me just say I live in California. Luckily and so far,

there isn't a federal ban on abortion, which is likely to come once Republicans have control of Congress and the presidency. never want to have a conversation with anyone who employs me, including Jenk, by the way, about an unwanted pregnancy. That is such a violation of our privacy to have to go to our bosses and ask for reimbursement of travel expenses because we need to go out of state for an abortion. But there's more to this, right? Other issues. Corporations can also decide which employees are covered by this benefit and which employees are not covered by this benefit. Starbucks said, for instance, it will reimburse abortion travel expenses for

partners enrolled in its health care plan if a legal provider isn't in the partner's state of residence or within a hundred miles of their home. But there are exceptions, but it added that it could not make promises of guarantees about any benefits for unionized stores. You guys, I mean, fair, right? So fair. Like, who wouldn't want corporations to decide, to pick winners and losers, to decide whether or not you qualify for an incredibly important benefits that really could have an impact on the rest of your life. Corporations always make really good decisions, like retaliating against workers who organize and demand better treatment in their workplace, demand better pay for the work they do in generating revenue and record

profits for these companies. What could go wrong? What could go wrong? But the corporate media has been covering this like Starbucks to the rescue. Am I right? No, not not right. No, you're not right actually. And we already have a problem with a health care system that relies heavily on our employers to provide healthcare coverage that keeps us stuck in jobs that we despise. Adding more to that garbage ain't it, this ain't it. Now let's also talk about the final reason why, I would argue the biggest reason why these companies don't deserve any credit or positive PR, it's because they got us into this mess in the first place through their financial backing, their financial support of politicians who have succeeded in putting a structure in place,

including federal judges and the United States Supreme Court, putting these judges in place to strip us of our rights. What do I mean? Well, let's take a look at Bank of America, who they donated to as an organization. Kevin McCarthy, $10,000 from Bank of America, David another Republican, $8,500 from Bank of America. Oh, Steve Scalise, Republican from Louisiana, $5,000 from Bank of America as an organization. You've got that turtle goon, Mitch McConnell, House minority, I'm sorry, Senate Minority Leader, 2,500, and then Liz Cheney, 2,500. These are all anti-choice zealots who have been supported by the very bank that now claims,

we're really going to take a stand for women here. Now individual donations, by the way, refers to any donations made by members of the company, employees, owners of a company as well as their family members, and Bank of America's donation to the National Republican Congressional Committee, for instance, significant. This is where the numbers really start to explode. Nearly half a million dollars for the NRCC. Then you've got Donald Trump who received 400, 400. $164,935 from Bank of America.

You've got Lindsey Graham who also received 46,924. Oops, I skipped the RNC, which received 229,140. Same with Walt Disney. Okay, take a look at this list of individuals in the Republican Party who received Walt Disney money from the organization. You've got Doug Collins, Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, Rick Scott, Marco Rubio, all anti-choice zealots who don't want women to have. have the ability to make decisions, the legal ability, constitutionally protected ability to

make decisions about their own bodies. And again, just like with Bank of America, the numbers explode when you take a look at, you know, how much they have donated, how much Walt Disney has donated from individual donations to America First Action, God, 10.5 million Republican National Committee, $667,224. Donald Trump received. 128,747. You guys get the picture. They created this mess. Now, they did it not to strip women of their reproductive rights. They did it because they wanted to save taxes. Because in corporate America, in a country that is ruled by corporate interests, that is the number one priority. Corporate profit reigns supreme. Never mind your concerns about democracy being,

dismantled by the very individuals who received that money in the first place, never mind the fact that their money funds politicians who want to strip us of our rights and very transparently, candidly tell us they want to strip us of our rights. They want to then turn around and get a round of applause for paying for travel expenses. If if women feel comfortable, if they're female employers feel comfortable asking them for permission, no, no cookies for you. Again, they created this mess, no cookies for you. ladies and gentlemen. So let's get right to it. A grocery store worker in Staten Island was arrested for assault after Rudy Giuliani claimed the man violently assaulted him. But it turns

out that video evidence, surveillance of the incident doesn't really show what Rudy Giuliani claims happened. Now here's what Giuliani said about the alleged assault on a conservative of radio show. Let's watch. All of a sudden, I feel a shot on my back. Like somebody shot me. I went forward, but luckily I didn't fall down. Lucky I'm a 78 year old is in pretty good shape. Because if I wasn't, I'd have hit the ground and probably cracked my skull.

Wow. I mean, that sounds serious. Rudy Giuliani is an older gentleman. Okay. I obviously am being very generous with the use of the word gentleman here and also sarcastic. Crack his skull, I mean, I don't want to promote violence. This is terrible. In fact, the radio show that he was on had a host who really made a point to talk about how serious this assault was. Okay, before Giuliani came in, he told the audience about the seriousness of the incident.

Let's listen to that. Rudy Giuliani got jumped that sucker punched and yet he got hit he turned around he gritted it he bared with it

and as we speak right now he's leaving a little league game out there in Statenada that's right he took that blow it didn't knock him down to the ground and he just kept moving just kept moving well I'm going to let him explain the details

because we were able to get to first exclusive interview right after he got Colcock, sucker punched by this menace to society. Rudy Giuliani, he got jumped. He got sucker punched. I don't want to put words in his mouth, okay? I don't want to put words in his mouth, but that's what happened. He got clocked. He got clocked. Let me just say, don't agree with this guy on pretty much anything. I'm talking about the conservative host here. But I do enjoy his delivery. In fact, this is my favorite part about what he had to say. Rudy Giuliani got jumped.

That sucker punched. Yeah, sucker punched. A little spittle situation happening there. All right. Well, we've been, you know, kind of primed to see. this surveillance video and think, man, it's probably really bad. Rudy Giuliani almost broke his skull. He almost died. Sounds like he almost died. All right, let's take a look at the surveillance. Let's keep my mic up since there's no sound. That's it, what you just saw. It already happened.

That was it. That was it. Let's play it again. He got clocked. Rudy Giuliani got clocked. He got sucker punched. The guy looks like did a quick slap on his back. back. And apparently according to Rudy Giuliani, although take anything he has to say with a great assault, because he clearly exaggerated the situation, he claims that the guy said something that was very mean, very mean because he was upset about the reversal of Roe, meaning that women's autonomy, their decision, their ability to make decisions about their own bodies have been stripped away from them, something that Rudy Giuliani and conservatives have been fighting for, right?

He did not get punched. He did not get sucker punched. But it doesn't matter because it turns out that he called for this guy, this grocery store worker in Staten Island to get arrested. And sure enough, he did get arrested. ShopRite employee, a 39-year-old, Staten Island resident by the name of Daniel Gill, has been arrested and charged with assault of someone 65 or older, a felony, by the way. The video has no sound, but the NYPD spokesman said, Gil asked, what's up, scumbag?

When he approached Giuliani, which is there something wrong with calling him a scumbag? Isn't that what he is? And don't we have protections to say what we want to say? Now, he's being charged with assault, not, you know, saying something mean to Giuliani. But Giuliani, I mean, being called a scumbag is like the most violent. thing ever. Someone putting, slapping him on the back is the equivalent of like serious assault where he almost broke his skull. It's just, it's unbelievable. Look, you hear from right wingers, including people like Tucker Carlson, argue that it's the feminist fault that

men in America are weak now because of the feminists. The feminist led to the person of men. You hear that over and over again. Maybe these guys are were cowards from the jump. Have you considered that? A guy who hyperventilates over what you just saw in that video. And look, I personally don't think you should put your hands on anyone in any way unless it's clear that they're okay with it. Right. So I wouldn't have touched Giuliani at all. But to argue that that is assault and that someone should be prosecuted for it is insane. He got jumped. He got sucker punched. Except he didn't. Except he didn't. And what's interesting is how Giuliani later scoffed at the police who asked to see surveillance before arresting the guy. Let's listen to that. The one, two, three precinct. Do you know that place?

And I told the people there, I want this guy held, and I want him arrested. They said, we have to look at. the tape. Why didn't trust me? They looked at the tape and they said, my God, he really hit you very hard. I have five witnesses, including one of city worker and the other a retired detective. The city worker said that I was hit so hard and almost knocked her over. So we got the guy arrested. Okay, just there's so much to unpack in that from that video. Yeah, the authorities need to see the surveillance. They need to see evidence before they just arrest someone. They didn't trust me. Yeah, Rudy, you're a liar. You're still lying about how the election was stolen from Donald Trump and how you alleged to have mountains of evidence proving it. Even after you lost

more than 60 court battles, you guys lost and you refused to accept it. You keep lying to the American people about it. The January 6 commission, during the hearings, we learned that internally, Rudy Giuliani thought Eastman's plan of installing sham electors was crazy, was unhinged. But then on January 6th, during his speech, he promoted it knowing that it was a BS theory that had absolutely no root in reality. Yeah, you're a liar. And even if he wasn't a liar, even if he wasn't known for being a lunatic liar. Yeah, the authorities need to see evidence. They need to see evidence before they just arrest someone.

You can't just tell cops, like, I don't like that guy, arrest them. The fact that this man got arrested in the first place, I think is outrageous and the charges should be dropped. Because again, no one was assaulted. No one was sucker punched. No one was jumped. These people are so incredibly fragile. They want to provide cover for capital rioters who were vicious on January 6th,

absolutely vicious and continue to do, continue to threat Americans with violence. They provide a cover for them, but once they get a little bit of backlash in the flesh, oh my God, he got sucker punched. No, he didn't. He didn't. And of men in the Republican Party was apparently already an issue. Because that weakness, that exaggeration, absolutely pathetic. If you can't take the heat, how about you shut up and get out of public life? Anyway, we've got a lot more to get to.

So stick around. Jessica Burbank will be joining us for hour two, where we've got a lot more important stories to get to. We'll see you there. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work, listen to ad-free, access members-only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at apple.com at apple.com slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.