Links to today’s show transcripts:

Mental Health Experts Demand Psychological Assessment of Kavanaugh for Drinking, Instability
Donald Trump openly mocked Dr. Christine Blasey Ford at a rally Tuesday, casting doubt on her claims that Brett Kavanaugh had tried to rape her in high school, just days after calling her a very credible witness. As the FBI continues its investigation into Dr. Blasey Ford’s claims, a group of mental health experts are calling for Kavanaugh to undergo a full psychological and substance abuse assessment before the Senate votes on his confirmation. Dr. Bandy Lee of the Yale School of Medicine, is the lead author of a letter titled “Mental Health Experts Urge Examination Based on Warning Signs in Kavanaugh Testimony.” The letter reads, “Judge Kavanaugh exhibited behavior that, if engaged in during his possible tenure as a Supreme Court Justice, would yield a dangerous combination of instability and power.”

Is Donald Trump Mentally Fit to Be President? Dr. Bandy Lee Questions Trump’s Capacity to Govern
As questions swirl around Brett Kavanaugh’s eligibility to join the Supreme Court, some are asking if President Donald Trump should have had the power to nominate him in the first place. Dr. Bandy Lee is a forensic psychiatrist on the faculty of Yale School of Medicine, and speaks about Trump’s mental state and the possibility of removing him from office using the 25th Amendment. Dr. Lee is an internationally recognized expert on violence. She is the editor of the best-selling book, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President.”

Lift Us Up: Meet the Activists on the Front Lines of the Battle for Educational Justice in America
As Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh objects to being held accountable for his behavior in high school, we look at the criminalization of black and brown students that has led to what is known as the school-to-prison pipeline. Community activists are engaged in the fight to save schools and push for alternatives to punishment and privatization. Their voices are highlighted in a new book titled “Lift Us Up, Don’t Push Us Out! Voices from the Front Lines of the Educational Justice Movement.” In Chicago, Jitu Brown is the national director of the Journey for Justice. In Washington, D.C., Zakiya Sankara-Jabar is the co-founder of Racial Justice NOW! and field organizer for the Dignity in Schools Campaign. And in New York City, high school teacher and restorative justice coordinator E.M. Eisen-Markowitz and Mark Warren, co-author of “Lift Us Up, Don’t Push Us Out!” are interviewed.

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Kavanaugh Schoolmate Urges Georgetown Prep Grads to Break Silence on Sexual Assault, Party Culture
As the FBI presses forward with a limited investigation into allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a group of alumni from his all-male high school Georgetown Prep are calling for graduates to come forward if they have information about sexual assaults committed by their former classmate. In 2015, Kavanaugh told an audience at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law that “What happens at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep.” But the petition implores graduates of the elite prep school, “Please do not remain silent, even if speaking out comes at some personal cost.” Bill Barbot was a freshman at Georgetown Prep when Brett Kavanaugh was a senior. Barbot co-authored a petition calling on fellow graduates to come forward if they have information about any sexual assaults possibly committed by the Supreme Court nominee.

ACLU Formally Opposes Kavanaugh, Citing Credible Sexual Assault Allegations & Partisan Temperament
The American Civil Liberties Union has come out against the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. It is only the fourth time in the organization’s 98-year history that its national board of directors has voted to oppose a Supreme Court nominee. ACLU President Susan Herman said in a statement, “As a nonpartisan organization, the ACLU does not oppose Judge Kavanaugh based on predictions about how he would vote as a Justice. We oppose him in light of the credible allegations of sexual assault against him.” The ACLU has now launched a $1 million ad campaign across four states urging key swing-vote senators to vote against Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Louise Melling is the deputy legal director at the ACLU and director of its Center for Liberty.

Trump Admin Sends 1,600 Kids to Texas Tent City as Number of Detained Children Hits Record High
The Trump administration is transferring detained migrant children from shelters across the country to a barren tent city in West Texas. The New York Times reports that hundreds of children are being sent each week from shelters to the tent city, which currently houses 1,600 children. The facility reportedly has no school, and children have only limited access to legal services. The U.S. government is now detaining a record 13,000 migrant children. Louise Melling is deputy legal director at the ACLU, who says, “We have more children in detention now than ever before.”

What Does Trump’s “New NAFTA” Trade Deal Signal for Workers, Corporate Power & the Environment?
The United States and Canada have reached a tentative agreement to save NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, with a new trilateral deal that will be known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The Trump administration is touting the agreement as a victory for American dairy farmers, since Canada has agreed to open part of its dairy market to U.S. imports. But the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Trump withdrew from last year, would have provided the same opening. The new deal does not resolve a dispute over U.S. tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminum exports. The proposed deal must now be ratified by lawmakers in the three countries. Lori Wallach is the director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch and author of “The Rise and Fall of Fast Track Trade Authority.”

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Meet One of the Sex Assault Survivors Who Confronted Jeff Flake & Triggered FBI Probe of Kavanaugh
Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona was on his way to cast his vote, shortly after announcing his intentions to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, when he was confronted in an elevator by two women who are sexual assault survivors. The women held open the elevator door, telling Flake, through their tears, that he was dismissing their pain. Soon after, Flake surprised his colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee by advancing Kavanaugh’s nomination but asking for an FBI investigation before the full Senate vote. President Trump has now ordered an FBI investigation into Kavanaugh. Ana María Archila is one of the women credited with helping to delay Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

Ex-Senate Aide: Judge Brett Kavanaugh Has Lied Every Time He Has Testified Under Oath
The FBI is investigating Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified last week that he attempted to rape her in 1982. But Democrats say the FBI’s probe is too limited, and critics claim that Kavanaugh has repeatedly committed perjury by lying during his testimony about his drinking habits, the content of his yearbook and a spate of other topics. Lisa Graves is the co-director of Documented, which investigates corporate influence on democracy. She is the former chief counsel for nominations for the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and was deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice. Her recent article for Slate is titled “I Wrote Some of the Stolen Memos That Brett Kavanaugh Lied to the Senate About.”

Kimberlé Crenshaw: How Society Embraces Male Denials, from Clarence Thomas to Brett Kavanaugh
When President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testified last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he called Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations against him and the subsequent fallout a “circus” orchestrated by the Democrats. His language echoed Clarence Thomas, who nearly 30 years ago said of the Anita Hill trials, “This is a circus. It’s a national disgrace. … It is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves.” Kimberlé Crenshaw is a professor of law at UCLA and Columbia University who assisted Anita Hill’s legal team. She is the founder of the African American Policy Forum. Her piece for The New York Times last week was headlined “We Still Haven’t Learned from Anita Hill’s Testimony.”

Order Eric’s Autumn Reading, which will cover Venus retrograde and beyond, and comprises all 12 signs. This will give you crucial insight into your Sun and rising signs, plus those of your closest partners, friends, family members and prospective lovers. Each sign will be 30 to 40 minutes each, and the set will come with a video introduction. You may order here, or call us at (845) 481-5616.

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Despite Gut-Wrenching Testimony from Dr. Blasey Ford, GOP Moves Forward with Vote on Kavanaugh
The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee is preparing to vote on the confirmation of Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh after an extraordinary day of testimony from Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who testified she is “100 percent positive” that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her at a high school party in 1982. During the hearing, Kavanaugh said he was innocent and claimed he was the victim of a left-wing plot of “revenge on behalf of the Clintons.” Dr. Blasey Ford’s full opening statement is played.

Brett Kavanaugh Barely Controls His Rage in Combative Testimony Denying Sexual Assault Allegations
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified against President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh Thursday morning, saying with certainty that it was Kavanaugh who attempted to rape her when they were in high school in 1982. Judge Kavanaugh repeatedly denied Blasey Ford’s allegations, denouncing her testimony with barely-controlled rage and repeatedly choking up with in tears in his eyes. He singled out Democrats on the committee and accused them of staging a “circus” aimed at derailing his confirmation. An excerpt is featured from Kavanaugh’s opening statement.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford: I Am 100% Certain Brett Kavanaugh Attempted to Rape Me in 1982
Excerpts are featured from the questioning at Thursday’s historic hearing, when Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified she was “100 percent positive” that Brett Kavanaugh attempted to rape her in the summer of 1982 during Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, as both Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh faced hours of questioning. Not one of the eleven Republican senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who are all white men, questioned Dr. Blasey Ford directly. Instead, they ceded their time to Arizona sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, who Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called a “female assistant.” Mitchell was also scheduled to question Kavanaugh on behalf of Republican senators, but they quickly stopped her line of questioning after she asked Kavanaugh about details of the parties he attended in the summer of 1982. Kavanaugh repeatedly refused to call for an FBI investigation into Dr. Blasey Ford’s claims during the hearing. Senator Richard Blumenthal said that President Trump’s failure to call for an FBI investigation is “tantamount to a cover-up.”

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“Con Game”? Trump Accuser Jessica Leeds Responds to His Dismissal of Sexual Assault Allegations
Ahead of today’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, President Trump lashes out at the women who have accused him and his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, saying Democrats are running a “con game.” Jessica Leeds, whom Trump referenced in comments Wednesday, responds. She is one of 16 Trump accusers, who says he groped her in the first-class cabin of a commercial flight in 1979.

Bill Cosby Survivor Lili Bernard: Women Who Report Sexual Assault Are Often “Re-Raped” in Court
Bill Cosby rape survivor Lili Bernard responds to President Trump’s dismissal of sexual assault allegations against himself and his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh ahead of today’s hearing in which his accuser, Dr. Christine Ford, is set to testify. “Never in my life would I have imagined that the same week in which my serial rapist … is entered into a state penitentiary for years, that the nominated Supreme Court justice would be in a hearing where he has to face questions about sexual assault,” Bernard says. She is a visual artist and actor who has accused Bill Cosby of drugging and raping her in the early 1990s when he mentored her in preparation for her guest-starring role on “The Cosby Show.”

Yale Law Students Protest Alum Brett Kavanaugh, Demand Investigation of Sexual Assault Allegations
Thousands of Yale students are protesting Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in support of Deborah Ramirez, the Yale alumna who alleges that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her by thrusting his genitals in her face at a drunken dorm party when they were both freshmen. Kavanaugh is a graduate of both Yale University and the Yale Law School. More than 2,800 Yale women have signed a letter of support for Ramirez. On Monday, Yale Law School faculty canceled 31 classes to allow more than 260 of their students to join a protest in support of Ramirez. Yale Law School student Samantha Peltz, who helped organize the protests against Brett Kavanaugh, says that Yale students will “continue speaking out, speaking to the press, until we feel there is a full and fair investigation.”

Trump Threatens Venezuela with New Sanctions Even as It Faces Economic & Humanitarian Crisis
President Nicolás Maduro addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday in a surprise visit, just one day after Donald Trump accused him of corruption and announced new sanctions against his wife Cilia Flores and other members of his inner circle. “Despite all of the differences, … I am willing to reach out my hand to the president of the United States and sit down to talk about the issues of bilateral differences and the issues of our region,” Maduro said. Trump said Wednesday that he would be willing to meet with Maduro and that all options are on the table to help end the political, economic and humanitarian chaos in Venezuela. Vijay Prashad is the director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and chief editor of LeftWord Books. He’s also the chief correspondent of Globetrotter.

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World Laughs at Trump as He Boasts About Himself in U.N. Address Threatening Iran, Venezuela
World leaders in the United Nations General Assembly burst out laughing when President Trump boasted about his accomplishments. Trump praised North Korea, attacked Germany and accused Iran of “sowing chaos, death, and destruction,” drawing scorn from Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. “What’s amazing is not that this hall of seasoned professionals laughed at him, but that he doesn’t get more laughter, and in the United States, these news programs take him seriously, and he should be laughed off the screen everywhere,” says Juan Cole, historian and author of “Engaging the Muslim World.”

Trump Admin Targets Immigrants Using Food Stamps & Medicaid & Puts Millions of Children at Risk
Drama unfolded Monday when Axios reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein verbally resigned over the weekend amid mounting tension over the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election. Last week, Rosenstein and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly met at the White House hours after The New York Times reported Rosenstein had suggested secretly recording Trump in the White House and discussed recruiting Cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office for being unfit. But on Monday, Trump confirmed Rosenstein still has a job, and said the two are scheduled to meet this Thursday. “I think once Mueller got Paul Manafort’s testimony locked in … to some degree, it was too late for Trump to completely undermine this investigation,” says Marcy Wheeler, in response to concerns that the Trump administration could shut down Mueller’s probe. Wheeler is an independent journalist who covers national security and civil liberties and runs the website EmptyWheel.net.

“A Tsunami of a Sentence”: Victory for Survivors as Bill Cosby Handed 3-10 Years In Prison for Rape
Dozens of women who have been accusing comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault for decades were vindicated Tuesday when the disgraced actor was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison by a Philadelphia judge and sent immediately to jail. In April, a jury found Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, former director of operations for the women’s basketball team at Temple University, at Cosby’s home in 2004. Constand is one of more than 60 women who have accused Cosby of sexual assaults dating back decades. Many of these women were in the courtroom when Cosby was sentenced. We are joined by one of them, Lili Bernard, a visual artist and actor who has accused Bill Cosby of drugging and raping her in the early 1990s when he mentored her in preparation for her guest starring role on The Cosby Show.

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#MeToo Founder Tarana Burke on Sexual Assault Allegations Against Kavanaugh: “We Believe Survivors”
Two women have now publicly accused President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, and at least 128 people were arrested on Capitol Hill Monday protesting his confirmation. “This is a time for us to not just show up via a viral hashtag, but in person with our feet to the street to say that we won’t be treated this way and we won’t stand for another survivor to be treated this way,” says Tarana Burke, founder of the “Me Too” movement, who called for the national walkout Monday in solidarity with survivors of sexual violence. Marcy Wheeler is an independent journalist who covers national security and civil liberties.

Marcy Wheeler: Rosenstein’s Ouster Would Not Necessarily Signal End of Mueller Investigation
Drama unfolded Monday when Axios reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein verbally resigned over the weekend amid mounting tension over the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election. Last week, Rosenstein and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly met at the White House hours after The New York Times reported Rosenstein had suggested secretly recording Trump in the White House and discussed recruiting Cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office for being unfit. But on Monday, Trump confirmed Rosenstein still has a job, and said the two are scheduled to meet this Thursday. “I think once Mueller got Paul Manafort’s testimony locked in … to some degree, it was too late for Trump to completely undermine this investigation,” says Marcy Wheeler, in response to concerns that the Trump administration could shut down Mueller’s probe. Wheeler is an independent journalist who covers national security and civil liberties and runs the website EmptyWheel.net.

Naomi Klein: A Year After Hurricane Maria, There Is Nothing Natural About Puerto Rico’s Disaster
One year since Hurricanes Maria and Irma killed thousands in Puerto Rico and caused the longest blackout in U.S. history, we are joined by Naomi Klein, author of “The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists,” whose recent report for The Intercept is titled “There’s Nothing Natural About Puerto Rico’s Disaster.” Last week, President Trump generated widespread criticism when he falsely claimed on Twitter that thousands of people did not die in the two storms, even as a Harvard study estimated the death toll may top 4,600. Meanwhile, on Monday, President Trump declared himself an “absolute no” on statehood for Puerto Rico as long as San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, a major critic of his administration’s response to Maria, is in office. Following is a discussion of the role of the unelected PROMESA fiscal control board in the island’s unfolding economic crisis, with co-host and reporter Juan González.

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“Survivors Must Be Heard”: 1,100 Alumnae of Dr. Blasey Ford’s H.S. Demand FBI Investigate Kavanaugh
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday about her allegations that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her when she was 15 years old and he was 17 years old. More than 1,100 alumnae of the Holton-Arms School, the Maryland prep school that Blasey Ford graduated from in 1984, have signed a letter in support of her sexual assault claims against Kavanaugh, saying they are grateful that she came forward to tell her story. In a letter, they wrote, “It demands a thorough and independent investigation before the Senate can reasonably vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to a lifetime seat on the nation’s highest court. Dr. Blasey Ford’s experience is all too consistent with stories we heard and lived while attending Holton. Many of us are survivors ourselves.” Holton-Arms School alumna Alexis Goldstein in Washington, D.C. speaks out. She helped organize the letter campaign in support of Blasey Ford. Jodi Jacobson, president and editor-in-chief of Rewire also comments.

Report: Senate Aides Knew of Second Kavanaugh Sexual Assault Claim & Tried to Rush His Confirmation
Senator Dianne Feinstein is calling for the immediate postponement of the nomination proceedings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after a second woman has come forward alleging sexual misconduct by the judge. Deborah Ramirez, a former classmate of Kavanaugh’s at Yale University, has accused him of exposing himself and thrusting his penis into her face during a college party in a dorm room. Ramirez spoke on the record to The New Yorker and is now calling on the FBI to investigate her allegations. The New Yorker revealed Republican Senate aides learned of Ramirez’s allegations last week and responded by trying to quickly move Kavanaugh’s nomination ahead before the allegations became public. This comes as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday about her allegations that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her when she was 15 years old and he was 17 years old. Kavanaugh has denied both accusations.

Dr. Barbara Ransby: What the Defamation of Anita Hill Can Teach Us About the Kavanaugh Hearings
News that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford will testify Thursday against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh has prompted many to warn senators not to repeat the mistakes of the Anita Hill hearings of 1991, when Hill was questioned by an all-male, all-white Senate Judiciary Committee over her allegations that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her in the workplace. In the weeks after Hill testified, nearly 1,600 black feminists organized as “African American Women in Defense of Ourselves” and signed a manifesto published in an advertisement in The New York Times. Activist Barbara Ransby is one of the initiators of the manifesto, who is now a professor of African American studies, gender and women’s studies and history at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Eric’s 2018 Autumn Reading, Empathy-Pathos, is now available for pre-order. This will be a 12-sign audio reading covering Venus retrograde and beyond. Pre-order all 12 signs now for just $88 — we will increase the price very soon.