plus, we speak with the leading community organizer and little pakistan and brooklyn, the neighborhood persevered after 9/11. can it survive in the age of trump? >> little pakistan and brooklyn, people stop me on the streets all the time asking me what to do. they are worried about their immigration status, their children, their families. amy: we will look at the case of yet another attempted deportation. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in georgia, republicans have pulled off a victory in the most expensive congressional race in history. in a special election in georgia's sixth district, republican karen handel won nearly 53% of the vote, defeating her challenger democrat jon ossoff to fill the seat left vacant after tom price resigned to become secretary of health and human services. the candidates and outside groups spent more than $55 million on the race, a record shattering amount. while the seat has been held by a republican for decades, democrats were hoping to pull off an upset in the suburban atlanta district where president trump's approval rating is just 35%. this marks the fourth congressional race democrats have lost since the election of trump. this is karen handel speaking tuesday night. >> and a special thanks to the president of the united states. [applause] amy: karen handel is the former secretary of state of georgia. she made national headlines in 2012 when she led never as the breast cancer chairlift susan g. komen to cut off funding for planned parenthood. meanwhile, in south carolina, republicans pulled off another victory in the special election to fill the seat left vacant by director of the office of management and budget mick mulvaney. republican ralph norman eked out a narrow victory over democratic challenger archie parnell. norman won only 51% of the vote -- a smaller margin than expected. we'll have more on the georgia and south carolina races after headlines. in news from capitol hill, attorney general jeff sessions has become the latest member of trump's inner circle to hire a personal lawyer amid the ongoing investigations into the trump administration's ties to russia. vice president mike pence and trump himself have also hired personal lawyers. on tuesday, special counsel robert mueller met with members of the house intelligence committee to discuss a plan to ensure that their parallel investigations don't conflict with one another. also on tuesday, white house press secretary sean spicer told reporters trump will make an announcement this week about whether the president taped any of his conversations with former fbi director james comey. last month in a twitter rant, trump threatened comey over the possibility of taped conversations, tweeting -- "james comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" sean spicer also said tuesday that he hasn't talked to trump about whether he believes that rush interfered with the 2016 u.s. election. during the first on camera white house press briefing in eight days. meanwhile, in more news on sean spicer, unnamed officials say spicer may be ousted as white house press secretary. the speculation comes only weeks after trump's communications director, michael dubke, resigned. "the new york times" is reporting senior officials from multiple federal agencies all worried that former national security adviser michael flynn was a blackmail risk as early as january, yet proceeded to allow him to participate in top-secret intelligence briefings alongside president trump for nearly three weeks, despite these concerns. "the times" reports officials from the fbi, the cia, the justice department, and the office of the director of national intelligence were all worried flynn might be susceptible to blackmail by russian officials after flynn lied about his conversations with the russian ambassador. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said republicans will release a draft of the healthcare bill on thursday morning as republicans face widespread outrage for negotiating the bill in secret, closed-door meetings. the republicans' bill would strip 23 million people of their health insurance, while giving billions of dollars in tax breaks to wealthy americans. they are pushing for a vote on the bill before the july 4 recess. we'll have more on the republican healthcare plan later in the broadcast. in the latest escalation in syria, the pentagon says a u.s. fighter jet shot down an iranian-made armed drone on tuesday, only days after the u.s. shot down a syrian warplane on sunday. the pentagon claims the drone was flying toward u.s.-backed syrian fighters. russian officials have threatened to target u.s. planes flying west of the euphrates river. tuesday's downing of the drone is sparking increasing fears of the possibility of a direct confrontation between the u.s. and russia in syria. this is united nations secretary general antonio guterres. >> i am concerned if there were some declarations more recently that gave us the idea that there of thee a de-escalation situation, and i strongly hope there will be a de-escalation of the situation because these kinds of incidents can be very dangerous with so many actors and within which the situation is so complex. i am concerned. i hope it will not lead to any escalation of a conflict that is already as medical as it is. amy: in saudi arabia, king salman has deposed his nephew as crown prince and has replaced him with his son, mohammed bin salman bin abdulaziz, who is now first in line for the thrown. mohammed bin salman currently serves as defense minister and has been presiding over the devastating us-backed saudi-led war in yemen. in response to the news, the huffington post's foreign affairs reporter akbar shahid ahmed tweeted -- "this is huge. man he is replacing was against qatar crusade + yemen war. saudi is doubling down on its most controversial actions." meanwhile, in yemen, health officials say multiple u.s.-backed saudi-led coalition airstrikes killed at least 25 civilians at a market in northern saada province sunday. graphic images that circulated on social media over the weekend show corpses lying amid rubble, and survivors surveying the damage to the market. more than 10,000 people have died amid the ongoing u.s.-backed saudi-led war in yemen, which has also destroyed yemen's health, water, and sanitation systems, sparking a deadly cholera outbreak. the u.s. state department expressed confusion tuesday about saudi arabia's move to cut diplomatic ties with qatar, saying the saudis and other gulf countries have not revealed their grievances more than two weeks after they severed ties. state department spokeswoman heather nauert said tuesday -- "at this point, we are left with one simple question: were the actions really about their concerns about qatar's alleged support for terrorism, or were they about the long-simmering grievances between and among the gcc countries?" referring to the gulf cooperation council countries. president trump initially celebrated and even tried to them credit for saudi arabia's decisions to cut ties with qatar tweeting -- but then a week later, the u.s. agreed to sell $12 million worth of u.s. manufactured f-15 fighter jets to qatar. secretary of state rex tillerson is meeting with chinese officials today. tillerson was planning to use the meetings to press chinese officials to continue to confront north korea over its nuclear program. but on tuesday afternoon, president trump appeared to abandon this effort in a cavalier tweet, writing -- "while i greatly appreciate the efforts of president xi & china to help with north korea, it has not worked out. at least i know china tried!" "the new york times" reports that senior officials say they're trying to understand the meaning of the tweet. in somalia, at least 15 people were killed in a suicide car bombing in the capital mogadishu tuesday. police say most of the victims were civilians. the militant group al-shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack. the international organization for migration says as many as refugees are missing and feared 120 drowned after a boat sank off the coast of libya on friday. the majority of the victims were sudanese and nigerian. at least 2000 refugees have died this year while attempting to cross the mediterranean and reach europe. meanwhile, in hungary the trial , has begun of four men charged with killing 71 refugees who were found suffocated in the back of an abandoned, overcrowded truck in 2015. the victims were from syria, iraq, afghanistan, and included at least four children. the men are also charged with human trafficking. the united nations is accusing a militia of committing human rights abuses in the congo, including ethnically motivated attacks against women and children in the central region. this is that you and write chief -- u.n. human rights chief. >> multiple villages in the territory indicated that in the past two months to militias have shot dead, hacked, or burned to death, a mutilated hundreds of villagers as well as destroying entire villages. amy: in honduras, journalist and congressional candidate victor funez was murdered outside his home in the caribbean coastal city of la ceiba last thursday. funez directed the local nighttime television news show . police say they've arrested a suspect in the case. human rights groups say funez is at least the 70th journalist murdered in honduras since 2001. uber founder travis kalanick has resigned as ceo amid a widespread sexual harassment scandal at the wall street-backed ride hailing company. his departure comes after a revolt by a number of investors who demanded kalanick's ouster. last week, billionaire david bonderman also resigned from uber's board after making disparaging comments about women at a board meeting intended to address sexual harassment, saying that if there were more women on the board, "it's much more likely to be more talking." at least 20 uber workers have also been fired over the reports of sexual harassment. the dash camera video of the police killing of african american motorist philando castile in minnesota has been released, only days after police officer jeronimo yanez was acquitted of manslaughter. the dashcam video shows yanez pointing his gun at castile through the driver's side window. castile then informs the officer he has a gun in the car, which he was licensed to carry. in the video, you can also hear the voices of castile's girlfriend, diamond reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter, who were both inside the car. a warning to our audience, this video is graphic. >> i do have a firearm. >> don't reach for it. don't pull it out. don't pull it out. [gun shots] >> it wasn't reaching -- >> don't let out! don't move! don't move! >> oh, my god. >> don't move! get the baby girl out of here. amy: "get the baby girl out of her" -- the words of police officer jeronimo yanez, screaming as the four year old girl escapes from the car, after watching philando castile bleed -- being shot seven times by officer yanez. and in ferguson, missouri, the parents of michael brown have settled their wrongful death lawsuit with the city, over the murder of their son by white police officer darren wilson in 2014. michael brown was 18 years old and unarmed when officer wilson shot him dead and then left his body to lie in the street for over four hours. the settlement is sealed, which means the terms will not be made public. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show in georgia, where the republicans have pulled off a victory in the most expensive congressional race in history. in a special election in georgia's sixth district, republican karen handel won nearly 53% of the vote defeating her challenger democrat jon ossoff to fill the seat left vacant after tom price resigned to become secretary of health and human services. the candidates and outside groups spent more than $55 billion on the race, a record shattering amount. while the seat has been held by a republican for decades, democrats were hoping to pull off an upset in the suburban atlanta district where president trump's approval rating is just 35%. this marks the fourth congressional race democrats have lost since the election of trump. speaking tuesday night, handel thanked president trump. ryan andey speaker simon across this country united sixth. us hold the [applause] and a special thanks to the president of the united states. amy: karen handel is the former secretary of state of georgia. she made national headlines in 2012 when she led an effort at the breast cancer charity susan g. komen to cut off funding for planned parenthood. she later resigned from the organization after the board voted to restore the money following a public outcry. on tuesday night, handel's challenger, 30-year-old democrat jon ossoff, addressed supporters. >> and we show the world that in places where no one thought it was even possible to fight, we could fight. [applause] we show them what courage and kindness and humility are capable of. we showed them that we can still build coalition of people who may not see i die on everything, but rather than demonizing each toer, we find common ground move forward. and that is the only way this country will move forward. amy: we go now to atlanta where we are joined by two guests. reverend dr. raphael warnock is senior pastor of the ebenezer baptist church in atlanta, georgia, which was the spiritual home of dr. martin luther king, jr. he is also the chair of the new georgia project. nan orrock is a democratic state senator in georgia. her senate district 36 includes downtown atlanta. we welcome you both to democracy now! let's begin with dr. raphael warnock. what happened in atlanta? it was close, but in the end, the republican pulled it out and karen handel, in her acceptance speech and her victory speech last night, thanked president trump as people chanted "trump." >> good to be here with you, amy, even on a day like this. we have to play for the long game. we were very focused on this election -- indeed, the whole country has been focused on the special election here in georgia. i do think we have to keep in mind that this has been a solid republican district for a very long time, for about four decades. this was an uphill journey from the beginning. the fact that this was actually a real race, that this was -- there were serious movement on the left can only be accounted for with reference to donald trump. so there is deep unrest in the country. ,is approval rating is very low even in the district. i found it very interesting and curious that karen handel virtually ran away from the president during the campaign and ran toward him last night during her victory speech. we will continue to make the case. as chair of the new georgia project, we are very focused on .xpanding the electorate i believe our social vision will be as narrow as the electorate is. what we witnessed over the last two years, especially after the gutting of the voting rights republican effort of legislatures all across the country to make it very difficult for black, brown, poor people, old people, young people to register and to vote. that is the work of the new georgia project and that is the work we will continue to do next several months, even the next few years. we have registered 215,000 new voters since 2014. we hope to register about one million by the end of the decade. amy: nan orrock, your response to what took place in this staggeringly expensive congressional race, the most expensive race in the congressional race in the history of this country? >> we are, of course, disappointed. but at the same time, mindful that this has been a deep red district since 1979. and for jon ossoff to even attempt to score in this congressional district is remarkable. and his performance is remarkable. the activity that we saw on the ground, the outpouring, it awakened the electorate in congressional district six that thought it had nowhere to go. the diversity of his support and the intensity and enthusiasm -- i can't remember when i've seen such an enthusiastic, sustained effort here in this state. the way i look at it, amy, is that, no, we did not take the seat last night. we worked in a way and jon ossoff presented a candidacy that demand of the republicans go all out, no holds barred, to take the seat as it did last night with a very flawed candidate, frankly, karen, who has secretary of state, presided over blocking people from voting. she has the justice department recommending her for her attempt to eliminate voters from the rolls. i have to say we have had a battle here in georgia around access to the ballot. we were one of the first date in 2005, republican controlled legislature would republican governor sonny perdue, put into law, a voter id that was just onerous. we sued. wakinghave the effect of people left to say they're not going to take my right to vote. we are continuing to battle to bring out the electorate here that is going to turn this state blue. this prolonged battle tried to flip the sixth as a real laying the groundwork, as a ladies say, the democratic women that have organized them selves into a cave it blue, we're going to paint it blue. you're going to see this congressional district, taking seats from republicans in elections for next year's general sibley seats, senate and house because of the energy, the infrastructure, and the hope that has been restored in that district that there is somebody else out there besides this the bread gop, anti-people sort of agenda. amy: this was the district of newt gingrich before dr. price, and he won by something like 23% the then hesome of resigned to become the secretary of health and human services. by something like that percentage, 23% more. by justp in 2016 won over 1%. and yet you have karen handel thanking trump and the crowd chanting "trump." as the been a change in these few months? >> i think the republicans are embattled. that we haveation witnessed over these last months -- i mean, everybody in washington and the administration is loring up right now -- lawyering up right now. in the deep red supporter base of trump, they are rallying around him but that is shrinking. that is what the numbers tell us. >> i think we have to keep in mind part of what karen handel one for herself last night is the opportunity to have to run again in the fall of 2018. i'm not about to predict what will happen for that race. that is a long time off, but her thinking donald trump might be the basis of an interesting commercial in 2018 as we have witnessed the scandals of the trump administration unfold. we will see were that goes. but she might live to regret those words. amy: but in terms of what took ,lace, reverend raphael warnock the issue of gerrymandering. can you talk about what is happening in atlanta -- in georgia? >> as the voting rights act was gutted by the supreme court a few summers ago, many of us have been really having to fight the good fight on the ground. as senator orrock pointed out, in 2005, georgia has the distinction of leading the pack with making it hard for people to vote. we had been fighting this issue for a long time. you know that about a month ago, the supreme court ruled that racial gerrymandering in the case of north carolina was unconstitutional. ironically, it was clarence decidingo cast the vote and decided with the majority. this is going to be a real fight in the days ahead. you don't get people really excited talking about gerrymandering. it is that the sexiest issue, but it is one of the most consequential issues facing our democracy. there is a way in which we have got to get the people's voices back. a lot of us are focused and concerned about this administration and asking the question, have we turn into a kleptocracy? but beyond the kind of crude way in which -- we're not sure what the trump administration is up to and what kinds of resources that they mean the trying to extract from our democracy. in a real since the people's voices have been stolen a long time ago. we're living in a kind of kleptocracy. i am not excited about the fact that this was the most expensive congressional race in history. there is a disconnect between what the people want and what we get. how is it that most americans want reasonable gun reform, but we can't get reasonable gun reform legislation in our country? it is because of the voice of protest interest, the gun lobby, too much money and our elections, racial gerrymandering -- all of these issues we will have to fight. the way we are fighting it in the new georgia project is to register as many people as we can. we think part of the answer -- the voter suppression is massive registration, while also addressing these other public policy issues. at the state capital and otherwise. amy: karen handel is known around the country, not so much as secretary of state, the past secretary state of georgia, nan orrock, but as the woman who tried to stop the funding of planned parenthood when she was at susan g. komen breast cancer foundation. there was a mass about i across the country. she was tossed out. -- what kind of omen is this for planned parenthood? right now you have the senate health care plan that supposedly is going to be released on thursday morning. interestingly, mcconnell only announced this after the results were in in georgia, leading many to believe he understood this is quite controversial. and of course, a part of that is the issue of defunding planned parenthood. what kind of message does this send? >> it is interesting. does at the center for reproductive rights last week in washington with women legislators and activists from across the country. the polling numbers are startling. over 40% of republicans support the right to abortion. maintaining roe v. wade. the numbers are astronomical among democrats. another example as pastor ofnock said, where the mass people are on one set of this issue, and you have this narrow reactionary anti-people agenda that is being driven by the gop. and they have been well served by gerrymandering. we launched and mobilized against them in the session here several months ago in the general assembly to smash their bill. they go around now and they're not satisfied with every 10 years after their sentences. but whenever people are in trouble, they want to tweak the district and move democratic and african-american voters out of that district. they tried that with a bill this session. they called a surprise meeting 8:00 in the morning. almost 200 people packed into that room and they folded their that bill did not become law. there's more attention being paid to this outlandish gerrymandering and the way their controlling seats. anne has been demonstrated, it makes for polymer is politics that people don't have to come together in the middle to look for solutions. gerrymandering, placing polling stations and police stations, the kind of abuse we witness in our county, i would in cured -- i would encourage your viewers to google quitman county. it reads like something out of the 1950's. this was literally a couple of years ago here in georgia as the naacp and other grassroots organizers simply focused on registering people to vote. in some cases, their own family members. fatheran spoke & for her -- spoke for her father who was unable to sign the application. i belie he was blind or something. literally, people facing criminal charges for trying to give voice to ordinary people. we have to build a broad coalition of women, poor people, minorities -- amy: on the issue of a broad soff, do you think that os represented -- is this not just a battle between democrats and republicans, but the heart of the democratic hearty? right now i massive issue is the issue of health care. he was opposed to single-payer health care. many felt he was running away from a progressive democratic five form as he ran against the republican candidate. do you think this is a message to the democratic party, almost like the hillary-bernie sanders divide that they are going in the wrong direction? >> well, i will of the into the next of how, you know, win an election. i'm into the next a progressive. these are the issues i will continue to fight for. i believe it is a shame in the richest country in the world, we don't have universal health care. it is not just a moral issue. it is impractical. we continue to try in the west to pull something off that has not worked anywhere, and that is this idea that you take health care and throw it into the marketplace. i think the market is good for some things, but this idea that the market is a cure-all for all ills is a kind of religious doctrine and fanaticism that i don't embrace as a person of faith. there are some folks who seem to think the market is the answer to everything list of and yet in order to get here, we drove through streets that all of us pay for. we turn on our water fountain and we were assured that water was protected because there are some things we have to do together. and health care is something that we ought to make sure that everybody has accs to. amy: let me put that question to nan orrock, democratic state senator in georgia representing downtown atlanta. politico segment biggest in a fishery of the progressive resistance. what about people saying the democrat ran away from core democratic values and this is it really a referendum on where the democrats could be in this country. quite i'm not going to monday morning quarterback on jon wasff's race, which remarkable race. a race that was not supposed to ever even be feasible. he had to win republican votes. i believe one out of every 10 republican votes, took the undecideds, you know, flippedents -- at least them -- and fought to expand the democratic electorate. i talked last that with a young latina woman who was actually had fought every day in this campaign, and she was in no way downcast. she said, we did incredible grassroots organizing and we did special teams -- sent special-teams out to different communities seeking out different ethnicities in this very district. georgia is over 30% african-american citizenship. people ofict is 25% color. and we did that kind of performance there. things are changing. i was speaking last night with our candidate for governor, stacey abrams, was going to mount a remarkable campaign, is already on the campaign trail. we are going to seek history made in georgia. the other thing is, georgia used to be totally in the backwater when it came to national politics. we did not have obama money in this state. we do not have clinton money to speak of in this state in the last two presidential contest. we were one of the most purple of the red states. this campaign has continued the trajectory of waking up the nation about coming to georgia and working here to turn this state around. we're in the state or the governor did not expand medicare. we have medicaid expansion that was never done here. we have a huge number -- one of the top numbers of uninsured people in this state. i think the future is bright. the future is blue. at the risk of sounding like a bumper sticker. and i saw in this campaign, i had close family members that worked in it every day, got up and knocked on doors all day long. the enthusiasm, the layers of people -- if you could have it at that hotel last night, you could not get in. the cars were backed up. i mean, you never would have expected that in that district. georgia andwake in we are moving in the right direction and we're going to see that in next year's statewide election for these top offices. amy: i want to thank you for being with us, nan orrock and reverend raphael warnock. thank you so much for being there. when we come back, katrina vanden heuve, publisher of the nation, on what this raise means and broader issues around the country as the republicans secretly craft a health care bill in the senate. it will be revealed next few days. what does this mean for this country? stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: he died tuesday in las vegas of complications from sickle cell anemia, which is been battling since birth. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. senate republicans have announced plans to finally unveiled the text of their draft bill on thursday to repeal the affordable care act. this comes as dirk democrats launched a flurry of speeches, procedural maneuvers to bring the than a floor to a halt monday in order to protest the plan to push through new health care bill without any public debate. the republicans bill would strip 23 million people of their health insurance, while giving billions of dollars in tax breaks to wealthy americans. that is the house built. republican senators have been drafting the final version of the bill in secret, closed-door meetings him a pushing for a vote on the bill before july 4 recess. this is california democratic senator kamala harris. >> i remember when our colleagues across the aisle said the affordable care act was being rammed down the american people's throats in the middle of the night. well, the aca went come in fact, through 106 public hearings. it incorporated or than 170 republican amendments. the whole process took entire year. but this health care plan involves no hearings, no bill text, and no transparency at all. amy: that is california senator kamala harris. a number of republicans have also spoken out from utah's mike lee to arizona's mccain to senator paul. we're joined now by katrina vanden heuvel. she is editor and publisher of the nation, america's oldest weekly magazine. katrina vanden heuvel also is a columnist for thewashingtonpost.com. her latest column is titled, "on trump, the media's malpractice continues." >> let me just say about georgia, don't over read, don't be demoralized. the cook report, pretty claimed on entering of congressional seats, just the other day said currently, 71% of congressional districts are competitive. those good be won. you are at how tough the republicans had to win in ruby red district. i think this important to look down ballot at a kind of resistance and renewal politics where you are witnessing in the ninth assembly district in new york, someone you covered in jackson, mississippi, mary crafts and her is poised to be the next district attorney in philadelphia, progressive taking on the criminal justice system. i think we need to look down ballot. i think we need to understand how competitive the house races will be in light of the struggle of the republicans to keep these ruby red districts. amy: what about this issue of what ossoff exactly represented, the critique he did not push forward core platform issues like single-payer, free tuition? >> pfeiffer>> 15. i think it is interesting and i think nan orrock spoke to stacy abrams who may be the first woman, first of merrick and governor of georgia who launched the eve of this race. she brought two pillars to the democratic party, nina turner, jason candor, but together they spoke to new kind of majority. against the white working class. it is a working-class. bringing together and a majority minority state soon, african-americans, young people come a women, white working class -- working-class, and finding a way to bridge those gaps and speak to the issues. i do believe you need a bold, inclusive, progressive agenda to speak to people. it is tough. a montana democrat is not a new york democrat. it there are core issues. if there is turnout, passion, and commitment -- we know many of these progressive big issues are majority issues. so i think that is important, amy. i think it is important as say the media -- you know, the way it over read this election, it became a massive horse race. the money pouring in, the media attention -- not looking at some of those down ballot races i just spoke about, which also argue a kind of politics in this country. if you can link those local, state to the national, you can see some real energy in this country. and i think nan orrock, someone i greatly admire, spoke well about what is left behind after this race is in organizing energy. i am poor people to be patient. stamina is going to be needed. the money peace is brutal. it is a cliche, but it israel. organized people versus organized money. ff brought in a lot. two thirds of his contributions i believe or small donors. i think that is important. amy: nationally. health care. interesting that mcconnell revealed he is going to release this secretly crafted bill right after the georgia race results. >> i think it is important to continue to expose as best we can the stealth, the secrecy that not only pervades the way publicans are handling this health care bill, but inside washington generally -- also, back after 2008, financial relations that will hurt people. it for anr rushing important reason. they know how unpopular it is. not just with the american people, but with members of their own constituency. they're desperately trying to move something before they go .ack they've seen anger and passion in this country. among trump and the republicans own supporters who are going to be disproportionately hurt by a bill that is essentially a scam. at the heart of it is a trillion dollar tax cut for the riches. i think it is an opening for progressives to fight for medicare for all. those who say it is pie-in-the-sky ignore survey after survey who show majority support of medicare for all. look at california. the state senate has passed it and it is heading to the state assembly. it is doable. we should unleash our imaginations about what is possible in these times. on: they will release this thursday. the question is, will it be "scored"? it was passed before it was scored. >> we are looking at maybe marginal tweaks to that score. this affects 1/6 of the economy and about 140 million people, families, and they are rushing this through in secrecy? that is undemocratic. amy: bernie sanders bill on health care, medicare for all? >> for john conyers who has been a stalwart for years. those have sponsors, but that does not get the attention. i think in my column, what has happened is there is been so scandalss on the that it is shameful in the course of two days, the major newspapers "wall street journal" "you are times" did not given you from page coverage to health care bill that has the ability to reshape this country. i think we need attention on substantive policy issues and not just sensationalism the gets ratings for a lot of these. fillede airwaves are with something. i'm not talking about foxconn i'm talking about msnbc and cnn. it is the constant russia drumbeat. you have to ask when you're looking at politics in georgia, when people turn on television, they are not -- they're talking by the russia cover-up, how this affects their lives. your thoughts on this as a russia expert? >> it is common sense. one in step coverage of the investigation into alleged collusion, the corruption matrix. what about what is going on in flint? i think it is obscuring the real life experiences people are living and hijacking of our airwaves, a direction of duty to issues that demand more attention. give it some coverage. chris murphy tweeted the day jeff sessions testified, "give percen to percent on the toxic agenda." i think it is a disservice to this country. i think it is not only for ratings, but remember less movies said at the beginning of trump comey's of the trump campaign is good for a ratings, may not be good for america. they are very happy, but the other war and the media, which thehe deregulation agenda, fcc is going to roll back crossownership, net neutrality, and i think that, too, is going to strip people of the democratic airwaves, which as you said many times, belongs to the people. your piece to go to in "the washington post.com" or you say 13 republican senators have been meeting in private to draft a bill. no one else does what is in it. democrats in the public are completely locked out. this is missouri democratic senator claire mccaskill speaking on the senate floor. >> when you say you are inviting us come and i heard you, mr. secretary, just say we love your support. for what? we don't even know. we have no idea what is being proposed. there is a group of guys in a back room somewhere that are making these decisions. there were no hearings in the house. this is hard to take. i know we made mistakes on the affordable health care act, mr. secretary. one of the criticisms we got over and over was the vote was partisan. you could not have a more partisan exercise than what you are engaged in right now. we're not even going to have a hearing on a bill that impacts economy.r >> is fixed to a basic truth that citizens deserve and demand hearings. ofr member the hypocrisy mcconnell? daca process was deliberative. washe aca process deliberative. he says this is what happen with obamacare. bs. i think because there may be some republican follow, because of the medicaid issue primarily, some senators like what is going on in their states. if you can get this to the july , your viewers and millions of others should be out there demanding hearings, demanding a slowdown of a process. i'm reminded of the patriot act that passed in two or three days and later turned out no one had really read it. this is not a functional democracy of representative government. attentionall of the issue of russia, you have the dismantling of the administrative state right now at every level. >> absolutely. the focus on russia come the obsession with russia is stymieing this government. it is creating dysfunction. but at the same time, it is stripping -- you don't have the oxygen to give to the attention us deserves. i think that should be where we now -- witnessing what we're witnessing with the way mcconnell and republicans are ramming this through. this is not unusual. remember in north carolina? the republicans are pretty brutalist politicians and we need to be to have in response. and i think that the man's exposure, so that demands a media that pays attention to this toxic politics. and linking it, by the way, the 2018. let me come back to where we began. when we head into 2018, everyone should be talking about what the ,epublicans did to strip people working people, trump supporters , if they get away with it, in fighting for different policies at the state level now, because the federal will be tough. amy: what about the battle within the democratic party, which direction to go? >> i think it israel. i am a believer that we need -- i think jon ossoff -- it is a tough district, ruby red in all of that, but i think people seek people speaking to their lived experience. what are they going to do on health care and education and living wage? i think those people in my view arne -- as reverend barber has said, those are not left-right issues, those are right and wrong issues. i think there is a way to speak to them. amy: do you think the democratic party currently has? >> i think the democratic platform to fight for one of us amy: not the platform, but the party. >> there is a struggle, but i think you will see candidates running on a more progressive message in 2018 and in 2018. in putting together new ittingions and not p what working class against the rising majority. there is a working-class and one has to speak to that and bring together new coalitions. as stacey abrams is tried to do. amy: katrina vanden heuvel, thank you for being with us, editor and publisher of the nation, america's oldest weekly magazine. when we come back, the story of a family threatened with deportation right here in new york and little pakistan in brooklyn. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. can the brooklyn neighborhood of little pakistan survive the presidency of donald trump? that is the question posed by newbies and "new yorker" magazine. writer jennifer gonnerman looks arehe part of a family who facing possible deportation. for years, they successfully received stays of removal, but this year appears to be different. on july 6, that a meeting scheduled at the ice field office will stop that many could determine if the family can stay in the united states. we're joined by mohammad razvi, founding executive director of council of peoples organization, and we're joined by jennifer gonnerman, who has written the piece "fighting for the immigrants of little pakistan." talk about this family who came to the country to save the life of the baby boy. >> it is an extraordinary story. they came in 1997, two parents and a baby who was not yet two years old. the father was a bank manager in pakistan. he gave up everything because his son was born with a heart defect that needed surgery that could not be got in pakistan. he ultimately got a visa to come to the u.s. and came to brooklyn, what from one hospital to another. he ends up at mount sinai. when his son is two years old, he gets surgery. amy: here in new york. >> yes. the sun ends up suffering a rare disorder which he is unable to control his limbs, cannot eat, cannot feed himself, can't walk and needs a feeding tube, wheelchair. the family has no choice but to stay. even after their visa runs out, they try to get an extension and continue to get medical treatment for their son. over the next years, the sun makes terrific progress. he walks a little and talks a little. his progress has been tremendous. the family continues to get treated at mount sinai and elsewhere. amy: they say he will not be able to proceed or progress if he is forced out? >>'s doctors say the treatment he needs coming as a number of complicated and unusual medical conditions, and the support system that he has here he will not have if he is sent back to pakistan. i heard about the family because it is someone that was held close to 11 and someone he was proud of helping and being able to stop the deportation many years. i happen to be in his office about a week or two ago finishing up the story for "the new yorker." suddenly, here comes mr. khan desponding, straight from the razvffice who came to mr. i's. amy: this is the story, mohammad with foru eventually years. you have the picture of the little boy when he was very young thanking you for stopping his dad's deportation years ago. >> i still remember that day. his son and he came in and he said, you know, this is what my son made for you. he brings in this card. it says "thank you for bringing my dad back." at that time, he graduated from elementary school. he really wasn't able to speak as much as jennifer was saying, but it was hard feeling that we were able to save this person. amy: you represent so many in the pakistani community who come to you for help. july 6 is the day they have to go into the ice office. is that the whole family or just the father? >> the whole family -- amy: could be deported after being ever decades. >> we are very concerned. we are working with the attorney. we will also be reaching out to senator schumer's office and commerce woman yvette clarke's office for their assistance as well. that is what we did in the past to get elected officials to weigh in for this family. amy: is the pakistani community particularly afraid now? is is as bad as after 9/11? >> it is worse. the child and the mother were not in deportation proceedings previously. now they are put into deportation proceedings as well. it is happening to many families who are doing routine checks with the immigration officers. all of a sudden, now they're being put into deportation proceedings. amy: we will continue this discussion and post it online at democracynow.org. and jenniferi gonnerman. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to [email protected] or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. 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