Wednesday, May 7th, 2025 Today, Judge Hellerstein in the Southern District of New York takes his temporary restraining order to a preliminary injunction saying Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act is unlawful; the Supreme Court has ruled that Trump can go forward with his transgender military ban while the litigation plays out; a key Republican Senator says he will block the confirmation of Ed Martin as US attorney for the District of Columbia; the website for the deportation airline GlobalX has been hacked and defaced; in a surprising turn of events - the Trump administration is asking the court to dismiss the abortion pill case; an order by Kegseth to cancel Ukraine weapons takes the White House by surprise; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
Wednesday, May 7th, 2025
Today, Judge Hellerstein in the Southern District of New York takes his temporary restraining order to a preliminary injunction saying Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act is unlawful; the Supreme Court has ruled that Trump can go forward with his transgender military ban while the litigation plays out; a key Republican Senator says he will block the confirmation of Ed Martin as US attorney for the District of Columbia; the website for the deportation airline GlobalX has been hacked and defaced; in a surprising turn of events - the Trump administration is asking the court to dismiss the abortion pill case; an order by Kegseth to cancel Ukraine weapons takes the White House by surprise; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
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Listen to Reveal - Podcast
Stories:
Supreme Court allows Trump to implement transgender military ban | NBC News
Order by Hegseth to cancel Ukraine weapons caught White House off guard | Reuters
Justice Department investigating 2022 Abrego Garcia traffic stop: Sources | ABC News
Trump Administration Asks Court to Dismiss Abortion Pill Case | The New York Times
Key GOP senator won't support Trump loyalist Ed Martin to be D.C.'s top prosecutor | NBC News
Website for US deportation airline GlobalX defaced by hackers | Reuters
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Um, MSW Media Media. Hello, and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, May 7, 2025. Today, Judge Hellerstein in the Southern District of New York takes his temporary restraining order to a preliminary injunction, saying that Trump's use of the Alien Enemies act is unlawful. The Supreme Court has ruled that Trump can go forward with his transgender military ban. While the litigation plays out, a key Republican senator says he's going to block the confirmation of ed Martin for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. The website for the deportation airline Global X has been hacked and defaced. In a surprising turn of events, the Trump administration is asking the court to dismiss the abortion pill case. And an order by Kegseth to cancel Ukraine weapons takes the White House by surprise. I'm Allison Gill.
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
Now. Hey, Dana, Happy taint of the week to you. It's the middle of the week. We're right in the middle. We're at the perineum of the week on Wednesday. How are you?
I'm good. But what's bizarre is, as soon as you said that and I had my phone next to me, my friend Gator just texted, and she's the one that wrote in, and I'm like, wait, what is happening? I thought I was having a little mini stroke. I was like, wait, what is happening right now? But, uh, yeah, we made it to the middle of the week.
We did. Um, and later in the show, I'm going to be joined by Nina Martin about a lawsuit over reproductive rights in Alabama. On. It's going to be detailed on an upcoming episode of Reveal, the podcast. Um, also, did you see Mark Carney at the White House today?
No.
It was pretty good.
No, no, I did. When he was like, canada's not for sale.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was a beautiful. He told him no to his face. It was a beautiful clip.
And apparently he told him later in private, like, stop calling us the 51st date. Like, stop it. And Trump was just embarrassing. Per usual.
Per usual.
Uh, and also some breaking news here. As we're recording. It looks like India has launched an attack on targeted terrorist sites in Pakistan. And.
Oh, my God.
Pakistan is saying that the attack will not go unanswered. So super glad we have solid, unwavering leadership at the Pentagon and the White House.
Oh, for fuck's sake. I'm sure someone's going to hear about this on a signal chat soon.
Yeah, definitely. But today we've got some pretty devastating news. Um, it's a. It's a especially devastating news day. If you were in the Trans community. So we just. I just wanted to say that we see you and that we love you, um, because this news is awful, ridiculous, and dripping with animus.
Yeah. And, uh, we're going to hit this, uh, in just a few minutes in the news. But I did get a text from my. My friend Commander Schilling, who is literally the person involved in this case. And, um, she hasn't given up hope, that's for sure. But this is a huge setback. A huge setback, and it's bullshit.
It is. It's absolute bullshit. Because the whole idea is to maintain the status quo. And, uh, this does not do that. We'll talk about it, um, among other news stories. Um, let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up, from NBC. The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump to implement his ban on transgender people serving in the military. The justice is granted an emergency request from the Trump administration to lift a nationwide injunction blocking the policy while a litigation continues. The court's very brief order noted that the three liberal justices dissented. The decision is a loss for the seven individual transgender service members, led by lead plaintiff Emily, um, Schilling, Navy commander, who had sued to block it. Quote, today's Supreme Court ruling is a devastating blow to transgender service members who have demonstrated their capabilities and commitment to our nation's defense. That's Lambda Legal in Human Rights Campaign foundation spokesperson. Uh, those are two groups, uh, spokespeople, I should say, two groups representing the plaintiffs in a joint statement. The policy, quote, has nothing to do with military readiness and everything to do with prejudice. That's what the groups added. In a separate case, a judge in Washington, D.C. also blocked the policy nationwide. But the U.S. court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit put that ruling on hold temporarily while it heard arguments on whether to block it more permanently. The court has yet to rule. So this is just dripping with animus. It goes against what I was talking about earlier, the concept of the status quo. It will be devastating to the lives of not only transgender troops that are impacted, but, uh, the trans community writ large. And even if the courts eventually rule that this ban is unconstitutional, it will deal a blow to national security as it rips these brave people out of service, only to have to return them later. It's just fucking disgusting.
And during this time, and I was talking to the commander, there are people up for promotions during this time that are no longer going to get them now because of this bullshit ruling. That's one thing. And I just want to make this clear. Commander Schilling has been on 60 combat missions, has had so many awards, and has been in the military for 19 years. The person that is saying trans people can't serve or should not serve literally dodged the draft. And I'm no, not all draft dodgers are bad people. However, this one made up an excus from a doctor who may or may not have been a doctor about bone spurs. He had his daddy take care of it. And this guy who will not uphold or protect the country or the Constitution is saying that transgender Americans cannot either. It's infuriating. And like I said, I am so sorry to my trans community. The fight is not over. But I know that this is a huge blow. Yeah. And I am so sorry. This, uh, one's from Reuters. Roughly a week after Donald Trump started his second term as president, the US Military issued an order to three freight air lines operating out of Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and a US base in Qatar. This to stop 11 flights loaded with artillery shells and other weaponry that was bound for Ukraine in a matter of hours. Frantic questions reached Washington from Ukrainians in Kiev and from officials in Poland where the shipments they were coordinated to go. Now, who has ordered the U.S. transportation Command, known as Transcom, to halt the flights? Was it a permanent pause on all aid or just some? There's a lot of questions. Top national security officials in the White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department, they couldn't provide answers to any of that. Within one week, flights were back in the air. The verbal order originated from where? Pete Kegseth's office. As we know, he's the Secretary of Defense. That's according to Transcom's records reviewed by Reuters. A Transcom spokesperson said the command received the order via the Pentagon's Joint Staff. I'm surprised they didn't receive it during, you know, via Twitter or signal. The President was unaware, by the way, of Kegseth's order. Trump didn't know about it, as were other top national security officials in the meeting, according to two sources briefed on the private White House discussions and another with direct knowledge of the matter.
What a shit show. Yep.
When asked about this report, the White House told Reuters that Hegseth had followed a directive from Trump to pause the aid to Ukraine, which it said was the administration's position at the time. It did not explain why, according to those who spoke with Reuters, that top national security officials in the normal decision making process didn't even know about the order or why it was so swiftly reversed. It's a complete shit show.
It's fucking Keystone Cops, but with like, weapons and national security.
Yeah, and a football.
Yeah, Bananas. All right, next up from ABC News, the U.S. department of justice has been quietly investigating a traffic stop in 2022 in Tennessee involving Kilmara Brago Garcia, the Salvadoran man at the center of the high profile court battle over his mistaken deportation. I call that kidnapping from Maryland to El Salvador by the Trump regime. That's according to ABC News. I may have changed the wording a little bit there from abc.
Rightfully so. Yep.
Federal investigators involved in the inquiry recently spoke with a convicted felon in Alabama who's in prison and questioned him about potential connections to Abreco Garcia. That's according to sources familiar. Now, I think this could be the administration's desperate attempt to save face as the government is looking down the barrel of an invasive discovery process in Judge Sinis court. As you know, they asked for a one week break and they got it. And then they asked for another week break and they were declined. The, um, judge said no. And I want this by then and this by then. And I think by May 14, we should be done with discovery depositions of four Trump administration officials by the end of this week, plus two more that get to be decided by Abrego Garcia's lawyers. And I think they should bring in like Kristi Noem.
Definitely.
Uh, but see, the thing here is this reminds me of the Abu ali case from 2004. He was in a prison overseas held at, ah, a US Base by the military. And he was trying to get, uh, habeas here in the United States. Right. Saying that the United States had constructive custody of him. And so there was going to be this whole big discovery process like they're doing in the Abrego Garcia case, where the Bush administration would have to answer to questions about why they're holding him there and not bringing him back here to face justice and due process. And so to avoid all that, they just charged him with some crimes and brought him back and put him through the court system to avoid the, the discovery process about why they, you know, couldn't facilitate his return.
Right.
And so I think that might be what they're doing here. I, uh, wrote it up@muellershirote.com and we're going to discuss this in depth and talk about the ins and outs of all this on the next Unjustified podcast. But it definitely seems to me like the government, rather than have to maybe show the agreement between Bukele and Trump to avoid having to do that or to avoid Having Kristi Noem get up on the stand and swear something under oath. I think maybe they're going to see if they can find some old charges to bring him up on as a reason to bring him back and give him his due process. It would technically be a win for due process.
Yeah. I also don't love the fact that they're talking to a convicted felon in Alabama's prison and questioning him about his connections with Abrega Garcia. Like, what are they promising this person?
They gave him limited immunity.
Exactly. How do we know what he's going to say is actually true?
Mm.
It's just. Yeah, I don't like any of it. I don't know any of it.
Here's the. Yeah, but here's the thing. Like, even if these are, like, trumped up, stupid charges, at least it gets him home and in the court system.
Absolutely.
And he may win. Yeah, um, good point. But he also may not. But he would get the due process that he deserves. But, uh, I really do think this is a desperate attempt. Oh. You know, and it could also be that they're just assholes and they want to keep promoting their smear campaign against that he's a super bad guy and doesn't deserve to be returned. But the time will tell.
Yeah, that would be my assumption, unfortunately. All right, we do have some surprising good news. Thank God. This is from the Times. The Trump administration asked a federal judge on Monday to actually dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to sharply restrict access to abortion pill mefopressone, taking the same position as the Biden administration in a closely watched case that has major implications for abortion access. And I wonder about this one, because this is Josh Hawley's wife. Isn't she one of the lawyers on the Mifepristone M case or one of the people that brought this?
I think so, yeah.
Yeah. So I'm wondering what the fuck is going on now. The court filing for the Justice Department is striking, given that President Trump and a number of officials in his administration have forcefully opposed abortion rights. Now, as we know, Trump often boasts that he appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who voted in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade. And of course, we know that had guaranteed the national right to abortion up until that point. So far, in the second term, his administration has taken steps to curtail programs that support reproductive health. So it's weird. They're like, we want more babies, more babies, more babies. And now they're taking away this case.
Yeah.
I don't get it.
I don't get it either. Unless he's trying to appeal to some swath of voters. Maybe it's hurting Howley's chances in the Senate.
Either that or the producers of Misopreston gave him a bunch of fucking money to back off because the drug is actually safer than Advil.
Yeah, I'm not sure. I think it's weird, but I have no problem using this as a cudgel to single issue voters who are anti choice.
Yeah.
To tell them, hey, no need to vote for Republicans anymore. They want abortion pills.
That's well said.
Um, just, you know, this is how I would use it.
Hey, let's use it best we can. We're going to throw everything out for the, the midterms. Make sure that we hold everything against them.
Yes. And I'm very glad, uh, I hope that this case gets dismissed and that, uh, people still have access to mifepristone.
Me too.
And more good news. This is from NBC Senator Thom Tillis. A thumb. He spells his name T, H, O, M. Thom Tillis said he. Thom wouldn't support Ed Martin. He doesn't support Ed Martin, President Trump's nominee for U.S. attorney for District of Columbia. January 6th. Their election denier, Nazi friend. He's likely blocking the path to confirmation for the Stop the Steal organizer who has closely aligned himself with January 6th defense.
I'll be damn broken clock twice a day, he said.
I've indicated to the White House I would not support his nomination. That's what Tillis said Tuesday, uh, evening after a meeting with Martin on Monday night. So he met with him and he was like, this guy, and he sent a letter to the White House, and I'm not, I'm not backing him. Now. The reason that he can tank this is because he's a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is overseeing Martin's nomination. The panel has 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats, meaning if all other members aside from Tillis voted along party lines, the vote would end in a tie and his nomination would not be reported favorably to the full Senate. Andy and I are going to discuss this in more detail on this weekend's, uh, Unjustified podcast. But it's interesting that this one guy can have any single Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee can have such, such a say.
And makes me skeptical because I'm like, what does Thom Tillis want? You know what I mean?
Right. What's he getting in return?
What's he getting in return for this? To change his vote last minute, you know, have a Susan Collins moment that I'M concerned and then vote for him anyway. So we'll see.
Yeah.
Yeah. And this one is from Reuters. Hackers, as we talked about, defaced one of the websites of the airline at the center of President Donald Trump's campaign of deportations to an offshore detention center in El Salvador. This is a Reuters viewing of the site. That's what it showed. On Monday, a message posted to a subdomain of Global X said the site had been hijacked by hackers operating under the banner of. What? Anonymous.
Anonymous, Yep.
A label often chosen to evoke rebellious cyber activism. Global X's fleet of aircraft played a key role in the Trump administration's deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador in March, despite a judge's order that the planes be turned around. The deportations have recently been ruled unlawful, but the Trump administration has so far refused to back off the campaign. In other words, they are ignoring a fucking court order.
Kind of, sort of, yeah. Because, uh, the Supreme Court had, you know, was, uh.
That's true.
A little bit vague about it. I would be interested. Anonymous, if you're listening, I, uh, would be really interested in the flight manifest of that third flight that took off right after Judge Boasberg's temporary restraining order. I want to know who was on that plane, and if you were able to get that exfiltrate that information, if you were able to exfiltrate those names, I would love it. Because if they were disappeared from this country under the Alien Enemies act, then that means the Trump administration misrepresented who was on that plane to court, to the courts.
Yeah.
Um, and so, boy, if you have that anonymous, send it my way. I'll keep you anonymous. You're already anonymous. But, yeah, this is also, um, something that's going on in Southern District of New York now. Judge Hellerstein has granted a preliminary injunction today. So you'll remember there were five original plaintiffs in Boasberg's court when he ordered the planes to be turned around. The Supreme Court came in and said, I'm vacating your temporary restraining orders, Judge Boasberg. Uh, and all of these have to be done as habeas petitions in the individual jurisdictions where these people are being held. So the original five plaintiffs, two of them were in New York, three of them were in the Southern District of Texas. In the Southern District of Texas, a judge down there, a Trump appointee named Fernando Rodriguez, I believe, issued an injunction saying that the Trump's use of the Alien Enemies act was unlawful. He was the first judge in the country to declare Trump's breaking the law with his Alien Enemies act thing because this is not an invasion or an incursion by a foreign government. Well, the other two defendants in the Southern District of New York, they just got their temporary restraining order turned into a preliminary injunction by Judge Hellerstein, who also found. Second judge now in the United States that has found that Trump's use of the Alien Enemies act is unlawful.
Good.
There's a third case in front of Judge Boasberg. We don't have a decision on that yet, but that's for the remainder of the men that remain in Cekote. They can't file in a jurisdiction other than DC because they're not in the United States. So that's been going back and forth, but now we've got three cases that could potentially make it to the Supreme Court to where the Supreme Court would decide not whether or not we can have a certified class of people we don't deport under the Alien Enemies act, but that the Alien Enemies act invocation itself is unlawful. So good news out of the Southern District of New York, thank you to Judge Hellerstein. All right, it's time for some good trouble. What are you guys doing? Good trouble today comes from a listener. They say Common Defense, the largest progressive veterans group in the United states, is in D.C. this week, May 5th through the 8th, stirring up some good trouble to advocate to members of Congress that the Veterans Administration is not for sale. This week, we have a hundred veterans from all over the US including me from Delaware, to meet with lawmakers, rally in the streets, and make damn sure the voices of veterans are heard loud and clear. This morning, day one of our action. We'll all be assembling for training on how to talk to members of Congress. That's very cool. Including how to talk to those who may not want to hear what we have to say. Then we'll spend the rest of the week spreading the word. The VA is not for sale. Veterans swore an oath, as you know, Allison, to defend our nation with our lives if necessary. The VA represents the nation's promise to support those who did wear the uniform and put their lives on the line. It is not for sale, and it must not be taken apart by oligarchs and traders. But we cannot do this alone. The Leguminati can help. A buck or two from your listeners can help cover the cost of this action and help us do more, because we all know it's going to be a lot more work. You can donate@secure.actblue.com donate CDCE. We'll have a link in the show notes. Thanks Allison and Dana. Love you both. Ah, note to Allison. My wife and I met you and spoke to you at your Philly show last summer. Awesome. Thank you so much. I think we were at the city winery, I believe. Um, anyway, great. Good. Trouble again. We'll have a link in the show notes if you can help out. And coming up next, we're going to talk to Nina Martin, the Reveal podcast person, in which she's got some really great reporting on what's going on in a lawsuit for, uh, reproductive rights in Alabama. We'll do that right after this break. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
We'll be right back.
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Hey, everybody. Welcome back. I'm happy to be joined today again. She's been on the show before. She's a reporter and editor for Reveal, the podcast and Mother Jones based in the San Francisco area. Her reporting on reproductive and health issues has won many, many honors, including two Polk Awards, a National Magazine Award, Goldsmith Award, Peabody, and she's twice been a finalist for a Pulitzer. She's worked as a reporter and editor at numerous media outlets, including ProPublica, which we talk about a lot here on the show, San Francisco and Health Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, International Health, Tribune, Baby center, all kinds of amazing accolades and work that you've done. Please welcome Nina Martin. Hey, Nina.
Hey there. Thanks for having me.
Yeah, no, thank you so much for joining us. And the reason I wanted to have you on today and the reason we wanted to collaborate is a little bit, is because Reveal has an episode coming up on May 10th. Talk about this episode because it's covering a ton of important issues. Yeah.
This episode focuses on Alabama, where I've done a lot of reporting over the years on repro justice issues. And the specific story that we're telling in this UM show involves a battle that reproductive rights advocates, abortion activists in Alabama have been waging basically since the moment, um, Roe was overturned. Not just about, you know, whether they could provide abortions in the state, they can't, but over whether they could help other people with patients in the state go out of state to get abortions that they could no longer get in Alabama. This has been, um, just, um, a huge battle that has made Alabama, um, arguably kind of with the strictest abortion policies in the country since Roe. Not only do they have an almost complete ban, but they were told by the state attorney general, Steve Marshall, that, um, if anyone, abortion funds and former former providers, if they provided any kind of meaningful support or help to patients to get them out of state, they could be charged for criminal conspiracy under an 1890s law that, um, like many laws in Alabama, is kind of excessively punitive. They could face up to life in prison, um, for helping Somebody get an abortion out of state. So that's what they were charged with. So this story that we're telling in our most recent episode is about, um, is about this fight, this epic legal battle that has implications way beyond Alabama for all kinds of constitutional rights. Um, the right to travel, the right, you know, free speech, the right to give and receive help, which is something that probably most people don't even think of as a right, but is. But. But once you do you realize how fundamental it is to how we function as a. As a country and also just as human beings. And the, um, the story, the. The podcast focuses on one group in particular, the Yellowhammer Fund, which is a, uh, grassroots abortion fund founded in Alabama in 2017. And, um, they have. They're the only abortion fund in the con in the state. And they have, uh, really done. They've been leading this fight. They're the lead plaintiffs in the consolidated lawsuits. But also they have really been thinking hard and trying to figure out how else can we support abortion patients. Abortion is just one little piece of, uh, what most abortion patients actually need when it comes to help and support. And how do you go from being. And so they've really been wrestling with this challenge of how do you help. How do you shift from being an organization that helps people get abortions to an organization that helps people who can't get abortions? And I think that that has been really, um, very interesting to sort of see and think about and provides, I think, a lot of lessons for other abortion rights groups around the country as we go into, you know, this uncharted territory that we are. That we are in at the moment.
That we're hurtling into. Right. Yeah. And there's a free speech element to this too, because, you know, right now I think Tom Holman is coming out and saying, if you. I'm gonna go after Alexandria, uh, Ocasio Cortez, because she's. She's aiding and abetting terrorists by telling people what their rights are as far as immigration is concerned. And here in this case, the helpers can't even tell women where to go for abortion services. So it's not even just about physically helping somebody do it. It's about helping them by telling them where they can go and what they can do for their reproductive health, which is an infringement on the First Amendment.
It's an incredibly important infringement on the First Amendment. Uh, what the helpers in Alabama were told they could do was, uh, well, let's say what they could not do first. They could not provide Any meaningful help. So let's say you're a former abortion provider or you're an abortion fund, you have contacts around the country, you know exactly where somebody should go, how much it's going to cost, how to get there, who they should stay with, et cetera, et cetera, those kinds of really meaningful m. And specific help that people need to access, you know, all kinds of medical care, um, abortion care in this instance. And also that is particularly important for low income people who are, you know, the people who've traditionally been the people who've needed abortion funds first and most. So you take away that ability to provide anything in the way of specific information and then so basically what provider, what, what Yellowhammer and some of the providers have been able, been limited to being able to provide, um, in terms of information has been links to a web post article or um, to the who, to the World Health Organization website that has very sort of abstract information about abortion. And if you follow the links, if you know how to follow the links, then eventually maybe you'll find another organization that could offer more meaningful help. But so there's that ability to provide help of that kind is an infringement on First Amendment rights. But the other argument that Yellowhammer, ah, was making was that this threat by the Attorney General Steve Marshall, to charge them with criminal conspiracy for helping patients actually also infringed on another part of the First Amendment that protects expressive conduct. And really what that means is that he was threatening them just for offering support, for being like the person who. Just an organization that offered kind of emotional support and comfort. Ah, and that is also a form of first, uh, Amendment, um, that's also an important thing that's protected by the First Amendment that was bridged on. And when you talk about threats by Hohmann and et cetera, that's it. You're exactly right. One of the really important um, ideas that was raised in this lawsuit by the lawyers, um, who were a group, uh, called the Lawyering Project that specializes in reproductive justice issues is that help is how communities have made solidarity with each other and overcome all kinds of, um, challenges, adversity, um, oppression. Right. Um, help is, you know, when you think of helpers in the past, you think of the people who came down to Mississippi to do the, in Alabama to do the Freedom Rides. In the civil rights era. You think of um, uh, the civil rights era wouldn't have happened without people helping each other, um, coming together, uh, being in solidarity with each other. And that is fundamentally kind of the kind of thing that ultimately could be at risk, uh, if a lawsuit like the Yellow Hammer versus Marshall lawsuit, um, failed. If Marshall. If Steve Marshall succeeded in his threats.
Yeah, agreed. And let's talk a little bit about Marshall, because, Nina, your superpower is that you've done so much work that you have somewhere in your archives an interview from the past that becomes prescient. For example, the last time we had you on the show, you had. We talked about an old interview that you did with Kamala Harris. And with that episode, uh, a 2013 interview that you did with Kamala Harris. And now in this upcoming Reveal episode about this particular case, you actually have a 2015 interview with Steve Marshall when he was the district attorney. Now he's the. Currently the attorney General. But you had that. We will be able to hear excerpts from this old 2015 interview with Marshall that are now extremely relevant, particularly to this case. And I think that, again, I think that's your superpower. You've done so much work. You can be like, oh, yeah, I've got that interview. And you go back a decade and pull it out and put it on the table. And that's when one of the most fascinating things about Reveal and your reporting is your. Is this superpower you have. Talk about as much as you can without revealing too much, because we want to hear most of this on. On the episode that we're talking about of the Reveal podcast, but talk about that interview with Marshall back from a decade ago.
Right. So I tried very hard to get Steve Marshall in his office to talk to us about the lawsuit. And, um, they basically didn't even respond to the emails or to the phone calls that I made. So I was thinking, though, that I have talked to Marshall in the past, and what it felt relevant to the broader story that I was talking about that we've been. That I wanted to sort of look at in this. In this, um. In this show, which is really about help. It's about providing people who provide help. And, you know, one of the things to know about Alabama that I know from my previous reporting is that Alabama is very much a place that does not believe in helping poor people, black people, women, um, in particular access services, access resources. There's a lot of stigma around help. There's a lot of hoops to jump through. There's a lot of strings attached, and there's a lot of. Of. And there's an idea around help that if you provide help, that it gives the government basically the right to survey you. And so you suddenly. It's in your business. The Social workers around, and Medicaid is kind of checking your pay stubs, et cetera. And so I was really interested in that idea. And the other thing about Alabama that's really important is that Alabama, when it comes to reproductive justice issues, reproductive rights issues, uh, is often starts out seeming like an outlier, and then it ends up being a bellwether.
And so you. Ground zero. Right?
Ground zeros over and over again. And so I was reporting, so I thought, uh, years ago, 10 years ago, when I was at ProPublica, I was reporting on, uh, something that felt very strange and very much of an outlier at the time. And Alabama led the country in, which is punishing women who use drugs during pregnancy. And I talked to prosecutors around the state, I talked to a lot of women around the state, and Alabama was then, and now the most punitive state in the country by far, um, when it comes to punishing women who use drugs, substances, uh, during pregnancy. And Steve Marshall was somebody I talked to back then because he was one of the innovators of this policy. Um, he was the district attorney of Marshall County. No connection, apparently. Um, and he was, you know, he. He told me about how he had been hearing from the doctors and at the hospitals in Marshland county, which is in rural northern Alabama, uh, that there had been. That there was a big. Where there was a big meth problem that babies were being born addicted to. In quotes, meth, and that we need. And that the. That something had to be done. And if you're a prosecutor, of course, the thing you always do is prosecute. And so they figured out how to prosecute, and they used, um, a law that. I won't go into here, but let's just say the law was created to crack down on actual meth labs in actual homes that parents were exposing their children to. And he figured. And other prosecutors figured, oh, hey, um, we can just turn that law.
We can.
We can use that to prosecute women in Alabama who. For this, um, for this purpose. Um, because, you know, in Alabama, a fetus is considered a child. And, um. And so if you are drugged drugs in a womb, it's basically like a meth lab.
Right.
So that they use that law, and they used it successfully. And Steve Marshall was one of the innovators. And one of the things that I just.
Well, I, you know, I often cook meth in my uterus.
We all do.
Right?
Yeah. Um, in fact, those of us whose uteruses aren't good for anything else, that's.
All it's good for. Now we could.
Yeah, it's exactly. Um, so. But one of the things that really struck me about Marshall then was he was. So first of all, he was very open to talking to. I spoke with. I talked with him, actually, a couple of times for a total of two hours. And he was very eager to sort of explain the problem and the solution that they'd come up with. And, you know, and he also was. But the thing that I remembered most was kind of his idea of what help was. And he. And, um, I have to be clear that it wasn't just him. It was other prosecutors around the state. Marshall was not the most punitive. He was not the most aggressive. He was, you know, one of the first, but not the last and certainly not the worst people to do this. This. But their idea. The idea was that by punishing women so, you know, taking their drug, testing them without their knowledge and consent, very often, uh, you know, arresting them, in some cases in his. In. In the hospital, taking their babies away from them, forcing them into drug treatment, on and on and on, that you, you know, eventually into prison if they. If they fail the drug treatment programs that you were helping them because you were forcing them to get help for their drug problem. Um, that was the idea. Punishing women was a form of help. It was. You know, we think about this carrot and the stick. Alabama is a place that is mostly stick. Very few carrots. And this policy that he had and that he was really embracing at the time really embodied that. And it just struck me as being very resonant to this moment where, um, here he is again with an outlier policy, threatening to prosecute people, um, in Alabama who help people go out of Alabama to access abortion. And also, it just struck me as being really like a. Like a crystallization of what help means and. And often has meant. You know, state help has meant in a. In. In Alabama in particular.
Well, you know, there's also the added bonus, uh, for Republicans, at least back then. I know there's been several lawsuits that felons can't vote, so. Right. You know, I think that, um, the punishment, the stick aspect instead of the carrot aspect benefits Republicans and helps them keep their hold on their red legislature, along with everything else they do, including voter suppression laws and gerrymandering, et cetera, et cetera. I mean, we could. We could go on and on about the voter suppression happening in Southern states, especially including Alabama. But it's just fascinating that you have this very eager DA wanting to speak to you in 2015 about punishing helpers and, oh, lo and behold, we are now talking about a case in which he is now the Attorney General, and we're talking about helpers, but he doesn't want to speak to you. Well, sir, you already have, so thank you. Thank you for that. And we're going to hear a lot of that interview, plus a lot of other information on this upcoming episode of Reveal. You can get it wherever you get your podcasts. Please let everybody know you know where they can find and follow you and your reporting as well.
You can find me on Blue Sky. You can find me on Mother Jones most often, um, as a, as a writer. Um, very occasionally you can find me at, um, Reveal on the radio. Yeah, podcasts. Our podcasts are available, you know, wherever you find podcasts and also on NPR in many, uh, many parts of the country.
Oh, wonderful. Thank you so much for your dogged reporting on this and, and staying on it. Uh, and, uh, we do appreciate you and your, and your superpowers. Keep, keep those interviews coming. Who knows, Maybe an interview you do this week. I'll show up in a, uh, in a podcast, in a decade.
Oh, my God. Thank you so much. Bye. Bye.
All right, everybody, stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news, everyone. Then, good news, everyone. Good news. I'm already laughing at this adorable photo. If you have any good news or confessions or corrections, or if you have a shout out to a loved one or yourself or a small business in your area or your small business or some great activism you're seeing, maybe a great rally you've been to, we want to hear about that. And shout outs to government, government programs, um, like, you know, anything that's helped you or a loved one, whether it's Social Security or Medicare or great VA health care you've received, or Section 8 or student debt forgiveness, anything like that, any great government program, 99.999 of which were passed by Democrats, you can send it to us@dailybeanspot.com click on Contact. All you got to do to get your submission read on the air is pay your POD pet tariffs, which means attach a photo of your pet. Like this. First submission.
No.
Love these. Uh, and if you don't have a pet, you can send an adoptable pet in your area. We'll see if we can find him a home. If you don't have any of that, you can send us any animal photos. We love otters and frogs and. What, um, else. Pandas.
Pandas. You like the red ones, I like the. Actually, I love the red ones, too. They're my. They really are. But red pandas and white and black pandas, they're just. Pandas in general are something special.
Yep. Uh, secretary birds. Um, I love those capybaras, especially that one of the pelican trying to eat the capybara. It's just. It's amazing. Thank you. Send any of that. And, uh, speaking of birds, we're also taking bird watching photos, which is a photo of an actual bird or you and your family and friends flipping the bird to Trump and Musk Properties. Send it all to us dailybeanspod.com click on contact. First up from sarin. Pronoun she and her. I hope I'm pronouncing that right. Hey, my boyfriend introduced me to your podcast, and I just wanted to say thank you to him and y'all for making the shit news more tolerable.
Our, uh, pleasure.
Absolutely. Welcome. Look at this group of doggos.
I love them.
I love them so much. This little. Oh, uh, is that a Frenchie? Boston M. I mean, they're just so adored. The big hound dog in the back. They're all just like, yeah, yeah.
My sister's family just got a Frenchie boxer mix, and it's a puppy, and I cannot wait to meet it this weekend.
Oh, my God, that's going to be incredible.
I might steal it. Okay, this next one is from Anonymous. Pronouns she and her. My grandchildren lost both of their parents to cancer. Jesus. Age 14 and 18. The 18 year old on dialysis. Yeah. Yes, yes, yes. They needed assistance, and thank the Lord they have so far gotten the help. I must say, this new administration has me worried about losing my retirement money to care for them. It's a stress that I cannot describe and I didn't need while trying to care for them.
Right.
The good news is my grandson on dialysis got a transplant on March 21, 2025. We are so very grateful. We learned that from the transplant center staff that they have great concerns for their patients.
Look at. Look at this beautiful family.
Oh, my goodness.
Oh, uh, man. Send y'all my love.
Yes, indeed.
That is tough. That is tough. All right, next up, Brian. Pronouns he and him. Hello. I've been listening for a few years now. You could say that you had me at hot notes. Just a quick bit of hyper local good news. Our regional school district. Oh, uh, Wachusett Regional High School in Holden Math.
That looks good.
Had a douche canoe on the committee who tried taking the first step to Banning books by trying to allow parents to opt out of their kids reading certain books. And he failed miserably. And I mean miserably. Better yet, it was recorded for the public to watch.
That's amazing.
He. We're obviously pretty blue here in Mass, but the region we're in starts to lean red as you move a few towns west. And we're borderline purple in some areas. So this is a big deal for us. All of the people that showed up to make their feelings known, highlighted in the montage video with a hilarious ending. Makes me warm inside. And we're going to have a link to that video in the show notes so all of you can enjoy this. Um, and so that's the YouTube link. And quick shout out to my wife's candle business.
Nice.
I love candles and business. She started this last year on the side. She's working her ass off and I couldn't be prouder that she lets me help with it. Her business name is Quill Q U I L l. Quill Supply Co. Will supply company on Instagram. And her work is so great. I thought about taping candles to my big face so I can smell them so I could take the smell with me. Keep rocking the world, you two. Much love. Thank, uh, you so much for this link, Brian. It brings me joy, so I really appreciate it.
I love it.
All right.
This is from Muriel. No pronouns given. Last week on Law Day, one of my E Pluribus flags celebrating divers was featured in the New York Court of Appeals Annual assembly. Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson spoke eloquently about the concept of E Pluribus and thanked me for the use of my flag image. Letissa James spoke with passion about holding the line for our democracy. I got to go and thank her for her bravery and powerful voice and got a fabulous hug. Heroes are holding the line behind the scenes.
This flag is amazing.
Yeah, it is. Mural. This is awesome.
Congratulations. And this flag is art. I mean, if anything. Heck yeah, if anything expresses the idea of E Pluribes. Unum. Um, of many one. It's not some right wingers like to say one of many. No, no, no. Of many one. Is this all these handprints? This is gorgeous. Congrats. That's. That's amazing. Next up, from Anonymous. Oh, my God, this dog from Anonymous. First of all, I can't start my day without listening to you guys. There's nothing like starting a day with some laughter. So thank you. I want to shout out, um, one of my best friends who lost her 17 year old son to suicide after struggling to get him in the mental health that he needed. In her grief, with the support of her friends and now husband, she started an organization in Phoenix called Kid in the Corner. They promote mental health awareness and provide safe ways for young people to reach out for help. They have an annual fundraiser, Shatter the stigma. It's a gala and I know they could always use some more funds to expand their scope in schools. I think recently the Department of Education has taken away much of the mental health funding available for schools. So I would like to put out their webpage and organization for the good work they do and hope maybe they can get some recognition on a wider scale. It's kid in the corner.org we'll have a link in the show notes. My pod pet tax is a photo of my boy Shiloh, because as a rescued pup from our barn, he was very shy and low to the ground.
That's cute.
And Ramos, AKA Woofy. Oh, my God. Uh, is that a Pyrenees? Because he beautiful.
Oh, thank you for this, kids in the corner. I am so sorry for your best friend. But. But to create some collateral beauty of a horrible situation and actually start this, I love that we can bring some attention to it. And as Allison said, we're going to have a link to kidinthecorner.org so you can help support this if you. If you can.
That's so great. It just reminds me of, you know, um, Joe Biden and all of the trauma he had to go through and how he turned it into a purpose.
Yeah, absolutely. This next one's from Anonymous. Pronunciation him. Hello, Leguma, Queensland. I wanted to point out that not only is Ann Telney's was that close Telneas. Maybe Telneis. Telneis an awesome editorial cartoonist. This year's Pulitzer is her third. I'd encourage everyone to support her substack at Anntelnaeus, which we will have a link to in the show notes. Love the show. From my pod pet tariff, I give a picture of our cat Chloe sleeping, which she does most of the time. All the best. And that cat looks massive. Unless that's just a camera angle.
Could be. She seems a little chunky, but I love her.
So sweet.
Yeah. And substack is fantastic. And, um, as soon as I remember when she put that cartoon out that they, you know, that Bezos pulled, um, from being published, I. I remember I shared her substack with everyone. So everybody support her third Pulitzer. That's awesome. Thanks for letting us know. Next up, from Katie. She her beanie Babes Joyous news. My cat Dorothy has declared her love for me or has decided that I'm too feeble and incompetent to feed myself. Originally a shy feral kitty, she gave up the wildlife and settled down at my aunt's home about an hour away, temporarily living as a garage cat. She has lived in our home for four years after having kittens before reaching the ripe old age of 1 cat year, according to a veterinary estimate. These babies having babies. I'm telling you. What? What? She is so named after the Golden Girl. Excellent, Dorothy. The Golden Girl. Maybe as an attempt to acquire three additional lady cats, but I'll never tell. So every time you get say, hey, we need all four. I'll spare you the photogenic evidence, but there was a deceased critter on my living room floor when I got home from work.
Oh boy.
Thankfully, my human children were mostly uninterested. My pod pet tariff is the majestic Dworth. You can guess her breed if you like. She's silky soft and has a tongue like wet sandpaper. She's here on her princess perch in my work from home office with my senior dog, Louise, which is a great name for a dog. Sweet Louise is a purebred lab mix, which is what the farmer we got her from told us with the utmost sincerity. He has either the driest sense of humor or no idea what those words mean. Love your beans. Thank you for the sanity and for all the good news interspersed with the dumpster fiery shit show of shitstorm. Excuse me. Look at the baby.
I do not know what kind cats are. So disarms you.
It looks like either a Turkish or like an albino calico. I don't know. Let's see. A. Ah, diluted calico. Which apparently means she's a kind of calico or something. We guess she's a hunter and gatherer at any rate. So she left you a present. She left you a dead animal on your floor. That's the utmost declaration, um, of love, Katie. Thank you.
All right. This is for Sheri. Actually, it's from Sherry, but also for Sherry pronouns. She and her. Hello, fabulous beans queens. I am such a procrastinator because it's taken me a month to send you a photo of me with two of my fellow blue wave bitches, the BWBs at the April 5th hands off rally in red. Red. Red. Really red? Flower Mound, Texas.
Yeah, Flower mound. Woo hoo.
I decided to. Sorry, my teenage brain just. I feel like I have to start calling it that now. M, that's my flower mound. Okay. I decided to volunteer to host the event at the site of Congressman Brandon Gill's office. I thought maybe I'd get 100 people to show up, and I invited Ernest Lineberger to speak. Lineberger, by the way, will run against Gill in 2026. Imagine my utter shock when over a thousand people showed up. Up. I was completely freaked out every time Mobilized sent me another sign up. Mr. Leinberger gave me a rousing speech and kept the crowd engaged. Then we invited people to come up and tell their story and reason for attending. Several dozen people came up. My favorite was a 97 year old woman who had escaped from Nazi Germany in 1938. She said that what is happening now feels exactly how it felt back then. And now for the really great news. Thank goodness. Last Saturday was election day in Texas for municipal elections of school board and city council members. Lone Star left reported in their substack that, quote, voters across Texas sent a message loud enough to rattle the far right out of their echo chambers. We're done with your culture wars, your book bans, and your crusade against public schools. End quote. For the first time since I moved to Texas in 2003, me, every candidate I voted for won.
Wow.
I have a big smile on my face and I hope for a brighter future. For my pod pet tariff, I'm sharing a photo of my latest foster kitten, orchid. She'll be three weeks old tomorrow and is so soft and adorable. And just for Dana, I'm also sharing a very old photo of me at 2 years old, driving my very own car. My mom wrote, quote, going places across the photo, which turned out to be a harbinger of things to come, because. Because in my 40 year career with the federal government, I traveled all across this country and even to England.
Thanks for your service.
Indeed. Thanks for keeping me up to date on all the important news every single day. My friends and family are all tired of hearing me tell them, but they absolutely must listen to your podcast.
Oh, my goodness. Okay.
Oh, my God. You were a beautiful child.
Look at that. Going places. How'd you get your perfect Bettie Paige Bangs at the age of two?
Seriously?
Oh, my goodness. Jealous. Just hands off for sake. I love.
Oh, my God, I love it.
Um, this kitten. Can I have this kitten? Can you ship this kitten to me? Um, uh. Or do you drive to Southern California with your foster kitten? I want this kitten. Look at her. Look at her little eyes.
No, I wanna.
I wanna hug her. Adorable. Thank you so much. Uh, and we're gonna have a bunch of links in the show. Notes for you all today from the Good News. If you have good news, please send it to us dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. Thanks again to Nina Martin for coming on. Please make sure you listen to the May 10 episode of the Reveal podcast and you can follow her. She does a lot of work for Mother Jones, which, uh, is a great little independent journalism outlet. Uh, do, uh, you have any final thoughts, my friend?
I do not. I do not today. Thank you.
All right, everybody, we'll be back in your ears tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, and take care of your family. I've been AG and I've been DG and them's m the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information Please visit msw media.com msw media.