In this episode of What’s Going On we track the chaos of Donald Trump and the resolute courage of Gabriela Soto, who fought for and won the release from ICE custody of her husband Martin, who was one of the hunger strikers at Delaney Hall that brought international attention to the notorious for profit ICE prison in Newark back in May.
With just a few weeks to go before the last day to cast ballots in the midterm elections, the global situation continues to deteriorate due to President Trump's geo-gyrations, apparently meant to try and save the razor this GOP majority in Congress, with some last minute maneuvers that are only further destabilizing the world situation.
An increasingly frustrated Trump blasted Ukraine because it has successfully hit Russia's diesel fuel production which the President blamed for sky high prices being paid by US truckers and farmers.
Then on Friday Trump suddenly reversed US policy and removed sanctions on Russian diesel exports with an eye to bringing down the global price while demanding Ukraine replace its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Guardian is reporting this morning that Trump took to social media to unilaterally declare there was now an energy ceasefire in the war between Russia and the Ukraine, yet in the real world which Trump appears to be increasingly disconnected from, the war raged on.
On Sunday, the New York Times published an front page blockbuster investigative story about how a 36 year-old US State Department staffer at the US Embassy in Jerusalem suppressed and altered memos generated by his fellow State Department employees documenting the increase wave of attacks by Israeli settlers on the long standing Palestinian homesteads on the West Bank as well as the IDF's genocidal moves in Gaza.
In the Mideast, President Trump's war of choice with Iran continues to destabilize that region with a devastating attack on Saudi Arabia's King Khalid international airport in Riyadh on Sunday that killed 13 people that was executed by Yemen's Iran backed Houthi rebels.
Meanwhile, here at home the Guardian advances a story we have been advancing for months. Maternity wards across the United States are closing thanks to the GOP's so-called "big-beautiful bill" that shifted social safety net spending like Medicaid and food stamps to cover tax cuts for the wealthiest and out of control military spending.
The newspaper says 52 maternity wards have closed since the GOP measure was passed in July of 2025. Incredibly, in a third of our nation's counties--roughly 1,000 there is no maternity facility or obstetric clinician.
Close to 40 percent of births in the US are paid for by Medicaid.
The Guardian also reported that the entire CDC pregnancy risk assessment team that tracks maternal care and outcomes across the country on administrative leave.
Even before the latest cuts to Medicaid, Black women in the US experienced pregnancy-related deaths more than three times higher than white women.
I asked our current events panel with Larry Hamm, founder of the People's Organization for Progress, and Dr. Joe Wilson, labor historian, for their take on the political landscape with less than a month to go before the last day we can weigh in on who runs Congress.
We played an excerpt from remarks made by Gabriela Soto last week after her husband Martin was released from ICE detention. Back over the Memorial Day holiday, Martin led a hunger and labor strike at Delaney Hall, the notorious for profit private immigration prison run by the GEO Group.
Detainees were reportedly beaten and tear gassed and shipped off to other facilities but the strike brought international attention and mass protest that prompted Gov. Sherrill to deploy the New Jersey State Police.
In February, Martin Soto, originally from Peru, was out to get some diapers when ICE abducted him. He had no criminal record.
“I was told by so many people that this could not get done—-just let him
get deported-just let him get his voluntary leave and I kept saying no, I don’t want that to happen. I am not going to let it happen,” Gabriela Soto told reporters. “I made it my goal, my mission to take care of my two kids, my husband, myself and my miscarriage. You don’t have to be an elected official to have power. You and yourself have power.”
We visited with Dr. Kate Sugarman and discussed how we can protect the health and well being of our immigrant neighbors who are being imprisoned in places like Delaney Hall, the deadly 1,000 bed private for profit facility in Newark, New Jersey. Dr. Sugarman shares how she has used medical records to win the release of 10 detainees who were not getting proper medical attention.
In our second hour did an after action analysis of the Marble Hill ICE shooting with DC 37 Local 2507 president Michael Greco and Lt. Vincent Variale President DC 37 Local 3621. Did you know that EMS did NOT make it to the scene of that shooting in time to check out Oscar Belgal or his five year old son who was in the car when ICE fired multiple rounds into the CR4?
Greco and Variale explained that when the NYPD moves to take someone into custody on a warrant, an FDNY EMS unit is pre-deployed, assuring a quicker response if something goes wrong, especially when it could involve children.
“I think the way ICE goes about this it’s all about creating fear,” Variale said
We close out with some great news about yet another workplace going union amidst Donald Trump's full court press to eliminate them.
TWU Organizing Director Angelo Cucuzza gave us an update on NYC Ferry captains voting Friday to join the Transport Workers Union of America - becoming the second group of ferry workers to join the TWU this year.
“The captains operate ferries on all of NYC’s Ferry routes plying the East River, Hudson River, and NY Harbor,” according to the TWU. “They are employed by Hornblower, which manages the transportation service under contract with the NYC Economic Development Corporation. Technicians and Welders at NYC Ferry voted to join the union on Aug. 6.”
“In the face of an aggressive and concerted anti-trade union campaign by Hornblower, NYC Ferry Captains stood strong and voted to join the Transport Workers Union,” TWU International President John Samuelsen said. “Industrial trade unionism - organizing every job title and craft at every employer - is the pathway to worker empowerment. This is the TWU’s goal in the NYC Ferry system.”
In addition to about 120 Captains, Technicians, and Welders, several hundred Deckhands work the ferries. The TWU will now focus on organizing Deckhands, who have reached out to the union about joining.
Cucuzza said TWU’s organizing was successful in no small measure to the support of the Mamdani administration, specifically Deputy Mayor Julie Su.
“As far as TWU is concerned, we have not had a labor friendly administration in City Hall for decades,” Cucuzza said. “This new administration is completely a breath of fresh air.”
