Transcript
Alison Gill (0:00)
MSW Media hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Monday, July 7, 2025. Today, at least 69 people are dead across five counties in Texas after massive flooding that hit as key roles were left vacant at local weather service offices by Trump cuts. The Defense Department says it's going to stop providing crucial satellite weather data. There's a hearing today on Mr. Abrego's amended complaint that includes his detailed description of his torture in Seacoat. Pete Hegseth unilaterally stopped arms transfers to Ukraine and then lied about it again. A rural Nebraska medical center says it's planning to close because of uncertainty over funding cuts in the billionaire bailout bill. Republican donors are cashing in on Florida's concentration camp. The eight men trapped in Djibouti awaiting due process have been sent to war torn South Sudan. And a six year old Honduran boy with leukemia who had been seized by ICE has been released and returned to Los Angeles. I'm your host, Alison Gill. Hey everybody, it's Monday. That's all I can say about that. Later in the show, I'm going to be joined by our good friend Rick Smith, host of the Rick Smith show and union advocate. And he's going to talk about how his union healthcare is helping his family. Dana is out, but she will be back soon. Thank you for hanging with me solo. I really, really appreciate it. And thanks for all the positive words that you've been sending. There's also a new episode of Unjustified out. And Andy McCabe and I talk about Trump's latest massive power grab that's been flying under the radar. You don't want to miss that. And today in court, there will be a hearing in Mr. Abrego's case in Judge Sinis's courtroom. This is about his amended complaint. He amended his original complaint. The original complaint was, you know, return me to the United States. And the Supreme Court told the government, make sure you're ready to talk about how you're going to facilitate his return to the United States. And that's when he was indicted and brought back. And he's still being held on those criminal charges in Tennessee at the request of his own lawyers because if he was released, as we know, he'd be detained by ICE and deported to a third country. The Supreme Court is now allowing without due process for some reason. But that amended complaint I wrote about@muellershirote.com has the detailed description of all of the torture that he experienced himself at Seacoat in El Salvador and saw others experience as well. Well, and so that hearing will be taking place today. We'll talk about that hearing tomorrow. I may do a substack live. I think Adam Classfeld is on the ground there. So I'm going to be doing that among, among other things today, listening into that particular hearing and this weekend, you know, I don't know, the 4th of July just hit different this year. And even though I was surrounded by loved ones, my chosen family, I couldn't shake this cloud that hung in the air all day. I had been joining court hearings over the eight men trapped on the ground in Djibouti. As you know, back on April 18th, Judge Murphy in Boston ordered the Trump regime to stop removing people to third countries while the case was litigated on the merits. But the Trump administration violated that order when it put eight men on a plane bound for war torn South Sudan. Now, Judge Murphy held an emergency hearing after lawyers for these men filed an emergency motion telling the judge, hey, we think the Trump administration is violating your court order. So the judge had another hearing and ordered the planes to stop when they were on the ground in Djibouti to refuel. And he ordered that those eight men must be given due process because of what the Supreme Court said in the JGG case. Nine to nothing. All nine justices agreed that there should be some amount of due process, meaningful due process. And the due process they sought was what's called a CAT interview, a convention against torture interview. That's where people who are being sent to third countries get an opportunity to prove to a judge or not that they have a credible fear of being killed or tortured if they're sent to the country that they're being deported to or disappeared to. Now, the Department of Justice refused to return those eight men to the United States for these due process interviews and instead, instead suggested they conduct those interviews on the ground in Djibouti, where the plane had stopped, like I said, to refuel on its way to South Sudan. Lawyers for the eight men vehemently disagreed, saying, logistically, it would be a nightmare. It'd be really difficult to conduct these interviews in Djibouti. They would need interpreters, access to legal counsel. How would that happen? Would it be virtual? They would need a place to live, by the way the government put them up in a shipping container. It would need food, medicine. It's really hot there on the ground. It would just be a logistical nightmare. But the Department of Justice, Trump's government, said, we can do this on the ground in Djibouti. So Judge Murphy obliged and Said, if you can return to the United States or you can do it your way, we'll do it your way. And he issued what's called a remedial order. Remedial as in a remedy, a remedy to the government's fuck up to their violation of the previous court order not to send anyone to third parties. That's what a remedial order is. Now, of course, once the operation was underway, the Department of Justice complained in court filings about it, saying, it's too hot, they don't have enough electricity, they didn't have proper medicine or food for their agents. Not the eight men they dragged there, by the way. It was just uncomfortable for them. So they asked the Supreme Court to make it stop. And the corrupt Supreme Court obliged in a one paragraph order failing to explain itself and failing to explain why they would even consider giving equitable relief to the government who came to the court with unclean hands, because they had violated that initial order not to send anyone to a third country twice, by the way, because they had actually also sent someone to Venezuela. That unclean hands, that equitable jurisdiction. I first learned a lot about that and shared it with y' all back during the documents special master case when Trump said, help me get back these documents that I stole. And you know, one of the justices said, one of the liberal justices said, look, you can't have equitable relief for inequitable acts. And during that time, I compared it to something I saw on, like America's Dumbest Criminals, where there was a crack deal going down and the crack dealer gave the crack to the guy, and the guy didn't give him his money and just ran away. Now, that crack dealer went to the cops to try to get relief, to get justice, but you can't come to get equitable relief with unclean hands. Just like Trump couldn't go to the court to get relief for a crime he committed, stealing these documents, retaining them unlawfully. But here we are with the Trump regime, violating a court order and then going to the Supreme Court and asking for relief. And that was in the dissent of the liberal justices. Now, the Supreme Court blocked Judge Murphy's original order, the one that blocked the government from sending people to third countries without due process, even though they had said in another case, nine zero, that everyone's entitled to due process. No one could square that circle, by the way. So as a last ditch effort, the morning of Independence Day, lawyers for the eight filed a habeas petition in D.C. and the case was assigned to Judge Randolph Moss, an Obama Appointee who held an emergency hearing that same day. Now, this habeas claim wasn't about getting a Convention Against Torture interview. That wasn't the relief they were seeking. But it was about the government sending people to countries with horrible conditions as punishment. And that punitive action is a violation of their 8th amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment. But even though their claim was different, the judge said it was similar enough to their previous due process claim so it must be transferred back to Judge Murphy in Boston. And within just two hours or so of the planes taking off for South Sudan, Judge Murphy said that the Supreme Court's order blocking his ruling on the other claim was clear and that his hands were tied. So that night around 8:30 Eastern, while people were eating hot dogs and watching fireworks, these eight men were disappeared to South Sudan aboard a C130 military transport, most likely to their deaths with no due process. Knowing that made it hard to celebrate Independence Day. I couldn't stop thinking about how the Supreme Court, bought and paid for by oligarchs and fascists wrapped in flags and carrying Bibles, robbed people of due process protections in the Constitution. And I couldn't stop thinking about the Declaration of Independence, the document whose signing we were supposed to be celebrating, which said of King George iii, he has combined with others to subject us to jurisdictions foreign to our Constitution and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation. For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us, for protecting them by a mock trial from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world. For imposing taxes on us without our consent, for depriving us in many cases of the benefits of trial by jury, and for transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses. That's what was on my mind this Independence Day. But I'll continue to work to achieve those ideals represented in the Declaration of Independence, as long as I draw breath. It was a tough weekend. I'm glad you were all here. I'm glad you're all here now. So thank you. All right, we have a lot of news to get to, but we have to take a quick break. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. Hey, everybody. Right now the headlines are chock full of data breaches and regulatory rollbacks, making us all vulnerable. But you can do something about it. Delete Me is here to make it easy, quick and safe. To remove your personal data online and we want to thank our sponsor for today's episode, delete Me. If you want an easier way to deal with data breaches, get Deleteme. These days, it feels like everyone's personal information is out there. I keep hearing about data breaches in the news. DOGE has all of our stuff. 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So take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me now at a special discount for listeners. Get 20% off your delete me plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com DailyBeans and use promo code dailybeans at checkout. Again, the only way to get 20% off is to go to JoinDeleteMe.com DailyBeans and enter code DAILYBEANS at checkout. Once again, JoinDeleteMe.com DailyBEANS code DAILYBEANS. You'll be glad you did, everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the hot notes. Hot notes all right, first up from the post, at least 69 people have been confirmed dead by the floods that swept through a region of Central Texas known as Flash Flood Alley. As a frantic search and rescue operation continues for countless more who remain missing, including including 11 girls from a beloved summer camp on the Guadalupe River. Dalton Rice, the city manager of Kerrville, one of the hardest hit areas, told reporters that the search would continue throughout Sunday, though flash flood warnings and watches remain in effect across the area and well into the evening, dimming hopes that others could be found alive. 21 children are confirmed to be among the dead, and authorities expect the toll to rise. And the New York Times is reporting that crucial positions at the local offices of the National Weather Service were unfilled as severe rainfall inundated parts of Central Texas Friday, prompting some experts to question whether staffing shortages made it harder for the forecasting agency to coordinate with local emergency managers as floodwaters rose. I have an answer for that. Yes, it did. The staffing shortages suggested a separate problem. Those former officials said. The loss of experienced people who would typically have helped communicate with local authorities in the hours after the flash flood warnings were issued overnight. The shortages are among the factors likely to be scrutinized as the death toll climbs from the floods. Now, separate questions have emerged about the preparedness of local communities, including Kerr County's apparent lack of a local flood warning system. The county, roughly 50 miles northwest of San Antonio, is where many of these deaths occurred. The National Weather Service's San Angelo office, which is responsible for some of the areas hit hardest by the flooding, was missing a senior hydrologist, staff forecaster and meteorologist in charge. That's according to Tom Fahey, the legislative director of the National Weather Service Employees Organization. That's the union that represents weather service workers. The weather Service's nearby San Antonio office, which covers other areas hit by the floods, also had significant vacancies, including a warning coordination meteorologist and a science officer. Staff members in those positions are meant to work with local emergency managers to plan for floods, including when and how to warn local residents and help them evacuate. That office's warning coordination meteorologist left on April 30 after taking the early retirement package that the Trump administration used to reduce the number of federal employees. A Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has said in a statement, quote, in a moment like this, we feel just as helpless as everyone else does. And all we know to do at this moment is pray. That's why we have scientists. Sir, if all you know how to do is pray, don't fire people who know how to actually do shit. Your king gutting our National Weather Service and NOAA is to blame for this. You're not helpless. You're hapless. You're unprepared. You're cruel. Fuck you. First of all. Also, to all of our friends in Texas, we see you. I see you. I'm getting tired of folks saying they asked for this, they voted for this, forgetting that not everyone did and that not everyone has the means or the desire to simply pick up their entire lives and move elsewhere. That's something else I'm seeing a lot on social media. These girls at that camp, they didn't vote for Donald Trump. I'm so sorry. You're going through this, Texas. We see you. All right, Next up from NPR, this is to make matters even worse, the U.S. department of Defense will no longer provide satellite weather data, leaving hurricane forecasters without crucial information about storms as peak hurricane season looms in the Atlantic. For more than 40 years, the defense Department has operated satellites that collect information about conditions in the atmosphere and the ocean. A group within the Navy called the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography center processes the raw data from these satellites and turns it over to scientists and weather forecasters who use it for a wide range of purposes, including real time hurricane forecasting and measuring sea ice in polar regions. In late June, the Department of Defense announced it would no longer provide that data, and that's according to a notice published by noaa. The termination date was originally the end of June, but after an outcry from scientists and forecasters, it was updated to the end of July, according to the Navy. Next up from the Guardian, something else Kegseth has done. He unilaterally halted an agreed shipment of military aid to Ukraine due to baseless concerns that US stockpiles of WEAP have run too low. A batch of air defense missiles and other precision munitions were due to be sent to Ukraine to aid in its ongoing war with Russia, Russia's war, which launched a full scale invasion into Ukraine in 2022. The aid was promised by the United States during Joe Biden's administration last year, but the Pentagon halted the shipment, with NBC reporting that a decision to do so was made solely by Hegseth, former Fox News Weekend host, who has previously come under pressure for sharing plans of a military strike in signal chats. Some corporate news outlets are reporting that Trump allies were shocked and taken aback by this decision. Totally caught off guard, really, really. Because this is the third time Whiskey Pete has halted shipments to Ukraine unilaterally, with the latest intervention purportedly coming due to concerns that the US's own weapons stockpile is running too low. The decision surprised members of Congress as well as Ukraine and US European allies. Democrats said there's no evidence that American weapons stocks are in decline. We are not at a lower point, stockpile wise, than we've been in the last three and a half years. That's what Adam Smith, a Democrat and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, maybe somebody who knows something about this. That's what he told NBC. He also said that his staff had seen the numbers on weapons supplies and that there's no justification to suspend aid to Ukraine. The weapons being delayed include dozens of Patriot interceptor missiles that can defend against Russian missile attacks, as well as howitzers and other missile systems. So third time in six months that Kagseth has done this. And next up, the big ugly bill is already having devastating effects. From Nebraska Public Radio, the uncertainty over federal Medicaid funding appears to have claimed its first victim in Nebraska. Community Hospital in McCook announced Wednesday it's going to close the Curtis Medical center in Curtis, winding down its services over the next several months, quote. Unfortunately, the current financial environment driven by anticipated federal budget cuts to Medicaid, has made it impossible for us to continue operating all of our services, many of which have faced significant financial challenges for years. Years. That's Troy Bruntz, president and CEO of Community Hospital, in a news release. The budget reconciliation bill that the House of Representatives voted to approve on Thursday contains several provisions that experts say will slash Medicaid, which rural hospitals are more dependent on than their urban counterparts. Earlier this week, during a zoom meeting put on by the multi state organization United Today, Stronger Tomorrow, officials estimated that up to six Nebraska hospitals could be forced to close. We currently have six hospitals that we feel are in critical financial states, three that are in an impending kind of closure or conversion to the rural emergency hospital model. That's Jed Hansen, executive director for the Nebraska Rural Health Association. He went on to say we would likely see these closures within a year or two years once the bill is fully enacted. In a statement Thursday, the Nebraska hospital association said 44% of the state's rural hospitals are already losing money and passage of the bill will lead to a $3.6 billion cut in funding to Nebraska hospitals over the next decade. All right, let's head down to Florida with this story from Rolling Stone. President Donald Trump traveled to Florida on Tuesday to tour what Republicans have dubbed Alligator Alcatraz. I just call it a concentration camp. It's a 5,000 bed immigration detention center built in a remote, hot and disgustingly humid corner of the Everglade. The facility, a collection of plastic tents outfitted with bunk beds in literal cages, was built almost overnight on top of an abandoned airstrip in an area known as Alligator Alley. Republicans have emphasized the amount of deadly wildlife surrounding the camp and the danger alligators and pythons might pose to any detained migrants who might try to escape the state. GOP is even selling disturbing swamp themed merchandise touting the project. And Trump on Tuesday said, I guess that's the concept to a question about whether undocumented immigrants will be eaten by alligators if they try to escape. But so far, little has been said about how exactly the facility came to be. As it turns out, two contractors who work to quickly build out Alligator ALCATRAZ, which Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has called a one stop shop for detention, adjudication and deportation of migrants, have been significant donors to DeSantis and Trump. Earlier Tuesday, Bloomberg News identified several contractors working on this facility, a group of disaster relief firms selected by Florida's Division of Emergency Management, which is part of DeSantis administration. Among the contractors is CDR companies, which Bloomberg said will run medical services and did some site preparation. CDR's President Carlos Duart and businesses affiliated with his firm have made significant donations to DeSantis and Trump as well as to Health and human services secretary RFK Jr. CDR Enterprises donated a million dollars in December 2023 to Fight Right Inc. A super PAC that supports DeSantis presidential campaign at the time. Late last year, DeSantis announced he was appointing Duart to the Board of Trustees at Florida International University and named his wife, Tina Vidal Duart to the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees.