On today's BradCast, a self-identified "establishment Republican" pushes back against Donald Trump's claims that the election will be "rigged", but goes on to deny that his own party has promoted the very "voter fraud" conspiracies that the Republican nominee is now exploiting. [Audio link to complete show is posted below.]

Trump has been increasingly strident of late in his rhetoric charging that the election is being "rigged" by "large scale voter fraud" and more. As he does so, his supporters are using more and more violent rhetoric to describe "bloodshed" and even assassination should their candidate fail to win on November 8th. As a disturbing Boston Globe report noted over the weekend, it has now fallen to establishment GOPers to try and calm the increasingly dangerous waters.

Former New Hampshire GOP chairman Fergus Cullen, a self-described 'Never Trumper' who characterizes the increasingly violent rhetoric from Trump supporters as 'very scary', joins us today to rebut Trump's charges about fraud and decry threats of violence by his followers. "He's doing terrible damage to the Republican brand," Cullen says. "Even after he's defeated, he's going to be causing trouble for our party for quite awhile, probably, in terms of how it's identified in the eyes of millions of Americans."

"On election night when Donald Trump is defeated, he's going to have a really important choice. Does he say responsible things that are aimed at accepting the outcome and telling his supporters that they should accept the outcome as well. Or, does he in fact pour gasoline on a fire, and continue the rhetoric that he's been using in the last ten days?"

But later, in the course of our conversation, it took a very bizarre turn. Cullen went on to reject the very premise of the idea that the Republican Party bears some responsibility for the effectiveness of Trump's claims, given the party has loudly forwarded false claims of massive Democratic 'voter fraud', for political gain, for more than a decade. He doesn't think that has happened.

"I don't think there's any argument that, certainly, some Republicans do believe that voter fraud takes place on significant scale enough to affect elections. I don't think the party has been pushing that line," Cullen tells me. As you'll hear, and as you might expect, that notion took me by complete surprise during the conversation. He compares "various conspiracy theories out there" with those from "the black helicopter crowd" and UFO spotters, but says "please don't blame the party for institutionalizing this nonsense."

I remain as gobsmacked here as anyone who has ever spent more than 15 minutes reading The BRAD BLOG or has even watched Fox "News" for about the same amount of time. While I expected to disagree on a few points (including computer tabulators vs. hand-counts in NH, which we discussed as well) and while Cullen was very nice and very generous with his time in joining us today, I'm still stunned that he is actually denying the very existence of the years-long, very well-funded effort by the very top echelon of the national GOP meant to deceive the public about "voter fraud". (See this Special Coverage page and this one for just a tiny taste of their efforts and our decade plus coverage of it. Listen to the conversation and its follow-up segment on today's show for much more.)

Also today: A bit of good news for voters, as a federal court has once again smacked down the state of Florida, this time for a GOP-enacted scheme that would have unnecessarily rejected thousands of absentee ballots; Ohio's Republican Sec. of State continues to fight a federal court order to restore more than a million illegally purged voters to the rolls; And we cover a fresh spate of violent and political terror attacks and plots by Trump-supporting Rightwing extremists against Muslims and others.

And, finally, a few thoughts on the curious case of the weekend firebombing of a Republican Party campaign office in NC...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Al Gore and Hillary Clinton rally Millennial voters to #VoteClimate; Federal appeals court allows construction to resume at Dakota Access pipeline; North Carolina grapples with Hurricane Matthew's toxic aftermath; PLUS: Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin calls for a day of prayer - for oil... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Record Warmth Helps Shrink U.S. Carbon Emissions; Elon Musk hits back at coal baron who called him a 'fraud' over green subsidies; Upward revision of global fossil fuel methane emissions based on isotope database; Efficiency saves developed countries $540 billion a year, IEA reports; New Jersey Transit, a Cautionary Tale of Neglect; Historic Climate Agreement Will Make Air Travel Carbon Neutral By 2020; Why the difference between taxing and trading carbon matters; The biggest climate change story in the world this week is quietly playing out in Rwanda; Solar Power Is About to Hit Texas Generators Where It Hurts Most... PLUS: A Trump presidency is a clean energy nightmare... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Climate change shows up at the 2nd Presidential Debate --- but not for long; PLUS: Global warming-fueled Hurricane Matthew leaves death and destruction in its wake... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): VIDEO: Environmental Disaster Feared From NC Floods; Coke and Pepsi Give Millions to Public Health, Then Lobby Against It; World needs $90tn infrastructure overhaul to avoid climate disaster, study finds; World moves to offset airplane emissions in landmark deal; Climate Change Blamed for Half of Increased Forest Fire Danger; Federal Court Denies Tribe's Request to Halt Dakota Access Pipeline; SF Bay Ecosystem Collapsing As Rivers Diverted, Scientists Report... PLUS: Convicted coal baron: ‘I am an American political prisoner’... and much, MUCH more! ...

On today's BradCast: Hurricane Matthew has already wrought death and destruction in the Caribbean, is already breaking records as it bears down on the U.S. Southeastern seaboard, and is "not your grandfather's weather" thanks to global warming, according to my guest, a 40-year veteran broadcast meteorologist. [Audio link to show is posted below.]

With states of emergency declared in Florida and several other states, and millions of Americans scrambling to get out of harms way, I'm joined today by longtime weather forecaster, Star-Tribune blogger and self-identified "Ronald Reagan conservative" Paul Douglas, to discuss the deadly and extraordinarily dangerous Hurricane Matthew as it aims for the East Coast of Florida. (That's not a Halloween decoration, it's an actual infrared satellite photo of the storm in the logo above, as the eye passed over Cuba earlier this week.)

Douglas explains what makes this currently Category 4/5 storm and its path so unusual and how it could actually end up hitting some of the same places twice if it stays on its currently projected bizarre U-turn trajectory.

"Matthew is going to grind up the coast. There's going to be a long stretch of coastline that's impacted by this storm surge. Because much of the circulation is going to remain out over water, it isn't going to fizzle like a normal hurricane," he tells me, adding that it "went from a tropical storm to a Category 5 in 36 hours [because] water temperatures in the Caribbean are running several degrees above average. It's the old 'weather on steroids' analogy. We are super-sizing a lot of these storms."

Because of that, he says, the storm surge could be as much as 9 feet above normal tides. "This is what kills people. It's not the winds. It's not even as much the inland rain. It's the storm surge that can cut off escape routes." And, as to that currently projected U-turn for the storm after it's moved up the coast? "I don't want to overstate it, but this could be unprecedented in terms of the track, the intensity, the amount of real estate that's impacted by this storm surge, and the fact that it's taking this bizarre loop potentially."

I ask Douglas, who has just co-authored the new book Caring for Creation: The Evangelicals Guide to Climate Change and a Healthy Environment with minister and coal miner's son Rev. Mitch Hescox (also a previous guest on The BradCast), to respond to Rush Limbaugh's latest hurricane conspiracy theory, which Douglas dispatches with actual facts and science, explaining: "The atmosphere doesn't care what you believe. The atmosphere responds to physics and chemistry. We've been fiddling with the chemistry of the atmosphere. We've been poking at the climate system with a long, sharp carbon-tipped spike, and then acting surprised when the weather bites back."

I also ask the self-described "Ronald Reagan-Teddy Roosevelt conservative who believes that conservatives should actually conserve," about why he believes corporate media fail to connect climate change dots and, at least so far, to raise the issue of global warming in Presidential and Vice Presidential debates. We discuss that, and much more. I'd suggest that this is another must-listen conversation, no matter what comes of Matthew in the next several days.

Also today (and not unrelated): Donald Trump, who has a record of politicizing election-year hurricanes, has named a Koch Industries climate denying lobbyist to head up his Energy Transition Team. And, finally, Desi Doyen joins us for the latest Green News Report on Matthew, the VP debate, the Paris Agreement, and Canada's surprising announcement of a national carbon tax...

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On today's BradCast, the savior of the working class and "Great Negotiator" refuses to even sit down with union workers at his own property in Las Vegas, even as his party comes apart at the seams and the South-Eastern U.S. buckles up for another deadly storm. [Audio link posted at bottom of article.]

In advance of tonight's Vice Presidential debate, we speak with Bethany Khan of the UNITE HERE Culinary Workers Union Local 226 in Nevada, where workers at the Trump Hotel Las Vegas voted to unionize last December. Nonetheless, the Trump Organizations has refused, to date, to even begin negotiations with some 500 now-unionized workers at his 1,200-room, 64-story five-star luxury tower in Sin City. The union is therefore calling for a North American boycott of all Trump properties (hotels, casinos, golf courses, etc.), using the hashtag #BoycottTrump.

Khan explains the action and how the GOP nominee for President has been using every available tool to challenge the lawful union vote, despite claims to represent the working class in the course of his campaign.

"Mr. Trump and his company is legally required to bargain with the Culinary Union and with the workers. The workers are fighting for fair wages, job security, good health benefits," she tells me. "They filed a series of objections --- the way the vote was counted, or who voted --- a host of things to try and tie this up in court. This practice of expansive litigation is one the union workers have beat --- soundly --- and we won. So there are no more objections they can file on the election. The hotel is certified as a union hotel. It's a union property. The only thing that's missing is a union contract."

While the Culinary Workers have endorsed Hillary Clinton, Khan says their organizing campaign started "before Donald Trump announced he was running for President," but adds that "The path to the White House goes through the Las Vegas Strip."

"There are 550 workers in his hotel here in Nevada. They're working people, living paycheck to paycheck. Culinary Union members comprise a majority of the middle class in Nevada. Mr. Trump, who says he wants to make America great again, has a great opportunity to start here in Las Vegas with his workers and give them a contract."

Also today: Tonight's Veep Debate offers an excuse to reminisce about the first BRAD BLOG story to make into the national press and get under the White House's skin back in 2004; The 2016 election is driving the country mad, but particularly the Republican Party (we've got some of the latest insane examples); And, finally, Desi Doyen joins us for the latest Green News Report' with two massive and unusual hurricanes making landfall today and the Paris Agreement on climate change meeting key thresholds at the U.N. in record time, in hopes of "Trump Proofing" the landmark pact before the U.S. Presidential election...

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On today's BradCast, another Republican run state appears to be blatantly violating federal court requirements on voting rights, just over one month from Election Day. [Audio link to show posted below.]

While Donald Trump and his businesses have continuously violated state and federal law, even as he calls for 'Law and Order' on the campaign trail as detailed, yet again, on yesterday's program, Republican controlled states continue to violate federal court orders on voting rights. The latest appears to be Wisconsin who, as Ari Berman at The Nation reported, is systematically failing to supply voters with Photo IDs at Departments of Motor Vehicles as the state had promised the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in late August. That promise prevented the court from weakening or killing the GOP's Photo ID voting restriction which has been found, over and over (and over), to disproportionately disenfranchise minority voters in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Joining us to discuss the news --- which has resulted today in a federal judge, on his own motion, ordering the state back in to court to explain themselves --- is Kathleen Unger, President of VotersRiders.org. Her non-profit, non-partisan organization, as Berman detailed, visited 10 DMVs around the Badger State and found only 3 of them prepared to provide Photo IDs to voters who need them to vote within the promised 6 days. Many of the others said the process would take anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks at best, long after Election Day is over and after tens of thousands of voters will have lost their right to vote.

"These Voter ID laws are an unfunded mandate on citizens," Unger explains, for minorities as well as seniors, students, low income voters and others who must take time off work and travel to get the very narrow type of IDs now required to vote in states where these laws have been allowed by courts to stand.

She offers details on the disturbing revelations discovered by her group during visits to WI DMVs with otherwise eligible voters, and what --- if anything --- can now possibly be done to correct the situation less than 40 days out from Election Day and with early voting already under way. She also hopes to point folks towards VoteRiders' downloadable, wallet-sized Photo ID information cards detailing the laws in each state. Informed voters may be the only hope, as chaos in many such states on Election Day is, yet again, a very serious concern.

Wisconsin, as Unger and I discuss, is just the latest scofflaw "red" state to blatantly violate recent federal court requirements concerning voting rights, following on the heels of Texas, Kansas, Ohio and others.

Also today: Yet another major newspaper breaks with years of tradition by asking readers to vote against the Republican nominee; Trump unleashes a bizarre overnight Tweetstorm railing against (and lying about) his former Miss Universe, and Desi Doyen joins us for the latest Green News Report recapping what little climate discussion there was at Monday's Presidential debate...

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Today on The BradCast, Donald Trump might be having second thoughts about all of those calls for "law and order", even as he's clearly already having second thoughts about his years of on-the-record climate change denialism.

After a breaking news update on the deadly commuter trainwreck this morning in Hoboken, NJ, we move back to the ongoing Trumpwreck in these United States, including two brand new investigative reports on Trump's, um, extralegal activities regarding the New York Attorney General's probe into multiple apparent illegalities carried out by the GOP nominee's personal use of his "charitable" foundation and a blockbuster new Newsweek exposé concerning his company's unlawful business in Fidel Castro's Cuba at the height of the U.S. embargo against the island nation.

All of that, even as Trump continues to pretend to be the "law and order" candidate. Also, another new report today offers more evidence, despite both the candidate and his campaign's insistence to the contrary, that the GOP nominee treats female employees of his organization poorly.

Then, as yet another massive rain and flooding event plays out today, this time in North Carolina, Desi Doyen joins us for some fact-checking in response to Trump's denial of his own global warming denialism from the first Presidential Debate, as well as a response to charges that Hillary Clinton herself has not done nearly enough on climate and environment issues.

Finally, don't worry! Just in case we've brought you all down today, we finish with a song almost certain to cheer you up! You're welcome! Please enjoy lawfully...

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On today's BradCast, updates, racism, lies, voting rights and video tape. [Audio link posted below.]

We've got several updates on the situation in Charlotte, NC following the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott, including the release of an eyewitness video of the shooting said to be from his wife's cellphone. While the tape is heart-wrenching in and of itself, it also appears to show something that looks like a gun seemingly appearing from out of nowhere on the ground next to the victim's body. As noted on the show, I'm not sure what to make of this. It could somehow be a trick of light, shadows, editing, camera angle or...it might not be a gun at all. Others (NBC's Joy Reid, Rolling Stone's Tim Dickinson) seemed to be wondering about it as well.

See it for yourself in both the New York Times version of the video as well as the NBC News version. (Enlarge the videos and watch the ground to the right of the body, just next to one of the cop's feet from appx 1:43 to 1:44 in the NBC version and appx 2:01 to 2:02 in the NYTimes version. The NBC version is a bit easier to see, since they have crop/zoomed-in the cellphone framing a bit.) Strange. No real comment. So, I'll just leave that here for now. (But, yes, police do get caught planting guns and falsifying police reports.)

Also today, more blatant and rather jaw-dropping racist statements from the (now former) Trump campaign chair in Mahoning County, OH, Republican U.S. Congressman Robert Pittenger (who represents Charlotte!) and, of course, from Trump himself.

Then, in advance of Monday's Presidential debate, a new non-partisan analysis finds the GOP nominee's proposed elimination of ObamaCare and replacement healthcare plan would result in 20 million Americans losing health coverage. We also review his repeated lie that he opposed the Obama/Clinton actions to intervene in Libya and take out Qaddafi (with audio from 2011 in which he declares the opposite in no uncertain terms.)

Next, troubling e-voting and hacking news and new court rulings and cases concerning voter suppression in the states of Ohio, Georgia and Texas. Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for an important Green News Report, as well as some disturbing, recently unearthed remarks from Libertarian Presidential nominee Gary Johnson concerning global warming...

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On today's BradCast, a witness to Wednesday night's shooting during protests in Charlotte, North Carolina. [Audio link posted at end of article.]

On the second night of demonstrations following the police killing of an African-American man, Keith Lamont Scott, in Charlotte, one of the peaceful demonstrators was gunned down in cold blood. The City of Charlotte quickly announced that he was killed by "civilian on civilian" gunfire. As it turns out, the man wasn't killed, he was in critical condition on life support at air time (AP has now since reported he has died), and several ministers who were witnesses to the shooting, including the Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice, believe that it may have been carried out by police, not by a civilian.

"I saw the man go down on the pavement," said Minister Steve Knight of Missiongathering Christian Church in Charlotte, according to a statement released last night by the Coalition. "It was an ambush. The victim was shot while he stood between two ministers, and we believe he was shot by police. We would like to see surveillance video from the surrounding area that may have captured the shooting to determine who was responsible for the deadly shooting."

As the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Dept. --- which currently refuse to release video from the first shooting --- say they are reviewing tapes of the Wednesday night shooting, one of the witnesses, Linda Flynn, Executive Director of the Charlotte Spirituality Center, joins us to explain what she saw from just "feet away" from where victim was gunned down.

"I was about ten feet away from the gentleman who was shot. We heard a loud bang, it sounded like a gun shot, nobody knew where it was coming from, and we saw the man go down...Of course there was a pool of blood there. People who were directly next to the gentleman started vomiting because they had such a graphic view of everything."

Flynn goes on to say it's "unclear" whether or not he was shot by police or not, but adds: "I think at this point even the police have understood that it is completely unclear as to how the shooting happened. There are questions there. It would be very normal for all of us to have some suspicion because we're not receiving transparency. That's what we're calling for. But I do firmly believe, as a person of faith in this community, that it was a peaceful protest until police decided not to make it not so. And that is our concern."

She argues that it was the ramped-up militarized police presence that sparked violence during Wednesday night's demonstrations and explains her concerns about the history of race relations with the police in Charlotte, where she says it now looks like a "war zone", and we also discuss her concerns about "seeing shooting after shooting after shooting" nationwide.

Also today: Even Donald Trump says he is "very troubled" by video of the police shooting of Terrence Crutcher, an unarmed African-American man seen with his hands up in in Tulsa, OK, as he was gunned down, but his Veep candidate Mike Pence thinks there's just too much talk of "institutional racism". A Trump campaign official from Ohio insists she doesn't believe racism existed at all, until Barack Obama was elected President. (Seriously.)

Then, new polling from Fox finds Trump's lead over Hillary Clinton growing in three key swing states (along with disturbing Democratic denial). And, finally, a huge gasoline pipeline is reopened in Alabama, following a massive spill. We take a look at the Colonial Pipeline company's dreadful history of both spills and cleanups across the country...

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Today on The BradCast, another police shooting, another heat record smashed, another set of polling data show another tied Presidential race, and callers ring in with questions for the candidates in advance of next Monday's debate. [Audio link posted below.]

Protests turned violent overnight in Charlotte, North Carolina, following another police shooting of an African-American. That, just days after video evidence of another police shooting of an unarmed black man with his hands up in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Earth smashes yet another heat record for the 16th straight month, as Donald Trump takes the lead for the first time in a major national poll.

Meanwhile, in advance of the first Presidential debate at Hofstra University next Monday, Hillary Clinton's campaign vows to fact check her opponent and Trump works the refs by already declaring (whining) that it will all be "unfair" to him somehow. We open the phones to find out what BradCast listeners would like moderator Lester Holt of NBC News to ask either Trump or Clinton or both on Monday night.

Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for the latest Green News Report, as the U.N. meets and tries to "Trump proof" the landmark international Paris climate accord in advance of the U.S. election...

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It's not for nothing that North Carolina Republicans are working so hard to keep certain people out of the voting booth this November.

North Carolina's Republican Governor Pat McCrory's chances for re-election took a direct hit after the U.S. Supreme Court recently denied his emergency request to stay a unanimous decision by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeal. The 4th Circuit three-judge panel struck down a massive NC GOP voter suppression law that, the court found, had targeted Democratic-leaning African-American voters "with almost surgical precision."

McCrory now faces a reelection bid against a strong Democratic opponent who is not shy about calling the longtime Duke Energy CEO turned Governor to task for an environmental scandal (Ash-gate) that likely ranks second, in recent times, only to the poisoning of Flint, Michigan's drinking water.

McCrory's Ash-gate vulnerability was previously touched upon by Desi Doyen in a February 2015 Green News Report. After covering both a massive spill of 39 tons of toxic coal ash into North Carolina's Dan River in February 2014 and criminal charges leveled by federal prosecutors against Duke Energy for violations of the Clean Water Act in relation to the company's North Carolina projects dating back to 2010, Doyen quoted a report from WRAL-TV Raleigh (emphasis added):

McCrory's Democratic opponent, Roy Cooper, has served as NC's elected Attorney General since 2001. He is not only well-positioned to appeal to those whose very right to participate in our democracy had been threatened by McCrory's failed, Jim Crow-like voter suppression scheme, but has also launched a powerful TV ad (video posted below) highlighting the latest revelations concerning whether the McCrory administration may have fraudulently concealed the dangers to public health posed by the presence of Duke Energy's toxic coal ash in their drinking water...

On today's BradCast we try to make sense of today's whiplash of dramatic breaking news --- first from a federal judge then from three federal agencies --- concerning the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, before trying to make sense of still more breaking news concerning this November's elections. [Audio link to show posted below.]

First up: An Obama-appointed federal District Court judge in D.C. hands down his ruling [PDF] denying a preliminary injunction that would have blocked construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, as sought on Standing Rock Sioux sacred lands near their tribal reservation in North Dakota. Moments later, the U.S. Departments of Justice, Army and Interior issue a remarkable joint statement calling for a halt of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-approved construction at one federally controlled waterway and for a voluntary halt by the Dallas-based pipeline company on private lands within 20 miles.

We break down both the court's legal opinion and the federal government's encouraging directive, explaining the reasons behind both, as protests by thousands of native Americans continue to grow each day near the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball Rivers in the southern part of ND.

Then, new polls find Hillary Clinton's lead over Donald Trump shrinking or disappearing fairly dramatically in four different key swing states. And the parties challenging the state of Texas' unlawful Photo ID voting restriction seek emergency court relief after state officials (including its indicted Attorney General) attempt to undermine a court-ordered agreement that is supposed to allow registered voters to vote, even without the strict Photo ID mandated by the illegal statute enacted by state Republicans.

In the meantime, a new study reveals, yet again, that the only type of fraud that could possibly be prevented by Photo ID laws remains virtually nonexistent in the U.S., while another major new study offers empirical historical evidence documenting how such laws drastically and disproportionately reduce minority and Democratic-leaning voter turnout.

Finally: Minnesota Democrats file suit at the state Supreme Court to have Donald Trump removed from the Presidential ballot, charging that Republicans failed to follow state law in their nomination process...

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On today's BradCast, I'm back after the holiday weekend, but you should tune in anyway! We're live today from the KPFK/Pacifica Radio studios in Los Angeles, as I try to catch up on stuff we missed over the long weekend, and breaking news today.

Among the stories we cover on today's program...

* Tightening Presidential polls [PDF] as pollsters change their methodology to move from "registered" to "likely" voters, as Donald Trump has taken a lead or is tied with Hillary Clinton in a couple of national polls and gaining in some swing states. Nonetheless, Clinton maintains her lead in the Electoral College and even remains competitive in a number of "red" states where she is receiving support from some surprising corners.

* North Carolina's vote suppressing Republican Governor Pat McCrory believes states should have "voting rights", as opposed to people/voters.

* We're reminded today, once again, that every vote counts (or, at least, should), as Helen Purcell, the controversial election chief in Maricopa County (Phoenix), appears to have won her Republican Primary by just over a hundred votes out of more than 300,000 cast, after trailing by just a few hundred votes following last week's state primary in Arizona. The exact percentage flip (she was reportedly losing the day after the election 49.93% to 50.07% against her challenger Aaron Flannery, before defeating him 50.07% to 49.93% as of today, according to Purcell's optical-scan computers reported on Purcell's website) reminds us once again of the need to publicly hand-count paper ballots on Election Night. Purcell, Maricopa's Republican County Recorder since 1988, was roundly criticized for reducing polling locations from more than 200 in 2012 down to 60 during the Presidential Primary in March. Flannery, her challenger last week, has said he cannot afford to mount a challenge to ask for a hand count, but will consider running again in 2020. If the current results hold, Purcell will face Democrat Adrian Fontes in November.

* Then, Desi Doyen joins us for the latest on the growing protests and emergency legal battles by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota against the desecration of sacred sites with the construction of the massive, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-approved (and EPA-opposed) Dakota Access Pipeline and the bad faith actions of its supporters.

Finally, we take listener calls on all of the above! Enjoy!...

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On today's BradCast, the Primary season is still going (believe it or not), and we've got several important results from Arizona and Florida's contests on Tuesday. Also, important breaking news for the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Obama Administration gets sued to stop new leases to oil and gas companies on federal lands. [Audio link to show is posted below.]

First today, Donald Trump goes to Mexico for a brief visit with the Mexican President. Our coverage is mercifully even briefer.

Then, the Scalia-free U.S. Supreme Court splits 4 to 4 in response to North Carolina's emergency attempt to stay a blistering ruling from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal in late July, where the state Republicans' massive voter suppression law was struck down after being found to have been enacted with "racially discriminatory intent" that "target[ed] African-American with almost surgical precision". The tie at SCOTUS means the lower court's ruling, nixing the law, will stand, even though four Justices (guess which ones) on the highest court in the land would have preferred to keep a law broadly seen as the nation's worst voter suppression law since the Jim Crow era in place for this November's Presidential election!

Speaking of elections, we review the results of several key races from Tuesday's state primaries in Arizona and Florida, where the reelection battles of Sens. John McCain and Marco Rubio may determine the balance of the U.S. Senate this November. Also, the controversial Democratic FL Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz survives, as does controversial Republican Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, AZ. But the news for Helen Purcell, Maricopa's Republican County Recorder in Phoenix, who many blame for the disastrous Presidential Primary in the state earlier this year, may have reached the end of her 30-year career, with just a few hundred votes (out of more than 25,000 cast) now hanging in the balance.

Then, why is the Obama Administration, which has placed a moratorium on new federal land leases to coal companies, still selling millions of acres of leases to oil and gas companies? Jeremy Nichols, Director of the Climate and Energy Program at WildEarth Guardians, who, with Physicians for Social Responsibility, filed a suit last week seeking a moratorium from the Administration's Bureau of Land Management on such auctions, joins me to discuss the landmark federal lawsuit.

"What we're seeing here is a pattern and practice of the Administration continuing to hand over rights to our public lands to the oil and gas industry," Nichols explains. "By leasing these lands, they basically convert them to the ownership of the industry, and industry can hang on to these lands for as long as they want. It really is what we call an irreversible commitment of public resources here."

He goes on to tell me that while, in many respects, the Obama Administration has been a champion for the climate and the environment, on this issue, it seems, they appear to have "a very serious blind spot."

"We feel that it's high time for this administration to apply the same scrutiny to the oil and gas program that is has applied to coal-fired power plants, its coal mining program, and other aspects of our fossil fuel consumption," says Nichols. "We are in essence condoning the release of a lot more carbon into our atmosphere and, at this moment in time, pumping more carbon into the atmosphere is the last thing that this administration --- and we as the American public --- should be condoning."

At the same time, he says, the fossil fuel industry is actually suing the Obama Administration for not making more land available to them. "It's really a shocking filing on their end," Nichols argues. "They're basically saying that even though they've gotten everything they want on our public lands --- 10 million acres of our public lands since President Obama has taken office --- that it's not enough for them."

Finally today, a few follow-ups on a number of stories we've been covering over the past week, from Maine Gov. Paul LePage's mental and political breakdown to the reports of an official law enforcement investigation into more high-level GOP voter registration fraud in Florida, this time by Trump's top campaign chief. Oh, and Vladimir Putin has been arrested at a supermarket in Florida! No, really!

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On today's BradCast: As several polls tighten in advance of the Presidential election, the FBI issues a new warning to states about voting system intrusion and last minute battles continue in federal courts over voting rights access to the polls.

First up, a new report today from investigative journalist Michael Isikoff warns of recent intrusions, believe to be by foreign entities, into voter registration systems in both Illinois and Arizona. The report cites an "FBI Flash" warning [PDF] from its Cyber Division, recently issued to state election officials in hopes of warding off similar intrusions to electronic registration and voting systems in advance of the November election.

The latest news on the completely foreseeable vulnerabilities in our voting and registration systems underscores (yet again) what we've been warning about for so many years at both The BRAD BLOG and The BradCast. Unfortunately, as usual, reporting on this issue from mainstream corporate media comes too late to make much of a difference before the next election, after which the warnings are likely to be all but forgotten...until just before the next election.

Then, BradBlog.com's long-time legal analyst, attorney Ernest A. Canning joins us for an update on the roller coaster-like voting rights battles still waging in federal courts across the country, including the latest disturbing news on Photo ID voting restrictions in Wisconsin and why something known as "The Purcell Principle" will, once again, play a key role in all of those legal fights this year.

Canning, who also wrote about the just the latest example of GOP "voter fraud" hypocrisy over the weekend, summarizes the latest dispositions in a number of key court fights against racially discriminatory Photo ID voting restrictions in Wisconsin, Texas and North Carolina, and related legal battles over access to the polls in states such as Kansas, Arizona and the swing-state of Ohio. All of those cases are likely to have an impact on results up and down the ballot this year.

Finally, we say goodbye to the hilarious Gene Wilder today, a regular presence --- in both voice and spirit --- on The BradCast...

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