Sharyl Attkisson

Untouchable Subjects. Fearless, Nonpartisan Reporting.

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Bee heroes: NBC

Most kids strive to get A's. Some of them are happy with bees.

NBC's Kerry Sanders profiles four bright high school students who stepped in to solve a bee problem-- and launched a business in the process!

Click the link below to watch the uplifting report.

https://link.theplatform.com/s/rksNhC/rPCGLVFripC7?MBR=TRUE&format=redirect&manifest=m3u&format=redirect&Tracking=true&Embedded=true&formats=MPEG4

Fight improper government surveillance. Support Attkisson v. DOJ and FBI over the government computer intrusions of Attkisson's work while she was a CBS News investigative correspondent. Visit the Attkisson Fourth Amendment Litigation Fund. Click here.

Underneath the U.S.-Mexico border

The following is from Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.

We’ve taken a lot of trips to our southern border to investigate at illegal immigration issues. Today, we go underground to get a close up look at what was once a major smuggling route in Nogales, Arizona that didn’t require the cartels to climb a wall or sneak through the mountains. Border Patrol Official Kevin Hecht is a tunnelling expert and our guide.

Kevin Hecht: Nogales, Sonora sits higher than us here, so all the water and rain events in Mexico flow into the United States.

Sharyl: So this is like a storm water drain-

Hecht: Storm water, and then there's also some sewage lines that treat some sewage that comes in from Mexico. They also use that for smuggling too, so there's different avenues that they might use for smuggling.

Hecht: So normally during a major rain event, you shouldn't open this door. You can't open this door, because the channel, when I open it you'll see it's rather large. But the water flows wall to wall, floor to ceiling in here. So it's a significant flow of water. So this is actual rain drainage from street runoff. It does have a chlorine smell to it, because there is some E coli that comes in from Mexico. It's treated with chlorine to keep that down. But during rain season, it can be a little bit high. I'm going to step down, we can step down too, just don't go in the water.

Sharyl: Where is Mexico?

Hecht: Right here.There's a yellow line across the ceiling on the angle, and that's Mexico. Years ago, this drainage used to be very active for smuggling. We had a landing mat gate, which was a solid steel gate, and the rains would rip it out. So instead of putting it back in every day, we'd wait till rain season was over. What that allowed was for smugglers to come in and use the drainage channels. And they would smuggle drugs, people, a lot of violence, some aggressive violence, stabbings.

Sharyl: Can you give us an overview of the tunnel situation, how bad it is and how often they're used?

Hecht: Sure, so historically speaking, there’s just over 212 tunnels in the United States found. In this town alone there's been 113.

Sharyl: You know, some people will have never visited the border or a border town. What about tunnels, should they know?

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Hecht: So tunnels main purpose is smuggling drugs. They're secretive, and they don't want people to know about them. Tunnels are not used for smuggling people. This tunnel exists, so this is existing manmade infrastructure. There's no secret about this. It's on every city planning map. It's on every zoning map in every city that has infrastructure, so they'll use people in these, not a problem.

Sharyl: Was that a new thing that people recognized? They could use this as a smuggling tunnel?

Hecht: This has been used for a very, very long time. This channel has been built in the 30s, 40s. It started as the earth, dirt tunnel, natural flow, and then as urbanization happened, it concreted it in and sealed it. With that happening, that gave an underground means of smuggling. So over time, yes they developed ways. But we've changed our gates to this bollard style, and we actually have more active patrols. They adapted to that. So in the early 90s, mid-90s, this started picking up a little bit more underground. So then we had to counter that. So what we did originally, is we put an agent at the exit, which is a mile north of here. So you can go a mile underground and into the U.S., pretty much without being detected at that time, so what they did to counter that, is they started jacking up sidewalks and manholes throughout the town and coming out of the streets. Then we had to counter that and started welding those down. So then we obviously pushed forward towards the border, came up with a design that would prevent the gates from getting ripped out, attacked at the border. That solved our problem the whole mile north of the border.

Border agents go through extensive training to go in to illicit drug tunnels.

Watch the Full Measure report by clicking the link below:

http://fullmeasure.news/news/politics/smuggling-tunnels

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VIDEO: Border Patrol Rescue

Video and images from Customs and Border Protection

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently rescued 28 illegal immigrants, who were victims of human smugglers, as they tried to cross the Rio Grande River into the U.S.

According to CBP, the rescue happened in mid-August and the group included 14 children as young as eight months old.

Watch a portion of the rescue:

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Ten facts about "populism"

Trump Rally
Broward County, Florida
Nov. 26, 2019

You might have heard the word “populism,” often disparagingly, to describe the movement that helped elect President Trump. 

But it turns out populism isn’t only a Trump phenomenon in the U.S.: it’s a global trend.

Traveling Europe from Denmark to Greece, I spoke to political analysts, liberal and conservative politicians, and regular folks, to dig into populism and find out more. I learned a few things.

  1. It turns out there is no universal definition of what populism is.
  2. There are differences of opinion on whether it’s good or bad. Establishment politicians and media tend to describe populism in negative terms; non-establishment politicians and media see it the other way.
  3. Populism generally describes the popular uprising of voters against establishment politicians, both left and right, whom voters believe aren’t listening to them.
  4. Populism is upending politics as we know it in many countries. Some believe it has prompted an exodus from both main political parties in Great Britain and will ultimately lead to the end of its two party system.
  5. In the most recent national elections in Europe (2018), one in four votes was for a populist, according to one analyst. 
  6. Populist leaders have won elected government posts in 11 European countries.
  7. Outside Europe, populists have been elected to top spots in five of the world’s seven biggest democracies: the U.S.,Brazil, India, Mexico and the Philippines.
  8. One example of a political party that has benefitted from people fleeing the establishment parties in Europe is the “Green Party,” which is generally liberal and believes in viewing all political decisions in terms of strong environment protections. It also promotes social justice, gender equality and gay rights.
  9. In recent elections, the Green Party came in third in France, won nine out of 10 bigger cities in Germany, and took a block of 70 votes in European parliament. 

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Eric Kauffmann is a professor of politics at Birkbeck College, University of London where he examines populist trends. He told me populism can be left wing, right wing, religious, secular or nationalist. “There are many different types of populism,” he says.  “Populism for me is just essentially about being anti-elitist and to some extent against the system. So I don't think it implies right or left.”

Watch my TV cover story on populism at Full Measure.

Kauffmann sees the rise of populist politicians as the people’s response to rapid shifts caused by out of control immigration.

“Essentially we are going through very rapid demographic transformation in the West of ethnic change,” Kauffmann says. “For psychological reasons, some people are fine with that and some people find that to be unsettling. And that difference between the people who embrace and like it, and those who find it unsettling, is reshaping politics. My argument is essentially it’s reconfiguring the politics of Western countries, both in terms of increased support for right wing populist parties, but also polarization on value lines. So there's also a sort of left wing response.”

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) actually held a scholarly forum earlier this year to try to come up a common definition of populism and populists. Many of the presenters at MIT seemed to view populists as negative. MIT political scientist Richard Samuels said, “They run for the people, [and] they run against the establishment…They run for themselves, above all.”

Other critics say populist politicians make empty promises that will further alienate voters when the promises can’t be delivered.

Where does this lead? Political analyst David Cowling told me, “I think it will get nasty before it gets better…I think how it will end will depend upon how the political class gets its act together, starts listening to people and addressing the issues that concerns them.”

Fight improper government surveillance. Support Attkisson v. DOJ and FBI over the government computer intrusions of Attkisson's work while she was a CBS News investigative correspondent. Visit the Attkisson Fourth Amendment Litigation Fund. Click here.

PHOTOS: Obama's magnificent, new custom-designed home in Martha's Vineyard (READ the property listing)

Photos courtesy of: LandVest | Martha's Vineyard

Multiple reports say former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle are the new owners of a breathtaking Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts custom-designed mansion and waterfront estate.

The sellers were reportedly Boston Celtics owner Wycliffe Grousbeck and his ex-wife. The price put on the secluded, luxury property is said to be $11.75 million.

There's plenty of room for family and other visitors. The listing for the property says it includes seven bedrooms and eight-and-a-half bathrooms.

Other features listed include:

  • Waterfront Property Sits on 29 +/- Private Acres
  • Located on Edgartown Great Pond
  • Stunning, Custom-Designed Home with 7,000 Sq. Ft. of Living Space
  • Swimming Pool
  • Jacuzzi Located off 2nd Floor Balcony, with Breathtaking Water Views
  • Outdoor Fireplace Plus Screened Porch with Fireplace
  • 2-Car Garage
  • Pristine Boathouse
  • Private Beach front with Deeded Rights

Read the real estate listing by clicking the link below:

https://www.landvest.com/property/118347933/79-turkeyland-cove-road-edgartown-ma-02539/

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Supreme Court's Ginsberg puts hold on Democrats' demand for Trump bank records

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsberg has reportedly put a one week hold on an order requiring two banks to comply with House Democrats' subpoenas for records about President Trump.

Two Democrat-led committees in the House of Representatives first subpoenaed the records in April. The committees are seeking records related to Trump-related accounts, and also those of his three adult children and their families.

In a separate case where Democrats are seeking records, President Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to block the House Oversight Committee from obtaining his financial records from his accounting firm.

The following is an excerpt from a report by Reuters news:

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday put a temporary hold on a court ruling that would require records held by Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) and Capital One Financial Corp (COF.N) to be handed over to Democratic-led congressional panels.

Read the rest of the Reuters report by clicking the link below.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-trump-records/u-s-justice-ginsburg-puts-temporary-hold-on-trump-financial-records-dispute-idUSKBN1YA2BA

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New food stamp rules will save taxpayers $5.5 billion over 5 years

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or "Food Stamps"

A new food stamp rule taking effect April first will save U.S. taxpayers $5.5 billion over five years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers food stamps.

Food stamps or the "SNAP" program gave the average recipient household about $250 a month in 2018. Food stamps are funded with tax dollars.

According to the government, 40 million Americans were on food stamps in 2018. In 2017, a little over 9% of households received food stamps at some point and about 16% of all children received food stamps.

Under the new rule, most states will no longer be able to exempt food stamp recipients from work requirements. The work requirements state that adults under age 50 who have no children and are able-bodied must work a minimum of 20 hours a week for more than three months over three years to qualify for food stamps.

Food stamp work requirements: If you...

  • Are an adult under age 50
  • Have no children
  • Are not disabled

Then you...

  • Must work at least 20 hours a week
  • For more than three months
  • Over a three year period

Even though most states will no longer be able to offer exemptions of the rules, some exceptions will be allowed. States with high unemployment rates, 6% or more, will still be allowed to give food stamps to able-bodied, childless adults who haven't worked in three years.

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The national unemployment rate has been at or near all time lows for blacks, Hispanics and women. It was 3.6% in October.

Agriculture Department officials estimate about 688,000 able-bodied, childless, unemployed adults will loose food stamps when the tighter rule goes into effect.

The USDA says 2.9 million adults receiving food stamps are able-bodied and have no dependents. Of those, 2.1 million are unemployed.

In 2018, President Trump signed an executive order, called “Reducing Poverty in America by Promoting Opportunity and Economic Mobility. It was designed to reduce the number of people on welfare and the taxpayer cost of it by creating more work opportunities.

Graphic from: USDA
ABAWD: "Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents"

Read more here

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters that states will be barred from giving out waivers too the rules because "Americans are generous" but that food stamps and other welfare program were "never intended to be a way of life."

Critics of the new rule say it will hurt those who have jobs with unreliable hours, such as restaurant servers and seasonal workers. Some also say the most pain will be felt by blacks, Hispanics, women and gays.

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Impeachment professor attacks Trump through Trump's son, Barron-- then apologizes

One of the Democrats' witnesses at today's public impeachment hearing against President Trump was a Stanford Stanford Law School professor who is also a supporter of presidential candidate Democrat Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass).

The professor, Pamela Karlan, attacked President Trump by bringing up his 13-year old son, Barron. Karlan told Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) that "the president can name his son 'Barron,' [but] he can't make him a baron."

After much backlash social media from the comment, particularly on social media, Karlan apologized.

“I want to apologize for what I said earlier about the president’s son,” Karlan said. “It was wrong of me to do that. I wish the president would apologize, obviously, for the things that he’s done that’s wrong, but I do regret having said that.”

When Karlan was questioned by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) during the hearing about her $1,000 donation to Sen. Warren this year, Karlan "became indignant, invoking foreign intervention in American elections."

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