Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20170828

Change in this unprecedented storm. Then we look at why the store may be particularly dangerous for undocumented immigrants who may be afraid to seek help. And we will talk about Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio on the eve of Hurricane Harvey hitting taxes, President Trump pardoned him, who was recently convicted of contempt of court for defying a court order to stop his deputies from racial profiling. Im great happy. I have to think the president of the United States for his pardon. He is a big friend, supporter of lawenforcement. I think this is a Bigger Picture than just me. Amy you will get a response the an editorial writer for Arizona Republic. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In texas, at least five people have died amid catastrophic flooding in houston, the fourth largest city in the United States. The crisis began on friday when Hurricane Harvey made landfall in rockport, texas. It was the most powerful hurricane to hit texas in more than half a century. The National Weather service issued a warning saying this event is unprecedented all impacts are unknown beyond anything experienced. Follow orders from officials to ensure safety. The Washington Post reports the storm has already dumped more than 9 trillion gallons of water enough water to fill the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City twice. And meteorologists project another 5 to 10 trillion gallons of water could be dumped on the region in coming days. This is u. S. Coast guard vice admiral karl schultz. This is a very dangerous storm with catastrophic consequence. Folks need to not underestimate that. It will be a sustained challenge for the coming days. Many time folks wrongly presume the wind even will be the most challenging event. Real significant water event in the coming days. Amy both the death toll and the flooding are expected to rise in the coming days. Well go to houston after headlines. In more climate related news, more than 1200 people have now died amid historic flooding in bangladesh, nepal, and india. This years monsoon season has brought torrential downpours that have submerged wide swaths of south asia, destroying tens of thousands of homes, schools, and hospitals, and affecting up to 40 Million People. On sunday, pope francis prayed for the victims of the flooding. Dear brothers and sisters, in the past days, major floods have hit bangladesh, nepal, and northern india. I expressed my closeness to the people and pray for the victims and those who suffer because of this calamity. Amy scientists have linked increased rainfall and deadly flooding in south asia to Climate Change. Southern china is also reeling from extreme weather, as a severe Tropical Storm made landfall on sunday, only days after a historic typhoon killed 22 people. Typhoon hato was the fiercest typhoon to hit macau, on chinas southern coast, in nearly 50 years. Back in the United States, as Hurricane Harvey was bearing down on texas, President Trump has faced widespread criticism for pardoning the notorious racist Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of contempt of court for defying a court order to stop his deputies from racial profiling. Arpaio has been a major supporter of donald trump. Arpaios policies have included detaining immigrants in a scorching outdoor tent city jail, which arpaio once referred to as his own concentration camp. Arpaio was ousted as Maricopa Countys longtime sheriff after immigrants organized a massive grassroots Voting Campaign against him. Immigrant rights activists say trumps pardon sanctions illegal discrimination against immigrants. This is francisca porchas,of the group puente arizona speaking on democracy now . For us it is a slap in the face for all of the years of organizing it took us to hold him accountable, lawsuit that came because of his racial profiling the streets who should be pardoned are the people he criminalized, the people who are now not ever going to be able to come out of realhadows or have a chance at living a normal life. Amy we will speak with linda valdez with the Arizona Republic later inthe United Nations has d trump over his failure to condemn the deadly white supremacist violence in charlottesville, saying it was deeply concerned by the failure at the highest political level of the United States of america to unequivocally reject and condemn the violence. Backlash overd his response, putting from National Economic director very who drafted a Resignation Letter following charlottesville. In an interview with the financial times, he said trumps and Administration Must do better in condemning these groups. Three people had been arrested and charged in connection with the violence on august 12, in which White Supremacists killed one person and wounded dozens more. Among those arrested was Richard Wilson preston, who was charged with firing a gun near a school. Video footage shows preston, who was wearing a bullet proof vest, walk up to an African American man at close range and fire a shot at the ground right in front of him. He then turned around and walked past a line of state troopers, who witnessed the shooting, but did not move. Meanwhile in oklahoma, the newly appointed police chief of texoma has resigned after the local news revealed he was he is the owner of a neonazi website. The Southern Poverty Law Center says former police chief Bart Alsbrook was also previously the texas coordinator of the skinhead group blood honour. Trumps former white house adviser Sebastian Gorka has left the white house and says hell rejoin the farrightwing website breitbart news. The white house claims it fired gorka, though gorka claims he resigned. The jewish newspaper the forward has reported that gorka has ties a hungarian farright, and allen group, naziallied group and that he supported an antisemitic and racist paramilitary militia in hungary while he served as a hungarian politician. At breitbart, gorka will work alongside former white house chief strategist, steve bannon, who was also left the white house earlier this month. On friday, President Trump signed a directive instructing the military to stop paying for the medical treatment for transgender people currently serving in the u. S. Military and halting an obamaera plan that would have allowed transgender people to be recruited into the u. S. Armed forces. The move follows trumps announcement last month on twitter that hed be banning people from serving in the u. S. Military. Among those who have criticized trump over the ban is interior secretary ryan zinkes daughter jennifer detlefsen, who is a navy veteran. She said of trump this man is a disgrace. This is aclu attorney chase strangio, speaking on democracy now on friday, just before the memo was signed. The reality is, the military for 1 billion in the Budget Health care. This is a fraction of that. It reflects a misunderstanding and discrimination of transgender individuals. Amy the u. S. Military currently spends about 8. 4 million on medical services for transgender troops a fraction of the militarys budget. In contrast, the center for American Progress says President Trump has run up a 29 million budget on his 11 trips to his private golf resorts maralago and bedminster so far this year. In yemen, a u. S. Backed saudiled airstrike killed at least 16 civilians when it struck a residential neighborhood in the capital sanaa on friday morning. Among the victims were eight children. The United Nations says at least 42 civilians were killed by saudiled bombing last week alone. In somalia, u. S. Soldiers and somali troops carried out a raid in which 10 people were shot dead, including three children, in a village near the capital mogadishu on friday. Local lawmakers say the victims were farmers. This is an eyewitness to the attack. Attacked usforces in our farms and kill these people, including children. Those killed were farmers who were innocent and not alshabaab fighters. Amy in south sudan, at least 19 people were killed, including a u. S. Journalist, amid fighting between south Sudanese Forces and rebel soldiers in the southern town of kaya on saturday. 26yearold freelance journalist Christopher Allen was embedded with the rebel soldiers when he was killed. Hed graduated from the university of pennsylvania in 2013. Fighting in south sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than a million since 2014. The u. S. Backed Iraqi Military says its seized control of tal afar from isis militants. The eightday offensive to take control of the city, which sits about 50 miles west of mosul, was backed by a u. S. Bombing campaign. In afghanistan, a suicide bomb attack at the entrance to a shiite mosque in the capital kabul killed up to 30 people gathering for friday prayers. Isis militants have claimed responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, at least 13 Afghan Soldiers and civilians were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a military convoy in Helmand Province sunday. The taliban has claimed responsibility for this attack. In spain, a half a Million People poured into the streets of barcelona saturday for a peace march, following the attack earlier this month in which 15 people died after a van plowed into a crowded walkway along las ramblas, the citys most famous avenue. The protest was the largest in barcelona since the 2003 march against the iraq war. This is protester gemma figueres. We have to say, we are not afraid. You obviously feel it could happen to you at any time, and that is scary. But we cannot stand still. We have to show that we keep living. That is what we have to do. Amy in the Israeli Occupied west bank, thousands of people attended the funeral for an eightyearold palestinian girl who was run over and killed by an israeli settler on saturday near nablus. The girl, asil abu oun, was leaving a permarket th a friend when e s struck and killed by thisraeli settler in broad daylight in front of her father. In burma, more than 100 people have been killed amid clashes and widespread crackdown by the burmese army against persecuted Rohingya Muslims in the rakhine region. Burmese Authorities Say members of an armed Rohingya Group launched a raid on a Police Station friday. Residents say that in response, Burmese Security forces stormed rohingya towns, opening fire on civilians, torching homes, and forcing thousands to flee. This is one rohingya refugee, mujibur rahman, who fled into bangladesh. In our village, there was huge fighting, so ive come here, taken sheer near the border. We want to stay here in bangladesh because in our country, there is much repression, so we are here. We appeal to the Bangladesh Government to allow us to stay for some days. After that, when there is peace in our country, we will go back. Amy rohingyas have long faced persecution and violence in burma, where they are denied citizenship. In guatemala, protesters poured into the streets of Guatemala City sunday to protest against corruption amid a standoff between guatemalan president Jimmy Morales and the highest court over whether morales could expel the head of a u. N. Anticorruption taskforce. President morales ordered the expulsion of ivan velasquez, the head of the International Commission against impunity in guatemala, sunday, only days after the Commission Said the president should be investigated for Illegal Campaign financing. Only hours later, guatemalas Constitutional Court suspended the president s order. This is protester patricia de leon. President hashe is not just the allegations against him and his family. Hes a president who has not carrieout his duties in two years and the people of guatemala are sick of so much poverty, corruption, highways you cant use, malnourished children. Theres been no position from this moralist. Krause is corrupt. Morale is is corrupt. Amy president morales, a former comedian, was elected in 2016, after massive anticorruption protests ousted the nowjailed former president otto perez molina, who is also formerly a u. S. Backed military leader during guatemalas dirty wars. The Trump Administration has imposed new economic sanctions against venezuela, amid trumps threats of a possible us military intervention in venezuela. The sanctions will further restrict venezuelas ability to borrow money from u. S. Creditors, making it possible that venezuela will default on its debts later this year. The Trump Administration is slated to lift a ban on the transfer of military equipment to local police departments. The 1033 program was halted after widespread protests and outrage following the local polices militarystyle occupation of ferguson, missouri, amid the uprising over the Police Killing of unarmed African American teenager michael brown. And in new york city, protesters rallied on friday night at Columbus Circle in manhattan to demand the 76foot statue of Christopher Columbus be removed amid a nationwide movement calling for the removal of statues celebrating the confederate generals and other racist leaders. Columbus has long faced criticism for opening the door to the european colonization of the americas, the genocide against native peoples, and the transatlantic slave trade. Columbus himself enslaved arawak Indigenous People and forcibly trafficked them from the caribbean to spain. New york city mayor bill de blasio says he may order the removal of the columbus statue. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Renee im renee feltz. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. A catastrophic storm has hit houston, texas, and the flooding is expected to only worsen in the coming days. Houston is the nations fourth largest city and home to the largest refining and petrochemical complex in the United States. The crisis began on friday when Hurricane Harvey made landfall in rockport, texas. It was the most powerful hurricane to hit the state in more than 50 years. But much of the damage has been caused not by the wind or tides but the massive rainfall. , some parts of texas have already received 30 inches of rain and could top 50 inches. Entire highways in houston are now underwater. Amy according to the Washington Post, the storm has already dumped more than 9 trillion gallons of water enough water to fill the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City twice. And meteorologists project another 5 to 10 trillion gallons of water could be dumped on the region in coming days. Potentially making this the worst flooding disaster in u. S. History. To compound matters, the u. S. Army corps of engineers have begun releasing water from two large reservoirs which will increase flooding of homes downtown near buffalo bayou, parts of which are already flooded. On sunday, the National Weather Service Released a statement saying this event is unprecedented and all impacts are unknown beyond anything experienced. And the damage has not only been in houston. Fema, the federal Emergency Management agency, reports the storm has impacted 50 counties in texas as well as parts of louisiana. This is the fema administrator speaking this morning. Texas, this is a landmark event. We have not seen an event like this. You could not draw this forecast up. You could not dream this forecast up. It has been a challenging ever for the National Weather service , who has been putting out great information. We have been telling people it is coming. But you could not draw this situation up. The bottom line is, it will continue on. Community, not only the federal government forces, but this is a whole Community Effort from all levels of government and will require the citizens getting involved. Renee co the storm has caused reported five deaths, but the death toll is expected to rise. Thousands of people are still stranded in their homes, waiting to be rescued. One rescue operation took place at a nursing home in dickinson after a photo went viral showing elderly residents sitting in waist deep water. Many neighborhoods may be uninhabitable for weeks or longer. The city of dallas is preparing to turn its Convention Center into a mega shelter to host 5000 evacuees. Displaced residents have also been gathering at the houston Convention Center. They pulled us off the bus in the high water. Blowing, ind started always lost my dog. A bike went down the street. An officer came to our aid. If it wasnt for the officer, we would have been swept away. Amy it is believed that are thousands of people at the houston Convention Center. President trump is expected to visit the region on tuesday. We go now to houston where we are joined by bryan parras, an organizer for the beyond dirty Fuels Campaign with the sierra club in houston, texas. He helped found the Environmental Justice group texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services or tejas. And joining us from san diego David Helvarg is the executive , director of blue frontier, an Ocean Conservation group. He is the author of several books, including rescue warriors the u. S. Coast guard, americas forgotten heroes. But its beginning with bryan in houstonvia skype. Talk about the extent of the damage as we talk about buffalo bayou. I think it is hard for people to understand the geography of houston and what actually is taking place in this unprecedented both rainfall and flooding. The flooding only expected to get worse. Thank you, amy and renee. Buffalo bayou, lets start there. Oft is the iconic bayou houston, texas. It crosses from the west side of houston to the east side of houston. And then becomes the Houston Ship Channel as it empties out into Galveston Bay in the gulf of mexico. But we have seen already extensive flooding along the bayou on the west side. And my concern where i live on the eastside, because of the many, many federal chemical facilities, storage tanks, and other hazardous sites that line that same bayou for 30 or 40 miles. Renee thank you for joining us from houston. You, i was ask news director there for many years, endearing Hurricane Katrina and rita. I know you been documenting for a long time the pollution that comes from these refineries in normal circumstances. You get a toxic tour of some of these refineries. Now you have been shooting video of some of the releases they may have been making since the storm began on friday. You shot footage that showed some of this release on friday. Maybe you can describe what you shot and what youre seeing. Ishere a smell in the air from some of these releases . Events, wel rain know these facilities, which are decades old, have situations where they have to shutdown to prevent and avoid these catastrophic explosions and events. Unfortunately, as it happens time and time again we are very vigilant about keeping and i on these facilities because theyre often not penalized for doing that and do not seem to mitigate these situations from happening over and over again. So friday we were out checking some of these facilities and other sites that we are also concerned about. , i there was an event believe, where there was a flare event happening. Were,that night, there ,or hours for hours, really really strong chemical odors from east houston all the way to even the downtown area. This was something that was discussed and talked about on social media. And not discussed on the news here in houston. Now, we did hear later that all of the facilities, all of the refineries went into voluntary shutdown mode. And when that happens, they often have to go through the process of turning off these excess chemicals. But it is a dirty bird. You can actually see the black smoke. That is what we captured in the pictures and the video. Unfortunately, that adds thousands of pounds of cancercausing chemicals to the air. Amy can you talk about houstons underwater superfund site and what you are concerned about their . And also, the disparate impact of course, this is affecting everyone, but especially in areas like youre describing, who lives in these areas . But first, that underwater superfund site. Is a very well known superfund site with dioxin. It is the san jacinto waste pit. A good friend of ours, jackie, has been doing some work in that area. It is near baytown, near one of the largest refineries in the country owned by exxon. There is also chevron down the road. This bayou, the san jacinto ofou, is just another vein water that pushes out into Galveston Bay. There was this old legacy pollutants from a paper mill that has sort of just left their toxins in the ground. Eventually, it was flooded. And there it remains. The epa and other agencies are in the process of cleaning that up. But as they go through their long, lengthy process of doing that, you know, we have had several rain events. And each time we have a rain event, this contamination is being spread into communities, homes, neighborhoods, and further exposing more and more people. And we know that we have elevated levels of cancers all along these areas. There have been many reports to show increased rate of childhood leukemia if you live within the Houston Ship Channel, for example. The information is out there. We know these chemicals are causing cancers and other life debilitating ailments to the people who live adjacent to them. You have lived through many of the storms in houston and help document what happened. I want to ask you about reports were hearing about exxonmobil vacuum waiting. People offng their the coast of houston and surrounding areas. During Hurricane Katrina and rita, these drilling platforms that have now been evacuated,s ilk more than 700,000 gallons of oil into the gulf. What are you hearing now about evacuations of these platforms . Have you heard about any leaks . Of anyve not heard leaks. We do know they did evacuate all of the offshore workers that were in the path of the storm. We know there has been less production here in the region. Houston is a huge, huge center for producing oil and gas for the rest of the country. Much have you heard theyre on the ground, even of the talk is mostly about rescuing people, has there been much talk yet about the impact this could have on fuel prices throughout the country . And talk a little bit about, as we wrap up on this point, about what are these refineries refining and where i is it coming from and where is it going . For example, pipelines, like the Dakota Access pipeline . Showis could be an entire ,renee, as you know. The Houston Ship Channel and refining area were seized oil and gas from as far away as the dakotas, but we also have production in our own state, permian basin, where my parents are from. So there is oil coming from west texas. Oil comingw fracked into the area. There is even oil imported from different hearts of the world. Parts of the world. We have been looking at and concerned about even increased plans of bringing oil from places like alberta, canada, with the tar sands, and more recently, the Dakota Access pipeline sort of helping aid that. We have got so much your already. I dont think that they are , dealing with the impacts that we have already seen, which is imminent right now. There is no reason why we should be having the flaring events that are literally gassing communities along the ship channel. Amy finally, bryan, youre adjustharveyrecovery. Explain this. In new orleans, after katrina, there was a very, very big Lesson Learned that the issues of injustice intersected so many different ways. You know, these catastrophes and disasters are not just environmental disasters. They are housing disasters. They are access to services. They are immigration issues of injustice. And so many worker injustices. So what were doing is keeping an i on all of these very important issues that impact overall rumble vulnerable and often unheard community said are often exploited in these disasters. And i know you have talked to naomi klein about disaster capitalism. These are sorts of events where predators come in and prey on vulnerable to deduce. The elderly, homeless, even prison populations that are evacuated not before the storm comes, but as the waters arising in the jail cells. So these are the reason for using the hashtag so folks can contribute and make aware these as theble populations storm unfold. Amy bryan, thank you for joining us during this very difficult time in your city, houston, the fourthlargest city in the United States. Bryan parras is an organizer for the beyond dirty Fuels Campaign with the sierra club in houston, texas, helped found the Environmental Justice group tejas. I would come back, David Helvarg. When we come back, David Helvarg. There are two words you will not hear those meteorologist say very much, and they are Climate Change they are Global Warming. We will talk about the connection. Stay with us. [music break] amy rainy day in houston by the famous houston blues musician lightin hopkins. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with renee feltz. She is a houston native. Look ate continue to the catastrophic storm hitting houston, texas, the nations fourthlargest city. The crisis began on friday when Hurricane Harvey made landfall and rock work, texas, the less powerful hurricane to hit the state in 50 years. Much of the damage has been called by the massive rainfall. Parts of texas have received 30 inches of rain and could top 50 inches. Amy were joined from san diego, california, by david the executive director , of blue frontier, an Ocean Conservation organization. Can you talk about the connection between Hurricane Harvey, downgraded to a Tropical Storm, but causing massive damage, and this issue of Climate Change, Global Warming . Sure, amy and renee. My thoughts and agnostic prayers to those in houston and southeast texas, where again, we are saying a Natural Disaster turned into human catastrophe by choices we make in terms of our energy choices, the pollutants we burned for energy and put into the atmosphere, as well as how we develop the coast and zoning choices. I mean, houston is essentially as zoningfree zoning. This dark floodplains have been developed. That is where rice diversity bryce university developed in your said are going to become more waterlogged as we see Sea Level Rise in certain areas like the texas and louisiana coast, south order, highlands of virginia. Projecting three feet to six feet more of Sea Level Rise in a century. Maybe it has only been 10 inches today. People will say, what is 10 inches . It give you the difference switching floodwaters on your porch and in your living room. But it is not just the title search and Sea Level Rise, it is these rain events with the warming of the ocean and atmosphere, more moisture in the atmosphere which rains out more intensive pulses of rain. These rain events that we see massive flooding even disconnected with hurricanes and storms. Last year, baton rouge had massive rainfall in the rain comes down some potentially the ground cannot absorb it. You the flooding event in houston last year that the houston Flood Control district yearwas a one in 10,000 reign event. A year later, and youre having another one. Inarly, i remember back 2000, i was with a scientist from the nasa Ames Laboratory columbia mentoring me through Lower Manhattan with folks from island nations. 1993ining the big noreaster. She said, one in a century storms like that now going to become every decade or happen more frequently. I was in katrina, sandy, and now this hurricane. We are seeing the impacts. We are back back in the 1990s, there would be, you know, maybe four or five multibilliondollar extreme weather events every year. Noaas recording 20 and 30 multimillion dollar weather events. This country alone. Luckily with katrina, the storms are different. Tragedies. Huge i think we will see less casualties because of the slow and persistent rate of the storm. Probably 100 billion plus storm. You say, well, youre taking advantage of people in distress by talking about the causes, why they are in distress. The reality is, when you have events,00year rain this is the new normal. The challenge is how we address it, how rapidly we will transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. And the approaches are very different. Texas and North Carolina are in denial. I think the new model now is that in places like florida and texas and washington, d. C. , yet frantic rescue activity in response on the ground and by the water. Other places like california, massachusetts, rhode island, we plan to build for coastal resiliency to restore natural protectthat can help from coastal flooding and also begin to plan our zoning, to adapt new maps that tell us where the flooding in the Sea Level Rise is going to impact us. Renee let me ask you, speaking of science and a little about infrastructure, to its ago, President Trump signed in executive order to revoke obama era standards that would require federal Infrastructure Projects like hospitals to factor in scientific projections for the effects of Climate Change like increased flooding and rising sea levels. This was opposed by American Petroleum institute and the National Association of Home Builders who said the new standards would increase costs. Trump announced the roll back during a now Infamous Press conference in the lobby of trump tower that was largely overshadowed by his remarks defending the white supremacist protesters behind the violent rallies in charlottesville, virginia. What is interesting about obamas order, it marked the first time the federal government took Sea Level Rise projections into account, instead of relying only on historical data. It was also a rare Climate Change policy that was praised by both conservative and progressive groups. I want to ask about this point on infrastructure as houston deals with the release of water from two of it aging reservoirs, right now that water going toward buffalo bayou. And this question about infrastructure being billed to withstand Climate Change or this idea that perhaps people who are more climate deniers are saying is, lets just deal with the disaster when it arrives and that is what we have on her hands in houston. Can you talk about this issue of Climate Change and infrastructure . We know were going to spend 1 trillion on these disasters that we have seen and documented or happening. Do we spend it to build a more resilient for structure, start counting National Shorelines and urban wetlands and seagrass meadows as part of our Infrastructure Investment . Upgrading ourn Wastewater Treatment plants . The reality is, it is already happening, but it is happening keys no. In self audit, miami beach is investing millions of dollars to install water pumps and race sidewalks. In tampa, saint pete, they are investing 300 million upgrading their Wastewater Treatment plants because they keep flooding with average in the saltwater intrusion. Every storm takes out their plant because of Sea Level Rise. Even in palm beach where trump has maralago and his wilbur mansions,ne of his the city manager as a ready put 159 and a water pumps. We are already investing in infrastructure in response to Sea Level Rise and Climate Change, but were clearly not doing it in a plant and coherent manner like we do in california. Were having to do it from the bottom up. It is not a coincidence. Everywhere i have gone in the world, you see the antidemocratic regimes that use racism and tribalism to advance the power also tend to be very much in denial of environmental values. Our challenge is to move forward with what i call the triple bottom line. Other people call it this where we have to link our environmental challenges with our economy and with equity. We have to start reinvesting off fossil fuels. The fastest job growth in the Energy Sector is wind and solar. We have to find ways to interrupt, but i wanted to ask you about Hurricane Harveys arrival came as Bloomberg News reported the was pushing for an overhaul of Disaster Relief so that states, cities, and homeowners bear more of the cost. I also wanted to ask you briefly, to explain how the petrochemical industry has exploited past Natural Disasters to its benefits. For example, releasing toxic chemicals that are otherwise too expensive to get rid of. Yeah, unfortunately, there is a history during storms and other disasters when people arent watching, industry has released Hazardous Waste into the floodwaters, essentially, to save money. This is just like offshore come the shipping industry will release oily waste into the ocean to save money. You have to have close monitoring at times like this. Luckily, right now, the coast guard, along with having its rescue helicopters in the air and swift boat rescue teams on the water, i am sure they will send a strike team out a mobile, alabama, looking at the earliern, as was said the Houston Ship Channel is part of cancer alley. It is a huge conflicts of petrochemical facilities. It is bizarre that a voluntary shutdown. That should have been mandated. Theres a good chance that either accidentally or intentionally, youre going to see a pollution release, largescale pollution release because of where this is located. You will certainly see disruption of production. They will jack up gasoline prices. That is just what they do. Amy David Helvarg, thanks for being with us executive director , of blue frontier, an Ocean Conservation organization. He is speaking to us from sandy go, california. And we come back, were going to go to people in texas about what happens to undocumented immigrants in times like this. We will be back in a moment. [music break] amy texas flood by larry davis. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with renee feltz. A houston native. Your sister, how she doing . My sister lives near one of the major bayous in houston. Areus are not a term many familiar with. It is sort of like a river where the water drains. She also lives near to major freeways for the water goes. She has evacuated to friends that live on the third floor of their apartments. Hi, michelle, and hello to all of my friends and to my former home at the pacific Radio Station in houston, texas. We turn now to look at how Hurricane Harvey and the epic flooding disaster has threatened the safety of immigrants in texas who are afraid to evacuate to shelters or approach authorities to seek help, in part because of new law set to go into effect friday that allows police in texas to ask people they detain for their immigration status. Ahead of the storm, the u. S. Border patrol said its roadside immigration checkpoints in the state would remain open. The agency later issued a statement that routine noncriminal Immigration Enforcement operations will not be conducted at evacuation sites, or Assistance Centers such as shelters or food banks. Texas Governor Greg Abbott later echoed those claims in an interview with msnbc. Amy this comes as more than 50 immigrant women and children were left stranded by immigration authorities at a bus station in san antonio friday at the same time bus service was canceled due to Hurricane Harvey. Volunteers had to find shelter for the families, most of whom were Asylum Seekers from Central America and had just been released from a private Detention Center. For more, were joined by two guests. In san antonio, rocio gunther is a reporter with the san antonio nonprofit news outlet the rivard report. She broke the story about how ice in her report headlined, stranded immigrants find shelter from Hurricane Harvey. And in washington, d. C. , amy fischer is policy director for raices, a texasbased nonprofit Legal Advocacy Group that also helped with the rescue of the asylumseekers. What did you learn on friday . We learn through our social media and through our contacts our office is actually, like, a few minutes away from the bus station. It is walking distance. This is routine, women and know,en are always, you taken there on a routine basis. But in this case, during a Natural Disaster, the situation was quite different. Through contact with city officials who had learned about the situation as well, we were able to find out, after i arrived at the bus station where the immigrants were taken in the was a local downtown church, so i walked to the scene. Not only were the women and children finding shelter at the church, but also they had opened up the church for Homeless Individuals who are trying to find refuge from the storm. Amy what did these immigrants have with them and had the authorities been warned not to do this without giving them any resources, just leaving them in a place that was about to be pummeled . Exactly. Congressman Lloyd Doggett actually had contacted ice officials the day before and specifically had told them, told them not to drop off the women and the children there because bus services would be canceled in the afternoon. So even though congressman doggett day that message, you know, families were left at the mercy of that and the volunteer organizations, if it wasnt for them, who knows where these women and children would have gone to find refuge . Renee i want to bring amy fischer into the conversation. You helped settle many of these refugees after they were discovered at the bus station. Can you talk about that and some of the concerns that are being raised as thousands of people in texas are on the move, looking for shelter . Sure. Luckily, there are volunteers that are at the bus station pretty much every single day because this is a regular practice but ice drops families that are being released from detention at the bus station in san antonio with no access to cell phones, no resources. And really, no way to communicate and navigate the busing system. Luckily, there were volunteers are ready there at the bus station. Then they saw this large group being dropped off as the storm was heading into san antonio. Our agency works with families and attention and after they have been released from detention, so we worked with the interface Welcome Coalition on the ground to ensure that these stay,es had a place to had food to eat, that they could communicate with their families and really be taking care of as the storm fat past. Peopleat happened to the in detention . It is our understanding that of the families that were released from the Detention Center, the vast majority were released from the cards Detention Center. It is our understanding that Detention Center was emptied. Many of those families were transferred to a different Detention Center, the dilley family Detention Center about an hour and a half outside san antonio and there were about 50 mothers and children who were dropped off at the bus station or abandon their. Amy were getting word that undocumented people in and around houston are afraid of actually leaving because what if they interact with authorities . Afraid of possibly being fixed up, even in this extreme disaster. Governor abbott said they will seekcheck id as people shelter. Is that your understanding . We have been told that texas officials will not actively check ids of immigrants, but i think we have to recognize this is happening days before a racist, antiimmigrant law is supposed to go into effect. As before has essentially created a sense of fear throughout the state of texas for everyone that is an immigrant or maybe looking like an immigrant. I think what our senses on the who may beple undocumented simply just do not trust officials and what their word is because we have seen them targeted even before the implementation of sb4. We have seen them racially profiled. You know, a few years ago when Hurricane Sandy hit new york, we saw an announcement from dhs they would essentially posit Immigration Enforcement so that no family would have to make the decision between trying to survive a storm or seeking help and being subject to detention and deportation. That simply did not happen. Amy speaking of racial profiling, moving onto our last segment, i want to thank you for being with us, and he fischer rocio gunther. As we move into our last segment, what would have been top news on friday if it were not for the storm. Renee we turn now to the white house pardon announced friday for longtime trump supporter and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The controversial arizona lawman known for profiling latinos once bragged that he ran his openair jail called tent city in phoenix like a concentration camp. Arpaio was first elected in and voted out of office in 1992 november after years of civil rights complaints and corruption allegations. Amy in july, a federal judge found arpaio guilty of contempt of court for defying an order to stop his deputies from detaining people based on their perceived immigration status. He faced up to six months in prison at his sentencing, originally set for in a october 5. Statement,ph President Trump said arpaio gave years of Admirable Service to our nation. I very happy. I have to thank the president of the United States for his pardon. As i say, he is a big friend, supporter of law enforcement. I think this is a Bigger Picture than just me. Amy for more, we go to tucson, arizona, where were joined by linda valdez, an Editorial Board member and columnist at the Arizona Republic, the states largest newspaper. After President Trump pardoned sheriff arpaio, she wrote an editorial for the paper headlined, donald trump just resurrected joe arpaio from irrelevance. Linda valdez, welcome to democracy now in these last few minutes, first, respond to what message send come then talks about sheriff arpaios history and what he did, this whole issue of racial profiling and harassment. As farce the message it sends, it sends a clear message that donald trump is not interested in being the president of all of the people of this country. He is interested in being president of a very small Republican Base that put him in office from the same group of people that has been joe arpaios base for many, many years. It is a troubling message. It is a message that says the president of the United States does not respect the constitution and the requirement that all people be treated equally under the constitution. And he does not have much respect for the Judicial Branch of government because that process, the process under which arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt of court, that was a judicial process that had been going on for years and years. It had not reached its conclusion as you pointed out, he was be sentenced in october. In insurers are getting that process, trump showed contempt for the system. He showed contempt for people and took that case to court sought redress under the law. Forhe showed contempt latinos in arizona and elsewhere, saying it is ok to racially profile certain people. But he also showed contempt for all americans by saying the constitution isnt what it says it is. It,e i want to ask about but arizona senator and former republican president ial candidate john mccain. He issued a statement that said the president has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions. Meanwhile, arpaio told the Arizona Republic in an interview friday that he would not have handled his immigration sweeps any differently, saying my guys did nothing wrong, and i didnt do anything wrong. Your response . Well, my response is that has o. Since thes m. Beginning. He is much like trump that he does not admit he makes mistakes. As first john mccain, his quote is right on target. Gets things right. As far as trumps concern, he is been right more than wrong on this issue. I want to address the point that the president made in his pardon that arpaio has given a lot of service. The 20 years he was sheriff of Maricopa County were not good years, as far as a law man is concerned. He devoted a great chill of energy to his immigration great deal of energy to his immigration sweeps that were profiling latinos. He diverted resources and funding from other important lawenforcement processes. There were 400 plus Sexual Assault cases that were not investigated by his department. Byt was brought to light several media outlets, one of it. H 18 feel its her for his continued to be reelected, which is something where he and donald trump are very similar in the people that they appeal to, their inability to express remorse, and the fact that their supporters really dont care about what they do. They are supporting they are supporting people who do not respect all the people equally in this country. Amy clearly come a sheriff arpaio was a very early supporter of donald trump. I think donald trump brought him up to iowa. Donald trump was sending a significant message here as he sends out this pardon, aside from talking about what kind of law he wants enforced and not enforced. Linda valdez, do you think there was a message to people who may byinvestigated right now mueller and others, subpoenas going out, that there is a pardon out there for those that support him . Well, that certainly has been suggested and certainly would be logical. I think that trump did send a message that he will stand by the people that are loyal to him. And it is a chilling message that even if the judicial system find someone culpable, the president doesnt care. So i think it is also a good distraction. Trump is doing a lot of things to distract people from the russia investigation. Going,p his populism which is another thing he has in common with arpaio, that appeal to the populist base. And basically saying, my people will support me no matter what. In on thatnt to jump point. In our last 20 seconds, since the pardon, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in an interview with the Associated Press and your newspaper he may jump back into politics. Do you think he has a chance . Well, he is 85 years old. He has been talking for years about running for governor and has never done it. In arizona, i think you may be a spent for, which was our point in the editorial. Hehad recognized here that was destructive force. But one never knows these days in politics. Donald trump proves the old saying, anybody can be president. Proves it and the not very good way, i would say. Amy linda valdez is an Editorial Board member and columnist at the Arizona Republic, the states largest newspaper. After President Trump pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio, she wrote an editorial donald trump just resurrected joe arpaio from irrelevance. We will link to that. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now today on americas test kitchen, julia shows bridget how to make the best castiron steak, adam reviews papertowel holders with bridget in the equipment corner, and dan makes julia the ultimate crisproast butterflied chicken. Its all coming up right here on americas test kitchen. Americas test kitchen is brought to you by the following Fisher Paykel. Since 1934, Fisher Paykel has been designing