Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20171120

Amy that was donald trump months ago. We will speak with pittsburgh s there is one city that the president can point to that would represent with that city is, it is pittsburgh. We have exceeded what we have promised in the Paris Agreement and that is been happening throughout this country, throughout the United States. Amy and we will talk with Virginia Governor terry mcauliffe. I am here because we need to send a message to the world. Or yet would donald trump says, that were serious about Climate Change. Im the governor of virginia and went trump moved out of the paris climate agreement allows the first governor to come out and say were going to do it ourselves. Amy Virginia Governor Tim Mcauliffe about the climate and the Political Climate in his regime and socialist a transgender woman have just one race is or public office. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In zimbabwe, longtime leader Robert Mugabe has stunned Party Leaders and opposition groups by refusing to resign as president. The announcement by the 93yearold mugabe came days after zimbabwes military seized government buildings across the capital harare, placing mugabe under house arrest. On sunday evening, mugabe gave a televised address acknowledging the countrys problems, but did not mention stepping down. Whatever the pros and cons of the way they went about the i,istering those concerns, as the president of zimbabwe, and the commanderinchief, do acknowledge the issues they have drawn my attention to and do believe that these were raised in the spirit of honesty and out of deep and patriotic concern for the stability of our nation. Amy president mugabes announcement came after zimbabwes ruling party, zanupf, has stripped him of his office under threat of impeachment and removed him from the party. Other members of the party, including first lady grace mugabe, were also expelled. Well have more on the crisis in zimbabwe after headlines. In washington, d. C. , thousands of people rallied on the National Mall sunday, calling for justice for puerto rico two months after Hurricane Maria made landfall. The protesters called on fema to act quickly to restore services and for the cancellation of puerto ricos debt. They also demanded congress permanently waive shipping restrictions under the jones act. Half of puerto rico remains without power and hundreds of thousands of residents still have no access to clean Drinking Water. Hollywood actor Jeffrey Tambor said sunday hes leaving the hit amazon series transparent after two transgender women accused him of unwanted sexual contact. In one allegation, actress van barnes says tambor sexually harassed and groped her. In another, tambors costar trace lysette says he pushed his body against her between takes on the set of transparent. Tambor has denied the allegations. He plays a trans star. Meanwhile, music mogul and activist Russell Simmons is denying allegations of rape and Sexual Assault after Model Keri Claussen Khalighi says simmons coerced her to perform oral sex before raping her in a shower in when she was just 17 years old. 1991 khalighi says filmmaker brett ratner looked on during the assault and ignored her pleas for help. Ratner himself faces accusations from at least six women, including one account that he overpowered a woman and forced her to perform oral sex on him when she was 19 years old. At least five people say they were sexually harassed or groped at a ted talks conference in vancouver last april. Among those reporting abuse is ted talks own general counsel, who said in an email she was touched inappropriately, and that executives at the nonprofit Speakers Series werent doing enough to combat sexual harassment. The u. S. Congress office of compliance says it has paid out more than 17 million to settle cases of sexual harassment, as well as discrimination based on race, religion, and disability. The cases were paid out of a special fund operated by the treasury department, rather than by members of congress or their staffers who were accused of the discrimination or harassment. The disclosure comes as a number of female Congress Members have come forward to say theyve been victims of sexual harassment. Meanwhile, minnesota democratic senator al franken says he will not resign following accusations by radio broadcaster that he groped her while she slept and forced her to kiss him in 2006. Last week, she posted a photo showing al franken appearing to place his hand on her breast est wash kevlar v was sleeping on a plane back tour they both had participated in. Al franken was a comedian at the time. He says he supports a full investigation by congress. President trump said sunday he should have allowed three College Basketball players from ucla to remain in a chinese jail after they were arrested on shoplifting charges. Trumps comment came as he took credit for negotiating the release of the players who were accused of stealing designer sunglasses from a highend store after the father of one of the players downplayed trumps role in securing the release of the players. Trump tweeted in iraq, forces say they have u. S. Backed Iraqi Forces Say they have retaken the town of rawa from isis, one of the last urban areas held by the group. Meanwhile, syrias army says it took control of albu kamal over the weekend, the last town in syria held by isis. The fight against isis largely destroyed whole cities, including raqqa and mosul, leaving tens of thousands dead and displacing hundreds of thousands of people. In turkey, the governor of ankara province home to the turkeys capital has banned all events by lgbtq groups, including parades, protests, films, theater performances, and art exhibitions. In a statement, ankaras government said such events were likely to provoke reactions within certain segments of society, adding that terrorists might target pride events. In response, the organization of pride week said it would defy the ban and proceed with a planned march. The groups president said the government should protect us, the group that is being threatened, not nationalist fundamentalist groups. I believe the ban is about not accepting our Sexual Orientation and it is a reaction to the Movement Getting stronger. In libya, human Rights Groups are accusing the government of looking the other way as migrants are sold at auction in a modernday slave trade. New video obtained by cnn shows men at an unknown location in libya auctioning off enslaved subsaharan african migrants. One grainy cellphone video shows two enslaved men sold for 1200 libyan dinars, or about 800, as a man offscreen promises big strong boys for farm work. The cnn investigation comes after the United Nations warned the European Union over its support for libyas coast guard, as it turns back migrants trying to cross the mediterranean and forces them into migrant camps where they face appalling conditions. In germany, Angela Merkels position as chancellor is uncertain after talks aimed at forming a Coalition Government collapsed monday. Merkel had been trying to form a new government after inconclusive elections in september. Observers say the turmoil could benefit the farright alternative for democracy party, which made record gains in this years elections. In mexico city, trade delegates from the u. S. , mexico, and canada have opened formal talks aimed at renegotiating nafta, the north American Free trade agreement. President trump is pressing canada and mexico for concessions, claiming nafta is tilted against the United States. As talks opened friday, mexican farmers and workers protested outside. This is activist hector cruz. We are demanding the voices of society, simple society, farmers and citizens, be heard in these negotiations. For us, does clear that after 23 years, the north American Free trade agreement has only been a great economic and social disaster for our country. Now were threaten at what is being negotiated inside will be even worse. Amy in arizona, immigrants rights protesters targeted Breitbart News editor and President Trumps former chief strategist steve bannon as he gave a keynote address saturday to a u. S. Border patrolaffiliated group. Outside, scores of protesters were confined by police to an area blocks from the brian terry foundations awards banquet, but one person was able to slip inside to personally confront bannon. This is cell phone video shot by protester bryan sanders. I am from tucson. I am bryan. Know, i couldu to not have you come to tucson and not hear that. What youre proposing out there you . It is driving the country apart. I know that you know this. Now that you know you are youre about to have an orange jumpsuit. Say treason. Get him out. Amy a new study finds black men continue to be sentenced to far longer prison terms than white men committing similar crimes. The study by the u. S. Sentencing Commission Found African American men receive sentences 20 longer, and that the sentencing disparity has increased over the last two 20 years. In jacksonville, florida, students and antifascist activists are planning a counter protest at the university of north florida today, as neonazis plan to rally on behalf of a student who was suspended after posting a threatening photo on social media. The photograph shows Political Science student ken parker shirtless, posing with a semiautomatic assault rifle, a swastika tattooed on his chest. Parker posted it to a black lives matteraligned student groups facebook page, along with a threat against the Group Students for a democratic society. President trump said sunday hes reversing his administrations plan to allow elephant trophies trophy hunters to import the bodies of elephants they kill in zambia and zimbabwe. In a tweet, trump wrote sonsdent trumps two adult are longtime trophy hunters. A 2012 picture of donald trump, jr. In zimbabwe shows him standing in front of the corpse of an African Elephant holding a knife in one hand and a severed tail of the elephant in the other. In nebraska, about 100 protesters rallied at the capital in lincoln on sunday, calling on their state to deny a permit allowing the Company Transcanada to build the keystone xl pipeline. The protest came ahead of a crucial meeting today at nebraskas Public Utilities commission on whether to allow construction of the expanded keystone pipeline, which opponents say threatens to pollute nebraskas oglala aquifer while driving Greenhouse Gas emissions from oil extracted in canadas tar sands region. And youth activists around the country have buried 50year time capsules containing their hopes and fears for the planets future after President Trump moved to withdraw the u. S. From the paris climate accord. Members of the climate legacy time capsule project say theyre working to kick out politicians at all levels of government who are putting fossil fuel billionaires ahead of future generations. In new york city, dozens of youth placed handwritten letters and artwork in a metal cylinder and buried it Washington Square park. This is 16yearold activist shaza hussein. For the next 50 years, i hope to see elected officials are changing the tide and shifting toward protecting the earth and making sure we do things like protecting native American Communities and measuring the cultural impact, moving toward renewable energy, just moving toward clean energy and formulating a Better Future and a future better for future generations. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin todays show with zimbabwe, where longtime leader Robert Mugabe is refusing to resign as president among a political crisis in zimbabwe. Members of zimbabwes ruling party are preparing to meet to discuss mugabes impeachment after the deadline for him to resign came and went this morning. On sunday, mugabe gave a televised address acknowledging the countrys problems, but did not mention stepping down. Whatever the pros and cons of the way they went about , i asering those concerns as president of zimbabwe and their commanderinchief, do it knowledge the issues do acknowledge the issues they have drawn my attention to and do believe that these were raised in the spirit of honesty and out concernand patriotic for the stability of our nation. Of greater concern to our commanders are the wellfounded ands that the lack of unity commonness of purpose in both party and government was ofnslating into perceptions inattentiveness to the economy. Betweenlic spurts highranking officials in the party and government exacerbated by multiple confliction , majorting messages criticisms leveled at us. Amy zimbabwes ruling party, zanupf, has expelled mugabe and first lady grace mugabe from the party. Mugabe had been working to hand over power to his wife grace. The impeachment proceedings against mugabe may now begin as soon as tuesday. Last week mugabe was placed under house arrest after zimbabwes military seized parliament, courts, government offices, and the main airport in the capital harare. The apparent coup came a week after president mugabe ousted his Vice President , emmerson mnangagwa. The military says it has appointed him as interim president of zimbabwe. After a week of relative calm, residents in harare took to the streets to celebrate the expected announcement of mugabes resignation, only to be disappointed by his refusal to step down. We were expecting the president to say, i have heard your concerns yesterday. This is not what we were expecting, to hear a long speech without any result for us. The results were simple. I am stepping down. Im handing over the country to someone else. Amy Robert Mugabe has held power since zimbabwe declared independence 37 years ago. Well, for more, were joined by glen mpani, mason fellow at the Kennedy School of government at harvard university. He is a democracy and governance practitioner who has worked for the last 15 years in africa. His recent oped in the New York Times is titled, for zimbabwe, a coup isnt the answer. Glen mpani, welcome to democracy now can you talk about the latest in zimbabwe and give us the background on how to understand it will stop looks it is good to be on your show. Zimbabwe has been confronted with an economic and political crisis for the last 20 years. The crisis has been largely due to bad governance, centralization of power, and the inability of the government to be able to provide solutions to address the economy crisis. The crisis has resulted in and people fleeing the country to go to other countries to be able to earn a living. If you look at some of the key things that have been a major challenge for daytoday zimbabwe, unemployment is at 98 . There are shortages of water and electricity within the country. These are some of the Major Economic issues that have been a problem. But of major concern the last three or four years, dealing with secession. Majorhave been two factions that have been trying to show they can be able to succeed secede glen mpani. President. The former the other faction was led by the first lady grace mcgarvey which the president is alleged to have been part of. It reached fever pitch a couple of weeks ago when there was the expulsion of the Vice President of the country, as the result who is promoting factionalism. , [indiscernible] took place. Themselves to ensure that can restore him. On the other side, the faction aligned the first lady was lineng to assure they are them with the faction of the first lady. What we are confronted with here is factional issues were intraparty disagreements within zanupf that is led to an international crisis. Unfortunately, theres been a convergence of issues with the general public, tired of the leadership of zanupf and have been saying it for many years. Now we have one individual who is an agreement they should go. [indiscernible] the nuances are as follows. Thisaction pushing for probably intensive purposes is not sincere in terms of economic recovery and democratization of zimbabwe. Theyre doing simply because they want to install one of their own. The people rallying with them are using it as an opportunity for them to be up to gain legitimacy, for them to be of to sanitize themselves as a protomacro probe democratic union. Amy so talk about, for people to are not familiar with zimbabwes history, 30 seven years ago gaining independence from england, used to be called rhodesia. A leadingabe independence activist as was his Vice President , who has just been appointed president. Give us the history of zimbabwe in africa. Zimbabwe achieved independence in 1980 and offered a lot of hope for the continent. I think if you look at the largelyin zimbabwe, able to produce commodities such as tobacco. We were able to feed ourselves feed regions on the continent. Our Health Sector was very effective. We are proud as a country. For us to be able to provide a shining example in terms of how a country can be able to transition from colonial rule. Had the in 1980, we dominance of zanupf. [indiscernible] played a pivotal role. We focus on the economy and paid little attention in terms of the politics. So the ideal centralizing authority and power remained a key tenet of the zanupf government. Unfortunately, because it was little opposition to them, little attention was paid to them because the british love them so much, donors were reporting money to zimbabwe. Pre2000, and then went to introduce the imf conditions for them to be able we started noticing the cutting down of the social, levels of unemployment increased, there was high inflation. The led to the rise of Largest Labor movement that resulted in the formation of the no Major Political parties in zimbabwe, the movement for democratic change. The trade union was not challenging the government to , high levels of corruption, the basic livelihood issues ordinary zimbabweans cannot be met. This opposition since 2000 has successfully been participating in elections. Which have been seen as unfair. Unfortunately, because of the military, this military that has just intervened, which played a role in violence, rigging of elections, inflicting on key activist, it has become very difficult for any prospect of an opposition being able to get into office in the electoral process. Doing a press conference that stated in no way would they allow anyone with the struggle to be a leader of zimbabwe. True to their word, they have been very consistent. If you see what is currently happening, were making sure. Ecause zanupf two to their word, the ,nsistence of them intervening their candidate is in line with the agenda they will never accept anyone amy i want to ask you about zimbabwes Opposition Leader returned togirai zimbabwe from south africa and was reportedly discussing plans to form a government of National Unity with emmerson mnangagwa, who the military has appointed as interim president. Tsvangirai served as Prime Minister under mugabe from 20092013. Former labor activist who was repeatedly arrested by zimbabwean authorities and subjected to beatings and torture while in jail. We only have a minute the half, but if you can talk about bh morgan tsvangirai, emmerson mnangagwa, and the power of the first lady as well, if you can talk about the power of grace mugabe and where she fits into this, no also expelled from the party now also expelled from the party . I think the first lady made a greater disservice to mugabe. I think she overplayed their hand. , did not manage to be able to play an effective role in uring that mugabe unfortunately [indiscernible] she caused this to be able to implode. I think if shes going to play a role, it will be within zanupf. That is, if they wanted. I donts are there think she will have any opportunity in any realignment or official politics for zimbabwe. This might be the end of her political career. When it comes to morgan they cani, i think come up with an alliance of convenience. An interim arrangement. Anynt see that bringing meaningful change. Again bring a lift in the interim, but it will not work. Both of them are desperate. Is desperate. Rai he also wants to get into government. So they are joined together amy he is undergoing Cancer Treatment . He is undergoing Cancer Treatment in terms of a greater good, i see i dont see any substantial reforms. In terms of them coming out of this process. I dont think all three have the appetite for them to push an agenda. Unfortunately, his citizens in zimbabwe dont challenge whatever deals or decisions, whatever interim arrangement is going to come up with, they will realize the status quo remains. Selfish interests are taking precedence over what needs to be done in terms of reforming zimbabwe. Amy i want to thank you glen mpani, for joining us mason , fellow at the Kennedy School of government at harvard university. Democracy and governance practitioner who has worked for the last 15 years in africa. We willing to your oped in the New York Times is titled, for zimbabwe, a coup isnt the answer. We are just back from bonn, germany. We will speak with pittsburgh mayor bill peduto. Remember when President Trump i serve pittsburgh, not paris . We will hear from pittsburgh. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Weve just returned from the u. N. Climate summit in bonn, germany. Early saturday morning, officials representing nearly 200 nations ended and all night round of negotiations and and of implementation of the 2015 paris climate deal. Many fear the u. S. Would fully derail this years talks as this year was the first cop is President Trump vowed to pull the u. S. Out of the landmark 2015 paris accord, a process which would take four years. Fiji Prime Minister who presided over this years cop, said there were notable achievements this year on the agreements around agriculture, ocean protection, Indigenous Peoples rights, and a new climate insurance system for poorer nations. Another achievement included the launch of the powering past coal alliance, a group of more than 20 nations who have committed to phasing out coal. The United States, along with germany, poland, australia, china, and india, refused to sign on to the pledge, although the u. S. States of washington and oregon bucked the federal government and did sign on. Many environmental activists, however, say this years talks did not go nearly far enough, especially as new data shows Global Carbon dioxide emissions are once again rising after flatlining for three years straight. Meanwhile, on december 12, france will host a Climate Change summit in paris on the second anniversary of the signing of the landmark paris climate deal. French president Emmanuel Macron says President Trump states will not be invited. Well, despite President Trumps vows to pull out of the paris climate deal, there were a number of progressive u. S. Senators, governors and mayors who staged an antitrump revolt last week in bonn. Among them pittsburgh mayor bill , peduto. I began by asking mayor peduto of pittsburgh when President Trump announced in july he was pulling the United States out of the paris climate deal by saying he was elected to represent pittsburgh, not paris. Pres. Trump i was elected to represent the citizens of pittsburgh, not paris. It is time to put youngstown, michigan, and pittsburgh, pennsylvania, along with many, many other locations within our great country before paris, france. Greattime to make america again. Billthere he was, mayor peduto. Your response . There i was. I get a little alert in his is President Trump to leave harris agreement. I just went, that is horrible. I was at cop 21. I was one of nearly 500 mayors who gathered, the largest gathering of mayors in the earths history, to be able to say to the federalernments, we got this. Were going to do it anyway. Were going to implement it. Its ok. Then about two minutes later, i see a tweet from sean spicer. It has that quote on it. I walked into my chief of staffs office and yelled its berg it blue in the face of 30 years of progress that pittsburgh had made. A city that had lost the quality of its air and water in an effort to build this country. Building every skyscraper, every bridge, and in the city that died. Whose economic heart was ripped out of it. Instead of trying to find a way to rebuild the factories and the mills and the minds, found a way to reinvent itself. Very much in the spirit of what the Paris Agreement was talking about. If there was one city the president could point to that would represent what that spirit of the Paris Agreement was, it was pittsburgh. So i was taken aback by the very fact that he was using an old stereotype of pittsburgh in order to make his point. Amy he said pittsburgh stands with the world and we will follow Paris Agreement. What kind of response did you get from the white house . There was no response from the white house. The response received from colleagues across the country was overwhelming support we are with you. The amount of support of the social media, globally, saying we are with pittsburgh in paris. And then weep and pittsburgh and paris and that often led to this one leading to this cop23, pittsburgh and bonn. What can we learn that wont just allow them to play catch up to other cities when were talking about Climate Change, but leapfrogging other cities to be the leaders in Climate Change. Amy what are you doing and pittsburgh . What is your commitment to renewables, to a sustainable city . What have done in the last are since the president s announcement is increased our commitment to zero waste, increased our commitment to 100 renewable, increased our commitment to ways the transportation, urban planning, housing will all be affected by minimizing the amount of carbon that we are going to be producing, and we have now exceeded what we promised in the Paris Agreement. That has been happening throughout this country, throughout the United States you see city after city doing it. It is very important to note the day the president made that statement, the rest one u. S. Cities who are part of the climate cities. Pittsburgh was one. Today there are 367. It has galvanized the support, democrat and republican mayors, councils saying that we will follow through, that we are still in. Amy we are here in bonn, we we broadcast from new york. You talk in this event that was sponsored by young people, young nterminal activists about Environmental Construction and pittsburgh. What are you doing to make the building of pittsburgh sustainable . Pittsburgh is one of the leaders in the Green Building movement. Named teresa woman heinz. She saw the potential of it not only being something that was sustainable, but could also help bring pittsburgh back by manufacturing the material, understanding the techniques, and being able to do it. We have partnered with our trade unions in order to be able to take lead certification to a point where it also means good wages, union wages. We have been able then to take it to the next level. Living buildings. Buildings that actually use the same amount of energy as a flower. Pittsburgh is the only city in the world with two examples that are presently then we have taken it to pass of housing, but passive affordable housing. Affordable housing for folks were getting out of situations where they have been in orphanages or Halfway Houses and for seniors to be a little live in quality housing later in life that they can afford to live in qualityvironmental environment will housing. We want to see how it can affect everyone. We were chosen as a choice neighborhood by hud and were creating our greenest development. Amy what do you mean . In our poorest never met. Amy how are you doing it . We created a program that would buy the Neighborhood Community plan that called for green housing, the building of a new park, the establishment of ,ore greenery and urban forests and we put it into one of our lower income neighborhoods. The last thing were doing, with high right now, working to build the largest urban farm in the country. Pittsburgh. In an area that had been abandoned years ago from former housing area to an area that will come back with mixed housing, including affordability and the largest urban farm in america. Amy you are on the terrorism watch list . Near peduto of pittsburgh . There was a lot of conversation going on in pittsburgh early on with fracking and trying to understand the balance between what the constitution of pennsylvania guarantees every pennsylvanian, which is the guarantee of safe water. And what we could do and what challenges fracking in the city of pittsburgh would mean in regards to three rivers that supply Drinking Water to all of our people. The question was, would we be able to have a legal argument to gh zoning the fracking occurring because of the proximity to either high population density or Drinking Water. And it wasnt really sure, but we were pushing it anyway. During that same process, it came out through an article i believe in the Philadelphia Inquirer that the city council, the city of pittsburgh, have been placed on the pennsylvania homeland securitys terrorism watch list. And during that same time period, we wanted to know how and why that occurred. The person who have been hired was removed from office. The bill went through. It was never challenged. Had it been challenged, we made it clear we were going to call for full disclosure. Amy what happened now . There hasnt been any fracking in the city of pittsburgh, even though there were land leases at that time in different areas of the city. There is never been a challenge by any of the companies. Amy were you ever stopped from going on an airplane . No. Amy let me ask you about sanctuary cities. Is pittsburgh a century city . It is by definition my meaning we will not detain, arrest any individual based upon a request byice as long as there warned for their arrest. There isnt a warrant for their arrest. It goes against the constitution and could also go against search and seizure. We recognize the rights of individuals being in this country guarantees them the right under the constitution. So that part of it is. But our jail system and our worth system is separate than our municipal governance, so we dont have any say over those parts of it. Amy does this mean you lose any federal funding . No, because that has been proven in court cases as well that amy they threatened you with it . Yes. They required cities in applying for the cop grants to sign to it that they would not be a sanctuary city or would any of theith ice on actions. I would not sign it. Amy what are you doing here . We cover this cop every single year since copenhagen. Big u. S. Official delegation. Likeyear, well, it looks the Top Administration will be represented by peabody coal and a few other corporations, maybe a few government officials will be pushing nuclear power, gas, and coal. Amy coal. So you have a different delegation. You have a major tent. Thousands of feet. What is happening, the government is split into . I dont think that is the case. I think what youre saying is americans, citizens of the country, some elected officials, lots of ngos saying to the world , we are still in, that we are willing to be able to be here to tell you that we are still going to meet our commitments, even the one part of our federal government, the executive branch of our federal government, has said they arent going to follow the Paris Agreement. It doesnt mean that individual cities, states, organizations, corporations, and others wont do our part to meet it. And in doing so, we will be doing what we can and, basically, what is the most important part of it, implementation, to make sure the United States does follow the Paris Agreement. Amy and your thoughts on President Trump being a proud climate denier . God bless democracy. I cant say anything for the president or his opinions, but i know i can do my part and every american can do their part to assure that there is a safe and secure future for our country, Economic Opportunity and growth through a green economy, and the opportunity to do what our responsibility is to assure that Climate Change has a minimum negative impact. Amy President Trump was just in china. It looks like china will be the leader when it comes to building solar panels, alternative energy. They see the market is wide open with the u. S. Pushing coal, nuclear, and gas. Your thoughts . Were in germany and germany as a major producer of Wind Turbines made by german steel, by german workers. We see in china, the Solar Cell Technology passing United States where the solar cells themselves are beginning in india, there being similar to solar panels. I asked, why not West Virginia . Why not michigan, ohio, pennsylvania . Why cant we be the ones are manufacturing, creating these jobs of tomorrow instead of being sold false promises of the jobs of yesterday. Amy that is pittsburgh mayor bill peduto, speaking last week at the u. N. Climate summit in bonn, germany. And we come back, we will hear from Virginia Governor terry mcauliffe. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Are just back from our weeklong broadcast from the u. N. Climate summit in bonn, germany. There was a defiant antitrump revolt declaring we are still in. That is a landmark 2015 paris climate deal. I spoke with Virginia Governor terry mcauliffe. We need to send a message to the world, forget what donald seriousys, that were about Climate Change. Im the governor of virginia. When trouble moved out of the Paris Agreement, those first governor to say, were going to do it ourselves. Through an executive directive, im doing what we should have been doing at the National Level in the Paris Agreement. Im a theres about what donald trump did. Im here to spread the message. Trump isolated himself. He did not isolate the u. S. Amy what was the executive directive . Were moving had in virginia as of the Paris Agreement is still in effect. Were going to meet the same standards. Were joining the reggie states. I didnt buy the power of the governor to do it. I would not have been successful trying to get it through my legislature. We did have a huge win in virginia on tuesday and picked up at least 15 seats, so our legislature, maybe now we can get it done but we could not before. Meet the Paris Agreement. It is the right thing to do. Talk about that win. What it means for virginia. There was a lot of speculation that ed gillespie was going to pull it out but he didnt. I did not think he was going to pull it out. I said were going to win all three statewide. What was astounding what happened the other day is we picked up 15 house delegate seats. That is the most in 100 years. 11 of them were women. Andjority of women came out ran. This was a clear message. One, affirmation weve had quite are great years. We have led on the issues of Climate Change in virginia through executive authority. When i took office, with 17 megawatts of solar. Today, were almost at 3000. Literally and three years. Were the first state to do an offshore utility wind project. We have led on these different issues. For me, ive had to do it through executive authority. Only 34 democrats out of 100. Now with the pickups, we can make these law and codify it. This is huge for the climate issue. Amy so solar power. China is excelling in this. President trump was just in china. He talked about being the theident of jobs and economy. It is amazing for so many that he is exceeding the soul Renewable Technology this le Renewable Technology to china. The next phase is we have to have the manufacturing of the solar facilities in america. Like a lot of those in virginia. And trump to go over there listen, china makes most of the solar panels. We should be doing this in america. If you want to bring manufacturing back to america, ive created 77,000 Energy Efficiency jobshe last couple of years. This is the future. Has the credibility. After he pulled out of paris, i would say he is tweeting all day. He is like the crazy uncle in the attic. You just dont know what is going to do any given day. He talks about jobs, but he is not delivering jobs. Look at the travel ban and immigration and health care. He has done nothing but hurt i can say this as governor of virginia ands. My premiums are going up 53 in health care. He is terrorized by immigrant community. Ive had to go to Dulles Airport on the travel ban is a, no, youre not going do hold virginians in a holding pen for five hours without access to legal counsel. That is why im so honored to be here to have summit of people engaged in the climate movement. Amy yet some interesting victories in virginia. Yet the first transstate legislator, former journalist, who has been elected. Beautiful, bob marshall was the most conservative, homophobic member of our house of delegates. I vetoed all of his bills. Bills, transgender bills. He sponsored all of them. Defining planned parenthood. Bob marshall sponsored all of them. He was defeated by transgender. It doesnt get any better than that. Amy and he called himself a proud homophobe. He said that. That was his phrase. He is gone. Credit. Anica roem they asked her about him and she said, he is now a constituent of mine. I thought it was a classy thing to say. Message, honestly, we needed a win for the democrats. People were happy of the four years we have had. Record job investment. 19 billion of new capital coming in, which is six and dollars more than any governor ever. 6 billion more than any of her governor. In the most progressive governor in the history of the state. Ive told the nra to jump off a cliff. A good four years and then the antitrump and my Lieutenant Governor was at my side the whole time. We are a new virginia. We got the Democratic Party off the mat in this country and now we need to take it to the next level. We have to when the congress act. We have 36 governors coming up in 2018. We have to win a majority of those. Amy the carter just won, who was a democratic socialist from manassas, one for the house of delegates, the state legislature in virginia. He was a marine. He is a socialist, and he beat the incumbent who was the majority whip . He be a member of the republican leadership, which is very, very important will stop jackson miller. He did it by laying out a positive agenda, great new jobs, build a new virginia economy, which is what i talk every single day. Picked up at least 15. Were going into a recount. I would like to get control of the house of delegates. I have had to do everything, a fortunate, through executive authority. With 34 out of 100 democrats, republicans control. But it is a new day in virginia. Were the spark plug that is going to bring the democrats back in the when the house of representatives next year, the government short of these democratic governors. Higan, ohio, pennsylvania we had to our governor there. We have to pick up in florida. These are important states. Amy i want ask about Donna Brazils comments. She said, yeah, the election was rigged, and there were talking about this deal made between the dnc and the Clinton Campaign. That the Clinton Campaign would raise the money and that would have the same about how the dnc would spend it. At the time, Hillary Clinton was not even a candidate yet. She was going against bernie sanders. A lot of his supporters were saying it was rigged at the time. I was not part of the agreement so i dont know, but the agreements were for the general election. The same deal i believe was offered to senator sanders. But heres my point, no offense to donna, i could care less. I am sitting on election victory tuesday and i did not want any disruptions. Donnas book is not going to create one job in virginia, get one Person Health care, help me build one single road. Democrats have to stay unified. Im not into negative energy. Amy it wasnt about her book, but just that point came out athe book an unfortunate time. I campaigned all weekend. Nobody asked me about the book. Amy the issues. I am all for that. You want a fair process, but i cant look back. I have to look forward. We had an earthquake in virginia on tuesday to get the democrats back and unified. Been the most progressive governor in history of the state. Ive taken on the nra, the Koch Brothers. We keep beating them. We have to have democrats unified in this country. We have to when the congress and when the governors mansions across the country. Here is the issue we have 36 up in 2020 they do the senses. In 2021, they redraw every line in america. Right now two thirds of the chambers are controlled by republican legislators. Theyre going to draw lines to give them more power. Nothing happens in congress. Nothing. Im the biggest critic of congress because they dont do anything. What is happening is at the state level. The rollback of womens rights, gay rights, environmental rights, voting rights, progun rights is all happening through the state legislators. Democrats have to wake up and quit talking about the president ial election and better Start Talking about state and local, or we are going to get crushed. Amy that is with the Koch Brothers say. They focus at the state not only the Koch Brothers, was senator merkley calls the koch cartel, but the mercer money that really backed trump and ultimately led to his victory . This is my point. Im not when a city or criticize all of them. They went out and you know what . Theyre sitting in the white house. We have to get smarter estimate kratz. We have to fight. Im not into im tired of the whining. It is time to fight. From the day i took office ive been fighting on progressive issues and have beaten them, but i have had to do it as an executive. My legislature would not be with me on these issues. We need democrats who are fighting on the values that they believe in. Too Many Democrats today put their finger up in the air and say, which way the polls are going. I dont do that. I believe i was the first person in the south statewide to come out for marriage equality. I told women i would be a brick wall to protect their rights and i told the nra to go jump off a cliff. F rating. You know what . I won. If i did not win the next day, so be it. My life in a change. Democrats have to fight on their values. Were not we do agree on every issue. I am not into litmus test. Five for what you believe in. If you dont win, so be it. Gun control. You say you have taken on the nra. What do you think the country has to learn, massacre after massacre, what does the country have to do . They have to learn is we have to elect democratic members of congress after new town. After newtown, connecticut, if we cannot get anything done on legislation in virginia, every year i put up background checks. Every single year. I was defeated in Committee Early in the morning with no recorded vote. But the congress is the same way. We have to more thoughtful people in congress. I am for common sense gun restrictions. Not advocating anything overthetop. I am a gun owner. I hunt. But i want to do background checks. It takes five minutes. Everybody should go through that. Nobody was entitled to own a firearm will be denied. But there are people who should not have them, and im just disgusted if the power at the power of the inner a. I fight them every day. Iv them. Legislatione passed , the strongest protective order in the United States of america in virginia is that if you have a domestic protective order against you, your 24 hours to hand your gun in if there is one in the household. If you dont, is a class six felony. Youre going to prison and your gun is gone for life. Virginia, the strums protective order in the United States of america. I am proud of that as governor. Amy that is Virginia Governor terry mcauliffe. I was speaking to him in bonn, germany, at the u. N. Climate summit. To see our full weeks coverage, the only National Broadcast from the United States that devoted every single show to u. N. The u. N. Bonn summit to the issue of climate summit, go to democracynow. Org. That does it for the show. 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 p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] today on americas test kitchen. Dan shows bridget fullproof ginger frozen yogurt, lisa reviews personal blenders, adam reviews kitchen scales with bridget, and tim makes julia an outstanding lemon posset with berries. 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