Including elite u. S. Trained units, refused to impose a night time curfew ordered by the incumbent president after days of protests over allegations of fraud in the countrys disputed president ial election. Endsr call is all of this because were not willing to come to the streets and engage or repress the people. They make a we will go to honduras to get an update from journalists allan nairn and Sarah Kinosian and speak with Congressmember Jan Schakowsky. President trump announces what could be the largest rollback of federal Land Protections in the nations history. Sign to the i will president ial proclamations. They will modify the National Monuments designations of both bears ears and Grand Staircase escalante. Income it plans to open them to mining, drilling, and other forms of extraction. With two guests. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The Supreme Court ruled monday that the latest iteration of President Trumps travel ban can go into effect, even as legal challenges continue in lower courts. The courts order mean that the Trump Administration can fully enforce its new restrictions on travel from eight countries, six of them predominantly muslim. The ruling will bar most citizens from iran, libya, syria, yemen, somalia, chad, and north korea from entering the United States, along with some venezuelans. The latest version was issued in september, shortly before the Supreme Court was set to hear oral arguments on the previous iteration of the travel ban. Last month, the Trump Administration asked the Supreme Court to allow trumps latest travel ban to take effect, following an Appeals Court ruling that blocked part of it from being enacted. We will have more after headlines. The travel ban came as the Trump Administration said its withdrawn the u. S. From the United NationsGlobal Compact on migration. Over the weekend, u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. Nikki haley said that President Trump will no longer commit to the deal, in which countries pledge to uphold the rights of refugees, help migrants resettle and ensure they have access to jobs and education. President donald trump traveled to utah monday, where he announced plans to radically roll back environmental protections. The plan calls for shrinking the bears ears monument by more than 80 and splitting it into two separate areas. Trump would slash the states 1. 9 million acre Grand Staircaseescalante National Monument by 50 . The National Monuments were designated under the centuryold Antiquities Act, a law meant to protect sacred sites, artifacts and historical objects. Trump criticized the law on monday. Pres. Trump your timeless bond with the outdoors should not be replaced with the whims of regulators, thousands and thousands and thousands of miles away. They dont know your land. And surely, they dont care for your land like you do. And truly, they dont care for your land like you do. But from now on that wont matter. I have come to utah to take a very historic action, to reverse federal overreach and restore the rights of this land to your citizens. Amy trumps move drew outrage among environmentalists, thousands of whom marched monday through the streets of Salt Lake City where riot police held them back from a meeting between President Trump and leaders of the mormon church. The protests came as five native american tribes filed suit against President Trump, interior secretary ryan zinke, and several other officials in a bid to halt the rollback. Well have more on the fight over National Monuments later in the broadcast. On capitol hill, scores of protesters flooded the hallways outside the offices of republican lawmakers who voted in favor of a massive rewrite of the u. S. Tax code. Police arrested at least 11 as they satin nonviolently and refused to leave, chanting, tax the rich, not the poor and sick. The protests came as the house approved a measure to send their version of the tax cut bull to a Conference Committee to reconcile differences with a version that passed the senate on saturday. The Republican National committee has recommitted money and resources to alabamas special election on december 12 after President Trump tweeted his support for Senate Candidate roy moore. At least nine women have accused moore of sexually harassing or assaulting them when they were teenagers, one as young as 14. Despite the charges, trump tweeted monday democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive tax cuts is why we need republican roy moore to win in alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, border wall, military, pro life, v. A. , judges 2nd amendment and more. No to jones, a Pelosi Schumer puppet the republican partys support came as woman in florida produced evidence she says proves moore lied during a Campaign Rally last month when he said he did not know any of his women accusers. Registered republican Debbie Wesson gibson says she had a consensual relationship with moore when she was 17 and he was 34. In an interview, gibson showed the Washington Post a handwritten note she says moore handed her at her High School Graduation in 1981. Let me state once again i dont know any of these women. Did not date any of these women. Have not engaged in any Sexual Misconduct with anyone. I felt like this was the first thing that i know personally for a fact to be a lie from his mouth. He is speaking a lie from a pulpit of a church. He did not perpetrate Sexual Misconduct for me, nor have i ever claimed that, but now i know for sure he is a liar. Amy the Moore Campaign said trump told moore in a phone call from air force one on monday, go get em roy. On capitol hill, texas republican Congressmember Blake Farenthold said he will return 84,000 to taxpayers after news emerged that he used a Congressional Fund to settle a Sexual HarassmentSettlement Claim filed by his former communications director, lauren greene. Greene says shes been forced to resort to babysitting and other odd jobs to make ends meet, after farenthold blackballed her from politics when she accused him of Sexual Harassment, gender discrimination, and maintaining creating a hostile work environment. Meanwhile, another texas republican, 68yearold joe barton, said monday hes retiring from congress, after a nude photo of the congressmember surfaced online. Barton has said the photo came from a consensual, ageappropriate extramarital affair. Bartons retirent paves the way for a spial election in texass 6th district. In detroit, congressmember john conys is expected to announce today he will not resign from the house, but will not run for reelection fulls top multiple women accused conyers of sexually harassing or groping them, charges he denies. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other Top Democrats have called on conyers to step down. Conyers grandnephew, Michigan State senator ian conyers, is expected to announce hell run for john conyers seat in 2018. Netflix says it will resume production of its popular house of cards series without former lead actor kevin spacey, after more than a dozen men accused spacey of sexually harassing or assaulting them. Robin wright will star in a shortened eightepisode final season of the show. Elsewhere, the school of american ballet has removed its longtime teacher peter martins, while the school and the new York City Ballet conduct a joint investigation into a Sexual Harassment claim against him. In new york city, john hockenberry, the recentlyretired host of public Radio Station wnycs the takeaway has been accused of Sexual Harassment, unwanted touching, and bullying by several female colleagues. And vice media has fired three of its employees over what the Company Called verbal and Sexual Harassment and other unspecified behavior. And in sacramento, california, lobbyist pamela lopez has named democratic assemblyman Matt Dababneh of los angeles as the lawmaker who sexually assaulted her, forcing her into a Las Vegas Hotel bathroom last year and masturbating in front of her. Dababneh has denied the allegation. This is pamela lopez speaking from her office on monday. This is a moment of collective action. Many women have stepped forward have beene, too, i sexually harassed or assaulted in my workplace. And it has taken courage for them to do that. Amy in honduras, police and the capital refused to impose an overnight curfew order by the government after days of protests over allegations of fraud in the countrys disputed president ial election. Electoral Officials Say they will not declare a winner in the november 26 election in order to allow the filing of challenges and appeals. On monday, the Commission Found incumbent u. S. Backed president Juan Orlando Hernandez was ahead of opposition candidate salvador 1. 5 lla a margin of about after a recount of suspicious votes from just over 1000 polling stations. Salvador nasralla and his supporters have charged the vote rating. Th we will have more later in the broadcast. In yemen, the former president saleh was confirmed dead monday after a video posted online by Houthi Rebels showed his lifeless body dumped in the back of a pickup truck. He was killed as battles his ande total between hout salehallied with politicals movement. The political war has brought 7 Million People to the brink of famine and had a massive spanned a massive cholera outbreak. North korea warned monday that u. S. Actions were bringing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of nuclear war. The warning came as the u. S. And south korea held massive war games, mobilizing warships, thousands of troops, and some 200 u. S. Planes many of them capable of deploying nuclear bombs. Earlier this year, north korea said it would freeze its Nuclear Weapons program in exchange for an end to u. S. And south korean war games, an overre rejected by the Trump Administration. The Trump Administration has waived a ban on older cluster bombs, paving the way for the u. S. To expand its use of the weapons, which are banned under a treaty signed by over 100 nations. The weapons scatter socalled bomblets over a wide area, exploding into shrapnel that tears through flesh. Some of the bombs fail to explode, effectively becoming land mines that later maim and kill civilians, especially children. President trump said monday he feels badly for general Michael Flynn, his former National Security adviser, after flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi in a plea deal that could see him testify against trumps inner circle. Trumps comment came as his personal lawyer, john dowd, argued trump could not be found guilty of obstruction of justice one of the possible outcomes of special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. In an interview with the website axios, dowd said the president cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief Law Enforcement officer under under article one and has every right to express his view of any case. Meanwhile, the New York Times is reporting that a highranking member of trumps Transition Team falsely told lawmakers that she was unaware of contacts between Michael Flynn and russias ambassador. The times cited newly discovered emails that show the adviser, k. T. Mcfarland, discussed a december 29 phone call between flynn and ambassador Sergey Kislyak that was intercepted by u. S. Intelligence. In india, toxic smog has once again enveloped new delhi, triggering pollution alerts and threatening the lives of residents with breathing disorders. The u. S. Embassy in new delhi measured finegrain particulate levels at 448 on a 500part scale, nine times the upper safe limit. In southern california, a growing wildfire is threatening homes in the foothills north of los angeles. Ventura county officials have ordered residents of about a 1000 homes to evacuate as Fire Fighters battle a 10,000acre blaze. And a new report finds German Airline pilots are increasingly grounding flights in solidarity with afghan refugees whose applications for asylum have been refused. Germanys government said monday pilots have refused to fly at least 222 flights carrying afghans out of germany, in some, in some cases, delaying their deportations long enough for them to successfully appeal their asylum claims. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and i am one gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. The Supreme Court handed a victory to President Trump on monday by allowing his latest travel ban to go into effect even as legal challenges continue in lower courts. The administration can now fully enforce its new restrictions on travel from eight countries, six of them predominantly muslim. The ruling will bar most citizens of iran, libya, syria, yemen, somalia, chad, and north korea from entering the United States, along with some groups of people from venezuela. The latest version of the travel ban was issued in september, shortly before the Supreme Court was set to hear oral arguments on the previous iteration of the travel ban. Amy last month, the Trump Administration asked the Supreme Court to allow the latest travel ban to take effect, following an Appeals Court ruling that blocked part of it from being enacted. This latest travel ban removed sudan from the original list and added the countries of chad and north korea and some government officials from venezuela. Trump first sought to implement a travel ban a week after taking office in january. To find out more about the implications of the supreme crew ruling Supreme Court ruling, we are joined now by lee gelernt, an aclu attorney who presented the first challenge to President Trumps travel ban order. His argument resulted in a nationwide injunction. Welcome back to democracy now talk about the significance of this. Not going to sugarcoat it. It is unfortunate that the court has allowed the ban to go into effect immediately. It is going to mean a real hardship for people around the country who are seeking to have the relatives come to this country. Were going to keep fighting it. We have a court of appeals argument this friday in richmond. That is going to go forward. We hope we will prevail. With this actively prevail, the government will take the case to the u. S. Supreme court and then we will have to fight in the u. S. Supreme court will stop theres also a parallel case in hawaii that will be argued before the u. S. Court of appeals for the ninth circuit tomorrow. Hopefully, they will prevail as well. We suspect i think we are fairly certain at this point that if we prevail, we will end up in the u. S. Supreme court and the stay ruling is not a great sign for us, but were going to continue fighting. Juan the court did indicate it expected the Appeals Courts to actually judge the merits of the actual band . Absolutely. This was just a temporarily stay ruling. It was just a one paragraph order. He did not discuss the merits. It is just allowing the band to go into effect temporarily while the courts of appeals adjudicate the merits of this case. Two dissented in this. Jeff any idea of the basis . We do not. They did not write an opinion. The majority did not write an opinion. All thing as one paragraph. It is impossible to read into details. We would just tell the court of appeals in richmond on friday, they should decide the case on the merits. That is what the Supreme Court expects them to do. And if we prevail, we expect we will be in the Supreme Court later this year. Amy explain exactly what the ban is. It looks at eight countries, as you said, the majority of the countries are muslim majority countries. It blocks individuals from those countries most individuals from those countries from coming into the United States. What it changes dramatically from the history of our immigration system is no longer are people vetted individually to see if they are Security Risk in allowing over one bling majority people for many country to come in who obviously are not a Security Risk. Weres categorically, going to ban people from those countries. The majority are muslim. We have said all along we believe President Trump was trying to an act of muslim ban. What he did is just talked about countries that happened to be muslim rather than using the and islam or muslim, that is what is going to happen. We have relatives in the u. S. Wives, for allir types of relatives to come in. They may never see them again. Amy what about the issue of family and what the Trump Administration is saying they are born to do about it right now . Are they going to ban them all . Theyre saying the summit can apply for individual waiver. A the criteria is so hard and have not made it clear how you go about getting one of those. That is really no solution. Amy so you go to court on friday . We go to court on friday. Amy take for being with us, lee gelernt aclu attorney who , presented the first challenge to President Trumps travel ban order. His argument resulted in a nationwide injunction. When we come back from break, President Trump makes history. Thats right, he goes to utah to announce he is rolling back federal protections on federal. And this is the greatest rollback in u. S. History. Stay with us. [music break] amy you cant always get what you want by the rolling stones. This song played at President Trumps utah announcement yesterday. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Five native american tribes have joined to file with their calling in stork lawsuit against donald trump. As well as interior secretary ryan zinke, and several other members of the administration. The move comes just hours after trump visited utah monday, where unveiled his plan to open up protected federal lands to mining, logging, drilling and other forms of extraction. The plan calls for shrinking the 1. 3 million acres bears ears monument by more than 80 and split it into two separate areas. Trump would slash the states 1. 9 million acre Grand Staircaseescalante National Monument by 50 . Bears ears National Monument was created in 2016 by thenpresident barack obama. President bill clinton created the Grand Staircaseescalante National Monument in 1996. The National Monuments were designated under the centuryold Antiquities Act, a law meant to protect sacred sites, artifacts and historical objects. Trump criticized the law on monday. Pres. Trump your timeless bond with the outdoors should not be replaced with the whims of regulators thousands and thousands of miles away. They dont know your land. Truly, they dont care for your land like you do. [applause] pres. Trump but from now on, that wont matter. Ive come to utah to take a very historic action to reverse federal overreach and restore the rights of this land to your citizens. [applause] pres. Trump therefore today, on the recommendation of secretary wise counselth a of senator hatch, senator lee, and the many others, i will sign two president ial proclamations. These actions will modify the National Monuments designations of both vulnerable and grandears staircaseescalante. Amy President Trumps announcement follows a monthslong review by the interior department to identify which of 27 monuments designated by past president s should be rescinded or resized. The native American Rights Fund filed the lawsuit on behalf of the navajo nation, pueblo of zuni, and the hopi, ute indian, and ute mountain ute tribes. The five tribes pushed for the creation and comanage the bears ears monument, which they consider sacred. Conservation groups including the Natural Resources defense council, the Wilderness Society , and the sierra club also filed a legal challenge, arguing that trump did not have the authority to dramatically shrink the Grand Staircaseescalante National Monument. For more, we go to two guests. Bob deans is the director of Strategic Engagement at the Natural Resources defense council. Author of reckless the political assault on the american environment and coauthor of the world we create a message of hope for a planet in peril. And on the phone regina , lopezwhiteskunk is a member of the ute mountain ute tribe and former cochair of the bears ears intertribal coalition. We welcome you both to democracy now were going to begin right now with regina lopezwhiteskunk. Can you talk about the significance of this announcement at President Trump actually,y making history, announcing the largest rollback of federal Land Protection in u. S. History. Yes. Thank you for having me on the show this morning. It is rather disturbing considering that this is the first time that a president has rolled back a significant amount. What the landscape means to native americans and all citizens, is it is a representation of public land, which means the public should have access, whether it is native american, whether it is the rock climbers, whether it is the archaeologist or the paleontologist. It is public land. Of our people. Y it has the story of time. It has much more than just the Extraction Industry would like to take from it. Became together, we came together in a sense of healing. We healed our own relationships from within. As soon as we were able to reach that point of being able to move seek a common goal to protection and preservation for our future, then we can move on to try to heal other relationship such as with the federal government. And that is what we did. We achieved so much more than just the land and the protection. We achieved a sense of healing from within. From a very humanistic side of everything. It isnt just about seeking that almighty dollar or being able to fill the homes with such Energy Resources out there. It is about taking care of one another and being good neighbors, being good stewards of the land because that is what our ancestors have told us through the stories that have been left on the walls of the canyons. Juan i wanted to ask you about issident trumps claim this an act to open up the lands for use by the public in the people of utah. When in reality, those lands can be visited by any american right now, right . They can. It here is the reality of that. I opening up although he is saying that in words, when we open up to industry, the extracted industry, they acquire leases and permits. Once these Companies Come out, we dont have access to those. The land becomes contaminated and then there are other environmental threats, threats to something as basic as water. Out here in the west, we dont have a lot of water. These are russians, these are concerns these are questions, these are concerns that everyone talking about. Theyre forgetting about the basic element. Life, water, air, the animals, the people. Amy lets bring bob deans into this discussion. Can you talk about why President Trump has chosen these two protected areas and what this means for parks and protected areas all over the country . Start with bears ears, bob. Thank you so much. If you look at bears ears, this is land that the oil, gas, and wants access to. If you take a look at the map, you see millions huge amount of this property that trump has stripped protections away from is exactly where those resources lie. So that is what this is about. This is about taking nearly 2 million acres of public lands, lands that belong to you and me, amy, and handing it over for toxic pollution in industrial ruin for the sake of profits, oil, uranium, and natural gas. It is wrong. It is illegal. Were going to take him to court. Were going to stand up for these lands and stand with these Indigenous Peoples like regina. Were going to stand up for the rule of law. Juan when you say it is illegal, explain the Antiquities Act. And once a president declares certain lands under the Antiquities Act, can another president and retroactively remove them from protection . Absolutely not. 1906 hasuities act of been used by president s from both parties going back to Teddy Roosevelt to set aside special places across this country. That is why we have the special places. These are public lands, or a public trust set aside in perpetuity for the public interest. And theres not one word in that statute that authorizes a president like donald trump or anyone else to go back and take away those public lands that belong to you and me. That is exactly why we filed our lawsuit, why the Indigenous People have filed theirs, and were going to prevail in court. Amy lets talk about what actually happens now. The announcement was made. What is the chronology of events that will now ensue . We will see what happens in the courts of law. At what has happened in the courts of Public Opinion has already been clear. Donald trump is not listening to the american people. In utah alone, 60 of the people of utah want those monuments protected. That is according to a Colorado College recent polls. 3 million americans went on record with Public Comments asking for these monuments to be protected. And we have heard from the five tribal nations that are comanaging these monuments, by the way, amy, so we can have the wisdom and insights of native peoples devoted to the responsible stewardship of these native lands. Donald trump has swept all of those voices aside so that he can listen to the voices of fossil fuel and uranium industries. It is wrong, illegal, and were going to fight it. Juan regina lopezwhiteskunk, what kind of consultation was involved by the Trump Administration or the interior secretary ryan zinke with the native tribes most involved with these particular monuments . What kind of discussions did you have before hand before the decision was reached . Can speak to the time i served, which was three years this. To we had extensive consultation with the former administration. After i left office in this. People were striving to get the time of the secretary of interior as well as the president , there was very little to none on the side of the coalition side. And just reading through and finding out that the coalition the five tribes had to fight for the one hour that secretary zinke he gave them in salt lake when he came out. That was it. When the hour was done, they were done. And he continued on the rest of his visit to utah, which he was surrounded by a lot of the antimonuments people and the states elected leaders. Calling this a democracy, he is making a mockery of it. Amy i want to turn back to President Trump speaking in utah on monday outside thousands of people protesting. He said the Antiquities Act keeps communitys, critic native americans, from enjoying public lands. Pres. Trump we have seen how this tragic federal overreach prevents many native americans from having the rightful voice over the sacred land where they practice their most important ancestral and religious traditions. With the action im taking today, we will not only give back your voice over the use of this land, we will also restore your access and your enjoyment. Belic lands will once again for public use. Amy bob deans, if you could comment on that and what it means for protected areas around the country. Bears ears was designated by president obama in 2016. Grand staircaseescalante by president clinton back i think it was in 1996. That is correct, amy. No, that is disgraceful and disingenuous speech that the president gave yesterday. The very purpose of declaring these lands monuments is to protect access for the cultural and spiritual needs of Indigenous Peoples and for all of us. You can go there and hunt, fish, hike, camp, kayak maroc climbed, enjoy those spaces as we do our public lands all across this country. What donald trump did was drip away the protections that ensure that access for all of us. These are lands across the country that are now perhaps vulnerable president s were talking about lands that have been set aside so that future generations of america may know the natural splendor of this country the way the First Americans knew it. That is a promise we have made to our children, amy, i promise were going to keep. Juan can you talk about the particular role of senator orrin hatch . Is one of the most powerful members of the senate in this whole debate and decision . We hope orrin hatch will listen to the people of utah. 60 of whom one these monuments protected and not stripped of those protections as the president is doing. Amy bob deans, Natural Resources defense council. Memberlopezwhiteskunk , of the ute mountain ute tribe and former cochair of the bears ears intertribal coalition. When we come back, we go to tegucigalpa, honduras, where history is being made. An election took place over a week ago and the people are in the streets by the tens of thousands, soldiers and police have gone back to their barracks saying they will not enforce thing, president s orders. They will not repress people of honduras. We will find out what is happening. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan we turn now to the political crisis in honduras. On monday night, National Police in the capital tegucigalpa including elite u. S. Trained units refused to impose a nighttime curfew order by the government after days of protests over allegations of fraud in the countrys disputed election for president. This is one of the cobras antiriot squad speaking in a video posted on facebook. This is a message for the violence to end. There is no need for people to be in the streets killing each other for something that politicians can resolve among themselves. We are not acting according to any political ideology. This is our feeling. Most of my colleagues are tired of being in the streets. Our families have been locked at home for more than 15 days. The problem continues every day. The crisis continues. Our call is all of this ends because were not willing to come to the streets and confront the people who are engaged or a press the people. Oh press the people. Juan the move by police comes after at least three people were killed as Honduran Security Forces opened fire on the protests friday night in tegucigalpa. Protest erected last week when the government controlled Electoral Commission stopped telling votes from the november 26 election and after the count showed opposition candidate salvador Salvador Nasralla ahead by more than five percentage points. It now shows that hernandez has pulled up had the pulled ahead votes9. 9 percent of the tallied. They will not announce a winner in order to allow the filing of challenges and appeals. This comes as nationals servers are calling on the wonders Electoral Commission, controlled by president hernandez, to carry out a recount. The organization of american states and the European Union have supported nasrallas demands for a recount. This is marisa matias, head of the European Union mission. The cap has not yet finished. The process is far from over. That is to say there is still some time for the president ial candidate and for the parties to put forward their appeals, the challenges. This should be done by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. Amy this comes as the u. S. Embassy said in a statement that it was pleased honduran election authorities completed the special scrutiny process in a way that maximizes citizen participation and transparency. Meanwhile, here in new york, people rallied in union square in solidarity with those supporting nasralla. My name is carla garcia. I live in new york. Im standing with my honduran community. It does not matter fewer indigenous representatives in the city. We are all facing a fraudulent election where one person is trying to continue ruling with his party, trying to continue governing definitely. And the people are saying no more. We want liberty. That is why i am here. Amy for more, were joined by three guess. Honduras, awardwinning journalist allan nairn as well as Sarah Kinosian. Her latest piece is headlined Honduras Police refuse to obey government as postelection chaos deepens. On capitol hill, were joined by Congress Member jan schakowsky, who represents the ninth district of illinois. Her oped published in the New York Times is headlined the honduran candidate. Thats got to allan nairn. Explain what you watched. Honduras has been in the midst of an uprising of the poor joined by many in the middle class initially, democratic uprising against the government and the oligarchy were trying to impose hernandez is a protege of general kelly for another term. Something extraordinary happened last night where the poor were by bign this revolt chunk of the Security Forces. The police at the cobra headquarters. Unit chargedlite with working on things like counterterrorism, narcotics. For hours upon end, police from all over, from many different units, came streaming into the headquarters to support the rebellion, the uprising. Anymoresal to carry out repression. At one point, according to the police there who i spoke to, it appeared that about 1 5 of the entire National Police force had gathered inside the cobra headquarters. And reports from all over the country showed this happening everywhere else. This was triggered, an important part, by a decision by the u. S. Taken onartment tuesday, the 28th, to certify that honduras was honoring human rights and fighting corruption. Without certification, that greenlighted new u. S. Aid to honduras. Essentially come in effect, give a green light to complete fraud. And also gave the green light for state escalation of what has really become a class war. The 30th, an election technician working inside the Supreme Electoral Tribunal sent a private chat message to a friend of his. And that message, which i saw, read done. Aud has now been juan i would like to bring in representative jan schakowsky. You have been very vocal. Vocal aboutn very the issue of whether president Juan Orlando Hernandez should even be running for reelection and the questions you have raised as well about this vote. Could you talk about that . This is an illegal election according to the laws in honduras. In fact, it was the cause of the coup supposedly in 2009 when just wanted aya referendum to see people wanted to make a change and allow for the reelection of the president. Was to stackz did the Supreme Court and change the rules so that he could run again. And now what were seeing is in order to win the popular election, then it looks like extensive fraud has occurred. It is just remarkable to me that the United States of america has thisnued two days after election, which was under a cloud to begin with, would recertify that taxpayer dollars should go to the military, to the training of the armed forces and the police in honduras. That they are a great ally of the United States, that they have not violated human rights and democracy in honduras. So this is a situation where many of us in congress are saying, we want to see a full recount and we want to see the caceres acterta that says no money is going to go unless we make sure that human rights are acknowledged and not abused in honduras. , you have kinosian been on the streets of tegucigalpa. What are people demanding on the streets right now and the justficance of what allan described . You, too, writing about the police going back to the barracks saying they will not repress the people. Are they calling for a new election . Have gotteni various answers to that. Some people are calling for a new election. But a lot of other people i talk to who said, what is the point of having an election because they were just commit fraud again because the electoral body, the tse, is controlled by the ruling party, the hernandez party. A larger amount of people are calling for the recount of the 5000 votes, but apparently, recounted after particular glitch in which essentially nasrallahe trend of winning. That is probably the biggest account of fraud that people are upset about. Last night called for a recount of the votes from all polling stations. So 18,000. To see what happens. But right now it seems a recount of the 5000 votes is the main issue on the table. Yourend the votes talking about, how do people cast their ballots . Were they paper ballots . Were they on scan machines . How were the votes cast . The way that the way the people tem wors i think that people cast their ballots on paper, but essentially what happens is there is a table at each polling station. There is a sheet that tallies all of the votes from that station. There are different representatives from the parties at each of the tables. And the way it works is each table since in the voting sheet to the electoral body, but then each of the representatives at the table also send their sheet to their party homebase in tegucigalpa. What youre getting is essentially youre having not for a body count and you also have each party that has its own count of these voting sheets that have tabulated all votes at a station. So that is why youre getting discrepancies from what was sent to the electoral body versus what each party says. They can each run their own count from the sheets they theire from representatives at each of the polling stations. Amy allan nairn, as we have Congressmember Jan Schakowsky on, how important on the streets is the u. S. Congress to the people of honduras right now as this election rolls out in the protests against the electoral corruption and a rigged election play out . How much money has gone to honduras and what are people calling for around that . Honduras hasly, been essentially an extension of the u. S. Pentagon and state department. The current regime really dates back to the 1980s when the u. S. Was mounting the contra attack against nicaragua, established military bases in honduras as the point of attack to go after what u. S. General described as soft targets in nicaragua namely, civilians. John never appoint a, a semester to honduras at the time, presided over the stand of of battalion 316, which was essentially an army death squad ofch did mass assassinations clergy come activists, etc. After the 2009 coup, which at the time support from president obama and heller clinton, to death squads made a reappearance. And a year since the 2009 coup, activist in the countryside have been endangered in danger of assassination. Bert aggressors is the most famous, but there been dozens of these. I have talked by now i was a to more than 70 soldiers and police in the past five days. The majority of them have been chain trained in the u. S. Found onetly, i only of all of those i talk to who is a real supporter of hernandez. The army is not allowed to vote. But if you ask them, how did your family back home vote . The overwhelming majority say the roadies the families voted for nasralla. These are troops and members of the police. If that is any indication, gives great credibility to the claim by the nasralla opposition that they indeed would win in an accurate count. The Electoral Commission, the other day, which is controlled by the government, came out and made a statement essentially that echo the logic of the u. S. 2000 bushurt in the versus gore decision were they said essentially would take too long to count the votes accurately. The people arent standing for that. And now the police are refusing as well. Juan if we can, i would like to bring in congresswoman schakowsky once more. Coupentioned the previous against mel zelaya, the conditions in honduras that seem to stand out among other latin american countries and not being able to have free and fair elections. Could you talk about what type of appetite there is among the republicans in congress to join with some of the democrats to take a closer look at what is happening in honduras . The progressive caucus has really taken the lead on this and has been very outspoken. We are concerned about the fact this administration has been such a friend of honduras and has been so welcoming to honduras and the hernandez government. We do need some republican support and republican interest. There is short bandwidth here in the congress right now, not so much focusing on these Critical Issues of democracy in our Central American neighbors. So were going to be working on that. It in the meantime, were really trying to raise this issue up so people understand that people were being murdered in honduras. Not just over the election, but be a journalist, be a human rights defender, be a labor Union Activist and your life is in danger in honduras under this administration. It is true that even in 2009 for about five minutes, the United States set a coup had taken place, in a legal coup. It did not take long for that to be turned around and honduras once again to be an ally of the United States. Narco trafficking, etc. Yet we have this very, very corrupt antidemocratic president right now, and a chance perhaps now with the Police Taking a different stance, to help restore true democracy in honduras. Amy Congress Member schakowsky, reuters is reporting the state department certify the honduran government has been fighting corruption and supporting human rights and the clearing the way for honduras to receive millions of dollars in u. S. Aid. They saw a document dated november 28 that showed secretary of state tillerson certified honduras for the assistance two days after the controversial president ial election that has been claimed by an ally of Juan Orlando Hernandez of washington. The significance of this . Will you be allowing this to move forward . And this issue of the continued military support for honduras . We are clearly against when i say we those of us who are cosponsoring the legislation for human rights in honduras and our demands are that we do not continue funding until there is some evidence that there is to the humannd rights violations. Were put money into the military in honduras, into the police as well, into their training. The elite forces have been trained in the United States of america. How dare the secretary and doors honduras and continued funding two days after endorse honduras and continue funding two days after. Were in great protest of what is happening. We have been involved in this for a long time in the murder of the highest profile human rights and Indigenous People, activists berta caceres. Were going to continue the fight and say no, this is not a great guy as john kelly calls him. This is someone who is trying to escalate collapsed democracy and take over that country in a very autocratic way. Juan im wondering, Sarah Kinosian, can you talk about the opposition . This was an alliance of Political Parties to the current president that are backing nasralla. Can you talk about that coalition . Yeah. In the simplest form, salvador , thella has had a Party Anticorruption party. He has paired with mel zelaya of the liberte party. Together. D what i am hearing is that alliance, while it did give Salvador Nasralla the support he needed to get this far with this support, it also presented problems because a lot of people are not distinguishing between nasralla and mel zelaya. So what you will hear from a lot of hernandez supporters is, one, we are going to have either orlando, theyre one a try to stay in power because of 2009. Or you hear this repeated line that the hernandez government is really trying to push out. Zelaya has allied with venezuela. You like concern a lot. If nasralla whence, thenmel zelaya will really be in power and we will end up like venezuela. Amy what to expect to see on the streets today as yours begin with people . Theell, it is possible Security Forces will spread. On sunday afternoon and sunday night, i spoke to many soldiers. A number of them were suggesting that they might defy orders. I found it hard to believe at the time. In his street rally on sunday, nasralla made a direct call to the Security Forces, to refuse continued repression, to lay down their arms. Of reminiscent amy we have 15 seconds. We will see how the army reacts. I think more people will take to the streets. This is in the hands of the u. S. Not if the u. S. Tells a Salvadoran Army to cut it out, tell hernandez to allow an honest count, they will comply because their alliance is with washington. Discussed are ugly back to the white house, general kelly as representative schakowsky said. It is in kellys hands. Amy we have to leave it there. ,llan nairn and Sarah Kinosian and jan schakowsky. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] its my street food superstar supreme sandwich, shawarma, lebanese style announcer julie taboulies is made possible by. Do your thing, man do your thing syracuse, do your thing do your thing, do your thing syracuse, do your thing