Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20240622

Amy 10 years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast, killing 1800 people, forcing over one million to evacuate. As president obama heads to new orleans, we will speak with local activist and attorneys still fighting to rebuild the city. But first, to guatemala. There is an uprising. Today there is a National Strike , a mass demonstration calling for the followed president perez molina. If it develops, you can leave to the fall of the army and oligarchy and the system of hunger. The u. S. Is try to stop that, the oligarchy is, but no one knows if they will succeed. Amy a general strike has been called in guatemala two days after the Supreme Court approved a request by the countrys attorney general to impeach president Otto Perez Molina in a Corruption Scandal. The matter is now in the hands of the guatemalan congress. We will speak with journalist allan nairn. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In virginia, vigils have been held for two journalists who were fatally shot on Live Television during the morning broadcast wednesday of the local news station wdbj. 24yearold broadcast journalist Alison Parker and 27yearold cameraman adam ward died after suspected gunman Vester Flanagan opened fire. Flanagan was a former journalist at the station, who was fired two years ago. He also went by the name bryce williams. After the shooting, he faxed a 23page letter to local abc station saying ive been a human powder keg for a while. Just waiting to go boom. Flanagan is africanamerican. The letter cited racial and severalt wdbj other stations. The letter also said troll sin shooting was the Tipping Point and he a put down a deposit for a gun two days after the charleston massacre. Police say vesters Vester Flanagan shot himself as they closed in on his car on the virginia parkway. He died in the hospital soon after. President obama democratic , president ial candidate Hillary Clinton and other politicians , called for increased gun control in the wake of the shooting. Meanwhile, retail giant walmart has announced it will not longer sell assault rifles in its stores, although it will continue to sell shotguns. The move, confirmed wednesday, will end the sale of sporting rifles, which are similar to the militarys ar15 assault rifle. Walmart said the decision was not impacted by gun politics. Univision news anchor jorge ramos has spoken out about being removed from republican president ial candidate Donald Trumps press conference after he attempted to ask the tuesday candidate how he would deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. In an interview with megyn kelly of fox news, ramos, known as the Walter Cronkite of latino america, said he is still waiting for an answer to his question. I have been a journalist for 30 years and i have never been ejected from any press conference anywhere in the world. Those are the things you see in dictatorships, not in the United States of america. And it is very important that he answers the question. He has an answer the questions on, how is he going to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants from this country . Would it require the army . Is he going to put thousands of immigrants in stadiums and then use buses and airplanes to deport them . That is not the United States that i know. And he has to answer those questions. Amy meanwhile, ricky martin has blasted donald trump, writing the fact that an individual like donald trump, a candidate for the presidency of the United States for the republican party, has the audacity to continue to gratuitously harass the Latin Community makes my blood boil. Xenophobia as a political strategy is the lowest you can go in search of political power, he wrote for univision. In guatemala, a judge has ordered that former Vice President Roxana Baldetti has must remain in prison while her corruption trial takes place. The ruling comes on the heels of the guatemalan Supreme Courts decision tuesday to approve the impeachment of president Otto Perez Molina, passing the recommendation along to congress. A general strike has been called for today. Well have more on guatemala with allan nairn after headlines. Meanwhile, in neighboring honduras, protesters demanding the resignation of president Juan Orlando Hernandez flooded into the streets wednesday as a 200 million Corruption Scandal continues to rock the country. In news from yemen, saudi Ground Troops have crossed into northern yemen. The ground offensive comes after months of u. S. Backed, saudiled airstrikes. The ongoing fighting between Houthi Rebels and progovernment forces backed by the Saudiled Coalition has killed at least 4000 people and sparked a humanitarian crisis. Saudi arabia has denied previous reports that it deployed special operations Ground Troops to yemen earlier this spring. In china, 12 people have been arrested following a series of explosions that killed 139 people at a chemical Storage Facility in the port city of tianjin 10 days ago. The chairman and senior managers of the company that owned the Storage Facility are among those arrested. At least 500 people remain in the hospital with injuries associated with the blasts. In south sudan, president salva kiir has signed a peace deal with rebel leader riek manchar that seeks to end the countrys civil war, although the president expressed reservations. Under the deal manchar will , return to his position as Vice President. The fighting erupted in 2013 and has claimed tens of thousands of lives. In news from europe, as many as 50 people fleeing violence in their home countries have been found dead in a parked truck in eastern austria. It appears that they suffocated during their trip north in efforts to seek asylum in Northern European countries. A federal judge has temporarily shut down executions in mississippi after he blocked the state from using the drugs pentobarbital and midazolam during executions. Prisoners say the use of these sedatives as part of a drug cocktail risks inducing excruciating pain and torture during the execution, a violation of the 8th amendment. The Mississippi Department of corrections is appealing the ruling. And civil rights activist Amelia Boynton robinson died wednesday at the age of 104. In 1965, she was beaten unconscious as she attempted to cross selmas Edmund Pettus bridge on what became known as bloody sunday. She was a lifelong activist for voting rights. President obama praised her wednesday saying for most of her 104 years, amelia committed herself to a simple, american principle that everybody deserves the right to vote. In march, democracy now interviewed Amelia Boynton robinson at the 50th anniversary of bloody sunday. What gave you the courage that day to face the state my mother was a civil rights. Ctivist back when i was born and i worked with her at 11 years old. I worked with her when women suffrage came a reality. Correction to our top headline, wednesday shooting in virginia took place in the city of roanoke, not raleigh. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Guatemala, a judge has ordered the former president must remain in prison while her corruption trial takes place. The ruling comes on the heels of the guatemalan Supreme Courts decision tuesday to lift the immunity from prosecution for president Otto Perez Molina, clearing the way for his impeachment. The court has the recommendation along to congress. This is a spokesperson for the guatemalan Supreme Court. Today come also from court judges met for an extraordinary session regarding a request for the impeachment of president Otto Perez Molina. Because of this, they met with the head magistrate of the Second Chamber of the criminal appeals. They then studied the case and after the respective analysis, they established there exists the possibility of transferring the case to the Republics Congress. Consequently, the request has been passed on to the Republics Congress for its resolution. Amy a general strike has been called in guatemala for thursday. Well, for more, were joined now by allan nairn, longtime journalist who has covered guatemala since the 1980s. Allan nairn, welcome to democracy now can you talk about what is engulfing guatemala today, the significance of what is happening to the president , the general strike that is called for today . Well, it is an uprising and it could lead to the fall of perez molina. There are calling for a general strike, mass demonstrations today. The issue is corruption. But if the movement develops further, if it spreads more fully to the mayan heartland of the country, than the issue could move from corruption to justice because the reason the guatemalan elite, like General Perez molina and Vice President baldetti a been able to loot the treasury to the tune of more than 100 million, been able to steal for themselves cash which was used for cars, plantations, villas, airplanes, helicopters, was because they took in a maintain themselves in power through mass murder. Perez molina was a commander in the Northwest Highlands during the 1980s. He personally helped implement the rios mont program of mass murder, effectively, genocide, against the mayan population. What the guatemalan system has been built on. So if this uprising spreads, if it becomes an even broader, deeper movement, and you move from the question of corruption to the question of justice for mass murder, that can only be resolved by implicating not just perez molina personally, but also the Guatemalan Army as a whole institution. Also the u. S. Government, which is armed, trained, financed that army, backed program of slaughter, which the american cia had perez molina on the payroll when he was head of the intelligence unit. It also cannot be result without implicating the association of the oligarchy, which backed the army during the slaughter. And which individually, ran its own death squads. The young men would go through what was kind of a ritual of bloodying their own hands and if there was a Union Organizing drive at their fathers factory of some of the boys, they would get together and go out and kill the unionists. And those young men who did that in the 1980s are now in their 50s and 60s. And their leaders of the guatemalan are good oligarchy. The last thing they want to see is a true investigation and bringing to justice the. Erpetrators that is the last thing washington wants to see. And the situation is basically out of control right now. The u. S. Is trying to prop up perez molina, trying to keep them in office. Try to coopt and wind down the movement, the demonstrations, but no one knows if they will succeed. And no one knows where this will lead. And it could lead to fundamental change in guatemala. There is already talk of postponing the elections, which are due september 6, of rewriting the elect oral law, rewriting the constitution. Is the question whether popular power prevails or whether disabled perpetrators continue to run the country, and no one knows what will happen. Amy i want to go back to 1982 when you interviewed Otto Perez Molina in the area of guatemala during the height of the massacres targeting indigenous communities. At the time, Otto Perez Molina was known as tito. This is part of your exchange. Amy allan nairn, your speaking to Otto Perez Molina. Can you explain what it is he said and who you understood he was at the time . He was using an alias major tito, the commander working out of the town of the zone where he was implementing the rios mont program at massacre. The soldiers below him described in detail how they would go into villages, strangle people, make them dig their own mass graves, bomb their houses. Me inmolina was telling that clip about the helicopters they had and were hoping to get more from the United States, which they used to attack the villages. The u. S. And in armed that group of slaughter. After the highlands, he rose to become general, head of the military intelligence unit, which did disappearances, torture, even had thrown crematorium and the town in a town. The american cia gave funds to perez molina, laced north american cia operatives inside the group is those atrocities were being carried out. And the u. S. Was fully behind us. Now there is fear in washington. Fear among the oligarchs that this whole pandoras box could be opened to guess the people are in the streets. Now the people are in the streets talking about the corruption but if they start more intensively, talking about the blood, if they follow that trail of blood, it leads directly back to washington and lees bakley back to the oligarchs who own guatemala. Amy when youre talking about the oligarchy, what does it stand for . Who are they, actually . Is it equivalent in the United States to the u. S. Chamber of commerce . It is much stronger than the u. S. Chamber of commerce. It would be as if all of the u. S. Billionaires, all of u. S. Corporations came together in one entity and usually spoke with a single voice. For example, after the rios mont genocide trial in which he was in it next ordinary achievement i think our World Historic civilization breakthrough, roger trial its own form of dictator, convicted him of genocide, sentenced him to 80 years. The leaders of the oligarchs stood up and demanded on national tv in a press conference that the verdict be an old. They were given orders to a court. The high court of guatemala come as easily do, responded to the bidding and an old the verdict. Now the rios mont trial is being renewed, due to start again in january. This is an oligarchy in guatemala which kills its own unionists, kills peasants who try to work and i the plantations, which works hand in glove with washington and is now trying to hold onto their power because for the first time, it is under threat. This is a historic moment. It began in 1954 when the cia invaded guatemala, overthrew democratically elected government, and put the army in power. Risen. The people have amy we are talking to allan nairn, journalist and activist who has covered guatemala for decades. Mont, the trial for rios mont, it is in the midst of happening now, is that right . We were just looking at images of rios mont laid out on a gurney. Explain who he was in the 1980s, his relationship with the Us Government at the time it was ronald reagan, is that right . Reels mont was a dictator who seized power in a coup. He sent his army sweeping through the my Northwest Highlands. Rios mont told me that for everyone who is shooting, referring to guerrilla insurgents, there were 10 working behind them. Meaning 10 civilians. He considered the civilians who had any feelings of opposition to the rich, to the army, to the government as legitimate targets for extermination. And that is what they did and what he did with the help of field officers like Otto Perez Molina. After he fell, i interviewed rios mont again. I said to him, well, general, youre a big proponent of the death penalty. Do you think that you should be executed for your role in the slaughter of the mayan population . When i asked him that question, reels mont jumped to his feet and shouted and this is his stellar speaking he said, yes, put me on trial, put me against the wall, execute me. But if youre going to try me, you also have to try the americans, Clinton Ronald reagan. And he had a point. Yet the full support of u. S. Reagan personally embraced rios mont, said he was getting a bum rap on human rights and did everything he could to overcome resistance in the u. S. Congress to send weapons, arms, and training and theres a covert relationship through which the cia sponsored one generation after another of g2 assassins. In the g2 leaders, like perez molina and others, also received funds from the cia. Guatemala has been one of the key projects of washington for decades. One of the countries in the world most under the influence and defensernment establishment and corporations, and also i think not unrelated, one of the hungriest countries in the world. They have one of the highest malnutrition in america. The explication, as gross as it can get. That is why so many guatemalans are flooding into america as immigrants looking for work. And now possibly facing the prospect of expulsion at the hands of people like donald trump. But now the system is coming under challenge from people on the ground in guatemala, but no one knows how far it will go. The oligarchs and washington are tried to implement a smooth one militaryere man, one oligarchs is replaced by another, nothing but basic changes. But this could get out of control. And it could lead to a rewriting of the constitution of the electoral law and perhaps beginnings of a popular government like we see in parts of south america that starts doing some kind of work for basic justice, for basic redistribution of wealth, making it possible for workers in the fields who break their backs trying to support their families, making a possible for them to get enough to feed the kids, to give them some education, to get some health care. The New York Times has president perez molina is refusing to heed the calls for his resignation, even as the Business Establishment and many politicians have turned on him. Of course he deserves his day in court, but right now hes only delaying the inevitable, meaning quite likely a prison sentence along with one for former president Roxana Baldetti. It was in a powerful message to those who aspire to be governed by honest leaders and should be studied and possibly immolated in neighboring countries for justice is still too often administered arbitrarily or not at all. That from the New York Times today. Thate neighboring country needs justice is the United States. The u. S. Is not yet reached a level of civilization of guatemala. Guatemala to their own former head of state, their own former dictator rios on troubling convicted him of genocide. When i was in the courtroom as the verdict was being read, i youtrying to imagine if could be standing in a court in texas and hearing a guilty verdict being read out against george w. Bush for the civilians he killed during the invasion of iraq or in a court in illinois during a guilty verdict being read out against president barack obama for the civilians he killed with his drone strikes. I did not have enough imagination to reach that point. It is inconceivable in the u. S. Now. But guatemala has done that will p now theyre going out after the sitting president for corruption. This is being down with the Main Initiative of the special Prosecutors Office that was created as a result of agitation by human rights activists in guatemala who succeeded in getting a special statute implemented. The special prosecutor is backed by the United Nations and the Attorney Generals Office of guatemala has gone along with them, and now they have arrested the sitting Vice President. They are seeking to arrest the sitting president for corruption. But again, the question is, if the movement spreads broadly enough, if it reaches the mayan heartland, if people come into the streets and are not intimidated and start to demand justice for the years of mass murder, the ongoing economic exploitation at the hands of local oligarchs but also Foreign Corporations who they brought in, now there is mass looting of the mineral wealth of guatemala by american and especially Canadian Mining Companies and activists who protested against that have been murdered this could all face change now if the inement goes far enough washington and the rich are desperately trying to stop it. Amy allan nairn, thank you for being with us, journalist and activist come along covered guatemala. We will link your many articles on the Central American country. When we come back, it is 10 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast. We will go to new orleans. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. President barack obama is heading back to new orleans to mark the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 storm that devastated the gulf coast killing more than 1800 , people and forced more than 1 Million People to evacuate. According to excerpts of his remarks released by the white house, obama will say what started out as a Natural Disaster became a manmade one, a failure of government to look out for its own citizens. We spend the rest of the hour looking back at Hurricane Katrina and looking at where new orleans is today. Later in the broadcast, we will speak to malik rahim, founder of Common Ground relief as well as the civil rights attorneys tracie washington and bill quigley. But first, i want to turn back to some of our coverage of katrina from 10 years ago. It begins with then new orleans mayor ray nagin. Ladies and gentlemen, i wish i had better news for you, but we are facing a storm that most of us have feared. Every person is hereby ordered to immediately evacuate the city of new orleans or, if no other alternative is available, to immediately move to one of the city that within the will be designated as a refuge of last resort. Amy new orleans and the Gulf Coast Region remain in a state of catastrophe following the devastating Hurricane Katrina. Isleast 80 of new orleans underwater. The city has not electricity and little drinkable water. Officials say new orleans will be uninhabitable for weeks. On tuesday, two levees broke, flooding areas of the city that appeared to have survived the storm. This is a national disaster. Line toy doggone bus new orleans. They are thinking small. This is a major, major, major deal. Talking about tens of thousands of people who are left behind, and those are the sickest, the oldest, poorest, the youngest, the people with disabilities and the like and the plan was that everybody should leave. Well, you cant leave if youre in a hospital. She cant leave if youre a nurse or a patient in a nursing home or you dont have a car. There are throngs of people easily in the tens of thousands, maybe 40,000, 50,000 people in my estimation standing on the plaza trying to get to a very narrow area where there being escorted to the buses. I have not seen one bus leave yet. People just walking past us. Water, no, no nothing. Whatever we have, we have been taking. That is the only way we can survive. Right here. Right here, look. They wont give us nothing. Nothing. Look. It is not about low income. It is not about rich people, poor people. It is about people. Nobody wants to hurt anybody in the city. Nobody wants to hurt these people that have these businesses. A little water for god sakes, thats it. Nobody in charge. There is nobody. Somebody needs to come take charge and put organization and get these people to safety, to get them clothes, the basics, things they need to live from day to day. People being killed out here. Bodies lying out in the streets. Shooting each other. One of my neighbors, a military guy shot at him. That made me not want to come down here. Amy federal relief officials have played on the snow role. Michael brown admitted his agency did not even know that thousands of hungry refugees were inside the Convention Center. Residents continue to break into stores in search of everything from food and water to guns to luxury items. Nobody here but us, and we decided to look at for one another. All your politicians, they want to get on tv. We aint seen nothing. Amy the white house announced it would have zero tolerance for looters. Even for those taking essential items needed to stay alive. I want zerotolerance for that kind of language being used by leaders of our government to discuss poor people, poor black people who are trying to survive under the most desperate, insane circumstances. I want zerotolerance for thousands of our troops being sent to iraq when we need them here. They portray is in the media, you see a black family, says they are looting. You see a white family, says theyre looking for food. George bush doesnt care about black people. Biloxi, mississippi, the First Federal aid arrived only yesterday. Three full days after the storm wiped out entire sections of the city. In smaller towns in mississippi, help has still not arrived. We came back monday night hoping we could help some people because them dont know, looking at the response to the storm, particularly initially, there wasnt a lot of outside help so we decided it was up to the people to take the parish back. What i saw from the federal government was a grand total of three boats, Border Patrol agents on three boats, two airboat and one flat bottom boat. I saw far more of a response from citizens who adjust taken upon themselves to go and pluck people out of their homes. There hasnt been no government response. Everything that has taken place has been by volunteers and citizens in the area. Thenflatable boats in water, working a grid, making sure these people are out of here. Just volunteers. That is the only people you see around. Director mike brown is in charge of all federal response and Recovery Efforts in the field. Youre doing a heck of a job. Nancy pelosi has called for your resignation. Im wondering if you have a response . The president is in charge of that, not me. At the top, michael brown, he was the commissioner of judges at the International Arabian horse association, to give you an idea of what he did there, he spent a year investigating whether a breeder performed liposuction on a horses rearended. This is not attempt by some in his room to engage it figure pointing a blame game, and im just not going to do that. Andve made it very clear the president spoke about him last week and his comments stand, in terms of what he talked about the great work theyve been doing aroundtheclock 20 for hours a day to help people on the ground. Amy that was the former spokesperson for george w. Bush scott mcclellan. Experts excerpts of democracy now katrina 10 years ago. Gulftorm devastated the coast, forcing more than one Million People to evacuate. 10 years later, new orleans has become a different city. The population is about about 385,000, 80 of its prekatrina population. The number of africanamericans has plunged by nearly 100,000 since the storm. According to the urban league, income gap between black and white residents has increased by 37 since 2005. In 2013, the Median Income for africanamerican households in new orleans was 25,000, compared to over 60,000 for white households. Thousands of homes, many in africanamerican neighborhoods, remain abandoned. Were joined now by two attorneys who file for the poor, elderly, displaced who have yet to find their way back to the crescent city. Tracie washington is a civil rights attorney and is the founder and president of the louisiana justice institute, which works with impoverished communities and communities of color. Bill quigley is a professor and director of the stuart h. Smith law clinic and center for social justice and the Gillis Long Poverty Law Center at loyola university. He led the fight for residents of new orleans Public Housing when activists attempted to occupy a building to prevent its demolition. We welcome you both to democracy now bill, i want to start with you. We talked to you just after katrina hit 10 years ago, you were trapped at Memorial Hospital tenet with your wife, who is a nurse, and many hundreds of patients. I want to go back to part of what you had to say on that day. Courts who is left behind right now, tens of thousands of people who are left behind and those are the sickest, the oldest, poorest, the youngest, the people with disabilities and the like. And the plan was that everybody should leave. Well, you cant leave if youre in a hospital, if you are a nurse, if youre a patient, cant leave if youre in a nursing home or you dont have a car. There is no plan for that. Youre talking about somewhere in the neighborhood i think of one of the thousand people probably in the metropolitan new orleans area. 10ago that was bill quigley years ago. Talk about that day 10 years ago and where your city, new orleans, is today. First, i think it is important to recognize that democracy now was really the first voice of the people who were left behind, those of us who were trapped back in new orleans. As you noted, there were Nursing Homes full of people, a lot of deaths in this Nursing Homes. Hospitals full of people, lots of deaths in those hospitals. The jail was full. 7000 or so prisoners without electricity, water, everything people stranded on house tops, etc. , etc. We heard the mayor say, mandatory evacuation, but there were no buses or trains or anything like that. The disaster that befell the people who were left behind, i think, was obvious to most people who could watch tv. And for shy, i was in the hospital and did not have electricity, so i did not get to see it. All my friends and family sought. Whos important to recognize was left behind in years ago because in fact, the same people have been left behind in the 10 years of the recovery. There has been a recovery of new orleans. It just has been some parts of the city and some people in the city who have recovered. The tourist community has recovered to some extent, and recently want people to come and visit new orleans. It is safe. The hotel is up the hotels and restaurants are up. 100,000 of our sisters and brothers and africanamerican amenities have never made it back. And of the people who have made it back, many of them are economically worse off than they were beforehand. Units, good, solid units of Public Housing that were bulldozed as a social experiment, part of the ongoing social experience to get the government out of the area of housing. Privatize our Public Housing and health care. With a big surety Health Care Hospital system that has been broken down into lots of parts, lots of which are under private management. And we have been privatized in terms of our entire Public Education system. 7000 mostly africanamerican, but mixed as well, 7000 teachers, administrators, teachers aides, cafeteria workers and the like who were fired, just like the 5000 families who are in Public Housing and said, we dont want you back, dont want you to come back to do your job in Public Education. The recovery we have had in the last 10 years, there has been recovery primarily in the white community, primarily in the higher economic areas, primarily among homeowners not all but the people left out were renters, the disabled, the elderly, children. We have thousands and thousands of fewer children in the community. We have thousands less of older folks. I dont is a Senior Citizens, because i am a Senior Citizen myself. Been a tale ofs two cities. We have a lot of work to do. Were fighting is a community over the story of who has recovered and who hasnt. Amy i want to go back to august 2010, when president obama spoke at Xavier University in new orleans to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. This is part of what he had to say. I dont have to tell you there are still too many vacant and overgrown lots. There are still too money students attending classes in trailers. There are still too many people unable to find work. And there are still too many new orleans, folks who havent been able to come home. So while in a credible amount of progress has been made and credible amount of progress has been made, on this fifth anniversary i wanted to come and tell the people of this city directly, my administration is going to stand with you and fight alongside you until the job is done. Until new orleans is all the way back. All the way. Amy after president obama spoke in 2010, by the way, he is there a new orleans today as well and will be speaking, we interviewed our next guest, civil rights attorney tracie washington for a response. , and part of the speech by president obama, while on the one hand is encouraging, on the other hand, is also frustrating to me. We heard a promise from the government five years ago that we were supposed to be able to recover. We continue to hear promises that have been broken. When you continue to make these promises, federal government, at this five years, i want you to put in Accountability Measures so that we dont have the theft and graft, people rich in manhattan and long beach and are still suffering in new orleans because of disaster profiteers. That you ensure that our folks here in louisiana, state and locally, make sure that the people who were directly victimized by inaction, by the failure of the army corps of engineers to protect us, now get remedy. And finally, that those folks who are still stuck in the diaspora, who are almost every zip code in the United States of america, are truly guaranteed the right and given free passage back to new orleans. Because remember, we gave them a oneway ticket out. We need to make sure folks not only are welcome back, but given a plane ride back to me given a bus ride back, and ensure they have housing when they get back here. That is my impression. That is my frustration five years from now i see this, i will continue to work because this is my home and i love this city, but lets not put the Mission Accomplished banner out now because we have a lot more work to do. Amy that was tracie washington five years ago and president. Bama came to town it is now 10 years after Hurricane Katrina. Tracie washington, what is your assessment . What say ye today . Good morning, amy, thank you for inviting me on this show. Before we were on air excuse me. I joked with bill that maybe we should all have these shirts that have Mission Accomplished and the ghost buster circle with the x inside of it. The mission has that been accomplished to much satisfaction to my satisfaction, not to those who are still 100,000 in the diaspora. Look, at this point, 10 years down the road, i think its all most cynical to go to atlanta and go to houston and say, well, come on back, we want you back now. Still offering no free passage, still saying to those folks that, you know, you can come back but come back on your own. The 71 billion the government put into new orleans for recovery has a ready been spent. We have recovery, yes, but the recovery that was promised should have been guaranteed, and there is no guarantee to recovery, number one. A number two, the recovery that was promised was supposed to be equitable, not equal. Those people that had cars, we knew they were going to get more cars. Those who had American Express cards, youre going to have another American Express card. But what president bush said was he acknowledged that in a city of new orleans we had poverty that should not have been here. That we had Economic Growth and develop meant that wasnt reaching a whole segment of our community. And he said when we rebuild, were going to rebuild the streets and these communities better so that everyone can take part. That doesnt mean equal, that means you start with rebuilding that says, im going to have to give certain communities more. That is equitable recovery. We didnt get it. And that is why, amy, the rich have gotten richer. And that is why the French Quarter looks better and smells better than it ever did. That is why the sliver by the river has recovered, but not the lower ninth ward. Venetian isles. That is what equable equitable recovery supposed to look like. Amy that is where president thea is going today, lower ninth ward. The recent rating was done of 300 American Cities around economic inequality. New orleans is number two after atlanta on the economic inequality rating. What would you say to president obama today . Will you actually see him . I. S. Supposed to be there along with a whole lot of i am supposed to be there along with a whole lot of other people. I hope to see him. I would say, number one, no Mission Accomplished. Youre right five years ago, dont come here today and say Mission Accomplished. Because while youre at a beautifully rebuilt sanchez center, if you go three blocks in from claiborne avenue, you will see our mission is far from accomplished. The lots are overgrown in many instances the lots are not overgrown in many instances, theyre just bulldozed over. Thetill need the rebuild, equitable recovery. Again, it is about accountability. It is about accountability. From now when we do this on the 25th anniversary, we need to be able to go back and say, president bush, you know, president obama, you failed us. And whoever is in government at that time needs to be able to accept that. I am still here. I am still hopeful that we wont be in that situation. But, amy, i dont want him to come here and say to that community in the lower ninth ward, hercules is all done, great. Amy tracie washington, bill quigley, thank you. Tracie washington is a civil rights attorney, founder and president of the louisiana justice institute, and a new orleans native. Bill quigley is a professor and director of the stuart h. Smith law clinic and center for social justice and the Gillis Long Poverty Law Center at loyola university. When we come back, malik rahim. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. As we continue our coverage of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. In a moment, well be joined by malik rahim, cofounder of the Common Ground collective, which helped bring thousands of people from all over the world to help rebuild new orleans after the storm. But first, i want to rebroadcast a part of maliks interview on democracy now , just days after katrina hit in 2005. When we went down to new orleans and the neighborhood of algiers, malik took us around the corner to a Community Health center, a multiservice center, and he showed us how a courts still remained in the street unattended. Lets go back to that day. A sickly, you can smell it from right here. Basically, you can smell it from right here. They go by a look at it, but they are not going to do nothing to pick it up. Amy he walked us down the driveway next to the Health Center and lifted up a sheet of corrugated metal marked with an x, revealing the dead body underneath. His body been here for almost two weeks. Two weeks tomorrow. That this mans body has been laying here. And theres no reason for it. Look where we are at. It is not flooded. There is no reason for them to be left that body right here like this. I mean, totally disrespect. I mean, two weeks. Every day we ask them about coming to pick it up. And they refuse to come and pick it up. You can see it is literally decomposing right here. Right out in the sun. Every day we sit up and we asked them about a because, i mean, this is as close as you can get to tropical climate in america. And they wont do anything with it. Amy malik, do you know who this person is . No. But regardless of who it is, i would not care if it was Saddam Hussein or bin laden, nobody deserves to be left here. And the kids pass by here and they are saying it. The elderly. This frightens a lot of people into leaving. We dont know if he is a victim of vigilantes or what. All we know is his body has been allowed to remain out here for over two weeks. Amy were standing outside the health clinic. The doors are chained, the building is not sears lee damaged. Have you reached people there . What authorities have you talk to to pick up this body . Everyone from the army to the new Orleans Police to the state troopers to, i mean, we done talked to everybody who we can. I even talked to oliver thomas, councilman, about this body. He said he was surprised to see the body is still left. But it is two weeks. Two weeks that this man ben ling here. Amy as malik rahim was speaking, as if on cue, every level of authority he mentioned drove by. Theres a dead body right here. Who are you with . Bravo 15. Amy army . Yes. Amy there is a dead body right here. Can you guys kick it up . Pick itt think we can up, but we can call the local authorities to come pick it up. Amy this gentle and who lives in the neighborhood said they have been trying to get let me ask these guys, too. Excuse me. Hi. Theres a dead body right here. Can Louisiana State troopers, can you pick it up . Cooks you need to talk to our Public Information officer, maam. Amy it is been year for two weeks. A gentleman says he is been trying to get it picked up for two weeks. Louisiana state troopers, the police, the army, no one has responded. Where looking at it right there. You need to talk to our Public Information officer. An ecoand your name is . You need to talk to our Public Information officer. Amy do you know about the body . You need to talk to our Public Information officer. Amy you need to talk with our amy do you know about the body . Do you know what they need to do to get removed . I dont know. There been several people over looking at it. Amy that was Homeland Security that just went by. Several people have been looking at it, but im not seen anybody take it. Amy army . Army and police. Shameless is looking at it. That is about it. Part of ours coverage 10 years ago after Hurricane Katrina. The last bigger, robert gonzalez, was with the Army National guard. One of the many Different Levels f authority that had drove by. The body of been there for 13 days. For more, we go back to new orleans, louisiana, joined by malik rahim, one of the founders of the louisiana chapter of the black panther party. Talk about what happened to that body and also what has happened to your city, new orleans, and this past 10 years. All, it is an honor to be on your show once again. Body, ipened to the would say the next day after it was viewed on democracy now , they picked him up. They picked up that one. And other bodies that was laid out in algiers. All of a sudden, it is like you had waived a magic wand. The tragedy of katrina over the 10 years, new orleans is still two cities. If you white or if you part of that privileged black class or free people of color class, then , i mean, its recovered. And part ofre poor that african or marin class, then it is like the hurricane just happened last year. Ofht now we in the midst some of the most violent times in the history of this city. And it is only because of the 10, that eightyearold, that six ural child, that 12yearold child that was in the Convention Center and abandoned in the 22, 16,e, now there are full of rage because we did not have trauma counselors there with them through this. We have unemployment over 50 . And the ones who are blessed disparity ofhe wages is that they make three times less than they white counterpart. Public housing is no more. They displaced everyone. The only legal Opportunity Employer the only eagle Opportunity Employer is the drug deal. And now weve been in the midst of a drug war. Just intails of it is the last two days, there has been may be six shootings. Fact our by the administration and im talking about on all levels the realo address pertinent issues of the aftermath of katrina as the reason why we are in this dilemma now. Amy i want to ask your question. In an Editorial Board resell he wrote a piece about chicagos financial crisis. Titled in chicago, wishing for Hurricane Katrina. She writes i find wishing for storm in chicago and applicable haughty devastating for the fury, dramatic levee break him a geysers bursting through manhole covers, sleeping city forced onto rooftops. She later apologized for sending the entire city of new orleans and beyond. Your response and this last minute that we have with you . Was totallyt disrespectful for a person to say that because, as an africanamerican, more of my in thewas killed aftermath of katrina than at any time in the history of this nation. Never at one time have we lost over 1000 lives. And we lost almost 1200 just in the lower ninth ward. So i feel offended will step amy and what would you say to president obama today as he makes his way to the lower ninth ward of new orleans . I would not know what to tell him because of the fact our people have seen over six years of president Obama Administration and nothing has changed. Amy but they are hailing new orleans as a great victory, remarkable trajectory of progress. Yeah, again, that is among that white and that privileged class. n2x2x2c2c2c2c2c2c2z2c2z2z2z2c2yo russel i knew what katrina did here was the result of a Natural Disaster. What i saw out there was a manmade disaster. Toya katrina gave, uh, the government ammunition to tear down something that they had been planning for years and years to get rid of, which is public