Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20170926

At athletes who joined the protest against racial injustice. It took the president five full days to respond on twitter comment that appeared to blame puerto rico for its own misfortune. We will look at the urgent situation on the island and speak with Yarimar Bonilla, puerto rican scholar who wrote in the Washington Post why would anyone in puerto rico want a hurricane . Because someone will get rich. In newark city, 10 of residents are puerto rican. Love with have been unfairly overlooked. Is in aver the u. S. Conflict halfway around the world, they are quick. Protect oral recs, sent troops over to protect resources. We are american citizens. We have been for over 100 years. We cant be left to die. Amy an update from p port arth, texas, a fenenceline commumunity with a number of massisive Oil Refineries that flooded during Hurricane Harvey. The situation in port arthur is critical. Amount of people displaced due to Hurricane Harvey and m many are in sheltes and were also served eviction notices. Not a vacate notice, but innovation notice. This is not right. Not to mention the superfund sites we are dealing with due to chemical spills in our area. Amy we will speak with Hilton Kelley up from port arthur, the first africanamerican man to win the green nobel prize. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In puerto rico, governor Ricardo Rosello has asked for more government aid in order to avert a total humanitarian catastrophe six days after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. More than 3. 4 million u. S. Citizens in the territory remain without adequate food, water and fuel. The category 4 storm brought record rainfall and catastrophic flooding, destroyed power lines, and left the entire area in the dark. At least 13 people have died so far. The san juan mayor said on monday night, trump appeared to blame puerto rico for its problems, tweeting puerto rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure massive debt, is in deep trouble. Its old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the island was destroyed, with billions of dollars owed to wall street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are Top Priorities and doing well. These were trumps first tweets about the disaster in puerto rico, after trump spent the weekend instead attacking nfl players for protesting against racism and police brutality. Well have more on puerto rico after headlines. Tensions continue to escalate between the u. S. And north korea. On monday, north Korean Foreign minister the President Trump has declared war against north korea. Comes from the current president of the United States, this is clearly a declaration of war. All of the Member States participating in the United Nations General Assembly in the whole world should remember it was the u. S. Who first occurred war on our country. Amy foreign minister ri yong ho also said north korea has the right to shoot down any u. S. Warplanes flying near the korean peninsula. The u. S. Has been flying bombers off the coast of north korea. The u. S. And south korea also staged massive military exercises last month on the korean peninsula. The last time north korea shot down u. S. Warplane was i in 1969, killing all 31 crew members s on board. On monday, the white house rejected the idea that President Trump has declarared war on norh korerea. This is White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders. We have not declared war on north korea. Frankly, the suggestion of that is absurd. What is the what has reaction to north koreas threat to down u. S. Aircrafaft, even if it isit in t their airspace . It is never appropriatete f a country to shoot down another countrys aircraft when it is over international waters. Our goal is the samame. We contitinue to s seek the peal do nuclear rosacea and o of the korean peninsula. Doining that through both the mt maximum and diplomatic as possible. Amy mondays escalation comes one day after President Trump tweeted just heard foreign minister of north korea speak at u. N. If he ecechoes thoughts of litte rocket man, they wont be around much longer little rocket man is an apparent reference to north Korean Leader kim jong un. On capitol hill, the republicans latest effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care act appears to be dead after a third republican senator, Susan Collins of maine, came out against the bill. Republican senators john mccain of arizona and rand paul of kentucky have also said theyd vote against the bill, leaving the republicans one vote short. A preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office says the republicans plan, known as the grahamcassidy bill, would cause millions of people to lose their health insurance. On monday, disability rights activists and heath care advocates disrupted the one and only congressional hearing on the healthcare bill, chanting no cuts to medicaid. No cuts to medicaid all right. No cuts to medicaid amy the Capitol Police say 181 people were arrested protesting inside the Senate Finance Committee Hearing and in the halls of congress. This is Colleen Flanagan of the Disability Rights Group adapt. No cuts to medicaid no cuts to medicaid protests against racism, police fertility, and President Trump continued to sweep the National Football league on monday night. Members of the Arizona Cardinals locked arms, while members of the Dallas Cowboys took a knee before the anthem, along with their owner, billionaire jerry jones. He had initially tried to convince his players not to protest over these last months. Nba superstar lebron james also celebrated the protests, while speaking monday. I salute the nfl, the coaches, the players, the owners , ththe fans everyone who had any association wiwi thehe n yesterdaday, i was unbelievavab. It was solidarity. There was s no d divide. Evene, even from from that guy that continues to try to divide us as people. Amy the Iraqi Government executed at least 42 people on in the biggest mass execution of sunday the year. The 42 people were hanged at a prison in the Southern City of nassiriya. They were all sunni muslims convicted on terrorism charges. Amnesty international condemned the executions, saying todays mass execution is a shocking display of the iraqi authorities resort to the Death Penalty to try to show they are responding to security threats. The iraqi and turkish armies are conducting joint military drills today follllowing mondays irii kurdish refererendum on independence. Millions voted in mondays referendum. Ththe results will be releasased this afternoon. They are expected to be resoundingly in favor of independence. The governments of iraq, turkey, and iran all oppose kurdish independence in northern iraq. On monday,y, thousands of iranin kurds rallllied in supportrt ofe kurdish referendum in iraq. A new report by Human Rights Watch says the u. S. Military killed at least 84 civilians in march when it bombed a school and a marketplace in two towns outside raqqa. On march 20, u. S. Airstrikes hit a school where displaced people were taking shelter in the village of mansoura. Two days later, u. S. Airstrikes hit a crowded market and bakery in the city of tabqa. Local residents told human right watch the death toll from the two attacks is likely far higher than 84 civilians because bodies were still buried underneath the rubble. In the israelioccupied west bank, police say a palestinian gunman shot and killed two Israeli Security guards and an Israeli Police officer at the entrance of the jewishonly settlement of har adar. Police shot and killed the attacker. Jewish only settlements in the occucupied west bank are considered illegal under international law. In peru, members of indigenous achuar communities say they have seizeded control of at leaeast 0 oil wells operated by the canadianan company frontera eney corp in the amazon. They say they took over the wells, as well as an electric plant and oil tanknks, to prprot the companys and peruvian governments failure to consult them about the extraction projectsts. They also said in a statement we have been living with Oil Pollution for 45 years, caused by the irresponsibility of the companies and the state. For decades we have seen that our waters, soils and resources are damaged with impunity. In indonesia, nearly 60,000 people have been evacuated from the areas around mount agung on the island of bali amid concerns the volcano could erupt within hours. The last time e the volcanoo erupted, morore than half a century ago in 1963, more than 1000 people were killed. Back in the United States, the New York Times has revealed that at least six of trumps closest advisers, including jared kushner, steve bannon and reince priebus, have all used private email addresses for white houserelated work. During the 2016 president ial campaign, trump frequently attacked clintons use of a private email server while she served as secretary of state, with many of Trumps Campaign rallies ending in chants of lock her up. The New York Times reports gary cohn, stephen miller, and ivanka trump have also all discussed work matters over private email addresses. Former u. S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning says shes been blocked from entering canada. On monday, manning posted on twitter a report from canadian immigration authorities denying her entry. As a reason it cites her 2013 courtmartial conviction, and writes if committed in canada this offense would equate to a indictable offense, namely treason. In response, manning tweeted no walls, no borders, no bans, no deportations, no prisons. Wegotthis in texas, an Appeals Court has ruled that parts of the harsh antiimmigrant law sb4 can take effect, overruling a lower courts decision to block much of the law. The state continues to rebuild after Hurricane Harvey. Last month, a district judge blocked a handful of the laws provisions, including requiring jails to hold people in custody for immigration authorities. Immigration reasons. But mondays ruling means jail authorities will now have to comply with most of ices detainer requests. The ruling also allows texas to enforce a part of the law that says local authorities cannot stop their employees from working with federal immigration officers. The law still fafaces legal challenges. In alabama, voters are heading to the polls today for special Senate Runoff race to fill the seat of now attorney general jeff sessions. The race between republican candidate senator Luther Strange and former state Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore have divided both Republican Party and the trump administration. Strange has won the backing of the Party Establishment and President Trump. On monday, Vice President mike pence spoke at stranges rally in birmingham. President trump also spoke at a rally for him, but his rival, roy moore, has won the backing of former white house Senior Advisor steve bannon and the far right wing of the Republican Party. The winner of todays election will face democratic nominee doug jones, former u. S. Attorney in the general election in december. New york congressman for Anthony Weiner has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for sex thing explicit Text Messages and photos of his genitals to an underaged girl. Congress inut from 2011 after initially lying to the public about explicit phone and internet contact with women he met online. And in georgia, lawyers for death row prisoner keith tharpe of heed a flurry was convicted in 1991 of murdering his sisterinlaw. Lawyers say the racial prejudice of one of the jurors violated his sixth a moment right to a fair trial. Lawyers argue his trial was marred by racism on the part of a juroror. In an interview after the trial, word andused the n asked if black people even have souls. His lawyer say the execution on be illegal because he is intellectual disabled. The state board of parardons and parole denied him clemency monday night, but several legal challenges are still pending. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin today in puerto rico, where six days after Hurricane Maria slammed into the island, more than 3. 5 million u. S. Citizens remain without adequate food, water, and fuel. The category 4 storm brought record rainfall and catastrophic flooding, destroyed power lines, and left the entire island in the dark. Authorities warn some areas could be without electricity for six months. At least 13 people have died so far. At least that is what is known. Many parts of the island are cut off. Said uan mayor what we are now seeing is the aftermath is almost more horrific than the actual passing of the hurricane itself. Puerto ricos Governor Ricardo Rossello has asked for more government aid to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, especially in the interior and areas not yet reached by relief efforts. This is a resident and the mayor of toa baja, a city on the northern part of the island. We dont have communication. I i have no telephone. We do not have supplies. In my house, we do not have water. There is no gas. The lines are long. Ofwere in the process recovering. These days we have been organizing our resources to be able to reach the street and start to bring the away says, the water come to people needs so much. Amy as the crisis in puerto rico became clear over the weekend, President Donald Trump failed to weigh in, instead lashing out at players who have joined a growing protest movement started by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick against racial injustice. It took the president five full days to respond with comments that drew criticism for what some called a lack of empathy. In a series of tweets, trump appeared to blame puerto rico writing puerto rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure massive debt, is in deep trouble. Its old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the island was destroyed, with billions of dollars owed to wall street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are Top Priorities and doing well. That was the tweet. This comes as trump has yet to visit puerto rico, even after he visited texas and florida after Hurricane Harvey and irma. Both state voted for him. This comes as hospitals that were flooded are depending on diesel generators to keep patients alive. Meanwhile, 70,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the areas around the guajataca dam, which was damaged by Hurricane Maria and is at risk of collapsing at any minute. For more, we are joined by Yarimar Bonilla, associate professor of anthropology and Caribbean Studies at Rutgers University and a visiting scholar at the russell sage foundation. She just wrote a piece in the Washington Post headlined, why would anyone in puerto rico want a hurricanane . Because someone will get rich. She is also one of the founders of the puerto rican syllabus. Welcome to democracy now all, have you been able to reach your family in puerto rico . I have. I tell my friends, just like many of us, the diaspora have survivors guild, i have commuters guilt because i been able to talk to my family members throughout the storm was that my mom did not lose her landline. We have been in close communinication. My and senegals have also been able to communicate with me. Amy how is she doing . She is doing ok. She is eating canned soup and can butter and crackers and hanging on. About thehe island overall, the catastrophe that were seeing unfold. Challengesstation the imagination. There is no town in puerto rico that was not affected by the storm. Power is out everywhere. Communications are out. There is no water in about 80 of the island. People they were prepared for maybe one or two days of waiting for these services to come back, but they were not prepared for 5, 6 days, whole week without assistance. Amy talk about the u. S. Response. Puerto rico is a part of the United States, though many people might wish its independent, having very little representation in washington. All of the people in puerto rico are u. S. Citizens. Yes. It is not just a matter of them being citizens, it is also a matter of them being an integral part of the nation serving in the wars, being deeply connected to their family members. The puerto rican nation spans beyond simply the territory. It is also the Many Puerto Ricans in the continental u. S. Who have not been able to reach their family members. I think everyone has lost their patience with the u. S. Government because after irma, trump said he would visit puerto rico and the virgin islands. It is not just one hurricane that has hit puerto rico. It is two back to back. Irma caused significant devastation. The second hurricane was a second blow that completely knocked out the island. The last i saw from the government, theyve had some fema personnel already arrived, but the longterm assistance they say wont come until october. Midoctober perhaps. Theyve also not lifted restrictions for nonus vessels to be able to take aid. Not only is u. S. Government not helping puerto rico, it is not allowing its neighbors to help puerto rico. Amy this is astounding. If this was a caribbean island, an independent nation, they could get aid from anywhere they wanted. Absolutely. There people from the caribbean states that have traveled to dominica, to other places in the caribbean to assess damage to help. Our neighbors in the caribbean want to help us, and theyre not able to because nonus ships are not able to enter puerto rico. The powers are down in the airport. The committee fish and towers, so air travel israel limited as well as the puerto rico is blocked. It is important to note, my mom safe it is is this not flooded. There are people that are trapped with floodwaters also contaminated waters commode the soul, with also sewers that have overflowed. Dead cadavers are floating in the streets. I dont know how to emphasize enough the severity of the situation. It boggles the mind. What boggles the mind even more is the lack of attention and the lack of really any sort of empathy for these lives that are completely at risk. Amy were going to go to break and then come back to discuss this dire situation in puerto rico. We will hear from the san juan mayor, from the Puerto Ricans here in new york, Something Like 10 of new yorkers are puerto rican. Is that right, professor . Yes. It is not just new york. A atlantic, texas. Puerto ricans are everywhere throughout the United States. Amy not to mention in puerto rico, as they are american citizens. We will be back in a minute. [music break] amy temporal by buscabulla. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. About puertog rico. We continue to discuss the devastation there. This is the san juan mayor describing the challenges faced by people e living on n the isld as it tries to regain its footing after Hurricane Maria. E ey are p pain kind of glazed. Es n not becausese of what has happened, but because of the difficulty of what will come and what may come. Getow w were not goioing to everybody in time. Two days a ago i said i wa coconcerned about t that. Nonow i know w we wont get to eveverybody in time because w we have t to c canvas homeme by ho. Cocommunicatioions are very sps. With t the literally canvas houe by house by house. But whwhat i would ask is not oy for puerto rico, f for the entie caribbean that has been hit so hard, do not forget us. Do not let us feel alone. Amy that is the san juan mayor who spentin cruze, much of her time in the water trying to save people. On see her with a jacket going sometimes of to her waist in water. Our guestst today is professor Yarimar Bonilla. Can you talk about the mayor . I have been really impressed with the seriousness with which she is taken on her role. I feel when she speaks, you can tell how challenged and daunted she feels and how hard she is trying. She said repeatedly that her biggest fear is that not even her biggest fear because she knows it. She knows people are not going to be able to be reached. There people right now they dont have insulin. People who neither medication. People who have been trapped in highrise apartments. The challenges. Amy seems like theres a bit of a battle between her and the governor of two different parties. When the hurricane first hit, theres an attempt to have a united front and theres also been an attempt to have united front in puerto rico even before the Hurricane Season to deal with the debt. The governor brought politicians together from different spectrums to lobby w washington. It seemed like that unity was theg to continue, but governor recently criticized the mayor. They sent Health Inspectors to the Evacuation Centers that are working when their other Evacuation Centers that dont have electricity. The rivalry that exists because theyre different from parties are starting to show. Amy the poverty of puerto rico. Can you talk about what is part and parcel you have several hurricanes here, not just the hurricane set hit puerto rico, but the hurricane of devastation. You write why would anyone in puerto r rico want a hurricane . Because someone e will get r ri piece, said in that puerto rico o was already in a state of emergency before the hurricane hit. Already the double party rate of the poorest state in the u. S. 45 of the population is in extreme economic risk. These are folks who live paycheck to paycheck. People like to talk about the huge amount of folks on government assistance. But in addition to that, you also have a huge class of paycheck towho live paycheck and they have not a lot of them have not worked since irma. They have not received a paycheck. Our people are frustrated because you cannot get money out of atms right now puerto rico and that is a huge concern for many people, but there people who have no money to withdraw. Right now when all that is available is a scarce amount of food and water that you can purchase only in cash irma there are a lot of people who are simply going hungry and thirsty. Amy canucks line, professor, what the jones act . Is it limits the kind of trade that for to revoke and have because it can only arrive on u. S. Ships. Not only does it limit the ships that arrive, which is critical right now, it also makes the cost of everything that arrives much higher. Isaac necessities in this time like batteries and generators, it makes them prohibited. Amy this is interesting. In the case of the hurricanes that hit texas, for example, the epa was busy rolling back all environmental many o environmental protections and we dont want these right now. When it comes to puerto rico, have a rollback the jones act . No. They say they dont think it is necessary. They think the u. S. Is doing all he can. I really dont understand that at all. When you have the instance of the earthquake in haiti, there was a floating hospital that was brought to the shores of haiti were people were taken to to get medical attention. Nothing of that sort is happening in puerto rico. We need fresh water. There is no watater being brougt to thehe island. There are not water reserves. Theres been a lot of talk about the electricity, but 80 of the ovulation dont have Running Water or available Drinking Water. Amy we are broadcasting from new york city right now where an estimated 10 of residents are puerto rican. Some 70000,000 people. Many are still try to reach loved ones since Hurricane Maria , which Officials Say brought more than 10 million in damage to the island. Far worse than we have seen in any u. S. Statete. Some have organized a call center were volunteers try to contact their family members and family members of others worried for their safety as they assisted others. Im working here at the puerto rican family for seven years. Basically, what were doing here is were taking donations to send to puerto rico. Well, make phone calls for those who need information about the family members. With a person calling, telling us the last word she heard from her mother was im going to die , but i wanted to tell you that i really lovee you. That was really hard. When you hear stuff like that, you say, we need to do something. We need to really help. I live here in new york, but i have a whole family in this little town here. It is municipal 78. It is a tiny dot in the whole map. Through are coming here, but the problem is, theyre not reaeaching the litte town. I have two brothers and my mother that were admitted in the hospital two days before this happened. I havent been able to get in contact with her and im very worried. I cant sleep. I cant eat. I dont know what else to do. My daughter is in the military list of my daughter is in hawaii. I have a grandson. I dont see him. She is serving in the United States army. My daughter is in hawaii serving. My soninlaw is in hawaii serving. I have two nephews serving the army, the United States army. Their puerto rican. Where is help for my people . My name is luis. Im here at the puerto rican family insnstitute, volunteerg l day y today and d a little saturday. Ive not been able to reach my momom. Shes in basically them everywhere besides the metropolitan area is completely shut out beyond having no Running Water or city, they also have absolutely no communication except for some land lines that are starting to work now. Things are going really haywire. Foode are stealing gas and. It is urgent that people know it is getting ready getting to be a health crisis. There a lot of people drinking contaminated water with cadavers and dead animals in it will stop look, it seems like whenever the us gets in a conflict halfway round the world, theyre quick to shoot the resources over there. Theyre quick to build mitigation towers to protect oil rigs. Resouources. Ck to send we are american citizens. We have been for over 100 years. We cant be left alone to die. Amy voices of Puerto Ricans here in new york step a special thanks to democracy now s John Hamilton and ariel boone for that report. We are joined by Yarimar Bonilla, who is herself puerto we can. Her article for the Washington Post is headlined, why would anyone in puerto rico want a hurricane . She is author of nonsovereign futures french caribbean politics in the wake of disenchantment and one of the founders of the puerto rico syllabus. You heard that last voice of luis talking about when the u. S. Invades, they bring in resources. Where is the military on our island interestingly, the disproportionate number of Puerto Ricans who serve in the u. S. Military, one of the highest percentages anywhere in the country. Whats that has been one of the big questions, too, where is the military . Weve seen the deployment of troops. Supposedly come the National Guard has been activated, but people are saying on social media in the local radio that they do not see the present of it. The military bases in puerto a huge military base. The military amy we just have Luis Gutierrez on, the congressman, who was arrested twice there protesting the u. S. Navy bombing the island, napalm in the island and now where are they . Where are they . That is what people are asking. On the other hand, no one wants to call for a military occupation. We know what sometimes the deployment of these forces bring with them. It is the same time, the woman that you showed on the tape, her daughter serves in the military. Puerto ricans feel like they have could treated so greatly. They have lost lives fighting in the military. They do want to feel some kind of protection at this point. I think it is to the point where people are ready for that kind of assistance. When you have old people who cant get out to get Drinking Water for themselves. Amy you write, professor, in your piece, one peculiarity of this years Hurricane Season is that many of the societies have been hit are not sovereign nations but rather places with divers and shifting arrangements with their colonial centers. Of course, you talk about st. Maarten. You talk about puerto rico. Able toico that isnt choose the president of the United States, but is a part of the United States. Yes. There used to be a saying that puerto rico had the best of both worlds in its relationship. That i think increasingly, people have come to realize it has the worst of both worlds. It shares the same kind of environmental vulnerability to these kind of storms of the caribbean nations face, but at the same time, it is not able to rally with its neighbors. In addition to the environmental vulnerability, it has economic one or ability discuss these high rates of an employment. It has infrastructure vulnerability because of its great the crisis. It is unable to attend to its power grid, to its water supply for over a decade. It also has great political vulnerability because it has no representation in congress. The island aren nobodys constituents. Nobody is watching out for them. You have people like booze could terrace and velazquez who respond in part and partly because they have a great number of hardworking constituents in their home States John Amy and their puerto rican. The puerto rico has no one in commerce been able to leverage vote, to partner, to strategize are the other members that there. Amy as puerto rico faces six months before its power grid is restored, the director of the governmentowned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority told cnn, people would need to change the way they cool off. He said it is a good time for dads to buy a ball and a glove and change the way you entertain your children. Professor . It is completely offensive. It is not a matter of watching ipads and play nintendo. This is a matter of people needing to have their insulin chilled, people needing to have their asthma respirator there be attended to. Vertical dire medical, human rights crisis. So to say to pretend this is about people wanting to entertain themselves and entertain their kids, i cant imagine anything more offensive than that. Amy and there is Donald Trumps quote. If you could respond to what he said about puerto rico having to deal with their crumbling infrastructure and their debt, what they of two banks . To me, this was clearly a saying,to wall street. Were not going to forgive the debt. Were not going to were going to take care of you. That is who donald trump is assuring. The debt will continue to be serviced. At whatknow it expense. Amy were does the probe is a bill come into this . This is part of what i wrote about in the Washington Post. It provides privatization for all of porter goes services. The Oversight Board in puerto rico has already tweeted and the president has communicated that they were going to expedite any kind of projects that would help raise puerto rico at this time. Those will probably be the privatization of Public Services, incredibly low rates or possibly even giving away these private services for these Public Services or private comedies to manage. They will probably promise they will make some repairs and make some improvements and in puerto rico will completely lose all of its services. Not to talk about the huge displacement of population and the kind of gentrification that we can expect to happen just as a happen in new orleans host of amy President Trump has not been to puerto rico. No. People are saying this is trumps katrina, but it is katrina times 100 because it is katrina in every town in puerto rico that is completely abandoned right now. Amy Yarimar Bonilla is a puerto rican scholar. We will link to her piece in the Washington Post headlined, why would anyone in puerto rico want a hurricane . Because someone will get rich. She is one of the founders of the puerto rico syllabus. She is an associate professor of anthropology and Caribbean Studies at Rutgers University and a visiting scholar at the russell sage foundation. When w we come back, w we move m puerto rico to port arthur just outside houston, texas, to talk about the devastation and what recovery looks like. This is democracy now back in a minute. Amy singing strange fruit of the Global Citizen concert in central park. Strange fruit written for billie holiday. Against lynching. Billie holiday said every time she sang that song, she would go in the bathroom and throw up. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. As many parts of the continental United States and the u. S. Territory of puerto rico recover from a devastating series of hurricanes, we end todays show with an update from the hardhit texas gulf coast. Port arthur, texas, a Fenceline Community with several massive Oil Refineries that flooded during Hurricane Harvey. Just lasast week, a fifire at te Valero Oil Refinery in port arthur released nearly 1 Million Pounds of emissions into the air, prompting residents to stay in their homes for hours. Meanwhile, the 3600acre motivia oil refinery in port arthur says it plans to continue a multibillion dollar expansion of its facility, which is already the largest in the United States. This comes as hundreds of displaced port arthur residents whose homes were flooded during the storm continue to live in tents. A number of port arthur residents who are renting and had to evacuate have been evicted. For more, we are joined by Hilton Kelley, of from port arthur, who made history in 2011 when he became the first africanamerican man to win the green nobel prize, the goldman environmental prize. Kelley is the executive director and founder of the community in popower and development assosociation. His restaurant and home were both flooded during Hurricane Harvey. We last spoke with him on the phone just after the storm as he was helping save people. He joins us now in studio after attending a Climate Summit on in new york run by the hiphop caucus. Welcome to democracy now what are you facing in port arthur . What were facing in port arthur, texas, number one, is Mass Evacuations of our renters. Were also facing superfund sites. Amy explain what are superfund sites. An area deemed uninhabitable due to contamination of subtype of toxin some type of toxin. Waste orea, petroleum material that has been discarded in some shape or form or fashion was stuff it has rendered the land uninhabitable. Amy keep going. With that being said, many of our people are being displaced. Theres a lot of danger when you live in a situation like this. Were dealing with the e situatn without elderly. In our community and other communities around port arthur, texas, where many peoples homes that were flooded, these folks were right at their 30 year mortgage payment where they were about to be done with that. And now theyre having to start over because fema is offering them a loan instead of some kind of great opportunity. Basically, most of the people in port arthur had been abandoned by fema. The red cross has reached its limit. Many people were in lines try to get our 400 check, now that is gone. Ive gotten thousands of phone , wes and he mails saying need help now. The aftermath of hurricane harvrvey is just starting to shw its ugly head. Amy how many superfund sites, how many refineries are there in port arthur . I think were somewhere superfund sites in port arthur. Amy thehese are toxic sites . Lanand you cannot t build on anymore. Amy that flooded. Yes. When you have a superfund site that is already contaminated and then it is exacerbated by hurricanes, what you have is debris or material that may spill into the communities and get into the floodwaters. As you walk through those waters, youre being contaminated with Petroleum Products as well. Amy explain what happened in valero. We were showing your v video of what took place. What is valero . Located an oil refinery in the historic africanamerican community. What happened at pararticular r, from my understanding, there was some kind of spark that ignited these storage tanankers. They exploded. Itit rattled windows for about a mile. My brother lives within a quartermile from the facility. He called me immediately said, man, i believe one of the plants just exploded. I rushed to the scene. Of course, i pulled out my camera and started to film and take photos of the incident. But yet this is a storage tank exploding a somewhat uncommon in our area, but their constant emissions due to shutdowns and startup emissions, and also due toto incidents that take place whenever they lose power. We see a lot of f black smoke. Weeeee fire at night come onto the night sometimes, 14 our paparents or two or three day burns at the motivive a plplant. If it is not the motive amy the largest plant in the United States . Motiva is the largest oill refinery in the northern hemisphere. These guys put out 625,000 barrels of oil per day. On any given day, were going to get out a daily dose of known carcinogens. With a disproportionate number of people in port arthur are suffering with cancer, suffering with respiratory issues. Amy this is run by saudi arabia . Yes, 100 saudiown. We want to encourage the saudi king and prince to come and visit the People Living on that fenceline, living at or belolow the poverty line, answer the question why are they doing more to assist this community and its time of need and why are they doing more to assist the people any time in a particular community that have to bear the brunt of them making billions of dollars annually . You grew up across the street . Yes, i did. Amy in the histotorically black communitity . Yes. I was born n in the project in the 1960s from a teenage mother. Amy you left but moved back. Why . Domestic my mother to violence. She was shot and killed by my stepepdad. I look port arthur to get away and join the United States navy where i served for four years. I was a second class petty officer by the time i got out, e5. When i got out with an honorable discharge, i decided to pursue a career in acting and stayed in california for 21 years pursuing a career. I finally got into the Screen Actors Guild in 1991. Amy you were a stuntman . Yes. I really did the stunt thing. I enjoy that. I worked very closely with michael t williamson. He is best known for his role as a in google forced cap. Amy weather to come back to port arthur . Just to visit in 2000, to go to mardi gras and d visit with friends and well attemptpts. Ien i got to port arthur irma just sort of walked around and saw the dilapidated buildings. As several large number of kids playing in the streets. There was no community centers. The pollution was just as bad then as it was in the 1970s. When a way back to california, i was working g on nash bridgesi kekept thinking about how so manys to do something in port arthur to bring reprieve to that community and help get t the kis off the street. By may 2000, i decided i had to go b back home aftfter an of bethany. I had a dream him as cliche as that may soundnd, i literally d. It was so powerful to where it led me to go back on to do what im doing today. Amy talk about negotiating a deal with motiva to pay the health care of residents . Right. Motiva has been having a large number of issues in the city of port arthur. They had been dumping tons and tons of legal and illegal commissions. There is such a thing. They have some events that are taken place within a few years to where we got wind of all of the emission data and found out they have been wayay out of compliance with the Clean Air Act laws and regulations. Knowing that, we decided to file suit against the motiva oil refinery, which led us to coming to a large settlement, three point finally in dollars, which is unprecedented for any activist to achieve due to a lawsuit. We got that funding for our community and it of any use to help spur businesses and also create services from other surrounding areas for the community. Epa you negotiated regulations. You pushed hard for them. One of the first things we heard with harvey was they y were rolling back epa regulations. Which meant that a lot of these refineries could release even thistoxic emissions, used as an opportunity, Hurricane Harvey. People talk about frontline communities. You talk about fenceline communities. What did this mean for port arthur . It is a must a death sentence for thousands of folks. Under the barack obama administration, and his epa, we wewere able to get a lot of gret things done. We got the motiva oil refinery to put in flare gas Recovery Units, sulfur Recovery Units. Amy that would take in the sulfur. Instead of dumping it directly into the air that we breathe. We also got valero to do the same thing. What valero found an n articulad to me, it helps them to save fuel. It was a good thing to put tho kind of regulations in place and push them to put i in flare gas Recovery Unit and so far reRecovery Units sulfur Recovery Units. It trump is unraveling all of the great work the obamama administration h had achieved. Lisa jackson was instrumental in helping us to get a clinic held. Amy the epa administrator. A and also gene a mccarthy ia friend of the environment. They understand Climate Change is real. We understand it is tougher trump to get the message it is real. It is happening now. Because a rollback, it will harm any communities not only inin pt arthur, but around the state of texas and around the world. Amy where is fema and the red cross . The red cross, how many millions of dollars a got to deal with texas and everyone recognized the mass crisis in texas . What about how port arthur residents would be helped . I have been getting hundreds of emails. I put out a poll yesterday asking folks, if youre not getting your fema services, let me know. Ive had over 300 something people hit me up saying, hilton, fema has dropped me. Chchilton, fema has not done anything. The red cross is reneging on the 400. My wife sat on the phone for 2. 5 hohours with fema trying to getn inspspection of our home. We have yet to see an inspectctr cocome yet the phone hung up rit after she got someone on the line. I dont know what kind of games there playing, but fema is not doing their jobs. Baytown, beaumont, they are all suffering. Ouri elderly are being told they have to get a loan because many fixed mortgage, now theyre being told they have to get a loan to pay those off. Amy whwhat about renters . What about people told they have to evacuate and going to shelters . A lot of the renters like in , a pepermitprojects complexes s around like cedar rich, these places evacuated everyone. What they told m many of these folklks, they were being evicte, not asked to vacate until the place was renovated, but told they were evicted. Usually when you get evicted, you have done something wrong or your negligent in keeping up with y your lease agreement. These people or evicted so they have no right to return. We are working closely with legal aid to help inform the citizens of their rights, that they have a right to stay, right to return. We are asking them to stay in place until someone amy this is terrible because if someone thinks theyre going to be evicted if they leave their home, then that will in danger them next time. They will not lead. What were the grounds they were evicted . Were talkiking about public housing, the federal government. Then carson came to port arthur . I was waiting for phone call carson. Costs an dr. Ben carson. We were waiting for a call from him but he met with the mayor, governor of it came to port arthur, which i dont rememberer him ever coming to port arthur. We have been pushing really hard online to congressmen assist with this issue. Haveet these guys, they picked and choose some of the better apartment complex is to go to and brag about how this was used, blolo grarants for us. Yet they did not h hit the hardline arereas where people were being thrown out on n their ears with their kids. Even people that are handicapped were sleeping in their cars, sleeping in their mold infested homes. This is not right. Amy what about landfills that are being set up as we speak . Well, theres been a landfill set up on 19 street in nashville. Middle of thishee lowincome community. The mayor of toward arthur Derek Freeman said it was the most expedient place and it was safe. I dont see how that illegal land site could be possibly save. A bunch of the debris were torn out of moleinfested d homes. It was filled with toxic water, yet your dumping it in a community of people reside. This should be removed. We have been campaigning to get this relocated, but he said they have to cycle through the material and relocated. Once the contractors are doing the work are gone and the media lights go off, i can bet you that derekek freeman is not goig to have the money to move that trash. Amy you mean the black community of port arthur . The black community on the east end and weston a port arthur. Amy recap the refineries in your area. The refineries are the motiva oil rerefinery, valero world refinery, to tell all refinery chevrone all refinery, flint hills chemical company. We are inundated with Petroleum Industries that dont dailily. If one is that having an omission event, anheher e isis. Facility that petco takes the goods left over and crcrosses his and dumps it into the air every day all day. Amy puerto rico is dealing with an environment of catastrophe right now. You have been to puerto rico a number of times to help the people of puerto rico deal with coal ash, something that been fighting and resisting the dumping of for quite some time. Ive been working closely with denny larson, with the Bucket Brigade and telephone you. He and i have worked together helping those folks in puerto rico to get some results when it comes to reducing the coal ash from a lot of the coalfired power plants out there. What they do is they been dumping the coal ash and dump sites, which is illegal. A lot of the dust and debris from that coal ash flies to the community and gets on the windowsills. If he gets on the windowsills, you can bet it is in the air you are breathing. A lot of the people, particularly kids, are infected by those particles. Many of the people are suffering respiratory problems because of. Hat exposure something needs to be done. With this hurricane, im pretty sure that much of that coal ash have been washed into the community. The people of puerto rico are in a serious situation, and we need to do all we can to get them help and assistance. Amy you were dealing with the coal ash before the flood. Oh, yes, we have been dealing with that issue amy what would it mean with this massive flooding of the island . It definitely meets certain injury. Stopny cases, death will this high exposure to these kinds of toxins with heavy metals can contaminate the blood and ultimately people compares from this down the road. Amy we will continue the conversation and post it online at democracynow. Org. , environment at justice activist in port arthur, texas, the Fenceline Community on the texas gulf coast that was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey. That does it for our broadcast. 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 ]