Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20240714

The e democratic n National Committee hass rejecected his cl for the party to host a primary debate solely y focused on the climimate crcrisis. He iss accccused the dnc of tryg to silence the voices of those who want to debate what he describes as the existential he will joinr time us in the studio to talk about the climate crisis, suing the trump administration, and vowed to help a Record Number of refugees. Then to australia were press freedom groups are sounding the alarm after police raided the headquarters of the Australian Broadcasting corporation after the network revealed Australian Special forces soldierers may he cocommitted war crimemes in afghananistan. 9000 4ey have dowownloaded documents. I counted them. And they y are now goinghrough them. They have set up huge screenen and theyre goingng through eml by e email. I is que extrtraordinarary. Ive neverer seen an assault on the media as savage as this what were seeing today. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. A damning your report by the intercept reveals that the judge overseeing the case that put former brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da silva behind bars likely aided federal prosecutors in the Corruption Cases against lula another high profile resilient figures. Brazilian figures. Leaked cell phone messages among brazilian Law Enforcement officials and other data obtained by the intercept point to an ongoing collaboration between judge sergio moro and the prosecutors, whom he advised on strategy throughout what is known as operation car wash, which resulted in the jailing of hundreds of executives, politicians, and other parties. Lula was considered a favorite in the lead up to the 2018 president ial election until he was jaileded and forced out of e race on what many say were trumped up corruption charges. The jailing of lula helped pave the way for the election of the far right jair bolsonaro, who then named judge sergio moro to be his justice minister. Inin the United States, the Justice Department and House Judiciary Committee have reached an agreement for the handover of some of the underlying evidence in the mueller report, related to potential obstruction of justice by President Trump. House judiciary chair jerry nadler said the house would hold off on a vote to hold attorney general william barr in contempt over h his refusal to turn over the full, unredacted report. A vote will still proceed today on a resolution authorizing the committee to enforce its subpoenas against barr and former white House Counsel don mcgahnhn in federal court. As President Trump continued to tout his immigration deal with mexico monday, the Mexican Foreign minister refuted trumps twitter claim of a yettoberevealed agreement between the two countries. Marcelo ebrard said the two parties agrereed to reevaluate e migration situation in the coming months to determine whether further action is needed. Meanwhile,e, trump t threatenedo impose a a further 25 tariff on 300 billion of chinese goods if chinese president xi jinping fails to a appear at the g20 summit in japan later this month. The guardian is reporting a Real Estate Company part owned by president ial soninlaw and trumps Senior Adviser Jared Kushner has received 90 million in investments from unknown foreign sources since kushner entered the white house in 2017. The company, cadre, received money through an offshore vehicle in the Cayman Islands run by goldman sachs. Kushner maintained a stake in cadre after he joined his fatherinlaws white house team. His stake is now worth an estimated 50 million. Shner did not t disclose this information in his initial ethics disisclosure form. Unnamed d sourceces told the guardian that funds receivived y cacadre came in n large part frm other offshore tax havens, as well as from saudi arabia. Kushner was denied a security clearance when he joined the trump administration, reportedly over concerns about his outsidee business interests and foreign influence. Politico is reporting transportation secretary elaine chao has been using her office to bolster projects benefiting her husband, Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell. According to the report, secretary chao designated a special liaison to handle grant applications and other priorities for mcconnells home state of kentucky, resulting in at least 78 million in federal funds approved for local projects. Mcconnell is running for reelection next year in kentucky. Walter shaub, former director of the Office Government ethics and a Senior Adviser at citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington, tweeted this is the sort of thing that should lead to the impeachment of a corrupt official that is, if her corrupt husband werent in a position to block that impeachment. We are now a fullfledged banana republic. We have nothing to teach the rest of the world except what not to be. In immigration news group of , a migrants told the san Diego Uniontribune they were held for 18 days in craramped, tiny rtofentrtry holding celllls after attending Court Hearings on their asylum cases. The group is part of trumps contntroversial l remain in m policy, which sends asylumseekers who entered the u. S. Via t the southern border back t to mexico while their cas make their way throughgh u. S. Immigratation courts. The e imprisoned m migrants were reportedly only allowed to leave for 20 minutes each day to eat and had to wear the same clothes for 2. 5 straight weeks. The detention facilities are intendeded for statays of just several days. Inin reproductivive rights newsa missouri judge granted a temporary injunction to planned parenthood monday that will keep the states only Abortion Clinic open for now. The order sets a deadline of june 21 for the Missouri Department of health to make a decision on whether it will renew planned parenthoods license to perform abortions. In related news, model and Television Host karlie kloss, took to instagram to urge her fans to support planned parenthood in the fight against state abortion bans. She is married to joshua christian, brother of Jared Kushner much of its senenior adviser and son in law. A want to talk to about what is happening in my beloved home state of missouri and aroundnd e country. We are in an Urgent Public Health crisis and for the first time s since roe v. Wade, more than 1. 1 million women of reproductive age in missouri could be left without access to a Single Health center in our state that provides safe abortion care. Across the country, these bands are attacking our rights t that affect our bodies and ouour health. Amy karlie kloss, the wife of joshua kushner, who is the brother of Jared Kushner. Canada will ban many common sickle use plastic items by 2021. Prime minister Justin Trudeau the plan monday, which follows similar moves by the European Union and the u. K. In recent months. Plastic straws, cotton swabs, plates, cutlery, and some plastic bags are on the list of soontobebanned single use products. Under canadas plan, companies that manufacture or sell Plastic Products or products packaged in plastic will be responsible for the collection and recycling of their Plastic Waste. Only around 9 of plastic is recycled and the u. N. Estimates there are 100 million tons of Plastic Waste in the worlds oceans. In mali, at least 95 people from an ethnic dogon village were killed monday in an overnight raid. The attack comes less than three months after armed men with a group identified as dogon, killed nearly 160 people from a fulani community. No group has claimed responsisibility for the latest attack, but local officials noted the increase in interethnic conflict betweeeen the dogon and fulani as the backdrop for the m mass killing. An indian court has sentenced three men to life in prison for the rape and murder of asifa bano, an eightyearold muslim girl, in 2018. The brutal crime took place in the disputed Northern State of jammu and kashmir, inflaming interreligious tensions and setting off protests around the country. The u. S. Ambassador to israel davivid freeman tolold the newk times that israel has the right to annex parts of the west bank. In april, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus made a Campaign Promise to annex the territory. Before becoming ambassador, friedmann worked as trumps bankruptcy lawyer and had no prior diplomatic experience. His comments came just two days after five democratic senators, including 2020 hopefuls Elizabeth Warren and bernie sanders, introduced a resolution, condemning an israeli plan to annex the occupied west bank. The u. S. Has submitted its formal e extradition request for wikileaks founder Julian Assange according to media reports. An indictment filed in may charged assange with one count of conspiring to hack into a government computer and 17 counts of violating the espionage act, in the first ever case of a journalist or publisher being indicted under the world war iera act. Assange is currently behind bars at Londons Belmarsh prison for skipping bail in 2012 after being forcibly removed from the Ecuadorean Embassy by British Police in april. His lawyers and the u. N. Rapporteur on torture have warned of assanges deteriorating health due to his ongoing detention and years of psychological torture. California is poised to become the first state to offer healthcare coverage to undocumented adults. In california, democratic lawmakers agreed to extend healalthcare coveragage throughe states Medicaid Program to some lowincome undocumented residents. Ththe plan wililcover an eststid 90,000 adults between the ages of 19 and 25. The measure, which is included as part of the latest state budget, is expected to be sisigd into law by governor gavin newsom later this week. California would help fund the expansion by imposing a penalty on people who dont have health insurance, similar to the individual mandate feature of the Affordable Care act, which was eliminated as part of the 2017 republican tax reform. A new expose by the Washington Post reveals the National Rifle association has directed vast sums of money to 18 people on its 76member board over recent years. The beneficiaries include a former pro Football Player who was paid 400,000 for Public Outreach and training, while musician ted nugent received 50,000 for public appearances. Experts say the payments demonstrate a lack of oversight and possible conflicts of interest. The latest revelations come after new yorks attorney general Letitia James launched a prprobe into the nras taxexemt status in april and democratic lawmakers also weigh possible investigations into the group. And in new york city, hundreds gathered monday evening to demand justice for layleen polanco, a transgender afrolatinx prisoner, who was found dead in a cell at Rikers Island on friday. Her familys lawyer told the crowd she suffered from a seizure disorder and had been held in solitary confinement prior to her death. Activists gathered called for rikers to be shut down immediately. This is Cecilia Gentili speaking at foley square. Layleen loved New York Post up you could not get her out of here. She loved the vibe. She loved the people of new york city. And ultimately, it has been this city who led to this circumstance. And we need to ask for answers. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and im juan gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. The democratic National Committee is facing criticism after the committee rejected calls for the party to host a debate solely focused on the climate crisis. The dnc is also threatening to blacklist any candidate who takes part in a nondnc debate on the issue. Dnc chair tom m perez recently told climate activists that it is not practical to hold debates on specific issues. Washington governor jajay inslee was the first democratic president ial candidate to call for a climate focused debate. Last week, he accused the dnc of attempmpting to silelence the vs of those who want toto debate wt he described as the existential crisis of our time. Amy usustoday repeports thata number of heher democrcratic candidates have since backed the call, including former texas congressman beto orourke, former obama housing and urban Development Secretary julian castro, along with senators Elizabeth Warren, bernie sanders, kirsten gillibrand, and michael bennet. Meanwhile, more than 50 voting members of the democratitic National Committee have submitted a resolution supporting a climate debate. We are joined now by democratic president ial candidate and washington governor jay inslee. He launched his president ial campaign in march with a pledge to make defeating Climate Change his number one priority. Governor inslee has also vowed to allow in a Record Number of refugees and to end President Trumps muslim travel ban. Inin 2017, washington became the first state toto file a lawsuito challenge trumps initial travel ban. Governor inslee, welcome to democracy now thanks for bringing a little democracy. Amy so your response to the dnc not only saying they will not but theyimate debate, will ban any president ial candidate from official debates if you anger in a nonofficial debate on this. Engage in a nonofficial debate on this. It sounds unusual in a democracy. Our party has to carry the torch on defeating Climate Change and so far i have been carrying that amongst the candidates. The reasason is this is s our lt chance to defeat Climate Change. We will not hahave another chane after the next administration. We will either act now or it will be cut at present in our nation. Theres only one party that is going to offer a solution to that and our party needs to pick the right nominee who has the full vision and the fulull experience in the full plan to defeat Climate Change. In the people need to see the candidateses put forward their visions and plans. If we do not have a full debate on this, that is going to be impossible. You cannot they to a candidate, how are you want to save thehe planet and totally mobilize the us economy and you have 60 seconds. It is not adequate to the task. We welcome people all over the country, nine state chairs are going to bring resolution to require this debate. There are about 50 members of the National Committee and thousands, tens of thousands are bombarding the committee to have this debate will stop the additional outrage to try to stifle and blacklist those who want to have the debate to say you cannot have the debate and a different for them. That is not exactly democracy with a small or d and that needs to change as well. I appreciate everyone telling the committee would need t to have this debat. It is the existentiaial crisis. I have the experience and plan that would probably do pretty well on the stage, but it is not about me. It is about people having access to make the right decision. Juan we would like you to expound on why you think first of all Climate Change is the central issue and the specifics about what your plan would do. I think thihis is a particularly special moment, a moment of trtremendodous urgenct also a moment of tremendous promise economically to be able to build a C Clean Energy econo. The moment of urgency is something i have experienced in some sense firsthand. I was in davenport, iowa, a couple of weeks ago i met a woman who built a nonprofit that took care of single mothers and victims of domestic violence. She served about 1500 people a year, women a year. Then the flood comes over the dike, destroroys her nonprofit, she loses everything. Her nonprofit is out of business and you have 150500 women left high and dry, so to speak. When you watch that person crying about the loss of her vision and dream, you know we have got to do something about Climate Change. Marsha is the woman i met in seminal springs, mobile home was just a title of melted aluminum. This is an absolute trail of destruction across our country right now. W. Is adonald trump says this chinese hoax, these are real tears. On the upside, this is her tremendous promise of economic growth. Clean energy jobs are growing twice as fast. We need an admission of spark for this Clean Energy Revolution toto mobilize the u. S. Arorounds mission statement. I saw that with kennedy in my youth what a spark of innovation can do. We can build a clean energy economy. Donald trump Wind Turbines cause cancer. We know they cause jobs. I was just in iowa and spoke to a young man named dave and i asked them why he was taking this wind turbine technician class. He said it is not exactly rocket science. These are the jobs of the future. We need a president in the understands that. Juan what are some of the keep colors pillars of your plan . We need to get off coal. My plan, which is unique amongst , a hardcap. S legally enforceable cap. It is not aa suggestion to the utility, it is a requirement. Second, we need to go to a fossil free electrical grid by the middle of the next decade. That is necessary according to the science. This would be a legally binding requirement on utilities. That is necessary according to the science. One of the issues is, you can negotiate with republicans and sometimes with your spouse, you cannot negotiate with his ex or chemistry. We have to accomplish these goals. In the transportation, we have to have cars and buses that run on something other than gas and diesel in ththe next decade. That needs t to be a requiuiremt as w well. That are ththe three p plars is going to greet 8 million jobs. These are good union jobs, by the way. We want to increase wages at the same time. Amy im wondering a part of the reason the democratic National Committee came down so hard against your call for a climate issues itthe kinds of might raise. You are one of the first democratic president ial candidates to sign a pledge to refuse any financial contributions from the fossil fuel interest. Issue with a major the Green New Deal when i was in very up ocasiocortez said any Congress Member who sat on it committee dealing with that should refuse also feel money. Do you think they just dont want that exposed and are concerned their candidate may accept money from the fossil fuel industry . I dont know the answer, but i do know i am refusing to accept that money and was the first to sign the pledge. I know when they say it is not practical to have a debate, i will take what is not practical. What is not practical as having your home underwater repeatedly because of the floods. I met people who have been flooded three times this year in the midwest. It is not practical to see a town of 25,000 burned down. This is s something thatat demas we demand the candidates s to all l step for the put their cas on the tabable. Show what their plans are, what their experiences. I think america and our party deserves that. Amamy how does Green New Deal differ from your plan called evergreen economy plan . They largely have the same goals. I am so appreciative of the others who of raised Climate Change in n the profile, brought communities of color and poverty in account and i thinknk it is beneficial. I have added policy to assist that goal. If you think of the Green New Deal as the Committee Said were going to the moon, my plan designs the rocket ship. It is about 80 or 90 pages of policies that make this thing sing. I think people will be impressed, as was greenpeace and aoc. By all accounts, i am very proud of what we have proposed because it has meet on the bone. It has got teeth. You can not going to this, y you cannot solve c Climate Change wh a bumper sticker. You have to force these corporations to do the right thing. The reasons why were going to take away the 27 billion of subsidies going now to the oil and gas industry that need to going to clean energy. Amy explain what that is. The oil and gas and coal industry, 27 billion twoyear, in tax subsidies with dozens of loophoholes they can walk throuh that no other industry has. They get below market rates, royalties, if you will, when they mind fossil fuels off of our public lands. The whole tax code is set up as a giveaway, slot machine for the fossil fuel industry. We need to reel those back and put investments into clean energy. There is no reason to continue to subsidize a mature e industry in this regard. In this transition, we have to take care of people and families who have been in these industries as well. The coal mines, dedicated, hardworking people who have built this cocountry. That is why we need d to embraca transition plan to have a Just Transition for their families and their communities, as well as communities of poverty who have been so often the first victims, the frontline communities of the Climate Change beast. Ask governor, i want to about your record as governor on the issue of the missions. Between 2020 and 2015, washingtons own emissions reportedly increased by about 6 . You took office as governor in 2013. Thewere you not able to ask governor to lower emissions in the state . Ive only been able to implement a very small part of my agenda in the first four years. I had a republican senenate, Republican Senate was in the same climate denial mode as the president. I was unable to pasass legislsln for the firsrst four years. But we have now passed probably the best laws in the u. S. I passed the best 100 law that requires 100 of electricity to come from clean sources, nonfossil fuel sources. It is also the best because it embraces environmemental justice in that plans everyone can move forward and will increase incomes and we help people in poverty at the same time. It is also the best plan because for the first time, a reqequires retrofitting commercial building so we can reduce waste. We have a good incentive package to help people get access to electric cars. Inhave joined other states banning super pollutants. Ive signed a suite of billsls that wilill get us where we need to get to. It is amazing what dememocracy n do as it did in the last election, which gave me one more senator so i can actually pass these laws. We will not be done after this. We have to do more in my state and around the world. We have to be more challenging of all of us. Juan when you speak of nonfossil fuels, do you see a reason to expand Nuclear Power as a reason of dealing with Climate Change or not . That remains to be seen. I think we have to look at every low in zero emissions and Carbon Solution to see if there possible. Nuclear, in order to become part of the portfolio, would have to solve four things it has not solved yet. It would have to become much more costeffective. It is way too expensive right now. It would have to have a passively safe system. It would have to solve the waste stream issueue and build public acceceptance. Those do not exist right now. I do believe it makes sense for us to do the research and development to find out if some of thesese new approaches mighte safe, costeffective, and have public is substance acceptance and the ways. Amy can you talk about your evolution around climate, coming to think of it as a critical issue of our day . You supported, until last month, the construction of natural gas projects in western washington, posed by many climate activists, but then you reversed your position. Talk about why. Ive been working on this for a long time. I read for congress in 1992 saying we have to reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions. I coauthored a book about this in 2007. I joined jerry brown and Governor Cuomo in establishing the u. S. Climate alliance in 202016. We now have 24 statates. It has been very successful. I sponsored and fought for legislation on many occasions in the u. S. Congress. This has been a long journey. The situation is, i probably were all hopeful natural gas could be a bridge fuel to bridge the Current Situation and the development of nonfossil feel systems. We were hopeful that could be a bridge to the decades. It turns out the science does not allow that. In the last couple of years, science has shown we do not have as much time as we thought. We do not hahave until late in e century to make that transition. We have to make it in the next decade and i have to get going. We have to eliminate fossil fuels by the middle of the next decade. That is scientifically certain and as i indicated, there is no debating with scientists. I have tents out 10,000 scientists who agree with me. The site indicates we cannot wait. Amy what do you say to President Trump, his Energy Department Just Announced not referring to methane as methane and more quick call it freedom gas. As one Energy Official said in the department, we are spreading molecules of freedom around the world. What i would say and would like to say and will say to President Trump is, goodbye. That is the only solution to this problem. The things i read about Climate Change coming out if this administration, sometimes i think they come out of an onion. When youre calling freedom gas, someththing essentially back e d overertime destroy life as we kw describedan only be as humor coming out of dr. Strangelove. I think so but he needs to make the equivalent of dr. Strangelove about this administration. Amy were talking to governor jay inslee. We will continue with him in a minute. [music break] amy save our planet earth by jimmy cliff. This is democracy now , democracynow. Orgrg, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Guest on the our governor of washington, 2020 democratic president ial candidate. Juan i wanted ask you about refugees. People comingmany up from central america, some people believe they are climate refugees as well but also fleeing Gang Violence and deep poverty. You are one of the leaders among governors in opposing President Trumps efforts to not only have the muslim band, but also immigration issues. Talk about what you have been doing in washington. We have been standing up to donald trump. Ive sued him and defeated him 21 times in thea row. We need to stand up for democrcracy. Your logo has a statue of liberty on it. I believe the light from the statue should continue to shine across the u. S. It is an ancient light we should guard jealously. I was the first governor to stand up against the muslim ban in the first person saying we should accept Syrian Refugees even before i think that issue came up. The reason is, this is not only a matter of compassion on the United States we are a compassionate nature taking in refugees and those fleeing be free. S, yearning to this is something that is deeply ingrained in our hearts of the United States, but also an Economic Development issue. We have grown our economy because we have geniuses who come from nowhere and now create his mrs. In my state. The dreamers who are in my state are some of the most ambitious, creative, going to be productive with this people and doctors. That is why i am proud to be the first governor to make sure dreamers get access to college education. I believe the Current Situation amy what about what Governor Newsom is doing, about to sign this bill that will increase the access of undocumented immigrants between the ages s of 19 and 25, Something Like that, around 90,000 of them will get health care . We are taking steps in that direction. We started with our youthful folklks in that. First they have to have access and have put in cells children separated from parents like donald trump is doing. As you indicated, what is so maddening is the president refuses to go to the source of this problem, which many of ththese People Climate are e cle refugees today because they simply cannot be subsistence farmers because the climate has changed so much. You cannot grow crops particularly at Higher Elevations in central so they are starving to death. The president refuses to recognize the reality of Climate Change and will allow to become wars because he does n not givea hang or is to scientifically illiterate. Each are fatal. Secondarily, it makes sense to make investments they so we dont have to make them on the border to try to improve the economies of those regions so people can stay in the place of their homeland. Those are Smart Investments to make. But instead come he wants bumper stickers and confrontation. Amy would you call President Trump a racist for his muslim band, the one youre the first governor to challenge . It is painful to think in those terms but i dont know whether what other conclusion you can make. I made it a long time ago, you need to understand the depths of the depravity of this individual. This is ththe person whose entie political existence heowes to a racial eye when he says barack obama was born in kenya. That is the entire way he developed a base in the republican party. The allies the only reason he has a political existence. At other you wh can follow. He is try to divide the u. S. , continuing to pull out his dog every singlelow it day. It is painful to say that but i just have to reach that conclusion. Juan you mentioned former president obama. Yourur campaign a s says youree only person running for president who both voted for obama care and then implemented it in your state. Could you talk about what you did and the whole issue . Obviously, a President Trump has never ceased wanting to dismantle obamacare. This points out to something ive been a member of u. S. Congress for 15, 16 years. I was active trying to get the Health Care Bill passed. Governing means passing bills and implement in them. Successful of implementing obamacare since ive been governor. We have 800,000 people with insurance. We have beenen able to keep a ad on costs in health care. I have passed the first public option in the u. S. Im the only candidate who exactly passed a state sanctioned plan for health care in their state. Weve also passed the first longterm Elder Care Program in the u. S. With our increasing retirement and the dementia crisis that is extremely important. The implementation i put forward i think has been very successful. It is one of the themes of my candidacy, the things ive done as a governor, i think is a template for success in the u. S. The highest minimum wage, the best paid family leave, we are very radical in washington. We think women should be paid the same as men. We have the best gender pay equity in the country. First i was the first governor to pass a Net Neutrality bill. The point im making, governing is important in addition to just passing legislation, i think it would suit me well in the position of the white house. Juan you have Big Companies in washington. I want to ask about boeing. Back in 2013, you and the Legislature Passed a series of tax incentives for boeing or some of the tax breaks that were some of the biggest of any given to accompany and yet boeing continued to lay off workrkers rather thahan expand e workforce. Have you looked back on that and thought about those tax breaks and whether they were a judicious use of state power . I think we need federal legislation to put tax states from w what happened in my stat, a Large Corporation sort of hold a gun to our rooms and said, were going to momove 20,000 0 s elsewhere if we dodo not contine the tax strain. Essentially, this was a continuation of the existing tax treatment they had. I dont think states should be able to be leveraged in that manner. We cannot allow these corporations to continue to play one state off agagainst anothero try y to leverage those tax breaks. No, im not comfortable that happen. We n need protection against th. I think there are some things we can do in the tax code to protect states from being of being to that sort victimized, and my view. I hope to get that done. Amy would you do it again . You have come to new york where people drove amazon out of long island city, enraged at the tax breaks they were giving this company. I have to say i am pleased there is about 20,000 people that would not be working in the ststate of washington in the Aerospace Industry had they not done that, so my job is to keep those people working and we get it for those families. But as i said, we should push back against this corporate behavior that does that. Not all corporations do this. Salesforce just a acquired a company in seattle. Ththis is a cocorporation that s for its people, gets paid compensation, worries about the homelessness. Not every corporation behaves this way. This one did. Amy your thoughts on democratic socialism . I am a proud progressive. My progressive record is unmatched. We talked about the muslim ban and gender pay equity. I passed one of the best reproductive parity bills. This is important. T. It is s not just a matter of a woman having the right of choice academically, they have to be able have health care. We passed through productive parity act to make sure women have access to health care through their insurance policies. I have been a very stalwart progressive. Im a democrat. That is how i label myself. I think those are things that are going to win. We have to realize we need to be vigorous and defending those valueses. I heard ththe Vice President toy saying he is going to sort of sit down with Mitch Mcconnell and iron these things out. Look, the party that try to destroy obamacare and triple the and stolenistration the Supreme Court decision is not going to be sold over a cucp of tea. You cannot expect the Toronto Raptors to root for the warriors in the next game. We have to stand up to these values and im capable of doing that. Ive had some bipartisan successes and got the biggest educational benefit, biggest transpsportation package, best family leave while i had a Republican Senate. But you have to be able to stand for your values, and i have been doing that for about 25 years. Abouti want to ask another issue, Capital Punishment. Your once in favor of it but then you place a moratorium on the use of Capital Punishment in 2014. The Death Penalty has since been abolished in your state. Can you talk about this . What i have seen is increasing awareness of the Racial Disparity in ouour crimil Justice System. That is one of the reasons i andinated the Death Penalty put a moratorium on the executive order. One of the reasons ive offered pardons to thousands of people who had marijuana convictions, which we have now legalized marijuana, but with in the Racial Disparity that has come from the drug war. We need to root that out. It is one of the reasons that we passed the best Police Accountability laws that hold Police Accountable when there is undue violence. That is one of the reasons why we now are doing something im really proud of, which is diverting juveniles into School System out of the criminal Justice System. We have way totoo many black y g men were shunted in the criminal Justice System at the age of 14, 15, 16 that we want in the educational system that might need mentalhealth issues as well. These are a host of things were doing to try to write the Racial Disparity that has been so prevalent in our society. We have just embraced affirmative action for the first time in a was very vague vocal and the restoration o of affirmative actition in our stae so we can right the shadow t tht has inflicted this country of racial disparities. We are moving forward. Juan how do you to break out of the pack . We have about two dozen candidates and they are essentially being divided into anyone amy you made it into the first debate. There are two things i can offer to people. Look, i have to tell you why im running for president. Andally love being governor hahave been extreme the successful. We have the best t economy, created the bestst economy in te u. S. And a good argument to defeat donald trump. But i have just decided i wanted to be able to look at my grandkidids in my final days and say i did everything i could to defeat Climate Change. This is a personal obligation on some part, and i want to do that for all of the children of the natition. Whatat im offering is a unique commitment to say if i am elected president , i will make defeating Climate Change the numberer one priority of the United States. That levely believe of commitment is necessary to this job. Job one, it will not get done. The Political Capital is necessary to totally mobilized u. S. Economy requires the president with that level of commitment. Im the only candidate who is made that c commitmentt becausei know it is mrs. Seri. I have a plan and the experience that is unmatched by anyone in the field. I have an expense level of all of the things ive gotttten done, s some of which e. Alked about today those are two things about people take a look at them. Amy the list militarys Largest Consumer of oil in the world. How do you take on the militaryindustrial complex, or do you see that as something you feel you should be doing . And your stance on Foreign Policy and the wars in the longest war the u. S. Has ever engaged in, afghanistan and iraq . I was one of the most vocal critics of the iraq war the bush and administration and fought long and hard against that war and will continue to principled position we need alliances continuedn making mistakes of thinking we can revamp whole countries and cultures in her own image in a short period of time. I think i have experienced a show ive been able to stand up against when the war drums are beating. As far as the u. S. Military in regard to Climate Change, i believe they can be a very positive way to to help drive your technologies that are not dependent on oil and gas and diesel and cold. We started that in my state where we use our procurement powers to drive new technologies. From the first governor to make sure half the cars we buy in the state for the State Government are fully electric. That is w working well. We do the same kind of thing with the United States military. We startrted that a little bit with the g green fleet to use biofuels on some of the ships. We can do the same in aerospace or were developing fuels that can be lowcarb and to jets. We have already done that. We need to make it a positive player. I am convinced we can make it positive. Amy governor inslee, thank you for being with us, jay inslee, governor of washington 2020 , democratic president ial candidate. When we come back, we go to australia where prpress freedom groups arere sounding the alarm after police raided the headquarters of the Australian Broadcasting corporation after the network revealed Australian Special forces may have committed war crimes in afghanistan. Stay with us. [music break] amy the instrumental to geto boys mind playing tricks on me. Member busushwick bill passed ay sunday at the age of 52. This is democracy now , im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan we end todays show in australia, where press freedom groups are sounding the alarm over a pair of police raids on journalists. On wednesday last week, Australian Federal police swept into the headquarters of the Australian Broadcasting corporation in sydney, reviewing thousands of documents for information about a 2017 report that found Australian Special forces may have committed war crimes in afghanistan. Abc executive editor john lyons spoke on his own network just minutes after police served a warrant naming a news director and the two o reporters who broe ththe story. 9 94ey have d downloaded documents. I coununted them. And d they are now going throuoh themem. They have set of a huge e screen and theyeyre goioing through el by email. It is quite e extraordinarary. I feel as aaournalist t it is a real violation b bause these are emails betetween this paparticur journalist and his boss, herer bo, draft and scripts of storories. Ive never seen an assault on the mediaa as savage as this one were s seeing today y at the a. The chillingng message is not so much for the journalist, but also for the public. Wednesdays raid on abc, are strutting broadcasting system, came one day after police in melbourne raided the home of annika smethurst, a reporter with the herald sun newspaper. Police served a warrant related to smethursts reporting on a secret effort by an Australian Intelligence Service to expand its surveillance capabilities, including against australian nationals. Australias acting federal Police Commissioner neil gaygen dedefended t the raids, saying journalists could face pririson time for holding classified information. No sector of the community should be immune for this type evidencety, or collection, more broadly. This includes Law Enforcement itself, the media, or indeed even politicians. Amy well, for more, were joined by two guests. With us in brisbane, australia, is peter greste, unesco chair in journalism and communications at the university of queensland. He is a founding director of the alliance for journalists freedom. He was imprisoned for 400 days in 2013 to 2014 while covering the political crisis in egypt. And joining us from peperth, australia Joseph Fernandez is a , media law academic at curtin univiversity a and australiaias correspondenent for reporters witht t borders. S. We welcome you both to democracy now Joseph Fernandez, lay out exactly what happened and when it took place, all of the details as you know them. Of abc and theg journalists homes. Raiaids happewiwithin 48 hours of each othther. It b began with a raid on annika smethurstss home. E. Yet inintroduced her. You introduduced her. The police spent 7. 5 hours going throrough everyry nothihing craf including the, rubbish then outside the house. Herthey sought to access messages, and anything they could lay their hands on, including what she might have kept away in her undies drawer. Annika was very traumatized by this, but she hasas held her hed high. In t the knowledge the story abt which she was being investigated wawas r really somethining v vey arguably and very stronglgly in ththe Public Interest of legitimate public concern. The second raid . My and that story w was that t story was there was a didiscussion a about a plan to expand state surveillance e that wowould have possssibly included surveillance of orordinaryry cititizens. Ththis was quiuite an ununpreced ideaea. And the obobjective e of such an was obviously justified on thee premise of protecting National Security. The second raid happened at t te headquarters of the national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting corporation in sydney. Police officers entered the with an with a warrant, exhaustive list of things they were looking for. As you have noted, they scoured hundreds and thousands of documents and materials, and leleft with a small collection f materials in a sealed package with the agreement not to use them into possible chahallenge s considered in the days ahead. Juan Joseph Fernandez, these raids coming within a day of each other, was there any coordidination or were these relateted in any way . That is an interesting quesestion. One of thehe first questions tht sprung intpeoples miminds wass whether they w were r relateded, whether r this was instigated by the governmnment. The e Prime Minister quickly mod toto distance himsmself d hiss governrnment from the raids, claiming the two agencies, the police werere acting entirely of their own accord. And the policece themselelves on record as sayiying the two evevs are unrelated. Whether lefeft to be seen it will be shed on n the real circumstances that l led to thee raraids. Itit is quite hard to accecept withouout inquiry as to whehethr there was absolutelely no notice given, whether informally or andally, to the bosses government. Amy for people to understand, broadcastingn corporation, leading broadcaster throughout the entire country of australia. I wanted to bring peter greste into this conversation. We had you in the studio after you are prison well over for year. You certainly knew what it meant to be arrested, to not have rights, to not even be told in the beginning why the egyptian authorities were holding you. Now you see the situation in australia. I was wondering if you could talk about the laws around press freedom, if you have them in australia, and amazingly in this warrant, the warrant gave the police wideranging authority to review, sees, edit, and destroy virtually any document it saw fit. That is right. There are a whole host of questions but let me start with the beginning and that is what i felt when i heard about the news because even now i can feel my skin pricking up thinking about the raid and what that would of felt like because i know exactly what it was like to have agenens burst into youour room looking r evidence and all of the confusion that surrounds it. I never really honestly expected to see it take place here in australia. It seems to me even though im not t suggesting australia is about to become an authoritarian ststate like egypt anytime sooni think we are being pushed in the same direction by the same kind around National Security, the prioritizing of National Security over the human rights and democratic rights of citizens because it is much easier to make a political case for National Security legislation, particularly when you see a tax in the streets and the consequences of that. But much hardeder to make the abstract case for human rights and citizens rights, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and so on. Until you see what that means in practical terms. That is what we saw last week with these two raids. It is very concerning to me and im deeply worried. As you mentioneded, w we do note enough joy are an explicit protection for press freedom written into the law. Nothing about freedom of speech. Australia has no bill of rights. All it has is an implied right of political communication with the high court deciding that was there as a function of our democracy. They said we live in a Representative Democracy and you cant have an effective Representative Democracy without political communication, therefore, that right is somehow inferred in the constitution. But without anything like the First Amendment in the united statates here in australia, without any explicit protection for press freedom, what were seeing is a lot of scope of legislators to draft laws there really intrude on press freedom and in all sorts of troubling ways that make it much harder for journalists to protect sources, even to contact sources within government. What were seeing is a vast web of interconnected National Security laws them in all sorts of ways make these kinds of raid s we saw last week possible. Im not t so critical of the federal popolice for carrying gt the raids. I except they are doing their jobs i except theyre doing their jobs. If there was nothing political, then clearly, the law needs to change and that is where we need to start talking. Ofn peter greste, in terms who determines the violations of state secrets, is it one centralized agency or can bear tofederal agencies decide conduct these kinds of raids in australia . It is quite difficult to know how the laws come into effect or come into force. Lets take a look at the metadata laws. Any number more than 20 agencies, government agencies, andsok into any a strong metadata without a warning. They need to apply for special journalist warrant if they want to investigate journalist metadata and Resource Resources but otherwise there is no warrant system. They can look anywhere they want. And i think that is the kind of scope were talking about. That is overreach. You talk to any lawyer, anyone who knows about the way the law breaksks and they y will ackckne that is overreach. Wewe need to start a vigorous conversation about the limit of state power and the kind of ways we need to encourage and support press freedom. Also the protection of whistleblowers. Ultimately, these raids were in the hunt for the sources of these stories, the whistleblowers that felt these story stated to be told. Amy we have to wrap it up right now but we want to continue the vigorous discussion and we will bring folks part two at democracynow. Org under web exclusives. Peter greste, please say for that discussion. Unesco chair in journalism and communications at the university of queensland. He is a founding director of the alliance for journalists freedom. He was imprisoned for 400 days. And Joseph Fernandez media law , academic at Curtin University singing and clapping drumming