Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20240714

Dozens of detained children and childents the youngest separated from his family at the border. He was just four months old. We will also go to colorado to speak with rosa sabido, an undocumented immigrant who has taken satutuary a c chuh. My name is rosa sidido and therere in sanctuary in united mhodist crch. Only had two choices. Either tee sanctuary or be willgo be tak in custy anbe detaid. In an immigratn n deteionn centete which is practically to be jailed. Amy than Tropical Storm barry makes landfall in louisiana, putting millions at risk of epic flooding. President trump declared a state of emergrgency in more than 60,0 were without power. In hurricane season, we dont know when the next time is going to be we get a storm. We assume it could be very quickly, so we will be out and about and that is what why this really is not over. Amy the biggest climate news is in south asia where monsoon season has pummeled with deadly rains. We will speak with environmental reporter dahr jamail about the impact of Climate Change on extreme weather and is no report. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Widespread raids by immigration agents did not materialize over the weekend despite threats of President Trump. A handful of raids did unfold across the country and protesters rallied in support of immigrant communities. Agents and chicago reportedly arrested a mother and her children only to quickly release them. A rests arrests were attempted in new york, but people refuse to open the doors. There was a vigil to continue from the community of their rights. This is an organizerer of the nw sanctuary coalition. Were here today because we heard what happened d yesterday, that ice came to our neighborhood. Untiled to stand togetether the message saying that they are not welcome here. Amy and this is a new york state senator at another rally in queens. Where the most diverse district in the entire country. And with that comes a huge responsibility for every single section of our neighbors. For our undocumented neighbors, we are out here trying to show solidarity, making sure people understand their rights here in Jackson Heights we always banded together to protect each other and no onene, not even the president of the united date is going to mess with our neighbors. Amy y Authorities Say more rats are planned this week. Well have more on this story after headlines. Vice president mike pence defended conditions for detained migrants after visiting two detention facilities in texas friday. Every family i spoke to said they were being will will care for them a different from some of the harsh rhetoric we hear from our democrats on capitol hill. Amy a tweet from Washington Post reporter josh dawsey, who was covering the Vice President s visit, described the dire conditions inside one of of the jails vp saw 384 men sleeping inside fences, on concrete with no pillows or mats. They said they hadnt showered in weeks, wanted toothbrushes, food. Stench was overwhelming. Cbp said they were fed regularly, could brush daily and recently got access to shower. Many had not pretended 20 days, he tweeted. Many had not pretended 20 days from he tweeted. Meanwhile, a new report from the House Oversight committee released on friday found that at least 18 Migrant Children under the age of two have been separated from their families at the border as part of trumps zero tolerance family separation policy. This included nine infants under the age of one. On sunday, President Trump unleashed a racist attack on four progressive congresswomen of color, telling them to go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. The tweets were aimed at Congress Members ayanna pressley, alexandria ocasiocortez, rashida tlaib, and ilhan omar. All four are u. S. Citizens and three of them were born in the United States. Ilhan omar was born in somalia before coming to the u. S. As a refugee at age 12. Congressmember omar fired back at trump, tweeting as members of congress, the only country we swear an oath to is the United States. Which is why we are fighting to protect it from the worst, most corrupt and inept president we have ever seen. Congressmember omar added you are stoking White Nationalism because you are angry that People Like Us are serving in congress and fighting against your hatefilled agenda. Trumps twitter tirade also named hoHouse Speaker pelosi. He wrote these places need your help badly, you cant leave fast enough. Im sure that nancy pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements House Speaker pelosi called trumps remarks xenophobic and said that that trumps tweet reaffirms his plan to make America Great again has always been about making America White again. Our diversity is our strength and our unity is our power. Trumps racist attacks come on the heels of a public feud between Speaker Pelosi and the four congress memberers followig last months passing of the contested border funding bill, opposed by the four. Last week, House Speaker pelosi told the New York Times all these people have their public whatever and their twitter world. But they didnt have any following. Theyre four people, and thats how many votes they got. Aoc tweeted in response that public whatever is called public sentiment. And wielding the power to shift it is how we actually achieve meaningful change in this country. Alexander Acosta Cortez also said in an interview that pelosis explicit singling out of newly elected women of color was outright disrespectful. Last week, pelosi told the progressive Congress Members to bring any grievances to her in person, rather thahan express tm via twitter. A white house meeting today between guatemalan president jimmy Moore Allison President Trump has been canceled as reports emerged of a Safe Third Country Agreement that was to be signed between the two heads of state. The Constitutional Court of guatemalan temporarily blocked a Safe Third Country Agreement would mean that migrants heading apply for. Have to some of the first destination. It was blocks in a following widespread outloo outcry. Alex acosta is out as labor secretary amid the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein case. Trump announced the dedeparturen friday, saying the decision was acostas. He stood at his side went acosta explained why he was resigning. Two days earlier, acosta continued to defend himself for his plea deal with accused serial sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein in 2008 when he was a u. S. Prosecutor. A u. S. Attorney in florida. Epstein, who is now standing trial in new york on similar charges, received just 13 months in county jail despite being accused of sexually abusing and trafficking hundreds of underage girls. Trump has tapped Patrick Pizzella as acting labor secretary. Pizzella, the Current Deputy labor secretary, is known for opposing labor rights. In the 1990s, he worked with disgraced republican lobbyist and now exconvict Jack Abramoff to deny Worker Protections in the northern mariana islands. In south asia, ongoing heavy rain and flooding have killed at least 67 people in nepal, 25 in india, and 14 in bangladesh. Monsoon rains have affected more than one Million People in south asia, including thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees in southern Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar the largest refugee camp in the world. The tunisian r red crescent says the bodies of all 82 missing people who were on board a migrant ship that sank off its coast earlier this month have been recovered. The boat was heading to europe from libya. Tunisian fishermen initially rescued four o of the boats passengers but one later died in hospital. According to the International Organization for migration, at least 426 people have drowned attempting to cross the mediterranean so far this year, while thousands have been returned to migrant jails in libya. In algeria, protesters took to the streets friday for the 21st straight week to call for the establishment of independent, civilianled institutions to oversee upcoming elections. Algeriall build another in a free and independent. An independent trust is an independent regime and independent president , to build a country with an independent economy. Amy longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned in april amid the popular uprising. Elections planned for july 4 were canceled after protesters said they would be controlled by the army and politicians from the ruling elite. Interim president abdelkader bensalah, who is backed by the military, remains in power despite his mandate having expired last week. In ecuador, members of the indigenous waorani tribe celebrated as a court upheld a ruling barring the government from selling land in the amazon to oil companies. The waorani argued they had not been consulted over the governments plans to auction off their ancestral lands. The historic ruling could set a precedent for other indigenous groups fighting exploitation of their lands. This is waorani activist nemonte nenquimo. Ournd this victory means people and the future generations, the children, our children, will live healthy and without contamination and that also means to the world that we contribute to the air you breathe, which is from the amazon. Amy the israeli army acknowledged that it accidentally killed 28yearold hamas member mahmoud aladham in the occupied gaza strip thursday. Al adham was attempting to turn away two young palestinians near the gaza strips separation barrier with israel when the soldiers shot at him. The killing came amid a fragile truce that was mediated by egypt, qatar, and the u. N. Following a spike in violence in may that killed at least 25 palestinians. In somalia, gunmen killed a reported 26 people after they stormed and took siege on a hotel in the southern port city of kismayo. The dead incncludes kenyans, americans, a briton, and tanzanians, as well as at least two journalists and a candidate for augusts regional elections. The victims also included sosolicanadian journalist and popular social media figure Hodan Nalayeh who focused on covering the beauty of her native country and its people. She moved back to somalia just last year after 30 years away. She was pregnant and had two children. President trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal to spite president barack obama. This according to a newly leaked memo written by former British Ambassador to the u. S. Kim darroch in 2018. Ambassador darroch called the move diplomatic vandalism, motivatedd by ideological and personality reasons. Darroch stepped down from his position last week amid fallout from earlier leaks in which he called trump inept, insecure and incompetent. In more news about iran, britain has said the oil tanker they seized off the coast of gibraltar would be released if iran guaranteed it was not heading to syria, a violation of european sanctions. Meanwhile, president Hassan Rouhani has reiterated that he is ready to talk if harsh sanctions are lifted and the u. S. Agrees to return to the landmark deal, which was deemed to be effective before the u. S. Pulled out last year. Back in the u. S. , the house voted along party lines to pass the 733 billion National Defense authorization act friday. 27 republicans joined with the majority of democrats to pass an amendment to the act, restricting trumps ability to launch a military strike on iran without the approval of congress. The senate rejected such an amendment last month. The senate and house defense bills must now be reconciled, making the f fate of the bipartisan house amendment uncertain. Hurricane barry was downgradad to a Tropical Storm as it continues its path across louisiana and neighboring states. Authorities warn the risk of dangerous storm surges and flash flooding remain high but said the impact could have been much worse. Over 150,000 customers lost power in parts of louisiana sunday, while torrential downpours and flooding ruined homes and businesses in some areas. And celebrated union leader Hector Figueroa died thursday at his home in queens, new york at the age of 57. Figueroa was the president of local 32bj of the Service Employees international union, representing over 170,000 building cleaners, security guards, doormen, and airport workers. Figueroa was instrumental in key labor struggles across the city, including increasing airport workers minimum wage to 19 an and the highprofile fight for a minimum wage of 15 per hour for a workers, which led or fast food workers, which led to a nationwide campaign. This is Hector Figueroa speaking to democracy now at may day protests in 2017 in new york city. We all know that immigrant rights are worker rights. No more deportatation, no more breaking families. We are here and were going to stay and fight because we work really hard. We feed the american public. We take care of the children. We clean the offices. Americahe ones making strong, and we are here to stay. Amy that was Hector Figueroa, prominent new York City Union leader addressing may day protests. He died last thursday of a heart attack at the age of 57. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Widespread immigration raids did not materialize across the country this weekend after President Trump announced them in advance. A handful of raids did still unfold and prompted protests in support of immigrant communities. Agents in chicago reportedly arrested a mother and her kids only to quickly release them. Arrests were also attempted here in new york city, but migrants reportedly refused to open their door to agents. Authorities say more raids are planned this week. Democracy now was in queens sunday when residents protested with local lawmakers, including tiffany caban, who recently declared victory in the highly contested queens district attorneys race that is now facing a recount. To they are committed is getting together not only to protest the ice raids, but also to call for the abolition of ice. Acknowledging it is a rogue agency that puts a lot of our families in danger of family separation and deportation. Im proud of the efforts. We know there has been an ice presence in the city but so far we have not had folks in queens picked up. I think that speaks to the strength of our communities, the way we are coming out and saying were going to let people know their rights and do it we can to protect our neighbors and continue to do it for as long as we need to. Amy this comes amid growing outrage over dire conditions for migrants held in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions by customs and Border Patrol, including children and families seeking asylum. On friday, Vice President mike pence toured two Migrant Detention Centers in texas, including one in mcallen where hundreds of men were crowded into dirty cells without cots to sleep on and many said they were hungry and had been detained for 40 days. Trump tweeted that the childrens rooms pence saw were well run and clean and facilities for single men were clean but crowded. Pence defended conditions during an interview on cnn and refused to tell pamela brown. Today was very different for the families versus a very you saw today was clean facility where people were being detained indoors, and then you saw a temporary facility that was c constructed because this facility is overcrowdwded. But everyone even in the temporary facility, pamela, is getting three meals a day, getting health care, g getting hygiene false of amy Vice President pence refused to say whether children would be separated from their parents. Video of pence visiting the Border Patrol facilities, looking at men in the overcrowded cells without speaking to them and then walking away, was broadcast around the world. At the same time people held lights for liberties in at least 900 cities around the world, in what organizers called one of the Largest Global mass mobilizations in history. They called for the close the Detention Centers and end the Inhumane Treatment. This is activist Linda Sarsour speaking at the vigil in new york citys foley square, just across from an ice processing center. Thatwant to remind people there are children who have died in these camps. And i will say their names here today. 10 years old from el salvador. Jakelin caal, seven years oldd from guauatemala. Gomez alonso from guatemala. 16 fromierrez, guatemala. , 2. 5ramirez rask as years old fromom guatemala. Carlos hernandez baskets, 16 result from guatemala. One day 30 or 40 years from now, people are going to ask you where were you when children were being stripped from the hands of their mothers . What did you do . What did you say . And you are good to say that i showed up and added my voice and chose not to be part of the silent majority in these United States of america that has allowed this injustice to happen for far too long. Amy that was Linda Sarsour speaking at fridays lights for liberty vigil in new york. Was called to denounce the conditions in jails, child Detention Centers, adult facilities along the border, as well as what people believed because President Trump tweeted it that there would be widespread immigration raids across the country which ultimately, did not materialize at least at this point. For more, we are joined by elora mukherjee, a professor of law and director of the immigrants rights clinic at columbia law school. She spent abouout a week at the facility in clint, texas, interviewing dozens of detained children. The youngestesents child separated from his family at the border when he was just four months old. Welcome to democracy now it is great to have you with us. I want to talk about both issues, the raids and your trip to clint, which is where we want to begin. Pence talked about the conditions being humane and acceptable. Found something extremely different in the clint facility. Describe what you saw. Who werend children hungry, who were dirty, who were sick, and who were scared. We found children who had been detained for longer than the 72 hour limit for cbp this oldies for children. We found children who had been detained a week, even longer, weeks, nearly a month. We found children wearing dirty clothing, covered withurine, vomit, breastmilk. Children had not brushed their teeth for days or showered for weeks. We found children who smelled really bad because they had an opportunity to shower or change their clothes. We found children who were hungry, children who were so traumatized that they cried theirtently and wept in interviews with me. We found children who had been andrated from a parent other Family Members. Children had been detained without an opportunity to make a single phone call to their loved ones. We took out her own phones and we allowed the children to make calls to their Family Members of the first time, sometimes in days, sometime in weeks. Amy these children ask the could reach someone in the United States. Did somewhere bracelets with numbers on them at least one . Ore ae child w bracelet that said u. S. Parent on it. With either a phone number or some other kind of identifier. Other children have little scraps of paper tucked into a pocket in their shirt or in their pants that had the name of a Family Member. What is so important for america to realize is that the overwhelming majority of these children have familyly members n the United States who are desperate to have their kids back. So nearly 100 of children who were released from ice custody are released to a parent or other Family Member. More than 80 of children areased fromomr custody reunited with a Family Member in the united statetes. Amy so explain the decision to come forward. Visits like you had, a group of lawyers, to interview the children, are not usually made public. Is that right . Thats right. I have been doing this work for 12 years along the southern border, representing detained imMigrant Children and families. I have been a monitor for the flores Settlement Agreement. Last july i was in brownsville, facility. Ontroversial in march, i was in homestead interviewing children at an even more controversial facility. And in those two instances, i did not go public with my findings. I expressed concern about numerous violations of thelforeres agreement in that case. But what we got in clint was different. What we found was more appalling than anything ive seen in my entire professional career. I have never seen such degrading and Inhumane Treatment of children in fedederal immigratin custody. Amy what is going to happen . Did you testify before congress . On friday. We are demanding immediate congressional oversight to protect Vulnerable Children in custody. We are also seeking the assistance of the federal courts to protect the children in federal immigration custody and to make sure their rights under federal law and under our constitution are protected. We are also enlisting the support of the Fourth Branch of government, the free press. We need assistance from everyone to make sure that children are not being abused in our name with our taxpayer dollars and in our country. The American People have risen up. And across party lines have spoken out, have participated in a public outcry to let the executive branch know the children must not be abused in our country and in our name. Amy talk about the independent organization or person who has been authorized to go in the Trump Administration has accepted to do oversight here. Mid1980s, there is been a case called the flores case. In 1990 seven, Settlement Agreement was reached in that case. Part of the Settlement Agreement allows flores the plaintiffs counsels, so the lawyer for the children, to go into the facilities were children are being detained to monitor compliance with that flores Settlement Agreement. The flores agreement sets forth that children must be detained in safe and sanitary conditions and more importantly, the children must be released from federal immigration custody as quickly as possible. So i have been a monitor for the flores case. Amy during an interview on cnn this weekend, pamela brown press Vice President pence and questioned them about family separation. She asked him if he was concerned families will be separated. This has to do with the raiaids. Pence replied, people will be separated from this country who are courts of order to be deported. When pressed again if families would be separated ,pence said individuals who have committed crimes on this country, members people of engaged in violent acts in this country many cases. Lets go to the second point, these nationwide immigration raids that President Trump threatened the country with. They may not have materialized across the country, but certainly, the terrorizing of immigrant communities did. But also, the flipside of that, the organizing. Right. The point of these raids is cruelty. These raids are not necessary. The data is very clear that when asylum seeking families have access to counsel, they show up for the immigration proceedings 99 of the time. When asylum seekeking families participate in the ice case Family Management program and are paired with a social worker, they show up for the Immigration Court proceedings 99 of the time. The point of the rates is cruelty. The point of the raids is terrorizing immigrant communities and playing to trumps base. Amy oddly, just him announcing this, it was amazing to see penc e saying he was not going to say when it would happen because that would undercut the effectiveness of the raids. His own president announced it around the country. Maybe his point was not to carry them out but just to terrorize. Of thet was because senses question that he did not get that he wanted come the question of citizenship that he wanted some kind of retaliation for not being able to identify undocumented immigrants. It is a heartbreaking situation. And the raids will leave children without their parents. They will leave children without their caregivers. The raids will leave u. S. Citizen children without anyone in america to care for them. It is a heartbreaking situation. Amy knowing your rights. Forms were heleld to stop people calling in to find out what their rights are. Explain the issue of the warrant. While there were. Nationwide raids on the level that President Trump promised, there were reports here in new york of people not opening the doors to agents. Explain. Someone who is undocumented and ice is knocking at your door, here are your rights. You do not need to open the door. You should ask through the door whether the officers have a warrant. If they have a warrant, asked the officers to slip it under the door. Then check the warrant to make sure it is signed by a judge. Very often ice shows up to carry out raids without a warrant or one that is not signed by judge. Unless the warrant is signed by a judge, you do not need to open the door. You also have a right to remain silent when ice is gearing up a raid. You do not need to provide your name or state where you u are fm. You can stay if you want that you wish to speak with an attorney. If ice breaks down your door and comes into your house without your consent, you may also state i do not consent to this search. And for anyone else who is witnessing a raid, i encourage everyone to be an up standard. Stand there. Bear witness, take videos, document what is happening. Try to protect those in our community who are asylum seeking families, who are refugees, and who have the right to due process while theyre in our country. Amy i want to end by going to brooklyn sunset park. While the wholesale raids did not happen, the immigrant community was terrorized. This is an organizer with the new Century Coalition who told democracy now about the effects of just the threat of the ice raids. Come on avenue, if you a saturday or sunday, if you look up to thehe park up to 6th avenue, you see a lot of people. If you go to the laundromat, you see it is full of people saturday and sunday. Today, we have been in the neighborhood 6 00 in the morning. Some of my friends have been here since 5 00 in the morning. Everything was empty. No people in the streets. No people in the supermarkets. No people in the restaurants. I think everyone is afraid to go out, even to go to the supermarket. They dont want to do that anymore. At least for this weekend. Elora mukherjee, your final response echo President Trump raids willned the materialize. Yes, it is certainly possible that more raids will be carried out, that more families will be targeted. Immigrants rights lawyers will fight back. We will represent these families. We will ensure that they have a chance to present their asylum cases to the courts. And it is telling that one of the families that was arrested in chicago was immediately released. A mother and her children. These are not people who pose a danger to our communities. Amy elora mukherjee, thank you for being with us professor of , law and director of the immigrants rights clinic at columbia law school. Spent about a week at the facility in clint interviewing dozens of detained children. When we come back, we go to colorado. Denver was one of the places they threatened raids these. Hours away is a woman who is taken sanctuary in a church. Stay witith us. [music breaeak] amy across the borderline by Gaby Moreno Van dyke parks, this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. As immigration Authorities Say rates this week, sanctuary cities are also under attack. On friday, the 9th Circuit Court of appeals ruled in favor of the Trump Administration could withhold federal funding for local policing and say sure cities that refuse to comply with certain immigration policies like giving agents access to jail records as immigrants in custody. We go to mancos, colorado, where we are joined by a woman who has been in sanctuary in the United Methodists church since 2017. Rosa sabido is one of dozens of undocumented immigrants living in churches across the country to avoid deportation. She says she first came to the United States on a visitor visa more than 30 years ago in 1987 to see her mother and stepfather, who are both naturalized citizens. She says she traveled back and forth between colorado and mexico for a decade until she was questioned by immigration officials about her visa and told her to leave the United States. Instead, she stayed and continued going to regular checkins. She requesting multiple stays of deportation and was granted them until may of 2017, when she was told that her latest request had been denied. That is when she entered sanctuary. For more on how she has been impacted by the latest crackdown on immigrants, including the threat of nationwide raids, rosa sabido joins us now via democracy now video stream. She is in sanctuary in a church in southwest colorado in the four corners. Rosa, welcome to democracy now can you talk about why youre in the church right now and though your inside, what you feel as you hear about these threats of ice agents moving in to take undocumenteded immigrarants awad depoport them . Good morning, amy. Thank you. K know, even us whoho live in sanctuary, we are not away from thehe danger of being breakingor maybe ice the moral agreement they have with Sacred Places were sensitive places like the churches. Yes, we are here. Guard. On we are on coconstant, you know, panic. We dont know what is going to happen. We dont know what is going to happen in our communities. We dont know what is going to happen with us. Remain, like, with uncertainty. We know we are protected by the communities and the churches, but we e never know what is goig to happen. Amy were you afraid this weekend . What stops ice from entering the churches . You have Jeanette Vizguerra who is taken refuge once again in the Unitarian Church in denver. You have women thrhroughout coloradodo in churches. Were you afraid, rosa, this weekend . Yes. We are afraid evevery day. Y. Not only this weweekend. Bececause weur fear are people with high profiles because were going public and we a are resisting the system, even though we are peaceful resistance. As fugitivesseen in the eyes of ice and the government. Yes, we are in constant fear. Every time we hear someone aocking at the door, it is moment of panic because we dont know who it may be. And we dont know who is entering into the church. We dont know who that person might be. Yes, we are. E. And we arere even more now becae , u u know, nonothing is securue anymore. Amamy while you were in sanctuary,y, your beloved mother blanca d died of cancecer. Our condolences on your loss. Can you talk about what that meant for you being s separated from her . Well, she was my First Priority to remain in the country because of her poor health condition. For me being inn sanctuary, i ws ththat able to be with her, take care of her, go with her to the doctors appointments, the her interpreter as i always did. Filling out paperwork, taking care of her. You know, the basics. Mexico, she decided to getetreatment thehere. And d because i was not ablele e with h her unfortunately, she 23 lastway on july year. , i am paying a vevery hard in thisisthis sacrififice battle that im fighting in in sanctuary. She was my motivation. She is the reason i wanteted to remain were one of the reasoson, but the biggest reason n now. I wasnt able to be with her. I wasnt able t to say goodbye. I havent been able to even death. Er, you know, her itit is justst, like, so amy rosa,a, why did you decideo enter the church in 2017 . You lived in this countntry for more than threree decades. You are doing reregular check i, in the last one under President Trump was denied. Why did you choooose this mode f resistance . Well, t tre was no other choice. It was just turned myself to ice and just be at their mercy and maybe just be deported in a couple of days or this option to be in sanctuary. How long i was going to be in sanctuary. And i think the strongest reason, as you mentioned i have lived here 32 years now. 32 years of my life. That is over half of my life. Good citizen. N a contributing to the community. I have been working. I have never taken advantage of anything from the government. I dont t have any criminanal records will stop i have been trying to become a p permanent resident all those years. And so i think those arere enouh in resist andemain keep fighting until the end. , thank you forr being g with us. Rosa is undocumented from mexico. She is lived in this country for more than 30 years, regularly going to her check ins. She took sanctuary at the Fellowship Hall at the United Methodist church of makers, colorado. And special thanks to laururel smith who took the photos and video that we have been showing for our tv audience around the sanctuary andin also a special thanks to my niece who presented sanctuary man. Ies, ariel good multimedia story collaboration with women on the front lines of colorado struggle for immigrant rights. This is democracy now when we come back, the climate catastrophe in asia, nepal, indidi and on the shores of louisiana. Stay with us. [music break] amy mercy mercy me by marvin gaye. This is democracy now , im amy goodman. N. As Tropical Storm barry made landfall in louisiana with millions of people under flash flood alert an even more dire , Climate Crisis was playing out across south asia, where ongoing heavy rain and flooding have killed at least 67 people in nepal, 25 in india, and 14 in bangladesh. Monsoon rains have displaced one Million People, including thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees in southern Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar the largest refugee camp in the world. The flooding has also destroyed crops across the region. This is Mohammad Feroze khan, an inindian farmer in uttar prades. The rainfall has also b been extreme. 72 hours of continuous rain. The water level kept increasing and slowly submerged farmlanand. Nearly all of the crops have been destroyed. Amy monsoon season regularly pummels south asia witith deadly rarains. Flooding killed morere than 1000 in 2017. But this years flooding has been even worse and is likely fueled by global warming, which has led to more extreme weather in thehe region. Scientists warn the risk of deadly floods is not over. Here in the United States, new orleans residents managed to avoid the worst of Tropical Storm barry, but remain on flash 11 million Flood Warning after the storm slowly made its way through louisiana, to arkansas. President trump has declared a state of emergency in louisiana, where more than 60,000 people remained without power on sunday. Here in new york, yet this power outage of just a few hours, a city that is so heavily based on fossil fuel and the grid, though it is slowly changing under the city and states green new deal, encouraging buildings, even the skyscrapers, to have solalar panels on their roofs. For more, we go to seattle to speak with dahr jamail, an independent journalist and author the end of ice bearing witness and finding meaning in the path of climate disruption. His most recent piece for truthout is headlined, over onetenth of global population could lack Drinking Water by 2030. Welcome back to democracy now talk about what you think is most importatant to understand w as we talk about the climate catastrophe that is enveloping us around the world. Everything we just heard about what you are reporting the these ice raids and migrant crisis, the vast majority of these people are climate refugees. To anyone in this country ththat thinks this crisis is not just on our doorstep, but we are living with the ramifications of it. That is just one layer of it. We can look around the world and see right now before our very eyes evidence of how deep in this crisis we already are. Thingnot a futuretense anymore. Were in it and it is going to grow worse. We saw regionally High Temperature records across the arctic for me. June was a record hot june for alaska. July 4, anchorage so 90 degrees. We are seeing feedback loooops p there alalready kicked in. Rings like the tundra in the permafrost. The tundra becoming a net producer of carbon rather an a rbon sin if wlook dowto the antarcti sea i is meing at record rates. 2014, according to a rectt udy,y, w a rececd high here of antarctica. X i inhrhree yrs, by017, seace d reduced tots lowest leve ever rorded. Losi in a sht threear peod, an aaf ice larger than the se othe couny of mexico. You are talking about the flooding in asia. In addition to all of the deaths you u mentioned, i in june in mi in 148 hour period, they received their average monthly hourall in just one 48 period. These things are happening in front of us. I think that is a very important part of this discussion that people need to understand and take in. Amy i want to turn to an , viceiew last month president pence repeatedly refused to say the Climate Crisis is a threat to the United States. He was interviewed by cnns jake tapper. Do you think human induced climate is a threat . We will always follow the signs on that. Site says it is. What we wont do was hamstring energy in this country, raising the cost of utility rates for working families across this country. But is it a threat yet coco gauff other nations like china and india do notothing or make illusory promises decades down the road. The truth of the matter is with thee advent of natural gas, natural gas explosion that is developing, with clean coal technology, we are seeing a significant reductionon in carbn emisissions across this coununt. But is itit a threat . Do you think manmade Climate Emergency is a threat . It will be based on science. Site says yes. Your own administration atnoaa, dni also it is a threat but you wont for some reason. Weve said were not going to raise utility rate you dont think it is a threat . I i think were making america is the cleanest water and air in the world and we will continue it is not true. We dont have the cleanest water in error in the world. We dont. You can get back to me with statistics. Onwere making progress reducing carbon omissions. Amy t there is a vice resident ,efusing to say Climate Change that the Climate Crisis is a threat. Your response, dahr jamail, as he says you have to look at the science . It is not a surprise these fossil fuel stooges of this admiministration would react exactly as pence j just did. Talkinge their points and they are executing them. If we look around the world of what is happening, again evidence is right in front of our face. There are so many native american stories that have talked about what happens when we do not live in harmony with Mother Nature will stop and what happens if we get out of balance with that. One of them that ive written about and discussed is a story from the pit river nation told byby darrell wilson. Just as an example, he talked about a spirit f force that lils inside of the mountain that white people named mount shasta. And as l long as humans listen very carefully and lisisten to ththat spirit voice, nature will be kept in balance. But if people stop listening altogether and if enough people stop listening, then that spirit force will go away and stop singing and everything on the planet will go out of balance to life is vulnerable extinction. That is one of countleless stors and d prophecies that warned of exactly what isis upon us. Humans havelized stopped listening to the planet. We have stopped living in harmony. And now were living in a time of reckoning of that. We look at allif of the science, this is just the beginning. Everything that we are seeing, everything that Everybody Knows about the Climate Crisis today, has happened from raising the temperatures 1. 1c above preindustrial baseline levels. We arere looking at mperatur escalation in the comin years,ot even lking about 2100, but ev b by 20, ththate cod the several tim t that amamou of increasaccocordg to me o of e most dire scientifi predtitions. Amy want say a sior ate depamement ielligenc analyshas resied in prest aftethe trumadministtion ocked pas of hisritten testony to coness abouthe dangerof c clite chang inune, anast rod soonover s permitted to appear before the House Intelligence Committee to testify about the National Security risks posed by global warming, but the white house barred him from submitting peerreviewed scientific Journal Articles and intelligence reports as evidence to back his claims. Part of his censored testimony to Congress Read absent extensive mitigating factors or events, we see few plausible future scenarios where significant possibly catastrophic harm does not arise from the compounded effects of Climate Change. Catastrophic harm. But he was not allowed to say thisis to congress. I want to talk about some of those just catastrophic harms. One of those, which he most recently wrote about, over 1 10 of global population could lack Drinking Water by 2030. Tell us what you found. Right. That is according to studies and warnings coming out of the country of india where literally half the population of the entire country is on track if things do not change. Clearly, things are not changing. Arere changing, but impapartially, f for the worse. On the current sure directory, barely over 10 years from right now, half the cocountry of india is l likely going to bee facingt having enough Drinking Water. 1 10 theger translation, global population. That is on top of people already totoday that l lack an of drinkg water. On top of the fact the u. N. Is warning of tens of millions more climatee refugees just in the next decade alone. We talk about these catastrophic effects. One of these is children in cages. It is what the whole first half of the show was just on post of these changes are right t in frt of our face. When the Trump Administration talks about well, were going to use our scientists and rely on science, well, this is a fossisl fuel lobby talking point they are following. If we look at all of the other science around the world, even save the sides and use our own eyes a look at the events ununfolding in front of f us, is very clear. When i published my recent book, this is the reresult of nine yes of intensive climate reporting and meticulous research. I went into the f field and went to the front lines with leading scientists and so with my own eyes what is happening. And everything that i found is right there. I did not even know how right i had it. What were seeing play out in front of his now is so accelerated d and so much h fasr ththan i thought you know when e book camame out, that im shakig my head on a daily basis as i write these ongoing climate dispatches. It is a situation erere this is likely my last journalism book because onon this crisis, the evidence is in front of us. We keep reporting t the same stories over and over. We just keep adjusting the numbers upwards. Like w we always u used to hearn we were reporting from iraq about how bad things weree becoming mayayor, today is bettr than tomorrorow. That certainly applieses to the Climate Crisis. June was the hottest june recorded on the planet. Thlalast five yearars are the hottest in history. Ththis is the trajectory we aren and the spammers are only going to continue to increase. Amy a u. N. Expert has warned we arare on track for a Climate Apartheid where wealthy people can pay their way out of the consequences of climate devastation, while others will face hunger, conflict and mass displacement. The new report by philip alston, the u. N. Special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human right, concluding that the u. N. And the larger Human Rights Community has been complacent in the planets impending disaster and that even if current global emissions targets are met, millions will be impoverished. Poorer nations are expected to bear at least 75 of the costs of Climate Change, even as the poorer half of the worlds population generates just 10 of global emissions. Rigight. Ii belelieve the numbers froromt report are 120 million more people driven into poverty by climate impmpacts by jusust 203. Ththat is on top of the people that are already there. Again, the evidence you just spent 30 minutes reporting on the evidence and talking to these poor people who are fleeing their countries bececaue they d do not t have food. Theyey cannot grow crops. The susupport in their own countries to h help them through this crisis, to help them find another way of living even just basic necessities like food, shelter,r, and health cace is not there. These people are risking their lives to go to cocompletely different country to t try to fd help. Think about it. Here in the u. S. , so many of us live in this bubble or we at least for now have enougugh food and water and Something Like health care, if were lucky. How bad would things have to get for each one of us to leave everything we know and love, places whehere we have spent lae parts s of our lives come and go to a completely new foreign country especiaially one we know hateses us and rejects as n ththe government is demomonizins andnd going to great links to keep us out . That is how bad it is for People Living in poverty are ready. Amy dahr jamail, they get for being with us. We will do part two and posted online at democracynow. Org. His new book is out