Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20240714

Then to the bahamas. There are parts of abacao in the bahamas that dont show a great deal of damage and then there are clusters and communities that were devastated. Almost as though Nuclear Bombs were dropped on them. The suffering and the devastation. Amy as the death toll from Hurricane Dorian continues to rise in the bahamas, we will look at how Major Tv Networks ignored the connection between the deadly storm and Climate Change. According to one count, broadcast news covered dorian 216 times and mentioned Climate Change just once. Plus, we will go to tennessee where an undocumented immigrant was shot last week by an immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a traffic stop. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. President trump announced on twitter saturday he was calling off a secret meeting between himself, the afghan president and taliban leaders, that may have led to the withdrawal of thousands of u. S. Troops from afghanistan. Trump said his decision was due to a taliban car bomb last thursday that killed 12 people, including a u. S. Soldier, in kabul. Trump also said all further negotiations were being called off. The u. S. And taliban had appeared close to an agreement after holding nine rounds of talks in doha, even though the Afghan Government had not taken part in those meetings. The new y york times reports trump wanted the deal to be announced at the camp david meeting so he would be perceived as the dealmaker who pulled the peace deal together. But according to the times, taliban n negotiatators had agrd to come to the United States only after a deal was announced and only to meet with the american side. There are also questions about why trump canceled the secret meeting. Well have more on this story after headlines. People are confirmed dead and the number is expected to soar exponentially as the bahamas continues to reel from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Dorian. More than 70,000 on grand bahama and the abacao islands have been left homeless and thousands remain missing. On saturday, a cruise ship brought more than 1500 bahamians to a port in florida. But sunday, more than 100 people seeking aid and refuge in the United States were turned away after boarding a ferry bound for florida. Before the boat left the bahamas, passengers were told to disembark if they didnt have visas to enter the United States. This is renard oliver, a father who was forced to take his Young Children off the boat after the announcement. At the last minute, it was kind of disappointing. Atching my daughters cry it is what it is. Amy in tennessee, the fbi is investigating the shooting of an undocumented immigrant by an immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a traffic stop last week. The shooting occurred thursday at a supermarket parking lot in antioch after ice agents attempted to detain an unnamed 39 yearold mexican man. The man reportedly attempted to flee in a white truck when one of the agents shot him twice. A local news channel has released a closed circuit video of the incident t showing the white Truck Driving away from the scene and one agent raising his firearm and pointing at the truck. The injujured man managed to fle the scenene, but later surrended to fbi agents and was treatedd anand released f from a locall hospital. He hasas not been n arrested or chararged with a c crime. Well have more on n this story after headlines. Huffpost reports that the Trump Administration is failing to provide legal aid d for locked p Migrant Children in at least three separate facilities, a violation of federal law. Without the required legal services, Migrant Children are forced to navigate complicated Legal Proceedings alone and are more likely to be deported to potentially lifethreatening situations. Raices executive director Jonathan Ryan told huffpost our government is engaged in premeditated, deliberate acts of cruelty against children. I dont think one has to be a conspiracy theorist to believe that the government is attempting to systematically dismantle every framework of support for any immigrant in this country. Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed last month challenging the Trump Administration over its termination of the flores agreement has highlighted the dire conditions faced by locked up Migrant Children. Among the many violations, migrant girls reported being denied sufficient menstrual products and having to keep wearing g soiled c clothing throughout their periods. In more immigrant rightsts new, the Associated Press reports an eieightanddahalf month p prt woman from el salvador was sent back to mexico by immigration authorities, even after being treated in a u. S. Hospital after experiencing contractions. She is one of over 38,000 Asylum Seekers forced out of the u. S. As part of the highly contested remain in mexico policy. Immigration and medical experts say pregnant migrants in mexico often do not have access to medical care or even sufficient food and clean water. At least six pregnant migrants have been sent back to mexico by u. S. Authorities according to oregon senator jeff merkley, who is demanding an investigation into the issue. The u. S. Air force has ordered a review of how international stopovers are chosen following a recent report by politico pointing to possible emoluments violations linked to military spending and President Trumps turnberry resort in scotland. Politico reported friday that the House Oversight committee is investigating why millions of dollars were spent refueling u. S. Military planes at prestwick airport, near trumps gold resort. Military planes typically refuel at u. S. Bases, where the price of gas would be cheaper than a commercial airport. U. S. Military members have also stayed at the trump resort and were offered free rounds of golf at turnberry, according to an earlier report by the guardian. New york city congressmember alexandria ocasiocortez tweeted in response to the news, the president is corrupt and must be impeached. Meanwhile, as members of congress return to the capitol this week after their summer recess, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to vote wednesday on a resolution to establish guidelines for impeachment proceedings against President Trump. In climate news, Scientists Say a massive area of the northeastern Pacific Ocean is five degrees fahrenheit hotter than average in a warming event rivaling the socalled blob of 2014. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warns its the secondworst marine heat wave observed since the agency first began collecting satellite data in 1981. The warm waters threaten to spawn a massive algal bloom and could decimate fish populations, threatening sea lions, endangered orcas, and humpback whales. In gaza, palestinians mourned the deaths of two palestinian teenagers shot and killed friday by Israeli Forces during weekly protests along the separation barrier with israel. At least 70 protesters were wounded more than half of those by israeli gunfire according to gaza health officials. Palestinians have now been demonstrating for 18 months in gaza under the banner of the great march of return, calling for the right to return and an end to israels blockade on thte besieged tererritory. In el salvador, 21yearold rape survivor evelyn hernandez, who was acquitted last month on aggravated homicide charges for having a stillborn birth in 2016, might face a third trial. Hernandez had been sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2017. But that conviction was annulled in august. Salvadoran prosecutors announced last week they will appeal hernandezs acquittal. Abortion is illegal in el salvador. Russia and ukraine swapped dozens of prisoners saturday a move that many are hailing as a major step forward in easing tensions between the two nations following russias 2014 annexation of crimea. This is ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky. We have agreed on the first stage of unblocking of our dialogue and on the first step of ending the war, the return of prisoners of war, our soldiers, sailors, and our territories. Ukrainian filmmaker oleg sentsov amy was one of those freed in the exchange. Amnesty International Said in a statement oleg sentsov and many others jailed following russias occupation and illegal annexation of crimea are simply victims of politicallymotivated prosecution and they should never have been imprisoned in the first place. While it is a relief that they are now free, it is a travesty to see them being used as human bargaining chips in political deals. In more news from russia, prokremlin candidates retained the majority in sundays local elections but suffered notable losses following weeks of political unrest. The ruling united russia party, which backs president vladimir putin, lost around a third of its seats in the moscow legislature. Protesters have been taking to the streets over the summer after opposition candidates in moscows City Council Elections were barred from running. Police arrested thousands of people, including political candidates. And Opposition Leader alexi novotny. Navalny, who was one of those arrested, urged supporters to vote strategically in the elections to limit the kremlins power. Colombias human rights Ombudsman Says that more than half the country is at risk of violence related to the upcoming local elections. The warning comes after the death of mayoral candidate karina garcia, who was brutally murdered along with at least four others while campaigning earlier this month in the cauca region. Meanwhile, two more indigenous activists have been killed in recent days. Glabely gomez and aida trochez. Boboth victims advocated for indigenous womens rights in the cauca region. Back in the United States, former South Carolina governor and Congressmember Mark Sanford has entered the republican 2020 primary race. He made the announcement sunday on fox news ahead of a formal launch later this week. As a Republican Party, we have lost our way, he told fox news host chris wallace. Sanford has highlight Government Spending and federal debt as key issues. Sanford is a trump critic who lost his congressional seat in 2018 after being defeated by a protrump challenger in the primaries. Democrat Joe Cunningham eventually won the seat. He is the third republican to challenge trump for the 2020 nomination, joining former Massachusetts Governor bill weld and former illinois congressmember joe walsh. Sanford however will be able to run in a primary in his own state since the South Carolinana Republican Party voted to skip the president ial primary next year to save money and throw the states support behind the trump campaign. President trump is set to appoint another judge to the 11th Circuit Court of appeals. One of the courts judges said last week he will take senior status, meaning trump can appoint a new judge to succeed him. Last month, another judge also announced he will also become a senior judge. In total, trump will have appointed five of the 12 judges on the court, which covers alabama, georgia, and florida, and hears many civil rights cases, as well as Death Penalty and Voting Rights cases. Since trtrump came into office,e has appointed nearly one out of four of the nations federal Appeals Court judges 70 of those arare white men. Two more black transgender lives were murdered over the past week, bringing the total reported number of transgender women killed in the u. S. To at least 18 so far this year. In south florida, the body of 23year old bee love slater was identified last week after being burned beyond recognition. Her friends told media she had been threatened on facebook and targeted because she was transgender. Meanwhile, in baltimore, 17yearold Bailey Reeves was fatally shot last monday. At a vigil organized in her honor, iya dammons of the transgender rights nonprofit baltimore safe haven called out the cycle of violence against trans women, adding, the first step to fighting violence is unity. In media news, the progressive news site think progress shut down after it failed to secure friday funding. Think progress was created in 2005 as a project of the center for American Progress Democratic Party action fund but was editorially independent. Journalist zach carter said in a tweet the collapse of thinkprogress demonstrates that the Democratic Party establishment and its donor base have little to no interest in sustaining centerleft media outlets, even in the age of trump. The election of donald trump and the rise of an american authoritarian movement seem not to have changed many minds among wealthy democrats. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Orgrg, the wawar ad peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin todays show in afghanistan. This week and President Trump publicly called off a secret meeting at camp david with the taliban and the president of afghanistan that aimed to end the 18yearwar, the longest in u. S. History. Trump tweeted on saturday i immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations. What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position . They didnt, they only made it worse if they cannot agree to a ceasefire during these very important peace talks, and would even kill 12 innocent people, then they probably dont have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway. How many more decades are they willing to fight . The United States and taliban had appeared close to signing an agreement after holding nine rounds of talks in doha all, but the negotiations took a surprise turn when President Trump suggested a camp david meeting that included afghan president ashraf ghani who had not been involved in the previous talks. The New York Times reports trump wanted the deal to be announced at camp david so he would be perceived as the dealmaker who pulled the Peace Agreement together. But according g to the times, tataliban negotitiators had agad to come to the united atates only after a deal was announce and only to memeet with thee amererican side. The new yk times r reports ttrump may have canceled a a meeting that t the key participantsts were not plplanng to attend. There are also questions about the premise behind why the United States cacanceled the secretet meeting. Trtrump blamed it on the recent killing of a u. S. Soldier in afghanistan, but he made no reference to the m mass killings being carried out by u. S. Forces. On sunday, secretary of state mike pompeo acknowledged that the united statetes had killed more than 1000 members of the taliban in the past 10 days just as the two sides were close to signing a peacace deal. There have been attacks in the last 10 days alone, killed over 1000 taliban. We been fighting and talking in a way that america often does not do. It is what has driven us to have the success of the negotiating table. Amy well, for more, we go now to kabul, afghanistan where were joined by ali latifi, a freelance journalist. And in washington, d. C. , were joined by matthew hoh, a senior fellow with the center for International Policy. In 2009, he resigned from the state department in protest against the obama administrations escalation of the war in afghanistan. We welcome you both to democracy now matthew hoh, what do understand was going to happen at camp david and then what President Trump called off in fact, most people only learn the risk when to be a secret meeting when President Trump tweeted it had been called off. Thank you for having me on. It is difficult to wrap your head around what is h happening that this is the reality of u. S. Politics and then its affect on the afghan war. It should be noted, the afghan war, for the afghans, is not 18 years old, it is more than 40 years old. It begins a 1973 when the king was deposed from the same year i was born. If i was an afghan,n, my whole life i wouould know nothing but war or it best political conflict. Now you have the situation where it appeared thehe peace talkskse Peace Agreement, the deal to bring u. S. Forces out of afghanistan in exchange for some limited ceasefire within the country was predicated on Donald Trumps desire to live up to his Campaign Promise to end the war and show hes a better commanderinchief, better war maker then, say, bush and obama. The reality is, this is the most valuable president of the United States the United States has ever known. Because of what he has seen on fox news or read on twitter, hee noww cancels these talksks. He cancecels the agreement becae he is upset because people are saying he is weak. For me, the whole idea of the showmanship of having it at c cp david and everything else, that isis secondary to what wasas happening to the Afghan People. What were going to see now, again, because of the e temper tantrum by the president over what fox news talking head said or some retired general said or what he read on twitter, the Afghan People go back to basically the beginning process , of some type of peace deal. It has been more than 40 years of suffering for them. Amy ali latifi, what is the understanding in kabul, afghanistan, about what was going to take place . This these negotiations have not been about the Afghan People. They have been very much about the United States and the taliban and both of them getting what they want. These nine rounds of talks have taken place on closed doors in doha so the average first and in afghanistan has no idea. I have very little idea. Guillen thing i know is the night before i i had heard from different sources that trump was planning to make his announcement on 9 11, which is ironic c come i suppose. For him, he is a showman so he wanted to put on a show. You would have been able to do that but the reality is, the Afghan People have nevever been part of the process. Amy can you explain what happened in kabul last week, the suicide car bombing that killed 12 people, including a u. S. Soldier . Placethe car bombing took on the roaoad that would lead to the entrance of where eventually you could get to the u. S. Embassy, to nato forces, and different other sort of political and highlevel buildings hidden behind massive glass walls. But the actual explosion did not you would have to turn right to go on that road. It went straight just a little bit forward, so it was on a completely civilian road. There are always u. S. Soldiers and forces going backandforth along that road and unfortunately, throughout all of the roads of kabul at any given time of the day, but what ends up happening is, yes, your soldier got killed, but at least 11 afghan civilians were killed and dozens more were injured. This is what keeps happening. When trump says this great soldier is what he called o off this talk, it kind of points to what matthew was saying that he must have been influenced by somebody because this is not the first time in the last couple of months that u. S. Sosoldiers have been killed and not the first time in the nine rounds of talks that u. S. Soldiers have either been killed or targeted by taliban and their attacks. Amy on sunday, mike pompeo announced the u. S. Had killed 1000 taliban in the last 10 days just as the two sides were signing a peace deal. Ali latifi, is this your understanding . Says. S is what he the thing whereafter remember is , i have been seeing these reports since at least 2011 from the Afghan Government and now apparently from the u. S. Government every day same week killed 60 0 or 50 or whoever and those are hard facts to prove. Those are difficult thinings to prove because these operations take place usually at night and in rememote areas, in areas whee the press and others dont have access, where the government does not usually he can say he killed 1000 taliban, but what does that really mean . The if they were taliban, fell again for the third time and in the province on the west also came under heavy attack. If you are killing 1000 taliban, what does that really say . Amy were going to go to break and come back to this discussion. Were talking to ali latifi in theanistan and matthew hoh center for International Policy in washington, d. C. , and we will be joined by two peace activists as dr. Kelly as well inng who has worked afghanistan for more than 14 years. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. As we continue our coverage of afghanistan, were joined by two more guest in kabul, kathy kelly , coordinator of voices for crate of nonviolence, and dr. Hakim young, who has worked in afghanistan for more thahan 14 years. Kathy kelly, we first learned of the news of a secret camp david meeting that would be the leaders of the taliban from the afghan president ashraf ghani, and president tom, the all of this is being called into question right now, whether all of these people were going to be at camp david but now trump has called it off. Your thoughts as both democrats, a number of democrats joined with republicans in condemning the meeting saying that it is an outrage that it is happening at all, let alone the wekk of 9 11, the anniversary of the september 11 attacks. Think themy, i outrage that should be felt, most appropriately the outrage over the idea that warlords, multiple warlords, including the United States military authorities and anybody representing u. S. Government, have been negotiating a peace deal. It is a charade. We have seen how many people have been killed as leverage. Killining human beings h has ben leverage dururing these e peace talks, and a highlhly a doubt te majority of the afghanistan people who are women and children are being well represented in the socalled dialogue. Amy can you explain what you understand, kathy kelly, these peace talks have been about that have taken place in doha. Well, they are highly secretive but it does seem that has already dropped two of the demands United States was going to make, which has something to do with the Afghan Government. Again, i want to say these are warlords that are talking about those within the taliban and the many groups that comprise the tataliban and Afghan Government, but the Afghan Government clearly will not be included in the deal they were talking about making. I think ceasefire is something that is even further on down the line shouldnt even be called for. Yourdr. Hakim young, response working i in afghanistn fofor the past 14 years to this news that has taken place . First we learned there was going to be a secret meeting and then trump was calling it off. , the explanation that ashraf ghani was going to be ththe considering his step and part of the few stocks because the taliban refususto negotiate with thehem . Thank youou for having me. Likeke was said reregarding the Climate Crisis we have in the world, the past 14 years ive seen howow this crisis in afghanistan and the war meansns there is seeeems to s show te is no current political system genuine the can hold peace negotiations. These current peace negotiations to me are not genuine peace negotiations because afghans are not involved. The warring paparties are equaly complicicit in the killing. They want to fight and talk at the same time, which does not work. In the taliban in doha are not representative of f either the Afghan People or even the taliban. , in kabul asfi well, can you explain what the points were in these negotiations . And also, the significance of the Afghan Government, the president ashraf ghani not being included in these negotiations . Well, i think the significance of president ghani not being included is great, huge, because at the end of the of, he is a representation the Afghan People on a political sense. He is the president of the country. I remember in an interview earlier this year he said, my them, who grew up with said he is an american and im the president of 32 million Afghan People and yet he is not included but my friend who works for bush, who was his ambassador to afghanistan and eight off during the occupation of eight off, is there a step and then the only afghan present are the taliban. As to what is being negotiated, we keep during two points. Two points that only serves the interest of washington and the taliban. Washingtons interest is this claim the taliban could no longer house or support foreign terrorist groups including al qaeda, which is as that been able to do in 18 years and will not be a religion and generally has the interest i in as far as yoyou can tell. Even when they claim to target your soldiers and u. S. Forces, what ends up happening is it is the Afghan People who continue to die. Theyre continuing to kill our own people. And then for the taliban, theyre getting what they want in the sense that the u. S. Is going to agree to some kind of a troop pullout. That is really all we know. Everything else is done behind closed doors. Everything else is secretive. We know the president got a copy of the agreement signed between but other than that, the average government has not would have been any sort of document or agreement. You worked inin, the state department in afghanistan 10 years ago. You resign. Can you talk about what you think the mistakes of the obama and the Trump Administration have been, what you understand it being negotiated, how it can be negotiated without afghanistan the afghan and finally, this highland by democrats as well as are more and portly that taliban would s step foot n u. S. Soil and again the emphasis there making right now this week of september 11, the anniversary of the attacks in 2001 . I was thinking, amy, i recall eight years ago being here in the same exact studioo talking o you about the death of bin laden. I think you have to go further back to understand what is happening with the United States, whether democratsts are piling on, as you saidid, againt any typepe of peace deal, a anye of withdrawal of american forces. You have to go back to 1947 and the National Security act that president truman puts in place that creatates this permanent warmaking establishment w within the united statetes government thatakakes the priorority of the unitited States Government war. And so i think that is what you see here when you see any semblance of a deal. I agree with everyone in kabul who knows certainly betterr than i do im sitting here in d. C. Drinking a cup of coffee the United States government is not to be trusted in these issues. The United States government started funding the war in theanistan months before soviet Union Invaded in 1979. They wanted to bring about the iets into a trap to create when the soviets leave in 1989, the u. S. G government keeps inding the various groups the e fighting continues. Ththe united statates has been culpable in the violence that has beset and besieged the Afghan People for more than four decacades now. It is harard for the e United States, one, toto e responsibility of it. You wont hear this kind of conversation within corporatate media. You wont hear this conversation from politicians. You certainly will not hear this conversation from the retired generals who are t the talking heads who are all being fundeded by the defense ministry. So i think for the United States, our perspectives we haveve ttake a stetep back and look at the bigger picture. Since 9 11, we dont know how many plalaces we have sent young people to kill other people and be killed themselves. The estimates are between 15 and 22 couountries the u. S. Has wagd war in since 2001. So for the United States, what is happening in afghanistan is something that we just shrug and moveve on with the next news cye for or wafer p President Trump o have another temper tantrum about where there is really any conversation about the Afghan People. Just to wrap up my little piece here, the points being made en kabul are incorrect. The Uniteded States s has been belligerent. The United States is not to be trusted. What i would hope for the Afghan People in the next p president il election, hopefully in the next month or so, that t the victor n that contest proceeds without the United States, without foreign powers and tries to find a solution for the Afghan People because the only solution for thisis war is going to come frfm the Afghan People themselves. Amy ali latifi, before we e loe aree satellite in kabul, you a freelance journalist. What are the conditions on the ground right now . You are in kabul. Leaders whotaliban supposedly were going to go to camp david . And you understand all of the talks s are being drilled altogether a and you people in afghanistan even understand talks were underway and who are the parties to these talks . Everyone knows the talks are underway. They had some are party to these talks. Essentially, the parties come down to the idea it is the United States and the taliban. One thing we have to remember is that in general, the feeling was this was going to be a bad deal. That this was not a deal for the Afghan People in any way. Obviously, the way trump one about it, democrats and republicans are arguing about it, is very detached from reality. But the reality on the ground is more people felt like this would have been a bad deal anyway. Obviously, a deal needs to be made but the question is always how is the deal being made . Who is being involved and what is being discussed . As long as these deals are being made in foreign capitals behind closed doors without i say even if the Afghan Government gets involved, it is still not enough. You still there are 32 Million People that will suffer the consequences or see the benefits of whatever agreement is made. So you still need to make sure there are young people involved, that there are women involved, different ethnicities involved, different religious sects involved. That everyone has a say. These kind of negotiations need to happen because it is become very clear this war will not be won on the battlefield, but they need to happen in a proper way. They need to happen correctly. Right now there are a lot of supporters in the president and the government is very happy this deal went down in flames because it ensures election will happen, which they feel like they will win. But it kind of it hinges on this assumption that this war can be won on the battlefield, which we have prproven time and again is not true. A deal has to be made, but it cannot just be any deal. Ay kathy k kelly, you u are longtime peace activist on the ground. You have spent you have gone to afghanistan countless times where you are right now. What is the understanding of peace activists on the ground . What are they calling for . And also, in the last days, the reports we had come the New York Times reporting the white house was seriously considering expanding the cia presence in afghanistan, if and when International Forces begin to leave the country, u. S. Forces, as senior white house advisers seeking to expand the cias presence, the cia presence would include new counterterrorism blissful forces but gina haspel reportedly has raised concerns about the idea. They must alsod leave afghanistan along with the military. You might at also since President Trump took office, there is been a 65 increase in private security contractors in afghanistan being paid by the United States. There is a lot of skepticism on the part of young peace activists whom i know. They dont any longer expxpect that negotiators are going to help them have a more secure future. They t tell us about others in their clalasses who canant popy find j jobs. And so for the sake of an income, and list in one mililita or another. And begin to wonder themselves if their own fellow students will begin to take up weaponons. [indiscernible] on the part t of people e livinn a wartorn a area and haveve ben deeply traumatized b events s of the pastst year. So m many of them have their o o friends the lossss of life hs been s staggering. So i donont think t the United States is showing much concern for people on the verge of civil war because of the possible consequences of the dealmaking. Spentited states in 2018 bullets, and a cold rise eight full rise from 2017. Hakim young, dr. Explain why you came to afghanistan 14 years ago as a medical unitarian worker and what you think this all means. Will this direct all talks are simply be that people the talaliban dont come to the unid states but the talks continue in doha or other places . I came to afghanistan for the purpose of trying to help in the medical health services. The humanitarian institution has always been a challenging one. With the talks, maybe i can describe it using an analogy. We have 32 million ordinary afghans here in this country. The United States has population million ordinary americans. Had a United States militant releligiously motivated group within thehe United States that are killing americans and the United States government asked the a government to help militant, with the piece telells today are like is like the u. K. Government now religiouslym motivated militants to london to talk about making a peace deaeal over three to 20 million orordinary a americans. It is preposterous. It is theaeater. It i is a show. W. Is what the afghans say is a gameme. I think such the nature of a peace deal should really be suspended. Amy were going to leave it there for now but we will continue were you just saying something, kathy . No, thank you, amy. Thank you for including us. Medical hakim young, humanitarian work who is worked in afghanistan for more than 14 years. Is a senior felloww with the center for International Policy. Resign 10 years ago from the state department in protest against the obama administrations escalation of the war in afghanistan. Ali latifi is a freelance journalist based in kabul. Kathy kelly, cocoordinator of voices for creative nonviolence, campaign to end u. S. Military and economic warfare. Coming up, as the death toll from Hurricane Dorian continues to rise in the bahamas, we look at how Major Tv Networks ignore the connection between the deadly storm and Climate Change. At first, we will go to agent shothere ice an undocumented immigrant in a tennessee parking lot. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , im amy goodman. We turn to tennessee where the fbi is investigating the shooting of an undocumented immigrant by an immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a traffic stop last week. The shooting occurred thursday at a supermarkrket parking lot n nashville,suburb of where workers often gathered to be picked up for days of work. Ice agents attempted to detain an unnamed 39 yearold mexican man. The man reportedly attempted to flee in a white box truck when one of the agents shot him twice. A local news channel has released a closed circuit video of the incident, showing the white Truck Driving away from the scene and one agent raising his firearm and pointing at the truck. The e injured man managed to fle the scscene, but l later surrend to fbi and was treated and released from a local hospital. He has not been arrested or charged with a crime. It has now been revealed that it has now b been revealed that the ice e agent involved in n te shooooting is s one of the offes who madede headlines i in after julyly Community Members blocked attempts to detain an undocumented man in hermitage, tennessee. Ice agents tried to intercept the man who had been living in the community for 14 years as he left his home with his son by blocking him into the driveway. But Community Members formed a human chain so that the father and son could exit the van and reenter their home, stopping the agents. Hernanan crescencio, a member of nashvillebased immigrant rights group the mix said in a statement in light of what happened this morning, it is clear that immigration customs and enforcement officials are aware and frustrated that Community Members understand how to exercise their rights. Now ice agents are taking out their frustrations on our neighbors by escalating civil matters into use of lethal force. For more, we go to brenda perez, member o of the mix, a nashvillebased Community Organizing and immigrant rights group. Welcome to democracy now please explain what happened last thursday. This all started in a parking lot where workers gather for a days work . Yes. So this happened on thursday morning around 7 00 a. M. It is a very busy intersection. You see school buses driving on that road, people gathering to get ready for work, to do ridesharing, a very informal situation, when ice agents approached three men in the vehicle. Two men provided ids and a third man, who was shot at, did not provide his identification. He knew he did not have to. The ice agents were not presenting thehe correct paperwk or warrants. At some point, the german who was shot at the gentleman who was shot at decided to drive off. I think it is very intense situation as we do not know how we will react in this manner. He decided to drive off. When he drove off, the agegents inin the video you can see he is alongside the truck, followed the truck, then extended his arm and shot at the truck. He wasas injured. Ththe man was ininjured. He had a bullet wound in his stomach and elbow. He took refuge somomewhere. We did not know where he was. There is a lot of concern in the community for his safety and healalth. Later on through the support of his attorney and conversationsns with the f fbi, we were e able o nenegotiate and surrenderining hihimself him surrendering himself at the local hospital and receive treatment. He received surgery that evening and was able to communicate with his children and his family. He has not been placed under arrest and is not under anyones custody right now. Amy wasas the ice agents ararrested . Not that we know of. Amy explain who the ice agent is, who opened fire on this truck and explain what local Nashville Police are doing. Are they cooperating with the ice agents echo this ice agent is the same one that was in hermitage, another suburb of usinglle, where they were the local Police Department and stating things like, if you dont come out of the truck, were going to arrest you, as a man and h his child werere waitg in the van. That standndoff led toto four h. The man siside the van and his son, they knew their rights. Immediately as soon as the ice agents approached, they started recording. They did not believe his lies and held off until Community Support arrived and was there to send them food, phil up their gasoline. This is the same ice agent that has also been spotted at local courthouses here in nashville and the same one that was there on thursday morning. What were seeing is basically an agent and a whole organization that feels no accountability to the community and no accountability to public safety. When he fired those shotots, tht road, richards road, is a very busy intersection filled with a lot of immigrant communities headed to school, headed to work, headed to whatever theirir life leads them to. He fired those shots. We saw a lot of comments on social media about parents whose children heard the gunshots. They had a process t this on thr owown. As the story d developed, ththe teacachers were informed. We h heard tennessee immigrarant rights r Refugee Coalition witht a statement saying teachers some teachers wrote back with their kids on the school buses because there is such a concern and fear in the community because children did not know what they were coming back to. It is because of this one ice agent who has no accountability to anybody. Amy c can you talk about the ft that nashville is home to the Davidson County jail, a corecivic facility in a one of the biggest ice detention and jails in tennessee. Does this jail play a role in what is going on here . Not only are we home to a Corecivic Corecivic civility, but also their headquarters. Did notes to permit have anything to do with this incident, however, on a daily basis, anyone who is arrested in nashville is held at the Davidson County sheriffs dedepartment jail. Ro police does not have the Sheriffs Department under the jurisdiction of the sheriff weread a contract with ice immigration status is constantly being checked and people are being deported out of our county jail. We can have the local politicians saying we are a welcoming city and we want to be proimmigrant, but as long as we continued have that contract, we are not. And we will have a deportation pipeline out of the city. To finally, were talking you in this week of the mayoral runoff will stop things are also very much coming to a boiling point on these issues of certainly being discussed in the media. Yet the National Mayors Runoff Election taking place on thursday. The mayor has said the shooting is exactly what we dont want happening in our city. Your thoughts on his record on immigration as well as his opponent, councilman john cooper . Absolutely. I think the mayor recently put out a statement that the local government is going to challenge the law that took effect this of theich allows all State Government employees and state lawenforcement employees to act as immigration agents and authorizes them to question people on their immigration status. It extends to allowing the School Resource officers to ask about immigration status. I think it was a good step on his behalf to make this announcement. It could have been sooner. It could have obviously been sooner. I read the other candidates, statements about what happened on thursday and basically, he is saying we are here for an vestigatioion. I think both of the mayors can say wonderful things about being proimmigrant and being on our side of the story, but until summit he steps out and says they are willing to challenge government contract and the ice contract of the Davidson County jail, were not going to have any changes. We have agents that are rogue and have no accountability. Were the deportation 51 coming out of our jail. One of these mayoral candidates, until they can make a statement against that, then we really know what is happening. Amy brenda perez, thank you for being with us member of the mix, a nashvillebased immigrants rights group. As we end todays show with Hurricane Dorian, a least 44 people dead, the number is expected to soar dramatically as the bahamas continues to reel from the devastation brought by Hurricane Dorian last week. More than 70,000 on grand bahama and the abacao islands have been left homeless and hundreds and possibly thousands remain missing. As the bahamas faces this unprecedented destruction, the island nation archipelago has been described as ground zero for the Climate Crisis. Despite this, the Mainstream Media has largely omitted any mention of Global Warming in its coverage of the disaster. A study by Public Citizen found the countrys leading print publications devoted 363 articles to dorian but only 9 mentioned Climate Change. Another study by media matters in the first week after dorian hit from august 28september 5 found that of the 216 segments aired on the Main Television networks on dorian only one mentioned Climate Change. For more, we go to washington, d. C. , to speak with allison fisher, outreach director of Public Citizens climate and energy program. Thank you so much for being with us. Broadcast networks, abc, nbc, cbs, and you have the Cable Networks not only talking about fox, but cnn and msnbc as well nonstop coverage the lead up to dorian and the crisis of what happened inin the bahamas, but almost ner a mention of Climate Change. Talk about this. That is right. We actually looked at coverage that included the lead up to the storm making landfdfall in the bahamas. What we found was the major tv nenews programs and the m major papapers across the country, wih few exceptions, connect to the intensity of the storm with o or increasingly warming client climate. You some of to give those numbers to see how few were talking about, just 7 of the tv networks made the link between Climate Change and this particular hurricane will stop and even less in the newspapers, just eight of the papers that covered dorian made that link. So if you are an american that is turning to one of these sources, whether it be abc or paper inr your major your state for information, you are not hearing what the Scientific Community wants you to know, which is the Climate Crisis is making these storms much more dangerous and in some cases, deadly. Is notfortunanately, this an isolated incident. We can easily substitute dorian for Hurricane Michael or harvey or florence were even unprecedented wildfires, 500 year storms, recordbreaking heat waves. We would be having the same conversation and making the same critique, which is when climate fueled extreme weather events happen, by a large the media is not talking about climate. It is precisely ththe moment whn they should be. Amy how often do they have climate scientists on . Very rarely. We looked at we have looked at all of the extreme events that have happeneded in the last couple of years. Very rarely are they bringing people into the studio to communicate the science. And this is very problematic. The papers are doing a little bit better with quoting the most uptodate science andnd scientists, but t the tv networs are not brbringing in committee caters. C is is very problemati there not famimiliar with the science. So you have them m shy about making the connection, hesitant to make the connection, and then failing to bring a people that connection acumen became, have the credibility to talk to the america people about the issue. Interestingly, chad myers, the cnn meteorologist who people watch cnn, they see him all the are, and of course they constantly on during the storm coverage. He just recently wrote aps, i am a cnn meteorologist. I used to be a Climate Crisis skeptic. He talked about how he is transforming, although it is that reflected as much on the network, which i mean, the meteorologists in europe when we cover the u. N. Climate summit, there are groups of meteorologists who are demanding their fellow at sister meteorologist start raising the that of Climate Crisis, they do in the coverage. You had heidi culen at the Weather Channel when she raised this issue was basically forced out. Oftheres been a a number repoports that have comeme out t the relationship between the American People and the person who tells them about the weather. There one of the most trusted sources on tv. It is extrememely important they are the ones communicating the dadangers of clClimate Change ad giving context to these extreme weather events to let people know this is what we are experiencing. There is certainly some fear out there that having this conversation in the meteorologists having this conversation with their audience is polarizing. To not beexexact moment talking about the politics, but be talking about the science and normalize that and have debbie a bigger part of the conversation. Amy can you talks this of ugly ut how President Trump specifically how President Trump denying, change has had an effect . Even they get the networks outside the network that he considers his home, fox, though hes been critical of it lately, cnn, msnbc, crititical of him ad 70 other ways again, rarely raising issue of the Climate Crisis in their regular meteorologisist coverage, whethr coverage . By and large, the media is not holding President Trump accountable for his climate denial or his inaction, for that matter. When hehat t happens is makes a comment about these events, the story becomes about him. It becomes about the things he said. Again, it t to flex away from te conversation that the media, whether it be the network news or the local papers or amy much more time talking about his magic marker and falsely saying alabama would be hit than the critical issue of