Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20160816

Then we go to rio to look at race and the Olympic Games as well as the first refugee olympic team. They did march in the opening ceremonies together as a team from different nations under the banner of refugees. I kind of like it because it in thehat is majority of United States saying we should keep refugees out. The ioc is allowing them into the olympics, so lets Pay Attention to that. Amy we will speak with Sports Writer Jesse Washington and u. S. Gold medalist swimmer Anthony Ervin. He recently became the oldest ever individual olympics roaming Gold Medalist. All of that and more coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Republican president ial nominee donald trump invoked the cold war as he pledged to wage war against what he described as the ideology of radical islam while speaking in youngstown, ohio during his speech, trump also , monday. Vowed to impose a system of vetting, an ideological test for all immigrants. He also said hed create a commission on radical islam, keep Guantanamo Bay open, and stop trying people accused of terrorism in civilian courts. He also reversed an earlier threat that the United States might not meet its nato obligations, and said monday he would work with nato allies to defeat Islamic State militants if he wins the white house. Former new york city mayor Rudolph Giuliani introduced trump onstage in youngstown monday, where giuliani sparked outrage when he appeared to forget about the events of 9 11. Under those eight years before obama came along, we did not have any successful radical islamic terrorist attack in the United States. When clintonted and obama got into office. Amy that was Rudolph Giuliani, who was mayor of new york city during the 9 11 attacks. In response, the cover of the New York Daily News today printed giulianis words superimposed upon the image of the falling twin towers. Meanwhile former secretary of , state Hillary Clinton, and Vice President joe biden held a rally in scranton, pennsylvania, monday. Scranton is bidens hometown. It was bidens First Campaign appearance on behalf of Hillary Clinton. During his speech, biden said trump was making the United States less safe. It is amazing. Does he have any idea is outlandish comments have on our allies, our friends, and the physical safety of our troops . Is a ready our country less safe. Amy well have more on Donald Trumps speech after headlines with matt taibbi, phyllis bennis, and Linda Sarsour. As well as the words of Hillary Clinton. Milwaukee has imposed a 10 00 p. M. Citywide curfew for teenagers following this weekends uprising sparked by the Fatal Police Shooting of a 23yearold African American man named sylville smith. On sunday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker also activated the National Guard after local residents set fire to police cars and several businesses, including a gas station, saturday night. Police say smith was shot officer following a traffic stop. Officer followinga traffic stop. Police chief edward flynn says smith had turned toward the officer with a gun in his hand. An autopsy conducted monday shows smith was fatally shot in his chest and arm. Milwaukee is considered to be one of the most segregated cities in the country. The death toll is rising from the unprecedented flooding in southern louisiana. At least seven people have died and more than 10,000 people have been forced to relocate to shelters as evacuations and emergency rescues continue. President obama has declared louisiana a federal disaster zone. The historic flooding has also caused chaos, especially in the hardhit areas in and around baton rouge. On monday, one firefighter mistakenly shot another firefighter during a rescue mission near baton rouge. The man survived the shooting. The National Weather service says flooding is expected to continue. More rain is in the forecast for the region this week. The pentagon has announced its released 15 prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, marking the largest single transfer since president obama took office. The 15 men were sent to the united arab emirates. Each had been imprisoned by the United States for about 14 years without trial. There are now 61 prisoners remaining at guantanamo. Of them, 20 have been cleared for release. Some have been cleared years, if not more than decade. President obama promised to close the prison at the beginning of his first term in Office Nearly eight years ago. In yemen, as many as 15 people were killed monday after a u. S. Backed saudiled airstrike destroyed a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders. At least another 19 people were wounded, including three foreign doctors when the airstrike hit , abs hospital in yemens northern hajjah province. Among the victims were three yemeni Doctors Without Borders staff members. Mondays attack on the hospital marks at least the fourth time u. S. Backed saudiled airstrikes have hit a Doctors Without Borders supported hospital in yemen during the 17month conflict. This is a local resident reacting to the airstrike. What do they find at the hospital other than the sick and wounded and the injured . There is nothing here except patients and medical staff. Doctors without borders and yemeni doctors. Amy in kashmir, at least five protesters have been killed after Indian Security forces opened fire with automatic rifles on demonstrators on monday, which was Independence Day in india. Among the victims was a 16yearold boy. Demonstrators were throwing rocks and defying a curfew. Protests have been growing in kashmir since early july, when Indian Security forces killed an independence leader. At least 64 people have been killed and thousands injured during the monthlong protests. Turkish state media says at least three civilians and four Police Officers have been killed in a car bomb attack on a Police Station in turkeys southeast. Authorities say at least 20 more were wounded. No group has claimed responsibility. Local authorities have blamed the attack on the kurdistan workers party, known as the pkk. In nigeria, members of the group bring back our girls protested in the capital monday demanding the government do more to rescue the more than 200 Chibok School girls kidnapped by boko haram in april of 2014. The protest came one day after boko haram released a video that appears to show about 50 of the kidnapped girls. In the video, militants demanded the release of imprisoned fighters in exchange for the girls. The video also appears to show the bodies of several girls whom militants say were killed by nigerian airstrikes. In new york city, heath Health Officials say the number of people who have been diagnosed with 9 11linked cancers has tripled. Nearly 5500 First Responders and local residents have now been diagnosed with cancers linked to the toxic smoke and dust of 9 11. That is up from fewer than 2000 cancer victims in 2014. Health officials have called the increase alarming. Also in new york, hundreds gathered monday for the funeral of Imam Maulama Akonjee and his assistant thara uddin, who were shot in the back of their heads while walking home from prayer in broad daylight on saturday. On monday, suspected shooter oscar morel was charged with two counts of seconddegree murder. Authorities say it is not yet clear whether the imam and his assistant were targeted as a result of their faith. Many in the Queens Community of ozone park say they think the islamophobic rhetoric promoted by donald trump may have contributed to their deaths. New york city mayor bill de blasio appeared to reference trumps rhetoric at mondays funeral. And we know there are voices all over this country who are spewing hate, trying to create division, trying to turn one american against another. I look around at all of my brothers and sisters here and i see proud americans. I see proud new yorkers. And i will never let us be torn apart, and we will not let each other be torn apart. Amy in North Carolina, officials are petitioning the u. S. Supreme court to reinstate parts of North Carolinas strict voter id laws, which were blocked last month after a court ruled the measures discriminated against African Americans and targeted them with almost surgical precision. Last months ruling means up to 5 of the states registered voters targeted by the law can now vote in the general election. But state officials are asking the Supreme Court to reverse this decision. It would once again make it harder for people to vote in nhattan, activists with the group gays against guns rallied outside the new york city headquarters of the Investment Management company blackrock to protest its investment in gun manufacturers. As of 2015, blackrock was one of the top three shareholders of the gun manufacturers smith wesson and sturm ruger. Blackrock has also invested heavily in major ammunitions companies. During the protest, 12 activists staged a diein to represent the People Killed in the 2012 aurora, colorado, Movie Theater massacre. The shooter, james holmes, had used a smith wessonmanufactured semiautomatic rifle. This is organizer tim murphy. We are protesting blackrock stday because there is a Large Manufacturing company. More and more stocks and guns because they know the death business is Good Business for them. There are literally profiting off the backs of dead people. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. On monday, republican president ial nominee donald trump invoked the cold war as he pledged to wage war against what he described as the ideology of radical islam. During a speech in youngstown, ohio, trump vowed to Institute Extreme vetting of visa applicants. Mr. Trump in the cold war, we had an ideological Screening Test. The time is overdue to develop a new Screening Test for the threats we face today. I call it extreme vetting. I call it extreme, extreme vetting. Our country has enough problems. We dont need more. And these are problems like we have never had before. [applause] mr. Trump in addition to screening out all members of the sympathizers of terrorist groups, we must also screen out any of hostile attitudes toward our country or its principals or who believe that sharia law should supplant american law. Those who do not believe in our constitution or who support bigotry and hatred will not be admitted for immigration into our country. [applause] mr. Trump only those who we expect to flourish in our country and to embrace a tolerant American Society should be issued the says. Visas. To put these new procedures in place, we will have to temporarily suspend immigration from some of the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world, that have a history of exporting terrorism. Amy donald trump also said he would create a commission on radical islam, keep guantanamo open and stop trying terrorists , in civilian courts. He had initially called for a temporary ban on all muslim immigration before shifting to a ban on those from countries with a history of terrorism. While his campaign has declined to offer specifics on which countries would qualify, trump said monday that his state department and department of Homeland Security would decide which regions would qualify based on whether adequate screenings could take place. For more we are joined by three guests. Matt taibbi, awardwinning journalist with Rolling Stone magazine. Hes been closely following the trump campaign. His most recent piece is headlined, the summer of the shill. Phyllis bennis is a fellow at the institute for policy studies. Shes written several books, including most recently, understanding isis and the new global war on terror. And Linda Sarsour is the director of the first muslim online organizing platform, mpower change, and cofounder of the Muslim Democratic Club of new york. We welcome you all to democracy now linda, lets begin with you. Your response to Donald Trumps proposal for extreme vetting, as he calls it . It is a continuation of his ludicrous policy proposals. Im a person who has been working with refugees in new york city for 15 years. He has no idea the vetting process that immigrants go through before they come to the United States. He is taking us back to the 1950s, this idea of creating a committee on radical islam. Who is going to set the standards for that for what that looks like gecko when he talks about testing immigrants around only those that will flourish, are those who believe in american dies, who is going to say what those values are . Donald trump . The fact that Rudy Giuliani was anywhere near this, the fact that Rudy Giuliani can be the next head of the department of Homeland Security scares me more than donald trump. Buts. Shocked or surprised, the fact we have gotten to this point is allowing a man of this caliber to be running for the highest office of this land is outrageous. Amy matt taibbi . I think the speech was crazy, as a lot of trumps speeches are. Clearly, he has backed off slightly from the lets ban all muslims idea that he unleashed last year and just rebranding it as extreme vetting, probably because he realizes the idea and in all muslims is unconstitutional because it would violate the establishment clause in the constitution. This idea that he thinks that returning to the mccarthy era and having an ideological test and rooting out unamerican activities amy lets talk about that, in ideological test. He is openly invoking the cold war era as the mccarthyism was a good idea. I think most americans would look back at that period in our history with shame and regret. Trump seems to think, probably some of his voters think, that it is something we should go back to. It is remarkable that he thinks this would be a winning political idea in an electoral season. Amy phyllis bennis, your response and washington, d. C. . I think the point about the link with the mccarthy period is crucial. What he is calling for his return of the House Unamerican Activities Committee that so infamously was involved in destroying so many peoples lives with false allegations of fellow travelers were members of the communist party, with exactly this kind of extreme vetting that kept out immigrants, but also went after residents and citizens in this country. So this notion of establishing what he called a commission on radical islam when i saw those words i thought, oh, my ,od, this is a return to huac which famously continued until the very end when it was finally brought down by shame when one of the officials turned to one of the prosecutors and said, have you no shame, sir . It was this moment of ending this extraordinary repressive example of what that period was. Here he is essentially equating the global war on terror for which he really has very much the same kinds of policies that are being imposed now, with a few differences keeping asserting keeping Guantanamo Bay prison open instead of hoping to close it, even though it remains open. There is not a lot of difference in the actual policies, but what Donald Trumps speech try to do was assert that this question of terrorism, which is something that is affecting a wide range of regions around the world certainly but has not come close to the question of the risks of world war ii. When he talked about comparing it to the war against fascism, this is aiism ludicrous comparison. And yet he is talking about establishing the same kind of response, meaning, this ideological test, this notion of extreme vetting, it is as if he is asserting the value of extremism is the reason people should support his candidacy because he is an extremist. Amy is interesting the words he used are sometimes words that are leveled against him. Lets go back to a clip of what he said. Mr. Trump those who do not believe in our constitution or who support bigotry and hatred will not be admitted for immigration into our country. Amy Linda Sarsour . That was literally like a comedy. I thought it was saturday night live. He is the first person i would find to deport. I would wave goodbye. He is running a campaign on the very things he saying he is going to fight against. He is comparing what he wants to do to the taking down fascism. He is a fascist. Is not donaldart trump, it is the people that come to his rallies and cheer him on. The people that think his ideas are good ideas. Islamre was a radical committee, we would be the first targets, decided that anyone that criticizes u. S. Government, considered unpatriotic, we would be the first people to be targeted. He is creating an environment of law in order to stop he was to keep everyone in line. If you dont agree with donald trump and his supporters, youre not welcome. That is a big portion of the american people. Im just hoping he is not the next president of the United States. Amy were going to go to break and come back to this discussion and expanded to what he says and the recent reports on russia to talk about iraq, iran. Were talking with Linda Sarsour , matt taibbi, and phyllis bennis. Linda is the director of the first muslim online organizing change. Mpower matt taibbi is with Rolling Stone magazine. Phyllis bennis is a fellow at the institute for policy studies. Back in a moment. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. On monday, republican president ial nominee donald trump invoked the cold war as he pledged to wage war against what he described as the ideology of radical islam. During his speech in youngstown, ohio, he also reversed his speech saying he would work closely with the alliance to defeat isis. Trump the we would work closely with nato on this new mission. I had previously said that nato was obsolete because it failed to deal adequately with terrorism. Since my comments, they have changed their policy and now have a new division focused on terror threats. Very good. Very, very good. I also believe that we could find Common Ground with russia in a fight against isis post of amy that is donald trump in youngstown. Phyllis bennis, why dont you take a shot at this. First of all, his early critique of nato was not about his lack of focus on terrorism, it was about the fact in his view, nato countries do not pan of money to nato and therefore the u. S. Is caring too much of the burden. So he is now china claim credit up ane fact nato took antiterrorism section after the attacks in france in brussels. That is what the response was. It was. Because donald trump made a comment. The other side, you know, certainly, i think it is always better to be talking about diplomacy, to be talking about negotiations with all other countries including russia rather than basing the relationship with russia on threats, on new sanctions, etc. I do think the problem here is we did not hear any actual plan for diplomacy. There was no reference to the existing diplomacy that has supposed to be underway between the United States and russia regarding the war in syria. That diplomacy has been very limited to what can we bomb together . There has not been a serious diplomatic move. If donald trump had been serious a differentding kind of relationship with russia, he wouldve spoken about a new kind of diplomacy based on finding diplomatic rather than military solutions when we know that these military solutions have failed. He has no acknowledgment that the military solutions that he is talking about simply escalating, that they have failed and they will continue to fail. So this notion of a new position on nato because i spoke about it, simply not based on either the history of what he actually said in the past or the potential of what there is going to have to be if theres going to be an easing of the tensions between russia and the west, whether over ukraine, whether new natooning of forces surrounding russia which is what is going on right now. To of those realities have be taken up in a diplomatic way, but he is not talking about serious diplomacy. Amy speaking monday in scranton, pennsylvania, Vice President joe biden, who is together with Hillary Clinton, said donald trump would make america less safe. Mr. Trump this guys shame has this guys shame has no limits. He is gone so far to ask putin and russia to commit Cyber Attacks against america. Even if he is joking, which he is not, even if he is joking, what an outrageous thing to say. Not, folks, these are isolated examples. He has even showered raise on saddam hussein, one of the vilest dictators of the 20th century, a man who repeatedly back terror attacks against israel because he was supposedly he was a killer of terrorist s. He would have loved stalin. President joevice in scranton,g pennsylvania, together with Hillary Clinton. Matt taibbi, you lived in moscow for 10 years, five of those years you are editor of a newspaper called the exile. Talk about russia. Hillary clintons views on russia, donald trump, even take it to all manafort, who the New York Times has been running pieces exposing ties to the russianfridley former head of ukraine. Story came out yesterday in the New York Times that had a couple of scoops in it, one sort of links Trumps Campaign manager Paul Manafort to prokremlin forces who supported the regime and ukraine. There were details about dealings that manafort had with the figure who is sort of one of the earliest russian oligarchs, a much feared figure during the 1990s and throughout the 2000s. These us stories are interesting. It was interesting that trump chose to keep his remarks about working with russia in his speech yesterday after the pseudobombshell report in the ew york times. I think a Different Campaign might have edited those remarks the spotlightake away from russia for a day or two. But he has been out in the open and talking about how he was to continue working with russia. Incidentally, the idea of now lets work with nato and lets work with russia at the same time, you know, he neglects to point out there are some contradiction there. Obviously, the russians have it is of tremendous domestic issue and russia, the expansion of nato. That would somehow have to be smoothed over diplomatically in order for us to Work Together collectively against isis. That issue would have to be dealt with before we could effectively work with vladimir putin. Amy just to be clear dear new yorkxpose the times expose showed nearly 13 million of Cash Payments that were slated to go to Paul Manafort, the Campaign Manager for donald trump, not know whether he actually received them, but hes been years from you a college. Th has an office in kiev. He has worked with all sorts of unsavory characters. He has made a lot of money. He is never denied that. They did find this ledger after ovec step down but he denied he ever received this money. As of now, all they have is the ledger showing this payment was made. We dont know yet where that will lead. Amy i want to turn to Hillary Clinton who spoke alongside biden in scranton, pennsylvania, just as donald trump was giving his major foreignpolicy address in youngstown. Clinton he talked about letting syria become a free zone for isis. A major country in the middle east that could launch attacks against us and others. He has talked about sending ground troops, american ground is off theell, that table as far as i am concerned. [cheers] mrs. Clinton so we will wait and see what he says today. You know, sometimes he says he wont tell anyone what he will do because he wants to keep his plan secret. Turns out the secret is, he has no plan. Amy that is Hillary Clinton. Phyllis bennis, your response . Challenge a serious when we are talking about the strategy for these wars. The notion that Hillary Clinton is saying, that is off the table. I would like to know if she is opposed to the thousands of u. S. Troops that are now officially, openly in iraq . The hundreds that are officially openly in syria . She has not said whether she would call them back, whether she would simply not escalate. So her own position here is very unclear. One of the things that trump had said about iraq, which was quite extraordinary, was this notion nation he was against building he said what we should have done in iraq was keep control of the oil because that would have come on the one hand, kept the money from the oil out of the hands of isis. And on the other hand, it would mean that we would of course have soldiers on the ground to protect that oil. So he was calling for a permanent deployment of troops, a permanent occupation of iraq. Hillary clintons position is unclear. What would she do in iraq . The problem is, the critique she is making is fine, but she has no answer for it herself. She has called for an escalation in syria for the creation of a nofly zone in syria. No one is asking her whether she believes that her former colleague in the obama, then secretary defense robert gates who said he was against a nofly zone in libya because the first act of a nofly zone is an act of war, to take out the antiaircraft system. Libya hardly had an antiaircraft system. Firsthas a very developed soviet installed and russians applied into aircraft. Is she saying it is ok to go to war against russia . No one is pressing her on that question. No one asked her that question after her own speech. So her position of saying how outrageous the positions of donald trump is accurate in its own right, but does not take into account the uncertainty of her own position. Whether she would support more ground troops, whether she would support a socalled nofly zone that would immediately be extended to a regime change action, as it was in libya. These are all uncertainties that we still have no answers to. Amy i want to turn to donald trump talking about iran. Mr. Trump iran, the Worlds Largest statesponsored of terrorism, is now flush with 150 billion in cash released by the United States, plus, if you remember from two weeks ago, another 400 million in actual cash that was obviously used for ransom. Worst of all, the nuclear deal with iran, the number one state sponsor of radical islamic terrorism, on a path to nuclear weapons. Amy phyllis bennis, your response . First of all, where to start and that. The notion that iran is a leading state sponsor of what he calls radical islamic islamist terror, by which he means primarily isis and al qaeda, who are sworn enemies of iran. They have both theological, sectarian, as well as national fight and iran is one of the greatest enemies of both isis and al qaeda. You could start there with what is wrong with this. The notion that the koran deal to aut their ran on a path nuclear weapon, not even the critics of the deal claim that. The critics say he did not go far enough, did not impose an of sanctions, Something Like that. That was sort of the Hillary Clinton critique and the critique of others, but none of them said this deal puts miranda on apap toward a nuclear weapons. All 16 u. S. Intelligence agencies have consistently agreed, and they dont agree on a lot, but they have consistently agreed iran that not only has not made a nuclear weapon, is not trying to make a nuclear weapon, but that it has not even reached the decision that it wanted to make a nuclear weapon. Simply crated up whole cloth. Bingo hundreds gathered in new york on monday for the funeral of Imam Maulama Akonjee and his assistant thara uddin who were shot in the back of their heads while walking home from prayer in daylight on sunday. On monday, suspected shooter oscar morel was charged. Authorities say it is not clear whether the attacks were targeted as a result of their faith. This is new york city mayor will deblasio who spoke at the funeral monday. And we know there are voices all over this country who are spewing hate, trying to create division, trying to turn one american against another. I look around at all of my brothers and sisters here, i see proud americans. I see proud new yorkers. And i will never let us be torn apart, and we will not let each other be torn apart. Amy that was new york city mayor to blasio. Linda sarsour, your final comment . Outrageous and traumatic experience. We may never know the motives because the victims are dead and cannot speak about what happened, but it is about one this Community Climate the Muslim Community is afraid. We should not be targets of murder in our streets. Amy we will continue this discussion. Linda sarsour , thank you for being with us, head ofmpower change. Matt taibbi, we will link to your pieces. Of thellis bennis institute for policy studies. We will be back in a moment. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Rio, the side of the summer Olympic Games for part two of our conversation with Sports Writer Jesse Washington of the undefeated and Anthony Ervin we just begin the oldest ever individual olympic swimming Gold Medalist. I began by asking Jesse Washington about jamaican sprinter usain bolt who made history by becoming the first olympian to win the 100 meter gold medal three times in a row. Obvious he is incredible and nobody can stay in front of this guy. His a story in an of itself is well documented. His greatness. Someone asked him, you are already a legend, what comes after legendary cap he said, like the sound of the word immortal. What he has done is pretty great. I am intrigued by Justin Gatlin. Doping has been prominent amy explain who Justin Gatlin is, who came in second to usain bolt. Justin gatlin is the second fastest man on the planet and you would think that people would be interested in seeing him run, however, when he entered the stadium and his name was announced, a cascade of boos rained down on him in olympic stadium. I am sure where that goes with the olympic ideal and the olympic charter, but it was next for neri moment. No one could remember such an accomplished athlete getting booed at the beginning of a gold medal sprint. It must have been unbelievably hard for Justin Gatlin, who already had only a tiny chance to beat usain bolt, to run with that type of feeling i cant imagine how that would be. As a competitor, would it make it harder for you to win . I think would be impossible to do well at all. Amy it really affects you that much . Jesse washington, explain why this sprinter Justin Gatlin was booed on sunday night. Two years ago, he tested positive for testosterone and was banned from the sport for four years. Apparently, on the one hand, yes, he was guilty. On the second hand, should he be castigated for life . Should he wear a scarlet b on his four head for the rest of his life . These are questions we have to wrestle with a sports fans and human beings. I find it somewhat to the way in the u. S. If youre convicted of a felony in some places, you cannot vote for the rest of your life. I, myself, summit who us fallen in my career them in my life who has made mistakes, if im constantly kept from overcoming those, what kind of people are we . Do we offer a chance for redemption for anyone . Or as an athlete, if you cheat, if you make a mistake and do the vast majority of your sport is doing, are we going to kick you to the curb for life . These are some of the things i saw going on. I think the moment overwhelmed Justin Gatlin. He ran slower in this olympic final then he ran six weeks ago at the trials. He at a small chance to beat bolt, but i think when theboos came down on him, that ended any chance of a miracle finish. It was remarkable to see. Jesse justrvin, asked you about the crowd, if you can hear them in the midst of this. I am wondering about that, the Community Around when you are doing your race, but also usain bolt thinking of the word immortal. You take a very different approach. Talk first about the audience , i mean, i know who my people were out there, who they were in the crowd. I did not need to specifically hear them to know they are there and cheering. I had a brazilian in my heat. Bruno. He was ranked number one in the world all year. They were going for him. I was feeling that energy. It is positive energy, no matter what. The audience wants to see a great race. That certainly motivates you, whether it is coming for you or for someone you are with. If you are with them in a field, then that is for you, too. On the flipside, whenever a russian came out to compete, they got booed. I felt for them. I know if you russians. I trained with them. They are good people. Like, i want to give them the benefit of the doubt that they were not that they werent consciously doping, that if the governing body was doing something, it was behind their knowledge. So to have them they struggled to even get to the olympics, and then to have to walk out and get booed, that is hard. I had compassion for them in that. I have not even have the opportunity to talk to ben yet, how they felt about it. Amy Jesse Washington, that issue of, what, one third of the russian team that came to rio was disqualified . And they learned it while they were in rio, right . Im having a hard time keeping track of the russians in and the russians out. There was a woman cleared to compete i think in the long jump from russia, and the track, edition had already started. I cant imagine what it would be like to be an athlete and show up, to travel across the world to a race for an event you might not even get to be in . It seems like this should have been settled a long time ago. Im not up on the ins and outs of doping and the legalities and the arguments and things like that. I think that this is a world where people deserve second chances, whether it is in this olympics or the next one. I do not believe in banning an athlete for life forever for mistake that they or their coach or the government may have made. It is sort of a mess here in rio around all of this doping stuff. Amy i want to go to olympic Gold Medalist for judo. I want to show those who criticized manley did and said i was an embarrassment to my family, that a monkey belongs in the cage and not the only books. Now the monkey was supposed to be in a cage in london is out of the cage and is an olympic champion. Amy jesse, can you talk about the significance of her win . Race in brazil is interesting. It is not the same dynamic we have in the states. Oneier, tony mentioned the drought rule. If anywhere in your ancestry going back to west africa there is a black person in the United States, then youre black. A result, it is different. Brazil has a complicated situation that is more based on class than race. A couple of pieces of context. Brazil was the last place in this in a sphere to outlaw slavery. And once they did outlaw slavery, half of the population was black, so they said, we need to bring in a lot of europeans right now to literally lighten of the country. Fastforward to today. Brazil likes to say race does not matter. They never had jim crow, segregation, places were you could not go because you are black. However, of the four people here, if you live and a poor area called a favela, there are white people, black people, brown people in the middle, all of them are basically the n words of brazil because they are poor. That is the basic dynamic. One more thing on top of that, which gives to our judo here. There is a privilege associated in brazil with lighter skin. People want to marry people who are lighter than them so their children will have more opportunities. If there is a toilet to be cleaned or a floor to be scrubbed, it is more likely that a darker skinned person is doing it here in brazil. There are very few dark skinned people at the Upper Echelon of business and government. So all of these dynamics came out with this tremendous athlete, and she is being targeted just for the color of her skin. Even in a country like brazil, which are presently has no race. To me, that says you can try to deny it and try to say were all colorblind which is something that some people say in the u. S. As well but at the end of the day, lets reckon with the privilege that goes along with having white skin. And once we can talk about it, then maybe we can lemonade it. Amy let me go back to silva, the olympic Gold Medalist. Since the first time i stepped up on a was used to jumping and other peoples houses. People taking my flipflops was a reason to get into a fight. I think my channel coach wanted to channel this into a sport. In judo, we need this kind of will. We haveup in a favela, to have that determination. We have to win every thing by merit. We dont get anything for free. In that is olympic Gold Medalist for judo silva. Jesse, if you could talk about going into the favelas yourself. You and tony are not just anywhere in the world and it is just the olympics. You are in a place, youre in a brazil, and there have been mass protest against the olympics. The president to the rousseff was thrown out of office and now she is going to go through an impeachment process. Many are calling it a coup. Why did you decide to go into the favelas and what did people say there . I thought it was important. It is easy to look around at the multimillion dollar venues and a nice airconditioned buses they have for us to ride around in, and forget about the rest of the country. So i was fortunate enough to have some folks who knew some folks in the largest favela in brazil. The people i met there had a pride and sense of community and really a love for their favela that is similar to what you see in the u. S. Importunities. Hey, we may be poor, but we are making a good life for ourselves. We take care of each other. We are going to survive no matter what happens. We are going to make it. A lot of the people there said, well, violence with the drug dealers makes it tough. Gun shootouts of and raids with the police and the drug dealers, and that causes a lot of violence and a lot of deaths. There was a Security Officer who made a wrong turn into a favela during the olympics and was killed. But at the same time, they do say there is a stereotype about favelas. When i was there, there were these warnings, oh, dont walk in there, you wont come out with your wallet or your phone. It was a normal committed to full of normal people doing normal things. They have stores. They shop. Another interesting thing, they body board. I was able to meet a whole school of young people that is taught how to do this sport which is a pro sport. They have a beautiful beach at the bottom of the largest favelas in brazil. This juxtaposition of the perception and the reality it is something i keep coming back to in our discussions today. A lot of times the media likes to create a narrative without really probing beneath the surface. I think it is important to probe the need to service everywhere, including the favelas of brazil. Amy the me go back to the firsts. Jesse washington to what you know about the refugee team . Great story from people of wartorn nations who would never have made it to the olympics, but for the ioc doing something right for a change, and allowing them to compete under a unified banner, i had a chance to talk briefly with one or two of them was that they are not competitive in their events. But that is not the point. It is a victory even for them to compete. I was moved just by their perseverance and her ermination to get here their determination to get here. There are millions of refugees all over the world. I hope we can get some of the attention and a light to those who are not athletes as well. Amy just to explain what it is, what the ioc had to do with this, the International Olympic committee . They did margin the opening ceremonys together as a team from different nations under the banner of refugees. I kind of like it because it flips what is majoritive in the u. S. Saying we should keep refugees out from places where a bomb could hit your house in the middle of a night while youre sleeping and your tilton are sleeping, but we will not allow them into the u. S. The ioc is allowing them into the olympics, so lets pay some attention to that. Amy tony ervin, youre not afraid to speak out politically or in anyway. Maybe it is the wisdom of your years. Feelot a lot of olympians the same way. Can you talk about this and also your reverence for the fact that you studied mohammed ali . I am definitely afraid to speak out. I do so fearfully of the repercussions that come together with it. Dont think im not afraid when i do it. Amy what are the repercussions . You of, a mob comes at people you dont even know. That is the fear, that people come for you for things that they dont understand. Not as you do, at least. Ali, you know,d he is the patron saint of the olympics. Him in theng about Civil Rights Era the day of my race. I was trying to keep calm and find some peace. I was sitting there reading about it. I dont get too much into it because his struggles are well documented and his wife life is welldocumented and anyone can go and read it, but that 1996 of him in alanna in with the olympic torch and lighting that flame, you know, may that flame never go out. Amy tony, his tokyo next for you . Be there. Y want to tokyo is one of my favorite cities in the world. Inther i am competing there a suit, cap and goggles, or wearing a suit and tie in some other role, i definitely want to be there. Amy what does it mean to you to be the oldest Gold Medalist in swimming . Swimmersns the generally give up the sport and retire kind of early for a variety of reasons. Financial. The pay is not that lucrative unless you are michael phelps. But, you know, pro athletes keep going into the 30s in all sports. You see it in baseball, vegetable, football. They can keep going. Times anday resist at recovery is a little harder. I am so much wiser with my choices price of the preservation of what i do becomes easier to handle. The cliche of the ages just a number, it is a desire to do it or not. Im still relevant as a competitor for now. But swimming is one of those things that you can keep doing forever. Even if i am not competitive in the relative sense, i still will be storming. Amy jesse, the undefeated ran a column by Michael Jordan who spoke out for the first time publicly about being a black man in response to the issue of Police Brutality and black lives matter. Can you talk about the significance of this . It was a pretty deep significance because jordan is probably the most famous athlete on the planet, and he is always shied away from speaking out in favor of black issues, black problems. There is a quote attributed to him probably incorrectly that says, when he was asked to support a black Senate Candidate who is running against a rather borderline racist white guy in North Carolina who shall remain unnamed, jesse helms, and jordan is alleged to have said republicans buy secrets, too. This quote has followed him throughout his career. While we admire him for his athletic the congressmans and the greatest of all time when it comes to baskerville, he was not the blackest of all times when it came to social issues. Fast four to 2014, the undefeated is about raised race and force. Our chief happen to be in a conversation with one of jordans representatives and he said, how is michael feeling about all of this stuff going on in the news . Philandoright after castile and alton have been killed and after the Police Officers in dallas and baton rouge had been killed. Our nation was really convulsed in this moment and jordan felt it was time to say something. Our editor in chief, being the newsman that he is, was able to work with jordan to bring his statement to the world, which i thought was pretty positive because it acknowledged the need for understanding on both sides. In jordan decided to donate 1 million to the Naacp Legal Defense Fund and to an organization for Police Officers to increase ties with the community. It was a major moment in athletes and social activism. This Younger Generation of , theyre lebron, kobe more comfortable with the activism. They have more of a voice. Their brands are more powerful. They sell sneakers regardless. Jordan innocence had to catch up with them. In a sense had to catch up with them. Jordan made up some of the ground in the social legacy that have young ballers established. Amy tony, what this meant for you as an africanamerican athlete . Michael jordan saying as a proud american and black man, ive been deeply troubled by the death of africanamericans by the hand of one person, angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting of the killing of Police Officers. I mean, he is right. It is horrible. Morale of the being black in america has got to be terrifying if you see those lights coming at you because you dont know what is going to happen. You want someone who is just trying to do their job and is a good person, but what they dont want is someone who is just going to take your life. Amy have you ever experienced anything i dont know how we move past it. Amy have you ever experienced anything like it . No. No, i havent. I havent had to deal with that. Amy jesse, you . I have been stopped by the police a few times in areas gray and not so gray. I waswhen i was the young man. Ive had to deal with it a little bit. The interesting thing was both tony and myself, we both have moms who are white jewish women from new york city. I just by the genetic dice roll of the universe, i look like i do and tony looks like he does. You can have different experiences, different expectations, different burdens placed upon or removed from you. It is a very interesting dynamic that it is still a big deal. I tweeted this week that i was only black journalist in a press conference for the only black woman to win a individual gold medal in swimming at the olympics. The response to that was overwhelming and many, many people said, what are you talking about . What are you pointing this out . What does this matter . There is still a deep resistance to dealing with the kind of issues that tony has had to face since he got in the pool and won idals in 2000s and that dealt with as the young man only cover in the undefeated. Hopefully, we can start to wrestle with some of these things even when the president of the united ways is not a black man. If i get several quick about obama, a lot of people dont just say he is the first black president. Biracial the first president. Obama and myself both have white mothers. What people field understand is that you dont get to decide if youre black or not. Society looks at you and decides if you are black. Obama is going to stay black until the end. So if you want to take that away from him, that is think about what youre trying to do to rob summit of the identity that not only have they chosen for themselves, but america put on them. We have a long way to go to wrestle with some of these things and it might take three or four more black president s, a buddhist and a muslim president , woman, in a hijab, to solve this problem. Amy Jesse Washington of the undefeated and Anthony Ervin, undefeated and Anthony Ervin, the oldest to win a gold medal of ready to rio, chef Hubert Keller joins rio food expert Tom Le Mesurier on a trip to one of the citys best farmers markets, followed by a real amazonian food adventure. Theyll stop at toms favorite bar, a real legend in the bohemian santa teresa district, and check out the most popular street food vendor in rio. Its starting now on ready to rio with chef Hubert Keller. music playing ready to rio is made possible by cuisinart, makers of the cuisinart cook central threeinone multicooker. Make bolognese, lemon chicken and steamed artichokes. Cuisinart savor the good life