Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20160921

Keep lamont scott. We will get response. The president obama addresses the global migrant crisis in its final speech to the United Nations. It is part of the first ever summit for refugees and migrants. Pres. Obama i called this summit because this is one of the most urgent tests of our times, our capacity for collective action. It tests first and foremost our ability to end conflicts because so many of the worlds refugees come from just three countries ravaged by war syria, afghanistan, and somalia. Amy we will get an update on the refugee crisis from Mohammed Badran and Manfred Lindenbaum. With oxfamo speak president raymond offenheiser, then the u. S. Objected to language of the original draft of the refugee summit revolution resolution that said children should never be detained. We will get response from a teenager held for more than a year at the Berks County Residential Center, and immigrant family jail, in pennsylvania. Of us here, for all the children and the mothers, this is a horrible looks france being in detention because more than a year of incarceration for a child is not just without having committed a crime. Amy we will stick with a former unaccompanied minor who fled honduras at the age of 15. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Charlotte, North Carolina, was rocked by protests overnight after hundreds took to the street and blocked interstate 85 to protest the Fatal Police Shooting of 43yearold African American Keith Lamont Scott on tuesday. Video footage shows protesters blocking the highway, where fires were lit. Police in riot gear responded by throwing tear gas at the crowds. Police say about a dozen officers were hurt during the conflict. Protesters were also injured. Keith lamont scott was shot and killed around 4 00 p. M. After Police Arrived to serve an arrest warrant for another person at scotts housing complex. The accounts of the shooting diverge sharply. While the police claim they first tased and then shot scott because he was armed and posed an imminent deadly threat, scotts family says he was not armed except with a book in hand. They say hed been sitting in his car, waiting to pick up his son after school. This is scotts daughter speaking in a Facebook Live video recorded at the scene of the shooting. What are they over there are doing . Shot my daddy for being black . Shot my daddy for being black. He is disabled. Hows he going to shoot yall. He aint got no gun. Amy Police Identified the officer who shot and killed scott as brentley vinson, who is black. Three years rlier, police in charlotte shot and killed naan fre, ed africanamerican College Student crh was seeking help after a car officer Randall Kerrick fired 12 bullets at ferrell. Officer kerrick was tried and acquitted of voluntary manslaughter last year. This comes as protests also erupted in tulsa, oklahoma, over the Fatal Police Shooting of 40yearold African American Terence Crutcher, who was shot by a white Police Officer while his hands were in the air. Hundreds gathered outside the Tulsa Police Department demanding her firing. Crutcher was shot and killed around 8 00 p. M. On friday after his car broke down. Some of the video released monday comes from Police Helicopter footage in which you can hear the man in the helicopter saying about crutcher, that looks like a bad dude. Footage from Police Dashcam video shows crutcher walking away from officers with his hands in the air, then putting his hands on the side of his own car as hes surrounded by officers. The video captures a voice coming over the police radio saying, hes just been tasered, and then a womans voice yelling shots fired, as the video shows crutchers arms falling to the pavement. We will have more on both of these shootings with bree knew some of North Carolina and vince warren of the center for constitutional rights. In news from the war in syria, secretary of state john kerry and Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov are meeting in new york city today to discuss the collapse of the ceasefire agreement in syria. This comes as the United States is saying russia is likely responsible for the attack on the u. N. Aid convoys on monday, which destroyed 18 of the convoys as aid workers were unloading food and other supplies at a red crescent warehouse. The red cross says 20 people were killed. Russia has denied responsibility. In updates to this weekends bombings in new york and new jersey, suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami has been charged in a Manhattan Federal Court with bombing, property destruction , and the use of weapons of mass destruction. He was not charged with any terrorism related crimes. Rahami is the main suspect in the bombings. Police say they identified him from Surveillance Video which showed him at both sites , in manhattan where bombs were planted on 23rd street, where the bomb did explode, injuring 29 people, and four blocks away on 27th street, where a bomb did not explode. Authorities also say his finger prints were found on the device on 27th street. He was arrested after a shootout in linden, new jersey, on monday, in which he and officers were both injured, and he also faces multiple counts of attempted murder of a Law Enforcement officer. The charges filed tuesy in the manhattan courtroom suggest prosecutors have not been able to tie rahami to any nonstate terrorist organizations. This comes as information continues to emerge about rahami. His father says rahami was arrested in 2014 for allegedly stabbing a family member. He was not indicted on the charges. His father says at the time, he called the fbi can refer to his son as a terrorist, prompting the fbi to open an investigation which found evidence to support his fathers statement. In news from the campaign trial, a New Washington post investigation reveals donald trump used 258,000 from the donald j. Trump foundation to pay off legal fees associated with his businesses which is illegal under u. S. Law. The disputes included 120,000 in unpaid fines over the height of a flag pole in palm beach, florida, and a dispute over a trump golf course in new york. In both cases, trump reached settlements that involved him paying out Foundation Money to other charities. But this money should have been paid by his forprofit businesses, not the foundation. A previous Washington Post investigation showed donald trump has not donated any of his own money to his foundation since 2008. Meanwhile, the New Washington post investigation also reveals trump used Foundation Money to buy advertisements for his hotels and to buy a 10,000 portrait of himself. This is now the second documented case of donald trump using his own foundations money to buy portraits of himself. The other one was a sixfoot tall portrait and cost 20,000. Meanwhile, trumps son, donald trump, jr. , continues to spark controversy with his comments that compared Syrian Refugees to poisoned skittles. On he tweeted a graphic reading monday, if i had a bowl of skittles and i told you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful . Thats our syrian refugee problem. Now the man who shot the photo of the skittles in the graphic has come forward, revealing he himself is a former refugee. David kittos lives in britain. He said in 1974, when i was sixyears old, i was a refugee from the Turkish Occupation of cyprus so i would never approve the use of this image against refugees. The Parent Company of skittles has also pushed back against the tweet, saying skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We dont feel its an appropriate analogy. In financial news, massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren grilled wells fargo ceo john stumpf during his twohour testimony to the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday over the growing scandal at the major wall street bank involving thousands of employees who took private customer information to create 2 million fake accounts in order to meet sales targets. The scandal dates back to at least 2011, and ceo john stumpf admits hes known about the practice since 2013. Wells fargo has been fined 185 million. On tuesday, senator Elizabeth Warren called on stumpf to resign. But you squeezed your employees to the breaking point so they would cheat customers and you could drive up the value of your stock and put hundreds of millions of dollars in your own pocket. And when it all blew up, you kept your job, you kept your multimillion dollar bonuses, and you went on television to blame thousands of 12 and hour employees who were just trying to meet you rich. This is about accountability. You should resign. You should give act the money that you took while this scam was going on and you should be criminally investigated by both the department of justice and the securities and exchange commission. Amy here in new york, the United Nations General Assembly held its firstever summit for refugees and migrants. The summit produced a nonbinding declaration detailing a more coordinated and humane response to the biggest migration upheaval since world war ii. President obama also announced the United States will resettle 110,000 refugees from around the world a nearly 60 increase from 2015, but still only a tiny fraction of the number of refugees resettled in other countries. Only hours after the meeting was occurring in new york, a massive fire swept through a refugee camp on the greek island of lesbos. The fire at the moria camp destroyed dozens of homes and tents and forced thousands of people to flee. We will have more on the summit for refugees and migrants later in the broadcast. In brussels, belgium as many as , 15,000 people marched tuesday to demand the eu abandon two controversial trade deals the transatlantic trade and Investment Partnership between the eu and the u. S. , and the comprehensive economic and trade agreement between the eu and canada. This is one of the protesters. The aim of the treaty is true move all barriers to allow more competitivity, free trade, free market. At the problem is that those barriers also include food controls, food security, safety of the food chain, and that is not something we can tolerate as citizens, as human beings, fathers. Amy the transatlantic trade and Investment Partnership would be the largest trade deal in the world. Its faced resistance both in the United States and across europe. In a landmark ruling, a federal judge in pennsylvania has ordered the Immediate Release of a prisoner from longterm solitary confinement. Arthur cetewayo johnson has not touched another human other than a guard since 1979. He is challenging his conditions as cruel and unusual. He described his isolation in a statement for the court. During my over 36 years in solitary confinement, my cell has been about 7 feet by 12 feet, smaller than many cages used to hold animals at zoos my cell has been lighted 24hours per day, with no break during day or night. I have been allowed at most one hour of time outside, five days a week, in a fencedin exercise cage that is slightly larger than my cell. I have been forced to eat all of my meals alone in my cell. Each time i leave my cell i am forced to undergo a mandatory strip search. I have not been accused of any serious disciplinary infraction in more than 25 years. On tuesday, judge Christopher Connor called for a plan within a week to reintegrate johnson into general population in 90 days. Johnson was convicted of homicide and sentenced to life without parole at age 18. He is now 64 years old. While behind bars he became , politicized though the black liberation movement. His case is handled by the Abolitionist Law Center and jones day law firm. And in news from the Ongoing Movement to stop the 3. 8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, Standing Rock sioux tribal chairman Dave Archambault has called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to oppose the project, saying the United States has failed to honor the tribes sovereign rights and treaty land. While we have gone to the court in the United States, our courts have failed to protect our sovereign rights, our Sacred Places, and our water. We call upon the human rights all and all members Member States to condemn the construction of our Sacred Places and to support our nations efforts to ensure our sovereign rights are respected. We asked that you call upon our parties all parties to stop the dakota pipeline and protect the environment, our nations future, our culture, and our way of life. Amy that is the chair of the Standing Rock sioux tribe speaking in geneva at the United Nations Human Rights Council on tuesday. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and im juan gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin todays show looking at Police Killings of two unarmed africanamerican men. One in tulsa, oklahoma, and one in charlotte, North Carolina, which was rocked by protests overnight after hundreds took to the street and blocked interstate 85 to protest the Fatal Police Shooting of 43yearold African American keep lamont scott. Video footage shows protesters blocking the highway, where fires were lit. Police in riot gear responded by throwing tear gas at the crowds. Police say about a dozen officers were hurt during the conflict. Protesters were also hurt. Amy Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed around 4 pm tuesday after Police Arrived to serve an arrest warrant for another person at scotts housing complex. The accounts of the shooting diverge sharply. While the police claim they first tased and then shot scott because he was armed and posed an imminent deadly threat, scotts family says he was not armed except with a book in hand. They say hed been sitting in his car waiting to pick up his son after school. This is scotts daughter speaking in a Facebook Live video recorded at the scene of the shooting. What are they doing . Shot my daddy for being black . Shot my daddy for being black. He is disabled. How is he gonna shoot yall . Juan this comes as police in tulsa, oklahoma, have released a video showing a white Police Officer shooting and killing unarmed 40yearold African American Terence Crutcher while his hands were in the air. Officer betty shelby shot crutcher around it 00 p. M. On after his car broke down. Friday some of the video released monday came from Police Helicopter footage, in which one can hear the man in the helicopter saying about crutcher that looks like a bad dude, too. This is a clip from the police footage. This guy is still walking. Not following commands. Time for taser, i think. I got a feeling that is about to happen. That looks like a bad dude, too. Which way are they facing . Westbound. I think he may just have been tasered. Shots fired . 321, shots fired. No one suspect down. Get this eastbound closed down because they are not going to be of the let anybody ok. Amy other footage from a Police Dashcam vehicle shows crutcher walking slowly away from officers with his hands in the air, then putting his hands on the side of his own car as hes surrounded by officers. The video captures a voice coming over the police radio saying hes just been tasered and then a womans voice yelling shots fired as the video shows crutchers arms falling to the pavement. The Justice Department says it is investigating the shooting of Terence Crutcher as a possible civil rights violation. On tuesday, hundreds gathered outside the polls of Police Department to demand the firing of officer betty shelby. For more we are joined in new york by vince warren, executive director of the constitutional rights. On the phone with us, bree newsome and activist. Last year, she scaled the 30 foot flagpole on the South Carolina State Capitol grounds and unhooked the Confederate Flag as Police Officers shouted at her to come down. Bree shimmied to the top of the flagpole, took the flag and said you come against me with hatred. I come against you in the name of god. This flag comes down today. She is from charlotte, North Carolina. Stream,cracy now Rashad Robinson executive , director of color of change. We welcome you all to democracy now , you could riots call them uprisings, riots of fear and anger, protest in charlotte, North Carolina, that k place after the killing the police killing. Can you talk about what you understand you are not there now, but what you understood took place . Absolutely. I think what took place in charlotte, North Carolina, in contact with folks who are on the ground there, we have witnessed several times in the past two years, what we have since thein america 1960s, at least, and this is an incident of Police Brutality that in many ways is the camel breaking im sorry, the straw breaking the camels back. We have an issue of wealth inequality in several incidents of Police Brutality. One of the most notable cases was the case of jonathan for l, a young man who was gunned down by police who was also unarmed. He had crashed his car and was looking for help. He knocked on the door, the Police Showed up and killed him. There was an acquittal in that case. Cases, this other moment that happened last night, this was not an isolated incident. This is a tipping point, a kind of boiling over moment. For the city and for the nation, in a lot of ways. Folks are not just reacting to what happened in charlotte, but also in tulsa and baton rouge. , the issue,warren especially into also, a couple of things are quite different about this. We have the identity of the officer right away and also the video surfaced pretty quickly as opposed to in other instances where there have been battles over even getting the videos the police have available to the public. A couple of things on that. That was significant and i think it was important. Lets be clear the Police Departments do not do this out of the kindness of their hearts. They do it because of political pressure. It is exactly these types of theest were seeing today, independent journalists fighting for these things, make it politically hard for Police Department not to put those things forward. I also want to point out that the full situation highlights a central problem with policing a black communities in particular which is they are trained to see noncompliance as escalation so they ask you to do something, if the Police Department increase the use of force and try to justify that afterwards. The good things about having the video situations, all of us can see for ourselves what really happened. Im at the point now with the 193rd killing of a black man this year where i am not inclined don amy the number again . 193 according to the guardian council. It is amazing to me that nobody in america can tell me specifically how many black people have been killed by Police Officers. 100 93, im quite prepared not to believe the Police Department narrative about anything that happened in these investigations and eyewitness reports become much more important. , what youd robinson understand about what took place in tulsa . Onotest coming out monday, the video being released by the police as helicopter which is truly remarkable, showing Terence Crutcher with his hands in the air walking very slowly. His car had been roque and down. Walking to his car and putting his hands on the car. The windows were up on the car. Is justwe understand much black people are not this video was not released out of the goodness of the hearts of the local Police Department in tulsa. It was released because they knew they had to start figuring out how to get ahead of this story to get the video was simply that bad. In situations like this, over and over again, we watch as Police Departments concoct stories. And now were seeing stories about drugs. Stories they would not have known he had drugs in the car if all of these reasons that try to legitimize the fact the police were unable to sort of deescalate and solve the situation, unable to figure out a story that makes it ok that a gun was pulled out and a man was shot dead. And Police Officers stood around for a while as this man laid on the ground and did not even try to get him medical help. This speaks to the ongoing way that from the start, black people are never given the benefit of the doubt, are not seen as human, are seen as enemy combatants. And even in their deaths, are seen as not deserving medical support and deserving of the situation. This officer needs to be fired because we continue to come to these conversations where people want communities to come together, one conversation. Get theet we dont results that send a message to Police Officers that they will be held accountable. But we also need to have a larger conversation because this is not about one bad apple or two bad apples. This is about systemic problems in Police Departments around the country. And structures that make it ok. And think about the killing of black people over and over and the again and notice how cannibal. Amy i think this is a telling comment from a protester come extremely angry last night in charlotte, North Carolina. Jersey, new in new york, he was taken alive. They said they wanted to question him. Because you want to russian him, does his life mean more than our black men across the nation . Sot from cnnhave a or she is saying, you are telling me that you do not kill a man is being referred to as a terrorist in new york, you can take him alive because you want him for questioning, but an africanamerican man you shoot dead. Absolutely. That is precise question i think we are talking about. That black lives are so dehumanized, that it is ok structurally, ok within the context of the Police Department and the criminal justice system, to kill black people. The reason why i think the color of change petition is so important is because a Police Officer is the only job in america where you can kill somebody and then you get desk duty. Desk duty almost becomes the default mechanism. If you ask anybody what is going to happen with these cases, people dont believe this Police Officer either of these Police Officers will face serious charges or will get indicted or convicted or they will get sentenced. People do not believe it. We have lost complete faith in the system because the system is designed to do the exact opposite of what black people need. Juan Rashad Robinson, what about the issue now that the Justice Department jumped in right away saying theyre going to do an investigation . Weve seen this happen time after time after many of these shootings. What inevitably happens, the Justice Department on must always decides there is no criminal offense, even on the civil rights violations, that they can prosecute. This is part of the structural change that we need. The Justice Department actually does not have a real budget for these types of investigations. This is part of the problem. And currently, the standard is so high for the Justice Department to bring charges, that over and over in the situations, they may actually find problems but and situations in which Police Departments or individual police acted inappropriately, and they cannot bring charges because they cannot meet the standard that is so high and so hard to get over that in fact, it really makes these situations ok over and over again. So part of the longterm systemic work we have to do and weve been working on that, some of those campaigns are on wefchange. Org as well need to find the local dollars that go into local Police Departments to their performance and stop giving huge sums of money to Police Department said basic standards. If we can defund local schools for not meeting standards but still give huge grants to local Police Departments that do not value our lives, then were not dealing with the incentive structures and not sort of shifting the power dynamic and forcing real change. If we dont do with the fact the standards are so high that we can never hold anyone accountable, then we will be in the situation 5, 10, 15 years from now. We will have people calling for the unity, asking black people to stand down and be peaceful and not be upset, to tell people to give Police Officers the benefit of the doubt when black people never get the benefit of the doubt. We need systemic change. Amy i want to ask bree newsome, i mean, to remind people, when you climbed that flagpole on the grounds of the columbia state said in South Carolina and this like him saturday, the Confederate Flag, in response to the killing of the beautiful nine, the nine people the Immanuel Church in charleston, South Carolina and their pastor byment take me think me whites from us is to wrap himself in the Confederate Flag. In this case, you have keep lamont scott killed by an brittnamerican officer levinsohn and in tulsa, you have a white woman Police Officer, betty shelby, who killed Terence Crutcher. Your response . Been a focus on what is the race of the Police Officer. That is not the issue. Everyone can participate in the whites of premises system. We have to realize the policing system in america is rooted in slavery and slave patrols. I would argue that slavery never ended because in the 13th amendment, it is codified that slavery is legal in cases of criminal punishment. We look at history, we see as soon as emancipation happened i leave that is the root of Police Brutality as it exists today. What happened in trenton last year was also within the context of Police Brutality as well. Clement taking the had just succeeded in getting body cam a legislation passed in response to the walter scott case. Police brutality has always been woven throughout the story of civil rights and the struggle for equality in america. This issue is as old as policing in americaa. Amy and walter scott was stopped for a traffic stop in a Police Officer blew him away as he ran through a park. It was only caught because of bystander flipped open his phone and started to film. We will continue to cover this. , thank you for joining us, artists and activists from charlotte, North Carolina. Vince warren is executive director of the center for constitutional rights. And Rashad Robinson is executive director of color of change. He has launched a petition titled Terence Crutcher died for being black and that officer betty shelby. When we come back, we look at the global refugee crisis. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. We turn now to the meeting of 193 Member States of the United Nations for the firstever summit for refugees and migrants in new york city. The summit produced a nonbinding declaration detailing a more coordinated and humane response to the biggest migration upheaval since world war ii. President obama used his eighth and final address to the u. N. General assembly as president to announce a pledge by 50 countries to admit 360,000 refugees from conflictridden areas this year. He said World Leaders have vowed to double the number from last year. Amy a record 65 Million People have been displaced by conflicts around the world. This is the first time the number of migrants has topped 60 million. Most have fled to areas within their own countries, largely in syria and iraq, but about 21 million refugees have been forced to leave their countries due to conflict or persecution. Nine Million People have been displaced by the sixyear conflict in syria alone, while more than 4 million others have fled the country. Despite the focus on the influx of refugees in European Countries, 86 of the worlds refugees are hosted in developing regions close to conflict zones like turkey, jordan, and ethiopia. Speaking tuesday, president obama urged wealthy countries to do more to help resolve the global refugee problem. Pres. Obama we have to imagine what it would be like for our family, for our children is the unspeakable happened to us. And we should all understand that, ultimately, our world would be more secure if we are prepared to help those in need and the nations who are carrying the largest burden with respect to accommodating these refugees. Juan president obama also announced the United States will resettle 110,000 refugees from around the world a nearly 60 increase from 2015. Amy for more were joined by three guests. In washington, d. C. , Mohammed Badran is a cofounder of syrian volunteers in the netherlands. On monday, he spoke at the u. N. Summit on refugees and migrants. And here in new york, Manfred Lindenbaum is a holocaust survivor and advocate for refugees. In 1939, manfred and his brother fled from germany to poland and then to england on the famous kindertransport just days before the nazis invaded. In 1946, the Jewish Refugee Organization hias reunited manfred with an aunt and an uncle living in new jersey. He has been in the u. S. Ever since. Also with us is raymond offenheiser, president of the International Humanitarian and Development Organization oxfam america. The organization is participating in this years United Nations General Assembly. We welcome you all to democracy now lets start with raymond offenheiser. Talk about what has to be done right now. Were seeing the largest influx of refugees and strolled war to. World war ii. Said, basically the focus was this declaration for refugees and migrants it was a sickly put together this summer and negotiated the summer and brought to the u. N. General assembly for approval. At the heart of the problem is this disproportionate responsibility being felt by the neighboring countries in a way you mentioned, and the idea of having the summit was to get commitments about burden sharing. Unfortunately, what we found at the end of the day was sort of a minimalist approach to the when governments were negotiating the final outcome. So we did not get the kinds of burden sharing commitments we hoped for, but rather we got a reaffirmation of commitments to a sick principals on the convention of refugees from 1951 in the protocol of 1967, but we did not get bold commitments for the kind of burden sharing across the hosting and not hosting countries that we hoped would be at the heart of this agreement. Juan could you be more specific about this burden sharing . Clearly, were getting all of the attention to what is happening to the refugees coming into europe and were seeing the president ial debate the battle over how were going to do it people coming to the u. S. , but what are the countries and what other problems faced by the developing countries to the conflict zones . As you reported in the past, country like lebanon with literally one million plus refugees in a country of 4 million were your sink operable one was one point finally and or so in jordan in a country of 6 million. The state ofin massachusetts. How do you support that . These neighboring countries have an extraordinarily generous in providing basic education, Health Services and so forth. The world bank has tried to subsidize that but were not at a point where these countries we are at a point where these countries are unable to manage this. The International Community in this type of crisis has got to begin to develop new systems and approaches and a more robust way of dealing with this, particularly the burden sharing across countries. One of the Key Statistics to remember is the five or six wealthiest countries in the world only host 9 of the refugee population. Amy in syria, the u. N. Has suspended all eight after its aid convoys were attacked by war planes outside of aleppo. Oxfam had 9000 hygiene kits ready to be delivered to a aleppo, but all aid has been halted . Correct. And the ceasefire is over so were in a situation where some 31 trucks did not get in and theres little promise they will. Was anview, this outrageous act. Everyone knew the convoy was on the road. They had been waiting for days for a green light to get in. There was an attack in a double hit. The convoy was hit twice on that road. Literally, the consequences, all of those people that would have been receiving that aid, will not receive it. Theres little clarity as to how were going to return. Juan were also joined by Mohammed Badran, cofounder of syrian volunteers. What was the message you gave to the summit and can you talk to but euro and experience as a refugee . Absolutely. Our message was really clear at the summit. We showed the International Community that they have to do more for refugees and we showed them that being a refugee is more of an experience, that you will feel like you need help, but afterwards, you cant provide help. Not as always staying a victim. People look at you that you are, you know, they always underestimate you. That was our message to during the u. N. Summit. We focused on how the her education is actually almost impossible to get access to universities. That was our message. Amy i also want to bring in Manfred Lindenbaum. Bring along, Historical Perspective to all of this. Can you explain how you as a child became a refugee . When i heard about this conference at the United Nations, my mind immediately went back to the evian conference in france in 1938 at which the countries got together and decided no matter what happens, we are not taking in any children refugees, taking in no refugees led by the United States, one country after another said that. And three weeks later, 17,000 of actuallyn germany were rounded up and taken to the border and chased across the border, physically chased across the border into poland. My fear was, is this going to be one of these conferences where everybody says nice things and then in effect, says it is going to continue as before . I did not feel quite that pessimistic. I think it has brought it back on the front page amy explain what happened when you got to poland. What was this kindred transport . Byn i got to poland, the way, when we got to poland, were two hours, there relief organizations which came. Things and i think refugees today can relate to that they brought as things like bags to put straw in so we did not sleep on the ground. Amy how old were you . I was six. Some people slept in the stables. We got into the fourth story of a burnedout building with no facilities in it. We were there for 10 months. Amy what was the kindred transport . It was with the germany army was on the border. It was over because the United States at that point said were not taking in any jewish children. They could not get their bill out of committee. England had decided under great pressure to take in 10,000 that were already there. As thelast minute, german army was coming over, they got as they got a few hundred of us onto a polish warship. That took me and my brother to england. They would not let my sister on. She was 14. So she was murdered with the rest of my family. Juan raymond offenheiser, this issue of the children and the then thing that would not take any more jewish children. Part of the problem this year is that the united as was objecting to calls for no detention for children who were refugees and concerned about its policies toward Central American refugees on the southern border. Quit the u. S. Objected to the final draft of the declaration in the middle of the summer and held up the final vote for two days over this particular issue. They wanted to put in language that would allow the possibility , particularly in reference to the Central American border cases, where there is active detention going on. This was very specific move by the u. S. That really would require the entire process to stop and which to be put into allow for that. Amy we will talk about that in our next segment. I want to ask our guests Manfred Lindenbaum about the comment of republican president ial candidate Donald Trumps oldest son, donald trump, junior, who compared Syrian Refugees to poison skittles. He tweeted a graphic that said if i had ebola skittles and i told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful . That is our syrian refugee problem. The company that makes skittles backwent on to tweet saying. Kittles are candy refugees are people. We do not feel it is an appropriate analogy. Your response when you heard . I think is absolutely horrible. It brings back the dark images of children being murdered. I can only feel horrible for him that he has such a twisted mentality that he is able to come out with that. He is a very poor individual. Amy Mohammed Badran, he was talking about Syrian Refugees. Your response . Know, firstly, i talked not only about Syrian Refugees. I talk about all refugees. I talk about how we all are contribute in to society contributing to society where we are living. This is, like, you know, for what he said. Juan i want to ask you about your experience. Your been cofounding the syrian volunteers in the netherlands. How has the netherlands responded compared to other European Countries to the refugee crisis . Netherlands, at the moment theres a Great Initiative coming from the citizens, from the dutch locals, to help refugees with integration. Sometimesis still challenges that you have to challenge in your community and your society. We are working on this. But i think the netherlands, i ul to beeally great so such a great country. Amy we want to thank you all for being with us. Weve been speaking with Manfred Lindenbaum, survivor of the holocaust. He and his brother made it over on the kindertransport. The u. S. Would not take any more children. And mohammedheiser badran. They are all gathered here in new york for this refugee summit at the United Nations. On the issue of the u. S. Changing the language of , weren in detention going to talk about that next. Stay with us. [music break] amy music by two Syrian Refugees. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan we continue to look at the u. N. Summit for refugees and migrants which produced a nonbinding declaration of developing accord needed and humane response to the migration crisis. The United States objected to language in the original draft of the resolution that said children should never be detained. The agreement ultimately said children should seldom, if ever, be detained and calls it a measure of last resort. This comes as teenagers held at the Berks County Residential Center an immigrant family jail in pennsylvania are protesting their indefinite detention. Some have been held more than a year while they seek asylum with their mothers, who are also detained. This is 16yearold estefany Adriana Mendez from el salvador responding to the u. S. s insistence on changing the language of the summits declaration. They said before they rejected it completely, but now theyre saying it is an alternative measure and i think it should not be that way because the truth for all of us here, the children who are here and the mothers him and this is a horrible looks aryans to be in detention. Because more than he year of incarceration for a child is not just without having committed any crime. The majority of us were here, almost all of us, really, all of us, have family. We have family here to receive us. I family in maryland, los angeles, and florida. My father is in texas waiting for us. I am 16 years old. I am from el salvador and enter the 20th of august in 2015. I arrived at delhi, texas, the 26th of august and i was in that place for two months. Theyre my birthday passed. I turned 16. On the 20th of october, we hereed at berks and i been for 11 months. In total, i have 393 days in detention and soon it will be my birthday. Truthfully, i hope not to turn 17 here, again, while incarcerated. Amy thats 16yearold estefany Adriana Mendez from el salvador. For more we are joined by two guests who participated on monday in a shadow summit to discuss the u. S. Response to Central American refugees. Dr. Allen keller is associate professor of medicine at nyu school of medicine and cofounder and directer of the bellevue nyu program for survivors of torture and the nyu center for health and human rights. He is recognized internationally for his expertise in evaluating and caring for survivors of torture. Were also joined in this segment by elvis garcia, a former unaccompanied minor who fled honduras at the age of 15. Dr. Allen keller, lets go right to the u. S. Change of the language of the resolution. Explain what happened. Well, it just goes to show language matters. Asit were a simple as saying a matter of last resort we detain children, that sounds palatable. But i must tell you, the children at berks and the thousands of women and children who have been detained from Central America and for whom this is not a measure of last resort, the first, second, and third resort. And in addition to those teenagers that were mentioned, it is important to note that in this blog a Family Detention Centers that has sprung up around the country, over the course of the last year, there been thousands of infants at berks, for example, several children who celebrated their first and second birthdays there. These are kids. In addition to the young adults you mentioned. It can only be said that these children and young adults are being robbed of that most sacred thing childhood. And what really scares me is that in the case of the Central Americans, it is without adequate protection. Messagevis garcia, what did you bring talk about your own experience leaving your homeland, honduras, when you were 15 years old. My messages the United States has to do more, not only the u. S. , but all of the other countries in the world. They have to start working, they have to start doing a little bit more for refugees and immigrants. My opinion on this is that they have to start treating what is happening in Central America as a humanitarian crisis. You see that all of these children, families, are leaving because of violence. It is important for the u. S. To start viewing this as a humanitarian crisis. Keller,ant to ask dr. How did the u. S. Exactly lobby to change no kids should be in detention, which now is not just about the u. S. , it is about the whole world, to only seldom . How do they do it behind the scenes . Because the United States has power. Frankly, it has always been the case. In international politics, we play hardball. To awhole issue speaks witha me or disconnect president obama. I mean, his words about humanizing refugees i think are so compelling, so important. And i deeply believe he means them. On the other hand, somewhere along the line in his head or his policy advisors it clicked, oh, these children and women are not refugees. It all comes back to theres a saying in science, garbage in garbage out. So the underlying problem from the very beginning, we did not realize or perceive them as refugees. We perceived them as Illegal Immigrants and the solution was enforcement. When the solution is enforcement, the solution is detention. When it is a humanitarian crisis, there are other things. It also speaks to the president mention this as well how we look at refugees has changed. We used to think of refugees as a group that was there for a few a year. Onths, maybe we have refugee camps around the world that basically have been there for more than 20 years. The Central Americans also demand us to broaden how we think about refugees, both in terms of how we treat them and how we address the root causes. Juan i think probably president obamas most quoted line from yesterdays address was that countries who build walls imprisoned themselves, yet here we are in essence, his policy is imprisoning people once they get into the United States. That is why i remain, in spite of being deeply frustrated and saddened, i also remain deeply optimistic because i know the president means that. I know his advisers knew. And with a stroke of a can, he could end family detention. I look forward to holding that piece of paper for him to do so. This is a matter not only of human rights, but health. Amy with the stroke of a pen, he changed the language so it would not be a resolution anywhere in the world that children cannot be detained. For that i wanted to get elvis, your comment. Your response to children detained . I dont think there should be detention for anybody who is seeking protection. We understand there are thousands of families fleeing Central America because of violence. They come to the u. S. Looking for protections. I think we should start welcoming immigrants and refugees to the u. S. , not putting them in detention. Especially when they come looking for protection. We should provide a protection instead of putting them in detention facilities. Amy we have 10 seconds. Has quickly, how violence risen so quickly over the last 10, 15 years and Central America . It has. When i came to the u. S. , even though there were a lot of islands where i was living, i can mainly for economic reasons. But that has changed. Many of the children that are coming today to the u. S. Are coming because of gang violence, because of violence in the area. Many are being persecuted and they come to the u. S. For those reasons. Amy i want to thank you both for being with us. The conversation we will continue to have also elvis garcia and dr. Allen keller, we will link to your letter will link to your letter published in the washingtve ch . light upbeat music i know i do. 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