Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20170414

And economic warfare. Shes just back from afghanistan and is now among 20 peace activists who are on day five of a vigil and fast in front of the United Nations to protest the ongoing u. S. Support for the saudi bombing of yemen. Were hoping to this fast and vigil, people all across the United States will start to recognize we cannot turn the other way and ignore what is happening in yemen. We also hope to bring people attention tobring south sudan, nigeria, somalia, countries nearby which are also nearing a trio of near famine conditions. Amy then hundreds of undocumented immigrants are on Hunger Strike to protest the conditions and extremely low wages at the forprofit northwest to Tension Center in tacoma, washington. Rodriguez. S jonathan i would like people to know that im on a Hunger Strike, not just for me, but for everyone out there in the future. Amy the Hunger Strikers are demanding better food, hygiene, and medical care within the prison, which is owned by the major private Prison Corporation geo group. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In afghanistan, the United States military on thursday dropped its most powerful nonnuclear bomb ever, the masses ordnance air blast or moab, nicknamed the mother of all bombs, on the achin district near the pakistan border. The 21,600pound bomb reportedly unleashed an explosion equivalent to 11 tons of tnt with a milewide blast radius. Bill roggio of the foundation for defense of democracies told the military times what it does is basically suck out all of the oxygen and lights the air on fire. White House Press Secretary sean spicer acknowledged the attack. It is a large, powerful, accurately delivered weapon. We targeted system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used to move around freely, making it easier for them to target u. S. Military advisers and Afghan Forces in the area. The u. S. Took all precautions necessary to prevent civilian casualties and Collateral Damage as a result of the operation. Amy thursdays blast was so powerful, it shook the ground in neighboring districts. A parliamentarian from Nangarhar Province told the guardian the explosion killed a teacher and his young son. Other afghan officials said 36 isis fighters were killed. The u. S. Backed former president of afghanistan hamid karzai denounced thursdays attack, saying this is not the war on terror, but the inhuman and most brutal misuse of our country as testing ground for new and dangerous weapons. Marc garlasco, a bushera pentagon official, told the intercept the weapon was built for use in iraq but never used due to Collateral Damage concerns. At the white house, President Trump said he was very, very proud of those who carried out the bombing. Pres. Trump Everybody Knows exactly what happened. Myt i do is i authorize military. We have the greatest military in the world and am done a job, as usual. We have given them total authorization. That is what theyre doing. Frankly, that is why they have been so successful lately. Amy democratic commerce woman barbara lee congresswoman barbara lee of california said in a statement President Trump owes the American People an explanation about his escalation of military force in afghanistan and his longterm strategy to defeat isis. Well have more on the attack in bulhanistan by going to ka and also speaking with kathy kelly. In syria, the pentagon says a u. S. Led Coalition Airstrike in tabqah killed 18 Syrian Rebels backed by the United States. U. S. Central command said in a statement the attack accidentally targeted fighters with the u. S. Supported sdf Rebel Alliance who requested air support in a fight against isis. Centcom offered condolences and called the deaths tragic. The attack followed a series of Coalition Raids that killed civilians. The journalistic Monitoring Group airwars cited four separate u. S. Airstrikes in april alone that killed 24 noncombatants. Meanwhile, syrian president Bashar Alassad has denied his forces used poison gas to attack a rebelheld town in idlib, which killed 87 people, including more than 30 children. In an interview recorded wednesday with the afp news agency, assad said reports of the attack were 100 fabricated. There was no order to make any attack. We dont have any chemical weapons. We gave up our personal years ago. Even if we had them, we would not use them. We have never used are chemical arsenal in our history. Amy assad suggested that children seen in widelycirculated video of the incident were in fact child actors pretending to be dead. Assads interview was broadcast as inspectors with the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons said thursday samples taken from the site tested positive for the nerve agent sarin. Elsewhere in syria, rebel groups and syria plus government syrias government have begun swapping prisoners with syrias government in an exchange that could see as many as 10,000 nbc news is reporting the Trump Administration is prepared to launch a preemptive attack on north korea if it proceeds towards a Nuclear Weapons test. Nbc cited multiple senior u. S. Intelligence officials, who say a pair of u. S. Naval destroyers are positioned near north Koreas Nuclear test site and prepared to fire tomahawk Cruise Missiles. The pentagon declined to comment on the nbc report. North korea on thursday condemned the u. S. For bringing an Aircraft Carrier group and other nucleararmed assets into the region, threatening an assault on south korea, japan, and u. S. Bases. In beijing, Chinese Foreign minister wang yi urged the u. S. And north korea to deescalate. On the issue of the korean peninsula, it is not about who can say the most hateful words, about who can raise the biggest fist, who will win. Rather, once war breaks out, there will be losses on all sides. No one is the real winner. Amy u. S. Intelligence officials claim north korea is preparing what would be its sixth Nuclear Weapons testpossibly as early as saturday, which marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of the countrys founder kim ilsung. The anniversary comes as Vice President mike pence is scheduled to travel to seoul, south korea, sunday to kick off a 10day trip to asia. President trump signed legislation thursday that will allow states to withhold federal funds to planned parenthood and other Womens Health clinics that provide abortions. The bill narrowly passed the senate in march, when Vice President pence cast a tiebreaking vote in favor of the bill. In a statement, planned parenthood Vice President dawn laguens said the Trump Administration had launched the worst political attack on Womens Health in a generation, writing people are sick and tired of politicians making it even harder for them to Access Health care, and this bill is just the latest example. In new york, Police Arrested 25 people in the lobby of trump tower as they staged a protest against President Trump and his administration. The protesters chanted no ban, no race, no wall citing his ban and plan to expand the wall on the u. S. Mexico border. Cia chief mike pompeo blasted wikileaks thursday as a Hostile Intelligence Service in a stark reversal from his previous praise for the group. Pompeo made the remarks at a washington, d. C. , think tank in his first public address as cia director. It is time to call that wikileaks for what it is, Hostile Intelligence Service. In reality, they champion nothing at their own celebrity. Their moral compass is nonexistent. Their mission, personal selfaggrandizement through destruction of western values. Amy cia director pomp went on to call wikileaks founder Julian Assange a narcissist and a fraud who would have sided with dictators in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Last july, thencongressmember pompeo praised wikileaks for publishing emails hacked from the servers of the Democratic National convention, writing in a tweet that has since been deleted need further proof that the fix was in from pres. Obama on down . Busted 19,252 emails from dnc leaked by wikileaks. In libya, at least 97 african migrants are missing and feared dead after their boat capsized thursday in the mediterranean near tripoli. Libyas coastguard said it rescued 23 survivors. According to the International Organization for migration, the iom, at least 590 migrants have died attempting the dangerous ocean voyage to italy so far this year. In brazil a Supreme Court judge , has launched a corruption probe into 98 politicians for allegedly taking bribes from aa. Among those under investigation are eight members of president Michel Temers cabinet, the heads of both chambers of congress and dozens of senior , lawmakers. This is political scientist Geraldo Tadeu of the State University of rio de janeiro. We are demonstrates that talking about a system that drains public resources. A corrupt system that needs to be these investigations have to go deep so that we can reduce the level of corruption. Amy last month, a federal Court Sentenced brazils former speaker of the lower house, eduardo cunha, to more than 15 years in prison for corruption. Cunha was a key leader in the push to impeach dilma rousseff, who was brazils first female president , in a process rousseff and others have called a coup. In arkansas, Death Penalty opponents are set to rally at the State Capitol in little rock today for a good friday protest ahead of the planned execution of seven prisoners over an 11 day stretch. Governor Asa Hutchinson has approved the plan, which would see bruce earl ward and Don William Davis put to death by lethal injection on monday in backtoback executions. Five more prisoners are scheduled to die before the end of april, when the States Supply of the sedative midazolam, one of three drugs used by arkansas to stop a prisoners heartbeat, is set to expire. This is Robert Dunham of the Death Penalty information center. Arkansas has a supply of the drug mend as a lamb. It expires on april 30. If you are shopping in the supermarket and there is a used by date, what arkansas has essentially done is taken the constant concept of that and used it as a killed by date. Amy on thursday, a pair of pharmaceutical Companies Whose filed suit in federal court seeking to prevent their drugs from being used in the executions, saying arkansas acquired its supplies of potassium chloride and midazolam from an unauthorized seller. The lawyer for a United Airlines passenger who was beaten and dragged from a flight by Airport Security guards said thursday his client lost two teeth, suffered a broken nose and concussion, and might need reconstructive surgery. Dr. David dao sustained the injuries after the airline ordered him to leave his seat on a kentuckybound flight last sunday, saying it was overbooked, and then called in Chicago Department of Aviation Security officers to forcibly remove the 69yearold physician when he refused. At a News Conference thursday, dr. Daos daughter, christal dao pepper, said the incident has left her family scarred. It has been a very difficult time for our entire family, especially my dad. And we are truly grateful for your support. What happened to my dad should have never happened to any human being, regardless of the circumstance. Amy dr. Daos lawyer said his client would probably sue united and the city of chicago over the incident. And canada has taken a major step towards legalizing the Recreational Use of marijuana. Prime minister Justin Trudeau on thursday unveiled a bill that would allow adults to possess up to one ounce of the drug, while strictly licensing and regulating growers. Among those supporting the legislation is ralph goodale, canadas minister of Public Safety. R objective is to protect Public Safety and stop the flow of illegal profits to organized crime, then the law as it stands today has been an abject failure. Police forces spend between 2 billion to 3 billion every year try to deal with cannabis, yet canadian teenagers are among the heaviest users in the western world. Billioninals pocket 7 to 8 billion in illicit proceeds. We simply have to do better. Amy if the bill is approved, canada would join uruguay as the only nations to fully legalize Recreational Marijuana use. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In afghanistan, the United States military on thursday dropped its most powerful nonnuclear bomb ever, the Massive Ordnance Air blast or mother ofnamed the all bombs. The u. S. Military dropped it on the achin district near the pakistan border. The 21,600pound bomb reportedly unleashed an explosion equivalent to 11 tons of tnt with a milewide blast radius. Bill roggio of the foundation for defense of democracies told the military times what it does is basically suck out all of the oxygen and lights the air on fire. This is white houses press secretary spicer. It is a large, powerful, accurately delivered weapon. We targeted a system of tunnels and caves that isis fighters used to move around freely, making it easier for them to target u. S. Military advisers and Afghan Forces in the area. The u. S. Took all precautions necessary to prevent civilian casualties and Collateral Damage as a result of the operation. Amy thursdays blast was so powerful it shook the ground in , neighboring districts. A parliamentarian from Nangarhar Province told the guardian the explosion killed a teacher and his young son. The u. S. Backed former president of afghanistan hamid karzai denounced thursdays attack. He said this is not the war on terror, but the inhuman and most brutal misuse of our country as testing ground for new and dangerous weapons. Marc garlasco, a bushera pentagon official, told the intercept the weapon was built for use in iraq but never used due to Collateral Damage concerns. At the white house, President Trump said he was very, very proud of those who carried out the bombing. Pres. Trump very, very proud of the people. Really, another successful job. We are very, very proud of our military. Just like we are proud of the folks in this room. We are so proud of our military. It was another successful event. Did you authorize it . Pres. Trump everyone knows exactly what happened. I authorize my military. We have the greatest military in the world, and then done a job as usual. Amy democratic congresswoman barbara lee of california said in a statement President Trump owes the American People an explanation about his escalation of military force in afghanistan and his longterm strategy to defeat isis. The u. S. Backed former president of afghanistan hamid karzai denounced thursdays attack. He said this is not the war on terror, but the inhuman and most brutal misuse of our country as testing ground for new and dangerous weapons. Were going to turn right now to our guests, both in studio and also we will be going to kabul after break to speak to people in afghanistan. We turn right now to kathy kelly , who is with voices for creative nonviolence. She was twice nominated for Nobel Peace Prize post up also joined here in our studio byo, professor of media culture, communication at Temple University. Shes also a member of the afghan american artists and Writers Association and the coproducer and codirector of the documentary postcards from tora bora. Your response to what to laze . Nonnuclear,bomb, was dropped on afghanistan, the largest bomb in the history of the world outside the two atomic bombs dropped on japan. Your thoughts . Ever since we found out about what happened yesterday, my and in dialogue with my family, we have been trying to wrap our brain around magnitudeomb of this would be dropped on a people that have already been traumatized and terrorized by almost four decades of war. It is partially because the war hawks are empowered by the Trump Administration. They call this psychological warfare. Awe. Back to the shock and but this will not subdue isis or the taliban. It will not subdue them into submission. It will kill more innocent people and enrage people and radicalize people to join the ranks of the isis and taliban. Contrary to what theyre saying that this is a counterterrorism measure or strategy, this is actually creating terrorism. ,t is a big setback for peace that is our mission, we want to make that clear. It is a big setback for peace not just in the region of afghanistan and pakistan, but globally. It is a huge win for the war hawks and warlords with afghanistan, pakistan, and the u. S. I think what people dont realize, isis and the television have been losing support, not that they had that much to begin with, but they have been losing tide of Public Opinion has been turning against them because they have been terrorizing people in the region with suicide bombs, publicly beheading journalists and all types of things. Undoes that. It will turn people back toward supporting them and joining their ranks. And i think what is also mind, thiso keep in undoes all of the hard work that local reformers and progressive people have been doing on the ground there come as well is the International Donor community. Since 9 11, over 90 countries have invested in civic approaches as opposed to military approaches to rebuilding the nation with educational programs, economic programs, to give people some hope, people there just like your want peace and security and want a better future. Thwarts the Peace Process that people have worked for, including the us government. The u. S. Government has successfully initiated many nationbuilding projects, including building the media center training, media professionals, once again the economy and education and this was a big blow and a big step backward for everyone has been working for peace in the region. Amy kathy kelly, you are here in new york because you are on a hunger fast against u. S. Militarys you are protesting outside the United Nations. You just recently came back from afghanistan. First, your response to the dropping of this, well, with u. S. Military has called the mother of all bombs, developed during the bush years, but not used by president sh or president obama because of the massive concern about civilian casualties. It has a mile blast radius. I think the mother of all bombs is really greed. It is greed on the part of the people who are just itching to pull the trigger and try out their latest, but to try it out over afghanistan . A country where the air and the water are already so horribly contaminated . I mean, just having coming back from afghanistan, you wonder how people make it through those very harsh winters when the air is so terribly polluted. People brush 13th in their dealing with black saliva russian their teeth and their dealing with black saliva. People are going without reckless, lunch, and dinner sometimes. Mothers cry and say they cannot feed their children. Now the ruby more refugees because who knows what that palm has done to the water. Sure, it has had a psychological effect. People are terrified. It is a country that already has 1. 5 million refugees. Coble is so filled with people who are unemployed and have no food that it is the children who go out and do the labor. 1. 8 million are going to be pushed back into afghanistan if iran rent and pakistan and europe go ahead with plans to force people to go back. The United States has put 112 billion in a nonmilitary programs. A what can we see as the result of those programs . Dont we think this is going to feed, as well as she said, a desire for reza branc revenge . Where are these weapons coming from . The United States. Probably 700,000 pistols, assault rifles, weapons into afghanistan. That is where the jihadist groups get their weapons. Amy were going to go to break and come back to this conversation with kathy kelly, nominated twice for a Nobel Peace Prize, on hunger fast against violence and front of the u. N. Right now, as well as Wazhmah Osman, who is a professor of media culture into medication at Temple University. She is afghan american. And were going to go to kabul to speak with guests in afghanistan. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Called the mother of all bombs. That is what the u. S. Just dropped on afghanistan, the most powerful nonnuclear bomb ever released in the history of the world will stop it was unleashed an explosion equivalent to 11 tons of tnt. Its blast radius is one mile wide. Kathy in studio with kelly of voices for creative nonviolence, just back from afghanistan. And Wazhmah Osman, Temple University professor of media, culture, and communication. Were joined in kabul by two guests. They are standing with their backs to the camera to conceal the identity. Basir bita is a mentor with afghan youth peace volunteers and dr. Hakim is a medical dr. Who has provided humanitarian relief in afghanistan for over a decade, working for afghan peace volunteers. We welcome you all to democracy now i am sorry we cannot see your face list of in fact, dr. Hakim, we have had you on an profile before. Talk about what you dont want your face to be seen. There are security concerns here. Amy, thank you for having us on the show. My worries are really the worries shared by the association of federation of atomic scientists who for the year 2017 decided to turn the Doomsday Clock from four minutes to midnight to 3. 5 minutes to midnight, precisely because. Rump became the president the policies, including this dropping of the bomb over afghanistan, that caused me and others great concern about the safety not only of all of us on the planet, but of the earth as well. Amy can you talk about the effects of the bomb that was just dropped . What is called by the u. S. Military, the mother of all bombs with this milewide radius . Now, the pentagon just released the video footage of the bomb. It is not a bunker buster bomb, but a bomb that explodes above ground. But they have not released the casualty figures. I will speak before bashir talks about some of the accounts heard from people in and around achin district. I think it is an insult to nickname the bomb the mother of all bombs. This morning as i was speaking to a volunteer, he said, would any mother who that doesnt do that would any mother do that to any children . The effect is what the u. S. Military are what militaries across the world want to inflict which isnary citizens, anger . Anic, hunger, and i i think that is what they will get. Global terrorism index, americans and people from all why . The world should ask the global terrorism index indicates whatever bonds the americans have dropped in afghanistan or anywhere else in the world that resulted in terrorism, increasing not decreasing. So why drop it . Why drop this mother of all bombs . It is such an insult to all of us. Amy basir bita, if you can talk about what you have heard about bomb . Eaction to this before speaking about the reactions of afghans regarding to the incident, i would like to speak about myself. I lost my grandparents. Aunts,my uncles and close friends, niece, nephews over the last two decades. Speaking about the accounts, personally, i feel frustrated because the government claims it was an organized event. That the i heard president S National Security advisor, several hours before the bomb was launched, he was on the ecb. He was assessing the area must myself,he other one is i dont want to lose any other afghans. I dont want to lose any other friends in the area. Is an insult to all afghans , ashakim phrased it. Amy explain why it is an insult. It is an insult to us because losing relatives, losing friends. Trump, imagine president who is now praising what the u. S. Forces carried in achin district, imagine relatives of President Trump were in achin district. I dont believe this claim, but who claim local residents are around 100,000 people left the area a couple of hours before the bomb was launched. President s mother or daughter or son were there . About what people are saying on the ground. Are saying different things. I mean, local activists, i mean, there is no one rising his voice against what the u. S. Government did to us. I mean, i cant find personally, i cant find any afghan activists or authority to sort of condemn it. That the president karzai, expresident condemned by the strongest words, but im pretty sure if he was the president now , the current president , he would support the idea. People condemn it. District of people from the same district living in kabul, they strongly condemn it. Amy i have to say, we are showing right now the backs of our guests, afraid to show their faces in afghanistan because of how dangerous it is there. And the footage released of the pentagon. The latest footage of the bomb, what the military calls the mother of all bombs, this Massive Ordnance Air bomb, moab, almost looks like a strange, distorted sonogram, extremely sterile, kathy kelly. Of course, you dont see me people. You dont seem to people dying. We dont know the actual figures at this point. And the same thing happened in syria last week where the pentagon released immediately the Cruise Missile images as their taking off the warships, like we saw shock and awe, not the people running on the ground in 2003 in iraq, but the blast in the sky that almost looked like fireworks. One also has to wonder about the timing of this attack that took place on thursday. The u. S. Releasing the largest bomb in the history of the world outside of the two Nuclear Bombs dropped in hiroshima and nagasaki. This coming just after the pentagon has released the information that they mistakenly 18 and killed 18 u. S. Allies, 18 syrian fighters who were fighting with the United States, alongside the United States. Your thoughts . We have seen this many times. We have to recognize the United States has communicated to other people all around the world that u. S. Lives matter and there is utter disregard for the lives of people who are bearing the brunt of our wars. This does not seem to stop the facility of the u. S. Military to say we want to launch yet another war. Your we are wondering, Willoughby North korea . Will it be a ran . Im with a group of people focused on yemen. Were looking at the poorest country in the arab world and it is being subjected to seize, what kind of image does this communicate about the United States all around the world . I think were looked upon as a fearful, menacing group of the warlords, thepped most expensive horrific weapons. It seems to me, we are sort of living for the doorway, toward a Nuclear Exchange when we cancel cavalierly drop this bomb in an area of the world where i suppose the military is chasing, as they would, because of the death of one United States military person a might be over a week now, but are we to say the life of one u. S. Soldier is so much more than the lives of poor people . It costs 2 million to keep one u. S. Soldier in afghanistan at the height of the war. The cost to put i diced salt into the diet of a child would have been five cents per child per year. I think about the tunnels they say that destroyed. How are we to know . We were told we had to go to 2003with our masks and because of weapons of mass destruction. But those were never found. How will we know if the tunnels were ever there . They have been exploded. What if we were to make tunnels through which the United States weapons would be moved . The transport said transport soldiers, the bulldozers, the apache helicopters, this huge moab on today. Those tunnels to transport that weaponry would be the size of the grand canyon. Yet we are to be deeply concerned because people dug tunnels in the area where this fighting is going on . The Drone Operators call the people who run away from their bombs scorchers. You have to wonder, you know, when i read about the bombing in yemen, a families who lived at near the place for the special operations were going on, they were running for their lives. They may have well wished there were tunnels for which they may have run a disappeared. Amy i want to ask Wazhmah Osman about your own familys history. It is not clear what these tunnels cnn says the mountains where isis made their base were the same ones used by bin laden as a whole and the same used by the cia backed group when they were fighting the soviets in the 1980s, maybe built by the u. S. Backed group. Talk about this history. My family became refugees and we lived in the border areas between afghanistan, pakistan for four years. I am friendlier with the area. Although i have not been to achin, i have lived in pressure jalalabad,nt time in the swat valley. Those are big cities that are within an hour and a half radius of achin. I have been to other areas, smaller towns around achin. Dust mediaedium mythology they create that they keep on saying it is remote, desolate, and it is isolated. It goes back to the mythology that they created earlier in the war on terror, smoke them out of their caves. In reality, those areas are bustling towns and villages. There are People Living there. The idea of this bomb accurately targeting a few isis militants in the case is not correct. This impacts countless people, as i said, in areas that are youving with people know, they have hospitals and schools and other things. But the thing to also keep in area has beenhat created as a buffer zone or in between zone for the british during the anglo afghan wars. India to protect british back in a separate it from afghanistan. What that means for the People Living in the area is that some parts are virtually under no laws, whereas other parts, people are living under contradictory, draconian laws from that era. So there is virtually no government oversight or protection for the population. They are vulnerable. This is part of the reason why this area has been targeted repeatedly by drones, is that nobody is standing up for these people. Nobody is standing up for their rights to live peaceably. What happens is both the pakistani and the Afghan Government have been in collusion with the u. S. Government to make this area essentially an experiential testing ground for these dangerous, destructive weapons of war. And it is essentially shrouded in secrecy, right . It is a Perfect Place for them to be judge, jury, and executioner of people without giving them any to process of the law because it is away from the international gaze in the news bureaus of the media. Amy i want to turn back to kabul, galveston, where dr. Arem and basir bita standing with their backs to the camera, afraid of being identified in a very dangerous area. I want to ask you each about what you think the alternative is today. The alternative to the u. S. Dropping bombs in afghanistan, dr. Hakim . I will talk about two things that so many alternatives, amy, thank you for asking the question. As a humanwhy species we cant think of alternatives is because we are not imagining enough, we are not asking enough questions. One of the concrete things that can be done is for the afghan is to ask questions. Wake up every day, educate one another, ask why . Ask how . Ask what . That is educating ourselves. That is one of the ways we can address this disaster that the both for theng, planet and the human race. The second thing that we can do, i can learn from the peace volunteers, is to do practical things for one another. Outouth and use techniques to take care of mother earth. That is really taking care of the mother, you know, moving radically away from these deceptive narratives of the mother of all bombs and glorifying what we ought to not be glorifying. Changing the whole little situation in her own individual lives. Dont give any space to people like trump. Behaving in an angry way. I have nothing against trump, he is a human and i respect him, really actions is something that i would be, as a medical doctor, very ashamed of. This is not based on evidence. It is not based on fact, it is really a show. We should question it. We should change our lives. Dont submit to any leader of any country of the world if they do things without evidence and if they make decisions for 30 Million People in afghanistan and his over there in the white house, so far away. Another thing we can do is to talk to one another. Talk to the people in achin district. Find the current to talk to them. Talk to the mother. Just before this conversation, i had a class of afghan volunteers, street kids. I have to imagine the bombing of this bombing in achin district. They closed their eyes. They heard the story of this mother of all bombs been dropped in the district. They imagine themselves as a mother in that district. Is, weponse from that are sad. Were so sad that we are being treated this way. Amy basir bita, we have 20 seconds before we lose our satellite connection to you. Your thoughts . Speaking very briefly, i think one is as dr. Hakim put it, public awareness, finding grassroots and locally acceptable ideas like conversation, establishing dialogue amy we had just lost our guests in afghanistan. We had been speaking with basir bita as well as dr. Hakim, both with afghan youth peace fell in tears volunteers in kabul, afghanistan, speaking to us with our backs to the camera to protect their identities. I want to thank our guests here, Wazhmah Osman corruptible university, professor of media, culture, communications, as well as kathy kelly. Kathy, i want to speak with the after the broadcast about your protest here, particularly around yemen will stop we will post it online at democracynow. Org. When we come back from break, were going to two, washington, to talk about why hundreds of immigrant prisoners are staging a Hunger Strike and we will hear from ralph nader, the man who sued the airlines for overbooking and how that relates to the 69yearold doctor who was beaten and dragged by Airport Security off of a united flight. This is democracy now stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. On thursday, the lawyer for United Airlines passenger who was beaten and dragged from a flight by Airport Security guards said his client lost two teeth, suffered a broken nose, and can cashin, and might need reconstructive surgery. Dr. Davidow sustain the injuries after United Airlines ordered him off the airplane, leaving his paid seat on his chicago to louisville, kentucky flight last sunday. The airline said they needed the seeds for their own employees. Then called in Chicago Department of Aviation Security officers to forcibly remove the 69yearold physician when he refused, and they drag him down the aisle off of the flight. We turn now to ralph nader, longtime consumer advocate, many time president of candidate, who back in the early 1970s, helped force airlines to begin compensating passengers bumped from their flights. I spoke to ralph nader last night and asked him to explain how he did this. In aprilright morning 1972, i want to National Airport in washington to take a flight to address a large downtown rally in hartford, connecticut at noon. I got there with a confirmed ticket. They said, the plane is full, you cant get on the plane. I said, i have a confirmed ticket. I have a confirmed seat. Im sorry, the plane is full. Behind he was an assistant to senator aruba cops whose name was john cost and income who is now the irs commissioner. He was bumped, too. I found myself a wonderful Public Interest lawyer, reuben robertson. He took it all the way up to the Supreme Court. , the corporaltion if you are bumped with a confirmed reservation, you have a case under the doctrine of fraudulent misrepresentation. So we went down to the lower court and they require the airlines to put a notice on the ticket counter and all of our tickets saying, if we are bumped, we are bumped, were entitled to some form of compensation. Byt form was to be decided the airlines. They decided to auction off the seas. It worked like a charm 99 of the time. Where it does not work is where the airline gets chintzy and offers vouchers instead of cash. What United Airlines did on the flight from chicago to louisville when they wanted to get four seats empty for four flight attendants that heading to louisville to get on another plane was offer vouchers that expire in one year. They got three out of the four,nd they picked a doctor ,dao and call the security when he objected and dragged him off the plane. A billion people have seen that. Why did they do that . Because they did not want to offer cash. And why didnt the customer have a right to stay on . Because the contract of carriage, which is on the uaw website, is 67,000 words long and fine print and it takes away the rights to be a short that when you have a confirmed reservation and youre in the seat, you can stay in the seat. Total unbridled discretion by the airline to throw you off the plane. So now the stage is set because so many people are outraged for getting the passenger bill of rights legislation through congress, which has been mired for decades because of the airline lobby. It all started with a lawsuit. Amy to see the whole interview with ralph nader, you can go to mocracynow. Org. Ralph nader is the founder of the ameran meum of tort law, which is located in his hometown of winstead, connecticut. It has been reported that all of the passengers on the united flight have been offered a refund by united if they sign on the dotted line that they will not sue the airlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We go now to washington state, where hundreds of undocumented immigrants are on Hunger Strike to protest the conditions and extremely low wages at the forprofit immigrant prison, the northwest Detention Center in tacoma. On thursday morning, activists say women imprisoned within the ison joined the strike, which now includes more than 700 immigrants or about half the population of the prison. Hunger strikers are demanding beer food, hygiene, and medical care within the prison, which is owned by the major private Prison Corporation geo group. Organizers say prisoners have also launched work stoppages to protest the fact they are paid only 1 a day to cook, clean, and do the laundry necessary to keep the prison running. Geo group is facing a classaction lawsuit arguing the company violates federal antislavery laws at its aurora, colorado, prison, where it also pays only 1 a day. This is an audio recording of Hunger Striker Johnathan Rodriguez guzman. Listen closely. I name is Johnathan Rodriguez guzman. I would like to let people know that im doing a Hunger Strike, not just for me but for everybody out there. Amy the strike began on monday at noon with more than 100 prisoners refusing to eat lunch. Since then, activists have been supporting the Hunger Strikers with an ongoing 24hour encampment outside the jail. The strikes comes as attorney general Jeff Sessions traveled to the u. S. Mexico border in the gallows, arizona, nogales, arizona this week, where he met with u. S. Customs and Border Protection agents and vowed a major crackdown, calling immigration an attack on our national security. Immigration advocates say the Trump Administrations crackdown against immigration and immigrants living within the United States has led to more immigrants being imprisoned at jails, including at the northwest Detention Center. On thursday, the New York Times reported in its scramble to find new places to house immigrants arrested in ice raids, the Trump Administration is trying to curtail protections for immigrants being held in county jails including doing , away with a requirement that immigrants have access to translation services. For more were joined by two , guests. Maru Mora Villalpando is an activist and undocumented immigrant with the Group Northwest Detention Center resistance and the group mijente. And Alexis Erickson is the partner of Hunger Striker Cristian Lopez. Cristian was part of the Hunger Strike in the northwest Detention Center in tacoma, before he was transferred to a jail in new mexico where he is continuing the strike. Hes facing deportation to mexico. We welcome you both to democracy now let us begin with maru Mora Villalpando. Tell us exactly what you understand is happening in tacoma. We have now hundreds of people deciding to stop eating since monday afternoon. People over from the week and a detention they were getting ready for the Hunger Strike. If you think about the maximum know it is675, we over capacity. When we heard about over 100 people, maybe more were getting ready to strike, we were there ensuring we would support that. Throughout the week, we saw numbers increasing and increasing, more and more people start joining. Yesterday morning, we heard from the womens section saying they were ready to also join me strike. We heard from one of the area [inaudible] they were being threatened of being transferred to a county jail in oregon will stop therefore, they decided to stop. But other parts continue joining. About 700ieve we have people, maybe more than that. It is difficult sometimes to get communication from the inside. In one, people decided to add a work stoppage, acknowledging their the backbone of the Detention Center. They also call for a boycott of the commissary and the telephones as well. Amy Alexis Erickson, tell us about Cristian Lopez, your partner, who is on Hunger Strike and has been transferred now from the geo prison to new mexico. Well, he was transferred about three days ago. On his way over there, he was treated wrong. He asked one guard that was a ice guard on the bus with them if he speaks spanish. They were very rude to him. He was asking for another guy that spoke spanish only. When they got there, they said they lost a lot of peoples property, which was not true. He ended up getting his property a couple of hours later, but he had to fight for it. They have all been treated wrongly. They say there is a couple of people where he is that are still doing the Hunger Strike. Amy ave you seen changes in the prison . How long has Cristian Lopez been held there and have you seen changes since the Trump Administration took over . He was put in oregon in february. He did his 20 days he had to do. He was still stuck for another month before he even got switched to tacoma. When he got switched to tacoma, he got off the bus the first time and they put him right back on and he ended up going back to oregon again because they said, your court date is revoked. He had to come back again. He came back for his court date on april 6. He finally got deported two days ago. He was treated really bad in the tacoma facility. Amy you have how many Children Together . Are there american citizens . Three. Yes. I have a sevenyearold, a 2yearold, and an eightmonthold. , canmaru Mora Villalpando you talk about the fact this is a forprofit prison and what difference you think this makes . Theyre being sued under aurora. Ery laws in what about tacoma . This is one of the largest Detention Centers in the nation. They make a lot of money out of engaging our families in the 165 per day per person. The jobs that people are getting paid to do inside is not everything they do inside. We have reports that people are asked to paint the walls or wash the floors in exchange for having a piece of chicken or a piece of candy. Sometimes not even that. Theyre just promised and that doesnt happen. We have seen reports that the food is always bad, but sometimes it is not only that, it is the portions are getting smaller. When people complain about that, geo guards say, well, there are just too many of you, what do yowant us to do . Amy were going to continue the conversation after the show and post it at democracynow. Org. Were speaking with maru Mora Villalpando with northwest Detention Center resistance and the group mijente. And Alexis Erickson, whose partner is Richard Lopez come as a result, he was sent to a new mexico jail from tacoma. That does it for our broadcast. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democ [announcer] P Allen Smiths garden to table is brought to you by the berry family of nurseries growers of edibles, hardy trees and shrubs, and fresh holiday greenery. And by the makers of jobes organic fertilizer now in spikes, granular and water soluble formulas easy gardener. Com hey, a show about barbeque coming up next. So 16 hours for this . Hi, im allen smith. Welcome to garden to table. Im in kansas city, missouri home to beautiful fountains, parks,rc