While defending his response to white supremacist rally in charlottesville. We will go to phoenix to get response. Then we go behind the scenes with alec baldwin, the man who impersonates trump on saturday night live. My neck gets sore. I will sit in the room for 30 minutes going, fantastic. Fantastic. Really trying to get my mouth in that zone. Push your face out like youre in the movie alien. Amy we will talk about trump, media, and why alec baldwin may run for office someday. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In phoenix, arizona, thousands of people poured into the streets outside the Phoenix Convention Center Tuesday night to protest president Trumps Campaign style rally. During his speech, trump defended his response to the deadly white supremacist rally in charlottesville, virginia. He also spent at least 20 minutes attacking the Corporate Media and its coverage of his response to last weekends events in charlottesville. Trump read from a printout of remarks he made on three separate occasions, yet omitted that he blamed both sides for the violence. Trump did not pardon notorious Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio on tuesday as many had expected. But during his speech, he did speak highly of the sheriff, who has been convicted of contempt of court for defying a court order to stop his deputies from racial profiling. Pres. Trump by the way, im just curious. Do the people in this room like sheriff joe . [cheers] was sheriff joe convicted for doing his job . [cheers and boos] he should have had a jury, but you know what . I will make a prediction. I think he is going to be just fine, ok . But i wont do it tonight because i dont want to cause any controversy. Is that ok . All right . Amy that is donald trump hinting he might be pardoning sheriff arpaio, a major supporter of Donald Trumps policies have included racial profiling and attaining immigrants in a scorching outdoor tent city jail, which arpaio once referred to as his own concentration camp. During trumps speech, Police Attacked the thousands of protesters with tear gas and pepper balls. There are also some reports that the police fired rubbercoated steel bullets at the protesters. We will go to phoenix after headlines for more on the protests and trumps speech. Meanwhile, in a victory for educators and ethnic studies advocates, a federal judge has ruled the state of arizona violated students 1st and 14th amendment rights by eliminating a mexicanamerican studies program from tucson Public Schools. In 2010, arizona passed a controversial law banning the teaching of any class designed for a particular ethnic group that would promote resentment toward a race or class of people. The law ended up eliminating tucsons Ethnic Studies Program and banning seven books from Public Schools, including rethinking columbus the next 500 years, shakespeares play the tempest, pedagogy of the oppressed by paulo freire, and chicano the history of the Mexican American civil rights movement. A slew of rightwing and white supremacist rallies have been canceled across the country following the massive nationwide protests against White Supremacy. On saturday, up to 40,000 people poured into the streets around the Boston Common to protest a planned rally by White Nationalists. The flood of counterprotesters so overwhelmed the White Nationalist rally that aerial photos show only a handful of the extremists even showed up, and that they spent the day huddled in a gazebo on the Boston Common. Thousands more rallied over the weekend against White Supremacy in dozens of other u. S. Cities. In response, farright and White Nationalist groups have canceled 67 upcoming rallies, saying they will instead be held online. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania State university has become the fourth university to refuse a speaking request by White Nationalist richard spencer, since the rally white supremacist on august 12. A lastminute stay of execution was issued for death row prisoner Marcellus Williams, only hours before he was slated to be put to death tuesday night. The stay of execution came after dna found on the murder weapon did not match williams, but instead matched another man. Williams, who is african american, was convicted in 2001 of killing a former st. Louis postdispatch reporter lisha gayle, who is white, during a robbery. He was convicted by 11 white jurors and 1 black juror, after the prosecution was allowed to preemptively strike out other six prospective black jurors. Williams has always maintained his innocence. Amnesty international and other groups are now urging Governor Greitens to grant Marcellus Williams clemency. More information is emerging about the deliberations that led to President Trumps new commitment to the ongoing war in afghanistan, the longest war in u. S. History. In a televised address monday night, President Trump announced the u. S. Is doubling down on the war, a reversal from his earlier position that we should leave afghanistan immediately. The Washington Post reports that one of the arguments that swayed trumps position was a 1972 photo, showed to the president by National Security advisor general h. R. Mcmaster, of afghan women wearing miniskirts walking through kabul. Mcmaster reportedly used the photo to convince trump that western values, or at least outfits, could exist in afghanistan. In response, afghan journalist ali latifi, who is based in kabul, said the use of the photo was sexist, saying but then again, its the reality host who said grab em by the pussy. the United Nations Childrens Fund says the power shortages in the gaza strip have reduced access to water by onethird in recent months, in the midst of a sweltering summer heat wave. The israeli governmentimposed power reductions have also disrupted the functioning of hundreds of water and wastewater facilities, causing the number of waterborne cases of diarrhea to double for children under the age of three. The United Nations has warned the gaza strip has become unlivable for its 2 million residents. In south asia, historic flooding has killed up to 800 people this month in india, bangladesh, and nepal. International aid groups say up to 24 Million People have been affected. Nearly 50,000 homes have been destroyed in bangladesh alone, where a full onethird of the country is underwater. The red crescent says its the worst flooding in bangladeshs history. Massive swaths of farmland have also been inundated, wiping out crops and sparking concerns about food security. Scientists have linked increasing rainfall and deadly flooding in south asia to climate change. The United States has denied egypt nearly 100 million in military funding and other aid, citing the deteriorating human rights conditions under egyptian president abdel fattah alsisi. The u. S. Has withheld another nearly 200 million in Foreign Military financing, saying it if the money would be released when the human rights conditions improve. Sisis government has launched a wideranging crackdown against human rights activists and press freedom advocates in egypt. The cuts to military funding come as President Trumps soninlaw and Senior Adviser Jared Kushner is slated to visit egypt as part of kushners friday upcoming middle east trip. A u. S. Appeals court has revived a lawsuit seeking to block the construction of a new u. S. Military base in okinawa japan over concerns about the bases impacts on an endangered Marine Mammal called a dugong. The lawsuit is being brought by the center for biological diversity. On monday, a threejudge panel in San Francisco ruled the case can move forward. The proposed military base has also faced massive resistance by peace activists in okinawa, who for decades have called for the expulsion of u. S. Troops from their island. Energy transfer partners, the Company Behind the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, is suing greenpeace, earth first and other environmental groups, accusing them of inciting an ecoterrorism campaign against the pipelines construction. The pipelines construction was delayed for months last year after thousands of native americans, led by the Standing Rock sioux and north dakota and their nonnative allies, launched a nonviolent encampment to stop pipeline from crossing the missouri river, saying a spill could contaminate the drinking source for millions. In peru, members of indigenous amazonian nations have seized control of some of the Oil Facilities operated by the Canadian Company Frontera Energy corp, demanding the peruvian government carry out a consultation with the indigenous nations before signing a new contract with the oil company. This is the leader of the rio pastaza tribe, aurelio chino. If they dont give us a good answer to our previous demand, then i can assure you my people will rise up. Were not going to just sit around. And for sure, were going to defend ourselves to the end and to teach them to respect us. Amy in nicaragua, hundreds of former sandinista fighters marched in the capital managua tuesday to demand the housing, health care, and pension payments promised to the retired veterans of the Nicaraguan Resistance movement that brought nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega to power. This is retired fighter carlos garcia. To us, those mutilated from the war injured by combat, where are we immortalized . We are not immortalized. Commander Daniel Ortega. We are still alive and we want a dignified resolution. The necessary time has been since 1978. To ask for this right, like they said, is a right we deserve. A right it wont be lost. And now all of us here are demanding our right. Any go back in the United States, the Justice Department has dropped its request for ip addresses of visitors to the 1. 3 million website disruptj20. Org, which helped organize the Inauguration Day protests against President Trump. The Justice Department is continuing to press the Web Hosting Company dreamhost to turn over information about what it claims was a premeditated riot during trumps inauguration. More than 200 protesters were arrested during the Inauguration Day protests and are now facing decades in prison on trumpedup charges. In new york city, the influential alternative weekly newspaper the Village Voice has announced it will stop its print publication after 62 years. Founded in 1955 by dan wolf, ed fancher, and norman mailer, the leftleaning paper was the First Alternative weekly in the United States. Its won multiple Pulitzer Prizes over the years. Its also helped launch the careers of some of the nations best writers, including pulitzerprize winners hilton als and colson whitehead. The Village Voice will now continue as an online publication. And sailors, mazurka reference and family held a candlelight vigil tuesday evening for kenny kiwi herring, and africanamerican transgender woman who was killed by a st. Louis Police Officer. Relatives say the Police Officer shot herring early tuesday while responding to a dispute between herr and her neighbors. I on tuesday night, mourners criticizedng the police for mr. The policerring and report and disputed the claims that she had attacked an officer with a knife. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin todays show in phoenix, arizona, where President Trump held a Campaign Style rally where he repeatedly defended his response to the deadly white supremacist rally in charlottesville, virginia, and also criticized arizonas two republican senators, john mccain and jeff flake, without directly mentioning their names. Neither were there, nor was the governor. While trump spoke, thousands of protesters gathered outside the Phoenix Convention center. Police attacked the thousands of protesters with tear gas and pepper balls. There are reports that they fired rubber coated steel bullets. Always reported four people were arrested. Trump repeatedly criticized the Corporate Media. Pres. Trump these are truly dishonest people. Not all of them. Not all of them. You have some very good reporters. Yes of fair journalists. But for the most part, honestly, these are really, really dishonest people. And they are bad people. And i really think they dont like our country. I really believe that. And i dont believe theyre going to change, and that is why i do this. If they would change, i would never say it. The only people giving a platform to these hate groups is fakeedia itself and the news. Amy President Trump attacked the media for about 20 minutes of his speech. During that speech, he also defended former cnn analyst jeffrey lord, a trump backer, who was fired for tweeting a nazi victory salute. Pres. Trump you wonder why cnn is doing relatively poorly in the ratings . Because theyre putting like seven people come all negative on trumped, and they fired jeffrey lord. Poor jeffrey. Jeffrey lord. I guess he was getting a little bit fed up and he was probably fighting back a little too hard. They said, we better get out of here. We get him out. Amy trump also criticized the weak weak people who have allowed confederate statues to be removed in recent weeks. Pres. Trump from George Washington please, dont take his statue down. Please. Does anybody want George Washingtons statue . No . Is that sad . To lincoln to teddy roosevelt, i see they want to take Teddy Roosevelts down, too. Theyre trying to figure out why. They dont know. Theyre trying to take away our culture. Theyre trying to take away our history. Amy while thousands of protesters rallied outside the Phoenix Convention center, trump openly dismissed his critics. Pres. Trump all week theyre talking about the massive crowds that are going to be outside. Where are they . Well, it is hot out. It is hot. I think it is too warm. They show up in the helmets in the black masks and they have clubs and they have everything. Antifa [boos] amy President Trump also threatened a Government Shutdown if he didnt get congressional approval to build a wall on the southern border. Pres. Trump we are cracking down on these sanctuary cities that shield criminal aliens. Finally. And we are building a wall on the southern border, which is absolutely necessary. Build that wall. Now, the obstructionist democrats would not like us to do it. Believe me, if we have to close down our government, were building that wall. Amy ahead of his speech in phoenix, theres much of relation trump would pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has been convicted of contempt of court for defying a court order to stop his deputies from racially profiling people and then detaining them on suspicion of being undocumented. Last back, trump canted a pardon would be coming soon. Pres. Trump by the way, im just curious. Do the people in this room like share joe . [cheers] so was sheriff joe convicted for doing his job . He should have had a jury. You know what . I will make a prediction. I think hes going to be just fine, ok . But i wont do it tonight because i dont want to cause any controversy. Is that ok . All right . Joe can feel good. Amy were joined now by francisca porchas, organizing director to puente arizona, a grassroots humanrights movement for migrant justice. Her group helped organize the main protest against trumps visit to phoenix on tuesday night. Shes joining us from phoenix. Welcome to democracy now you heard President Trump say there were very few people outside, that he had spoken to the authorities. How many people were outside and what was more message outside and your response to President Trumps speech inside . He is lying. There were about 3000 to 4000 people. Hard to tell, but at least that many. It was a really big crowd. Lots of different people of different races, multigenerational, multicultural host of in general, i think he lies. Oes on saying there was a big crowd. There was a big crowd inside as well. We protested starting at 4 00 p. M. All the way and tell the cops got pretty aggressive with people in the streets, to gassing them, shooting them with rubber bullets without any provocation. Amy talk about President Trumps address inside. We we arethink very disturbed, obviously, every time he speaks. One of the biggest things for us was the potential pardon of joe arpaio. For us, it is a slap in the face of all of the years of organizing that it took for us to hold him accountable. The lawsuit they came because of his racial profiling in the streets. Of all of those people like ramos romero who exactly detained as a young person trying to raise money for her daca. 90 workplacemost raids. One of them was where she worked. She now has a felony conviction and can never be able to apply for daca and is forever impacted. For us, it is a slap in the face for him to say hes one of don arpaio, who should be who should be part of the people he criminalized, the people who are now not ever going to be able to come out of the shadows and they say have a real chance at living a normal life. That is who truly should be pardoned. For us, him saying is going to pardon arpaio is a very dangerous thing. Were in the middle of police. E saw them last night very aggressive. This is the most violent ive ever seen the Phoenix Police department. They are a very violent department. But pardoning someone who is been racist and xenophobic against the community overall, he is sending out a message to the rest of the country, to the rest of lawenforcement that it is ok to be this abusive againstent and vile immigrant people and people of color and all people. Because you will be pardoned. You will be excused. Because you the most powerful person in this country say it is ok and you cannot be criminalized for doing your job, when a job is racism. Amy democracy now interviewed Sheriff Joe Arpaio at the Republican National Convention Last year. He said he is a strong supporter of trumps immigration policy. Of hispport the majority policy. Have to do something about the border. Most of the illegals and drug traffic comes from mexico. I am concerned about the truck traffic. When he says put up the wall, i like the wall to keep the drugs out of our country. That is the most important thing that is going on. Nothing ilLegal Immigration stuff that is important. But what about all of the drugs coming in . It is a violation of the law to come into this country illegally, you must secure your borders. We have terrorism now. We have cops being killed. Amy that is Sheriff Joe Arpaio at through public and convention, along supporter President Trump when he was running for president , trump brought arpaio up to i was to campaign with him. And talking about one of his earliest supporters, now hinting that he will be pardoning him. Francisca porchas, for people who dont know who sheriff why he is talk about such a target of deep concern, fear, and animosity in the Latino Community in arizona. He was in power for about 25 years. Theas the first law man of first law agency here in the United States to sign a federal agreement with the u. S. To collaborate with immigrant customs enforcement. So he was very excited. Deputized his sheriffs to go out and terrorize people. He would surround six block radius in communitys of color, and literally with his civil posse, a bunch of racist volunteers of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, would start rounding people up. Rounding people up if they had no identification on them, putting them in the paddy wagon and he became both the ice officer come immigration judge, and the reporting officer. Sheriffs were giving people 20year penalties and being banned from coming back into the country. In 2011, there was a lawsuit by the aclu that said you are engaging in racial profiling. He terrorized he did almost 90 workplace raids where he picked up 700 people. He claims he deported 80,000 immigrant people. So he has been terrorizing. He had been terrorizing the community for 10 years. He had been persecuting them. Targeted them. He had blatantly, intentionally been racist against an entire community here. So when this lawsuit came about, a judge decided that it had to stop, that no more people driving while looking around and looking immigrant could be stopped by him and asked for papers. He violated this court order and has been found guilty of criminal contempt. But to us, it is a symbol of racism, a simple of antiimmigration, a symbol of domestic terrorism. That is what joe arpaio is to us. We were able to take them out of power at a weak point last november. We cant imagine what an arpaio reign would have been like under donald trump. We suspected he would be pardoned, but to us, it is a slap in the face. It is saying to us that it is ok all of the terrorism and the racism and torture and trauma people have been through in this county, and that it is ok for Law Enforcement to do this across the nation. Klatsch report from a he says some white house aides are counseling President Trump to strike in a vicious deal with congress that offers dreamers rejection in exchange for legislation that pays for a border wall and more detention facilities, drastically curbing Legal Immigration and implementing everify. Your response . We see it coming. These are tactics to divide and split the movement. Were happy united we dream put out a statement that they will not be using themselves or the dreamers as a bargaining tool or a bargaining chip. We are very alarmed. Were disgusted at this. Were not going to allow this movement to happen. Amy can you talk about the wall . The issue of the wall and what it means . And President Trump saying he is willing to shut down government, to which he got huge applause . He has been talking about this wall forever. The reality is, the border has been a military zone for a very long time. We have lost a lot of people. It is just a way to heighten peoples racism and scapegoating and making it sound like there truly is a war. The reality is, reentry into is at antry alltime low. What is happening is the deportations at the domestic level are 40 up in 70 up in areiners, meaning people not being let out once they are caught up in daca. Those living in this country of the ones being persecuted and the one thing detained and into deportation process the border is significantly down in terms of reentry. It is just another excuse to supremacy,and for for u. S. Imperialism to show the rest of the world that it is a fortress and to show its power. It is a campaign promise. But it is a lie. Reentry is at an alltime low. Even if it wasnt, it is a declaration of war on sovereignty and its people and the people that live along the border. The reality is, our folks are being persecuted internally and this hyper enforcement like we have never seen. Amy before we go, i want to ask about this latest news. A federal judge ruling the state of arizona violated students first and 14th amendment rights by eliminating a mexicanamerican studies program from the tucson Public Schools that ended up banning books from Public Schools like rethinking columbus and other books. The significance of this ruling . It is a victory. It is a really great move in the midst of a lot of terrible rhetoric, racist rhetoric and Police Violence in the streets of phoenix. We are really happy that our young people are going to get to know a little part of their history. In the midst of coming you know, White Supremacists in this country and the president celebrating confederate monuments and the racist heritage we are very happy that andown people our students get to learn about their own heritage and culture. Amy i want to thank you for joining us, francisca porchas, organizing director at puente arizona, a grassroots humanrights movement for migrant justice. Her group helped organize the main protest against trumps visit to phoenix on tuesday night. This is democracy now when we come back, yes, he is as donald to snl trump we will be talking to alec baldwin. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. To alec baldwin, the awardwinning actor who impersonate donald trump on saturday night live. Kellyanne, i just reach we did the best tweet. Wow, what a great, smart tweet. Mr. Trump, were in a security briefing. But this could not wait. It was from a young man named seth, who is 16, in high school, and i really did reach we come. Seriously. Amy alec baldwins performances have been seen by millions, including, well, donald trump himself. Last december, trump tweeted like just tried watching saturday night live. Unwatchable. Totally biased. Not funny. He baldwin impersonation just cant get any worse. Sad. Alec baldwin responded. He tweeted release your tax returns and i will stop. Ha. Baldwin has not stopped his impersonations. This for very to return to saturday night live for another season playing trump. I spoke to alec baldwin monday night at guildhall in east hampton, new york. What do you have to do to be President Trump . I think theyre obviously people out here who do a more keen impersonation of trump, if we were doing a movie and multiple takes and kind of luxuriating time was. This is a fiveminute cold opening, even less, of a live tv show. I had to think, how can i make it simple . To that is just making trump as miserable as possible. Regardless of what news he is offering, regardless of what happens during the course of the day, just make it miserable. I just need to know i have your undying loyalty. You dont, sir. Amy how do you physically become him . What do you feel your body becoming when you turn it to donald trump . You maintain it. Sometimes it is hard to have concentration while maintaining a simple thing. It was just like stick your mouth out as far as you can. Like youre trying to chew the paint off a car. Left eyebrow up, right eyebrow down. Do your mouth out there. As far as you can. And make him miserable. On a psychic level. I will sit in a room and try my neck gets sore. I will sit in a room for like 30 minutes going, its fantastic. Its fantastic. Really trying to get my mouth in that zone, push your face out accurate the movie alien. Amy so you did not know how this was going to be received . No. In ago who suggested you . I heard it was tina fey. Everybody presumed we would do it for three shows prior to the election and we would be done. Amy tina fey who played sarah palin. Tina. E was talking to theyre very close. He sent them who would make a good trump . Should playec trump. I dont know what she meant by that, but again, we just assumed we would do it for a handful of shows and we would be done because we all assumed he would not win. Amy what was your reaction on Election Night . I was mortified. For two reasons. One, the same way everyone else was mortified who was opposed to this candidacy and i and all likelihood would have to continue this routine. Amy so were talking a few days after bannon was fired or let go and says he is going to take on his biggest weapon of all, and that he is all jacked up to go back to breitbart. Skit onthis famous saturday night live with bannon. Send in steve bannon. Amy talk about that and what was being conveyed there. There was some talk about Rosie Odonnell playing bannon. A big part of the reason that did not happen is because the show lorne is very astute about this as a company of actors and needs to use those people rather than handing out these plum roles to people outside the building. That happens every now and again. Bannon as mikey to do death, which i thought was very funny. I would have loved to have seen rosies version. Bannon is emblematic of what trump felt he needed. I always felt during once trump won in november and until they took power in late january i have this image of bannon and some kind of leather upholsterer and card playing room in his house and him and his buddies would be Smoking Cigars and freaking whiskey. And they were turning over names playing a game of casting all of the members of trumps cabinet. So summit returns over the name pruiit and now ooh. The goal think ultimately to come up with a cabinet between them that in combination with literally make the Editorial Board of the New York Times cry. Like you could hear them cry down interstate 95 from new york. He succeeded in getting people not only unqualified, they are the enemies of the avowed mission of those departments. Interior,the epa and wanting to open up all of these public lands for drilling. The of a group of people tillerson, thinks he can run the whole state department by himself. Like him and three guys in a car driving around with a cell phone and have it staffed anybody. This notion that you want to trim down government im a Firm Believer one of the problems of this country is not that we spend too much money, not the peoples taxes are too high with for the cliches about how u. S. Compares to other western civilizations and terms of taxes. The real problem is, how much money we waste. Subsidies for oil and sugar and the defense industry. We need to spend the money differently. We need to spend the money more carefully. But you got these guys, they treat this government like their job is to have a yard sale. They would be selling furniture on the front lawn of the hoover building if they could get away with it. Amy does this role you are playing, and who knows how long it will be, does it make you want to run more or less for office . It is something you have considered. I certainly have considered that. I think the only reason i think about that is because theres a concept i dont necessarily i dont know how effective it would be if iran. But theres a concept republicans, for example, have coopted in my lifetime that they are the more commonsense party. There are charges against the democrats that their problem gate a roman you way and social problem programs like ob. We need to return to, since policies of this country that are really, since policies, lets stop subsidizing false of fuels. You were there and dakota. No more pipelines. We have the resources now first of all, we will never be able energy for example, we will never be out of the oil business. We will always need refine oil. Youre not going to have him and police cars be ran by solar power. Reducereduce that and to that significantly by half by 2030 and half again ive friends who work in alternative energies that we could put will dereks on the great lakes with Wind Turbines on them and power one quarter of the country with that. On and on and on. We need to stop for example, when trump said im going to bring cold back. How many people threw up in their mouth and swallowed it when he said that . Coal is debt and youre all out of a job in coal and want to turn parts of kentucky and was virginia into the Renewable Energy universities of the world, geothermal and solar and wind in their as we can and train those people to work in a field. Amy with immediate processing about russia im talking about cnn and msnbc does that give people hope in the United States of what an alternative is . Well, Glenn Greenwald is people in thists country incessantly. It seems to be his to bait americans about wasting their time investing in the russia situation. I am perfectly willing to admit of people like greenwald for that matter, perfectly willing to admit im wrong. But at the same time, i tend to doubt that mueller and company and everybody who has. Net shoulder into or even a finger on the scale of what is going on that all of them are wrong. Amy theyre doing their thing, but the networks in terms of what needs to be covered on a regular basis, i mean, what, 80 of at least that on russia, the alternatives they be 20 . What if that was switched around and we looked at what was really happening in this country and that investigation carried on and we would see what happened . That is a very subjective thing is to try to wonder which stories should be prioritized in this country. For example, curled bernstein. I very tune into what carl has been saying on cnn that trump is being unfit for office and trump requiring psychiatric and medical examination in order to carry on. That is the biggest story of all. But that is never going to get any traction. That idea of hustling trump into a Doctors Office and having them checked out, that is never going to amy yet people like the tennessee senator corker who was protrump, now talking about his stability and his ability to lead. Are you concerned about the man behind him, Vice President pence , without the chaos of donald trump, without the catastrophe of donald trump for even the republicans the plan will then really accelerate of what they want to do . No one can predict what will happen. Two things, one, pence, although bhoind most of his a policies rrent. Trump would need to resign or be impeached between now and 2020. I think democrats i believe not just hoping that i believe the democrats would make huge inroads in 2018 and then pence is faced with Democratic House or senate and house. Pence knows how to deal. He is one of them. Trump is not one of them. And some ofce as is what he wants done, i doubt he will get a lot of what he wants if yesterday with the democrats. The other thing is, i think mueller is going to come up with an indictment. He will hand that indictment to the house judiciary committee. They have to decide whether they want to bring articles of impeachment. They will go to trump and something will be finessed where trump will resign. They need to do that quickly to get that smell out of the room so they can prop up pence to run as the nominee. They will go in one for your period from trump controlling the white house and both houses of congress to losing all three in 2020. Forp will be responsible the most catastrophic political reversal in american history, i believe. I will have to check on the facts and see. But i think mueller will and i trump. I really do. Amy and your future now with saturday night live . I will be more than happy to be put out of a job. I cant wait to this i do this because it is fun. People seem to a joy to. People seem to enjoy it. It does tend to crash my we can with my family and little kids. I will tell you, we are here to do a program, uni, with bob garfield and nicholas lemann, you have been doing this for a long time and so has bob and lemon. Were to talk about how can we source them how to easily identify a source of media that we can rely on . People to rely on media. We need people to tell us. Not just tell us the facts, we need people to help us prioritize what is happening. I think you and i would both agree, the stories being prioritized and what is being featured, what is being put forth is the most important stories of the debt or not the most important stories of the day. That function of the press, that prioritization, is vital. Amy alec baldwin, you have a vested interest in bringing donald trump down because you do not want to impersonate him anymore. In the last eight on, which i2008 never did before, but i really for some reason i dont know why. I am very guilty of sitting there when obama came in, especially in the second term, and saying our guy is in there, were good. I took a long nap politically. I turn all of my philanthropy of my foundation to the arts. I dont give any money to candidates. I dont campaign for people. I was very political and campaign for Chuck Schumer and this one and that when an hillary and bill and teddy kennedy. Campaigning for carter when i first went to gw was a freshman in washington in 1976. My point is, i really do care deeply about this country and this countrys future. , not tooody exaggerated, im an american and carry out my country. I turned my attention elsewhere. Now my attention is back on the subject. Theres a lot of things im getting involved with and a handful of groups to get much more political than i have been the last eight years. Amy do you think trump will make it to the end of his term . I dont. Amy that is alec baldwin. He won an emmy for his acting and 30 rock. Trump ononate donald saturday night live, which is returning of september. Camden,to him in east new york. When we come back, a debate on whether troops should remain, u. S. Troops, in afghanistan. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In a prime time address on monday, President Trump vowed to step up the u. S. Military campaign in afghanistan which began nearly 16 years ago, extending the longest war in u. S. History. Pres. Trump the consequences of a rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable. 9 11, the worst terrorist attack in our history, was planned and directed from afghanistan because that country was ruled by a government that gave comfort and shelter to terrorists. A hasty withdrawal would create terrorists,t including isis and al qaeda, fill, justantly as happened before september 11. Amy earlier this month, the New York Times reported that trump may have found a reason to prolong the nearly 16year war afghanistans untapped mineral deposits, which could be worth nearly 1 trillion. The times goes on to say stephen feinberg, a billionaire financier who is informally advising mr. Trump on afghanistan, is also looking into ways to exploit the countrys minerals, according to a person who has briefed him. Mr. Feinberg owns a large military contracting firm, dyncorp international, which could play a role in guarding mines a major concern, given that some of afghanistans richest deposits are in areas controlled by the taliban. The New York Times reports trump discussed afghanistans vast deposits of metals and rare earth metals with afghan president ashraf ghani and is reportedly considering sending an envoy to afghanistan to meet with mining officials. Shortly after the times piece came out, i spoke with kathy kelly cocoordinator of voices , for creative nonviolence, a campaign to end u. S. Military and economic warfare. Senior policyy , adviser for Global Witness on afghanistan policy. Jodi spent 20 years in the u. S. Military, where she served in several countries, including afghanistan. I asked her if she thinks troops should leave afghanistan. I dont thinke, that is probably a good idea. Global witness does not take a position on u. S. Troops, i should note, nor would it ever take a position on u. S. Troops. One issue everyone does face is pretty much everyone acknowledges if the u. S. Pulls administrationni will fall. What does that look like when his a administration is gone and you run to the different alternatives of what comes next, all of them are pretty frightening, whether be the taliban who would take over which is not a high likelihood, but they did manage to do it before. That was a terrible possibility we would not like to see happen again. Or whether it is some sort of strongman warlord who is been heavily invested in the corruption and conflict already any of these major warlords, someone who is push the situation are ready taking over or whether the country is divided and each supported by various International Power whether that be russia, pakistan, iran, china, or whatever. All of those are deeply troubling situations. Theres really not a good way forward, just less there are some really worse ways to go forward. I think anything that allows the taliban, ashraf ghani government to collapse, is highly problematic. We need to look at how we build a government that is transparent and accountable to its citizens that protects human rights, protects the democracy that is supposedly enshrined in the constitution, and starts to build a Resilient Society they can stand alone in the longtime cost of amy kathy kelly, do you think u. S. Troops should leave . Yes, i do. I think in many ways, the governments of afghanistan has are ready collapsed. The government of afghanistan is not able to provide for people protection. They are not able to provide jobs. Theyre not able to provide environmental security. The groundwater in a couple right now is said in kabul is said to be at high risk of contamination. The United States is one among many warlords right now. Silly the heaviest armed with the most access to funding, but it is not the case the United States has been shoring up some can of governance. It is if it were, i think the United States would not be so interested in mineral wealth. Interested in restoring the infrastructure of afghanistan. It is a country that needs to be able to feed its people, not be sending them down into the dungeons and minds to work as serfs. It would require reseeding the orchards, cleaning up the air ignition systems, replenishing the flocks. Those are things that could be done. It would require people winning off of the opium trade. At the taliban show that is possible when they first came into power after 2001. I think the United States could try to seek the assistance of someone like out for mccoy u. S. Done Great Research with a large team of people at the university of wisconsin in the past regarding other situations where the u. S. Collaborated with drug runners and warlords will stop has done considerable investigation in afghanistan. They have these skills and the ability to help people out in afghanistan change their infrastructure so that it emphasizes agriculture and production of food and creation of clean water systems. Amy i want to read from a recent guardian piece post of the number of civilian deaths in the afghan war has reached a record high, continuing an almost unbroken trend of nearly a decade of rising casualties. The number of deaths of women and Children Group especially fast primarily due to the talibans use of homemade bombs, which caused 40 of celine casualties in the first six month of 2017 according to you in figures released on monday. During the month of june, the u. S. Carried out 389 airstrikes, the highest monthly total in five years. Two weeks ago, the u. N. Said the number of silly and deaths of the afghan war has reached a record high. What about this . Can this possibly increase security for the people of Afghanistan War any sense that the u. S. Is there to help the civilian population . Again, Global Witness does not take a position itself on u. S. Troops in afghanistan. I think this sort of discussion we having today about minerals and so forth really points to the fact the united date does not put the emphasis on governance. Since really it came in to afghanistan itself. It is taken the strategy of security first, the idea we will get enough security and do with governance later. As we know in the situations, it is the lack of security, the role of warlords and corrupt officials, and Money Laundering in the open yet in the country another criminal activity that is fostering that very insecurity. If youre running the latest Strategy First program, youre never going to get to a place where you get the governance. You have to run government and security at the same time. This is where the u. S. Has lacked. I would like to see the current administration, if it is serious about what to do with afghanistan, get together a Diverse Group of experts on afghanistan, the afghan citizens themselves, the Afghan Government together to really talk about how do we do a Governance Program in parallel with the Security Program and what needs to improve on security as well of the same time. I dont think we have had that discussion of how we do both at the same time. We of treated governance as an afterthought. But really making that the focus. Not only governance as capacity building, which is important, the government as far as how do we incentivize those reformers within the government and marginalize or disincentivize those who have a strong incentive to continue the war, to continue to corruption . Who right now have very powerful places inside and outside the government. We have not had a discussion yet. Amy kathy kelly, i want to give you the last word as you sit in minneapolis at this peace conference, what people are saying is a path to move forward. And where you feel the Peace Movement is in the United States. Theres a lot said about the Trump Administration and where it is going, but what about this movement of resistance, how strong do you feel it is . Toi think were something learn from what is happening in the United Kingdom right now where Jeremy Corbyn is starting to galvanize people in his long history as a clear antiwar activists and some of you challenged the military, has surprised people in the United Kingdom, gained a great till support. I hope people have said, well, you cannot bring antiwar discussions into campaigning efforts or into the movements to try to work on an environment or to improve the terrible disparities in terms of economic and equities in our country. I think these discussions should be coming together, Something Like what she just adjusted should be happening with regard to people who are focusing on afghanistan. I think the United States should weer assume the posture that somehow are the responsible people to effectively lead another country. Afghanistan is not our country. Amy that is kathy kelly, twice nominated for nobel peace prize, koch or nader of voices for creative nonviolence, a campaign to end u. S. Military and economic warfare. And jodi vittori, senior policy advisor for Global Witness on afghanistan policy. She spent 20 years in the u. S. Military, where she served in several countries, including afghanistan. She has received numerous military awards, including two bronze stars. To see part one of our conversation actually, our extended conversation with these two women, you can go to democracynow. Org. If you want to sign up for our daily digest, our daily headlines and news alerts every day, you can text the word democracynow to 66866. That does it for our broadcast. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. 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