Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20150501

Rise from saturdays devastating earthquake. Thousands of people are still unaccounted for. Hundreds of thousands have an left homeless. We will go to kathmandu for the latest. Then on this payday, protests continue in baltimore and around the country over the death of freddie gray as more evidence emerges that the 25yearold died from injuries inside a Police Transport van. On thursday, Police Revealed the van made a previously undisclosed stop with gray inside. We discovered this new stop based on our thorough encumbrance of an ongoing review of all cctv cameras and privately own cameras and in fact, this new stop has been or was discovered from a privately owned camera. Amy dennis Bernie Sanders announces he is running for president , we will talk with a former president ial candidate ralph nader. He just published return to sender containing dozens of unanswered letters to president s past. I once wrote a letter to president george w. Bush and barack obama and said, i havent gotten a response, please, tell me, what is your white house policy on answering letters . I got no response. [laughter] amy all of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Baltimore Police Investigators have given prosecutors the initial findings from their probe of the death of freddie gray, the man who died of spinal injuries a week after his arrest. State attorney Marilyn Mosby will now decide whether to take the case to a grand jury to seek an indictment of any of the six officers involved. Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said the investigation has been thorough, and is not over. At approximately a 50 this morning, our task force charged with investigating the tragic death of mr. Freddie gray turned over the contents of that investigation to the states attorneys office. We dedicated 30 plus detectives the fulltime job was focused on this case and only this case including labs, Lab Personnel and academy personnel and homicide detectives. The family and the community and the public deserve transparency and truth. The task force heeded my call and we have exhausted every lead at this point in time. But this does not mean the investigation is over. Let me repeat, this does not mean that the investigation is over. Amy the move forward in the case comes as new details have emerged. Police say the van transporting freddie gray made a previously undisclosed stop while en route to the Police Station. The new stop was discovered from Security Camera footage, not the statements of the officers involved. It was private footage. The investigation also concludes grays spinal injuries had to have happened inside the van not when he was initially detained and dragged on the ground. The medical examiner reportedly found that grays spinal injury was caused by his slamming into a bolt in the back of the van. It remains unclear how that happened. Meanwhile a key witness in the case has rejected Police Claims that blamed gray for his own injuries. A leaked Police Document says donte allen, who was riding in the same van as gray but divided by a partition he could not see through told police gray was , intentionally trying to injure himself. But speaking to the station wbal, allen said he only heard a light knocking coming from grays side of the van. And i got in the van, i can hear nothing. All i heard was a little banging for about four seconds. I just heard a little banging you know, just little, know what i mean . Just little banging. Amy police say a 10 00 p. M. Curfew will continue at least through the weekend in the aftermath of mondays unrest that damaged cars and buildings. Marches continued in baltimore thursday and major rallies are planned for this weekend. Protests also continue nationwide. In philadelphia, 1000 people gathered in front of city hall to hear speeches in support of the baltimore protesters. We will have more on baltimore later in the broadcast. We will speak with the head of the naacp. It is National Headquarters is based in baltimore. Nepals army chief has warned the death toll from saturdays devastating 7. 8 magnitude earthquake could reach 15,000. It now sounds just stands at 5800 with him was double that amount injured. We will go directly to kathmandu, nepal after the headlines. Vietnam has marked the 40th anniversary of the end of the vietnam war. On april 30, 1975, north Vietnamese Forces seized the president ial palace in the south vietnamese capital of saigon today known as ho chi minh city. A ceremony and military parade was held in the city on thursday. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung denounced what he called the barbarous crimes of the u. S. Invasion, which killed at least three million vietnamese. In vietnam, the war is known as the war of american aggression. The family of former maldives president Mohamed Nasheed is appealing for global pressure to help secure his freedom. A maldives Court Sentenced nasheed to 13 years in prison last month on charges of illegally ordering the arrest of a judge while he was still president. The judge was appointed by his predecessor, Maumoon Abdul gayoom, who ruled the maldives for 30 years before nasheed became its first democratically elected president in 2008. Nasheeds attorney, amal clooney, and his wife, laila ali, spoke out in washington. Were here to brief them fully on the case and a highlight the role that we believe the u. S. Government can play in advancing justice. He must be told to free the former president. Im very worried, really worried about his health and safety. But my husband remains strong and resolute. He is determined to fight this injustice until his last breath. I am in washington today to seek the support of the United States india, the u. K. , eu, and all freedom loving countries. I want these nations to urge the government of the maldives to release my husband from prison immediately. Amy nasheed became famous in 2009 for holding a Cabinet Meeting underwater to draw attention to the threat of Climate Change to his island nation. He was ousted in 2012 in what he called an armed coup. You can go to democracynow. Org to see our interview with mohammed nasheed. New details have emerged on how the American Psychological association colluded with government sanctionedtorture under president george w. Bush. Psychologists played a key role in bush administrations torture and interrogation program, helping to develop techniques and monitor sessions. The involvement of Health Professionals helped provide legal cover. In a new report, a group of dissident psychologists and activists conclude the apa secret coordinator with top u. S. Officials to create an ethics policy on National Security interrogations in line with the authorization for cias torture methods. The report says the apas involvement undermines the fundamental ethical standards of the profession. The apa denies coordinating its ethics policy with the u. S. Government. An independent review convened by the group last year is still underway. A former Port Authority official an ally of new Jersey Governor Chris Christie is set to plead guilty over his role in the scandal surrounding lane closings on the George Washington bridge in new york. The official david while the official, david walston, helped coordinate the closures with the top Chris Christie eight when he worked at the Port Authority. Chris christie has denied having any knowledge, saying he only found out when the scandal broke open. But while steen has said evidence exists governor Chris Christie was aware at the time, contrary to his public statement. It is unclear which charges he will plead guilty to. He is expected to provide testimony at a hearing today. And independent senator Bernie Sanders of vermont has announced his bid for the democratic president ial nomination. Launching his campaign, senator sanders said the nations immoral Economic System favoring the wealthy cannot continue. All over this country ive been talking to people may say how does it happen . Im producing more, working longer hours for lower wages. My kid cant afford to go to college and am having a hard time affording health care. How does that happen . While at exactly the same time, 99 of all new income generated in this country is going to the top 1 . How does it happen . How does it happen that the top 1 owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 . In my conclusion is, that that type of economics is not only immoral, not only wrong, it is a sustainable. It cant continue. Amy senator sanders had floated his potential candidacy for months, repeatedly saying he would only run if he sensed there was sufficient grassroots support. He will campaign for president as a selfdescribed independent democrat, because running as a thirdparty candidate would have been too difficult. He is the first major challenger to emerge against democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton so far. In a tweet on thursday, sanders said he looks forward to debating clinton on the big issues income inequality, Climate Change, and getting big money out of politics. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Nepals army chief has warned the death toll from saturdays devastating 7. 8magnitude earthquake could reach 15,000. The toll now stands at 5,800 with almost double that 6200 number injured. It is the worst Natural Disaster to hit the himalayan country in more than 80 years. According to the United Nations, over half a million homes and 16,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed. At least two Million People will need shelter, water, food and medicine for months to come. The quake triggered avalanches on mount everest, where 18 climbers were killed, including three americans. Landslides have reportedly engulfed roads and stalled arrival of aid to remote mountain hamlets in dire need of assistance. This is earthquake survivor shim bhakta kattel. Are lost due to earthquake. Our animals, our clothes all are lost, but our government is not providing any help to us. Amy on tuesday, nepali Prime Minister Sushil Koirala announced a threeday period of national mourning. Thousands of survivors slept in tents this week rather than risk returning to damaged homes susceptible to collapsing in an aftershock. The World Food Program warns 1. 4 Million People require emergency food assistance, and the United Nations estimates 1. 3 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. The quake opened massive rifts in roads and destroyed historic structures, including the 19th century dharahara tower in the capital kathmandu, which was packed with sightseers when it collapsed. The unesco World Heritage site bhaktapur durbar square and its ancient temple vatsala devi was also badly damaged. Juan some estimates suggest the cost of longterm reconstruction will exceed 5 billion, or around 20 of the countrys entire gdp. Meanwhile, the nepali government has come under criticism for its lack of disaster preparedness. Every january, nepal Marks National earthquake safety day to commemorate the calamitous earthquake that leveled kathmandu in 1934. This year, the nepali times marked the day with an editorial warning it was only a matter of time until the next big one hit. The editorial was called unNatural Disaster earthquakes dont kill people, weak houses and bad planning do. Amy well, for more, we go now to the capital of nepal, kathmandu where were joined by , the editor of the nepali times, kunda dixit. Todays paper has 4monthold survivor sonit awal on its cover. Dixit recently wrote an article for the New York Times called, a view of kathmandu after the earthquake. He has been tweeting about it all week. You can go to his updates on twitter kundadixit. Kunda dixit, welcome to democracy now talk about where you were when the earthquake hit. Well, we were on a staff retreat with our reporters up on a hilltop overlooking kathmandu. While we were descending, all of a sudden, there was this mighty jolt. It felt as if the whole mountain had moved. We were almost thrown off our feet. I knew it was the big earthquake that weve all been warning about, writing about. My eyes turned down to the city below and we couldnt believe our eyes as the whole city just was engulfed in this brown, yellow dust, as if it was a dust storm. The city just disappeared. We really feared the worst. We thought kathmandu had been completely destroyed. But as we got down to the city in the car come about two or three hours later, we found out that it wasnt as bad as we expected. In the news started filtering in from the rest of the country. Juan what about the situation and the rest of the country . Was the capital the worst hit or has all the extent of the damage and other parts of the country been assessed yet . Well, weve all been talking and apical loop deterrence what kathmandu would do if there was this type of earthquake. The predictions were 100,000 people would be killed, 3000 injured, everything destroyed. It turned out kathmandu cannot relatively unskilled. It was not as bad as we had feared. 1300 people are dead, but 80 of the buildings are standing. The core of the city has been destroyed, the cultural monuments. But those can be rebuilt. I think what is coming through now is we have completely underestimated what is happening in the rest of the country up in the mountains and remote villages where settlements are scattered across the emily is himalayas. There are these photographs and images and videos of entire villages completely destroyed. Some are just wiped off the map landslides or avalanches. And tremendous need of the people for medicine, shelter for food, which, you know, i think overwhelmed by government that is politically unstable and economically weak. Amy talk about what is happening right now in kathmandu. A unicef spokesperson said up to one million children require urgent aid. This is what he said. Nearly one million children are affected by the earthquake and are in need of emergency assistance. Usually in the situation, such as in haiti in 2010, there are lots of required for children who are maimed, who lost parts of one leg or the norm. It is typical that we find during a situation of an earthquake that needs urgent surgery. Amy kunda dixit, can you respond to this horrific figure 6200 people dead and counting and the impact on children right now . You talk about a weak government, what has happened internally and outside nepal. First of all, we need to get our logistics right. To reach the settlements, there is no other way except helicopters. The nepal army has only five. Only one is a heavy lift. India has sent in six helicopters, but we need hundreds. You have to go almost house to house to take tents, because people live so spread out across the mountains. It is already too late in many cases to get the helicopters out there. Luckily, today, we had very good weather. For the last four or 50 days, four or five days committed been overcast rain, it which has to struck did a lot of the flights. Hopefully, tomorrow, the weather will be getting better. Second, court nation. Court nadine interface between the foreign aid coming in and the delivery out to where it is needed the most. There are flights with relief flights with india china europe, america, australia offline then. The airport is jampacked. It is congested. Even the relief material has to wait for hours and sometimes days to get unloaded off airplanes. It is a bottleneck here in kathmandu. The material they have brought is needed very, very urgently. Juan you mention helicopters india has sent in six. You have a major nations around you, near you, that have huge armies that obviously, would have the kind of equipment you need. What has been the response from china, india, as you said, australia . Well, the response from india was very prompt. It was within seven to eight hours there were had their first jets in. The very next morning the six helicopters arrived. It was extremely prompt. The helicopters were immediately deployed into the mountains. China has sent in by now about 12 very large aircraft with relief material, with a Rapid Response teams with rescue teams and search dogs. They have a lot of experience. This means that the people are out there digging through the rubble, trying to get out. But very soon now in a few days, it will turn from searchandrescue to relieve delivery. The relieve should have gone handinhand, but somehow it has taken some time. It is been a slow start. Amy you wrote four months ago before this earthquake struck in january that theres an editorial published. What was the unNatural Disaster here . Well, we should be used to earthquakes. Like the japanese are used to earthquakes. This is a highly seismic zone. These mountains are still rising. The indian plate is still pushing against the eurasian plate. Earthquakes happen here once every 80 years. It is documented. Kathmandu is destroyed every 80 or 100 years. We should be very prepared for this, and we worked. Especially, as nepal opened up to the outside world and globalization as New Buildings were built, these were not very well designed. And i think this was a real warning, at least to kathmandu, that next time when the big one strikes, we will have a major disaster in our hands, not just 1300 or 1400 killed, but hundreds of thousands. This time we got, despite the very high death toll, even in the mountains, the death toll was lower than it could have been. Namely, because it was saturday, just before noon. A lot of farmers are out hunting crops, getting ready for the maize season. The children were not in school. As we heard, 1500 schools were destroyed. Imagine of those classrooms have been full of children, if it was any other day . Luckily, it was a weekend. It couldve been much, much worse than what we witnessed. Juan kunda dixit, your country is listed as one of the least developed countries in the world with a huge foreign debt. What is hope or expectation in terms of International Bodies in this time of crisis for helping the country get out of its immediate calamity . Well, i think foreign help has been so prompt and so overwhelming, that i think it really is a testament to tremendous goodwill nepal has internationally. Between its two neighbors, india and china, as well as europe and the rest of the world. I think the indebtedness is a problem. I think one way to start would be to reschedule or forgive a lot of this debt so we can get a head start on rebuilding. There is going to be a tremendous amount of resources needed for the reconstruction, forgetting people back on their feet. Agriculture will be undermined. The rice planting season is coming up. A lot of people have lost their seeds. Many have lost homes. The Prime Minister has announced every family will be entitled to 1000 for a fertility. That will be peanuts because theyre so much the family have to do to catch up and start being able to feed themselves again. A lot of these people, families affected were subsistence farmers. They really dont have any savings or storage of food. They need immediate help in terms of food, shelter, and medicine. Amy what can people outside the country do to help the people of nepal right now . Again, the overall figure were hearing is 6200 dead in nepal and counting, the figure rising dramatically over 8000 people injured. Well, i think the immediate help has already come. We have got as much as we can handle for now. I think what is much more important his help in the medium and longer term. In the medium term, a means sustain help for food and for shelter. Were not just talking tents. The monsoon season is coming. Maybe prefab houses, more sturdier tents, and then maybe credits for families to rebuild their houses and to start planting their crops. For this nepal is not really for. The sometimes poorly managed. There is money here. A lot of our budget is unspent it just has to be spent wisely. We can always ask for help. Im sure it will be forthcoming from the international committee. Amy the politics internal he in nepal, if you could give people a sense of what the nepalese government has been dealing with. I know there is one big helicopter in the nepali army, but aside from that, the politics, the internal warfare that is been going on . A lot of your viewers may know we just came out of a tenure conflict. It ended in 2006. We have been trying to write a new constitution to get the politics moving again, but it has been stuck because of a dispute over what kind of federalism we should have in the new constitution. A lot of politicking there, a lot of clashes between various political parties. And the constitutionmaking process has been stuck for eight years. We need to get over that and move ahead. Hopefully, this crisis will be a catharsis so that it will shake us up and allow us to at least find a compromise solution on the constitution. We need that desperately. Without political stability, we will not have the kind of Economic Growth that can sustain us in the longer term to create jobs, to have health and education, to have adequate food for everyone. So i think fixing the politics is really one of the other priorities that has to happen sidebyside, with all of the relief and longterm rehab that needs to go. Amy how is the maoist opposition responding to this catastrophic event that is taken place, the earthquake . Well, actually, it looks like all of the politicians have gone into hiding. In fact, theres a joke on facebook which has eight of our top political leaders, and the caption underneath says, missing since the earthquake finders, please let us know. These are our top political figures. They really havent made an appearance. They seem to be really scared that the people blame them for not providing enough adequate relief and help. And for dragging the political instability for so long, which has led to the slow response to the crisis. Amy thank you, so much. According to the wall street journal the maost castigated the Prime Minister for moving too slowly and showing insensitive attitude at this time of Great National loss. Kunda dixit, thank you for being with us editor of the nepali , times. He recently wrote an article for the New York Times called, a view of kathmandu after the earthquake. Dixit is the author of several books, including, never again testimonies from the nepal conflict, 19962006. You can follow him on twitter at kundadixit. We will be back in a minute talking about baltimore. Stay with us. [music break] amy journey to dolpo, shyam sharan, nepali famed sarangi singer. Player. This is democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan we turn now to baltimore where investigators have handed over their inquiry into freddie grays death to the states attorneys office. Gray died of spinal injuries a week after he was arrested for looking a Police Lieutenant in the eye, then running away. His family said his spine was 80 severed at the neck. State attorney Marilyn Mosby will now decide whether to take the case to a grand jury to seek an indictment of any of the six officers involved. Amy meanwhile, police in baltimore revealed thursday that the van transporting gray made a previously undisclosed stop while en route to the Police Station with him at the back. Police said they found out about the new van stop from a Security Camera. A private Security Camera. This is Baltimore Police Deputy Commissioner kevin davis. We discovered this new stop based on our thorough incompetence of an ongoing review of all cctv cameras and privately owned cameras, in fact this new stop was discovered from a privately owned camera. Juan concludes the spinal injuries had to have happened inside the van, not when he was initially detained and dragged on the ground. The medical examiner reportedly found that rates spinal injury was caused a his slamming into a bolt in the back of the van. It remains unclear how. Amy thousands of police and National Guard troops continue to enforce a curfew in the city following an uprising monday night, which saw cars and buildings torched. Freddie grays death has sparked nationwide protests, from boston to chicago to ferguson, missouri with rallies spreading on thursday. In philadelphia, 1000 people gathered in front of city hall to hear speeches in support of the baltimore protesters. To talk more about the significance of whats happening in baltimore, we go to washington, d. C. , where were joined by Cornell William brooks, the president and ceo of the naacp, also a longtime human rights advocate, civil rights lawyer, and minister. Welcome back to democracy now the headquarters of the naacp is based in baltimore. Cornell Brooks Williams, why was freddie gray arrested to begin with . Well, that is an open and disturbing question. It appears that freddie gray, like some in the end people so many young people in our inner cities, that is to say he was perhaps suspected up some overwhelmingly minor offense, at this point, not yet determined and he found himself subject to some kind of lethal force. Amy the attorney for the Fraternal Order Police said that he looked a Police Lieutenant in the eye and then he ran, and he said running and a high crime area is an arrestable offense. Im not sure where in the penal code that is an offense. Running in a high crime area in which there is a high degree of distrust of the police is not in a rational response irrational response. The Police Department has a long and tragic legacy of troubled relations with the community. Police brutality, running from the police again, perhaps not the wisest thing to do but not in a rational a rational thing to do. Juan the most recent revelation that a private Security Camera discovered that the officers had made an undisclosed stop transporting him to the precinct. One, obviously these officers are definitely no matter what happens, they will be off the force because they did not report that stop. But once again, Security Cameras have revealed information that official reports of a Police Officials and cops did not present to the public. Yes. This is a part of what appears to be a pattern of incomplete disclosures or leaks or suggestions that are very troubling. The fact is, we have a community on edge looking for answers. The thing that is best done at this point is to have an investigation that is transparent, that is orderly where information isnt getting out that puts the community more on edge. To be clear, never a serious test series of unanswered questions. For example, how does a person have as a suspect be put in a van without a seat belt who is 25 years old, leaves the van with, apparently, with his spinal cord severed and where you have a second person in the van who, contrary to earlier reports, according to his name is, he only heard some pumping in the van. He did not. Draw any conclusions as to what the injuries were, as was seen to be soon to be suggested early days ago. The pattern here this is disturbing. I served as a government lawyer eight, civil rights lawyer eight. What you want to do an investigation is stick to the facts. You want to do your job and make sure people have confidence in the integrity of the process. This process thus far has not inspired confidence. We are at a moment or credibility, legitimacy is critically important. To be clear, troops on the street can secure peace for a moment, but to secure peace ultimately, what we need is justice. One of the best means of achieving justice is an investigation that is managed in a professional way. Amy it remains unclear exactly how freddie gray received the spinal injuries, which would ultimately kill him. Bystander Video Shows Police dragging him to a van, as he screams in pain, his body apparently limp. According to a Police Timeline gray asked for an inhaler as he was going into the van, but a medic wasnt called for more than 40 minutes. Earlier this week, the Washington Post obtained a Police Document which contains an affidavit by a fellow prisoner who was in the van with gray, but who couldnt see him because they were separated by a metal partition. The document, written by a police investigator, says the fellow prisoner told police he could hear gray banging against the walls of the vehicle and believed that gray was intentionally trying to injure himself. The prisoner who was in the van with gray is donte allen. He spoke to nbc affiliate wbal about what he heard while he was in the police van. When i got in the van, i did hear nothing. It was a smooth drive. All i heard was a little banging for about four seconds, not a mean . I just heard little banging. Just little, know what i mean . Just little banging. Just little banging. Amy when allen was asked whether he told the police that he heard freddie gray banging his head against the van, this was his response. I told homicide that. I dont work for the police. I didnt tell the police nothing. Amy there you have it. That was donte allen, the one the Washington Post pieces written about that they say he said he intentionally try to hurt himself. Cornell Brooks Williams, here you have this person testifying. Yep the police giving a different version of what he said. You also have them driving the van that was reported until a private security video that information came out. The New York Times just wrote in a piece investigators from the police entering the 25yearold after his arrest made a stop the authorities had not known about. This becks the question, worked the Police Driving the van . Arent they authorities . How could the authorities not know what they were doing . What is the naacp calling for right now . Are you calling for arrests or firings in the Police Department in baltimore . The first thing were calling for is for the maryland state prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, to conduct a thorough, complete, comprehensive investigation, to conduct this investigation relying on the resources of her office. We have to focus on first things first. We certainly look for to the Justice Department completing a broader investigation that is an Investigation Called for by the mayor. We believe that is critically important. We also call upon the city to focus on fundamental reform that really should have begun well before this case. Lets be clear. This tragedy did not begin with freddie gray. We have a tradition of rough writing riding the this practice of suspects being transported in vehicles in ways that subject them to injuries without Police Officers necessarily laying a hand on them. This is something that the community is apprehensive about fearful about. We have a history of lawsuits against the Police Department in baltimore. The point being here, there are a number of challenges to this Police Department that existed before freddie gray. The point being here is, why we are waiting while were waiting this investigation and awaiting the outcome in encouraging people to wait patiently while protesting vigorously met we also have to push for systemic reform. We cannot wait for the outcome of one investigation to turn around the department, even as we are seeking justice for this family and the community. The naacp is pushing for systemic reform civilian review boards, body cameras, the modification or the amendment if you will, of a bill of rights of Law Enforcement officers that allows them to little responsibility. We have push for a federal and racial profiling act. And to be clear, the naacp with our baltimore chapters opening Satellite Office in the community of Santa Winchester because were inviting people into file complaints come in to tell us anything that they may be aware of relating to police misconduct. The point established tablets on the ground, engage with the community to make sure we are bringing witnesses forward which is the same strategy we used in ferguson. The naacp there worked with the u. S. Attorneys department bringing witnesses forward and we believe that contributed along with our legal advocacy to the dojs report. We have to have a high, low strategy. Juan in terms of those proposals for systemic change, how has the mayor, Stephanie Rawlings blake handled the situation and what is her attitude toward some of the proposals for systemic reform of yours . There is been substantial criticism of the way she has handled this crisis. The naacp, we stand behind policies that make a difference in terms of civil rights for communities. Here are the facts. The mayor called for the department of justice to intervene, to look at her Police Department proactively affirmatively. That is a good thing. That is a commendable thing. And it is the kind of mineral leadership mayoral leadership that can bring about systemic fun a mental reform. The mayor prior to freddie gray, i might note, prior to his tragic death, called for changes in the law with respect to the rights of Police Officers. In a very reasonable way. So the point being here is, the mayor, when it comes to these issues, has been affirmative. So while she may be subject to criticism, the facts are the facts, with respect to systemic reform. The naacp stands with anyone am a weather be the mayor, attorney general, the governor, who is committed to bringing about the type of reform he can bring to end this long, said tradition of Police Brutality. When we have africanamerican men with 21 times more likely to lose their lives at the hands of the police, when we have racial profiling and Police Brutality in the context of an era of mass incarceration, this is not only unconscionable, it is simply and democratically intolerable. The fact of the matter is, all across the country, there are leased apartments that have gotten this right. It is possible to decrease crime, increase Community Trust Practice Community of policing in ways to protect the community and leave Police Officer safer. It has been done. It can be done. Its really should be done in baltimore. I believe this mayor, based upon what she has done the facts thus far has committed to that. Amy the Washington Post is reporting 15 neighborhoods have lower life expectancies than north korea. A baby born in largely africanamerican neighborhood of the novel is expected to live only until 65, 14 years below the u. S. Average command lower than 229 countries. Meanwhile in nearby roland park, largely white neighborhood babies can expect to live to 84. That is 20 years older, well above the u. S. Average of 79. Eight of the neighborhoods have lower life expectancies than syria. As we wrap up, can you talk about this and what we could expect now with the report are emphasizing the police saying what you expect the timeline to be . The thing i would say here is, the statistics are glaring at a startling, but not surprising to anyone who is been to these neighborhoods. The same town Winchester Community is not only the community in which freddie gray. Com also the community in which gave birth, if you will, to Billie Holiday and to a here of the naacp, thurgood marshall. In that same ever put in the high school there freddie gray went to, it is described as an apartheid high school, given the degree of racial segregation. It is a school where only a few years ago half of the teachers missed 10 or more days of school. So the point being here is, we have a community that is profoundly under resourced. It is not surprising that the residents, the citizenry has a shorter life expectancy. Heres the main point. The main point is, this need not be. If we have communities in baltimore were people live to be 80 and we have communities where people live a fraction of that we can bring about a fundamental change, and that is the profoundly american thing to do. With investments with boots on the ground, with smart policies policies that have worked in other cities and can work in baltimore if we collaborate, if we work together, if we are serious about bringing about fundamental reform. It has been debt and it can yet be done in that community and in that city. Amy cornell Brooks Williams thank you for being with us president and ceo of the naacp. , longtime human rights advocate, civil rights lawyer, and minister. We will continue to cover what is happening in baltimore, not to mention around the country. In a moment, we will be back with ralph nader. Stay with us. [music break] amy 2cellos playing michael jacksons, they dont care about us. This is democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan in washington, independent Bernie Sanders announced his bid for the president ial nomination, launching his campaign saying the nations and moral Economic System favoring the wealthy cannot continue. We now have a political situation where billionaires are literally able to buy elections and candidates. Lets not kid ourselves. That is the reality right now. You have the Koch Brothers another billionaire families now prepared to spend hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in elections to by the candidates of their choice often extreme rightwing candidates. Im the former chairman of the Senate Veterans committee and i can tell you, i dont believe that the men and women who defended american democracy for secreta situation where billionaires on the political process. Amy may day celebrated around the world as an International Workers holiday, with major marches and rallies. Protests will show solidarity with the black lives matter movement, immigrants right movement as well. Today were joined by a former president ial candidate ralph nader. His new book is called, return to sender unanswered letters to the president , 20012015. The book dedicated in part to the workers of the u. S. Postal service. Ralph nader welcome back to democracy now first, lets get your response to the announced candidacy of Bernie Sanders. In my bring back memories for you, the number of times that you have ran for president. That is a good news. We dont want a coronation of Hillary Clinton. We want a vibrant debate in the primaries next year and Bernie Sanders will provide an alternative view of where the country should be going. I hope we will be stronger on pulling back on empire. I was thought his foreignpolicy and military policy were not up to his great domestic reforms and corporate accountability from wall street to houston. Amy the issue of tpp, the Transpacific Partnership . It doesnt get a heck of a lot of attention in the Mainstream Media when it does present in largely one point of view, mainstay of one of the things that senator sanders has been speaking against. It is also an issue that you have been taking on, dealing with 40 of the global economy. The people have got to demand their members of Congress Block the fasttrack that is now beginning to circulate in congress, which will allow an up or down vote. No amendments whatsoever to the subsequent Transpacific Partnership. This is a corporate coup detat. This is worse than nafta and the wto. It is bad for consumers, labor, the environment. All of the necessities are subordinated to the supremacy of International Commercial trade and a tremendous invasion on local the state, national sovereignty. And all of the disputes that may affect American Workers in dealing with poverty and investment import areas in this country, all of the disputes will be before secret tribunals. They cannot go to our courts. This is blatantly unconstitutional. But any citizen who trusted take these traded grimaced to the federal courts are dismissed because of no standing to sue. We have a real fight coming up. Go to globaltradewatched on work and you can get the details. Im telling you, people, if this one passes, about a dozen other countries on the pacific rim, it will affect the pace of exporting jobs and industry and subordinating the ability of the United States to be first. And environmental labor and consumer standards. Juan ralph, i want to ask you on this may day, your new book, return to sender it is more letters to past president s. You have dedicated it to the postal workers of the United States. Why . Because,juan and i think the most of a credit media in this country, with apologies to democracy now , are the letters that individual center their elected officials. They cannot be censored. They cannot be distorted. And theyre not being respected. I put these letters together in this book return to sender as an example of the kind of letters to go to the white house that show what the president should be doing should not be doing, what is going on around the country were inside the federal government the president may not know about, unique proposals to turn the country around, and they are ignored. Theyre completely ignored. I wrote two critical letters to the Prime Minister of canada, and they were properly acknowledged answered, and were referred to the appropriate ministries. It is a charcoal in the white house. I wrote a letter to bush and obama saying, what is your correspondence policy . What is your policy in answering letters other than using some as political props worsening of robo signed letters . And there was no answer. Amy can you read a portion of the letter that you called a , family appeal to stop the war. Who did you write it too ralph . I wrote it to the mother and father of george w. Bush on the eve of the invasion of iraq, the criminal invasion that has killed over one million iraqis and millions of refugees and blown apart that country that never threatened us. One of the greatest crimes that president s have ever committed was never constitutionally approved, it was an outlaw presidency. We could see it coming. In the prior weeks, amy, 12 major groups in our country representing business am a intelligence officials retired municipal officials, religious groups environment, womens groups, student groups they all wrote individual letters. And these groups are representing millions of people around the country. They wrote individual letters begging to meet briefly with their president , george w. Bush, before the invasion of iraq. Some had just come back from iraq. These letters were never even acknowledged. The press theres a serious responsibility here. The White House Press corps is basically a ditto scribe operation. They dont take any interest in letters that are coming in other than if it is a quirky type of thing. And when these letters were released to the press, as many of them were, or were sent to the White House Press corps or were sent to various agencies like the centers for disease control, the press ignored them. Yours ago, letters got more respect. A letter would go to senator warren urging a hearing on an important subject and it would get into the Washington Post or the New York Times. But the state of course on its today, the most initiatory Democratic Media in the country is at its lowest level that i can never see. Juan ralph, i want to ask about a quirky letter that is also profound it used sent on june 3 2011 to president obama called letter from e. Coli 0104 h four and you say, dear president obama, my name is e. Coli, im being detained here in a German Laboratory charged with being a highly very late strained back syria. You go on to say, your associates were obsessed with possible bacterial logical warfare by your human enemies, yet you hardly doing anything on the ongoing solid violation of my indiscriminate threat. The to elaborate . It was a way to try to get a little attention. This little e. Coli in this fictional approach was trying to redeem itself before it was going to be put away in this petri dish in europe and it was a plea, as i made a plea to president clinton and president bush, that have got to pay more attention to the threat of viral and bacterial logical epidemics around the world and in the United States. We just came off the bullet epidemic ebola epidemic as everyone knows. At the mutation of these viruses and bacteria is also a threat. You could see also resistant tuberculosis to existing drugs antibiotic resistance that is killing tens of thousands of people in this country hospitalinduced infections. This is a very serious epidemic of preventable violence, but where is the trillions of dollars going . To expand empire, to blow apart other countries, to create more enemies, to kill more civilians overseas. It is a clinically insane institutional situation we have in our federal government, and what eisenhower warned about in his final speech, the military industrial complex, that goes from washington to wall street to houston. This has got to be what Bernie Sanders and other new entries into the president ial race talked about. Youre not going to hear this from the republicans with over a dozen of them running for the presidency, ignoring all of these problems. Amy ralph, were going to do part two of this discussion in the post show and posted online at democracynow. Org. But your final comment in the last 10 seconds about writing letters to president . It is very important for people to write these letters send copies to members of congress or to the press or anyone who you think is interested in the contents of the letter. It is way to get people involved. Dont worry if you dont get an answer, send it around other people and youll get people coming to join you in whatever effort you pursue. Amy parked in a moment, ralph nader, thank you so much longtime consumer advocate , corporate critic and former president ial candidate. His new book is called, return to sender unanswered letters to the president , 20012015. Hell be speaking here in new york on june 1 at book culture. Juan and i will be in washington d. C. For the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war. 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