Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20160309

Every opinion poll taken before election day. Clinton had an overwhelming victory mississippi. We will speak to sanders backer cornel west and the legendary labor organizer Dolores Huerta who is backing Hillary Clinton. And blk lives matter organizer Melina Abdullah, the group is not endorsing anyone. Wins three outmp of four states of republican race. Theres only one person who did well tonight, donald trump. Techwe will look at how ceos and Top Republicans recently held a secretive meeting in sea island, georgia, to plot to stop trump. All of that and more coming up. , welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In the most shocking upset of the president ial campaign to date, vermont Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in the michigan primary. Sanders won 50 of the vote to clintons 48 . Opinion polls had projected clinton would easily win the state by as much as 20 . Late last night pollster nate , silver wrote that michigan would count as among the greatest polling errors in primary history. Despite sanders upset in michigan, Hillary Clinton ended up winning more delegates on tuesday thanks to a lopsided win in mississippi where she won 83 of the vote. Sanders gave an impromptu News Conference outside a hotel in miami last night. And what tonight means is that the Bernie Sanders campaign , the peoples revolution that were talking about, the Political Revolution that were talking about, is a strong and every part of the country. Frankly, we believe that our strongest areas are yet to happen. Amy sanders did not know yet that he had won the michigan primary when he spoke. On the republican side, donald trump won hawaii, michigan and mississippi, while texas senator ted cruz won idaho. Florida senator marco rubio did not pick up any delegates. Well have more on the races later in the broadcast. The pentagon has reportedly presented the white house with the most detailed outline to date for possible military action against isil in libya. The New York Times citing anonymous officials, said the options include airstrikes against as many as 40 targets across four areas of libya. Libya has been engulfed in fighting after u. S. Backed military intervention ousted longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. To see our segment on thensecretary of state Hillary Clintons role in the libya intervention, go to democracynow. Org. Israeli Authorities Say they have shot dead two palestinians they accused of opening fire at cars in jerusalem and wounding one person. Separately in the occupied west bank, Israeli Soldiers shot and killed palestinian they said tried to stab them. The attacks came a day after a palestinian allegedly went on a stabbing spree near the city of jaffa, killing u. S. Student and the attacks coincided with a visit by Vice President joe biden over a possible increase in military aid to israel. In oregon, local officials said police were justified in fatally shooting rightwing militia spokesperson Lavoy Finicum in a standoff in january. Video shows finicum screaming, you back down or you kill me now. But the local sheriff said fbi agents are under investigation for firing two shots at finicum and the not disclosing the shots to investigators. Marylands highest court has ordered Baltimore Police officer William Porter to testify against five fellow officers at their trials over the death of africanamerican freddie gray. Gray was fatally wounded in grace family said his spine was 80 severed at his neck. Porters case ended in a hung jury in he faces a retrial. December. Tuesdays decision allows the trials to move forward. The next one is set to begin april 13, one year and one day after grays fatal arrest. In new york, the Police Officer who fatally shot unarmed africanamerican teenager Ramarley Graham in the bathroom of his own home four years ago will not face criminal charges. Manhattan u. S. Attorney Preet Bhararas office said there is not enough evidence to support civil rights charges against officer richard haste, who shot graham in the chest in front of his grandmother and sixyearold brother as the teen attempted to flush a bag of marijuana down the toilet. Police had pursued graham into his own home without a warrant. Haste was initially indicted for manslaughter, but the case was later dismissed over a prosecutors error and a new grand jury declined to indict him. In ohio, a Police Officer has been fired after referring to the suicide of a black lives matter activist as a happy ending. Fairborn Police Officer lee cyr posted the comment after Marshawn Mccarrel fatally shot himself on the steps of the ohio state house in columbus. To see our interview with friends and teacher of Marshawn Mccarrel, go to democracynow. Org. In new york city, dozens of women marked International Womens day by rallying outside the Honduras Mission to the United Nations to demand justice for the murder of honduran environmental activist berta caceres. She was gunned down in her home last week, less than a year after she won the prestigious goldman environmental prize. The activists also demanded the release of Gustavo Castro soto, another wellknown environmental campaigner, who witnessed the shooting and was shot twice himself. Honduran authorities have barred him from returning to his native wasco, despite he accompanied by the mexican ambassador to the airport. He says his life may be in danger. Honduran activist Gregoria Flores spoke out. We came here today to look for the United Nations delegate from honduras, but they told us she was not here. We spoke with a person who reports to her and we gave them a letter to Manning Cliff occasions about bertas case, freedom from gustavo, freedom for the family of berta and the activists around the world as well. One more time, frito for gustavo for gustavo. We need assurances the safety of his life. We want the whole world to say, freedom for gustavo. Freedom for gustavo. Amy in the peruvian amazon, an indigenous village has reportedly released a number of officials it had taken hostage to demand action over an oil spill on its lands. The village had been excluded from an Emergency Response plan. On sunday, villagers seized a grounded military helicopter, taking hostage at least eight public officials, including representatives of the stateowned Energy Company petroperu, which operates the pipeline. Petroperu said the hostages were freed after the firm agreed to provide aid, including help with electrical and phone service. Dr. Quentin young, whose patients included dr. Martin luther king, jr. , studs terkel, and young barack obama, has died at the age of 92. Dr. Young was one of the nations leading advocates for a singlepayer health care system. Speaking on demracy now in 2009, preside obama ld out his ans for at would become kwn as obacare, d quentin ung criticized his former patient and longtime friend, saying obamas plan didnt go far enough. The problem is the diagnosis, americas difficulty and health care is due to one big thing, the multipayer and private Insurance Companies will stop Everybody Knows that. Obama knows that. He said he was for single payer, not that many years ago. He was started from scratch, the way he put it, he would go with it. Well, he is starting from scratch. The failure to give america the kind of Health Care Reform system it deserves is very painful and very dangerous. Amy dr. Quentin young died monday at his daughters home in berkeley, california. He was 92. 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 of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. In the most stunning upset of the president ial campaign to date, vermont Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in the michigan primary. Sanders won 50 of the vote to clintons 48 . During the campaign, sanders focused heavily on his opposition to what he called disastrous trade deals like nafta which have hurt michigans manufacturing sector. Opinion polls had projected clinton would easily win the state by as much as 20 . On tuesday afternoon, nate silvers popular polling site 538. Com predicted clinton had a greater than 99 chance of winning the michigan primary. Late last night, silver wrote that michigan would count as among the greatest polling errors in primary history. Amy despite Bernie Sanders upset in michigan, Hillary Clinton ended up winning more delegates on tuesday thanks to a lopsided win in mississippi where she won 83 of the vote. Clinton now has 760 pledged delegates to sanders 546. In addition, clinton has secured support from an overwhelming number of unelected super delegates made up from the party establishment, though they could change their allegiance at any point. Sanders gave an impromptu press conference outside a hotel in miami last night. Before he learned of the results in michigan. I just want to take this opportunity to thank the people of michigan who kind of repudiated the polls that had us 20, 25 points down a few days ago, who repudiated the pundits who said Bernie Sanders is not going anywhere. And what tonight means is that the Bernie Sanders campaign, the peoples revolution that were talking about, the Political Revolution that were talking about is strong in every part of the country. Frankly, we believe that our strongest areas are yet to happen. Were going to do very, very well on the west coast and other parts of this country. What the American People are saying is they are tired of a corrupt Campaign Finance system and super pacs funded by wall street and the billionaire class. They are tired of a rigged economy in which people in michigan, people in illinois, people in ohio are working longer hours for low wages, worried to death about the future of their kids, and yet all must on income and wealth is going to the top 1 . And the people of america are tired of a broken criminal Justice System in which we have more people in jail, largely africanamerican, latino, native american more people in jail than any other major country on earth. Campaign, as this many will remember, 10 months ago. We work 60 or 70 points down in the polls. And yet we have what we have seen is in poll after poll, state after state, what we have done is created the kind of momentum that we need to win. Juan Hillary Clinton spent the evening in ohio which also holds , a primary next tuesday. She addressed supporters before the results from michigan came in. I want to talk about what working families are up against across the country. I want to talk about how we have a new jargon so you can get ahead and stay ahead. City, smallustrial town, farm country, Indian Country every community that has been hollowed out by lost jobs and lost hope. Dont let anybody tell you we cant make it in america anymore. We can, we are, and we will. [applause] that, weder to do cant be talking about building. Alls or turning the clock back we have to build on what made America Great in the first pla , our energy and optimism, our openness and creativity. Amy we are now joined by three guests. West,n new york, cornel professor at Union Theological seminary. He endorsed Bernie Sanders for president last summer. He is author of numerous books, most recently, black prophetic fire. Dolores huerta is a civil rights activist and cofounder of the united farm workers of america with cesar chavez. President of the Dolores Huerta foundation for community organizing. She has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. In los angeles, were joined by Melina Abdullah an organizer , with black lives matter, which has not endorsed any president ial candidate. She is also a professor and chair of panafrican studies at california state university, los angeles. We welcome you all to democracy now dr. Cornel west, we are going to begin with you because at least for the pollsters, this is a stunning upset step i have to say, even Bernie Sanders i think was surprised. I have never seen him alone like that just standing against a wall holding a News Conference for the press, spoke for a few minutes. Did not yet know the primary results. You are with him in michigan this weekend. Its true, we had no idea we would have this kind of upset. We knew were going to fight a son integrity and principle fight based on integrity and sensible. Were trying to bring neoliberalism to a cold. Hillary clinton is a neoliberal, s a progressive. We know Bernie Sanders is the one to beat trump. Inre at a very deep moment this country. I want to salute you all because the Corporate Media has produced trump in a fundamental way every minute he is covered, every second hes covered. Bernie sanders hardly gets covered, but she has the he has the same number. I think we have some real amy last night, cnn and msnbc both ran the entire extended News Conference the donald trump held. Now Hillary Clinton actually spoke midway through trumps begin. Usually, they switch from one to another. Here they held the tape Hillary Clinton to run the entire extended News Conference of trump in florida. I think it is very sad. I am also very said that black america is not waking up in the way in which we should. We have a spiritual rot and moral cowardice in our neoliberal black css who d not wa to tell the truth about the undecided, the Hillary Clinton campaign. In the undecided as to deal with not just the clinton machine and all of its corruptions and so forth, but more importantly, the policies,the trade the incarceration regime, the deregulating of the banks and so forth. Brother bernie is hitting his head on. This difficult for hillary to act as if she is such a populous when she is been a centrist for so long. Juan one of the things about the michigan primary particular was since it was an open primary, that meant independents could vote, not just democrats. Some of the speculation is at the last moment, a lot of independents decided, well, let me go into the democratic primary and vote for bernie, which is sort of an indication electric in the United States is support is divided in thirds. Given the class issues that brother bernie and all of us are trying to push come in michigan, the class issue makes a big difference. It is generational and ideological. It is a beautiful thing to see. Juan i want to bring in Dolores Huerta, cofounder of the united farm workers of america. Your sense of what happened yesterday in these primaries and why you think it is so important for democrats and others to vote for Hillary Clinton . Well, i think one thing is that we seem to put a lot of blame on hillary for things that bill clinton did in the clinton administration, which i dont think is right. I think the other thing is, i know bernie has a i respect him for the message he brings about inequality of the can him up system, but he knows that we also have a congress to bring to fruition some of the great ideas that he is put forth. I do believe Hillary Clinton i have a lot of faith in her and i think she has the skill, the wisdom. She has the experience to make things happen. When we compare the records of the two candidates, we see that Hillary Clintons record is much stronger than Bernie Sanders is. And i do believe what arnie is saying and what he wants to happen, and i believe in many, many of the ideas he has put forth, but i think it will take time and we have to really elect a good congress. People forget the Affordable Care act, when i passed congress, italy passed with four or five votes, even though we had a 25 democratic majority at that time. I have to say in terms of the latino community, we are completely in support of Hillary Clinton because bernie has not been there for the latino community. He had a really Good Opportunity in 2007 when senator ted kennedy and Hillary Clinton, senator durbin from illinois, when they proposed a good Immigration Reform bill. We had all of the momentum behind us at that time because we had all of these marches all of the country for Immigration Reform, and bernie, unfortunately, came out against that bill. That was very sad he did that. What he is up repeatedly is that he came out against the bill gift program. The when we pass the amnesty bill in 1986, we had gift workers in that bill with protections, protections for the farm workers and the domestic workers. The bill he voted on in 2013 also have the gift Worker Program in it. I think he wasnt paying attention at that time. I think we lost a great opportunity. I believe in bernies message and i think we can make it happen. I think it is going to have to be an evolution rather than a revolution. I think all of us that are on the left and working people are going to be up to make it happen. The other thing i want to point out, when we look at hillarys victories come especially in the 30 , they are like 70 to but we see the places where she has lost to Bernie Sanders, it is in single digits. Whereas were she is winning, it is actually two to one. I do have a lot of faith in Hillary Clinton. I do believe she will make a very, very strong president because she is a very strong woman. Juan cornel west, i want to go to what she mentioned about this issue of revolution. Given the nature of washington today with these huge republican majorities in the house and senate, isnt Bernie Sanders, to some degree, selling the idea of revolution that he cannot deliver unless theres a fundamental change in the congress as well as . Dolores is my dear sister, i just think she is wrong. I think it is difficult to have faith and Hillary Clinton when she receives money from the geo, which sustain the Detention Centers for precious immigrants, incarcerated them unjustly. I dont see how one could make the case that somehow you have a candidate that has the kind of integrity that we want. There is no doubt that Bernie Sanders can win because he recognizes he is politici that nds a sial movent behi him. He is a thermostat. He shapes the climate. The clinton is a thermometer, she just registers and reflects the climate. E need someone who is shaping i believe hillary has come out for Prison Reform and i think that she could help make that happen. I think a lot of us who are out there, including your self, korn o, whom i love dearly i love you, too. We will be other organizing to make sure some of these reforms will happen. When we compare our Democratic Candidates to our republican candidates, i think we can be so grateful that we have intelligent people that are running for the presidency. Iichever one of them wins, know were going to have a good president. I also want to point out, we have the republicans putting a lot of money into Bernies Campaign to make sure they can defeat Hillary Clinton because they figure it will be easier to defeat bernie that Hillary Clinton. The pulse say bernie does better against trump than hillary does. Well, we will see. ,my professor Melina Abdullah you are one of the founding members of the black lives Matter Movement. The movement has decided not to endorse any president ial candidate. Why not . I think there are three reasons why were not endorsing any candidate. The first is that neither Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton have a strong command of the particular issues related to race benefit specificity of black oppression. Neither has been willing to really invest the time or energy to develop plans that really get black folks free. We dont have a whole lot of faith in either of the Democratic Candidates. Absolutely, we do not have any faith in donald trump were drump or whoever he is. It is the candidates. The second thing is the confines of the twoparty system. We recognize that both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are contro lled by many interest. Money interests. As much as they have pushed back that their control by money and Bernie Sanders has kind of still, we socialism, know the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are billed to entrench themselves, so no matter what the candidates attempt to do, being controlled by the twoparty system is hugely problematic and is disempowering and oppressive to black people. The third reason is when we think about what democracy is, democracy being ruled by the people, we need to really kind andedefine what that means break away from this notion that the only way of being democratic is engaging in electoral politics, and were not telling people not to vote, were simply not endorsing any president ial candidate, recognizing that where we want to put our time and energy is in the development of people to act in their own interests and on their own behalf. So we are pushing the real revolution. We know the revolution wont come at the ballot box and the revolution wont be television televised, the revolution will be on the ground with people rise up and demand something better, something more imaginative and something more visionary. ,my professor Melina Abdullah dr. Cornel west, and Dolores Huerta, were going to take a break and come back to this debate. At the end of the broadcast, we will speak with a reporter who covered the secret seattle and meeting, the georgia meeting of high tech ceos like the head of google, the head of apple, karl is thed others as well publisher of the New York Times gathering together to talk about how trump can be stopped. Stay with us. [music break] amy this little light of mine. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Our guests to debate the democratic side of this president ial race on our the legendary farmworker leader Dolores Huerta, joining us from san diego, about to get on a plane. Offessor Melina Abdullah california state representing the black liveMatter Movement,nd also professor cornel west professor of the Union Theological seminary. Author of many books. He is representing Bernie Sanders. Juan i want to turn to a comment that senator Bernie Sanders made at sundays debate in flint, michigan, when he was asked about his racial blind spots. You donture white, know what it is like to be living in the ghetto. You dont know what it is like to be poor. You dont know what it is like to be hassled when you walk down the street or you get dragged out of a car. And i believe as a nation in the year 2016, we must be firm and making it clear, we will end institutional racism and reform a broken criminal Justice System. Juan Melina Abdullah, it seems to me that what were seeing here among the Democratic Candidates is a replay of a longstanding battle in the left or Progressive Movement in america that if you address the class struggle, racial conflicts will be dealt with, which seems to be a lot of the direction of Bernie Sanders. It there is another perspective in the left that is always said, no, theres a National Racial and class struggle. They may be connected, but you have to address the specificity of racial oppression in the United States separate and apart from the class struggle. I am wondering your response to Bernie Sanders comments . Absolutely. There are intersections between race and class. Professor west writes extensively about this about these intersections. We absolutely need to address questions of class, questions of Economic System at the same time, we think about this mississippi of blackness, black folks want wind up at the bottom of every measure from income to wealth. So we need a plan. We need our candidates and we need our leaders to have specific claims that deal with the race on a whole and the specifics of blackness. So i think there was some clumsiness with what Bernie Sanders had to say. I think it is clear that he is being pushed come and i think some of the push is probably coming from someone i respected radio, dr. West, and some of the push is also coming from the folks on the ground. Only think about black lives interrupting and engaging senator sanders, i think we see some push happening all stop at the same time, we see him not being there yet. Develop a plan that really deals with the specifics of blackness. Employability,ck and moving forward black wealth. I know senator sanders has also had some questions around reparations posed where he did not have what we see to be as satisfactory answers. Amy your response . I think my sister is fair and im going to be with her in the streets and when we go to jail, because theres a social Movement Side of this thing and electoral politics on the other hand. The important the to keep in mind is there will be no black freedom unless there is economic equality, unless wall street has some regulation, unless theres a redistribution of wealth downward. So the class issue is fundamental, but it doesnt fully grasp not just raise, not just gender, not just Sexual Orientation but also empire. When i hear Henry Clinton say she loves children, and you have 550,000 palestinian shall been killed in 51 years or in 51 days and she cannot say a mumbling word. Bernie sanders said the Israeli Defense forces went too far, i stand on this and im not going to meet with the israeli prime minister. He is saying this as a jewish brother. That takes courage in the face of the powerful forces coming at him. Hillary clinton is hawkish and imperial in her orientation. That is very important. Amy Dolores Huerta, your response . I have to say that Hillary Clinton stood up to Benjamin Netanyahu when youre going to be extending the some of the housing in the west bank. I believe hillary is very strong. I dont believe she is all of those things that cornel just that. I differ with you on that, brother. The other thing about hillary, she came down into the Rio Grande Valley of texas when she got out of law school. She could of gone to some corporation. Wherent where the sort the poorest people were to register them to vote. Hillary clinton invited me when she was the first lady to the white house, myself and a group of women of color. She said, i want to know what the issues are in your community. That is why we have so much respect for her. Bernie has not been there. At the same et me fish, ok . Let finish. Think thone thinwe leavinout of this convertion is am how dide get he . When we have a system or the corporations have unlimited amounts of money to put into election campaigns am a my own son, i own son is going to run for congress. Public interest attorney. We are not wealthy. He is worked for foundation for 17 years before he had his own private practice. How do we raise the money to help get him elected when you have a limit of 5,400 that anyone can give by any one individual but the super pacs have unlimited amounts of money . When were talking about changing the system, we have to start with Public Campaign financing. In order to do that, we have to have a congress. Black lives matter, please, vote, because we have to get folks like karen bass who represents los angeles, people like her, we need to get people like her in congress. Hopefully, my son. We have to get good people in the congress. Amy Dolores Huerta, i want to go to the fundraiser in charleston, South Carolina, where a black lives matter activist and Ashley Williams held a banner up. She and gotten into the meeting. The banner quoted Hillary Clinton as a we have to bring them to heel. That was a controversial statements that clinton made a 1996 about some youth whom she called super predators. Once confronted clinton saying, i am not a super predator. Im not a super predator, Hillary Clinton. Can i talk and then maybe can listen to what i say . Thank you very much. There are a lot of issues in this campaign i know you called black youth [indiscernible] please explain. You oh black people in apology. That is inappropriate [indiscernible] what . Nobody is ever asked me before. Im happy to address it, but youre the first person to ask me. Back to the issues. Amy that was in the clinton leaves,o ashley youre the first one to confront me about this. This was right before the South Carolina primary. Ashley was escorted away. Williams said a friend contributed 500 or she could attend the event. Hillary clinton maties,s while speaking at king college in New Hampshire in 1996. Theyre often the kinds of kids called super predators, no conscience, no empathy, we can talk about why they ended up that way but first we have to bring them to heel. Amy that was Hillary Clinton in 1996. Dolores huerta, your response . I can say this, when we see how african are voting for Hillary Clinton in overwhelming numbers, we saw that in mississippi, we saw it in South Carolina, so obviously, there are people in the Africanamerican Community that respect Hillary Clinton, like myself, have a lot of faith in what she will be a will to accomplish. I think she is a doer. I believe she has compassion. She showed she of the first conference for children of color in the United States of america, worried about their health when she passed the program that got over 8 million children covered under a health program. This is before obamacare. Hillary is a person that does care about people and about children. I can say with my own life, i came up very middle class but i went down to delano, went to jail, and sometimes you have to get into people shoes to understand what they are doing. Five of my grandchildren are mexican afroamerican children. I know what my grandchildren have also had the same harassed byof being police, etc. I know what we are living through. It has to change but it will take us sister we have to look at the record of a compass meant. Bernie has been in congress for 26 years. During that period of time, i know he passed something on veterans, but compared with Hillary Clinton, bernie has sister, dolores, you know that that kind of language isinst precious black youth not just vicious, it justifies the expansion of an ugly prison system, those families that were broken, though spoke that were incarcerated, their lives often destroyed, so it is not just a matter of speech and having a conference, were talking about a language time to policy. Say mr. With welfare in 1996, we were there together. They pulled the rug out from under poor people. The clinton give speeches for that, too. That a black woman when clinton assigning the bill, doing what, falling into the demonizing and vilification of black women. You say, black people are voting the often vote against their interest following a missed leadership class, the wonderful in which of glenn ford and the others. We have to be honest at the level of morality and spirituality since we are both religious, too. That is why i cant hillary having the kind of integrity and conviction Bernie Sanders, one of the reasons he is troubling congress is because congress is a site of legalized bribery and normalized corruption. In dont have integrity congress, that is what you have 8 of americans who approve of congress. They dont have the truth telling, dont have the justice witnessing that one would want. Bernie sanders does. He cuts against that grain, and now that we have one in michigan, were going to turn this corner and bring the neoliberal era to a close, my sister. Were going to fight the neofascism of trump and going to invite you to get on the Bernie Sanders love train. Juan before we get on the love train, i have to say of ernie gets nominated, we have yet to see the real attacks we are ready. We are ready. Juan at this point, the attacks are concentrated mostly on trump. I would like to bring Melina Abdullah into this conversation. In terms of the appeal that Dolores Huerta has made to black lives matter to get involved when it comes to voting, even not just at the president ial level, but the congressional and senate races that are up and coming that will really determine what any president will be able to do, your response to Dolores Huerta . I think we have a great deal of respect for Dolores Huerta as well as dr. West. It is really important we understand what black lives matter is saying. We are saying that no candidate deserves our endorsement. That does not mean we are telling people to stay home. It is really kind of a personal decision. Some people will go to the polls and vote for something else. Maybe they wont vote for the president. Maybe they wont vote for democrat or republican for president. The most important thing for us is not to over invest in the electoral system. I think the dismissal at the end of that engagement that Hillary Clinton has for Ashley Williams when she said, go run for something, i think is indicative of an overinvestment in electoral system that simply does not work for us. Real change my transformative change, the kind of fun a middle change that will undo the prison industrial complex, will undo and educational system that keeps us is educated and under educated, that will undo a system of policing that brutalizes and occupies black and brown neighborhoods will come from people engaging on a street level. Yes, we have to push elected officials, we have to absolutely engage the system that is, we have to disrupt a system that is, and with a fiercely loved our own communities and understand our own power, understand the kind of change that freed us from slavery, that brought about civil rights, that brought black power, that brought ethnic studies, which is now under attack, came from people organizing themselves. The kind of change that Dolores Huerta was involved with with the farmworkers movement, right, was about getting farmworkers to understand their own power. Were not telling people to stay home, much more so, were telling people to do more than vote, to get out into the toeets, to join us to do organize can organize can organize, and remember that you cannot just go to the polls. We have to beat out in the streets. Amy interestingly, most people are staying home. I hate to rain on anyones parade, but even with all of the attention, looking at pew research on who is coming out to vote, to the first 12 primaries of 2016, combined republican 17. 3 ofas been eligible voters, and that is the highest number since of any year since 1980. Only 17. 3 of the eligible voters. Democratic turnout so far is 11. 7 . That means close to 90 are not participating. The highest since 1992 with the notable exception of the extraordinary high turnout in 2008. In michigan, democratic vote was up and certainly, republican vote was up. That shows you how low it has been. Most countries, the vast majority people vote in the industrialized world. In the United States, if we have half the people voting and these tempers are 70 of republicans, 11 of democrats. It is a sign of the democracy that is anemic. A sign that peopleust knowhe syst is writn, signethat thnow big money shapethe deiny of t socie. Unrtunatel the dominant response is one of staying away raer than ying to participate anreshape. We c understd and a certain thathe athy, but apathy is no way justified. We have to participate, not just in the ballot box, we have to hit the streets. We have to have organizing and mobilizing and be willing to go to jail. And some of us have tbe willing to die. Juan i want to go back to sunday evenings president ial debate in flint, michigan. Were going to stop this kind of job exporting and were going to start importing and growing jobs again in our country. Senator sanders i am very glad, anderson, that secretary clinton has discovered religion on this issue. But it is a little too late. Secretary clinton supported virtually every one of these disastrous trade agreemts writn by corrate arica. Juanthat wasn exchan over ade poli. Dolorehuerta, what out this issue ofafta andany of t othetrade bis, free ade bills that not only secretary clinton, but obviously her husband bill clinton, was very much instrumental with . I think, again, theyre putting a lot of bills the things he did on hillary. She did oppose the other trade agreement that came after nafta. I dont think she was in congress when nafta was passed originally. That was bill clinton that did out will stop she came against the tpp. I want to say one more thing about the vote in because i think it is so crucial. In the farmworkers movement, the only way we were able to change things was by people voting and we were able to pass laws like the right to organize, the amnesty bill and 1986 because we were able to elect people to congress that supported us. We have to take a power. My organization, Dolores Huerta organization, these are ordinary people, have got themselves elected to office. Kamala harris is running in california for this amy we just lost Dolores Huerta. The problem is Hillary Clinton on 30 occasions has said positive things about the tpp. She said it was a Gold Standard for trade. When she started to run, she flipflopped. That is what happens wheyou have a wall street demrat that has strong flipflopped prlivities juan her claim was that she does in the final version of it, was only then she decided to oppose it of using the final version. I was born at night, but not last night. Amy Melina Abdullah, where do you plan to go with the black lives Matter Movement . To,whole movement, not just clearly, it has massively shaped this campaign. I mean, when you look at the interruptions of, well, back with Martin Omalley and with Bernie Sanders and now with Hillary Clinton, and the pressure on Bernie Sanders and the pressure that he puts on Hillary Clinton . Did you ever dreamed you would have this level of success . I mean, i think what we did ed black livesth matter 2. 5 years ago, transformative change comes with we adopt a central model. Weve been successful in lifting up the issue. The reason we have been successful in eliminating, i think what Dolores Huerta was saying about some black elected officials and the black middle class, especially kind of supporting Hillary Clinton, kind of the entrenched like leadership, supporting the clinton, i think even for some of them, many of them did not know about the super predator comments come about where she stood on the prison industrial comments, where she stood about questions with young black people. I think the real reasons those have been lifted it up is because we have many, many voices. So what we started 2. 5 years ago and kind of engaging in black lives matter has turned into a Mass Movement that includes tens of thousands of leaders. And so we have Ashley Williams, folks who many other are engaging in ways that are disrupting the existing system and forcing the system to actually hear us and engage us or suffer continuous disruptions. So i think as a student of history, as a student up political history, we are remembering that that is really our power. Our power comes with not simply investing in the systems and the mechanisms that they tell us we must invest in, but saying, no, there are ways in which we have to disrupt because this system was not created for us. Amy what is your take on black lives matter activists running for office, like the man in baltimore running for mayor . I think is important we understand the distention between the black lives Matter Network and the movement for black lives. He has absolutely been vocal on issues of Police Brutality and engaged i think he launched campaign zero, that he is a different organizer than the organizers through the black lives Matter Network. So we are again saying were not telling anyone not to engage in electoral politics in fact, some of the World Politics and some elected officials have been friends of the black lives Matter Network, specially, so if you think about like the mayor in new york come in new jersey, have it newark, new jersey can i make urgent vision to say, lets redefine the Public Safety means an inviting black lives matter and other visionary maybe we dont invest so heavily in policing, lets invest in something so actually work like prevention and intervention. Education, like afterschool programs. I think those are the kinds of engagements with electoral politics that we are most willing to have. Amy we have to leave it there. I want to thank you, professor us,na abdullah, for joining organizer with black lives matter, which has not endorsed any president ial candidate. Professor and chair of panafrican studies at california state university, los angeles. And Dolores Huerta, legendary civil rights activist, farmworker organizer. Cornell brooks, we would like you to stay with us in the last segment. Cornel west is a professor at Union Theological seminary. He endorsed Bernie Sanders for president last summer. Dolores huerta endorsed Hillary Rodham clinton. When we come back, what happened at sea island . What was this summit that took place . Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. The republican race, donald trump won three more states on tuesday, michigan, mississippi, in hawaii. Texas senator ted cruz one idaho. In the michigan race, trump won 37 of the vote, ted cruz placed second with 25 , all has john kasich placed third with 24 . Florida senator marco rubio placed no better than third in any race yesterday and ended the day without gaining a single delegate. Donald trump spoke last night at the Trump National 00 in jupiter, florida. Many people have called it a movement and part of that movement is what i said before, the people want to be involved. So when chris called and when sarah palin called and when jerry falwell, junior called, with joe arpaio called the money, you know when to arpaio of arizona calls, that trump is tough on the border. Amy that was donald trump in jupiter. His three victories on tuesday, as the mainstream republican establishment is increasingly organizing to try to thwart him from winning the party nomination. You have a devos has revealed leading establishment republican political figures met with top gop donors at a secretive meeting this past weekend at the American Enterprise institutes annual world forum on a private island resort off the coast of georgia. Attendees included apple ceo tim cook, google cofounder eric page, facebook investor sean parker, as well as Senate Majority leader mitch mcconnell, political operative call wrote, and paul ryan. The main topic was how to stop trump. For more, were joined by the man who reported it, nick baumann. Hilatest pce is helined, atecretiveeeting, ch ceos and top publican commisate pl to storump. This ces as leing esblishment republican political figure. re going to turn right now to nick baunn. Talk about the signifince of at happed yesteay, donald trump 13 of the four primaries and caucuses that ted cruz one 1, and what happened at sea island. So donald trump continues to rack up delegates and that is sort of at the heart of the race for the republican nomination. Marco rubio, who is a favorite of the establishment at this point, out of the remaining candidates, may not win any delegates from last nights contest, and i think the establishment is having this sort of confused moment where there partially trying to come to terms with trump being the nominee and also trying to figure out if there is a way that they can get out of making trump the nominee. , this is an annual conference of the American Enterprise institute of conservative think tank, holds, has been at sea island for the past two years, but has been going on for decades. It was aptly started by former president gerald ford or conceived by him. This year, like in past years, it attracts the very elite members of the republican establishment them also big economic names from the Democratic Political establishment, Larry Summers was there, and amy was of the publisher of the New York Times there . Yes. Juan and Lawrence Lessing from Harvard University . Yes, he was involved in a presentation. Conferencesof those where theyre a bunch of different topics discussed, but our reporting suggests the main focus of the weekend and what was on the tip of everyones tongue was, what is going on with trump and how to we stopped him . Im not sure they can up with a good way to do that, but it is really something that people are really discussing and worried about. Amy you followed the airplanes they came in and out, the private planes. Talk about how you pieced together who was there and the significance. So part of our reporting was talking to people who were there are people who talked to people who were there, both of those things, and part of it was looking at federal Aviation Administration records. Sea island is pretty and accessible. It is about 80 miles from jacksonville and 80 miles from savannah, georgia. It is not near any major airports or major cities. There are two small airports. Planesre were 54 private that took off from a small airport near the island on sunday alone. That is about four times as many as took off the previous weekend. You really have some very wealthy and influential people. Amy karl rove . So karl rove was there and he session gave a closing at the conference. We now have the agenda available on our website. He gave a closing session that agendaused on the doesnt actually reveal the details of it, but it does reveal the title, which is about william mckinley. Mckinley defeated a populist president ial challenger, so we thought that was pretty interesting. Juan i would like to ask cornel west, your reaction to this secretive meeting just this past weekend of key members of the american ruling class, about what to do about this election . I think it is embarrassing when you have any of fascist as a public face of your major party, the Republican Party. A party that has been captive to big banks and the corporations. It has been a party that has condoned and permitted xenophobia against precious mexicans, gays, look black people. Trump is a culmination. He just happens to have this narcissistic personality out of control, and the media loves it, Corporate Media, because they make money on it. At the response cannot be milquetoast neoliberal Hillary Clinton. She does not have what it takes to deal with the enthusiasm of a donald trump. You have to have the enthusiasm of a genuine populist. Keep in mind, im a democratic socialist. My brother bernie is a genuine populist. He is not calling for the nationalizing of industry or the curtailing of private property. Amy d. C. The democratic establishment dealing in any way with sanders in a similar way . Theyre running scared now as we go to michigan. That is why i have a smile on my face. Amy where you heading off to . Chicago. Were going to follow him to the white house and then we are when you say, we have a president tied does she is corporate interest coming at him and he is going to hit back. Most importantly, hes going to call in to question some of the american imperial policies. Amy we will leave it there. I want to thank nick baumann from the huffington post. We will link to your piece at , secretive meeting, tech ceos and Top Republicans commiserate, plot to stop trump. Professor, cornel west. That does it for our broadcast. Athave three job openings democracy now , check our website democracynow. Org. 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. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] ccc