Nbc have declared Hillary Clinton to be the Presumptive Democratic president ial nominee just hours before the polls open in california and six other five other states. The news organizations say clinton now has enough backing from unelected superdelegates to secure the nomination. Bernie sanders is challenging the medias claims. Tomorrow in is that california, we have the most important primary. The people of california have the right to determine who is going to be president of the United States, not necessarily having to listen to ap or nbc. Amy the ap and nbc News Announcement about clintons nomination was made despite calls by the Democratic National committee not to report superdelegates tallies until the convention. We will host a debate between the head of californias state senate Kevin De Leon, who is backing Hillary Clinton and los , angeles city councilor gil cedillo, who has endorsed Bernie Sanders. And we will speak to radio host rose aguilar on the big election story in california the medidia has missed. All that andnd more coming up. Welcome to democracycy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The Associated Press and nbc news have announced Hillary Clinton has clinched the democratic president ial nomination, defeating Bernie Sanders. It came ahead of todays key primaries in california and five other states. Both news organizations reached named clinton the victor based on unofficial polls of unelected super delegates. Superdelegates can change the mind at any point. If the projections stand, clinton would become the first woman to ever be the president ial candidate of a Major Political party in u. S. History. Speaking in los angeles monday, clinton attacked donald trump. Immigrantser it is he has insulted, muslims, people with disabilities, p. O. W. s, women, federal judges, the list heats growing longer. And it is wrong of someone running for president of the United States to engage in that kind of hateful rhetoric and demagoguery. Bernie sanders accuse the ap and nbc have defined the dncs rules by lumping together pledged delegates with unelected superdrdelegates who can change their vote at any point. Tomorrow in california, we have the most important primary. The people of california have the right to determine who is goining to be president of the United States, not necessarily having to listen to ap or nbc. And i hope they will come out in large numbers and make it clear that they wantnt real change in this country, that there are tired of establishment politics and economics and want a government that represents all of us and not just the 1 . Amy we wilill have a debatete n the democratic race in california after the headlines. Leading republicans have continued to criticize Presumptive Republican president ial nominee donald trump for attacking a Mexican American judge. Trump has claimed the judge should recuse himself from a lawsuit against the defunct,t, forprofit Trump University, because his mexican heritage represents a conflict of interest since trump wants to build a wall on the mexican border. On monday, florida senator and former republican president ial candidate marco rubio criticized trumps commenents in an intervw with florida ns s station n wft. I think it is wrong. He needs to stop saying it. That man is an american. Born in the United States. Even if he had not been, he is a judge who has earned that position in the mansion be treated with the s same level of respecect as a any other officef the court. I dodont think itit reflects wl on the Republican Party or reflects well on us as a nation. There should n not be any ethnhnicity, releligious, or ral if you take that argugument a and you expanded, u can make that argument, i mean, that anybody in some circumstance or another. It is wrong and i hope he stops. Amy despite the criticism from within his own party, trump has ordered his surrogates to double down on criticism of judge gonzalo curiel. On monday, trump held a Conference Call with leading supporters, including Arizona Governor jan brewer. According to an account of the call published by bloomberg, trump urged his supporters to question the judges credibility and d impugn reporters as racis. When brewer noted trumps own campaign had sent an email asking surrogates to s stop talking with a lawsuit trump , overruled his staff saying, take that order and throw it the hell out. Buzzfeed has nixed a 1. 3 million advertising agreement with the Republican National committee. In an email to buzzfeed staff, Ceo Jonah Peretti wrote the Trump Campaign is directly opposed to the freedoms of our employees in the United States and around the world and in some cases, such as his proposed ban on International Travel for muslims, would make it impossible for our employees to do their jobs. Writing about the announcement for the guardian, Megan Carpentier notes the deal would haveve been for nativeve advertising, or sponsored content, often made to look like journalistic posts or videos. She notes while Media Companies accepting money from political campaigns is a fairly standard practice, accepting money to run pieces of sponsored content that many readers will mistake for journalism in support of those candidacies is not and thats the deal that buzzfeed nixed on monday. In brazil, the chief prosecutor has asked the Supreme Court to authorize the arrest of the president s of the senate and the ruling party and former president for allegedly trying to obstruct police investigations. The officials are among the most powerful in brazil. If they are arrested, it could rock the newly installed administration of the interim president temer who took over after lawmakers voted to suspend Dilma Rousseff in what many consider a coup by her rightwing opponents. Leaked transcripts show at least one official plotted to oust rousseff in order to end a corruption investigation that was targeting him. U. N. Secretarygeneral ban kimoon has removed the u. S. Backed, Saudiled Coalition fighting Houthi Rebels in yemen from a blacklist of forces responsible for killing children. The removal came after intense pressure from saudi arabia. An annual u. N. Report found nearly 2000 children were killed or injured in yemen last year, a sixfold increase over the previous year. 60 of those casualties were blamed on the u. S. Backed, Saudiled Coalition. In istanbul, turkey, a car bombing has killed at least 11 people and wounded dozens more. The bombing targeted a Police Shuttle bus near a central tourist area of the city during rush hour. Seven of those killed were police. No group has claimed responsibility so far. A Watchdog Group has recommended the blue semiprecious stone lapis lazuli be classified as a conflict mineral because of its role in fueling armed groups in afghanistan. Global witness says the taliban and other groups earn up to 20 million a year from illegal lapis mining. Researcher Stephen Carter said the mines have destabilized badakhstan province in northern afghanistan. At the moment, you have there is Competition Among armed groups. What that does, it creates the ideal conditions for an insurgency to flourish. Everyone has got an interest. Everyone has got an interest in the government being essentially a hollow shell. Amy the u. S. Department of energy is conducting an eightcity National Tour aimed at gathering Public Feedback on the issue of wherere to store nuclear waste. The agency has lnched a socalled consenttbased siting model to determine where to storore spent nunuclear fuel and highlevel radioactitive waste. At a hearing in bostston thursd, papaul gunter r of beyond nucler raraised objections abouout the process. How does the public and the afaffected Community Build trust when the d department t of enery ititself is a a promotional agey doing the bidding of the nuclear indusstry by d direct promotion . And thahat the wholle process gg forwaard to date has lacked consnsent. There has never beenonsent with regegard to generation of nuclear waste. Amy here in new york city, a muslim man has been attacked and severely beaten by three men outside a mosque in queens. Mohamed rasheed khan suffered broken ribs and facial bones, internal bleeding and a , concussion. Advocates have called for authorities to investigate the beating as a possible hate crime. In another case being described as a possible hate crime, an africanamerican boy has died after running from a group of mostly white teenagers who were reportedly shouting racial slurs. The New York Daily News reports a dispute between two groups of teenagers escalated when the mostly white group chased after 16yearold Dayshen Mckenzie and his friends with a gun, shouting the nword. Mckenzie collapsed and died of an asthma attack. In california, a stanford law professor has launched a recall campaign against a judge who sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. Judge aaron persky said he was concerned a prison sentence wowould have a sesevere impactn brock allen turner, who was convicted of three felony counts of Sexual Assault after being caught by two witnesses while on top of the woman. Turners victim wrote a powerful letter to her attacker which has been viewed more than five million times. Turners father fueled the outrage by complaining his sons life had been ruined for what he called 20 minutes of action. The survivor, who has not been named publicly, told the guardian monday she was overwhelmed and speechless at the support she had received. Meanwhile, Stanford University has finally released turners original booking photo from the night of his arrest last year. Up until now most Media Outlets , had been using a smiling yearbook photo of turner, rather than the mugshots that typically accompany stories of Sexual Assault and other crimes. In california, black lives matter activist Jasmine Richards faces up to four years in prison at her sentencing today after she was convicted of a rarely used statute in California Law known up until recently as felony lynching. Police accused her of trying to dearrest someone during a peace march in pasadena last august. The arrest and jailing of a young black woman activist on charges of felony lynching has sparked a firestorm of protest, with supporters vowing to pack the court today. To see our interview with her attorney, nana gyamfi, and black lives matter organizer Melina Abdullah you can go to democracynow. Org. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. O. Org, the war andd peace report. Im amy goodman. On the eve o of the california primary and six other contests, five other contests the , Associated Press and nbc news shook up the race for the white house last night by announcing Hillary Clinton had clinched the democratic nomination defeating challenger Bernie Sanders. Both news organizations reached that conclusion based on unofficial polls of unelected superdelegates. For months, the Democratic National committee has urged the media not to report super delegate tallies until next months convention in philadelphia. If the projections stand, Hillary Clinton would become the first woman to ever be the president ial candidate of a Major Political party in u. S. History. She spoke at a rally last night in long beach california. , according to the news, we are on the brink of a historic historic, unprecedented moment but we still have work to do, dont we . Six elections tomorrow, and we are going to fight hard for every single vote, especially right here in california. Amy the Sanders Campaign dismissed the news saying that , superdelegates should not be counted until they actually vote at the p philadelphia conventio. Unlike pledged delegates, superdelegates can switch their support at any time. Bernie sanders spoke last night to reporters after the ap and nbc called the racace. According to the Democratic National committee, what they should not be doing is lumping pledged delegates, i. E. , real delegates, with superdelegates who may or may not change their mind but who do not vote until july 25. Everybody who knows how the superdelegates are going to vote in july, great for them, but i dont know. In california, we have the most import and primary. The people of california have the right to determine who is going to be president of the uniteded states, not necessarily having to listen to ap or nbc. And i hope they will come out in large numbers and make it clear that they want real change in this country, that they are tired of establishment politics and establishment economics and they want a government that represents all of us and not just the 1 . Amy Bernie Sanders has largely staked his campaign on a victory today in california, the largest state in the union. In recent weeks he has held dozens of Campaign Events including a large free cononcert last night in San Francisco. And its not just voters in california heading to the polls today. Primaries and caucuses are being held in iowa, montana, new jersey, new mexico and the dakotas. The Sanders Campaign has been hoping victories in california and other states could help convince superdelegates that he would be the superior candidate to challenge donald trump. It is going to be difficult. I am not here to deny that for a second. Dks were going to make to the superdelegates is everybody at the Democratic National convention is going to want to defeat donald trump. He is a disaster must not become president of the United States. You know what . According to every National Poll i have seen and according to virtually every state poll i have seen, Bernie Sanders is a much stronger candidate against donald trump than Hillary Clinton. Amy according to the new york times, president obama is planning to officially endorse Hillary Clinton as early as this week and then begin publicly campaigning for her. To talk more about these developments and todays primary in california, we go now to los angeles where we are joined by two guguests. Kevin de leon is president protem m of the California Senate. He spoke last night at Hillary Clintons rally at long beach city college. Also with us is Los Angeles City councilmember and former california state legislator gil cedillo who has been campaigning with Bernie Sanders. We welcome you both to democracy now . Lets start with Kevin De Leon. Your response to the news that ap and nbc has called Hillary Clinton asas the winner of the presumptive d democratic nomine. It is great news. The reality is, it is much too early to call. We have major races are of the country and still six major primaries and youd major two major rich delegates which is new jersey and here back home in california. We believe tonight secretary luke clinton will secure the nomination. She has the vast majority of the pledged votes. She has a vast majority of the raw popular votes about the country. She has 121 out of 23 rich vote , in states that the country high populations. We feel very confident that tonight issue will wrap it up. Amy gil cedillo, your response to this news announced on the eve of these major primaries, six in all, california the largest state, that in fact it is another clinton who is the Presumptive Democratic nominee . It is highly inappropriate for this news agency to try to announce and determine the outcome of elections that have yet to happen. It is just whollty inappropriate. It is a form of Voter Suppression. As a senator indicated, we have six important races to take place. Every vote counts and every vote should count and it is just wholly inappropriate for this agency to try to determine the outcome of an election. It is Voter Suppression in the most rank and raw form. What is next, undersea test or a poll tax . This is not something that a legitimate news agency should be involvlved with. Amy explain what you mean by Voter Suppression. Well, if you tell someone the election is over, then people dont think they should go and vote. It is demoralizing. It is a misrepresentation. Capacity potential to have an impact of the outcome. As a senator indicated, we have important elections today from two of the most important states. Californians are geared up and getting ready to vote this morning. We want them to know and feel their vote counts. This goes beyond politics. This is about protecting the right to vote. There are young men and women throughout the world who are prepared to put their lives on the line to defend that right to vote, and it is inappropriate for a news agency to try to suppress that vote whether it is in california, new jersey, or any of the other states that have elections today. Amy Kevin De Leon, do you believe this will lead to Voter Suppression . And i areil cedillo very good friends. He is my city councilmember and i am his state senator. We are both progressives who have been in the trenches for many decades. Doing Everything Possible to improve the human condition, especially for the most marginalized and vulnerable. Voter suppression is a very strong word. Much too strong. I think the Media Outlets have made a projection based on Quantitative Research of the pledged delegates, and the pledged delegates have indicated very clearly they are going to be with Hillary Clinton. The projection is clear because what is black and white is the math. This simple math. One plus one is two, not three. All you have to do is the math and we felt confident that tonight Hillary Clinton will be the democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States. But what is most important is we unite quickly against the most dangerous man in modern political history, which is donald trump. This is an individual who has been clear with regards to his own views against immigrants, people of color, women, as well as muslims. Number one, we need to unite earlier rather than later. It is clear mathematically that the numbersrs are there. Hillary clinton will be the democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States. Amy gil cedillo, its the math. Your response . The senator knows because he is one of our premier leaders in the state of california, but he shouldve been the us olympic or. To speak of our state assembly in the lower house. He once had the votes. They were protected. He was said to be the speaker of the state assembly and one of his votes slipped and took a few other votes with him. History tells us that those projected votes did not come in. They did not happen when election day came. Their projections did not bear out and he never became this bigger the lower house will stop forcefully for us, he went on to the senate and became the president protem. But he knows until the election day and until votes are cast, you cannot count them until they are cast. One vote, one person, one day of elections. Amy, today i am the president of the california state senate, the first latino in 133 years. Math is math. It is about persuasion. If you are not able to persuade any of the superdelegates, and to date, ive not seen any one individual, superdelegates, be persuaded yet to leave the Hillary Clinton and go and support Bernie Sanders. Persuasion is critical. I have yet to see anyone persuade any other superdelegates. Let me be clear, math is math. One plus one is two, not three. We feel confident that Hillary Clinton will be the democratic nominee tonight. That being said, let me be clear and spent a lot of time with Hillary Clinton in california up and down the state will stop amy you were with her last night s is fighting for every single vote, especially the africanamerican and latino communities. I spent time with her in many areas. She is fighting for every single vote because she is not when it take anything for granted whatsoever. She spent a considerable amount of time in california. Again, cooler heads prevail. Tonight is a major election throughout the country, but especially in new jersey and here at home in california. We do believe strongly she will be the nominee of the democratic presidency. Amy i want to turn to Debbie Wasserman schultz appearing on msnbc in february talking about superdelegates. Im glad youre asking me because the way the media has been reporting this is incorrect. There are not pledged delegates, i. E. Superdelegates earned come at any of these chimeric or caucus contest, rachel. Those unpledged delegates are elected officials, party leaders, people who have spent years and years the Democratic Party, members of congress, our dnc members, are superdelegates. They have the ability to decide who they choose to support at the convention at any point. So they are not actually whatever theyre saying now, most of them presumably would remain committeded to who they have committed to now, but they hahave not all committed to a cacandidate. They are free to decide all away up until july. Amy that is dnc chair Debbie Wasserman schultz, surly, and a favorite of Bernie Sanders. In fact, he has endorsed her opponent in her congressional race in florida. A final word on this, gil cedillo, then we will talk about larger issues in california. She is absolutely right. The election day for the superdelegates is at the convention. They wont be counted until then. We would like to have an unencumbered, unbiased election today here in california, new jersey, and the other four states. Twos very important things, we are united in the fall to beat donald trump. That we have our best candidate forward. That person who is most prepared, most able, most capable of defeating donald trump. We cant determine that until we have an election. An unbiased election california and the e other five states. Amy when we come back from break, wee will talk about the issues in california. Gil cedillo, Los Angeles City councilmember, and Kevin De Leon , president protem of the california state senate. We will be back with them in a minute. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. To talk more about the Clinton Sanders race mckillip 20 primary, we go back to los angeles where we are joined by protem leon, president of the california state senate. He spoke last night at Hillary Clintons rally at long beach city college. Also with us loLos Angeles City , coununcilmember and former california state legislator gil cedillo who has been campaigning with Bernie Sanders. I want to go to a comment of donald trump. This is a comment o of donald trump last month telling california voters that there is no drought. You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous. Were there taking the water and shoving it out to see sea. Met with a lot of the farmers who are great people and theyre saying, we dont even understand it. Nobody understands it. I of heard this from other friends of mine in california where they have farms up here and they dont get water. I said, that is too bad, is it a drought . They said, we have plenty of water. We shut it out to sea. I said, why . Nobody knows why. Theyre trying to protect a certain kind of threeinchch fi. Amy that was donald trurump. Kevin de leon, can n you respon . To me, i think it is clear that donald trump lives in a fantasy land. He is both dangerous as well as mentally unstable. I think there is a growing chorus throughout the country, throughout the world, even within the republican ranks, that this is an individual who is illprepared to lead the most powerful nation in the world. The reality is this. Donald trump does not even believe in Climate Change and what is happening in california is we are in the fifth record year of a historic drought, which means there has been less water in the Central Valley, which is a b breadbasket for the entire nation. We export 50 of our fruits and vegetables and nuts s to the ret of the n nation. Those most severely impacted by this fifth year of historic trout have been immigrants and migrant workers, latinos specifically, who are unemployed because of the drought, because of the lack of water. This is impacted by Climate Change. And the harmful emissions of carbon co2 and other pollutants into the atmosphere. This is an individual who doesnt believe in science, doesnt believe what every Nobel Prize Winner has said that Climate Change is real. It is here to stay unless we, policymakers, democrats as well as republicans, start moving forward with policies that will reduce greatly our carbon emissions. This is a very dangerous individual because he does not believe in Climate Change. This is what is impacting california. California has the seventhlargest economy on planet earth. We import to the rest of the nation. Tomatoes, lettuce, nuts. This is silly for him to say what he has said in Central Valley to the farmers that it is just about a political decision here or there to turn on the spigots and let the water flow. Let me undererscore and emphasi, this man is very dangerous. He is unfit and that is why we have to unite the Democratic Party, move forward to do everything within our power to defeat him. Amy who would most effectively do that . I want to ask gil cedillo why youre supporting Bernie Sanders. Well, you know, seldom have we have the opportunity to have such a progressive candidate with his viability i believe, on the verge of winning this election. His understanding of the economy and how it works and how it doesnt work for working men and women is critical. His perspectives and policy proposals on immigration are really important to the latino committee, but to the entire nation. His positions on quality education for the nation is critical to our position in the global economy. And his position on health care is just so very important for us to join the rest of the industrialized nations of the world as a nation that provides health care as a right f f every resident of our country. His positions are just compelling for the american people, for the american working class, for immigrants, and for communities of color. That is why i am so it is he a stick and happy to support the great senator fromom vermont. Amy what decided it for you, councilmember cedillo, when you are making your decision on who to endorse . What was the issue you felt Bernie Sanders best represented you on . Question ofhe viability. Seldom have we seen a progressive candidate, one who is so openly progressive about his positions, uses rhetoric from another era immediate senses and respect, but has policy positions that both the senator and i embrace. And he of the viability. Those early turnouts, his early victories indicated he was a real viable candidate. His positions ive been an advocate on drivers licenses and ththe senator as well. It is unfortunate the previous elections, the secretary did not support drivers licenses on amy drivers licenses for . He worked for the government of vermont to make that around for immigrant motorists in vermont. We made it a reality here in california and it has been very important to to turn many of the deportations and the stopping of immigrants on our streets and highways. It is one area that was very important to both of us. What i think just in general, the fact that someone could be as progressive, as comprehensive in this Global Outlook and have viability i think is very important at least for me. Amy Kevin De Leon, as you talk about unifying the party, how do you respond to National Polls that suggest it is actual Bernie Sanders who might be more effective, might actually have more of a chance against the feeding donald trump . I think it is all relative because if polls show you can win by 20 points but another individual can win by 20 points, it becomes relative comity points you want to win by. The bottom line is this. I have also seen polls that show Hillary Clinton is the strongest candidate against donald trump but let me underscore and emphasize, if you want to win by 10 or 15 points were 17 or 18 points, it is all relative because a victory is a victory. Is the clinton i believe strongest candidate to take on a very dangerous man. To theillo and i are progressive democrats who have moved the ball in california with regard to drivers license, health care friend document at children, the dream act, instate tuition for undocumented students who have done incredibly well in california. Three clinton has been highly supportive of these policy issues and in fact last week on saturday, she was very clear, very open to the rest of the nation that she supports comprehensive Immigration Reform with a pathway to citizenship, supports dapa and a daca. Within the first 100 days of her presidency, she will move forward a conference of Immigration Reform that leads a pathway to citizenship comprehensive Immigration Reform that leads to a pathway to citizenship. I have a lot of respect for bernie. I have a lot of admiration for Bernie Sanders. I think he is an incredible with regards to this president ial campaign. At the time is now because the clock is ticking for us to unite as a party to move forward. This is a big tent party. Yet progressives, those who are pragmatic, individuals who are little more moderate and conservative within the Democratic Party. That is the mosaic diversity of who we are as a political party. At the time is now to move forward to unite and i do believe Bernie Sanders will do the right thing. I have a lot of respect and admiration for him. I have a lot of friends who are Staff Members on his side gil cedillo is a very good friend of mine. He is a strong supporter of Bernie Sanders since day one. I have been a strong supportrter since 2008 of Hillary Clinton. I am a progressive individual who has gotten a lot of work done in california that we believe is the model for the entire nation. Not theoretical, abstract concepts. Amy Kevin De Leon, let me ask and limiting intoto real lif. Amy last night your with Hillary Clinton when you are with the announcement was made by ap and nbc news. What was her response since you are speaking to her . Some news concerned reports were saying the clinton camp did not want this as much as the sanders cap . They did not want this announcement . Well, you know, she is working very hard. I was with her last night in long beach at the l. A. Long beach city college. She told me she was going to work very harard to make sure se gets every single vote in california, in new jersey, and other states as well. So she is not counting her chickens before they hatch. Ap, as well as nbc, will do their own projections. You cannot control the Media Outlets. Everyone is out to get their stories out first. She is taking nothing for granted until she finally crosses the finish line tonight. Theres a strong confidence she wiwill be thee Presumptive Democratic nominee. It sounds like a broken record, but it is s what it isis. It is sisimple math and time for us to unite as a Democratic Party and move forward to defeat don amy i want to turn to the latest quite donald trump. I want to turn to donald trump enforced by federal judge to release internal Trump University document admits to an ongoing lawsuit arguing the defunct forprofit schchool to fraud its students. Trump is going after the judge, doubling down on judge gonzales , most are silly at a Campaign Rally in san diego. I have a judge who is a hater of donald trump. A hater. He is a hater. His name is gonzalo curiel. The judges mexican, which is great. That is fine. You know what . I think the mexicans are going to end up loving donald trump when i give all of these jobs ok . Amy on monday, the Clinton Campaign released an ad featuring republican lawmakerers and ofofficials criticizing trtrumps s recent rememarks abt judge gonzalo o curielel. If youre saying he c cannoto his job bebecause hisis race, s that not the definition racism . Were building a wall he is a mexica how darhe question a dgees rerespsibibity, a juds during the cotitutionecause his of mecan descent. Is th not a racist statatemt . Iould notisisagree more withth atatememe like t tt. Arere youomfortable with a potetentl presint attacacng a federal judge for his heritag no. This is one of theororst mistakesrump has made. I inink iss eusable. He says when he qstions ether thjudge cabe fair because his mican ritage, at is t racist. Do you agree . Look, i dt condone e comment. I cometely d dagree e is just as amerin n as donald tmp. Mecanamericans bleed jusas y other americanhehen th go war. Theyey bd just aany othe amicican after 9 11. Th f fight for america. They are america. Whwhate is doing is disgusting. I am livid aboutt. Ifhis is the strategfor r m to w win over hispanics, hehe ia hell of a wakeup call. Amy that last voice was republican strategist and an of arrow. The Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell in there, bob corker, House Speaker paul ryan, and former House SpeakerNewt Gingrich come all of those voices in that ad. Gil cedillo, this attack on the judge come on judge curiel, a judge who was first nominated, chosen from the bench by governor schweitzer nager or report republicacan, who is faced Death Threats fromom mexin drug cartels, born in indiana, your response . It wasnt so serious, it would be hilarious. This is just ridiculous. It is absurd. He is a demagogue. , it is racistism by definition. It just shows the danger that this candidacy poses for the nation. You know, since donald trump first came forward as a candidate, we introduced legislation in a Los Angeles City council for us to divest ourselves from him, from his holdings, for the city to separate ourselves from him because of his racist comments. Maybe that is what he means when he says mexico doesnt send in their best, they send their worst. People who get educated, people who become professionals, people who become judges, maybe considers that the worst that m mexico can send th. Amy Kevin De Leon, president protem of the California Senate also of mexican heritage, your response to this attack . , to ournk trumps disgusting. Lets call it what it is. They are racist. There antiimmigrant. If he doesnt like an individual or group of individuals because they dont concur with his views, he calls them out and he doesnt call them out based on their ideology. He calls them out based on the color of their skin, based on their origin, their ethnic origin. That is racism. Theres that thing ambiguous amy he was directly asked if he would lives in san diego know, just mentioned a few moments ago, i am from the san diego region, one of the worst are cartels on the border of tijuana, the felix brothers, one of the worst mexican drug cartels, his life was under threat by the drug cartels because he was one of the prosecutors in the u. S. Attorneys office. His life was on the line, doing Anything Possible to help stop the flow of drugs in the United States. And for donald trump to just outrtright call him what he dids abhorrent. If you recall during the republican primary win jeb bush was speaking spanish, trying to connect to the latino community, he said, why are you speaking mexican, jeb bush . He did not say, what are you speaking spanish or where you speaking another limits, he said, why are you speaking mexican . He says things i purpose to you visit illicit a reaction that can further divide the United States. Let me underscore and a besides, this man is the most dangerousus maman to come outt ever for r te presidency. Many folks have underestimated him because who wouldve ever fathomed that this man would vanquish marco rubio, ted cruz, lindsey graham, and jeb bush, Chris Christie from new jersey, and other established political republican opponents . So we take this man very seriously, even of his comments are comical. Amy would you call him clownish. Amy would you call him a racist . I would. Let me be clear so it is in a big was, donald trump is a racist. He is antiamerican. Amy gil cedillo . I think the record speaks for itself. His comments speak for themselves. I think the senator said it best, he is antiamerican. He is demonstrated he is antimexican, antiwomen, antimuslim, antigay, antidisabled i mean, he is the anti candidate and we must be united to defeat him. Black livesfornia, matter activist Jasmine Richards faces up to four years in prison at her sentencing today after she was convicted of a rarely used statute in California Law known up until recently as felony lynching. Police accused her of trying to dearrest someone during a peace march. It has sparked a firestorm of protest and was supporters vowing to pack the court today. Kevivin de leon, your president protem of the California Senate step your thoughts . Listen, im not familiar with the legal details of this case but nonetheless, i think perhaps prosecutors have been a little too harsh were extremely harsh with regard to the prosecution or the years that theyre trying to give the fact that it is black lives matter. The fact is, black lives matter, whether people concur are not concur with them, they have brought to light many of the abuse issues that young africanamericans, latinos and other minorities, people of color, have endured, have faced the store click, not just in california but throughout the nation. Perhaps the prosecutors are being overly harsh. I want to underscore, i do not know the legal details of this prosecution. Im aware of the general prosecution, but it seems like it is much, much, much too harsh. Amy in Los Angeles City councilmember, gil cedillo, that she would be charged under this law originally set up so that if a mob pulled away actually, for africanamericans against lynching pulled away a person from pulleys, that they would be held accountable for felony lynching and yet it is now being used against this young black woman. I also dont know the details of the case but it does seem wholly inappropriate. Think about this, amy. You started your show talking about someone from stanford who rapes a woman and get six months , then you have got a woman who is part of a black lives Matter Movement who is trying to bring forth the challenges that face us in america around racism and racial discrimination. And she is participating, trying to exercise her First Amendment rights and s she is going toto e given four years . Something is wrong with that picture. Amy we have to leave it there. Kevin de leon, president protem of the California Senate. Gil cedillo is a Los Angeles City council member. When we come back, we will be joined by radio host rose aguilar to talk about other aspects of the california primimary that are n not gettins muchch attention. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Voters are heading to the polls in six states today but most of the nations attention is focused on california, the largest date in the union. Addition to the Hillary ClintonBernie Sanders race, voters will be deciding wholl face off in november to secede your senator barbara boxer. Extra 2010 law, california voters are expected to choose two democrats, state attorney general Kamala Harris and yes representative Loretta Sanchez. To talk more about the primary california, were joined by rose aguilar, host of your call, a daily Public Affairs radio show on npraffiliate kalw in San Francisco. Rose, welcome to democracy now first, your response on n ap and nbc news calling the naming Hillary Clinton as the democratic president ial, the presumptive nominee. This is the first time in decades like californias primary actually matters. It is amazing to see so much excitement in the state. I was at the event in San Francisco last night attended by about 10,000 people. The breaking news came down while we were at the rally. A lot of people were so disappointed because they feel like it will do to people from actually voting. Were also going to be choosing a senator. We have a lot of really important races. In San Francisco, an important race with the local democrats and so people are really disappointed by this and said, look, people are already disenchanted with this process and we need as many people as we can do go to t the polls. Feeling thing that is exciting, amy, is so many people have registered in california. This is a massive state. We have about 40 Million People in california that are now 17 Million People are registered to vote. The last two months, running up to the election, we had 600,000 new registrants. A lot of people are excited. An announcement like this on the day before the california primary sends a really bad message to vototers. I heard that at the rally l last night. Amy to be clear, youre at the Bernie Sanders rally . Yes, last night in San Francisco. Amy did he address this issue oh, he knew at that point the called, been basically did he address it when he was begin dollar view . Know, he didnt really address it. He said he is taken as all the way to the convention. That is about it. He did not go much further. Is s reporting health 20s voting primary process has excluded tens of thousands of independent voters from voting in the president ial primaries so far and those numbmbers are expected to grow according to information provided to kcra 3 by leaving little data firm. By a leading Political Data firm. If you wanted to vote in the democratic primary and you were an independent, yet do it decide this months before, before any debate, before any primary, before it was clear it would be this close. So millions of people could not vote. How it works, Voting Rights advocates say californias process for voting is an independent in a president ial primary is confusing. This is part of a psa created by the nonprofit independent voter project to help explain the process to voters. Whats the democratic libertarian and American Independent Partys let t you ve for the candidate as long as youre not a memember of another pay. Y. These parties s have somewhat closed, that lets indepennts or others request a ballot. If you want to vote for these Party Candidate and receive your ballot by y mail, call your couy registrar before may 31 and tell them to send the ballot you want or you will get one with no president ial candidate. If you missed the deadline, you can still vote at the polls were as an independent you need to request a ballot for the Party Candidates you want. Amy so if you could explain, rose aguilar, what that means when people go to the polls today. What are they supposed to ask for . Here is w what you need to d. If you are a no party voter in california, it is not even inindependent. The independents are no Party Preference. If you are no Party Preference voter and you want to vote for a democrat for president , you have to ask for a crossover ballots. A legally have to give you one. Again, ask for a crossover ballots, try to go to the polls early because, amy, i am a rehearing reports people are concerned that polling places are going to run out of ballots because weve had such a massive voter surge in california. You cited the report from case e. R. A. Kcra. 250,000 people have turned in their ballots and his organization did a neck that poll and asked these people, all right, how many of you turn in a ballot without voting for president . It was 42 . They wanted to vote for presesident and they did not. They wanted to vote for a democrat. That is almost half. Almost 25,000 people. Amy why didnt they . . 57 of the voters said they wanted to vote for Bernie Sanders. People are turning in ballots without voting for a president. You have to ask for a crossover ballots. To make matters even more confusing, the Los Angeles Times had a really good report about a month ago and found 500,000 californians checked off the American Independent Party box thinking, well, that is the independent p party. Seems logical. That is an ultra, ultra right party in california. L. A. Times found 75 of those voters had no idea it was an ultra right party. It is shameful the rules are so confusing. To make matters even more confusing, if you live in San Francisco and d what to vote and are very important Democratic Central Committee race, you have to be a democrat. It is too late to change. If you are a no Party Preference voter and ask for crossover ballots, you can vote for democratic president but you race in sanin the francisco. I wish the state hadad done a better job of getting the word out and the media had done a better job of getting the word out. We did what we could, but i have been paying attention and ive not seen many psas, have not heard much about this. It is such an important issue because people are going to be so upset if they cannot vote for president. 125,000 people in california have already turn in their ballots without voting for president. Amy i did not understand why they did get a ballot, but did not check the box for president. There is no president on the ballot. If you are a no Party Preference voter, there is no president on your ballot. You have to request a democratic that it ballot. Eithererave to call in, or if you are vote by now, you have to do it in advance. What you can do right now if you live in califorornia, take your ballot, if youre a vote by mail voter, take your ballot into the polling place with you and ask for crossover ballot. If youre not vote by mail, go early and ask for crossover ballot because were consignees polling places will run out of ballots because so many people, hopefully, will be requesting a democratic ballot to vote for president. Amy Something Else unusual, explain the senate race that is taking place, how the system works right now that could lead to only democraon the ballot for the senate race. Explain who is running and how you vote. We have only had two debates for senate. Frankly, they were not that exciting. The president is getting all of the attention. The down ticket is not getting that much attention. Kamala harris and Loretta Sanchez are the top of the ticket. A lot of republicans and most people have not heard of. There are thirdParty Candidates running but in the system, they are not getting any media coverage. They were not invited for the debate. The voters decided they wanted the top two vote getters to be on the ballot regardless of party. Is notublican party doing well in california. The democrats are to much control this state. Were probably going to have Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez on the ballot, two democrats. What will happen is the Republican Party will most likely vote for Loretta Sanchez because she is the more sort of moderate democrat on certain issues. It is just the republicans really dont have a chance when it comes to running for senate in the state of california. At the Bernie Sanders rally last night. What do you think will happen with the Bernie Sanders camp . I mean, we still dont know. They cannot predict what will happen runup to the convention. But how do you think what do you think needs to happen . Just listening to your last interview talking about this ridiculous things that trump has said, im afraid the next five to six months it is going to be trump said something ludicrous, Hillary Clinton responded, and were not going to talk about issues or things that really matter to peopople. I think it is important to remember that this time last year, Bernie Sanders was 63 points behind Hillary Clinton. One of the most wellknown politicians in the world. And at this time last are, most people had never heard of Bernie Sanders. They did not know who he was. The media called him the old socialist who has a bad haircut. Universal health care, free tuition for public schools, banning fracking them overturning the Death Penalty these are radical ideas, we heard, when in fact, these are center right positions. Amy rose aguilar, thank you for being with us, host of your call, a daily Public Affairs radio show on npraffiliate kalw in San Francisco. That does it for the broadcast. Democracy now is hiring a news producer and an office coordinator. Find out more at 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 6 val hello, im val zavala, and im here at the California Science Center in front of a magnificent piece of historythe Space Shuttle endeavor. Youre about to see a film that will lift your spirits and put you in awe of what we here in Southern California are capable of accomplishing when we work together. Youre about to see a documentary that captures the three nights and three days in l. A. When divisions disappeared. Whyhy . Bebecause all eyes were on this. It appeared first ovoverhead. It was designened to soar in our space; it was never intended