Republic headlined, a world war were under attack by climate c change and our only he is to mobilize like we did in world war ii. Then in the first ever override of an obama veto, Congress Votes to allow americans to sue saudui arabia over the 9 11 attacks. There is mounting evidence that the saudi government, at least organizations and operatives within the saudi government, aided and abetted one of the most massive crimes in the united states. In our system, the truth behind those facts deseserves to be presented in court. Comes as the Obama Administration declassified 28 pages from the september 11 report detailing possible ties between the saudi government and the 9 11 attacks. We will speakith medeaa benjamin, cofounder of codode. Author of kingdom of the , unjust behind the u. S. Saudi connection. And inin news from the campaigin trail, a new investigation by newsweek reveals one of Donald Trumps businesses violated the u. S. Embargo on cuba, s secretly doing business there in the late 1990s. Mr. T trump ive had a lot of offers, sadly, it t has been y onently, to go ininto c cuba deals, b business deals,s, real estate a and other deals. And i i have rejected them on te basis that i wilil g go when cua is f free. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In syria, russian and syrian warplanes pounded the city of aleppo will troops massed east of the city and the United Nations warned of a huhumanitarn catastrophe. At least 100,000 children remain trapped in the eastern part of aleppo, where the u. N. Says food is nearly exhausted for more than 250,000 people. U. N. Humanitarian chief Stephen Obrien told the Security Council that aleppo had descended into a merciless abyss of humanitarian catastrophe. Be realems there will accountability and the court of world opinion. Goodness knows, nothing else seems to be working to stotop ts deliberarate, gratuitotous carne of lives lost and smashed. Amy a u. S. And russianbrokered ceasefire in Early September began unraveling two weeks ago after a u. S. Led airstrike killed dozens of syrian troops in what officials called an accident. Russian diplomats yesterday thursday rejected a pause in bombing to allow for humanitarian aid to reach aleppo, instead offering 48 hours ceasefires. Secretary of state john kerry said he waonon the verge off cutting g off all talks with russia over the crisis. I think were on the verge of suspending the discussion in the it is a rational context of the kind of bombing taking place to be sitting there trying to take things seriously. Amy meanwhile, russian officials are condemning comments by u. S. State Department Spokesperson john kirby, who said this week that russias Bombing Campaign could lead to terror attacks in russian cities and Russian Troops being shipped home in body bags. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the statement amounted to u. S. Support for terrorism. In kashmir, pakistan is vowing to defend itself against what it calls indian aggression, after two of its soldiers were killed in crossborder fighting thursday. India says it launched surgical strikes against militants in the disputed line of control region betweeeen indian and papakistanicontrolled kashmiri. Pakistans Prime Minister called an emergency Cabinet Meeting over the latest fighting, which comes less than two weeks after an attack on an indian army base killed 18 soldiers. India has ordered the evacuation of thousands of people in villages near its border with pakistan. In israel, World Leaders gathered friday for the funeral of former Prime Minister shihimn peres, who died in tel aviv on wednesday at the age of 93. Among those paying tribute was president bararack obama. Pres. Obama i dont believe he was naive. But he understood from hardearned experience that true security comes through making peace with your neighbors. We won them all he said of israels war, but we did not win the greatest victory that we aspire to. Amy Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas attended the funeral, where he briefly shook hands and exchanged words with israeli Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu. In 1994, peres won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping negotiate the oslo accccds. He was Prime Minister in 1996, when israelili forces shelled a refugee camp in qana, lebanon, killing 106 people and injuring 116 others. Peres was a leading advocate for the building of jewish settlements in the occupied west bank and gaza. His slogan was settlements everywhere. In hoboken, new jersey, at least one person was killed and more than 100 injured, many critically, after a commuter train hurtled through a station and crashed through a wall during the morning rush on thursday. Witnesses described a horrific scene of bloodied bodies and twisted metal. Eyewitness William Blane said the crash sounded lilike a bomb. Iran out. I looked to the right and i just saw bodies. I saw debris. I looked and i saw this guy who try to get up. I saw another person bleeding. I went to help them out but a couple of other people got to help them. I looked over and solve the train in the wall. It just blew my mind. Amy officials are still investigating why the new Jersey Transit train failed to brake as it approached the hoboken terminal, but theyre treating the disaster as an accident. The train did not have p positie train control, a technology that can automatically stop a train that is in danger of derailment or a collision. New Jersey Transit was supposed to have implemented the technology by the end of 2015 under a congressional mandate passed in 2008, but was granted a threeyear extension after the Railroad Industry lobbied successfully for a delay. In news of Global Warming, a new analysis by top climate scientists finds the earths average temperature is on track to increase by twtwo degrees celsius, or 3. 6 degrees fahrenheheit, by midcentury, unless governments take drdramac steps to limit grereenhouse gas emissions. The study finds that current pledges to combat Climate Change under a u. U. N. Agrgreement crafd in paris last december fall far short of preventing g a temperaturure rise of 1. 5 degres celsius, one of the agreements goals. The study was led by the u. N. s former top climate scientist, robert watson, who said governments need to double or triple the efforts to meet the paris target. Meanwhile, the Mauna Loa Observatory in hawaii reports Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide levels have topped 4 400 parts r million throroughout 2016, and e unlikely to fall below that level for the foreseeable fututure. Thats far above the 350 parts per millllion considered by ny climate scscientiststs to be the safe limit. In other climaterelated news, a new federal lawsuit targets exxonmobil in what advocates say is the first legal action targeting the oil giant for its decadeslong coverup of Climate Change. The suit by the Environmental GroupConservation Law Foundation charges exxonmobil continues to pollute the island end and mystic rivers near boston, in part by failing to fortify a Storage Facility to withstand rising seas and extreme weather caused by Climate Change. Last year, Insideclimate News and the l. A. Times revealed that for decades, beginning in 1977, exxon concealed its own findings that fossil fuels cause Global Warming, alter the climate and melt the arctic ice. Well have more on Climate Change with 350. Org founder Bill Mckibben later in the broadcast. The family of alfred olango, a ugandan refugee shot dead by police is calling for peaceful tuesday, protests and the release of a video tape showing the killing. Olangos mother, pamela benge, said her son was distraught over the recent death of a friend and was having a mental breakdown on tuesday when police confronted him. She says officers should have helped her son, but instead opened fire. Benge said her family arrived in the u. S. In 1991 as refugees seeking to escape violence. W whave come from a a war zo. We wanted prorotection that is why we a are her i wanted t the chihildren not te running around d being in feaear evevery niight, sleepining in te bushsh. That is why we a h here. There are millionsns of refugees thatat are here just seeking g r betterer place, a sasafer plala. Safetyty. We w wanted just t to be safe. But now i asked the question, wherere should we go . I dont know. Amy olangos family and supporters are demanding the release of a cell phone video, recorded by a bystander, that captured the killiling. In new york, newly released Court Papers Reveal the citys Police Department has secretly recorded black lives matter protesters since the death of ericic garner in 2014, sending undercover officers to demonstratioions. The disclosure came as the nypd refused to make public videos, photos, and other records requested under the freedom of information act. Lawyers seekining the records sy the susurveillance couould viole the first and fourth amendments. They say the nypd may have also violated socalled handschu guidelines, which bar the nypd from spying on protesters for solely political reasons. In august, the intercept reported that new York Transit Police also spied on black lives matter protesters. In financial news, the ceo of wells fargo was grilled by lawmakers on capitol hill on thursday over a scandal that saw thousands of employees use private customer information to create 2 million fake accounts in order to meet sales targets. Ceceo john stumpf apologizeded o the house e Financial Services committee and said h his bank wl elimiminate sales quotas for emplployees beginning onon octor onone thing. Octobober 1. Earlieiethis week,k, theanank to back 41 million i in stock awawarded to stumpf. That did litittle to appease lawmakers, incncluding new york represenentative carololyn malo, who noteted stumpf solold 13 million n worth of welells fargo stock in 2013. S so my question is, did y yu dont 13 million of wells fargo stock, which you did three your family trust, right after you found out that your bank had been fraudulently opening hundreds of thousands of scam acaccounts, ripping off yourur customers . S . I sold those shares and i sold them with proper approvals with no view about anything that was going on with sales practices or anything else. Amy earlier this month, stumpf appeared before the Senate Banking committee where massachusetts democrat Elizabeth Warren accused him of gutless leadership and said he should be criminally prosecuted. In news fromom the campaign tra, the Editorial Board of usa today has declared republican nominee donald trump unfit for the presidency. Its the first t time in its history that the countntrys highestcirculation newspaper has taken sides in a president ial race. This is usa today Editorial Page Editor bill sternberg. Unanimous c consensus of f te board d is that hehe lacks thehe tetemperamt,t, the knonowledge, maturity, steadiness that America Needs in itits presiden. Amy the usa today Editorial Board wrote of trump he is erratic. He is illequipped to be commander in chief. He traffics in prejudice. His Business Career is checkered. He isnt leveling with the american people. He speaks recklessly. He has coarsened the national dialogue. And he is a serial liar. Usa today has not endorsed hillllary clinton or any other candidate. In other campaign news, democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said thursday that donald trump appeared to violate u. S. Law by attempting to do business in cuba. Clinton was referring to an investigation by newswsweek that revealed that t a Trump Company violated the u. S. Embargo against cuba in 1998, spending at least 68,000 during a secret business trip to havana. A. The investigation also reveals that trump had knowledge of top executives working to cover up the illegal expenditures. He then went on to write an oped piece that attacked fidel castro. Well have more on donald trump and the cuban embargo later in the broadcast. And in the philippines president , Rodrigo Duterte said today hed be happy to slaughter drug addicts just like Adolph Hitler massacred millions of jews during the holocaust. Duterte made the remarks during a rambling speech after returning from a trip to vietnam. Massacred 3 million jews. [indiscernible] and say the next generation. Amy a wave of extrajudicial killings in ththe philippines hs claimed thousands of lives since Rodrigo Duterte became president in june. He vowed during his campaign to crack down on drug users just like he didid as thehe longtime mayor of the city of davao, where his strongman tactics prompted Human Rights Watch to call him the death squad mayor. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and im juan gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. This year may be only half over but 2016 is a ready on track to be the hottest year ever on record. In the midst of this during the first president ial debate on monday, republican president ial candidate donald trump and his democratic rival hillary clilinn sparred briefly overer Climate Change. Mrs. Clinton take clean energy. Some country is going to be big superpower the 21st century. Donald inc. Climate change is a hoax, perpetrated by the chinese. I think israel. Mr. Trump i did not say that. I do not say mrs. Clinton we grip this and deal with it both at home and abroad. Juan clinton was s referring ta tweet the donald trump sent in 2012 the conceptpt of Global Warming was created by and for the chinese in order to make u. S. Manufafacturing noncocompetiti his continued to suggest Climate Change is some sort of a hoax. His comments were highlighted in a w tv aroduceceby the sierralub. Mrmr. Trump all of thisis withe Global Warming a lot of it is a hoax. It is the money may thing moneymaking industry. They said you called Climate Change a hoax. Is that true . Mr. Trump w well, i might have. I belilieve that Climate Changes not manmmade. We are g going to cancel the pas climate agreementnt. Our president is worried about Global Warming. What a ridiculous situation. Juan that is right, d donald trumump said d if elected, he wl weaken the u. S. And bar mental protection agency, abolish president obamas cleaean power plan, from of alsoso fuel exploration, rececruit oil and s executives to lead his. Our next guest rights in the new republic about a world at war were under attack from Climate Change and our only hope is to mobilize agree did in world war ii. Day after day, week after week, saboteurs behind our lines are releasing a series of brilliant and overwhelming attacks. In the past few months alone, our foes have used a firestorm to force the total evavacuationf a cicity of 90,00000 in canada a drought of ravaged crops to the point were southern africans are literally eating their seed corn and floods that threaten a priceless repository of cardinal lou. Image to our guest goes on to write zika virus loaded like a bomb into a growing army of mosquitoes has shrunk the heads of newborn babies across the entire continent, panicked Health Ministers in seven countries are now emerging women not to get pregnant and ass an all confct, miioions of refugees are fleeing t h horrors of warar. Thr r numbers spreading daily as air force to abandonon their hos toto escape famimine and desolon and d disease. Worlrld war iii is well and truy underway and we are losing. Those are the words of Bill Mckibben who joins us today cofounder of 350. Org. , hes the author of several books including, eaarth making a life on a tough new planet. His other new piece in the new republic is headlined recalculating the climate , math. Welcome back. So you just heard the clip from the first president ial debate. Escalating thely discussion about where Climate Change needs to fit into this. Talk about what the candidates have said and what you think actually needs to happen. Is, july andt august were the two hottest months we have ever measured on this planet and in fact, the scientists who look at the proxy records from before we had thermometers tell us july and august were probably the two hottest months in ththe historyf civilizationon. Againsnst that backdrop, to seea buffoon like trump playing games with Climate Change, is sobering, but it is also sobering to realize, you know, nonone of our political leaders have said what we need to do on the scale we need to do it. If were going to have a chance of dealing with climimate chang, it means mobilizing in ways that we havent been a very long time. One of the points of writing this first piece for the new republic this year was to demonstrate at least it was possible. If you go look at how america mobilize during world war ii, the industrial might we brought to bear, and then you do the calculations it is at the outside edge of possible that we could in the short time that we have built enough solar panels and wind turbines, but it willl take the same kind of focused effort. Juan but your use of the analogy of war for a country that is involved in were the drop of the hat, war on terrorism, war on drugs, war on poverty, not to mention all of the shooting wars as well, the actual wars, your decision to use that analogy . The point in this case, the war on drugs is completely phony idea, right . It is just a way of justifying all sorts of that ideas. Inin this case, it is not that e need to go to war with Climate Change, it is that we are under siege. By all the measures by which one we areabout work or, in one. Were losing territory all the time. Literally, islands are disappearing. Huge swaths of coral this year alone. 90 of places, 80 , coral died in a matter of weeks. These atolls that have been there for years. Ice that is enough for millennia upon m millennia is now gonene. The world looks entirely different from a satellite now than it did 30 years ago. So the question is not whether or not we are in a conflict, the question is whether or not were going to fight it or whether were going to keep listening to the exxons of the world and do nothing. Amy so in this piece you do recalculating the climate math, the numbers on Global Warming are even scarier than we thought, what shocked you most . This comes from a remarkabe report from a group called oil change international. A few years ago, we talked about the sort of new climate math that launched the fossil fuel divestment movement. At that time, what we understood was the worlds fossil fuel far tood far more much carbon in its reserves, five times as much as we could afford to burn. With a new study indicates, and it is important to get this, is that the coal mines and oil and gas fields that we already h hae inin production have enough carn in them to take as past the two degree mark that the u. N. Has said is ththe line for cataststrophe. That is therenothingg about the future anymore. We literally cannot build anything else and stay within those limits. No dakota pipeline, no new coal mines in australia, none of the things that our political leaders Justin Trudeau in canada two days ago greenlighted a massive project in the British Columbia coast. In the light of this new climate data, it is completely clear that these things we just cant do. We cant drain most of what is in the fields that we have already got in production. But as that dwindles, we have to be replacing it day by day with Renewable Energy instead. Juan how do you feel in terms of the amount of time devoted to the issue of Climate Change . Come aates previously democrats and republicans, and down the first actctl presesidential debatate . In the course of the whole debate season, by far the high point was when the senator from my home state of vermont stood up and someone asked him at one of the debates, what is the most important challenge facing the world . He said, Climate Change. Two weeks later at the next debate after all of the editorialists touted how he shouldve said terrorism or something, they asked him again and hes at it again. He said it again. That is a good sunday is the most popular politician in america. But it hasnt yet f fully filted down into the Clinton Campaign and certainlnly not the trump campaign. The democratic platform is very good on n these issues. One hopes that if mrs. Clinton is elected, we will be able to press her to tryry to live up to that platform. M. Amy you were not feeling as encouraged when he served on the democratic platform m committee. You describe this in your piece. Explain what happened, what youre calling f for, and what ultimately i was depressed halfway ththrough. When t the Platform Committee we took a series of votes and we of partylinert votes, on all sorts of things. But then bernie refused to concede. He did not back down. He did not do what everyone told him to do. He cap in the race through the final meeting about the platform in orlando to ask before the convention. And he did thahat in order to ensure he would have leverage and those discussions. It is not like eight years ago when Hillary Clinton wanted barack obama to pay off his campaign debt. You want to progress on the issues. As a result, by staring them down, the platform at the last minute turned markedly more progressive. Among other things, there is a call in there for an emergency Climate Summit within the first 100 days of a new administration designed to and it says this in the platform mobilize us for Something Like world war ii approach to Climate Change. We will see if we can hold them to it. Clearly, it will take hundreds of thousands of people in the street, just like in new york two years ago this month. Amy w were going to go to brek and come back to this discussion with Bill Mckibben, cofounder of 350. Org, author of two pieces of the new republic, most recently, the climate math. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juann gonzalez. Our guest is Bill Mckibben, cofounder of 350. Org. Among his books eearth. Juan i want to ask about the specifics of this Massive Movement toward dealing with Climate Change. You mention in your writing, mark jacobson, a stanford professor who has studied this for years that has come up with a model for how each state in the union could be able to deal with reachable goals. Can you talk about some of the specifics he has . You cant believe how detailed the work this team at stanford has done. If you go into their database and ask how many y acres of souh facing roof there are in alabama that are n not shaded by trerees where you can put solar panels, a number pops up. Now the same for most countries in the world. What they demonstrate is, it is within both economic and to, byal possibility 2030, be getting 80 0 of our power from Renewable Energy. It is not easy because the fossil fuel complex is the center o of our economy and d te an huge amount of s something investstment that would have toe written off, but it is a hell a lot cheaper. Juan you turn on the tv now, any day, and you see the campaign for the energy voter. The fossil fuel industry knows their back is against the wall. They know they have a losing hand. Look what is going on in the dakotas. No sane person could look at the pictures that democracy now provided from the Standing Rock onervation with dogs sicced protesters try to protect their water. And you go lets go to a clip of that. This was september 3, labor day weekend, native americans at the massive resistance camps now thousands did not expect the dakota a access pipeline, the 38 billion dollar pipeline, was going to be excavating at this point. It was a holiday weekend. They were going to plant their travel flights in a ceremony. What they found shocked them. All those are in full gear host of the security guards were there with have for spray. They assaulted attacked, tackle the native americans, and they sicced dogs on them. Are threatening us with these dogs. That woman over there, she was charging them. Amy the dog has blood in its nose and mouth. And she is Still Standing here threatening. You cant amy why you letting her dog go after the protesters . Was the scene. Describe what is actually taking place here and what is at stake. Why the Dakota Access pipeline would want to hurt these protesters. First thing to understand what is taking place there is everybody else acknowledging what some of us have known for a long time, which is frontline communities, particularly indigenous people, have been in the forefront of this climate fight. They were in keystone and now clearly in the dakotas. Theyre holding the line against something that threatens not only the reservation, but the whole planet. We cannot hope more oil we cannot pump more oil. We have to start opening up reserves. Their work is astonishing. Against all odds, they have been able for the moment to bring a temporary halt to some of that giving, one hopes, cooler heads for a chance to look at the available data and common sense to prevail. Earlier this year, the president said any new projects would have to pass a climate test. There is an even stiffer version of that in the next democratic platform. This pipeline could not pass those tests. It should be stopped. Thank heaven for the bravery of those people and really for the Environmental Justice movement that has sprung up all around the country. Not even sprung up. Today were celebrating the 50th anniversrsary of up rose, reall, one of the original seminal Environmental Justice outfits here in new york. That is where the leadership is coming from and it is really powerful to see. Amy what is hillaryclinton stance on the dakota pipeline . One has no idea. She so far has refused to say anything about it. Lets hope that changes. This is not only a practical challenge, at this point, it is a clear moral test. Look, on the long list of oppressed people on this know, it may be the absolute top of the list. The idea we are putting dogs on people in 2016, that we are pictures that look just like the pictures from birmingham in 1963, that should be enough to cause revulsion along any normal person looking on. Juan given the fact were still dealing with a congress controlled by Climate Change deniers, what do you think could still be done by a president , either obama in his last few months were clinton if she is elected, through executive action to be able to move forward on this issue . There are certain things the presidident can do. And one of them, sort of obvious, straightforward one, is to stop allowing people to drill for oil and gas and mine coal on public land, federal land. That is Something Like half the carbon deposits are on federal land. The Obama Administration, late in the game, has finally allowed just stopped allowing new coal leases, but that should go to fracking and oil wells and every thing else. At the very least, we should take public land off the table because the president can do that. Amy bill, you have talked in thehe New York Times about you yourself being persecuted. Can you talk about who has been going after you, photographing you, and what this is all about . There is an outfit called america a rising squared, or something, some kind of rightwing gop also feel industry sort of thing no one quite knows where their money comes from. They announced earlier in the year there were going to do Opposition Research and video tracking on a level that previously have been reserved, as they said, for president ial candidates. Yes, sometimes now, often in public, there are people following me everywhere with cameras and stuff. Look, it is not a lot of fun but compared to what is happening to people in other places, i can live with it. It is not like amy what are they doing . Tracking. Amy this is not just at a public protest. No, im giving a speech or they follow me. Once or twice ive had to go into the mens room to, you know it is just designed to get in ones head, i guess. Frankly, sometimes it does a little bit. Say, look,y want to there are environment activist who are now getting shot in this world on a weekly basis. People in countries that are trying to stop mines, pipelines. It is a great luxury to be in america, at least until we elect donald trump, that we dont have to worry quite in those ways. The real point is, the fossil fuel industry will do anything anything to avoid actuallyy talklking about t the issue. And the issue is that if they keep their Business Model going, and the planet tanks. That is where we are. You aboutone to ask the organized labor movement. There has been some change in terms of the Environmental Movement and trade Union Movement getting closer together. The dakota accesess pipeline, aflcio, has come out in favor of it. Your thoughts on that . The good news, if you want some, a bunch of unions have come out on the right side on this issue. And quite strongly. The communication workers, transport workers, nurses union, groups like that. And all the kind of caucuses l for the af of communities of color. These are important. One understands why the construction trades want to build pipelines. Look, these are good jobs and they pay good wages. It is too bad that the world literally cant zorba the carbon that flows through these things absorb the carbon that flows are these things. It would be easier for the whole we could just say we would like a few more years of this or whatever. But i do think this is an important moment for labor, as for everybody else. What is going on in the dakotas is indefensible. Literally indefensible. What is powerful to see there is the oldest wisdom on this continent matching up perfectly with the newest scientific events. A powerful combination. I think it will be powerful enough maybe to overwhelm even the financial might of the fossil feel industry. Amy there is been a terrible accidedent in hoboken with t the train. The train smashing into the hoboken station when it should have stopped. We dont know what happened to the engineer, the person who was driving, but the question was, why didnt stop even if something had happened to him . Heart attack or whatever. We have in or miss investment in the highways of this country. The whole issue of investment in mass transit the discussion on all of the networks nonstop with the terrorism, well, it wasnt terrorisism, but the question of where is the investment in mass transit . Lets talk about investment in infrastructure generally. Great opportunity in the first months of the Clinton Administration would be a serious grand barargain for serious investment in infrastructure especially around Renewable Energy, but around mass transit, route all kinds of things. Amy that alsoso means a massive number of jobs. Exactly rigight. Exactly right. This is the future Bernie Sanders was talking about. We have to put serious numbers on the table. The talk in the m momentt, sometimes secretary clinton will talk about 250 billion. It has to be multiples of that because we are deep, deep in the hole. When people say wewe dont have the money, welcome at the moment money is cheap for a lot of reasonons. What we e really dont have the money for is somemehow trying to deal with a world where the ocean is rising. You have seen in the last few months, and increased focus on what is going to happen here in manhattan over the next decades the sea level rises. Think about just in this one island, how much economic w weah is at risk if we let the planet heat going on the path that is going on now. Juan you mention the massive investment needed immediately. Interestingly, when all of the candidates came into the new york Editorial Board earlier this year, they all talked quietly, not publicly, that it is commonly accepted that one of the things the new congress will do is work out the amnesty for corporations that have trillions of dollars parked overseas because they dont want have to pay to corporate tax. So they all are expecting a huge infusion of money. The only question is, at what percent will they allow the amnesty, which is what it was, for all of these corporations to bring this money home and that is where hillary expect to get all of her infrastructure money, where the republicans expect to be able to cut taxes all on the basis of this it is not one time, it is the second major amnesty, to corporations. Yes. There our knees aplenty ironies aplenty in that scheme. If were going to do it, lets make sure the e get out of jail free card is not free, that it comes with a hefty price tag because when we are dealing with the of a structure challenges, especially a around renewablee 100y that we have, 100 billllion doesnt begigin to cu. We need actual date money, the kind of money that weve been spending on, sasay, thehe mility for the last decades. That is the kind of money that we need to face this challenge. Amy about a year ago, almost exactly, you were there in for my in your hometown standing there ingn you were your hometown, standing with the sun, i think you got arrested in front of your mobile station is ily, this pump temporary close because exxonmobil lieded about climate. Today in our headlines, the first legal action targeting the oioil giant for its decades long of Climate Change. Talk about this. Year is been a troubling for exxon. About exactly year ago inside climate news, the l. A. Times, columbia journalism school, started releasining probably the most important investigative reporting we have seen in a very long time. What he demonstrtrated was our most important and largest fossil fuel company, indeed for much of history the Largest Company on earth, had known everything there was to know about Climate Change, had used it in its own internal calculations to make sure they were prepared, you know, building their drilling rigs to cope with sea level rise, and at the same time, lying to the rest of us. Setting up this architecture of deceit and denial and disinformation. Well, i wanted to make sure i wanted to get arrested because i wanted to make sure those stories did not disappear in the daily wave of news that we all live under. Similarr people did things. And thank heavens people started listening. Snyderman, the attorney generaral, quite bravely took on exxon. Inwas followed by the ag massacachusetts. Last weeeek, the sec announceded they w were joining this investigation. Onthe time e we got the sec board, well, i mean, i guess they made a federal case out of it. And fact,nt it is pretty remarkable. It is a sign of just how far into this crisis we are. Juan not only are these companies lying to the public, they are also lying to their shareholders in terms of what is the actual value of the company if they understand what is ahead in terms of Global Warming. Thats right. There is a story today that indicates exxon, over the last seven or eight years, has quadrupled its holdings in the tar sands in canada. It is now 35 of their reserves in those tar sands. This is ininside climamate news today. The idea theyre going to be ugly get all of that oil out seems unlikely to me. Pipeline. Keystone theres opposition to the energy east and pipelines in canada. If their predictions for Economic Future have been predicated on the fact theyre going to be tar sands giant, well, that may have not been a very good bet. Amy and the Koch Brothers. A lot of the republican establishment has given up on donald trump, but they havent given up on the other races. Can you talk about the amount of money the Koch Brothers are pouring in right now to try to defeat candidates were deeply concerned about Climate Change . I dont know the exact numbers, but apparently, people not spending that money on trump, they are spending it down ballot in places like in the ohio senate race. There has been a spigot of money turned on to benefit the fossil employeestrieys hired that are running. That is sad on a number of counts. This is the place where things like Citizens United where the rubber really meet the road because we cannot afford another two years another four yeaears f inaction on climate. We have had of for a quarter century, and it has yielded the hottest of interest. Amy Bill Mckibben, thank you for being with us. We willing to your a world at war and recalculating the climate math. Bill mckibben is cofounder of 350. Org and shuman scholar at Military College in vermont. Middlebury college in vermont. When we come back, the first overriddenma veto is by congress. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan we turn now to wednesdays decisive vote by congress to allow americans to sue saudi arabia over the 9 11 attacks. Overriding president obamas veto of the bill. Its the first time during obamas presididency that his vo has bebeen overridden by congre. The senate rejected the veto 97 to 1, while the house rejected it 348 to 77. This means the justice against sponsors of terrorism act now becomes law. This legislation would allow courts to waive claim of foreign sovereign immunity after an act of terrorism occurs within u. S. Borders. The bill had passed both the house and the Senate Earlier this year, but president obama had vetoed it earlier this month. This is the president speaking to cnn wednesday. Pres. Obama legislation did was citizenif a private believes that having been terrorism i terrorism, then they can file a personal lawsuit, a private lawsuit in court. That is t that if we eliminate this notion of sovereign immunity, then our men and women in uniform around the startcould potentially seeing ourselves subject too rereciprocal laws. Anand the concern that i have hd has nothing to do with saudi arabia per se or my simple the for 9 11 famamilies, i it has to with me nonot wanting a situatin and when n were sududdenly expd to liabilities for all of the work were doing all around the world. Amy in july, the Obama Administration declassified 28 pages from the september 11 report detailing possible ties between the saudi government and the 9 11 attacks. The declassified documents raise new questions about the role of a saudi consular official based in the los angeles area. He personally helped two of the hijackers after they arrived in los angeles in early 2000. 15 of the 19 9 11 hijackers were from saudi arabia. The saudi government financed an extensive lobbying campaign against the legislation, but stopped short of threatening any retaliation if the law was passed. There was no official reaction from saudi arabia after r the votes. The override of president obamamas veto comeses as the se lastst week rejecteded a proposo block the u. S. From supplying the kingdom with more than a 1 billion worth of tanks and other military hardware. Critics of the weapons deal say it could drag the u. S. Into the saudiled war in yemen and contribute to the humanitarian crisis there. For more we are joined by medea , benjamin, cofounder of codepink. Her most rececent book is kingm of the unjust behind the u. S. Saudi connection. If you could talk about the significance of this firsrstevr override of an obama veto and what this means for saudi arabia. I think the significance is that, finally, we have an example of the u. S. Congress putting the u. S. Citizens above the relationship with the saudi government. And this is significant because year after year after year, congress has done nothing to stop arming to the teeth the saudi government, 115 billion worth of weapons house under obama alone, aa government that treats its own citizens with tremendous repression, beheads peaceful dissidents, treats women as minors their entire lives, has millions of Foreign Workers were treated like servants, and spreads this and tolerant am a distorted version around the world. And the u. S. Is not only arming the saudi government, but is directly involved with the saudis and a devastating war going on in yemen. So the sort of opens the issue up to much larger questions. The president s argument on the issue of the impact in a broader sense to the united states, and also the talk now in the house and senate about revisiting this legislation with some carveouts or changes to it later . Actually, this legislation is quite narrowly written and people do not think it will allow the payment of compensation. In the executive branch could stop the courts at any point. So i think this question about whether it would open up u. S. Officials overseas to lawsuits, i actually think that could be a positive thing. For example, if the families of victims of drone attacks, innocent families, were able to take the u. S. To court instead of joining isis were al qaeda as her only resort, that would be a very positive thing. Juan do you see the prospects of the house and senate revisiting this legislation . They certainly might revisit the legislation. They might make it more narrow. I think we should look at the larger picture of what has happened since the iran nuclear deal, since the recent questioning of the saudi weapons deals. And i think we should start looking at all of the areas that the saudis have been using to buy consent in the u. S. , giving large donations to ivy league colleges, to think tanks, to the clinton foundation, to the john mccain foundation, paying eight different groups and washington, d. C. , as lobbyists for example, the brother of john podesta who runs the clintons president ial campaign receiving 140,000 a month from the saudis. All of these things should come out now as we question the u. S. Relationship with the saudi government. Amy what do you most want to find out . Information coming out in lawsuits of the 9 11 families about Saudia Arabias lawsuits . Supposedly, there are 80,000 pages of documentation about relationships between the hijackers that we know nothing about, particularly those that live in florida, in new jersey, and virginia. This has all been hidden from the public. And through the courts is the only way to get some of this information out. I think it is like ripping the bandaid off. Lets see what is underneath that. And then this really allows us to start the much broader issue of questioning. And the fact you just had all Bill Mckibben talking about the devastating impact of the fossil fuel industry, lets also connect that to saudi arabia where the basis of our relationship has been for decades around oil and now includes the saudis propping of the militaryindustrial complex, by far the largest purchasers of u. S. Weapons. Amy medea benjamin, thank you for being with us, cofounder of codepink. Author of kingdom of the , unjust behind the u. S. Saudi connection. Juan in news from the campaign trail, under investigation by newsweek reveals that one of Donald Trumps businesses violated the u. S. Embargo on cuba and secretly did business there in the late 1990s. And then tried to cover it up. The investigation draws on internal Company Documents showining trumps company, then called Trump Hotels Casino resorts, spent at least 68,000 in cuba during a secret business trip to havana. At the time, it was illegal under u. S. Law to spend any corporate money in cuba. Amy a year later, trump wrote in an oped in the miami herald in 1999 i would rather take a financial hit than become a financial backer of one of the worlds most brutal dictators. Of course we should keep the embargo in place. Well, for more, we go now to dallas, texas, where were joined by kurt eichenwald, a Senior Writer at newsweek and a contributing editor at vanity fair. His cover story for newsweek is headlined Donald Trumps castro , connection. In these last few minutes, can you lay ouout what youou found . Simply, that donanald trump violated the cuban embargo. He did so with a lot of plannining. Ththey did a business trip. Thousands m many, many of dollars, which is completely illegal. This is not donald trump personally. They sent someone from an outside company and reimbursed him for all of the costs, but that was the w way to do it. They met with governrnment officials, financiers, businessmen. Toame back, plotted on how make it look likike this was actuallyly a humanitarian effort sponsored by a charityty. That, no dealer came out of itit, but seven mons later, trump was on the campaign trail running for the nomominatn of the reform party. And he said, s spending money in cucuba is giving it to castro. Anand he is a murderer. Whilile he is ststanding there,e knows that he had d just done that. Juan and the reason he did that at the time was looooking oututr , atntial casinos inn havana the time his own c company was n financial trououble . Yes. There were rumblings that the embargo might be about to be revised. To get,rump was trying you know, a foot in the door. He was trying to get people on the ground in havana who would help with the government aspects, help with thehe financl aspects, help with the partnership aspect. Basically, was getting bracecedo dash ththrough the door as soons it started getting open. It did not get opened and youre not allowed to do that. It was illegal to begin with. So it was a fifinancial decision for what was t then a very financially struggliling compan. To me, what is so shocking about casually they broke the law, how casuaually the motivation of it was so was so based and, you know, just financial calalculations. Amy you have a lot of people there are a lot of people opposed to the embargo who felt it was wrong. Except donald trump would not be not category publicly because, as you point out in the miami heraldld, he said i would rathr take a financial hit than become a financial backer of one of the worlds most brutal dictators. How do you know, in this last minute, that donald trump directly knew about the 68,0000 expendnditure . Two things. First of all, thehe 68,000 dolls was comiming out from the very highest rereaches of the compan. Itit wasnt likeke there were se account doing it. The president chief executivee officer were in charge, the chieief fininancial officer was involved. I knknow from people directly involved in the circumstances who were thehere that trump knew and was fully on board. You u dont write a 68,000 chek and actually, onone of h hr thousandnd dollars check bececae they were paying for other things, too. With t the consultant that trump is doing with personally and have nobody know about it. Yes, he knew. Amy and the investigation that you did of the coverup afterwards . Of executives . What that entailed was after the money had been paid,d,here arare ways for a humanitarian effort to be expended in cuba that are legal. And it was, well, maybe we should try and make e it look le this. Maybe we should get t a charityo have sponsored our trip. It doesnt work that way. You cant do a business deal or business transaction or a business trip and then say, oh, lets make it look like a humanitarian amy we have to leave it there, kurt eichenwald. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] hello, im john cleese, and i do hope you will join me for an exciting new television series, a unique inquiry into human consciousness itself. Now, youre about to see an extraordinary program, a studio conversation that you may never forget. So, settle back, take a deep breath as we join our trusted guide and host, phil cousineau, on a most memorable episode of global spirit, the first internal travel series