Transcripts For WHUT Democracy Now 20131008

In libya, militants are calling for the kidnapping of americans and attacks on europebound Gas Pipelines after the u. S. Snatched an accused bombing suspect off the streets of tripoli saturday. He is facing interrogation on board a u. S. Warship in the mediterranean. As of monday, he had not been read his miranda rights. On monday, libya summoned its u. S. Ambassador to answer questions about the capture, a top suspect in the 1998 bombings of the u. S. Embassies in kenya and tanzania. Libya says it had no prior knowledge of the operation while the u. S. Claims it provided assistance. Protesters in benghazi accused the Libyan Government of aiding the United States. The case of the kidnapping of our brother from tripoli is just an act against libya. We will not remain silent. We will go out with peaceful protest. A case like this one up as easily in libya. Maldives, the Supreme Court has rejected the first round of voting in a president ial election, dealing a blow to mamed nasheed. He was ousted last year during a coup last year. Month, nasheed won 45 of the vote, falling shy of the bar to avoid a runoff with his am j mean, his halfbrother. The court invalidated the results and called for a new round of voting nader this month after the third place candidate alleged fraud. Nasheed is known internationally for his activism against Global Warming which he says threatens life in the small island country. To see our interviews, go to democracynow. Org. U. S. Officials are pushing for an agreement by the end of the year on the secret Transpacific Partnership described by critics as nafta on steroids that would establish a free trade zone from vietnam to chile to japan and encompassing nearly 40 of the global economy. John kerry emphasized the u. S. Commitment to the deal during an address to the Business Leaders at the apex summit in bali, indonesia. Core, tpp is about generating growth and economies for our people by unleashing a wave of investment and entrepreneurship. All across the asiapacific. And at a time when we all seek strong and sustainable growth, tpp is creating a race to the top, not to the bottom. Afghan President Hamid karzai criticized the u. S. Then nato publication of that condition monday on its 12 year anniversary. He said during a News Conference the u. And nato have failed to respect afghan sovereignty and conducted raids and air strikes against the people in violation of afghan wishes. The assessed the occupations legacy during an interview with bbc. Was one that caused afghanistan a lot of suffering. Life, andof loss of no gains. The country is not secure. President karzai said that the u. S. Wants afghanistan to remain silent about the deaths of civilians. Meanwhile, Funeral Services were held for five civilians who afghan Officials Say were killed in an airstrike. The victims were all between the ages of 12 and 20 and had been hunting birds when they were killed. The u. S. Coalition claimed the attack targeted militants and its initial reports showed no civilian casualties. U. S. , the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today in a Major Campaign finance case that could become the next Citizens United. The case, mccutcheon versus federal election commission, could undermine most of the curbing massive political donations. Currently, individuals can spend no more than 123,200 directly on candidates, Political Parties and Political Action committees in a single twoyear cycle. Committee,national Senate Minority leader mitch mcconnell, and republican businessman want the Supreme Court to throw out the aggregate limits, saying they violate free speech. The case marks the first major challenge to Campaign Finance rules since the 2010 Citizens United decision which opened the floodgates for unlimited corporate spending on elections. Financetement, longtime advocate Fred Wertheimer said repealing the caps at stake in recreate the system of legalized bribery that existed prior to the watergate Campaign Finance scandals. Planna Officials Say they to launch a two track Voting System that will bar people who do not percent proof of u. S. Citizenship. Under a plan unveiled on monday, arizona will allow people who lack documents moving their citizens to vote only in federal elections. The move follows a u. S. Supreme court ruling in june compelling arizona to accept a federal Voter Registration form that does not require proof of citizenship. The head of the Arizona Democratic party said the new boundaries of absurdity and will create a group of secondclass voters. Jerry brownovernor has vetoed a bill that would have made the state the first in the country to allow immigrants without citizenship to serve on juries, saying such responsibilities should be reserved for u. S. Citizens. The veto came after Governor Brown signed a series of immigration bills, including the which protects undocumented immigrants in called for you from being held for up to 48 hours and turned over to immigration authorities for possible deportation, unless charged with or convicted of a serious crime. In a surprise move, former secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano expressed support for the trust act, even though that it rejects compliance of the agency which she formerly led. In ohio, the last of five people convicted of attempting to detonate a fake bomb provided as part of a government sting operation has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors say Joshua Stafford used cell phone to activate what he believed to be a real bomb in an attempt to destroy a bridge running through a national park. Stafford and his codefendants are selfdescribed anarchists connections to the occupy wall street movement. The other defendants have already been sentenced to terms ranging from six to 11. 5 years. In new york, a White Plains Police officer are used a racial slur against elderly marine veteran Kenneth Chamberlain shortly before police shot him dead in his home has been fired. Public safety commissioner david chong did not say why he fired officer steven hart, who was suspended last year. Hart had also been named as a defendant in a separate patel of the lawsu stemming from an earlier incident. He called chamberlain the end nword. Police mocked chamberlain, banged on his window, broke down his door, teaser 10, and then shot him dead. The son of chamberlain told the aurnal news, his firing was small but significant step in getting justice for the murder of my father. War veterans and their allies were arrested monday night at the Vietnam Veterans memorial in new york city during an event organized by veterans the veterans read the names of civilians and soldiers killed there in iraq as well and in vietnam as well as in the obama administrations ongoing drone wars and pakistan. They were arrested after refusing to leave. Shortly before the arrest, veteran mike hastie addressed the police. That you knowtant why we are here. This monument belongs to office. This is a Vietnam Veterans memorial. 22 veterans commitment suicide every day. It is important that you know your government committed immense atrocities during the vietnam war. We did it every day. It is just important that you know that because some of you are so much younger and that history has been denied. First nations activists and onporters stage protests monday marking the 250th anniversary of the well proclamation which recognized the land rights of Indigenous People in canada. The protests are part of the idle no more movement which has mobilized people worldwide in support of her and indigenous treaty rights and against environmental devastation. A new study has found one in 10 Young Americans have admitted to carrying out some form of sexual violence. Peopledy surveyed between the age of 14 and 21. It found four percent of Young Americans admitted they had raped or attempted to rape someone. Said the results show the urgent need for Bystander Intervention training in schools to prevent sexual violence. Today we spend the hour looking at politics, money, and the pursuit of oil focusing on the oil road, a series of pipelines touching from the caspian sea to europe. Key nations along the route include azerbaijan, turkey, and others. Azerbaijan is about to hold elections amidst a major decline in the record of human rights and freedom of expression. Located in between iran and russia, azerbaijan is an Energy Supplier to europe and a Transit Route for troops in afghanistan. Critics say this has allowed western powers to turn a blind eye to abuses since the president first came to power in 2003, following the death of his father. He amended the constitution to remove term limits in 2009. On wednesday he was set to win his third term in office. A spokesperson for his reelection predicted an easy victory. People want to have a good life in azerbaijan, good salary, prosperity, and we have that in azerbaijan. We have a high dynamic of development. It means that people should support the person who organized this policy. Half, past year and azerbaijan has documented also taken at has tough line of dissent in the oil drilling area. It is in this ar that begins the book of one of our guest the oil road. They cite a business and tank james in azerbaijan marriott joins us in our studio here in new york, a member of the londonbased Justice Organization platform as well as anna galkina, who also joins us. Ofh will be speaking as part a panel here in new york called carbon democracies. Also with us is Timothy Mitchell who will be part of the program, author of the book carbon democracy political power in the age of oil. Professor mitchell teaches, he is a theoretical professor of middle eastern and south easterns of these. James, lets begin with you. Azerbaijan, a country most people in the u. S. Hardly know about, let alone where it is. Why is it so significant in terms of global oil pipeline politics . It is very significant because it holds a significant chunk of the world oil market, about one percent. It does not sound like much but it does when the price ion the e on the western side of the caspian sea that plays a dominant position for the west Oil Companies intervention into the caspian region. It is the most secure bridgehead for the west in the region. Place it exactly for us. In the middle between the top and bottom of the caspian sea on the western coast. Its offshore area stretches over to the turkmen offshore area. The western edge runs to georgia. Northern edges to russia and iran. The route is pretty treacherous. Can you describe what he goes all the way up to turkey rather than those are two iran or china . Interesting question. There was a big debate about which way the oil would be exported after the collapse of the soviet union. It was in the interest of western states, particularly the. , to try to run the while run the oil out of the russian sphere of control. The state department was the key driver for the creation of this route. From the point of view from the Oil Companies, it would have been easier to run it through russian pipelines. There was a push to create an iranian pipeline, but it was the state department that drove the political requirement that it should be exported to the Global Market through a space with did not run during karen, did not run through china, and russia. They drove the idea that they should be pushed. It was not actually in the interest of the Oil Companies. The caspian sea is a significant area for the u. S. , it has a green base their. When it was being developed pushed himy 1990s, and political spheres, it was talked about as being a huge new space of oil and Gas Production. In reality, the amount of oil and gas is nothing like that. Part of the reason that it was pushed at that scale, i think, was because it was part of a wider geopolitical in 10 from the u. S. And western powers to and back the developments territorial acquisitions made by russia. Why are pipelines so important technotalk about the politics and laws around pilines. Pipelines are often used as a significant geoPolitical Tool in this one. Which wehat we take, take in the book, the general research of our work in the past 15 years, goes not only through the pipelines in the caucuses, azerbaijan, georgia, turkey, but also through another pipeline from italy through austria and oilany, to a set of terminals and refineries in southern germany. Built inier pipeline the 1960s was also a geopolitical project, part of the structure for the west and nato to create an Energy Supply system that would be a rival to beingrgy supply systems created in what is now known as former eastern europe. The soviet union was pushing hard for Oil Production to be driven to though state from siberia. What was happening in the west was a parallel pipeline. In both cases, it was created as a Political Tool more than primarily a commercial tool. Political to . Others in theers, caucuses. We are going to break. Pipelines have their own laws. They are like countries unto themselves. We will talk about pipelines from azerbaijan to here in the u. S. We are speaking with james marriott, coauthor of a new book called the oil road journeys from the caspian sea to the city of london. Annall also speak with galkina, in the same Organization Called platform in london. And professor Timothy Mitchell. Stay with us. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Our guests are Timothy Mitchell of Columbia University, author of the book carbon democracy political power in the age of oil. James marriott is with us. He cowrote the book the oil road journeys from the caspian sea to the city of london. Anna galkina is also with us, with the group, as is james, platform, based in london. Bp plays a huge role, operates this pipeline. Tell me about their history in azerbaijan . Bp first broke into azerbaijan after the soviet union daughter falling apart in some of the first contracts signed in 1992. You will find, bp was actually there before they establish their own relationships with azerbaijan, before the western governments did. Bp already had and office in the capital of azerbaijan before any of the western governments had embassies. They invited the british diplomats to share an office with them. Thethen, bp recruited British State to work on their behalf to help them break into this New Territory and sign contracts. The president of azerbaijan at the time was, as we found out got fromments that we the British Foreign Office Freedom of information legislation, was a big fan of margaret thatcher. Even though she was no longer bpme minister in the u. K. , requested that she be brought over and help sign the contracts. Margaret director thatcher was flown over from hong kong, where she was at the time, to the capital, and personally handed over the signature bonuses to the president and major the contracts were signed. This is part of a pattern that we see around the world where british and american and other western governments act on behalf of their Oil Companies to break into new territories, to sign contracts that will sign away their us Different Countries oil for their profit. British petroleum has quite a sordid history. Recent declassified cia that theyproved overthrew the first democratically elected leader in , on in 1953, most of the behalf of british petroleum, angloamerican oil, which it was called then. Absolutely. We also need to remember now bp is more than just a british company. It is as much an American Company now. More of their shares are listed on the American Market than in britain. James marriott, you were just in new orleans, we were all there. Bp plays a key role in the recent history of new orleans, with the Major Oil Spill three years ago. That is right. Of course, they are still held in the court of public opinion, judged as to whether or not in response to the spill has been taken into account. Our strong feeling would be that , judgment about the risks about the impact of whether or not the production was being done safely was made in the highest level of bp. We can discuss the specific , the ceo of bp until 2005, and then after that. Those folks took specific judgment to cut costs as close to the bone as they could to maximize profitability. It was a trend set in bp strongly from 1995 onwards. Them t cutting made encourage them to take a risk on just how close they could run the project, and they took a calculated risk, and many risks pay off, but this one did not, tragically for the people on the production platform and for the communities on the gulf coast. Calculate at risk and our feeling is they should be held to account personally for the fact that they took this took an personally action which resulted in this tragedy. That is not what is happening in newthe court case orleans. The company itself is being held to account, but not individuals. What do you mean personal risk . Fromts say i need to get downtown to the shops fast. I am in a hurry and they make a judgment as to whether i want to live at a high speed to go through a low speed limit area. I drive my car that way and i kill a kid on the way. I took a risk, took a judgment. Course, i did not want to run over a child, but when i did, the risk did not work out. Court, happens, i go to and if i am found guilty, i go to prison. The company does not go to prison. They took a judgment about how they operate, they cut it close to the bone, the risk did not pay off, and they should be held to account. President obama speaking recently at the general assembly. He said the u. S. Is prepared to use the military to defend our access to oil. The u. S. Is prepared to use all elements of our power, including military force, to secure our core interest in the region. We will confront external aggression against our allies and partners as we did in the gulf war. We will ensure the free flow of energy from the region to the world. That is president obama saying he is prepared to use military force to defend u. S. Access to oil in the middle east. Timothy mitchell, author of carbon democracy political power in the age of oil, in your book, you argue we cannot understand the modern Democratic State without comprehending the centrality of oil. Explain your thesis for us. There is often thought to be a negative relationship between oil and democracy. If you produce a lot of oil, you seem to be undemocratic. What i tried to show is a much more interesting and long history between oil and democracy, and it involves us as much as the countries that depend on the production of oil. The way to think about that is to go back to the history of coal. Without that, we would not have the forms a mass democracy that emerged in the 20th century because it became possible for groups of organized workers to shut down an economy. The dependence on a Single Source of Energy Created for mobility that organized forces in Coal Production to take advantage of. Oil was different. It did not give workers the same opportunity to threaten the productive system, and therefore proved much more difficult to democratize on the basis of oil. Difficult for the country that produced the oil, but also for the countries that began to switch from coal to oil, realizing you could de democratize a country if you became more dependent on oil. Thehe decision to reorient world to oil was a response to counter cold unions in europe . There were many reasons from the turn to oil, including the use of oil for transportation, but among the calculations, during the rebuilding of europe , europe waswar ii strong in the coal industry, and to weaken those kinds of democracies bikini to take place in europe was to undermine them by beginning to replace the basic Energy Infrastructure of europe, to oil, bringing oil from the middle east. The moving of production abroad that we think happened in the 1970s actually began in the 1940s with the kind of the democratizing process as well as those involved in production. You have an interesting chapter called mcjihad in your book. I wrote that initially in response to the u. S. Invasion occupation of afghanistan near that was the time when the u. S. Declare this crusade against forms of militant and jihadist islam. It was a time when people began talking about clashes of civilizations, the west standing for enlightenment and reason and imposing itself to the forms of politicsand represented by islamic radicalism. There is a different history between the u. S. And the forms of political islam. One of the main parts of that relationship has been a Strong Alliance between the u. S. And conservative Islamic Forces, such as those in power in saudi arabia and other parts of the gulf. One has to understand the reason the u. S. Came to depend on and the Democratic Forces to maintain the interesting positions it had in the region to make sense of the rise of radical Islamic Forces in more recent periods. Can you talk about the meeting of the telegram and the United States . 9 11,ore the attacks of when the taliban and first came to power, in afghanistan in the previous decade, the u. S. Was interested in the possibility of working with them. At the time they were inches did in negotiating roots for pipelines from the caspian and Central Asian region. They saw the televangelist someone they could work with. In fact, they made the reference in the state Department Meetings when the taliban visited washington, met with ronald , and they came to texas and met with the bushes. They talked about the taliban as being just like the saudis. These are the people we can work with because we need people who are conservative and can believe in a strict application of islam law. This will create the state that we are interested in. Do you think the afghan war was meant to getting access to the pipelines . Other things happened in between. Of course, a long history before that, u. S. Involvement in theanistan, the funding of mujahedin, the variety of islamic groups prior to the rise of the taliban, in order to bring down a government that it felt was too friendly to the soviet union and embroil the conflict. In those days, it was u. S. Policy. When asked about the mujahedin, he said, what is the big deal with a few rounds of muslims. World, thearound the u. S. Is happy working with conservative Islamic Forces. Here they can come to power professor michel, can you talk about egypt. Front page headlines once again. Scores of addictions being killed in this faceoff between the ousted Muslim Brotherhood and the military regime in power today. You are an expert on egypt. What is happening now . There was a revolution almost three years ago that finally brought down the american supported dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak that had been in power for decades. In the aftermath, the government came to power, headed by the Muslim Brotherhood. The brotherhood was enormously unpopular after a year in office and there were widespread protests against the government. At that point, the military stepped in, carry out a coup and removed it from power. Many of those involved in organizing the protests were unhappy, subsequently, at it short memory violence at which the armed forces had not only imprisonment also killed many hundreds of protesters, supporters of the ousted government. The armed forces seem to think they can return not just to the old system of rules and the government through force and repression, but to do so on a scale that was not seen in the mubarak regime. Of a videorn to part produced by an activist to fight bps attempt to build. When we learned there was a company that would build a factory in our area, we went to talk to the responsible government bodies and we had one question. What is this factory supposed to be . Does it cause harm . On the highways far from the site, we were surprised by an astonishing security is inspiring against us and attacks from lane close informants and police. Our people were arrested. A more we asked, we realize the corporation had security cover from police forces. Egypt,story of bp in what happened with this remarkable defeat, organized by local residents in this community. Build a gas to plant to process the gas that they would extract offshore, off the coast in egypt. Alreadyunity had experienced environmental devastation connected to fossil g had already had a presence. The community knew that they were not going to get all of these wonderful promises that bp came in with. They realized that they did not want another gas plant on their organized andhey occupied the space where bp was going to construct. They showed up and government offices, like we just heard, they broke into offices, they protested, they wrote to various officials and so on. By doing this, they stalled construction for a year and a half. Eventually, bp realized that they were not going to be able to construct, were not going to be doing to make money by constructing their plant there. What we have seen since then, of course, bp is going to try to move along the coast a few miles and try to build their plant in another village. One is inspiring for us was to see that the villagers have now jumped in their trucks and went along the coast to the next village to share their how theye, to share can organize against this happening. How does that play into overall egypt politics and u. S. Relations . There is this joke going around, professor michel, a sad joke, about a little boy asking his father, what is our oil doing under their sand. Could you talk about the u. S. Mission ship to egypt and iraq and other countries. In general, the revolutionary period has seen a Remarkable Development in the terms of Community Organizing that and i was just talking about anna was just talking about. People demanding improvements to quality of life, working conditions, terms of employment. A Strike Movement that goes back to before the revolution. It was one of the most powerful ofects of the wave democratic action in the country over the last several years. The new military government in strikes,shutting down even though a progressive member of the Labor Movement was put in charge. He immediately declared a moratorium on strikes. The u. S. Does not know what to do about the situation in general. They thought it had a nice compromise with the Muslim Brotherhood, the kind of conservative regime that did not pass any progressive labor laws, even though it had been a demand of the revolution. That,s. Was happy with uncertain about the moves the military had taken, do not seem to be producing any kind of political effect. If it continues the way it is, he egypt could be in the situation syria is in, with the armed forces of the state turning to uncontrolled violence against its political opponents. Going to take a break before we come back to this discussion. To make the mitchells book is called carbon democracy political power in the age of oil. James marriott is coauthor of the oil road journeys from the caspian sea to the city of london. Anna galkina is with the Group Platform london. We will be right back. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. It is the 12th anniversary of the occupation of afghanistan. There are major protests and killings going on in egypt are now. The election taking place in azerbaijan. We are talking about oil, gas pipeline politics. What links all of this . Not to mention tar sands protests from canada and the u. S. , the linkages. Over the weekend, there were vigils held around the world to release 28 environmentalists and two journalists racing piracy charges in russia. They are now known as the arctic 30, a change in a greece being action, directed at russias first offshore oil rig last month. The netherlands has filed legal action against russia in a bid to win their release. Timothy mitchell of Columbia University is here, james marriott, and anna galkina from platform london. You are originally from moscow. What is happening with this oil protest . The activists were detained a few days ago, now being held on this piracy charge. This is the first time russia done anything like that obviously, political unrest and detentions and longterm prison sentences are applied against russian activists, citizens on a kind of daily basis, but this is the first time in recent history russia has donanything like this to citizens of other countries. In a way, the story is going to play into International Relations between the government and the west. Talk about Arctic Drilling and why tre is a movement against it. The reagan that the action is directed against is the first to Extraction Oil rather than exploration, in the Russian Arctic seas. It has a dodgy history. The top half of the rig was taken from a decommissioned north Sea Oil Platform which was put onld onto russia and supports which were constructed separately a decade previously in arctic russia. Of thent to play a video arctic sunrise captain from greenpeace, that is the name of the ship, filmed in handcuffs just after russias raid on the ship. In between translations, he describes what happened after the agents descended by helicopter and boarded the ship. They just pushed everyone and left me on the bridge. After a while, they let people go to their cabins. The russian journalists filmed him while this greenpeace activist captain was in handcuffs. That is right. The significance of them being charged with piracy . The russian government is trying to make this about an attack by the west on russian sovereignty. You have seen a trend of this in the past couple of years, in the future road Democracy Movement last year. The russian government has been trying to paint any kind of dissent as much as it can as something done by foreign agents. That is the word that they used. The action by these greenpeace activists is something that is pretty easy for them to paint as a west engage upon our sovereignty, our oil. What we need to understand is this is not simply russia being autocratic. This is also the russian government being run by two Oil Companies whose board and Senior Management are intercoected to the very top of russian government and to power structures such as the fsb, formerly the kgb. James, you have been studying and protesting Oil Companies for a long time. Or you believe in working with Oil Companies on projects and working on deals as some environmental groups to . What do you think people need to know about these Large Companies that control such important resources . The answer to the first question is simply no. We work closely with the communities impacted by oil and gas developments, occasionally with unions within the industry itself. Our job is to highlight the social and environmental and democratic risks and human rights risks of oil and Gas Production globally. The key thing to understand here about the structures is the way in which they interact with not only the provision of energy, but with the wider set of concerns. Timothys book is brilliant looking at the relationship between Oil Production and democratic development, or de democratization, as he put it, in the 21stcentury. There is also the obvious issue about the way that these structures drive toward climate change. To oil company is set up generate a return on capital. Companies like bp your show would not be in production if it was not generating return on cash. The point is, they do these projects to generate a key return on capital andil can provide that. But in the process of doing so, they tried carbon from underneath the ground into the atmosphere. In a sense, they help to create a Conveyor Belt ofbobobobon boto the atmosphere, which drives forward climate change. What people need to understand is we need to radically shift beyond these structures and find another way of Energy Provision which does not drive forward climate change, and at the same time, ideally, a structure of Energy Provision that develops democracy, assists human rights, and does not impact the environment in the way that these systems do. Timothy, what do you mean by carbon democracy . Throughout the last 150 years in industrialized countries and other parts of the world, what democracy is, whether it has been possible, has been related to forms of energy production. Coal, oil, and the other Energy Systems today. In developing, engineering forms of supply of energy, countries are making themselves more or less vulnerable to forms of democratic demand, and credit claim. It shorter narrowly vulnerable in the first half of the 21st century, which is why we saw the rise of mass democracies in based on forms of social welfare, less so in the second half of the 20th century as oil and other producers and their governments found ways to insulate the system from forms of Political Action that it used to be vulnerable to. Now the battles are waged by greenpeace activists in the arctic coast in alaska or over the keystone pipeline, the project to extend it across the United States. These are the sites that are not just about energy and climate change, but also about the forms of democratic policy we will have. Will we have a form of Democratic Politics where we can take on board a concerns about climate collapse, for example . Those who are pushing forward with the socalled unbridled capitalism often support these huge pipeline projects, but they are hardly free enterprise. State subsidies at every level. James marriott, if you could explain that, from tar sands to the major pipelines from the caspian . That is true. There was an interesting interview between the ceo of bp and the Financial Times where he famously said, we can build this pipeline without free public money. A bit of a slip, i think, on his that lied toe gave the point where they crucially needed public money and that they needed it at a low interest rate, and therefore this pipeline in the caucuses was supported by the world bank or and export credit agencies around the world. On that foundation, commercial banks could come behind it. Without that money, it would have been impossible to construct it on the terms at the companies wanted to do to generate a return on capital. We have seen this repeated again and again. There is ant, political and financial construction of another pipeline, a gas pipeline, which would take gas from azerbaijan, turkey, georgia, through reese, albania, into italy, and in the feed into the european grid. It is the euro caspian mega pipeline, a set of three different pipelines. Enough, at the bank of reconstruction in istanbul, the key driver behind this, an individual from bp and azerbaijan, said we cannot do this without public money. Of course he is making a pitch erie this has to be underpinned by money from the puic coffers. Not only because it is dollars, but it is state that dollars. Of italy,dit agencies germany, and so on, would support an Infrastructure Project in the event of a seenem, such that we have where populations push for their own democratic control. What most surprised you in researching the oil road . What most surprised me was the way in which the same substance, this crude oil, which is the same substance that passes through a pipeline in the caucuses and through a pipeline in western europe, it has a completely different impact on the populations it passes through. In the caucuses, it is a securitize court or. It is a militarized corridor. In italy, austria, germany, it is not. Therefore, its impact, the same material, the impact of the people that live alongside it is totally different. We are so blind to the impact that it has in the first part of its transit. We have to leave it there. James marriott is coauthor of the book the oil road journeys from the caspian sea to the city of london. Carbon democracy political power in the age of is Timothy Mitchells book. And a coconut also with us from platform london. Is also with us from platform london. Tavis good evening. From los angeles, i am tavis smiley. Tonight a conversation with luis gutierrez. He has just published a candid new memoir called still dreaming. Then jeanne tripplehorn. She is currently starring in criminal minds. We are glad you joined us. Those conversations are coming up now. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. He is the son of were to reagan parents. Rican written puerto parents. He has written a memoir called still dreaming. Good to have you on this program. What do you make of what is happening a few miles down the road in d. C. . I went to congress to expand. Pportunities our goal is to make sure everyone has access to wha everything. Im not going to let them use the budget to stop people in my community from having what they have in congress. Tavis it appears john weiner has done his heels in even more adamantly. How much worse is it going to get . I think its going to get worse before it gets better. Of the most bitter. Gliness in the United States if you see us in the gym getting ready to go to work in the morning, if you see us at lunch together, it is night and day. So many people want to put this behind us. Lets hope the leadership can take us there. The battle,in for and i think im in for a battle a right. E as democrats, one republican for the Affordable Care act, and we didnt take them out. They took them out. They have never wanted to expand health care for americans. This fight is about making sure government is on your side, and i think it is important we keep this fight. Party thatt this the always talks about respect for the law . It is law of the land. The Supreme Court has upheld it. What happened to the notion of at least respect and the rule of law in america . They have a new philosophy, and that is that the small group