has used this line to insult elizabeth warren. and during the campaign when he did it, he also faced criticism. so with that in mind, what do you think why then do you think the president brought this up during this event to honor navaho code talkers? well, it appears that he, like many individuals, takes every opportunity to take a swipe at his opponents, and unfortunately, has not learned the lesson that is, indeed, insulting to the very racial group that from which these code talkers have come. my prayer is that he sees this as an opportunity to make a change in that, that the repeated calls of not only tribal leaders but also national american indian organizations is heeded by the white house.
and joining me now is environmental activist erin brockovich, known for the oscar-winning movie named after her. you ve seen this damage firsthand. you recently met with the navaho nation leaders and the farmers affected by this spill. tell me what it is like out there right now. it s actually really concerning. unless you re there, you don t get the magnitude of what s happening. a spill in the river had been leaking years before they had a breach. and it continues to leak. and they re really giving out false information that the water is all clear. and it s not. when you get out to the navaho nation and they re starting to do their own independent testing, because there s such a breach in trust, and they re still getting levels that aren t even acceptable for the livestock. so the farmers have shut off irrigation, they feel a great despair, a lot of angst. and they re not getting any
water source but also the people s livelihood. so this water, this river is our lifeline. all the people that live up and down the river, 215 miles long, is a lifeline of this nation, the navaho people. and we are devastated because of what took place. and we have we have yet to get some very clear answers. we haven t received any of that yet. right now everything is we re in the unknown. and that is really quite unsettling for our people and even though the people are saying the water well, first said the water is clearing up up there at the mouth of the dam. we went up there. vice president and myself, we went to the base of the mound. we saw that it wasn t clearing up. in fact, it was yellow like orange juice, like mustard color. and we went up to the mouth of the mine. we look inside the mine where
what toxins are in the river. and it didn t come from the epa. the southern indians are the ones that informed us this toxic spill took place. heavy metal, lead, arsenic, stays in the water and settles. that is exactly right. it stays in the water. we have had a community that pulled together with state and local and navaho nations helping pour water in the river and dilute but it does settle. we will have probably a second round of the toxins once it snows and that melts into the river. what is your understanding for why this happened, governor? they were trying to there was a leakage in an old mine in colorado. while the leakage was taking place they were trying to plug and seal it. instead the plug actually failed