her entire family in the strike. the amidst tensions over north korea's nuclear test, 51 countries have signed a new united nations treaty to ban nuclear weapons. >> today we rightfully celebrate the milestone. now we must continue along the hard roads towards the nuclear arsenals. amy: thousands gathered in washington, d.c. come to celebrate the life of the legendary comedian and human rights activist dick gregory, who passed away last month at the age of 84. among them, malcolm x's daughter. >> he raised his voice for malcolm and dr. king and medgar evers and all of the others who were slain by bullies, by bigots , because they could not do so for themselves. amy: we will hear the voices of ,he children of the legend martin luther king, junior, richard pryor, malcolm x, and medgar evers, among others. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the trump administration ordered new sanctions thursday against north korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program, promising to squeeze north korean industries and cut off the country's access to the international banking system. trump said china had agreed to participate in the sanctions -- a potentially major step, since china is north korea's main trading partner -- though chinese officials declined to confirm whether trump's claim was true. the new sanctions come after trump mocked north korean leader kim jong un as "rocket man" during a speech at the u.n. general assembly, threatening to totally destroy north korea, a nation of million people. 25 on friday, korean state television read a statement attributed to kim in which he called trump a frightened dog and a gangster fond of playing with fire. >> i will surely indefinitely tame the mentally deranged u.s. dotted with fire. amy: north korea also said kim was considering a plan to explode a hydrogen bomb over the pacific ocean in response to u.s. provocations. in the caribbean, the death toll from hurricane maria rose to 32 as the hurricane's eye barreled towards the islands of turks and caicos as a category 3 storm. in puerto rico, where local newspaper reported 15 people have died, governor -- the governor has imposed a dusk to dawn curfew for saturday. islandwide blackouts have made it ethical for recovery work is to survey the damage, but parts of puerto rico were left underwater in what many compared to last month's flooding in texas from hurricane harvey. president trump told reporters puerto rico had been totally obliterated and said he is planning a visit to the island. in mexico come the death toll from the massive earthquake outside mexico city has risen to 273. rescue workers worked around the clock to search for anyone trapped alive in as many as 10 buildings around the capital city. at the united nations, signatories to the iran nuclear agreement sought thursday to shore up the landmark deal after president trump suggested he is seeking to renegotiate the deal and withdraw u.s. entirely. this is the german foreign minister. how are we going to convince countries like north korea that international agreements provide them with security and in so doing, make them commit to further disarmament efforts if the only international example are such an endeavor thing successful, the agreement with iran, no longer has affect? amy: iraq's military has launched a u.s.-backed offensive against isis in the northern city of hawija. the u.n. warns as many as 85,000 people could be displaced by the fighting, and the aid group save the children says up to 30,000 children are in extreme danger. the group's deputy director said children were already suffering terribly under isis with food, water, and medicine in short supply, adding -- "now families face a terrible choice of staying put as fighting intensifies, or risking their lives to flee on foot for up to 12 hours through minefields and snipers, then wade across a river to reach safety." in yemen, amnesty international is reporting that the bomb that destroyed a residential building in the capital sana'a last month, killing 16 civilians and injuring 17 more, was made in the usa. amnesty international's arms expert analyzed remnants of the weapon and found clear markings that matched u.s.-made components used in laser-guided air-dropped bombs. the attack severely injured a five-year-old child, whose five brothers and sisters were among the seven children killed in the strike. we'll have more on the amnesty report and the u.s.-backed saudi-led war on yemen after headlines. "the new york times" reports the trump administration is preparing to dismantle rules limiting cia and military drone strikes and commando raids outside of conventional battlefields. the plan would remove so-called high-level vetting of proposed raids and drone strikes and would allow for the assassination of low-level foot-soldiers. in new delhi, india, protesting against the hindu nationalist government to deport some 40,000 rohingya refugees for the burmese army is carrying out a widescale ethnic cleansing. the protest came as india's up in court hears a challenge to the plan, which is backed by prime minister narendra modi. at the united nations general assembly, bangladesh's leader laid out a plan thursday to begin repatriating 800,000 rohingya, more than half of whom have fled to bangladesh since august 25. prime minister sheikh hasina said the u.n. should set up safe zones in burma for returning refugees. thee are horrified to see myanmar authorities are laying landmines along their stretch of the border to prevent the rohingyas from returning to million mark. these people must be able to return in safety and dignity. amy: in recent days, bangladeshi authorities have sharply restricted the movements of rohingya refugees, telling them they can't leave their makeshift camps, ordering drivers not to transport rohingya, and landlords not to rent to them. in india, reporter covering political strife in the northeast state of tripura was stabbed and beaten to death wednesday as he reported on a road blockade by a political party representing indigenous tribal people. shantanu bhowmick is at least the second journalist murdered in india in recent weeks. earlier this month, gauri lankesh, a prominent journalist and outspoken critic of right-wing hindu nationalism, was assassinated on her doorstep. the philippines, tens of thousands of protesters raled in cities acss the philippines ursday warning that president rodrigo terte was on t brink of imposing a diatorship. the mass protests came on e 45th anniversary of nationwide milita rule imposed by forr dictator ferdinand marcos. organizers pledged that future anti-duterte rallies will be even bigger. >> it is the biggest rally so far of the use and the people. they are about to get bigger. the government is bound to get more isolated and exposed amongst the people and soon will be ousted. amy: president duterte has already declared martial law over the philippines' mindanao region, and he's threatened to expand bloody soalled war on drugs that's seen police and vigilantes kill at least 12,500 people since duterte took office last year. in france, tens of thousands of union members marcd through the streets of paris thursday, protesting president emmanuel macron's plans to roll back labor protections by presidential decree. macron is looking to give employers more power to set working conditions and wants to roll back pension and employment insurance benefits. states, theunited authors of a republican senator that would repeal the affordable care act are set to square off monday evening in a live 90 minute debate on cnn with vermont independent senator bernie sanders who is countering with the universal health care plan to bring medicare to every american. also joining the debate will be minnesota democratic senator amy klobuchar, who has not endorsed the sanders bill. and washington, d.c., three children of japanese americans who were interned during world war ii have asked the u.s. supreme court to reject the trump administration's ban on refugees and travelers from six majority-muslim nations. karen korematsu, holly yasui, and jay hirabayashi filed an amicus brief monday arguing the travel ban violates the constitution. in 1944, their fathers were litigants in korematsu v. united states, an unsuccessful supreme court challenge to president franklin d. roosevelt's mass incarceration of 120,000 japanese americans. in sports news, medical investigators who examined the brain of former new england patriots tight end aaron hernandez said the nfl star had the most severe case of a brain injury known as cte that researchers had ever seen in someone so young. hernandez hanged himself last april in a prison cell after he was convicted of murder. cte, which is caused by repetitive head trauma, has been linked to memory loss, depression, impulsivity, and aggression. a recent study in the journal of the american medical association found that of 111 nfl players whose brains were studied, 110 of them had signs of cte. in labor news, hundreds of employees of vice media have voted to unionize. thursday's announcement brings the number of unionized staffers and freelancers who work on vice's website and cable tv programs to 430. in st. louis, missouri, hundreds of protesters rallied outside a billy joel concert thursday evening in the latest protest against last week's acquittal of white former police officer jason stockley for the murder of 24-year-old african american anthony lamar smith. the latest protest came after press freedom groups condemned last weekend's arrest of mike faulk, a 31-year-old reporter for the "st. louis post-dispatch" newspaper, who was charged sunday with failure to disperse after police kettled him along with a group of about 100 protesters. a photo of faulk's arrest shows him with his press badge clearly visible on a lanyard around his neck. st. louis mayor lyda krewson criticized her city's police department for its aggressive handling of demonstrations after officers were seen marching in formation while chanting, "whose streets? our streets!" and after police chief lawrence o'toole said police "owned tonight." nevertheless, krewson says she has confidence in the police chief. hundreds of black students marched into cornell university's willard straight hall on wednesday afternoon and occupied the building for several hours after delivering a list of demands to the university's president in a protest reminiscent of the 1969 takeover of the same building. more than 300 marchers, led by black students united, silently climbed three flights of stairs in day hall and handed a list of demands to president martha pollack, who had met with bsu earlier in the day. the protesters, the majority of whom were black and most of whom were people of color, were responding in part to the assault on friday of a black cornell student who said a group of white men called him the n-word and bloodied him by repeatedly punching him in the face in collegetown. two weeks prior to the occupation, a resident of the latino living center reported hearing chants of "build a wall" from a nearby fraternity, zeta psi. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show in yemen, where a new investigation reveals a bomb that killed 16 civilians in yemen's capital last month was made in the usa. at least 17 more were injured when their residential building was destroyed in a direct hit. among the survivors was five-year-old buthaina, whose photograph went viral in the aftermath of the strike. she lost her entire family in the strike. amnesty international's arms expert analyzed remnants of the weapon and found clear markings that matched u.s.-made components used in laser-guided air-dropped bombs. the august 25 air strike hit a group of homes, severely damaging three of them, and killing seven children including all five of buthaina's brothers and sisters. coalition airstrikes continue to be the leading cause of child casualties, as well as overall civilian casualties. the latest finding by amnesty comes as some member countries of the european union countries recently tabled a motion at the u.n. human rights council calling for an independent inquiry into human rights abuses committed by all sides in the conflict. the u.n. high commissioner for human rights has called the humanitarian crisis in yemen an entirely man-made catastrophe. for more, we're joined in washington, d.c., by raed jarrar, the advocacy director for the middle east and north africa at amnesty international usa. welcome back to democracy now! tell us what amnesty found in its report. >> as you mentioned, there was an attack on august 25. it got the attention -- what amnesty found is the weapon that was used in that attack was a u.s. laserguided bomb. we found that out with collaboration with local yemeni ofrnalist who took pictures the site, took pictures of the remains of the bomb parts, shrapnel, other parts the journalists found. and sent it to our team. our experts look into these photos and determined that some of these parts are definitely linked to a u.s.-made laserguided bomb. significant for a couple of reasons. the first one is that this links the u.s. directly to what appears to be a violation of international law, maybe a war crime, that needs to be investigated. and the other reason is that this particular incident is such a high-profile incidents that having a documented u.s. role in it will have an effect on how yemenis and people in the region and the error world will view the u.s. role there. it will explosives how involved, how directly involved united states is in the war in yemen. amy: can you talk about this direct hit that happened, who buthaina is, the five-year-old girl, and what exactly happened to her family? >> there was so much attention in the air world because there was a tv interview. some tv reporter went to the hospital to check on her. whois a five-year-old girl just came out of this huge attack that killed 17 civilians, including her entire family. so the reporter talks to family. she answers with her innocence, she says her family went to heaven. she tries to open her eyes, but she can't open them because she is injured. so she uses her fingers to open her eyelids. and that one picture of her opening her eyelids with her little fingers ended up being this iconic photo. it went viral. it is a symbolic photo of a child seeing the world, let people talk about the famous eyes seeing the world through famous eyes. it got a lot of attention in the airborne and social media and even in mainstream media. we knew all along that it was the saudi-led coalition. was behind the attack. the saudi led coalition issued a statement admitting they hit the house. according to them, it was a technical error. they said they were going to investigate themselves. everyone who has been following the alleged investigation, nothing has happened. there are no signs that saudi arabia or other countries involved in the coalition has been taking any steps towards investigating themselves or holding anyone accountable. and that is why amnesty international is calling for an international investigation into what happened, into this particular incident and into other incidents that appears to be violations of international law by all parties, including the saudi-led coalition. amy: how did you access the shrapnel in order to identify the bomb that killed buthaina's whole family? >> a local yemeni journalist took pictures of the building. went through the rubble and dugout parts of the shrapnel and took pictures of them and sent them to amnesty international, to our team. and so what our team of experts ofnd was a small piece computer board, a motherboard, that is linked to guided missiles. so u.s. laserguided bombs. they identified that it is 100% linked to u.s.-made guided bombs. so the information came through the local journalists and analysis happen through our team of experts. amy: can you talk about the larger role of the u.s., this being one example? inthe u.s. is very involved the war in yemen. the u.s. is very involved in multiple armed conflicts in the middle east region. cases,olvement, in some our direct involvement, like we have seen the u.s. direct compartment -- one bartman and ground troop involvement in iraq and syria in other parts of the middle east. in yemen, u.s. involvement has been very significant through since a -- selling weapons, saudi led coalition. also through other ways such as fighter jets of the saudi-led coalition. and also providing them with intelligence and targeting information. so there is a lot of involvement there. this involvement -- and that is one of the other points of amnesty international, is we have made this point over and over again, that this is not only about saudi arabia or emirates or other members of the saudi-led coalition committing war crimes or violations of international law. the trump administration, the u.s. government, is also complicit in these violations of international law, including war crimes because they are selling weapons to countries knowing these weapons will be used for violations. knowing these weapons will be used to kill civilians. so that is one of the important angles is that this is not only an action that will requiring because of violations of a third-party, it actually constitutes a violation by the u.s. government and the u.s. has to abide not only by international law in this regard, but also by u.s. a law. there u.s. laws and regulations that prohibit the u.s. from transferring weapons to other countries when we have enough suspicion or knowledge that the weapons will be used for gross violations are war crimes. -- war were crimes. so it is a very serious involvement. u.s. involvement in yemen is extremely serious. --hink now that we have can confirmed this iconic attack that has killed buthaina's family, that this attack also resembles or is also an example of the u.s. involvement by supplying saudi arabia with the weapons, which were used to kill civilians, i think it should be another -- there should be another push to demand that the trump administration immediately to thell weapon sales saudi-led coalition. this is something that can happen and should happen immediately. that no more weapons are sold to saudi arabia or any other members of the coalition because we have to stop the supply of topons that are being used kill civilians. amy: can you talk about the resolution that was presented to the u.n. human rights council by the dutch calling for a new entity? this was tabled? that would investigate what is going on. >> the resolution was tabled. it should be voted on either next thursday or friday. the resolution, in paragraph eight, it establishes a new international body that would crimes, anyany war violations of international humanitarian law or international law in yemen for the last few years. notrtunately, the u.s. is supportive of that resolution, either. the u.s. seems to be trying to push another resolution that has been introduced by a number of other countries, including saudi arabia. and that other resolution tries importance ofhe investigating crimeor alleged crimes of violations through the local and regional body. and the idea of relying on saudi arabia to investigate itself doesn't sound bad as a principle, but it actually isn't working. there are no -- or is no evidence that saudi arabia has been able to investigate itself and its violations by itself. and that is why many countries and many international organizations, including amnesty international, have been calling for the establishment for this international inquiry. so it will be a close vote if the vote happens there say or friday. it is going to be close. i think out of the 47 members of the human rights council, it is a must split now. we're all watching very closely. that it will pass. because having an international body to investigate these war tomes is extremely important hold individuals and governments who have committed violations, to hold them accountable and to ensure that future attacks will also be investigated and any potential crimes will not go unpunished. amy: raed jarrar, thank you for being with us, advocacy director for the middle east and north africa at amnesty international. later in the broadcast, we will look at the nuclear ban that over 50 countries have signed onto, the nuclear weapons ban. gathert up, thoands outside washington, d.c., to remember the human rights activist and comedian dick gregory. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: ayanna gregory, daughter of the late dick gregory, seeing a dick gregory celebration of life last saturday. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. this past saturday, thousands gathered at the city of praise in landover, maryland, to celebrate the life of legendary comedian and human rights activist dick gregory, who passed away on august 19 at the age of 84. in the early 1960's gregory became one of the most popular comedians in the country, paving the way for generations of african-american comedians. he was the first african-american comedian to sit on the couch of "the tonight show," then hosted by jack parr. as his popularity grew, so did his activism. in 1967, dick gregory ran for mayor of chicago against the infamous richard daley. he was a close friend of reverend martin luther king jr., and in 1968 dick gregory ran for president against richard nixon. he also became well known for his hunger strikes for justice. a 1967, he began a public fast starting thanksgiving day to protest the war in vietnam. 40 days later, he broke his fast with a hearty glass of fruit juice. he weighed 97 pounds. in the summer of 1968, he fasted for 45 days as a show solidarity with native americans. the following summer, he did another 45 day fast in protest of de facto segregation in the chicago public schools. in 1970, gregory went 81 days without food to bring attention to the drug problem in america. a getting a 1971, he went nearly three years without solid food. again, to protest the war. during that fast, he ran 900 miles from chicago to washington, d.c. during the iran hostage crisis, he traveled to tehran in an effort to raise free to hostages in the northern ireland to advise hunger striking ira prisoners. hunger,ampaign against he traveled to ethiopia more than 10 times. or recently come his face appeared in newspapers across the country for his community action approach to investigate allegations behind the cia's connection with drugs in the african-american community. he camped out in dealer-ridden public parks and rallied community leaders to shut down head shops. he protested at cia headquarters and was arrested. throughout his life, dick gregory has been a target of fbi and police surveillance. and he was virtually banned from the entertainment arena for his political activism. well, saturday's six-hour celebration of dick gregory featured passionate speeches and musical tributes. the program booklet also included letters from former president barack obama, the national newspaper publishers association, the naacp, and the congressional black caucus. we turn now to some of those who gathered to remember dick gregory. we hear from the children of the legends, martin luther king, junior, richard pryor, malcolmx, medgar evars. we begin with reverend william barber, president and senior lecturer of repairers of the breach. >> to anyone who thinks justice in in justice is final, the joke is on you. salms says the would get plot against the godly may snarl at them in defiance, but the lord just laughs. for he sees their day of judgment coming. dick gregory knew this. he was a free man, never lost his humanity. he was a political and comedic satirist of the highest order. actresser said humorist dick gregory was a man of many words whose fighting spirit helped transform america. he was known for his off-the-cuff no holds barred humor. he could captivate any crowd with his cool, but passionate, demeanor. he said that he openly refused to shy away from stinging subjects, but often reminded people that humor was not enough . it was a vehicle, but not enough. he said humor can no more find a solution to raise problems than it can cure cancer. we did not laugh hitler's out of existence, he once said. in a time when dissenting opinion this writer set on race and discrimination could put a little target -- little target on your back. he said it like you sought, but then he did it. marching for voting rights, performing at benefits for civil rights groups. he was even shot in the leg while serving as a piece maker during the 1965 right in los angeles. i love that. racism,once said about he said, hold lots of americans got that attitude. we tolerate it because you can hide your feelings behind policies. that is why we got to work to flesh this whole thing out. gregory understood that racism was far more than whether or not you had a black friend. his laughter was a battle cry. his jokes were not merely for entertainment and money, but for empowerment and movement building. his laughter and his comedy was a bold critique. his satire was fearless and bold as he challenged america's original sin of genocide and racism and war. he boldly went where other comedians refused to go. but his comedy was not only a battle cry in a bold critique, his comedy and his laughter was a bomb in gilead. it helped to heal the wounds and slavery by the violent vestiges and racism and poverty and war. his comedy helped us live through and make it through a psychic trauma. he was a genius. he was brilliant. his comedy was not mere buffoonery. he gave us backbone. and when you listen to dick gregory's comedy, you were not hearing a performer, but a prophet. phets of the pro bible were sarah's. when jeremiah put iron yoke around his neck to show the nation how foolish it was to do wrong, he was being a comedic satirist. it was comedic. it was satirical genius when jesus said of the hypocrites of his day, when you try to be outside, butthe you heard people on the inside, it is just like having graves that you make real white but inside of them, they are full of dead men's bones. when jesus in his day set of hypocrites, you try to be religious, but you leave undone love, mercy, and justice, that is committed genius. and dick gregory was prophetic. in fact, i want to channel my energy gregory. if he was commenting today, he might just say, you know, president gives like babies in texas the other day. say he is not a racist or a white supremacist. dick might say, we don't need to remember the alamo, we need remember the okey doe. because when you kiss a black baby in texas while you're trying to take babies health care in d.c., when you kiss a black baby in texas are stealing their voting rights in d.c., when you kiss a baby or brown baby in texas but you are stealing their immigrant rights in d.c., that is the okie doe. or if i was to channel my inner dick gregory, i can hear him saying to some parts of white america, we poor black folks and white folks better come together and stop voting for these people lying to you about tax cuts and his extremism when all they're going to do is give more tax cuts to the greedy will stop you better learn how to work with black folks and brown folks because when they get all of your money and give it to the corporation and you lose your jobs and can't pay your light bill, just remember, we all black in the dark. [laughter] i am just saying. gregory -- dick gregory's comedy was prophetic. it cut to the truth, challenged lies, exposed racism as a form of societal insanity and made a fool of jim crow. he wasn't performing. he was preaching. he made you want to leave the comedy club and get in the fight for justice. >> when our mothers and fathers decide to change the world, and they do, there are places -- their places in history are cemented. and they are among our most reveredand legends, picking up the mantle to fight for justice are the children of the way makers and the freedom fighters we hold so dear. so please put your hands ain pryor,o welcome r the daughter of richard pryor. >> i am honored to be here in sharing this day of celebration ancestor, brother dick gregory. i remember the first three books by father ever gave me. revolutionary suicide. malcolm x and nigger. i was to read them and understand them well. the shea of feel our ancestors. [applause] feel his family, hit all of the admirers that are here. prolificick gregory, activist, wielding truth likings wield swords, his words poignant, funny, painful, awakening, joyce, like that of ancient who float on ancestral drums heard in the rhythm of our hearts. life. a part of my prior since i was old enough to understand and listen with a whole heart to the stories that made our eyes water and power side split from masterful and master field lips that poured out truth libations. troops that were soul food, troops that were so we can live by their words. father gregory would tell me tonk truth wesley them choose your words like the great ancestral wordsmiths without getting drunk on its lies. told about us and told about them. be who you say. it doesn't matter what she they's have to say. so today as we honor our newest iconic ancestor and stand with the gregory family, let us all remember what the real meaning of caring the legacy means. caring the legacy is not for us to become, not for us to morph into, not for us to imitate the greatness. the legacy is to always speak our highest truth and become better than their greatness. better than what they carved out , edged, and reaped into this life. it is to recall their spirit and those of the ancestors. ourkeep them listed in actions as we become the change they sought, as we become the words that they wrote. legacy is what runs through our veins and every manifestation that we touch. as he would've wanted, let us celebrate and live up his legacy so that they can keep growing their wings. and as we say in my tradition when magic touches both earth and sky -- [applause] >> daughter of medgar evers. >> though they were not blood brothers, my father and dick gregory were brothers of the spiritual part. [applause] they connected on the intellectual level. they connected emotionally, especially when he came to our mississippi.on, welcome back, mark, if you ever go back to jackson. i remember the times of heated peals ofns and laughter. because my father had a wicked sense of humor. and dick gregory brought out every wicked strain he had. [laughter] remember there was had a heated they d andssion over the n-wor where it was appropriate and how to use it and how to own it or disown it. i found out later in my 20's when at one function that we attended with dick gregory -- he ."nnot to me and said, "girl i said, "i'm here, i'm here." "come here steps it down." he said, "i want to tell you about your dad and i want to tell you the promise i made him. i'm your godfather. and i said, "what?" wouldd, "i promised him i protect you and i would help you move up in life. and that is not moving that financially, that is spiritual. that is understanding what humanity is all about." so i have special memories of laughter, but always of knowledge. always of feeling from the heart, determination to make things right. >> martin luther king iii. >> he has been a friend really to a lot of us. but he was a mentor to me, like a father figure. having lost my father at 10 years old, not having an opportunity to have adult conversations, but having the opportunity to have many with dick gregory. many of those words, those deeds i will never forget. i think it is for interesting that when dick gregory transitioned on that day in august, that on that same day in the state were his children were raised and wife lives in massachusetts, there was the largest to missed ration for peace and justice and human rights on the day that he went home to live with god. interestings very that just yesterday in the city of st. louis were dick gregory was born, that there were protesters protesting about the death of an african-american who had been killed by police. and probably what went unnoticed was most of those protesters were white americans. even they realize that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. malcolm x.hter of five sisters,f my i am humbled and honored to be here with you on this special day as we celebrate the life of this extraordinary man, dick gregory. , dickike our fathers gregory stood up to the power structure to reclaim truth and justice for his people. and when it was time to clarify who took brother malcolm's life, it was dick gregory who rose to the occasion. [applause] and when it was time to clarify who assassinated dr. martin luther king, it was dick gregory who rose to the occasion. [applause] he raised his voice for malcolm and dr. king and medgar evers and all of the others who work ,lang by bullies, by bigots because they could not do so for themselves. when this new generation of powerful voices reminded the world that black lives matter -- [applause] it was yet again baba dig gregory who stood by them and spoke truth to power whether you like him or not. we know that dick gregory was a comedian, intellectual, and we know that he was funny. we are -- so extraordinary about him was his willingness to share his story, but not just any sto, engaging story that informed, entertained, and empowers his listeners. it was his ability to criticize us because he loved us. and like my father he saw himself in us. educated.d and miss shortly after my mother passed away in 1997, my sisters and i attended a gathering with distinctive african-american leaders, maya angelou, coretta, dick gregory amongst them. i was sitting quiet and dick gregory came over to me and started talking. he said, "ilyasa, have ever told you about my magic glasses?" justid, "one day i was walking in the forest minding my business and i saw something glistening in the grass. so i bid down to get a closer look and it looks like magic. it was a pair of glasses that illuminated light. but before i could catch these spiritses, "he said, "a surrounded me and the spirit don't take of those glasses. because if you do, you will see images that will consume you. pain and injustices your stomach will not contain. your heart will pound through your head and will be no turning back. criminal sins of injustice committed against humanity. looking through these glasses will change the course of your career and require you to act and share the gospel. dick gregory explained that meeting my father acted as a lens, which identified what he could do in this quest. you see, before malcolm's life was taken from us, he said, at the heart of our plight was not race, but economic injustice. said, we mustry ensure the economic system is just and fair or the masses of our people will continue to remain trapped and lingering on the periphery of economic justice and opportunity. >> congresswoman maxine waters. >> we're all here to celebrate tributeife and to pay to his extraordinary contributions, not only to his family and his friends, but to our society, to this country, to the world. heardday, you have all over and over again about all of his tremendous and awesome talent. you have heard about his genius. you have heard and you know about his civil rights advocacy, his politics, humor, his wisdom, vision, and uncanny ability to dissect personalities, events, national and international problems, and occurrences. for hours with dick and he would come with stacks of newspapers from all over the world. and we would talk -- no, he would talk. i would listen. and he would explain to me what was really going on in the world in his own fashion. and he taught me to look twice at people. he taught me to pay attention. because he said, you can't always pay attention to what they say, it's what they do. and so i listened, i paid attention, and because of that, it has brought me to a time and place in my life where i have taken off the gloves. [applause] decided that i have no fear. i decided that i don't want to be safe. i am not looking for who likes me and who does not like me. us to walkfor all of in the walk of dick gregory. did you like him? did you love him? did you care about him? if you like tim, if you love him, if you cared about him, you have to stock being weak. you have to stop speaking that which you don't mean. you just got grinning. it is time to stand up and deal with the problems of this country. amy: caucus member maxine waters reading saturday at the city of praise family ministry in landover, maryland, as she addressed thousands among so many others at the celebration of the life of legendary comedian and human rights activist dick gregory who passed away on august 19 at the age of 84. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org. among those who honored him, stevie wonder. ♪ [music break] amy: stevie wonder singing at dick gregory's memorial service last saturday. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. amid tensions over north korea's nuclear and missile tests, president donald trump told the u.n. general assembly tuesday that the united states would totally destroy north korea, a country of 26 million people. then on wednesday, 51 countries signed a new treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons. the united nations calls it the world's first legally-binding treaty banning nuclear weapons. it prohibits the development, testing, and possession of nuclear weapons, as well as using or threatening to use these weapons. the treaty is set to take effect 90 days after it was ratified. it was first adopted in july by 122 u.n. member states, despite heavy u.s. opposition. none of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons signed the measure. those countries are the united egg, russia britain, china, , france, india, pakistan, north korea, and israel. for more, we're joined by susi snyder, nuclear disarmament program manager for the netherlands-based group pax, and author of the report, "don't bank on bomb." welcome to democracy now! talk about what happened this week at the u.n.. >> 50 countries said, we ultimately reject nuclear weapons. we find them completely illegitimate and we're willing to sign the first treaty that makes them totally illegal. this is the first 50. that are 42 in an hour. it is the first time that nuclear weapons are categorically prohibited. this is new and it is an effective measure that responsible countries are taking to make sure to reduce nuclear dangers. amy: what is that mean exactly? what does it mean to adopt it and now to sign it and what happens with ratification? >> every country has a ratification process that is a little different. adopting this treaty is part of national law. there are already 115 countries that have rejected nuclear weapons and regional agreements. we expect a lot of those will be able to ratify quickly. all the way through this process, countries have been condemning nuclear weapons because they are inhumane, catastrophic effects. this is a humanitarian treaty that is rooted in international humanitarian law, the law of war, saying nuclear weapons cannot be possessed or used or even the threat of nuclear weapons is illegal. that is a positive step for us. you'll see 50 ratifications in the coming year or so. enter intoeaty will force. amy: what does it mean the nuclear countries, none of them participated? >> it is unfortunate, especially since five them are required by the nonproliferation treaty to negotiate nuclear disarmament. they did not do that. they are missing an opportunity. the countries that led this process recognize that it is the impact of nuclear weapons it when you do talk about them as weapons, not as tools. that is what reframed the debate, reframed the discussion. and the impact it will have on the nuclear armed state is we are strengthening a norm and making the weapons illegitimate. that has led historically to disarmament. amy: you are author of "don't bank on bomb." >> it works with the financial sector to stop investment in nuclear weapon producing company will stop at a great announcement from a bank in new york here on the day of the signing that said, hey, we don't have any investment in nuclear weapons producers because we find it illegitimate. that is the first u.s. bank bank we know of that has made such an announcement. this is one of the things that will have a big impact on making sure the production of weapons, nuclear weapons, stops. amy: who are the forces he hide this nuclear ban? >> it is been a coalition of nongovernmental organizations through the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, governments spend about -- about 120 governments have been emphatic about this. an international committee of the red cross and red crescent of talked about the humanitarian consequences of this weapon. amy: what about the fact this is happening iran as well as threatening the country of north korea? >> that is deplorable. that type of activity is what this treaty seeks to end. the iran deal -- it is a good deal. it stops the iranian nuclear program. the activities of north korea, there should've been a negotiation directly with north korea to make a similar deal. we missed that opportunity. there needs to be direct negotiations that we don't get into war. amy: thank you, susi snyder, for joining us, nuclear disarmament program manager for the group pax, based in the netherlands, and author of the report, "don't bank on bomb." that does it for our broadcast. be speakingz will next week in kansas city. i will be speaking and when it had, canada. go to democracynow.org for a complete listing. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] - have you ever gone on vacation and come back wishing you hadn't gone quite so off the rail? well, it doesn't have to be like that. i'll show you how to transform your holiday into an opportunity to bring home new flavors to inspire your healthy life. today's dishes are all ideas i brought back from my spring break in the islands. jerk pork loin with mango-cucumber salsa caribbean chickpea curry wraps and for dessert, grilled pineapple with coconut whipped cream so let's bring the good times home together, right now, on ellie's real good food. (lively spanish guitar music)

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