Gun he used on sunday. I know there are a lot of questions about the fbi system and how the person got the weapons. I continue for the four purchases he made, they did the required checks in the was no prohibited information in the systems that we checked to show he could not have purchased that firearm. Amy we will take a look at the link between Mass Shootings and Domestic Violence with soraya. Hemaly and with mariame kaba then bestselling chilean writer Isabel Allende has a new novel out called in the midst of winter. The final mention of any work of literature is to connect people and the make us understand how other people feel, what other people want. If i could achieve that in the year of trump, ive done a lot, actually. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. New details have emerged about sundays mass shooting at the First Baptist church in sutherland springs, texas, which killed 26 people, including children, elderly, a pregnant woman. The suspected shooter was a 26yearold white man named Devin Patrick kelley from new braunfels, texas. Kelley enlisted in the u. S. Air force in 2010. In 2012, he was courtmartialed on charges he repeatedly hit, and choked kicked, his wife, pointed a loaded gun at her, and attacked his stepson with such force that it broke the toddlers skull. Kelley was confined for a year and then thrown out of the air force with a bad conduct discharge in 2014. But on monday, the air force admitted it had failed to report kelleys Domestic Violence courtmartial to a federal database, meaning kelley had no problem buying a ruger ar556 assaultstyle rifle at an Academy Sports and outdoors store in san antonio, texas, in 2016. He reportedly used this gun to massacre the 26 people on sunday. On monday, authorities also said kelley appears to have carried out the massacre because of a domestic dispute he had with his motherinlaw, who was a member of the First Baptist church but was not present on sunday. He apparently killed his grandmother in law. This is a spokesman for the Texas Department of public safety. One thing Everyone Wants to know is, why did this happen . It is a senseless crime. We can tell you there was a domestic situation within this family. The suspects motherinlaw attended this church. We know he had made threatening she had received threatening text from him. We cant go to detail about the domestic situation that is continuing to be vetted and thoroughly investigated. But we want to get that out there that this was not racially motivated. Over religious beliefs. There was a domestic situation going on within the family. Amy on monday, seven activists from the group gays against guns were arrested during aiein protest on capitol hill to demand stricter gun control. Well have more on sundays shooting massacre after headlines. President trump met with japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe and took gill on monday, where trump pressured abe to buy billions of dollars of u. S. Manufactured weapons. This comes amid escalating tensions on the korean peninsula, which have been largely sparked and intensified by President Trump himself, who has threatened repeatedly to annihilate the entire nation of north korea. Later on monday, during a visit to seoul, south korea, trump struck a slightly more diplomatic tone, talking of a potential deal with north korea, although he did reiterated that the u. S. Is prepared to use military action. Hundreds of south koreans protested President Trumps visit on monday. The United Nations said monday that 2017 will be among the hottest years on record, making the announcement as nearly 200 countries gathered in bonn, germany, for the beginning of this years un climate talks. This is the u. N. Secretarygeneral or the secretarygeneral of the World Meteorological organization, petteri taalas. The implementation of the Paris Agreement could face out of this. If not, this trend will continue. Even for thousands of years. So the lifetime of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere is very long. Thisis why we have to turn in the coming decades to be able to see this phaseout. That is why these cop meetings are so important the moment. Amy commerce secretary wilbur ross is attempting to defend himself after a trove of 13. 4 million leaked documents, known as the Paradise Papers, revealed he continued to conduct business with Vladimir Putins soninlaw through a shipping company, even after ross became trumps commerce secretary. Thenr client is up was not sanctioned, is not now sanctioned, and never was sanctioned in between. So theres nothing whatsoever improper about navigator having a relationship with cyborg. I dont know any of those individuals. Ive never met them. Certainly not had any commercial dealings with them. Amy apple is also under fire after the Paradise Papers revealed aggressive tax evasion by the corporation has allowed it to evade paying taxes on hundreds of billions of dollars. The Paradise Papers also implicate more than a dozen of President Trumps cabinet members, advisers, major donors, as well as the queen of england s estate, and the companies nike, facebook, and twitter. Tensions are escalating sharply between saudi arabia and iran after Houthi Rebels in yemen launched a Ballistic Missile toward the saudi capital, riyadh, over the weekend. On monday, saudi arabia said the Missile Launch constituted an act of war by iran. The saudis accuse iran of backing yemens Houthi Rebels. Saudi arabias accusation escalates the possibility of a direct military confrontation between the two regional powers. This comes as at least 11 top saudi elites and officials were arrested in a widening crackdown aimed at consolidating the power of crown prince, mohammed bin salman, who has been presiding over the u. S. Backed saudiled war in yemen. Back in the United States, as part of the Trump Administrations antiimmigration crackdown, the federal government has announced its ending the temporary protected status of thousands of nicaraguan immigrants, many of whom have been living in the United States for decades. Their special immigration status will now expire on january 5, 2019. The Trump Administration has delayed ruling on whether to also eliminate the temporary protected status of more than 57,000 hondurans. In new york city, two Police Officers have quit the new York Police Department after they were charged with rape, kidnapping, and official misconduct. Prosecutors say former nypd detectives Edward Martins and richard hall arrested an 18yearold woman after stopping her car and finding a small amount of marijuana and a few antianxiety pills in her purse. The plainclothes officers then handcuffed her and put her in the back of the police van. Prosecutors say officer martins then sat down in backseat next to her, tightened her handcuffs, forced the teenager to give him oral sex, and then pulled her pants off and raped her while she cried and begged him to stop. Prosecutors say detective hall watched his partner rape the teenager, then switched places with him and also forced her to perform oral sex on him. Prosecutors say the officers then drove the teenager back to coney island, forced her to take one of her antianxiety pills, instructed her to keep her mouth shut, and left her on the side of the road near a police precinct. Testing shows the dna of both officers was found on the teenager. The former Police Officers are claiming the acts were consensual as their defense. Meanwhile, new York Police Officer wayne isaacs has been found not guilty on charges of murdering delrawn small in 2016. Small, who is africanamerican, was driving with his girlfriend and two children on the when the fourth of july offduty officer cut him off. Grainy, blackandwhite Surveillance Video shows small, who was unarmed, approaching officer isaacs car. Officer isaacs then opens fire with his police gun within one second. As small stumbles away and collapses on the street between two parked cars, officer isaacs then gets out of his car, appears to tuck his gun into his waistband, and walks away. In response to the not guilty verdict, the family of delrawn small said they are devastated and outraged, saying what wayne isaacs did that night immediately shooting and killing our brother as he approached his car and leaving him to bleed out and die, when he had so many oth options was murder, in cold blood. In new york city, more than one people protested against 100 billionaire joe ricketts decision to shut down the news outlets gothamist and dnainfo one week after the newsrooms voted to unionize. I have been a gothamist for 2. 5 years. The unit was 27 reporters and a few editors and we voted for the union 252. I think it is important to clarify we had not issued a single demand when this shutdown happen. I think there was a lot of effort on behalf of management to be, oh, because you are to unionize, we want to bankrupt the company. Amy some of the fired journalists have also launched a new media outlet gothamist in exile, where they have already begun covering important local news stories, including todays elections and the acquittal of nypd officer wayne isaacs on charges of murdering delrawn small. And today is election day in the United States. People are heading to the polls to vote for mayors, ballot initiatives, special state Senate Elections, and two governors races. The two republican gubernatorial candidates ed gillespie of virginia and kim guadagno in new jersey have both openly embraced President Trump and are running on xenophobic antiimmigrant platforms. Their democratic challengers, Ralph Northam in virginia and phil murphy in new jersey, are running on antitrump platforms. In seattle, Washington Special , a state Senate Election has broken state spending records, as millions of dollars have poured into the race between democratic candidate Manka Dhingra and republican candidate jinyoung englund. If the democrats win, they will flip the state senate and take control the entire Washington State government. There are significant mayoral races in atlanta, boston, charlotte, minneapolis, new orleans, pittsburgh, seattle, and new york city, where democratic mayor bill de blasio is facing off against republican candidate nicole malliotakis, an independent candidate bo dietl. There are also a number of key ballot initiatives. In maine, voters will decide whether to expand medicaid over the opposition of the maine governor paul lepage. In ohio, voters will decide whether to buck the pharmaceutical industry and force a reduction in the price of prescription drugs. And in new york, voters will decide whether to hold a Constitutional Convention to rewrite the state constitution. 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. We begin todays show in sutherland springs, texas, where on sunday morning an alleged shooter with a history of Domestic Violence fired 450 rounds at worshipers, killing 26 of them, including children, elderly people, and a pregnant woman, and wounding 20 more. This is survivor Rosanne Solis describing the attack. I could see him. I was hiding under the benches. I could see his feet walking back and forth through the aisles. I did not want to get shot. I dont know what to think anymore. This world is full of so much anger. Juan the suspected shooter was a 26yearold white man named Devin Patrick kelley from new braunfels, texas. Investigators say he died of a selfinflicted gunshot wound after he was chased by bystanders, one of whom was armed. Well, on monday, air force officials admitted they had failed to share information about kelleys criminal history with a u. S. Law enforcement database that should have blocked him from buying a gun in the United States. Kelley was stationed at Holloman Air Force base in new mexico when he was convicted in 2012 by a courtmartial on two charges of Domestic Assault after he repeatedly hit, kicked, and choked his wife, and allegedly threatened her multiple times with loaded and unloaded firearms. He also pleaded guilty to hitting their 18monthold stepson with such force that it broke the toddlers skull. Kelley was imprisoned for a year and then thrown out of the air force with a bad conduct discharge in 2014. The charges should have been prohibited him from buying or owning firearms. But the Holloman Air Force base office of special investigations reportedly failed to enter kelleys domestic conviction into the National Background check system used by gun sellers. Police say kelley went on to buy at least four guns, including the ruger ar556 assaultstyle rifle he reportedly used to massacre 26 people on sunday. This is fbi agent christopher combs. I know there a lot of questions about the fbi system and how to the pursing at the weapons. I can tie you that for the four purchases he made, the system did the required checks and there was no prohibited information in the system that we checked that said he could not have purchased that firearm. The three checks that are and all three databases, there was not information that we would have said was prohibitive for that man to get the firearm. Amy on monday, authorities also said kelley appears to have carried out the massacre because of a domestic dispute he had with his motherinlaw, who was a member of the First Baptist church but was not present on sunday. He apparently did kill his grandmother in law. This is a spokesman for the Texas Department of public safety. One thing everybody wants to know is, why did this happen . But we senseless crime, can say there was a domestic situation within his family. Motherinlaw attended the church. We know he had made threatening she had received threatening texts from him. We cant go into details about that domestic situation that is continuing to be vetted and thoroughly investigated, but we wanted to get that out there that this was not racially motivated. It wasnt over religious believes. There was a domestic situation going on within the family. Amy for more on the link between Domestic Violence and Mass Shootings, we go to baltimore where were joined by journalist soraya chemaly, who covers the intersection of gender and politics. Director of the Womens Media Center speech project. We welcome you to democracy now can you start off by talking about this connection . I mean, more than half the mass killings over the last nine years are committed by people who engaged in Domestic Violence that we know of before. And then the whole issue of exactly what happened with this exair force soldier on the skull ofcturing the his 18monthold stepson, repeatedly abusing, threatening his wife, confined to the base for a year, then there is no record of this so he can buy guns legally . We see this pattern over and over again, which is one in which the incidence of Domestic Violence is minimized or trivialized in some way. Meritnsidered enough to ortained public attention the allocation of resources so that we can really understand the dynamic. We really do know there is no doubt, that the practice of violence within a home in an intimate setting with people that their radically the aggressor loves, opens the violence. To public amy were going to interrupt because theres something wrong with your microphone and were going to get that fixed. We want to bring in our second guest, mariame kaba, an organizer and educator who has worked on antiDomestic Violence programs, as well as antiincarceration and Racial Justice programs, since the late 1980s. She is survived and punished, an organization that supports survivors of violence who have been criminalized for defending themselves. She is on the board of critical resistance and helped found the Chicago Group we charge genocide, anwas a member of incite women of color against violence. It is great to have you with us. In chicago for 70 decades, there grew up here in new york. Your response to what took place on sunday . First, sadness. It is devastating that there is be