At athletes who joined the protest against racial injustice. It took the president five full days to respond on twitter comment that appeared to blame puerto rico for its own misfortune. We will look at the urgent situation on the island and speak with Yarimar Bonilla, puerto rican scholar who wrote in the Washington Post why would anyone in puerto rico want a hurricane . Because someone will get rich. In newark city, 10 of residents are puerto rican. Love with have been unfairly overlooked. Is in aver the u. S. Conflict halfway around the world, they are quick. Protect oral recs, sent troops over to protect resources. We are american citizens. We have been for over 100 years. We cant be left to die. Amy an update from p port arth, texas, a fenenceline commumunity with a number of massisive Oil Refineries that flooded during Hurricane Harvey. The situation in port arthur is critical. Amount of people displaced due to Hurricane Harvey and m many are in sheltes and were also served eviction notices. Not a vacate notice, but innovation notice. This is not right. Not to mention the superfund sites we are dealing with due to chemical spills in our area. Amy we will speak with Hilton Kelley up from port arthur, the first africanamerican man to win the green nobel prize. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In puerto rico, governor Ricardo Rosello has asked for more government aid in order to avert a total humanitarian catastrophe six days after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. More than 3. 4 million u. S. Citizens in the territory remain without adequate food, water and fuel. The category 4 storm brought record rainfall and catastrophic flooding, destroyed power lines, and left the entire area in the dark. At least 13 people have died so far. The san juan mayor said on monday night, trump appeared to blame puerto rico for its problems, tweeting puerto rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure massive debt, is in deep trouble. Its old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the island was destroyed, with billions of dollars owed to wall street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are Top Priorities and doing well. These were trumps first tweets about the disaster in puerto rico, after trump spent the weekend instead attacking nfl players for protesting against racism and police brutality. Well have more on puerto rico after headlines. Tensions continue to escalate between the u. S. And north korea. On monday, north Korean Foreign minister the President Trump has declared war against north korea. Comes from the current president of the United States, this is clearly a declaration of war. All of the Member States participating in the United NationsGeneral Assembly in the whole world should remember it was the u. S. Who first occurred war on our country. Amy foreign minister ri yong ho also said north korea has the right to shoot down any u. S. Warplanes flying near the korean peninsula. The u. S. Has been flying bombers off the coast of north korea. The u. S. And south korea also staged massive military exercises last month on the korean peninsula. The last time north korea shot down u. S. Warplane was i in 1969, killing all 31 crew members s on board. On monday, the white house rejected the idea that President Trump has declarared war on norh korerea. This is White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders. We have not declared war on north korea. Frankly, the suggestion of that is absurd. What is the what has reaction to north koreas threat to down u. S. Aircrafaft, even if it isit in t their airspace . It is never appropriatete f a country to shoot down another countrys aircraft when it is over international waters. Our goal is the samame. We contitinue to s seek the peal do nuclear rosacea and o of the korean peninsula. Doining that through both the mt maximum and diplomatic as possible. Amy mondays escalation comes one day after President Trump tweeted just heard foreign minister of north korea speak at u. N. If he ecechoes thoughts of litte rocket man, they wont be around much longer little rocket man is an apparent reference to north Korean Leader kim jong un. On capitol hill, the republicans latest effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care act appears to be dead after a third republican senator, Susan Collins of maine, came out against the bill. Republican senators john mccain of arizona and rand paul of kentucky have also said theyd vote against the bill, leaving the republicans one vote short. A preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office says the republicans plan, known as the grahamcassidy bill, would cause millions of people to lose their health insurance. On monday, disability rights activists and heath care advocates disrupted the one and only congressional hearing on the healthcare bill, chanting no cuts to medicaid. No cuts to medicaid all right. No cuts to medicaid amy the Capitol Police say 181 people were arrested protesting inside the Senate FinanceCommittee Hearing and in the halls of congress. This is Colleen Flanagan of the Disability Rights Group adapt. No cuts to medicaid no cuts to medicaid protests against racism, police fertility, and President Trump continued to sweep the National Football league on monday night. Members of the Arizona Cardinals locked arms, while members of the Dallas Cowboys took a knee before the anthem, along with their owner, billionaire jerry jones. He had initially tried to convince his players not to protest over these last months. Nba superstar lebron james also celebrated the protests, while speaking monday. I salute the nfl, the coaches, the players, the owners , ththe fans everyone who had any association wiwi thehe n yesterdaday, i was unbelievavab. It was solidarity. There was s no d divide. Evene, even from from that guy that continues to try to divide us as people. Amy the Iraqi Government executed at least 42 people on in the biggest mass execution of sunday the year. The 42 people were hanged at a prison in the Southern City of nassiriya. They were all sunni muslims convicted on terrorism charges. Amnesty international condemned the executions, saying todays mass execution is a shocking display of the iraqi authorities resort to the Death Penalty to try to show they are responding to security threats. The iraqi and turkish armies are conducting joint military drills today follllowing mondays Iraqi Kurdish refererendum on independence. Millions voted in mondays referendum. Ththe results will be releasased this afternoon. They are expected to be resoundingly in favor of independence. The governments of iraq, turkey, and iran all oppose kurdish independence in northern iraq. On monday,y, thousands of iranin kurds rallllied in supportrt ofe kurdish referendum in iraq. A new report by Human Rights Watch says the u. S. Military killed at least 84 civilians in march when it bombed a school and a marketplace in two towns outside raqqa. On march 20, u. S. Airstrikes hit a school where displaced people were taking shelter in the village of mansoura. Two days later, u. S. Airstrikes hit a crowded market and bakery in the city of tabqa. Local residents told human right watch the death toll from the two attacks is likely far higher than 84 civilians because bodies were still buried underneath the rubble. In the israelioccupied west bank, police say a palestinian gunman shot and killed two Israeli Security guards and an Israeli Police officer at the entrance of the jewishonly settlement of har adar. Police shot and killed the attacker. Jewish only settlements in the occucupied west bank are considered illegal under international law. In peru, members of indigenous achuar communities say they have seizeded control of at leaeast 0 oil wells operated by the canadianan company frontera eney corp in the amazon. They say they took over the wells, as well as an electric plant and oil tanknks, to prprot the companys and peruvian governments failure to consult them about the extraction projectsts. They also said in a statement we have been living with Oil Pollution for 45 years, caused by the irresponsibility of the companies and the state. For decades we have seen that our waters, soils and resources are damaged with impunity. In indonesia, nearly 60,000 people have been evacuated from the areas around mount agung on the island of bali amid concerns the volcano could erupt within hours. The last time e the volcanoo erupted, morore than half a century ago in 1963, more than 1000 people were killed. Back in the United States, the New York Times has revealed that at least six of trumps closest advisers, including jared kushner, steve bannon and reince priebus, have all used private email addresses for white houserelated work. During the 2016 president ial campaign, trump frequently attacked clintons use of a private email server while she served as secretary of state, with many of Trumps Campaign rallies ending in chants of lock her up. The New York Times reports gary cohn, stephen miller, and ivanka trump have also all discussed work matters over private email addresses. Former u. S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning says shes been blocked from entering canada. On monday, manning posted on twitter a report from canadian immigration authorities denying her entry. As a reason it cites her 2013 courtmartial conviction, and writes if committed in canada this offense would equate to a indictable offense, namely treason. In response, manning tweeted no walls, no borders, no bans, no deportations, no prisons. Wegotthis in texas, an Appeals Court has ruled that parts of the harsh antiimmigrant law sb4 can take effect, overruling a lower courts decision to block much of the law. The state continues to rebuild after Hurricane Harvey. Last month, a district judge blocked a handful of the laws provisions, including requiring jails to hold people in custody for immigration authorities. Immigration reasons. But mondays ruling means jail authorities will now have to comply with most of ices detainer requests. The ruling also allows texas to enforce a part of the law that says local authorities cannot stop their employees from working with federal immigration officers. The law still fafaces legal challenges. In alabama, voters are heading to the polls today for special Senate Runoff race to fill the seat of now attorney general jeff sessions. The race between republican candidate senator Luther Strange and former state Supreme CourtJustice Roy Moore have divided both Republican Party and the trump administration. Strange has won the backing of the Party Establishment and President Trump. On monday, Vice President mike pence spoke at stranges rally in birmingham. President trump also spoke at a rally for him, but his rival, roy moore, has won the backing of former white house Senior Advisor steve bannon and the far right wing of the Republican Party. The winner of todays election will face democratic nominee doug jones, former u. S. Attorney in the general election in december. New york congressman for Anthony Weiner has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for sex thing explicit Text Messages and photos of his genitals to an underaged girl. Congress inut from 2011 after initially lying to the public about explicit phone and internet contact with women he met online. And in georgia, lawyers for death row prisoner keith tharpe of heed a flurry was convicted in 1991 of murdering his sisterinlaw. Lawyers say the racial prejudice of one of the jurors violated his sixth a moment right to a fair trial. Lawyers argue his trial was marred by racism on the part of a juroror. In an interview after the trial, word andused the n asked if black people even have souls. His lawyer say the execution on be illegal because he is intellectual disabled. The state board of parardons and parole denied him clemency monday night, but several legal challenges are still pending. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin today in puerto rico, where six days after Hurricane Maria slammed into the island, more than 3. 5 million u. S. Citizens remain without adequate food, water, and fuel. The category 4 storm brought record rainfall and catastrophic flooding, destroyed power lines, and left the entire island in the dark. Authorities warn some areas could be without electricity for six months. At least 13 people have died so far. At least that is what is known. Many parts of the island are cut off. Said uan mayor what we are now seeing is the aftermath is almost more horrific than the actual passing of the hurricane itself. Puerto ricos Governor Ricardo Rossello has asked for more government aid to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, especially in the interior and areas not yet reached by relief efforts. This is a resident and the mayor of toa baja, a city on the northern part of the island. We dont have communication. I i have no telephone. We do not have supplies. In my house, we do not have water. There is no gas. The lines are long. Ofwere in the process recovering. These days we have been organizing our resources to be able to reach the street and start to bring the away says, the water come to people needs so much. Amy as the crisis in puerto rico became clear over the weekend, President Donald Trump failed to weigh in, instead lashing out at players who have joined a growing protest movement started by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick against racial injustice. It took the president five full days to respond with comments that drew criticism for what some called a lack of empathy. In a series of tweets, trump appeared to blame puerto rico writing puerto rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure massive debt, is in deep trouble. Its old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the island was destroyed, with billions of dollars owed to wall street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are Top Priorities and doing well. That was the tweet. This comes as trump has yet to visit puerto rico, even after he visited texas and florida after Hurricane Harvey and irma. Both state voted for him. This comes as hospitals that were flooded are depending on diesel generators to keep patients alive. Meanwhile, 70,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the areas around the guajataca dam, which was damaged by Hurricane Maria and is at risk of collapsing at any minute. For more, we are joined by Yarimar Bonilla, associate professor of anthropology and Caribbean Studies at Rutgers University and a visiting scholar at the russell sage foundation. She just wrote a piece in the Washington Post headlined, why would anyone in puerto rico want a hurricanane . Because someone will get rich. She is also one of the founders of the puerto rican syllabus. Welcome to democracy now all, have you been able to reach your family in puerto rico . I have. I tell my friends, just like many of us, the diaspora have survivors guild, i have commuters guilt because i been able to talk to my family members throughout the storm was that my mom did not lose her landline. We have been in close communinication. My and senegals have also been able to communicate with me. Amy how is she doing . She is doing ok. She is eating canned soup and can butter and crackers and hanging on. About thehe island overall, the catastrophe that were seeing unfold. Challengesstation the imagination. There is no town in puerto rico that was not affected by the storm. Power is out everywhere. Communications are out. There is no water in about 8