Amy a as President Trump threatenens to withdraraw fedel rerelief workersrs from puerto , home to 3. 5 million u. S. Citizens, residents of the island and their supporters responond with outrarage and disbelief. San juan mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz called trump the haterinchief. Well get response from congressman Luis Gutierrez on puerto rico as well as from smooth to stop paying billions of dollars in federal subsidies doubt cover for Peoples Health care to help cover poor Peoples Health care. In the renownened psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton on President Trump. Quite trump is on record for demanding Something Like 10 times the number of Nuclear Weapons and that is what i call extreme nuclear resume, a kind a race of the weapons to do everything they can still using Nuclear Weapons can do is destroy countries, cities, destroy human beings. Amy Robert Jay Lifton on what he calls the apocalyptic twins, nuclear and climate threats. The ultimate absurdity, the ultimate absurdity that if we do nothing but what were doing now, and it is what i mean by malignant normality, going on using fossil f fuels, we will do ourselves in as a civilization, pretty much by the end of the century. Nothing could be more absurd than that. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. President trump has threatened to withdrawal fema from puerto rico and abandon the federal recovery effort there, as half the island still hasas no drinkg water and more than 80 lacks electricity three weeks after hurricane maria. Fema officials have alsoso acknowledg t theres s a massive shortage o of food being providd on the island, while Health Officials have warned hospitals are in dire conditions. On thursday, trump attempted to blame puerto rico for the humanitarian catastrophe, tweeting all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Trump then tweeted we cannot keep fema, the military the First Responders, who have been amazing in p. R. Forever trumps threat sparked immediate backlash, both across the continental United States and on puerto rico. San juans mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz said trump was threatening to condemn us to a slow death of nondrinkable water, lack of food, lack of medicine. She also appealed to thehe unitd nations, unicef, and the world to stand with the people of puerto rico and stop the genocide that will result from the lack of appropriate action of a president that just does not get it because he has been incapable of looking in our eyes and seeing the pride that burns fiercely in our hearts and souls. Wewell have more on the crisisn puerto rico with Compass Minerals gutierrez Thomas MullerLuis Gutierrez after headlines. In more climaterelated news, the death toll from californias droughtfueled wildfires has surged to 31 as hundreds more remain missing. On thursday, Sonoma County authorities said they identififd at least 10 of thehe victims, ad that thehe majority were in ther 70s and 8080s. The bodies were soso charred, te only way to identify some of them was by the serial numbers them was by the e serial numbers on artificial l joints or other medical devices. The fires have now burnt nearly 200,000 acres, roughly the size of new york city. In vietnam, at least 50 people have been killed in floods and landslides after a Tropical Storm hit the northern and central parts of the country. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate, as the flooding submerged more than 30,000 homes. It has killed up to 40,000 animals. One resident of the hardhit Northwest Province of hoa binh said its impossible to fight against this water, its the strongest in years. The Climate Change chaos comes as an investigation by the guardian and Global Witness says more than 150 environmental activists and land defenders have been murdered this year alone, meaning 2017 is slated to be the deadliest year on record. Billy kyte of Global Witness said investors too have blood on their hands. They should not invest in projects linked to abuses and must speak out when defenders are threatened. A new report by the group Oil Change International says the Worlds LargestInternational Development banks invested more than 5 billion in coal, oil and gas projects last year alone. Environmental activists are calling for these banks to divest from fossil fuel extraction. President trump has moved to dismantle the Affordable Care act after republican lawmakers repeatedly failed to repeal and replace the president obamas signature healththcare law. In a late night announcement, the white house said it will stop paying billions of dollars in federal subsidies to Insurance Companies to help cover lowincome Peoples Healthcare plans. Experts say ending the subsidies will dramatically increase insurance premiums and could unravel the healthcare market. This came hours after trump signed an executive order that would allow Insurance Companies to sell cheaper policies with few protections and benefits, a move that could also destabilize the current healthcare market. Well have more on healthcare later in the broadcast. President trump is slated to announce today the u. S. Will decertify the landmark 2015 iran nuclear deal, although it appears trump has now backed away from his plans to withdraw the u. S. From the deal entirely. Instead, the white house is expected to instruct congress to leave the agreement intact for now. Trump has come under massive domestic and i International Pressure not to unravel the landmamark agreement. On thursday, the Trump Administration announced it is on thursday, the Trump Administration announced it is withdrawing from unesco thats the United Nations educational, scientific and Cultural Organization because. This is u. S. S. Charge daffais at unesco, chris hegadorn. The second issue, and for sleep this has become politicizized undermining the wk of unesco across its mandate. It has become a venueue for antiisraeael bias. S. Unfortunately, we are taking this decision to withdraw from unesco at this time. Then he fell in response, the general director of unesco said at the time when conflicts continue to tear up our societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency emoting education for peace protecting culture under attack. That is the director general. Hours after the u. S. With true, israel been also pulllled out of unesco. Both the london and new York Police Departments have launched investigations into disgraced movie producer harvey weinstein, who was one of the most powerful men in hollywood until a slew of women came forward in recent days to accuse him of sexual harassment, assault, and rape. Londndon police are investigatig allegations of Sexual Assault dating back to the 1980s. In new york am a 2015 new york police sting operation already recorded weinstein admitting to groping filipinaitalian model Ambra Battilana gutierrez, but the district attorney, cyrus vance, refused to press charges. One of weinsteins lawyers at donated 10,000 to vances Election Campaign only days after vance decided not to prosecute the case. In news from guantanamo, hunger striking prisoners say u. S. Military officials have stopped forcefeeding them in a move they and their lawyers say threatens to kill them. In an oped for the guardian, hunger striking Guantanamo Bay prisoner Khalid Qassim writes they have decided to leave us to waste away and die instead. Now as each night comes, i wonder if i will wake up in the morning. When will my organs fail . When will my heart stop . I am slowly slipping away and no one notices. Qassim has been imprisoned for 15 years without being charged with a crime, and writes that a Hunger Strike was the only peaceful way i thought i could protest. A louisisiana sheriff hahas spad outrage after he lamented the scheduled release of nonviolent prisoners, using language that evoked slavery and the u. S. s long history of imprisoning African Americans in order to serve as free or cheap labor. This is caddo parish sheriff steve e prator. Wantt stay prprisoners. They are i in a nececessary evio keep the doors openen that we kp if you or keep sosome out there. And d that is t the ones t thatu can wo. At is the one sesecond pick upup trtrash, the e workrelease programs. And guess what . Those are ththe oneses that they are releasing. In addition to the bad ones i call these bad in addition thehem, they are e releasing se good onenes that we use everyryy toto wash cars, to change e thel anand our cars, to cook inin the kitchen, to do all that where we save money. Well, theyre going to let them out. Amy in portland, oregon, six people were arrested wednesday after they locked themselves to each other outside the portland ice center to blockade a bus carrying detained immigrants to a forprofit immigrant prison in tacoma, washington. Meanwhile, in washington state, two protesters have been convicted of Disorderly Conduct after they blockaded a highway to protest a rally by thencandidate donald trump in lynden, washington, in may 2016. Activists Josefina Mora and Thomas Kaplan have been sentenced to 10 days of labor on a jails work crew after a judge threw out their necessity defense, in which they were arguing the civil disobedience was necessary to prevent the spread of fascism and hate groups, both locally and nationwide. This is Thomas Kaplan and Josefina Mora at the protest back in may 2016. So right now i have my arms and two tubes. Right, she is chained to a ladder and on mymy left is thomas. For White Supremacy has been rampant. Were particularly trying attention here because it is in the center of ku klux klan rallies and organizing for at leasast 100 years. And right now it is a hotbed for racism against farmworkers. Were notot going allow donald trump to come to our community and spread hate and try to encourage the detention or terrorism toward people of color and undocumented persons. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war a and pepeace report. Im amy goodman. President trump threatened thursday to withdraw federal relief workers from puerto rico as his administration faces withering criticism of its response to the humanitarian crisis on the island, whwhich is home to 3. 5 million u. S. Citizens. More than a month after Hurricane Irma hit puerto rico, and three weeks after hurricane maria, more than 80 of the island remains without power and water is in short supply. In a series of tweets thursday morning, trump seemed to hold puerto rico responsible for its own plight, writing puerto rico survived the hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making says sharyl attkisson. Trump was quoting a reporter with sinclair broadcasting. He went on to write a total lack of accountability say the governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend. We cannot keep fema, the military the First Responders, who have been amazing in p. R. Forever this comes after trumps visit to puerto rico last week, when he complained that its recovery had thrown our budget a little out of whack. On the island, Puerto Ricans responded with disbelief to trumps latest comments. Oh, god. This guide trurump is sisick. But we are americs. We are part of the n nation. How is the night when n a help when we needed . I think it is that on his word. In agreement not with the guys he uses. Ive always considered since i was born that we are part of the United States. Many of our relatives has sacrificed their lives for the United States. The words he uses, i dont consider to be anything good. Amy meanwhile, san juan mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz took to twitter to call trump hate inchief and said in a statement trump was threatening to condemn us to a slow death of nondrinkable water, lack of food, lack of medicine. The mayor also appealed to the United Nations, unicef and the world to stand with the people of puerto rico and stop the genocide that will result from the lack of appropriate action of a president that just does not get it because he has been incapable of looking in our eyes and seeing the pride that burns fiercely in our hearts and souls. Federal officials admit there is a massive shortage of meals in puerto rico, with 2 Million People needing food, b but fema serving just 200,000 meals a day. For more, we go to chicago where were joined by congressman Luis Gutierrez, democrat of i illino. Welcome back to democracy now your response to this series of tweets that the president of the United States wrote yesterday . Utterly disgraceful. On the islandng of puerto rico. Dying because there are infectious bacteria now attacking people. I dont know how much worse it is going to get, but i fear, amy, it is just going to get a lot worse. I do not see the resources arriving on the island. And i think the Health Care Epidemic that is going t to confront the peoplple of puerto rico is going to be without president on the island of puerto rico and maybe anywhere in the United States of america. We are going to stay there until we get the job done, until things are normalized, until things are regularized on the island and they can stand on own two feet. And i am so proud of the people of puerto rico. Although they cut those scenes out when the president tweets, those videos of the Puerto Ricans on the roads, in their homes, in their towns cleaning up, helping one another, showing each other love and compassion and creating a community with very littltle. The food is in getting to a lot of places. The health care isnt getting for the life of me, i cannot understand why the richest, most powerful nation in the world with the most powerful military in the world isnt evacuate in the elderly. Those that are in bed. Those that are on dialysis. Those that are receiving treatment for r cancer. You can go down the list. Those thatat are so vulnerable. Why are we putting them in a safe place . In new york . In chicago . In lororain, ohio . In chicago, we have our homes ready to receive our compatriots and take care of them. We have hospitals. We have schools. Why arent they traransferring those who wish to leave the island, especially making a priority of those that are sick . I just do not understand it. That will continueue. The presesident l likes to say, 16 certified. Well, were now over 45 and everyone knows that is not the number. The undercount of those that are dying is huge. Theyre not counting those that are dying as a result of the lack of medical care, medical attention, of food and of wat. There are parts of puerto rico that three weeeeks after the hurricane, they have not put in bridges, temporary so that people can escape from where they are trapped. That is three weeks. The most powerful military the world, and were not putting people in say places. Amy can you respond what President Trump said in his tweet when he said, we cannot keep fema, the military, and First Responders who have been amazing under the most difficult . Ircumstances in p. R. Forever compared to what the u. S. Has done for taxes, for florida, katrina, going back louisiana there. Think about it. By this time we had 60,000 people in new orleans. We had hundreds of airplanes and buses to getks and people out of harms way. And we stayed there for years because we had to rebuild. And we are still, and parts of new jersey, rebuilding years later. We stayed till the job gets done. I want to repeat for the viewers, there is a wall with ofr 50,000 names etched those that lost their lives during the vietnam conflict. On that wall are hunundreds of names of Puerto Ricans. It seems to me just so dont know what the word is to describe it. Here is a president of the United States saying ive got bone spur