Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20171023 : comparemela.

Governrnment moves to impose direct rule over catalonia following the regions independencece referendum. M. The speaker of the Catalan Parliament has called spains move to seize political control of the region a de facto coup detat. Mr. President , this is not a bad budget deal, it is an horrific budget bill an extremely cruel bill and the most unfair budget ever presented in the modern history of our country. Amy that was senator sanders. As the Senate Narrowly Passes a budget bill that clears the path for anan historic tax reform, wewell l look at how President Trumpps proposed tax overhrhal would shower billions of dollars in tax cuts upon the wealthiest americans, including President Trumps family and members of his administration. We will speak with james h henry of thehe Tax Justice Network and pulitzer prizewinning journalist David Cay Johnston, whose latetest piece is headlind nine reasonsns trump tax plan will hurt you. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In afghanistan, a suicide bomber ambushed afghan army cadets as they left their base in kabul on saturday, killing 15 of them. The taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, as well as a rocket attack earlier in the day on a military base used by the u. S. Led coalition. On friday, a suicide bomber attacked a shia mosque in kabul, killing 56 people and wounding 55 others during prayers. Isis claimed responsibility for that attack. Separately, an attack on a sunni mosque in central afghanistans Ghor Province killed 20 people. The attacks capped a week of violence that saw more than 250 People Killed across afghanistan. The violence came as the New York Times reports the cia is sending teams of paramilitary officers to afghanistan to help Afghan Forces hunt and kill taliban fighters. The move signals an expansion of the cias role in afghanistan, where agents previously focused on defeating al qaeda and aiding the Afghan Intelligence service. Speaking last thursday at a washington, d. C. , conference, cia director mike pompeo said under President Trump, his agency will become m much more vicious. We have laid out a strategy on how were going to execute our mission with incredible vigor. Were goingng to become much moe vicious agency in ensuring we are delivering this work. Were going to go to some of the hardest places with some of our hardest pepeople in our organization to crush it. When we do it, the president has promised he w will have our bacs and he will resource us. Amy President Trump signed an executive order friday authorizing the air force to call up as many as 1000 retired aviators to active duty. Trumps order came as the pentagon said it is facing a large shortagege of pilots as Te Administration prepares to ramp up the u. S. War in afghanistan. Meanwhile, the air force says it will place Nuclear Armed b52 bombers on 24hour ready alert for the firstt time since the cold war endeded in 1991. In hollywood, florida, mourners gathered saturday as the body of u. S. Army Sergeant La David Johnson was laid to rest. Johnson was one of four u. S. Soldiers killed in an ambush during a patrol in niger on october 4. The funeral came as President Trump and his administration continued to attack florida Congressmember Frederica Wilson after she reported that trump told sergeant johnsons widow Myeshia Johnson in a phone call he knew what he signed up for but when it happens, it hurts anyway. Over the weekend, President Trump tweeted called wilson in ain a tweet whacky tweet without once mentioning la David Johnson or offering condolences to his family. Meanwhile, congresswoman wilson refuted a false claim made last week by white house chief of staff general john kelly that Congressmember Wilson claimed credit for securing millions of dollars in federal funding for an fbi in miami. Kelly made the claim as part of personal attack in which kelly called congresswoman wilson an empty barrel. This is congresswoman Frederica Wilson speaking on msnbc on sunday. I guess you could say he was a puppet of the president. And what he was trying to do was divert the attention away from the president on to me. And he basically jusust lied on me. And i dont appreciate people lying on me. Amy on capitol hillll, the congressionanal black k caucus called on general kelly to apologize over the remarks, calling them reckless and reprehensible. At the white house, press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders warned reporters against questiononing general kelly. If you wantt to go after general kelly, that is up to yoyou. But i think if you want to get into a debate with a fourstar isine general, i thinkk t that something g highly inappropriat. Amy the controversy over sergeant with David Johnson that in niger came as editors expressed surprise over the weekend that there are even 1000 stationed in niger. The controversy helped prompt the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to schedule hearings on the authorization for the use of military force a orumf, a bill passed in the wake of the september 11 attack that is been useded by president s too justify military actioions aroround the globe for thehe last 16 years. Cocommittee chair Tennessee Republican bob corker said in a statement nine it is perhaps more important than ever that we have a sober National Conversation about congresss constitutional role in authororizing the use of militay force. In spain, prime mininister mario rajoy said saturday he would impose direct rule over catalonia after leaders of the Northeastern Region held an independence referendum m on october 1 and moved to secede from spain. Rajoys order pending the likely approval of the Spanish Senate would see Catalan Leaders fired and new elections held within six months. The e announceme p prompted outrage in catalonias capital barcelona, where nearly a half Million People poured into the streets in protest. The speaker of the Catalan Parliament called rajoys order a coup detat. Today, Prime Minister rajoy in an enormous act of political irresponsibility has crossed all limits. He is announced the execution of a de facto coup is they are which he intends to intervene and take control of the cattle on institution. An attack against democracy and against the your of the 20th century with the goal of endndig a democratically elected government. Amy catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont called rajoys decision the worst attack on catalan institutions since general francos dictatorship. Puigdemont said catalonias parliament would meet in the coming days to discuss their next steps, amid speculation he might unilaterally declare catalan independence. Well have more on the crisis over c catalonia after headldli. Russia has accusused the u. S. Ld coalition in syria of bombing comparing it to the allied bombing of the german city of dresden in world war ii. The comments came after u. S. Backed militias claimed victory in a fight against isis that left raqq completely in ruins. The local journalistica Group Reports the u. S. Backed assault killed 1873 civilians and displaced some 450,0,000 people. In e egypt, militants ambushed a convoy of police and Security Forces in the desert west of cairo late f friday, killing 59 officers and seizing their weapons and ammunition. Its not clear who was behind the wellcoordinated attack, though the recentlyformed militant group hasm claimed responsibility. Egypts government has accused the banned Muslim Brotherhood party of supporting hasm, a charge the b brotherhood denies. Inin somalia, a roadadside bomb exploded sunday south of the capital mogadishu, tearing through a minibus and killing at least 11 peoeople. A witness said he saw a Somali Military vehicle pass near the time of the explosion, and that the civilians were probably killed in error. Theres been no claim of responsibility for the attack, which came a week after a bombing in mogadishu killed at least 358 people and wounded over 400 others. In japan, members of Prime Minister shinzo abes Ruling Coalition won a landslide parliamentary election on sunday, taking nearly 80 of the seats in the lower house of the diet. The election bolsters abes bid to do away with article 9, part of japans constitution that renounces war and bars japan from using or threatening to use military force. In chile, forensic scientists said friday that f famed poet td Nobel Laureate pablo neruda did not die of cancer in 1973, as stated, bolstering claims that neruda was poisoned under general Augusto Pinochets rule. Nerudas driver has claimed he was poisoned by a stomach injection administered by doctors. Neruda, who won the nobel prize for literature in 1971, was a close friend of the ousted president salvador allende. He died when the finish of forces rose to power in 1973. Forensic experts say theyll need up to a year to determine the true cause of nerudas death. Back in the United States, former fox news host Billl Oreilly secreretly settled a Sexual Harassment claim for 32 million in january, the sixth and by far the largest such settlement during oreillys tenure at fox. Despite the settlement, fox news renewed oreillys contract in february, agreeing to pay him 25 million a year before mounting scandals finally forced him from the network in april. The settlement came after longtime Fox News Contributor lis wiehl accused oreilly of repeated harassment, a nonconsensual sexual relationship, and of sending her unwanted pornographic c emails. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reports 3838 women are accusing hollywood screenwriter and director james toback of Sexual Assault and harassment. In separate interviews, the women describe how toback would lure them to a hotel room or movie trailer with the promise of making them a hollywood star, before masturbating in front of them or making unwanted sexual contact. Toback denied the charges, telling the la times he had never met any of the 38 women, or if f he had, he didnt reremr them. Inin jackson, mississippi, the local school board has voted overwhelmingly to rename the Davis International Elementary School after president barack obama. The Campaign Began after a former fourthgrader at the of al wrote a book review biography of the former confederate president Jefferson Davis after whom the school is named. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin todays show with the political crisis in spain. On saturday, spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he is moving to impose direct rule over catalonia, stripping the Northeastern Region of its autonomy in efforts to crush catalonias independence movement. Follllowing an emergency Cabinet Meeting on saturday, rajoy said he will invoke article 155 of the constitution, which has never been used in spains modern democratic history. Pending its likely approval by the Spanish Senate, article 155 will allllow spain to fire catalonias elected leaders and seize control of its Police Forces and public broadcast channel. The move comes in response to catalonias independence referendum earlier this month. The catalan regional governmnmet said 90 of cacatalan voters che independence in the referendum. More than 800 people were injured during the vote went Spanish Police attacked them. The Spanish Police stormed polling stations, firing t tear gas, and physically attacking voters. This is Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy speaking on saturday. Tothe deville the ability dissolve the government, the powers the catalonian will be transferred to the president. The president of the government of the senates size will have to call for elections in a maximum of six months. However, i want to do this as soon as possible to recover institutional normality which, without doubt, is one of our goals for the future. Or that, it is important all wowork for recovering constitutional normalcy. Amy Prime Minister Mariano Rajoys announcement prompted outrage in catalonias capital barcelona, where nearly a half Million People poured into the streets in protest. The speaker of the Catalan Parliament called rajoys order a coup detat. Today, Prime Minister rajoy and an enormous act of political irresponsibility come has crossed all limits. He has announced the execution of a de facto coup estate through which he intends to intervene and take control of the catalog institutions. An attack against democracy and against the europe of the 20 century with the goal of ending a democratically elected government. Amy Catalan Leader carles pushed upon called roys decision the worst attack on catalonia since the francos dictatorship. Puigdemont said catalonias parliament will meet in the coming days, amid speculation he might unilaterally declare catalan independence. Well, for more were joined in los angeles by dominic thomas, professor at university of california los angeles who specializes in european politics. He is chair of the department of french and francophone studies. ,elcome to democracy now professor thomas. Can you start off by talking about what happened over the weekend in catalonia and overall in spain . That you so much for having me on your show. This all started off with the Prime Minister holding a Cabinet Meeting in order to discuss how to proceed with the actual nondeclaration of a referendum that nevertheless to bring him in his mind, the region of catalonia back into line. The cabinetet supported him. He also spent time buildingg cross Party Support going to opposition parties to make sure that when he goes to the senate later this week, he has the mandate that he needs to essentially put the region of receivership. The other extraordinary thing and development was the king of spain and this is a constitutional monarchy, very somewhat to that of the United Kingdom where the e king is reay the figurehead of this country spoke out announcing there was absolutely no way that catalonia would at any time separate from spain. Rajoy i just return from the summit of eu leaders were he came back with strong support from several important players in the European Union. At that particular point then, the catalonians responded and spoke out. I think one of the most symbolic moments was when the leader of catalonia, Carlos Puigdemont spoke in front of the European Union and in front of the catalonian flag and shifted during his intervention into english, appealing to the International Community and to bring attention to the fact that as far as they are concerned, the dedemocraticic basic demomocraticic rights are being suspended in the region. Amy lets go right now to the cattle on leader Catalan Leader Carles Puigdemont speaking this weekend against spains plan for direct rule. At one point in his speech, he switchched to english. If your informational views are at risk in c catalonia am aa they will also be at risk k in europe. Democratatically deciding ththe future of a natioion is not a crime. This goes against foundatations that european citizens ththrough diversity. Cacatalonia is a european natio. Its cocore to the european view. We do what we do becacause we believe ini