The rule of law and you must face impeachment proceedings. Impeachment of the president will be cosmetic. In fact, probably exacerbate e e very antagonisms and divisions that are running apart the country. Amy we will speak with journalist chris hedges. His latest article the problem with impeachment and john , one of the organizations calling for trumps impeachment. Then we turned to the water crisis in newark with mayor ras baraka. The plan is never altered. Restlan now and we wont until every lead service line in the city is completely replaced. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. House democrats have subpoenaed president Donald Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani seeking documents related to his work in the ukraine. Last week, giuliani admitted on television that he had urged the Ukrainian Government to investigate trumps political rival joe biden. This comes as House Democrats continue to build their case for impeaching the president following a whistleblower complaint filed by an Intelligence Officer working in who was detailed to work in the white house at one point. The whistleblower complaint focused on a july 25 phone call during which trump asked the ukrainian president to do him a favor by investigating the actions of democrats including joe biden and his son hunter. On monday, the wall street journal revealed secretary of state mike pompeo was among the Administration Officials who were on the call. Meanwhile, evidence is growing that the Trump Administration pressured other nations including auaustralia, britain, and italy to take steps to help trump politically. The New York Times reports trump personally pressed australias Prime Minister to help attorney general william barr with a probe aimed at discrediting the mueller probe. Barr also traveled to italian italy last week where he reportedly pressed italian officials to help his probe. Secretary of state mike pompeo is in italy today. This all comes as President Trump is continuing to threaten lawmakers pushing impeachment. On monday, trump suggested house intelligence chair adam schiff, should be arrested for treason. Trump also publicly admitted he is trying to find out the identity of the anonymous whistleblower, in possible violation of whistleblower protection laws. Pres. Trump were trying to find out about a whistleblower. When you have a whistleblower that reports things that are incorrect. Amy attorneys for the whistleblower are saying they have serious concerns for the clients safety. Mitch mcconnell on monday said the senate would hold a trial if the house impeaching is the president. Hong kong protesters returned to the streets today as china marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the peoples republic of china. Hong kong police fired live ammunition at protesters for the First Time Since the street protests began 17 weeks agago. One protester was shot in the chest. Police also fired tear gas and Water Cannons while protesters were seen throwing molotov cocktails. This comes as reuters reports there are now up 12,000 chinese troops in hong kong twice the number is when the protests began. Meanwhile in beijing, china held what has been described as one of the countrys Largest Military parades ever to mark 70 years since mao zedong declared the creation of the peoples republic of china on october 1, 1949. President xi jinping spopoke eaearlier today in tiananmen square. On our junior forward, we must peaceful reunification for one country, to systems, maintain stability of hong kong, push for peaceful development, unite all Chinese People to continue to work hard for the complete reunification of our nation. Amy antigovernment protests are continuing in haiti. Much of the capitol Port Au Prince has been locked down for the past two weeks. At leastst four people have been shot and killed in recent days after Haitian PoliceOffice Opened fire on protesters using live ammunition and tear gas. The protesters are demanding the resignation of president moise jovenel. This is a haitian activist. Peoplple are fighting and the government is repressing it. A solution to hunger. To dismiss it, means murders. Being on the street is a political battle against the system. Amy in somalia, the mililitant grououp alshabaab is claiming responsibility for attacking a u. U. S. Drone base and an Italian Military cononvoy on mondaday. Meanwhile, Amnesty International is accccusing the united statatf killing ththree somali civiliann farmers in an airstrike in march. The u. S. Claimed the strike had targeted members of alshabaab. Meanwhile in nigeria, the imprisoned journalist and former president ial candidate Omoyele Sowore pleaded not guilty to treason and other charges on monday. He has been jailed since early august after calling for protests against nigerian president muhammadu buhari. Sowore, who founded the new yorkbased news outlet sahara reporters, briefly spoke to reporters on monday before being pulled away by Nigerian Security agents. [indiscernible] amy to see our interview on the imprisonment, go to democracynow. Org. The Trump Administration has blocked cubas Health Minister from attending a regional meeting of the World Health Organization in washington. This comes as part of an increasing crackdown by the Trump Administration on cuba. Last week the u. S. Placed sanctions on forormer cuban president raul castro along with his children foror supporting te venezuelan government. The United States also recently expelled two cuban diplomats assigned to the united nations. Meanwhile, cuba is facing a severe fuel shortage due to crippling u. S. Sanctions. New york republican congressman Chris Collins has resigned. He and his son are expected to plead guilty today to accusations of Insider Trading involving an australian Biotech Company on which collins served on the board. Collins was the first republican congressmembers to suppoport Donald Trumps run for the white house. In campaign news, Bernie Sanders has announced he raised a massive 25 million in the third quarter, the biggest fundraising quarter for any democratic candidate so far this year. Sanders now received donations from 1. 4 million individuals, more than any other democratic candidate. In news from missouri, lawyers for a death row prisoner scheduled to be executed tonight are urging the missouri governor to halt the execution. Lawyers warn the execution of Russell Bucklew may be especially gruesome. Bucklew has a rare condition which causes unstable, bloodfilled tumors to grow in his head, neck, and throat. His lawyers say the tumors may burst during the execution, causing him to possibly suffocate. In seattle, washington climate prototters shut down four chas Bank Branches on mony y to prototesjpmorgrg chases funding ofofhe fossil fuel industry. 11 pple e we arresesd. Accoining tone c cou, jp moan chase h loaned 96 billion to fsisil fu coororatio sinincehe sigigning of t thearis agreement i202015. In san francisco, Police Arrested 37 Animal Rights activists monday after they occupied a Whole Foods Market for more than three hours. The group direct action everywhere accused whole foods and its Parent Company amazon of purchasing food from factory farms where criminal animal abuse has been exposed. During the protest, activists erected a 15foottall cutout of amazon Ceo Jeff Bezos head on top p of the stores roof. California governor gavin newsom has signed the nations first law to allow for College Athletes to be paid for endorsement deals and to hire agents. The law is set to go into effect in 2023. In a statement, Governor Newsom said colleges and universities reap billions from these student athletes sacrifices and success but block them from earning a single dollar. Thats a bankrupt model one that puts institutions ahead of the students they are supposed to serve. Anand this week marks the 100th anniversary of the elaine massacre when white vigilantes in arkansas massacred hundreds of africanamericans in one of the deadliest incidents of racial violence in the nations history. The massacre began after black sharecroppers attempted to organize with the progressive farmers and Household Union of america to demand higher pay for cotton. A new memorial to the victims of the massacre was recently unveiled in the county seat of helena, arkansas. 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 with the growing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. House democrats subpoenaed trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani monday, seeking documents related to his work in the ukraine. Last week, giuliani admitted on television that he had urged the Ukrainian Government to investigate trumps political rival joe biden. This comes as House Democrats continue to build their case for impeaching the president following a whistleblower complaint filed by an Intelligence Officer working in who was detailed to work in the white house at the one point. Whistleblower complaint focused on a phone call were President Trump asked the ukrainian president to do him a favor by investigating the actions of democrats including joe biden and his son hunter. On monday, the wall street journal revealed secretary of state mike pompeo was among the Administration Officials who were on the controversial july 25 phone call. Meanwhile, evidence is growing that the Trump Administration also pressured other nations, including australia and italy, to take steps to help trump politically. The New York Times reports trump personally pressed australias Prime Minister to help attorney general william barr with his review of the origins of the mueller probe. Barr also traveled to italy last week where he reportedly pressed italian officials to help his probe. Amy President Trump is continuing to threaten lawmakers pushing impeachment. On monday, trump suggested house intelligence chair adam scschiff should be arrested for treason. Pres. Trump adam schiff made up a phony call and he ready to congressss and he readady to the people of the United States. It is a disgrace. This whole thing is a disgrace. There has been tremendous corruption and we are seeking it. It is called drain the swamp. Amy trump also publicly admitted he is trying to find out the ididentity of the anonymous whistleblower, in possible violation of whistleblower protection laws. Pres. Trump were trying to find out about a whistleblower. When you have a whistleblower reports things that were incorrect. Amy in a series of tweets over the weekend, President Trump accused the unnamed whistleblower of spying on the prpresident , p promising big consequences. He also threatened civil war if impeachment proceedings move forward. 2020 hopeful senator Kamala Harris did monday look, lets be honest. Donald trumps twitter account should be suspended. Well, for more, we host a debate on impeachment. Joining us here in new york city are two guests. John bonifaz is an attorney and political activist specializing in constitutional law and voting rights. He is the cofounder and president of free speech for people, one of the organizations calling for trumps impeachment. John bonifaz is the coauthor with ron fein and ben clements of the constitution demands it the case for the impeachment of donald trump. Chris hedges is a pulitzerprize winning journalist, awardwinning author, and activist. He is a columnist for the news website truthdig. His latest article is headlined the problem with impeachment. He h has written numerous books, including most recently, america the farewell tour. We welcome you both to democracy now john bonifaz, lets begin with you. Why do you feel donald trump should be impeached . Donald trump is a threat to our republic. He defies the e constitution and the rule of law almost on the daily basis and really from the moment he took the oath of office, he showed this disregard for the constitution, refusing to divest from his business interest all over the world and directly colliding with the anticorruption provisions of the constitution, foreign and domestic im im its clauses. Enforcement, the Impeachable Offenses did not stop there. He repeatedly has been abusing his power and the oath of office beach meant proceedings. Juan and yet the house is looking basically at one issue, what hapappen with the phone cal in ukraine and chris hedges, you said the fatal mistake that trump made is trying to take down a fellow member of the ruling elite. It reminds me of the watergate hearings where the activities that were carried out by the Nixon White House against the democratic headquarters in watergate were directed at t the elites. All of those activities have been carried out before, including breakins into Daniel Ellsbergs psychiatrist office, against antiwar activists. But it is when those activities were targeted i think that ts what we have seen and that is what has triggered quickly from nancy pelosi, who up until now has been reluctant to carry out impeachment. But what they have done or what the Trump White House has done nominee byhe favored the democratic donor class. That is not necessarily an argument to not proceed with impeachment t proceedidings. It is s an argument to expand to cover all of his Impeachable Offenses from obstruction of justice, from giving aid and comfort to White Supremacists and neonazis, racists abuses of power, placing children and their families in prison uncoconstitutionally at the southern border. All of the Impeachable Offenses need to be covered by these proceedings, not just the ukraine scandal. I agree with that. I am not against impeachment. The problem is that and use the phrase a rule of law from the very moment trump took office, he was violating the emoluments clause. Very clear evidence he attempted to obstruct justice during the mueller investigation, inciting violence and racism, using taxes to punish people he considered political opponentnts jeff bezos in particular, amazon. But what has been disturbing for me is the shredding of the rule of law. The inability on the part of the ruling elites on both sides of the aisle to stand up for the rule of law until now. And that gets to the much deeper issue that there are centrally we live in a twotiered ecosystem where poverty has been criminalized, we live in a city where eric garner was strangled to death by new York City Police for allegedly selling loose cigarettes, which he wasnt, on the day he was killed. In fact, he was not dodoing ananything. And then wall street, which has essentially rewritten the rules. So my worry about impeachment which im not against impeachment is that people see it as a panacea. I think many in the democratic party, in particular in the liberal class, have personalized our problems in the figure of donald trump. In fact, the malaise runs much deeper this is what i spent the last two years doing in my book the rupturing of what the sociologists call the social bonds. The disenfranchisement of well over half the country, the inability of them to actualize themselves, and acting out in selfdestructive pathologies, whether that is he groups, the opioid crisis, gambling, sexual sadism, et cetera. Go ahead with impeachment, but if we dont begin to address the underlying malaise and disenfranchisement and rage and legitimate rage on the part of the White Working Class, however much trump lies of course, he lies like he breathes the clintons also light and far more damaging ways to the working class and in particular the White Working Class and donald trump. And we know from polls that right before the election in 2016, you had 55 of those who said they were voting for trump. It was because they disliked hillary. Trump was kind of weaponize. He was the middle finger to the establishment. He was weapon