Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20240713

Congress member al green, the first to go to the floor and demand trumps impeachmement in 2017. Well also speak with Dahlia Lithwick, senior Legal Correspondent for slate, and mark green. His book with ralph nader is titled fake president decoding trumps gaslighting, corruption, and general b. S. Then two major victories for immigrant rights victories as new jersey lawmakers pass a bill to allow undocumented people to apply for drivers licenses. I want to tell you something. Immigrants, with papers or without, born here or not born here, we all deserve the same because we are human beings. We all have the same rights. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The house of representatives is slated to hold a historic vote today on two articles of impeachment against President Trump. The articles accuse President Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of congress. They center on how President Trump withheld military aid to ukraine to pressure the ukrainian president to investigate trumps political rival, joe biden, and how trump then tried to cover up his actions to thwart a congressional inquiry. After a sixhour debate on the house floor, the democraticcontrolled house is expected to vote for impeachment by the endnd of the day, which would mark only the third time in u. S. History that a president has been impeached. Todays vote comes after the House Rules Committee approved the terms of todays debate, which will allow no amendments on the floor. President trump lashed out at democrats tuesday in a sixpage letter to House Speaker nancy pelosi, accusing her of declaring open war on american democracy. Trump called the impeachment process an illegal, partisan attempted coup. He also claimed, more due process was afforded to those accused in the salem witch trials. The mayor of salem, mamassachusetts, slammed trumps comparison, telling him to learn some history. Trump reiterated it was a witchhunt during his speech tuesday. Pres. Trump they know it is a hoax, it is a witchhunt. It has been going on now for almost three years and it probably started before i even won the election based on what we are finding out with the insurance policy quotes and other things. It is a disgrace. Amy that was President Trump, speaking alongside guatemalan president t jimmy morarales dura white house visit tuesday. Protesters rallied in support of trumps impeachment in cities across the United States tuesday, including boston, new orleans, chicago, philadelphia, charlotte, tucson, austin, seattle, des moines, iowa, and here in new york city. It is really serious. The charges, for me, are pretty terrifying. I am convinced in my concern was that there would be so much apathy because of how long the process has taken that people would not consider how important it is to also just put your body out of the s street and say, we support the democrats and what theyre doing for our country right now. Amy the house vote on impeachment today comes as the top u. S. Diplomat to ukraine, william taylor, has announced hes stepping down from his post. Taylor was a fierce critic of trumps effort to withhold military aid from ukraine to pressure the ukrainian president to open an investigation into trumps political rival. He was a key witness during the house intelligence committees impeachment inquiry against trump. Former Trump Campaign aide rick gates has been sentenced to 45 days in jail and a 20,000 fine for participating in a criminal financial scheme and for lying to federal investigators. Gates testified against trumps former Campaign Chair Paul Manafort and trumps longtime friend and former Campaign Adviser roger stone as part of special counsel Robert Muellers probe into trumps 2016 campaigns links to russia. Manafort has now been hospitalized for a heartrelated condition while serving his federal prison sentence. In a rare move, the highly secretive foreign Intelligence Surveillance court, known as the fisa court, has accused the fbi of misleading its judges about the reasons for wiretapping former Trump Campaign adviser carter page as part of the mueller investigation. The fisa courts presiding judge ordered the fbi to propose changes in how its investigators seek permission for domestic surveillance of u. S. Citizens. The move comes after the justice departments independent Inspector General found a series of inaccuracies and omissions in the surveillance application process. In 2020 election news, the democratic primary debate on thursday will go forward after cafeteria workers reached a Labor Agreement with the Food Services Company Sodexo at the debate site Loyola Marymount university in los angeles. The democratic president ial candidates had vowed to boycott the debate if the labor dispute was not resolved before the event, with candidates saying they would refuse to cross a picket line. The senate has approved a 738 billion defense bill, one of the most expensive military spending bills in u. S. History. The overwhelming bipartisan vote now sends the spending bill to President Trump. The bill includes 12 weeks of paid parental leave for civilian federal workers. For the first time in 20 years, the overall federal spending bill includes 25 million to study gun violence. The spending bill also repeals three obamacare taxes. It does not ban u. S. Support for the u. S. Bbacked saudiiled wn yemen. Ththe bill alsdoes n not prevevt trump from using military funds for the construction of his border wall. President trump met with outgoing guatemalan president Jimmy Morales in the what else tuesday where they discussed immigration and trade. E. Morales has previously signed a 30 agreement with the u. S. Which allows the United States to the work migrants seeking asylum in the u. S. To guatemala. But preresidentelect has expressed rereservations about continuing this agreement. He will take office in january. He was not present at the meeting at the white house, which was believed to be with President Trump and his advisor stephen miller. In india, the Supreme Court has postponed hearing a challenge to the constitutionality of the new citizenship law, which has sparked massive protests across the country. The Supreme Court will not issue a stay against the law, which many say is a major step toward the official marginalization of indias 200 million muslims. Indias highest court will hear the challenge to the law on january 22. To see our full interviews about indias new citizenship law, go to democracynow. Org. In france, strikes continue nationwide in protest of french president emmanuel macrons proposed pension overhaul,l, whh would effectively raise the retirement age for younger workers. More than half a Million People took to thstreets tutuesday acroross france in support of te strike. More than 60 of the french population supports the strike, despite disruptions to transportation and other public services. This is one parisian commuter. The strikers are right. They are right to strike. If you want to be heard, that is the way it is. There is no other solution. Amy longtime bolivian president evo morales. During his address, he named two possible successors to his Party Following his ouster and what he and others described as a military coup. The two possible successors are luis arce catacora, his former economy minister a and andronino rodriguez, a key coca farmrmer. This is evo morales speaking to the e intercepts s glenn greeed in an exexclusive intervieiew publisished monday. My family has been threatened. They burned my sisters house. Children are now in argentina. They made the leaders of the movement for socialism, political instruments for the sovereignty of the peoples, renounce the positions by burning their homes. And threatening their families. They pushed out the national , the progressiveses, the leleftist come and antipeerles. And because is evo morales. The pope has lifted secrecy rules on sexual abuse cases, in efforts to increase transparency around the sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the catholic church. On tuesday, the pope declared that the rule of pontifical secrecy does not apply in the case of sexual a abuse o of children. The vaticans top sex abuse investigator, charles scicluna, called the popes announcement an epochal dececision that remos obststacles and impediments to sexual abuse investigations. And dozens of women have shot back at disgraced hollywood mogul Harvey Weinsteins complaint that his effort to promote women in hollywood has been overshadowed by over 100 accusations of rape, sexual assault, and Sexual Harassment against him. An interview with the New York Post Harvey Weinstein complained he was a forgotten man and claimed he should be remembered for providing opportunities to women actors and directors. In response, a group of 23 women , including top actresses, responded in a statement saying weinstein says in a new interview he does not want to be forgotten. Well, he wont be. He will be remembered as a sexual predator and unrepentant abuser who took everything and deserves nothing. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The house of representatives is said to hold a historic vote today on two articles of impeachment against President Trump. The articles accuse President Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of congress. They center on how President Trump withheld military aid to ukraine to pressure the ukrainian president to investigate trumps political rival, joe biden, and how trump then tried to cover up his actions to thwart a congressional inquiry. After a sixhour debate on the house floor, the democraticcontrolled house is expected to vote for impeachment by the end of the day, which would mark only the third time in u. S. History that a president has been impeached. Todays vote comes after the House Rules Committee approved the terms of todays debate, which will allow no amendments on the floor. Trump lashed out directly at the vote tuesday, calling the attempt to remove him from office an attempted coup. Pres. Trump they know it is a hoax, witch hunt. It is just a continuation. It has been going on now for almost three years and it probably started before i even won the election, based on what were finding out with the insurance policy quotes and other things. It is a disgrace. Amy trump lashed out at democrats tuesday in a sixpage letter to House Speaker nancy pelosi, accusing her declaring open war on american democracy. Trump called the impeachment process a illegal, partisan attempted coup. He also falsely claimed, more due process was afforded to those accused in the salem witch trials. Meanwhile, protesters held rallies calling for trumps impeachment in n cities across e country including boston, new orleans, chicago, philadelphia, charlotte, tuscon, austin, seattle, des moines, and here in new york. Republican senators have already made up their mind. That is what i think is terrible. If they were jurors, we would not even be sitting on a jury if you had already made up your mind. They should do what is best for the country, not the party. Amy all of this comes after some democrats have pushed to impeach trump for years. In a minute, we will be joined by Texas Democratic representative al green. In 2017, he became the First Congressmember to call for prPresident Trumps impeachment and then twice more after that. I rise today, mr. Speaker, to call for the impeachment of the president of the United States of america for obstruction of justice. I do it because, easter speaker, there is a belief in this country that no one is above the law, and that includes the president of the United States of america. When he said there was some shole country as he was addressing his immigration policy, he was putting his bigotry in the policy. And that is something we should all concern ourselves with. The fact that t the president s policies are based upon his bigotry. Impeachment is thehe remedy. It is time for people to decide, are we goining to takake on bigy or are we gogoing to allow it to fester and grow . You dont eliminate bigotry by dealing with it in a politically expedient way. You have to take it headon. Im concerned if we dont impeach this president , he will get reelected. If we dont impeach him, he will say he has been vindicated. Amy that is Houston Congress number al green, repeatedly calling for impeachment on the house floor. Joining us now on this historic day, what many are calling impeachment day. Welcome to democracy now your thoughts on this d day . Thank you for having me , ms. Goodman. This is a day for us to reflect. We are at the crossroads. Either we will hold the president accountable for his impeachable behavior, or we will be held accoununtable. But as important as that is, it will also mean we will lose some of our democracy. A president has to h have guardrails. A president has to know there are boundaries. If the president perceives there are no boundaries and does what he has concluded is within his all power granted under article 2, that i think we will l lose some of our democracy and we march toward a monarchy. We did not buy into a momonarch. We bought into a democracy. As franklin said, we have this republic if we can keep it. I plan to do all i can to help us keep the republic that i love. Amy what is interesting, congressman green, you have been calling for this for the last two years for different reasons. Among them, racism. Can you talk about what it means at this point that it has been narrowed, these two charges against trump, to abuse of power and obstruction of congress . Are you satisfied with this . Initially, the call was for his obstruction as s it relateso the investigation into his campaign, the russian intrusion into the campaign and into our election. You might recall that mr. Comey was fired summarily in the president went on national tv in prime time and confessed he was considering the investigation. But i then moved on because i saw the level of bigotry emanating from the presidency. I saw the various phobias that push. Ded to project and i saw how the country was moreing to become unsettled as a result of this. I represenent a good many people who o are suffering because of e president s incisive, incited comments. Been veryent has insightful with some of his language and people are suffering. I represent latinos who are very concerned about their safety after a man who heard the president talked about invaders coming to this country from mexico and then went some hundreds of miles to do what he could to cause harm to people. I represent people who are muslims, who are concerned because of the ban the preresidt sought to impmpment on mumuslim. I represent people from the lgbt plus community because they are concerned the president can ban a trans person frorom the mimilitary, he can do otother ts to peoeople from the communityt. With all of this in mind, he became pretty clear r to me that there was s a need to call these things to o the attentntion of e amererican peoeople and soso understatanding that in 186868, Andrew Johnson was impeachched r rereasons rooted in bigotry, rooted i in hate, rooted in racism. It was then i concncluded the psion of slaveryry, which is racism, had to be addressed. And we have brought these articles of f impeachment dealag with the bigotry, the hatred, the homophobia, islamophobia all of the phobias, the antisemitism. We brought three articles of impeachment addressing these things, understanding, of course, the house of representatives went so far as to condemn the president for his racist comments. But that wasnt enough. Wasemnation impeachmentlight. If Andrew Johnson could be impeached with the articles against them for the reasons rooted in his hatred, bigotry, and racism, this president can be impeached for these reasons as well. Morere specifically, mi satisfi . Belelievepoint whwhere i we must go forward with these articles of impeachment. I do not believe that t the constitutution prohibits additional articles of impepeachment by way of example, if the president does what he says he can n do and go out on fiftfth avenue and s shoot some, i would bring articles of impeachment against him if he does t this with malice of foforethouought. No one is above the law. The president cannot contend i can only be impeached once and therefore i can do whatever i want now and you will be able to impeach me. That is ridiculous. It is as ridiculous as a lot t f other things that border on inanity that the president continues to wallow in. This may not be the end of it. I dont say that it is or is not. I do say the constitution allows us to impeach a president multiple times if the president commits multiple impeachable acts. Amy multiple times. I want to go to your december 4 memo that you sent to house members urging them to include what you were just describing, trumps racism in the articles of impeachment, talking about his disparaging comments about migrants, about muslims, his remark that they were very fine people on both sides in the Charlottesville White supremacist rallies. I am wondering what the response has been to this . You have been calling for impeachment since nancy pelosi, the House Speaker, has that absolutely impeachment is off the table. I d did not do it because of any comments anyone else made. I did it because of the president s behavior. This was sometething that would comedided they to the position that they currently occupy after much deliberation. I believe that was an appropriate thing g for people o do because it is a question of contents for everyone. I believe we have helped to shape the debate and i believe were inn thihis position in pat because of those three times that we brought peach been to a vote. The first time 58 votes. The second time, 66. A third time, 95. When the 95 voted, we at a point where in the democratic caucus, nearly half of the caucus, was supported on record, obviously, many others were supportive of it that had not gone on record, and i think this has brought us to this point in history. It is not a point i am gleeful about. Associated with my commentary. This is a sad time, not a time to revel where time to celebrate. It really is a sad time because we are at the crossroads of accountability in our country. We have got to do that which will help us preserve our democracy and defend our republic. Amy were going to go to break and come back to this discussion with Congress Member al green, the first Congress Member to call for President Trumps impeachment from the floor of the house. We will be joined by another green, mark green, who wrote with ralph nader the new book fake president. And Dahlia Lithwick will be with us from slate. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. As we continue our discussion about the historic vote that is expected today on two articles of impeachment against President Trump come articles accusing trump of abuse of power and obstruction of congress. After sig sauer debate on the floor, the democraticcontrolled house expected to vote for the impeachment would would mark only the third time in u. S. History a president has been impeached. Should the house approve either, there will be a trial with all 100 senators acting as jurors. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell said he is not neutral on whether trump should be removed from office come has rejected Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumers call for Mick Mulvaney and former National Security adviser john bolton to testify, along with others. We continue our conversation with Texas Democratic Congress Member al green, the First Congress memory to go to the house floor to call for trumps impeachment two years ago. Also with us in new york, Dahlia Lithwick is Senior Editor at slate and suprpreme coururt reporter. She also runs the podcast amimicus. Mark green also with us, coauthor of fake president decoding trumps gaslighting, corruption, and general b. S. He wrote it with ralph nader. This is very interesting. We can calall this the green sh, congressman al green and mark green. Mark green, congressmember green has been calling for trump to be impeached for years for many different reasons. You and ralph nader also say trump shouldld be impeached for many more reasons than what is happening today. I am glad to be here with my father al green and on a big day, there is no one better to be here with than you, amy. A year ago, ralph and i started this book b because while every peperson, every president , make fit or lie at some point, we have never had a person or president who lies most of the time. We need a new word. I love my dogs, i love my spouse, but they are not equal. We need to worry about, i dont know, trump began the disinformation from lenin to putin. Everything he says is motivated, not by reason, facts, science, money. Vanity, and so his ego is so poisoning his mind that he makes judgments all the time come in his interest, but not our interest. I would have preferred, but not my call. Another article or two on violence. Bigotry and that thinks he is said about members of congress, like the socalledd squad, could lead soe nut with a gun to do bad things. But ralph and i think come of course he i is a lawfully selecd president and you integrated electoral college, but he is an illegitimate president. He is a fake presisident because hehe lacks the stability, the honesty, the integrity to make decisions as the constitution intended. We might as well expect a surgeon to be an opera singer. Amy i want to bring Dahlia Lithwick into this conversation. Are you surprised at what he just said . Im not surprised. I think professor lawrence made a similar point a few weeks ago essentially saying there is absolutely no constitutional asson that, for instance, things come out with regard to the tax returns or if don mcgann is forced to testify or john bolton is forced to testify, those are all subjects that are in the courts right now. If things were to come forward in the spring, there is no reason you cannot bring further articles of impeachment. Amy Congress Member al green, maybe you can describe the scene of today. Nancy pelosi has called all Congress Members to the floor at 9 00 a. M. Do you foresee this, and are you being told to stop talking about this, impeachment after impeachment of the current president . Impeachment should be used sparingly and it should be used judiciously. But it also is something that is a sosort of, please as it relats don mcleanns asas it relato the president. It hangs there to let the president know there are boundaries and that if you exceed the boundaries come if you go beyond them, you cannot do it with impunity, cannot do it with h any degree of immunit. We a t there. As members of congress, we are the watts persons, if you will. We will not let you stray. I do believe that any professor of law who has that the president can be impeached multiple times is absolutely correct. Multiple times only of the senate does not convict and remove. If the senate convicts and removes, then he will be there to be impeached. Conclude logical to that you can only impeach once and therefore you have now lost the opportunity to do it again will stop this would allow the president to become a monarchy because there would be no boundaries. Impeachment is all we have. It literally is all we have for a sitting president , given justice depepartment protocols. So my point to you and others is, if we love our country, then we have to do what we must to protect it. With refererence to today, this day is a day that calls for a certain dedegree of solemnity, a lot of reflection. And in my opininion, it calls fr a certain amountnt of couragage. I know that there are people who assume that this is an easy vote, but it is not because when we casast thisis vote, we are sg that we have a person who should not continue to hold office and stepwe should now take a that the framers of the constitution gave us as somewhat of a last resort. There is another resort, but is is somemething that requiuirs immediate atattention. I think it is a serious vote. I am proud of those who will have the courage to stand and take the position that the president should be removed from office. To my dear brother greene who was on, i would say this as it relates to your comments about the bigotry, i concur with yo. This has harmed society in ways we cannot imagine. Goingis some harm t that is to be irreparable, in my opinion. It may be repaiaired, but it wil not be repaired in the immediate future, some of the harm that has been done. I have seen the behavior of some of the trump followers, those who are committed to him regardless. I have seen their behavior. I know what they are capablele. I am very much afraid for what will happen to some people. Irreparable in the sense if someone is hurt as the case with the woman in charlottesville after persons were walking the streets screaming jews will l nt replace us a woman lost her life. Thatat is irreparable. You will never get that lifefe back. Others have lost their lives. We will not get those lives back. The harm is irreparable as it relates to some people. And finally, those who toleratae bigotry perpetuate it. If you tolerate hate, youre in the business of perpetuating hate. The hate thatlow emanates from the white house to continue. The president is not alone there, by the way. He is a chief operating officer there with him who helps him to perpetrate, promulgate, and foster this hate upon this country. But when we take it frfrom the president ,t, taken lawfully by y of impeachment and i hope that we will, then we will remove some of the other persons who are the supporting cast in harm that of hate and is being fostered upon our country. I love my country. That is the only reason im doing it. There e were no other reasons. This is not something that will go away once i leave congress. This is more than a vote for me. This is about my country and how much i love it. Amy i want to thank you for being with us, Congress Member al green, the first to call for President Trumps impeachment when the senate when the House Speaker said this was off the table and you never stopped until now. As you head off to the house floor. We are continuing our discussion with Dahlia Lithwick a and mark green. Mitch mcconnell faces calls to recuse himself from trumps impeachment trial after macconnell said last w week he s taking my cueues from the white house. This is macconnell speaking on fox news. Everything i do during this encore, there will be no difference between the president s position and our position as to how to handle this. Amy that is senator and s senae Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell is ing fox news that he that well, he said he is not impartial because he says this is a political trial and he does not have to be an impartial jury. Does Mitch Mcconnell s promise violate articlei Section Three of the constitution . Should he recuse himself, Dahlia Lithwick . And explain what that is. There has been a whole lot of talk. It was not just mitchch mcconne. Lindsey graham also explicitly said i have no intention of being there. They are both saying this is purely political process, i have no this is not a judicial process, have no responsibility to treat it like a legal event. It is not just that it violates the constitution, it violates the oath they swear. This is a specific oath they swear as it relates to impeachment, that they will be impartial jurors. I think theres been a lot of attention paid to the fact they are announcing in advance of the vote they have no intention of adhering to the oath they swear. It is hard to imagine a juror in any other Legal Proceedings saying, no, im not going to be impartial. Im in the tank for the president. Amy macconnell says he will coordinate totally. This goes to the violation of the constitution with the white house. He has been very clear he is taking his orders from white house counsel. He says theres no daylight between the White House Defense strategy and what he plans to do. We are really saying concretely in his refusal to take to allow Chuck Schumer to call witnesses. He is simply saying there is no space for witnesses. Is literally a kangaroo court. Goioing tolinton was be impeached, he clearly said there should be witnesses. This was Mitch Mcconnell. Not only did he say it at that time, but the 1999 agreement between the majority and minority in the senate provided for the things that schumer is asking for. All Chuck Schumer has requested is the same exact protocol that we soften the clinton impeachment. Amy mark green . This show and others like it are often called being truth to power. Trump and macconnell and all of them are power to truth. It is not that they were doing anything lawful or right. They have the muscle to do it. In our bookl fake president , we have a long chapter on the rule of lawlessness by trump. This is not just a one off. When he would not allow black people to be tenets in his Real Estate Company to the shutting down of the foundation, for example, shutting down trump , he is a serial corrupt person. That is why if you have someone who constantly makes mistakes, constantly uses conspiracy theories, constantly l lying, ad then refuses to ever apologize down, you quadruple end up with a president like we have today. He brought this on himself. Ralph nader and i did not write this book, trump wrote it. We just held up a mirror explaining why he should be impeached and convicted. Amy so lets talk about the trial. Dahlia, giving covering the Supreme Court forever. Chief Justice John Roberts, talk about the role he will lay here. This is one of the situations where we have a lot more norms than rules. The only thing we know is that he will be the presiding officer. Late tooks job early that away delicately took that away from the vice president. There was some basis the framers wanted there to be an independent judicial check. If it was purely ceremonial, they would not have put in john roberts instead of the vice president. We dont know what that presiding looks like. We know it is very much the case that bill requests, when he presided over the clinton impeachment is that chief, was very proud to say, i did nothing and i did it very well. It is certainly the case that some chief justice justices can really start to fade back into the hedges and do nothing. That is the question. Amy y could he decide, could te chief Justice John Roberts decide whether there will be witnesses allowed . The current role, as i understand it, and this is being degree. Ut to thenth human constitutional law you mean the constitutional law. Theyre fighting it out to determine whether the formal letter, john roberts good make rulings that force to subpoena witnesses of Mitch Mcconnell says he wont do it. My understanding is any decision he makes can be overruled by a simple majority in the senate. So it is not clear if in a standoff between Mitch Mcconnell and john roberts, john roberts can win. I do think if john roberts makes the decision, no, i want to hear from witnesses, that Mitch Mcconnell is going to have to defying the he is chief justice. If john roberts once to assert himself in a profound way and say, im not going to oversee a sham trial in the senate, he could make a very, very difficult. Amy this also comes as a supers ruling on no less than, what, three cases involving trumps personal finances . Tax just printed the three cases. That will happen in april. Theres also, as i said, very good reason to believe the don again, john bolton cases wherein they are refusing to testify under the most elaborate and implausible theory of privilege that anyone is ever heard come all of these cases are two. I would also add this term separate from impeachment from the Supreme Court is going to vii, abortione case. This is one of the biggest terms don roberts has overseen. All of these cases will come down in june of an election year. In addition to that, a circus in the senate. John roberts hates being on page a1 of the newspaper. This is his worst nightmare. Income mark green . You mentioned lawrence and the trial. Larry came up with a really good idea two months ago. Amy a harvard law fetzer. Which is getting traction that the house has the sole power to decide the rules of impeachment. Piece forheys articles over the senate. Theres is no rule for that. Presumption is not a rule. Mitch mcconnell has had in effect, i am reading the trial, were not going to be fair, were just going to put our thumb on it and that is that. Why should the house cooperate with a fake trial for a fake president . So pelosi today could vote to impeach and not send over the article because in donald trump says he wants to be exonerated. Well, all of the evidence convicts him. But now he cannot be pretend to be faintly exonerated by the senate and he will have the worst of both worlds. The reality of impeachment because of a life of a presidency of crime, without any hope of historical exoneration. I think that is a good idea. Not my call. Amy Dahlia Lithwick, the greens, Congress Member al green and mark green, saying there should be more articles of impeachment in a ralph nader call for this on monday as well . I think we have talked a lot about the racism and the sort of Andrew Johnson president of just being a demagogue who foments racism. At another piece we have not talked about is the corruption, the emoluments clause violations, the self enrichment all the ways in which we know , for instance, the inauguration was just a moneymaking vehicle all the ways in which the selfdealing, now hearing about ukrainians giving money to rudy giuliani, ukrainians giving money to super pacs. None of that is on the table as it currently stands. I think theres a lot of people who think in addition to bringing an article of impeachment around these issues of racism and demagoguery, there really should have been an article of impeachment around selfdealingft and and corruption, the likes of which we have never, ever seen. Amy why is that critical to get those articles i in there . Some might say, but he got impeached, isnt that enough . Getting impeached for someone who is so corrupt is satisfactory, but it is not excellent. One fourth of his days as president he spent on a trump property. Hes to get 120,000 year for political groups for his hotote. He got five point 1 million. Zelensky and fms conversation said, oh, mr. Trump, i have stayeded at your hotel. We know that is happening. If there arere not does not 20, but a few more like emoluments and coaxing violence and obstruction of justice, where mr. Mueller showed 10 instances of where he tried to fix the cases, you could argue future president s will say, i will never collude with ukraine again to get the bidens or Something Like it no president has ever had anything like the self, selfdealing making money amy before we go, i want to ask a question, mark. About your own history with the democratic president ial candidate mike bloloomberg. You raran against him in the new your grace 2001. The primary day that was called off because of the terror attacks at the world trade center. But ultimately, bloomberg would win. Democrat. Ifelong he changed his affiliation to republican for the race narrowly , won the general election with 50 of the vote to your 48 . Bloomberg won with a selffinanced campaign, outspending you fivetoone with 73 million of his own money. I recently got a chance to catch up with Mike Bloomberg in ,adrid, spain, at the u. N. Summit. We thought he was holding a news conference. As soon as he spoke, he was surrounded by security and taken out. We were very surprised. I followed him out to ask him a question. Mayor bloomberg, will you be taking questions from the press . If you could just answer a question. We all packed in there to ask you questions. The u. N. Is that economic and climate inequality is driving protest around the world. You are a billionaire running for president. You have spent tens of millions more dollars than the other president ial candidates. Will that be your strategy to win the presidency . We are here to talk about climate. Amy that was my question and Mike Bloomberg did not answer it, though i reputedly asked it. Your response . That was so amy of you. He did trip me up. Amy he did say one thing, he said dont trip. I heard that. I feel personally responsible for Mike Bloombergs president ial candidacy. Mi2001, im a 15 point had poster says, good news and bad news. Ive never lost of the candidate 50 points had but we have never been opposed by Canada Spending a Million Dollars a day. Mike wins narrowly. I think the message he got was he bought it fair and square. Hey, i did for the executive office, why not president . It is up to the democrats and the media to call him out. He is going to want to sit in the studio in new york for six months making has like 1 billion worth. He wants a cocoon of a candidacy. Like he showed with you. He does not want to be interviewed by you or anybody or too many people. He never looks anybody in the eye. He is always like this. He is very smart. Amy he spent Something Like one quarter of a billion dollars industry mayoral races. At the time, it was more than any public official in u. S. History. Then he was only worth 5 million, which i am getting closer to. He is now worth 50 billion. We have never seen a 1 billion or more primary contest. But because he is awful on stop and frisk, millions of young men of color were harassed. An apology on the eve of an election doesnt really do much. He sort of broke the law by running for a third term by buying a change in the law. A person is used to buying things like this is an anomaly in the democratic primary was to he ha has already bought himself or popularity than Amy Klobuchar and cory booker. No one can prove that he cant when or that he will win and it is up to primary democrats to vote their beliefs or the ads. Amy we will see what happens. He also said he will not release his finances until i believe after the iowa primaries. I want to thank you, mark green, and Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor at slate. Mark green cowrote a new book with ralph nader called fake president decoding trumps gaslighting, corruption, and general b. S. This is democracy now when we come back, major immigrant rights victories in new york and new jersey. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. As we end todays show with two major victories for immigrant rights. In new york, thousands of undocumented people waited in line for hours at departments of Motor Vehicles on monday to apply for a drivers license, new York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the green light law in june allowing undocumented people to apply for a drivers license using alternative forms of id instead of providing a Social Security number. Meanwhile, in the neighboring state of new jersey, state lawmakers also passed a bill this week to allow undocumented people to apply for drivers licenses following emotional testimonies at the state Assembly Last week. Among them nineyearold new , a jersey Resident Named david. Amy on monday, as new jersey lawmakers approved the bill to grant undocumented people drivers licenses, supporters erupted in cheers and chants of si, se pudo yes, we could. New jersey governor Philip Murphy has already said hell quickly sign the bill, benefiting nearly 500,000 undocumented people in new jersey who are eligible to drive. 14 other states, including delaware and california, also allow undocumented people to apply for a drivers license. We are joined by three people in the studio. Yaritza mendez, associate director of organizing at make the road ny. She helped push through the new york law. Haydi torres, an organizer with movimiento cosecha, which led the organizing to push new jersey lawmakers to pass a bill for drivers licenses for the undocumented. And david, the nineyearold Immigration Rights activist who spoke at testify. We welcome you all to democracy now withza mendez, lets begin you. People lined up at the department of Motor Vehicles. Explaiain what happened. It took us almost 20 years to get to the moment we are at now. Quickly changed after 2000 one. A lot of new york state residents need a way to move from point a to point b to take their kids to school. It i is something that should nt be a privilege to anyone, should be something that people need to better improve their livelihoods. Have super exciting to now new york s state residents be ae to apply for drivers license. Amy heidi, talk about what happened in new jersey. Similar to new york, and were so happy for this victory on m monday, and it also took 18 years rest to win this campaign. This battle. There overwhelmed by all of messages of support across the states. There are already people asking us, can you come down and support campaigns and other states . We are very happy. 500,000 and i committed immigrants who go to work every day y in new jersey will benefit from this. Amy david, your nine years old . Yes. You in thet watched state legislature. What grade are you in . Fourth grade. Amy where did you learn to speak like that . It takes a lot of guts to speak to these state leaders. Tell us what you said. , thesaid i told him legislators, why the licenses are important and told them im not obligated to go there. I want to go there because i want to support them to win these licenses. Licenses are important because they could help you in many ways. They could help your kids and child. You can take them to school. You will be able to drive without any fear of getting stopped by the cops and having to pay a ticket of at least 500 or more. And then there also important because family people dont know how to speak english and some kids want to learn. Some kids cant go because they dont have a license. And the weather could also be terrible. Children just walking on the way to school, they might get freezing cold or the snow or rain and that could make them sick. Amy david, tell me what youre wearing right now. What is your sweatshirt say and what you have on your arm . Yes,is says licenses promises no, cosecha. Means the power of the people. Amy how did you feel when the Legislature Passed what you were calling for the governor says he will also sign off on it . I felt really happy and filled with joy because i realize that i made a difference on this group. I actually after 18 years, i made for them to s say yes and sign the bill. Amy heidi, described the process in new jersey, what exactly it took, and how much bipartisan support did you get . Honest, i was shaking over the feeling on monday. A democratict is majority, it took a lot for them to realize there is a need for the immigrant community. We passed the senate by 21 votes. I think it was really just what we focused on was people power. We center this Campaign Talent amy this took you two years. We have been working on this for the past three years but it has been going on for 18 years. Took a collective power of people organizations to pass this, to move it. We understood for the past for years, they keep making promises to the immigrant community and usining as and our bodies to tae space amy you talk about your bodies. There was also a Hunger Strike in the midst of this. Yes. Hungerthis time we did strike last year that took place for about eight years. That is when the bill was drafted and we were waiting for to go to committee. We kept escalating. The civil disobedience is and the other actions where people were able to join. , talk about mendez how this impacts people. Like you mentioned before, it is the fear of even driviving their kids to school or going to a religious institution and being fearful of maybe not coming back home or being separated from their loved ones if you get pulled over. Now they drivers license, people are being able to drive around freely without that fear of being separated. Amy talk about what this means nationally, the National Movement for this post howdy respond to people who say, im afraid to get a drivers license because then the police and the government, the federal government, we know the president t so fiercely antiimmigrant, will get my address . S . The greenlight law here in new york is one of the strongest because we learned from some of that, the gaps or the loopholes that other states that had passed similar legislation many years ago, so we made sure to have privacy protections and it and ensuring ice did not Share Confidential Information about if applicants without with ice agents unless they do have a judicial warrant. We continue to have this open minded conversations with people. Of course, talking about the risk. If youre someone had a prior so takingval those precautions, but it does not mean that people should be afraid of going ahead and applying, which is why we are trying to put amy we have to end this but, david, in nine years, can get a drivers license. Where would you like to drive to . Thank you so much for being with us. Old, yaritzaears mendez and haydi torres. This does it for the broadcast. Tune into democracynow. Org from 9 00 a. M. On throughout the day as we have been doing throughout these impeachment hearings. We will be Live Streaming what is happening on the floor of the house. That is democracynow. Org. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] thank you for joining us on nhk newsline. We begin in washington where the u. S. House of representatives is Just Moments Away from a critical vote and donald trump is waiting to hear whether he will make history as the third president to be impeached. Wednesdays debate brings to an end a months lg