Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20161012

Lee fang about what he has uncovered in the leaked emails. Then to an unprecedented act of civil disobedience. Climate justice, to ensure a future for human civilization we Must Immediately halt the extraction and burning of tar sands. For safety, im calling to inform you that when i hang up the phone, were closing the valves. Amy five climate activists shut down all Tar Sands Oil coming into the United States by manually turning off the pipelines in minnesota, montana, north dakota, and Washington State. We will get the latest. Plus, we will go to phoenix. Federal prosecutors have announced they are charging Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for criminal contemptofcourt over his refusal to end unconstitutional immigration patrols in arizona. And we will speak to former u. S. Diplomat colonel ann wright who was detained and arrested by week for being on board a flotilla bound for gaza carrying food, medicine and , other humanitarian aid. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The haitian government, local organizers and International Aid , organizations are continuing to provide Emergency Assistance in the wake of the devastating category 4 Hurricane Matthew, which has killed more than 1000 haitians with the death toll expected to continue to rise. The Haitian Health Ministry Says at least 320 fatal cases of cholera have been reported since the storm. The World Health Organization says it is sending one million doses of cholera vaccines to haiti. The United States has announced its suspending deportations to haiti in the wake of the hurricane. This comes as emails show atop a two Hillary Clinton gave priority after the 2010 Haiti Earthquake to aid contractors marked fob, that his friends of bill clinton, or wjc vips by that is William Jefferson clinton. One who was coordinating incoming assistance offers been forwarded from the Clinton Foundation read need you to flag when people are friends of wjc, most i can probably id, but not all she said. Meanwhile, the death toll from Hurricane Matthew in the u. S. Has risen to 34 people as North Carolina is hit with widespread flooding thats submerged cars, forced the closure of major interstates, and knocked out electricity from more than 280,000 homes and businesses. At least 2000 people have been rescued from the flood waters, some by helicopter. This comes as North Carolina governor pat mccrory has confirmed a North Carolina Highway Patrol officer shot and killed a man amid the flooding on monday night. The victims identity has not been released. In election news, the Republican Party is facing increasing turmoil after donald trump , the partys president ial nominee, declared war against the Republican Party establishment. On tuesday, trump tweeted it is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and i can now fight for america the way i want to. In a second tweet he wrote disloyal rs are far more difficult than crooked hillary. They come at you from all sides. They dont know how to win i will teach them trumps words came after House Speaker republican paul ryan said hed no longer campaign for trump following the release of a 2005 video in which trump boasts about sexually assaulting women. Ryan has not said he will not vote for trump. This comes as billy bush is reportedly out on the today show over his comments in the 2005 donald trump video. Billy bush is the cousin of former Florida Governor jeb bush and president george w. Bush. Nbc suspended him after the videos release. This also comes as a case alleging donald trump raped a 13yearold child more than two decades ago has been refiled in a new york federal court. The victim, identified only as jane doe, is now being represented by florida criminal defense lawyer cheney mason, who rose to prominence after successfully defending Casey Anthony over charges of killing her daughter. The lawsuit alleges trump tied plaintiff to a bed, exposed himself to plaintiff, and then proceeded to forcibly rape plaintiff. Trump responded to plaintiffs pleas by violently striking plaintiff in the face with his open hand and screaming that he would do whatever he wanted. The lawsuit alleges trump raped her at a party hosted by billionaire jeffrey epstein, who has been jailed on charges of soliciting sex from a minor. Trumps lawyer has denied all the allegations, saying they are not only categorically false, but disgusting. In more news from the campaign trail, al gore appeared at all rally tuesday when he talked about getting out e vote in florida, evoking is uncontested bid for the presidency in 2000 against george w. Bush. Corrects here is my point here is my point. I dont want you to be an a whereon years from now you welcome hillaryclinton and say, actually, you did win, it just wasnt close enough to make sure that all of the votes were counted or whatever. Consequences. Amy al gore spoke about Climate Change in his speech. Nine climate activists were arrested tuesday for attempting to shut down all Tar Sands Oil coming into the United States by manually turning off pipelines in minnesota, montana, north dakota, and Washington State. The group, which calls itself climate direct action, said the action was in support of the call for International Days of prayer and action for Standing Rock. Pictures and videos of the action shows them cutting chains and turning the manual safety valves to stop the flow of Tar Sands Oil through the pipelines. Well go to Washington State for more on the action later in the broadcast. In iraq, two kurdish fighters have died after an isis drone exploded, marking whats believed to be the first time an isis drone attack has killed troops. Isis already uses surveillance drones, and has launched at least two previous drone attacks without any reported fatalities. U. S. Military officials are now warning isis might successfully use drones against u. S. Led Coalition Forces in the upcoming battle for control of mosul. In afghanistan, at least 14 people have died and more than two dozen were injured after a shooting attack at a shrine outside kabul tuesday. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which came on the holy day of ashura. This is an eyewitness. I was at the site of the attack, saw around 10 people, four were already martyred in the rest were wounded. They were all taken and nearby hospitals. The attackers were dressed in police uniforms. Amy this comes as the taliban seized control of a strategic district on the border with turkmenistan tuesday. A july report issued by a u. S. Government watchdog says the taliban now controls more territory across afghanistan than at any point since 2001. In financial news, former wells fargo whistleblowers are coming forward saying they reported the fraudulent creation of fake banks accounts to their supervisors and wells fargos internal ethics hotline as early as 2005, but that their reports were ignored and some of them were fired for speaking out. Wells fargo is currently facing a massive scandal over the creation of 2 million fake accounts, which employees opened in order to meet grueling sales targets. Wells fargo ceo john stumpf has said he first became aware of the practice in 2013. But former wells fargo worker Julie Tishkoff says she reported the practice as early as 2005 the year stumpf became the president of wells fargo. She says she complained for four years until she was fired, in 2009. At least two workers reported the practices in letters written directly to stumpf in 2011, two years before stumpf claims he learned about the practice. At harvard university, hundreds of cafeteria workers are entering the second week of a strike to demand Affordable Health care and a average salary and an average salary of 35,000 a year. Harvards endowment is over 35 billion. The campus newspaper harvard crimson reports harvard administrations have attempted to call on other workers to volunteer to work for free in the dining halls amid the ongoing strike. The lgbt newspaper the advocate is reporting the number of murders of transgender people in 2016 is officially the highest on record. At least 22 transgender people have been murdered so far this year. This figure does not include transgender people who have been murdered but whose deaths havent been reported, or who have been misgendered by local newspapers, meaning the real death toll is likely even hier. This comes after transgender woman 30yearold jazz alford was found murdered in birmingham, alabama in late , september. Alfords sister said, her death was a huge hit for the lgbt community. And in arizona, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is facing the possibility of jail time after federal prosecutors announced they are charging arpaio for criminal contemptofcourt over his refusal to end unconstitutional immigration patrols in arizona. Arpaio has long been under fire for his immigration policies, which have included racial profiling and detaining immigrants in a scorching, outdoor tent city jail, which arpaio once referred to as his own concentration camp. Arpaio has also been a key supporter of donald trump, appearing at rallies alongside the republican president ial candidate, and where hes joked that both he and trump have been key members in the birthers movement, which refuses to acknowledge president obama was born in the United States. Trump and arpaio also share a birthday, june 14. Arpaio now faces up to six months in jail if hes convicted on contempt of Court Charges. Activists are also organizing for him to be voted out of office in this novembers election. Well go to phoenix for more on arpaio later in the broadcast. 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. The chairman of Hillary Clintons president ial campaign, john podesta is accusing russia of being involved in the hacking of his email account. In recent days wikileaks has , published thousands of podestas internal emails. Podesta spoke to reporters on tuesday. Contacted by the fbi. They are investigating the matter. A criminal breach under our federal statute of hacking my private email account. Dont of thei circumstances other than we did hear about a person that authorities confirm it was part of the Ongoing Investigation of into democratic organizations. Juan on friday, wikileaks least excerpts of clintons paid remarks to wall street firms, showing clintons closeddoor remarks were starkly at odds with many of her public positions. In one speech to a housing trade group in 2013, clinton spoke of eating both a public and private position when crafting laws. In other speeches, clinton largely absolved wall street firms for the crash of 2008 and said financial reform really has to come from the industry itself. The leaked emails also show clinton openly touted her support of fracking while secretary of state. In a speech to Deutsche Bank in 2013 she said, ive promoted , fracking in other places around the world. Amy the leaked emails also show how Hillary Clintons view on the Transpacific Partnership changed during the campaign. As secretary of state she backed , the tpp but on the campaign trail she came out against it. In an october 6, 2015 email, the day after the Obama Administration finalized the details of the 12nation tpp, clinton speechwriter dan schwerin wrote in an email this is indeed a hard balance to strike, since we dont want to invite mockery for being too enthusiastically opposed to a deal she once championed, or overclaiming how bad it is, since its a very close call on the merits. Well, to talk more about these Clinton Emails were joined now , by lee fang, investigative journalist at the intercept. His recent piece coauthored with zaid jilani is headlined, memo shows what major donors like Goldman Sachs want from democratic party. So why dont you share with us the highlights, what you felt was most important in these emails, lee. Thank you for having me. These emails are very interesting. They provide a window into clinton and her experiences, certainly her speeches. I do not believe there are any huge bombshells that this will change the course of the general election. Maybe if these emails came out earlier in the year during the democratic primary, that could have maybe changed history. But it that this wont change the general course of the election. That being said, the emails really show, including the transcripts, that Hillary Clinton is far more conservative, far more businessfriendly when she is speaking with aids, when she is giving speeches to these wall street banks. The emails show clintons inner circle is filled with wealthy people, wall street types, washington insiders, that are kind of part of a what you might call the washington bubble. They are very quick to attack and show a lot of contempt for anyone they perceive on the political left, whether that is activists were journalists. These are interesting emails, but for folks who have followed Hillary Clintons tenure in government, they arent particularly surprisingly fit a larger pattern. Juan they do reveal, especially with wall street firms or commercial interest, that they expect to be able to be heard given the money they contribute. They also showed some of the major labor unions in the country also seeking to get heard because of their donations as well to the Clinton Campaign, dont they . Yeah, that is right. I think the dodd frank comments are interesting. The ones you just highlighted. On the campaign trail, as she competed with Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton embraced dodd frank passed by president obama, called it a great law she will defend. She was very proud of it. But begin to bankers, she showed contempt for the law. She subsidized with bankers she sympathized with bankers, maybe argument it was only passed because of politics, that after the financial crisis of 2008, democrats had to do something so they had to pass this. She mentioned a Goldman Sachs in some of these paid speeches that she sees the Financial Sector folks who work on wall street, that they know how to make the rules better than those in washington. So it is a stark contrast. Juan i have not seen or read all of the emails, but i have seen some of the reports. I was surprised by two in particular. One where she appears to come in private the left discussions with wall street than she has publicly. One was over the issue of health care where she said in one of favoredches that she the universal singlepayer plan, and the other that her dream was a hemispheric trade agreement that would include not only free trade, but open borders. Yeah. Interestingis comments. On health care, this is the enigma of Hillary Clinton. Over the last 30 years, she has played such a big role in health care. She understands the system probably better than anyone. But where she stands on the issue is confounding for anyone. As you mentioned, in these speeches, Hillary Linton talks about the benefits of singlepayer, the Health Care System used in places like canada, that they provide better primary care using this system. It is much better at holding down costs for both consumers and the government. But at the same time, Hillary Clinton attacked singlepayer on the campaign trail this year as she was competing with Bernie Sanders saying it will never, ever happen in the United States. Kind of dismissing the idea. Really stick into the Affordable Care act, Health Reform system enacted by president obama. It is tough to see where she actually stands on these issues. Again, she has kind of taken every position. Amy let me ask you about one of the recently released documents where wall street donors use their influence to complain about senator Elizabeth Warrens influence over the direction of the democratic party. Right. There has been so many leaks in the last week. When it rains it pours. This is in a separately, separate from the podesta emails. Last week there were number of emails and memos released from the the fundraising arm of the House Democrats, dccc. In a revealing document, it kind of shows how pay to play politics play a big role in everyday kind of washington, d. C. , and the system there. So the memo shows House Democrats going to special Interest Groups and asking for money and then hearing them out on their concerns, what they wanted in exchange for that money. For example, goldman asked complained kind of bitterly that Elizabeth Warren, the senator from massachusetts who has called for cracking down on wall street, Goldman Sachs asked the democrats to distance themselves from Elizabeth Warren. In some ways, they complied. They actually pointed out Elizabeth Warren does not speak for House Democrats. They pointed to an article from nancy pelosi making that case. Another example, general electric, ge, talked about how much money they have given democrats and listed a number of policy concerns. They wanted support for the export import bank, which is a taxpayer subsidized bank that helps Companies Like ge. They complained about Certain Health care taxes associated act, therdable care medicare device types. Like a monday and way, the memos is incredibly revealing because this is how a money driven system works. You go to the donors and it was their policy demands of political demands. Juan what about the issue of fracking and what the emails reveal about clintons stand on fracking . Fracking is a big part of aslary clintons legacy secretary of state, but it is not something we have seen much Media Coverage on. We have not seen her talk about it much on the campaign trail. But in speeches to Deutsche Bank and other donor groups, Hillary Clinton has promoted this part of her biography. She said she has promoted fracking around the world. That she has accelerated fracking in places like europe, in particular, poland. This stands in steep contrast with what she has said on the campaign trail. Earlier this year, as she competed with Bernie Sanders, she cast herself as a skeptic of fracking during the New York Primary she aired an ad that basically suggested that she has stood against fracking and she has discouraged fracking around the world. But again, if you look at her actual legacy as secretary of state, her comments to donors were much more accurate than what she presented to the voters. When she came into office, she created an 80 Person Division within the state department to promote energy development, in particular, fracking. She did travel the world and encourage countries to adopt americanstyle fracking. She partnered with Companies Like exxon mobil and chevron to encourage the use. She even sent experts from the department of energy to provide Technical Expertise to countries considering fracking. This is just another kind of revealing comment that she gave to donors, but did not give to voters. Amy lee fang, talk about with the emails show abo with the media, and specific reporters. Right. So this is another kind of revealing memo. For many years, the Clinton Campaign, both directly and through its surrogates, has tried to cast the media as bitterly opposed to clinton, that a lot of reporters have a chip on their shoulder, that they have tried to drag down Hillary Clinton, and there is this kind of antagonistic relationship will stop but some of these leaks and fact memos reveal that there is actually a very cozy relationship between Hillary Clinton and many of the very powerful players in the media. There were these off the record and regular meetings and drinking sessions and dinners. They were regularly planting stories with reporters to shape the way the campaign was covered. It was it is kind of an extremist strategy and shows that in some cases, certain outlets i would not say they had an adversarial relationship with clinton at all. It was a cozy relationship in these emails. Juan you attempted to speak with Hillary Clinton in january after she addressed a town hall in manchester, new hampshire. You asked her if she would release the transcript of her hate speech is to common sacks. She laughed and turned away. Secretary clinton, we release the transcript of your paid speeches to Goldman Sachs . Theres a lot of controversy over the speeches. Secretary is that a no . Secretary clinton . Will you release the transcript of your speeches . One coat that was in january. It is obvious from these emails the campaign was not laughing about the request. It was seriously worried about it, worth a . That is an interesting back story. We have a small rope Line Exchange back in january in new hampshire. The emails showed two days after i talked to hillaryclinton, the Clinton Campaign started reviewing all of the transcripts of heard paid speeches and actually highlighting the potential political fallout weeks later after our exchange, hillaryclinton said she would look into potentially releasing the transcripts. New york times called her to release those transcripts and she never did. It is the emails show, they revealed it reviewed it and thought about it and ultimately decided it would be too politically damaging to release these transcripts. As we can see, there was an involuntary release the last week. Theou look at the way campaign reviewed the transcripts, they were sizing up any potential political fallout. That is the way we see the transcripts now in the emails, categorized categorizing these quotes for each potential political downside. ,my you and your coauthor both of the intercept, are also mentioned in one of these emails. Is that right . Zaid and i used to work at think progress. It is a group once led by podesta. They discuss us i think the refer to us as freaks for going after hillary and reporting on her. This is just kind of a larger pattern of them kind of lashing out at anyone who reports critically on her campaign. Amy this whole issue that john podesta raises that these are stolen emails and the evidence that it does come from the russians and the whole issue that has been brought up in the debate to benefit donald trump. Can you talk about this . Yeah. On friday, the department of Homeland Security claimed that russian interest were behind these facts, including hacks, including wikileaks. They did not provide any proof, but is certainly possible russian interests are behind these leaks. Let me say for any leak or hacked document, as journalists, we have to review these things. If they do serve but the document survey Public Interest, we have a duty to report on them. There are so many stories that have come out this year where we dont know the motives or the source of the documents, but they survey Public Interest. For example, New York Times reported recently on Donald Trumps tax returns. We do not know if those tax documents were leaked or hacked or stolen in some way. It obviously, they survey Public Interest so the New York Times reported on them. The same with the panama papers. We do not know where those documents came from. There were maybe leaked or hacked or stolen in some way, but i think most journalists would agree they served a Public Interest reporting on those documents. It is wikileaks documents, regardless of the source, and if it is from if these documents are from russian interest, that is cause for concern, but that does not mean we can ignore the contents of these documents. Amy lee fang, thank you for being with us investigative , journalist at the intercept covering the intersection of money and politics. We will link to your piece memo , shows what major donors like Goldman Sachs want from democratic party. When we come back, and unusual civil disobedience across many states taking on the fossil fuel industry. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan nine climate activists were arrested tuesday for attempting to shut down all Tar Sands Oil coming into the United States from canada by manually turning off pipelines in minnesota, montana, north dakota, and Washington State. The group, which calls themselves climate direct action, includes five activists and four other supporters and videographers. They posted pictures and videos online that showed them cutting chains and turning the manual safety valves to stop the flow through the pipelines. This is climate activist Leonard Higgins. , just northontana of the missouri river, at a blocked valve of the pipeline. It carries Tar Sands Oil from canada got into the u. S. For refining. We have to stop, especially burning coal and Tar Sands Oil. They are major emitters of the Carbon Dioxide that is causing the planet to heat. In paris, 100 92 nations agreed we need to keep Global Warming to a limit of 1. 5 degrees centigrade. It is obvious from the science what were hearing, we are going to blow right past that. We are in a state of emergency ones andt our loved our families, our communities. We need to step up as citizens and take action where our leaders are not. So that is what i am prepared to do when i close the valves along the other team. Amy that was Leonard Higgins at the site of spectra energys express pipeline in coal banks landing, montana. This is Emily Johnston waiting to turn the valve at one of the enbridge lines in minnesota. Done doing that, we will do this one. [indiscernible] juan the activists issued a statement on tuesday, saying the action was in support of the call for International Days of prayer and action for Standing Rock. They also called on president obama to use Emergency Powers to keep the pipelines closed and mobilize for the extraordinary shift away from fossil fuels now required to avert catastrophe. Amy the activists issued a statement on tuesday, as was just said, calling for the International Days of prayer and action. We are going to turn right now to jay ohara cofounder of the , Climate Disobedience Center and one of the lobster boat blockaders arrested in 2013 after they used their lobster boat to block a delivery of some 40,000 tons of coal to the Brayton Point power station in somerset, massachusetts. We are also joined by afrin sopariwala. She is a member of climate direct action and a part of women of color speak out, a Climate Justice collective. Why dont we begin first with jay. If you can lay out this whole multistate action and what took place yesterday. Thank you, amy. Around 6 30 a. M. Pacific time yesterday morning, we began in minnesota with teams of activists approaching the safety valves placed along the routes of these pipelines in minnesota, north dakota and montana, and Washington State. In 15 minute intervals, calling the Pipeline Companies to let them know that we were going to be doing this so they could safely shutdown and manage their pipelines, then proceeding to close those valves at the locations where the activists were. Juan it is astonishing to realize that you were able to organize this and were no security guards near these valves to be able to prevent your group from doing this . Well, i think, certainly, there is no security guards. There are simply usually just enclosures surrounded by a chainlink fence with maybe some barbed wire across the top of it. These valves really are for safety and they are to be used when there is a leak or a spill or a problem along the line to shut down the flow of oil. So these are not designed to be heavily guarded. They are in fact supposed to be accessible safety clement in some ways. Safety clement and some was. Amy can you talk about how you got involved with this, the risks are taking in all of these states from north dakota to minnesota to montana, Washington State . Absolutely. Who tookthese people risk yesterday have worked together years. I have worked with them previously. A lot of research has been done into wanting to do this action. In hink i got pulled people have taken this risk these are ordinary people. These are parents and grandmothers, concerned citizens after years and years of all kinds of different actions in the legal realm of actions that we can do, came to a point were they felt morally compelled to engage in civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action and put their bodies in the line, knowing this risk was not just going to be one day were one night in jail, but something they will see over the course of the next few months at least. Amy responding to a request from democracy now , enbridge, spectra, and candor morgan all condemned the actions. Candor morgan stated reckless trespassers broke into their location, but they were not operating through the portion of the line that was targeted. Spectra energy stated tampering with Energy Infrastructure places both the community and the environment at risk. They temporarily shut down the section of the express pipeline that was impacted and report that it was restarted a few hours later. And Enbridge Energy called the action reckless and dangerous adding these are criminal acts that endanger the public and the environment. We take this very seriously and will support prosecution of all those involved. Jay, how many people got arrested and what are they being charged with . First, it is just beautiful to hear the words of those Pipeline Companies because that is exactly the words we need to be using to describe what their corporations and the fossil fuel industry is doing to our planet reckless endangerment. And reckless operation. I am looking forward to being able to read those full statements so we can really turn them around and republish them as our own words. Actually at this point, there are now 10 people under arrest and an Additional Support person was arrested late yesterday in montana. That includes the five activists who turned the valves them selves as well as five folks who were there is some sort of support role who generally did not trespass within the enclosures of the Pipeline Companies as well as videographers who were part of a documentary team who were covering the action. So last night in jails and four different states, not only people five people with their hearts really open were prepared to go and take action with the knowing consequences they would potentially face these regal consequences, but also five folks who were there acting out of love and support for their friends as well as people who were simply there to document what was happening. , can youin sopariwala talk about your decision to take these actions in solidarity with Standing Rock . Absolutely. Earlier,ntioned Standing Rock put out this International Call for prayers and action. We are absolutely responding to that because what is happening in north dakota is so historic and so important. Around the world as well, seeing frontline communities and indigenous communities who are facing Climate Impact today. I am from india. People are dying every year back home because of heatwave. Also, we have the privilege to take direct action in ways that we are able to. I read news about four people in india who were suffer protesting at a power plant. Those are people who are already victims of the climate crisis. It is our duty and responsibility to act in solidarity with injured as people of frontline communities around the world and also with this historic moment in Standing Rock. , i want to ask a quick question about your past. We had you on along with one of the people you were involved with this action the massachusetts and you can explain it briefly in a highly unusual turn of events when youre prosecutor came out on the steps of the courthouse and said he supported what the two of you did. Yes. In 2013, ken ward, one of the valve turners, the one here in the state of washington outside of anacortes on this action, ken and i were aboard a small little White Lobster boat we anchored in the path of an incoming coal shipment to a power plant in massachusetts. What was amazing about that action, while it was exactly the sort of heartfelt expression of what we need to be doing on the day of the action, that same spirit seemed to carry through all the way into the courtroom almost a year and a half later when the prosecutor, District Attorney samuel sutter, came into the courtroom and said, essentially, as we were prepared to prove in court that our actions are necessary were necessary to avert the climate catastrophe that in fact he had great sympathy with us and could not come in some ways in good conscience, argue that these sorts of actions are necessary in the face of government and corporate and action and declared been on the steps saying he would join us during the peoples climate march in new york city in 2014 which he did. Amy and that is where i saw the three of you marching together and we interviewed you. Indeed, we were there. We were marching together for three or four hours. I think what is interesting and beautiful about this action, similar to the action that ken and i took a few years ago is that this whole Team Approached this action with the same spirit of love and compassion and greece that the world grief that the world were living in is not the world we need, that the future we are leaving for younger people and generations to come is going to be disastrous. And with a very deep, heartfelt sense of having no other recourse to change the course of events, these folks beautifully have gone out and take in the action that was necessary. In the face of what could be serious consequent is personally for them, but in light of the serious concert with his already felt by people around the world they knew they had to act. Amy we want to thank you both for being with us. We will continue to follow these actions. Jay ohara, thank you for joining us from Climate Disobedience Center, and afrin sopariwala, from climate direct action as well as women of color speak out. We will be covering the Standing Rock struggle dealing with the Dakota Access pipeline. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. We will be back in a moment. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. In arizona, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is facing the possibility of jail time after federal prosecutors announced they are charging him for criminal contempt of court over his refusal toend unconstitutional immigration patrols in arizona. Arpaio has long been under fire for his immigration policies which have included racial profiling, detaining immigrants in the scorching outdoor tent city jail that arpaio was referred to as his own concentration camp. Been a keyalso supporter of donald trump, appearing at rallies alongside republican president ial candidate where he has joked both he and trump have been key members and the birthers movement, which refuses to knowledge president obama was born in the United States. Amy sheriff arpaio faces up to six month until the convicted on these contempt of Court Charges. Activist organizing bird to be voted out of office in novembers election. We go to phoenix where we are joined by carlos garcia, executive director of puente arizona, a grassroots humanrights movement for migrant justice. Can you talk about the latest case, why sheriff arpaio faces these contempt of Court Charges . Criminal content of Court Charges . You must first understand what sheriff arpaio was doing an opportunity. In 2007, he obtained the 287 g agreement and decided to go after our communities never seen before, what he called crime suppression sweeps. He flooded immigrant neighborhoods with this andtized posse members would pull over and attain anyone that looked undocumented. Weulted in cases like would go out and film and we saw a sheriff who had toys in his trunk knowing that day he would take her maybe be separating a family. He a toys to give the children as they were waiting for their parents to be picked up. A lawsuit was filed and several years later, was found guilty of racial profiling and was asked to stop racial profiling and stop the practices the Sheriffs Office was pertaining to. So what happened is sheriff arpaio being sheriff arpaio, ignored the law, ignored the judges order, and ordered his officers to continue to racially profile and do what they were doing, resulting in this contempt of court where he now faces criminal conviction and his trial is set for december 6. Juan carlos, why has the sheriff continually, despite all of this furor nationwide over his policies and many of the changes that have occurred in the arizona political establishment after sb 1070, why he is continue to be reelected to office . Sheriff arpaios running for the seventh time. He has been in office for 24 years. It is unexplainable. It is not only our community he is gone after, but has tent city, spent millions and millions of taxpayer money. We have had over 150 people died in his jails. His abuse, his racial profiling has been documented. The department of justice, who is now in charge of prosecuting this case, put out a report in 2009 that it is the worst case of racial profiling abuse they had ever seen. So here in Maricopa County, unfortunately, in phoenix, we have two communities. We have a community a growing community of migrant peoples and then a community of retired folks who really appreciate what sheriff arpaio is doing. So i think we have come to a place where that is shifting and hopefully in this growing movement, specifically on october 20 7 october 22, we will have people from across the country join us in this district election and finally get rid of sheriff arpaio. As the wheels of justice continue to slowly turn, it is up to the people in Maricopa County to make sure that sheriff arpaio is gone. Amy the case that could land him in jail, or take a melendrez, who is this . Ortega was here on a visa. Patrols,aio was doing they pulled someone over. It was a citizen driver and ortega was sitting next to them and that person was asked for their documents. There have been thousands of people who have been racially profiled, the chained unfairly and put through this process. And now a federal court has found arpaio guilty of not only racially racially profiling, but disobeying the order to stop. Juan there was a major Corruption Scandal in arpaios office that led to the dismissal of several of his key deputies. What happened with that . It is a long history. There have been over 3000 lawsuits that arpaio has been under his deputies have turned on him. Yesterday in court, some of his deputies and also his attorney were in court who were also facing criminal charges for following through with this. The one thing i do want to note, sing sheriff arpaio, an older man in jail or him being arrested, is not the end game for us. What is in the most harmful is the policies that is brought not only to arizona, but pushed across the country. For us, it is not only arresting arpaio but the unjust system that is has been brought forth and if youre a trauma his crotch our timidity. Amy thank you, carlos garcia, for joining us. Executive director of puente arizona, a grassroots humanrights movement for migrant justice. We will follow this case. It could land the sheriff of Maricopa County in jail. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan a flotilla bound for gaza carrying food, medicine and other humanitarian aid was intercepted and seized by the israeli navy last week. The womens boat to gaza had set sail from the spanish port city of barcelona in midseptember in an effort to break the ongoing israeli blockade. Organizers say the Israeli Military seized the boat and detained the 13 human rights activists aboard in International Waters about 40 miles away from gazas shore. The Israeli Military reportedly towed the boat to the israeli port of ashdod and detained the the women for up to four days before deporting them. Amy we are joined by one of the participants on the boat to gaza, ann wright, retired army colonel, former u. S. Diplomat. Her recent article is titled, womens boat to gaza participants see the israeli imposed perpetual darkness on gaza. She spent 29 years in the military and later served as a highranking diplomat in the state department. In 2001, she helped oversee the reopening of the u. S. Embassy in afghanistan where she served as deputy chief of mission. In 2003, she resigned her state Department Post to protest the war in iraq. Ann wright, welcome to democracy now describe this ship of women that set sail and why you did it and what happened. The vision of the womens boat to gaza was to Bring International attention to the continuing israeli blockade of a naval and land blockade of gaza. This 25 milelong tiny strip, five miles wide, with 1. 9 Million People living in it. A brutal blockade which controls all of the electricity, the food, everything to come into gaza has to come through israeli hands now. Used to, egypt was a part of it but they have really blocked their southern borders. Our flotilla was to Bring International attention to this continuing blockade. Juan and what happened, if you could give us a sense of when the Israeli Military confronted the boat . It was actually a confrontation 34 miles off the coast of gaza. The israelis have learned a different lesson from after ,hey murdered nine people subsequently a 10th person died from the 2010 flotilla with and 50 othersra wounded. They knew this was a boat of women, unarmed civilian women trained in nonviolent action led by a nobel peace laureate. And to members of parliament, one from algeria, one from new zealand. And over the course of the three legs of this trip, which was 17 15 miles, a long trip, let me tell you, almost three weeks of educational activities in barcelona and france and down in to italy. We were doing an educational thing as we were heading for gaza. The israelis boarded the boat. There were 30 people on the zodiac boat that came up next to us and when they came up, the front part of it had women sailors on it. Women sailors were the first ones to board our boat. Amy these were the israelis. Yes. They were not in combat gear. They had baseball caps, longsleeved jerseys on, go pros. The Israeli Military has learned a lesson. I wish they would learn the same in the treatment of palestinians. The treatment of us are nationals was very different from what the israelis are doing to the palestinians. Amy i want to talk about the Nobel Peace Prize laureate mentioned, may mcguire. She released this prerecorded video message in anticipation of being detained at sea. Mcguire,e is may read a nobel peace laureate. If youre listening to this, then you will know what myself and all of the women of sale on the womens boat to gaza have been arrested and are in detention in israel. We were arrested, kidnapped illegally in International Waters, and taken against our wish into israel. This has happened to me before. This is totally illegal. Women, a many countries, we oppose our freedom of movement in any part of our world. So for those who can help, we call for the release of all those on the womens boat to gaza. Please do so. It is not about us. Work for the freedom and human rights for the blockade against the people of gaza and for the freedom for the Palestinian People andeace in the middle st we c all do this tog s not a dream. We a her in person because we care for human rights, for Human Dignity for the Palestinian People. Amy that was nobel peace laureate mairead maguire. ,omen soldiers were boarded youre taken to a prison and released . That is correct. Amy tell us abo the sittion in gaza, why you would risk doing this. One of the ships did not even make it. That is correct. It had engine problems leaving barcelona and we had women from all over the world that had come in and they were great people who continue to speak about the tragedy of gaza. As we approached the coastline of gaza, it was unbelievable post up to the left, you can see all of theiv of israel. To the right, a distinct line was darkness on the way to the south, and that is gaza. It exfo five is what is going on, that the lack of electricity, usually less than four hours a day, the lack of medical supplies. Our medical doctor from malaysia said her organization is trying to release reduce the time for operations in gaza, which to 2025. There are people lined up. There try to reduce the time for people who need lifesaving operations have it. The issue of food, water, sewage all of these things, for the United Nations saying by the are 20 20, gaza will be uninhabitable. Juan yet the Obama Administration, while continuing to increase its criticism of israels treatment of the palestinians, does nothing about the situation. In fact, they give them 38 billion in military and other aid which will be used to hammer the palestinians both in gaza and in the west bank. Amy this 38 billion, the Largest Military funding package the u. S. Has given any nation. Any nation. It will be used in the training ,ields of the Israeli Military which are in gaza. Gaza is the place where military experiments are done using u. S. Military weaponry and done by the idf. Amy your former u. S. Military. I am a kernel, 29 years in u. S. Military. I say the u. S. Military and our government are complicit in the crimes against the people of gaza and the west bank by the use of our military hardware and by the training that the israelis give us and we give them. Amy what happened to the eight on the boat . The aid was minor. It was us coming as representatives of the international community. Willie had a little 50 foot boat. We really were not carrying substantial amounts of anything other than goodwill from International Amy were you deported . Oh, yeah. Im a 20 year deportation. Amy we will leave it there. Colonel ann wright, retired army colonel and former u. S. Diplomat. Was one of the 13 passengers on the zaytounaolivia, the womens boat to gaza attempting to break israels nineyear naval blockade on gaza. 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 ys, but how much of it is real and how much of it is hype . One things for sure, if youre not gluten free yourself, chances are youll have to cook for someone who is. And i have some recipes that will satisfy everyone. These are all delicious and just happen to be gluten free. Whole grain mixed berry buttermilk pancakes. Steak au poivre salad. Roasted salmon and fennel with lemon and thyme. Greek yogurt with warm walnuts and honey. Thats all coming up right now on ellies real good food. upbeat guitar strumming