Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20150501 : comparemela.

Rise from saturdays devastating earthquake. Thousands of people are still unaccounted for. Hundreds of thousands have an left homeless. We will go to kathmandu for the latest. Then on this payday, protests continue in baltimore and around the country over the death of freddie gray as more evidence emerges that the 25yearold died from injuries inside a Police Transport van. On thursday, Police Revealed the van made a previously undisclosed stop with gray inside. We discovered this new stop based on our thorough encumbrance of an ongoing review of all cctv cameras and privately own cameras and in fact, this new stop has been or was discovered from a privately owned camera. Amy dennis Bernie Sanders announces he is running for president , we will talk with a former president ial candidate ralph nader. He just published return to sender containing dozens of unanswered letters to president s past. I once wrote a letter to president george w. Bush and barack obama and said, i havent gotten a response, please, tell me, what is your white house policy on answering letters . I got no response. [laughter] amy all of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Baltimore Police Investigators have given prosecutors the initial findings from their probe of the death of freddie gray, the man who died of spinal injuries a week after his arrest. State attorney Marilyn Mosby will now decide whether to take the case to a grand jury to seek an indictment of any of the six officers involved. Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said the investigation has been thorough, and is not over. At approximately a 50 this morning, our task force charged with investigating the tragic death of mr. Freddie gray turned over the contents of that investigation to the states attorneys office. We dedicated 30 plus detectives the fulltime job was focused on this case and only this case including labs, Lab Personnel and academy personnel and homicide detectives. The family and the community and the public deserve transparency and truth. The task force heeded my call and we have exhausted every lead at this point in time. But this does not mean the investigation is over. Let me repeat, this does not mean that the investigation is over. Amy the move forward in the case comes as new details have emerged. Police say the van transporting freddie gray made a previously undisclosed stop while en route to the Police Station. The new stop was discovered from Security Camera footage, not the statements of the officers involved. It was private footage. The investigation also concludes grays spinal injuries had to have happened inside the van not when he was initially detained and dragged on the ground. The medical examiner reportedly found that grays spinal injury was caused by his slamming into a bolt in the back of the van. It remains unclear how that happened. Meanwhile a key witness in the case has rejected Police Claims that blamed gray for his own injuries. A leaked Police Document says donte allen, who was riding in the same van as gray but divided by a partition he could not see through told police gray was , intentionally trying to injure himself. But speaking to the station wbal, allen said he only heard a light knocking coming from grays side of the van. And i got in the van, i can hear nothing. All i heard was a little banging for about four seconds. I just heard a little banging you know, just little, know what i mean . Just little banging. Amy police say a 10 00 p. M. Curfew will continue at least through the weekend in the aftermath of mondays unrest that damaged cars and buildings. Marches continued in baltimore thursday and major rallies are planned for this weekend. Protests also continue nationwide. In philadelphia, 1000 people gathered in front of city hall to hear speeches in support of the baltimore protesters. We will have more on baltimore later in the broadcast. We will speak with the head of the naacp. It is National Headquarters is based in baltimore. Nepals army chief has warned the death toll from saturdays devastating 7. 8 magnitude earthquake could reach 15,000. It now sounds just stands at 5800 with him was double that amount injured. We will go directly to kathmandu, nepal after the headlines. Vietnam has marked the 40th anniversary of the end of the vietnam war. On april 30, 1975, north Vietnamese Forces seized the president ial palace in the south vietnamese capital of saigon today known as ho chi minh city. A ceremony and military parade was held in the city on thursday. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung denounced what he called the barbarous crimes of the u. S. Invasion, which killed at least three million vietnamese. In vietnam, the war is known as the war of american aggression. The family of former maldives president Mohamed Nasheed is appealing for global pressure to help secure his freedom. A maldives Court Sentenced nasheed to 13 years in prison last month on charges of illegally ordering the arrest of a judge while he was still president. The judge was appointed by his predecessor, Maumoon Abdul gayoom, who ruled the maldives for 30 years before nasheed became its first democratically elected president in 2008. Nasheeds attorney, amal clooney, and his wife, laila ali, spoke out in washington. Were here to brief them fully on the case and a highlight the role that we believe the u. S. Government can play in advancing justice. He must be told to free the former president. Im very worried, really worried about his health and safety. But my husband remains strong and resolute. He is determined to fight this injustice until his last breath. I am in washington today to seek the support of the United States india, the u. K. , eu, and all freedom loving countries. I want these nations to urge the government of the maldives to release my husband from prison immediately. Amy nasheed became famous in 2009 for holding a Cabinet Meeting underwater to draw attention to the threat of Climate Change to his island nation. He was ousted in 2012 in what he called an armed coup. You can go to democracynow. Org to see our interview with mohammed nasheed. New details have emerged on how the American Psychological association colluded with government sanctionedtorture under president george w. Bush. Psychologists played a key role in bush administrations torture and interrogation program, helping to develop techniques and monitor sessions. The involvement of Health Professionals helped provide legal cover. In a new report, a group of dissident psychologists and activists conclude the apa secret coordinator with top u. S. Officials to create an ethics policy on National Security interrogations in line with the authorization for cias torture methods. The report says the apas involvement undermines the fundamental ethical standards of the profession. The apa denies coordinating its ethics policy with the u. S. Government. An independent review convened by the group last year is still underway. A former Port Authority official an ally of new Jersey Governor Chris Christie is set to plead guilty over his role in the scandal surrounding lane closings on the George Washington bridge in new york. The official david while the official, david walston, helped coordinate the closures with the top Chris Christie eight when he worked at the Port Authority. Chris christie has denied having any knowledge, saying he only found out when the scandal broke open. But while steen has said evidence exists governor Chris Christie was aware at the time, contrary to his public statement. It is unclear which charges he will plead guilty to. He is expected to provide testimony at a hearing today. And independent senator Bernie Sanders of vermont has announced his bid for the democratic president ial nomination. Launching his campaign, senator sanders said the nations immoral Economic System favoring the wealthy cannot continue. All over this country ive been talking to people may say how does it happen . Im producing more, working longer hours for lower wages. My kid cant afford to go to college and am having a hard time affording health care. How does that happen . While at exactly the same time, 99 of all new income generated in this country is going to the top 1 . How does it happen . How does it happen that the top 1 owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 . In my conclusion is, that that type of economics is not only immoral, not only wrong, it is a sustainable. It cant continue. Amy senator sanders had floated his potential candidacy for months, repeatedly saying he would only run if he sensed there was sufficient grassroots support. He will campaign for president as a selfdescribed independent democrat, because running as a thirdparty candidate would have been too difficult. He is the first major challenger to emerge against democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton so far. In a tweet on thursday, sanders said he looks forward to debating clinton on the big issues income inequality, Climate Change, and getting big money out of politics. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Nepals army chief has warned the death toll from saturdays devastating 7. 8magnitude earthquake could reach 15,000. The toll now stands at 5,800 with almost double that 6200 number injured. It is the worst Natural Disaster to hit the himalayan country in more than 80 years. According to the United Nations, over half a million homes and 16,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed. At least two Million People will need shelter, water, food and medicine for months to come. The quake triggered avalanches on mount everest, where 18 climbers were killed, including three americans. Landslides have reportedly engulfed roads and stalled arrival of aid to remote mountain hamlets in dire need of assistance. This is earthquake survivor shim bhakta kattel. Are lost due to earthquake. Our animals, our clothes all are lost, but our government is not providing any help to us. Amy on tuesday, nepali Prime Minister Sushil Koirala announced a threeday period of national mourning. Thousands of survivors slept in tents this week rather than risk returning to damaged homes susceptible to collapsing in an aftershock. The World Food Program warns 1. 4 Million People require emergency food assistance, and the United Nations estimates 1. 3 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. The quake opened massive rifts in roads and destroyed historic structures, including the 19th century dharahara tower in the capital kathmandu, which was packed with sightseers when it collapsed. The unesco World Heritage site bhaktapur durbar square and its ancient temple vatsala devi was also badly damaged. Juan some estimates suggest the cost of longterm reconstruction will exceed 5 billion, or around 20 of the countrys entire gdp. Meanwhile, the nepali government has come under criticism for its lack of disaster preparedness. Every january, nepal Marks National earthquake safety day to commemorate the calamitous earthquake that leveled kathmandu in 1934. This year, the nepali times marked the day with an editorial warning it was only a matter of time until the next big one hit. The editorial was called unNatural Disaster earthquakes dont kill people, weak houses and bad planning do. Amy well, for more, we go now to the capital of nepal, kathmandu where were joined by , the editor of the nepali times, kunda dixit. Todays paper has 4monthold survivor sonit awal on its cover. Dixit recently wrote an article for the New York Times called, a view of kathmandu after the earthquake. He has been tweeting about it all week. You can go to his updates on twitter kundadixit. Kunda dixit, welcome to democracy now talk about where you were when the earthquake hit. Well, we were on a staff retreat with our reporters up on a hilltop overlooking kathmandu. While we were descending, all of a sudden, there was this mighty jolt. It felt as if the whole mountain had moved. We were almost thrown off our feet. I knew it was the big earthquake that weve all been warning about, writing about. My eyes turned down to the city below and we couldnt believe our eyes as the whole city just was engulfed in this brown, yellow dust, as if it was a dust storm. The city just disappeared. We really feared the worst. We thought kathmandu had been completely destroyed. But as we got down to the city in the car come about two or three hours later, we found out that it wasnt as bad as we expected. In the news started filtering in from the rest of the country. Juan what about the situation and the rest of the country . Was the capital the worst hit or has all the extent of the damage and other parts of the country been assessed yet . Well, weve all been talking and apical loop deterrence what kathmandu would do if there was this type of earthquake. The predictions were 100,000 people would be killed, 3000 injured, everything destroyed. It turned out kathmandu cannot relatively unskilled. It was not as bad as we had feared. 1300 people are dead, but 80 of the buildings are standing. The core of the city has been destroyed, the cultural monuments. But those can be rebuilt. I think what is coming through now is we have completely underestimated what is happening in the rest of the country up in the mountains and remote villages where settlements are scattered across the emily is himalayas. There are these photographs and images and videos of entire villages completely destroyed. Some are just wiped off the map landslides or avalanches. And tremendous need of the people for medicine, shelter for food, which, you know, i think overwhelmed by government that is politically unstable and economically weak. Amy talk about what is happening right now in kathmandu. A unicef spokesperson said up to one million children require urgent aid. This is what he said. Nearly one million children are affected by the earthquake and are in need of emergency assistance. Usually in the situation, such as in haiti in 2010, there are lots of required for children who are maimed, who lost parts of one leg or the norm. It is typical that we find during a situation of an earthquake that needs urgent surgery. Amy kunda dixit, can you respond to this horrific figure 6200 people dead and counting and the impact on children right now . You talk about a weak government, what has happened internally and outside nepal. First of all, we need to get our logistics right. To reach the settlements, there is no other way except helicopters. The nepal army has only five. Only one is a heavy lift. India has sent in six helicopters, but we need hundreds. You have to go almost house to house to take tents, because people live so spread out across the mountains. It is already too late in many cases to get the helicopters out there. Luckily, today, we had very good weather. For the last four or 50 days, four or five days committed been overcast rain, it which has to struck did a lot of the flights. Hopefully, tomorrow, the weather will be getting better. Second, court nation. Court nadine interface between the foreign aid coming in and the delivery out to where it is needed the most. There are flights with relief flights with india china europe, america, australia offline then. The airport is jampacked. It is congested. Even the relief material has to wait for hours and sometimes days to get unloaded off airplanes. It is a bottleneck here in kathmandu. The material they have brought is needed very, very urgently. Juan you mention helicopters india has sent in six. You have a major nations around you, near you, that have huge armies that obviously, would have the kind of equipment you need. What has been the response from china, india, as you said, australia . Well, the response from india was very prompt. It was within seven to eight hours there were had their first jets in. The very next morning the six helicopters arrived. It was extremely prompt. The helicopters were immediately deployed into the mountains. China has sent in by now about 12 very large aircraft with relief material, with a Rapid Response teams with rescue teams and search dogs. They have a lot of experience. This means that the people are out there digging through the rubble, trying to get out. But very soon now in a few days, it will turn from searchandrescue to relieve delivery. The relieve should have gone handinhand, but somehow it has taken some time. It is been a slow start. Amy you wrote four months ago before this earthquake struck in january that theres an editorial published. What was the unNatural Disaster here . Well, we should be used to earthquakes. Like the japanese are used to earthquakes. This is a highly seismic zone. These mountains are still rising. The indian plate is still pushing against th