as he did in the primaries. i i would rather not go the on november. that is s going to make my brain hurt too much. amy: donald trump has described him as a "third rate talent," and a "sleaze ball," "a jerk," and a "total loser." today we'll speak with garry trudeau, creator of the popular comic strip doonesbury and the first cartoonist to win a a pulitzer prize. he has been writing about donald trump and a possible run for the presidency for decades. making fun of everything from his hair to o his ego to his rampant use of insults, and his cartoons have just been collected in a new book titled, "yuge: 30 years of doonesbury on trump." then the 2016 summer olympics open tonight in maracana stadium in rio de janeiro, brazil. more than 10,000 athletes across the world have convened in rio olympic city for one of the most widely watched sporting events of the year. -- not a deephuge crisis. thistheless, you see managed this city has to transform a city and to put olympic games on the stage. amy: we will get the latest from the nation sports editor dave zirin. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. republican presidential nominee donald trump has repeated a claim he watched a video showing iriranian officials s receiving money from the u.s. in exchange for r five prisoners, even after one of his staffers admitted no such video exists. this is trump speaking on the campaign trail on wednesday in florida. mr. trump: i will never forget the scene this morning -- and remember this. iran -- i don't think you have heard this anywhere but here. iran provided all of that footage, the tape of taking that money off that airplane. right? $400 million in cash. how this the president do that? repeated therump claim on thursday in maine for tweeting -- "the plane i saw on television was the hostage plane in geneva, switzerland, not the plane carrying $400 million in cash going to iran!" some republicans, including trump, have said the money was a ransom for five prisoners released by iran, including "washington post" reporter jason rezaian. the obama administration said on wednesday that $400 million in cash paid to iran in january was a pre-planned transfer that was part of the landmark nuclear deal. the money has been owed to iran since the 1970's, when the u.s. refused to send weapons iran had already paid for following the iranian revolution. 10,000 people have signed a petition circulated by california congresswoman karen bass calling on mental health professionals to determine whether donald trump is fit to be president. bass says trump exhibits all the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. the petition r reads -- "it is entirely possible that some individuals with npd can successfully function in many careers, but not the presidency of the united states. we deserve to have the greatest understanding of mr. trump's mental health status before we head to the polls." meanwhile, a group of military veterans is calling on senator john mccain to withdraw his endorsement of donald trump after trump attacked the khans, the parents of a u.s. army captain who was killed in iraq in 2004. mccain served in the u.s. navy and was held as a prisoner of war in vietnam. the veterans announced their initiative at a news conference thursday in washington, and said -- d.c.. this is marine veteran alexander mccoy. >> center mccain, you served and sacrificed in ways donald trump cannot begin to understand. you must have heard enough, too. now i am joining, and i'm proud to join, hundred -- 100,000 veterans, military family members, and voters across this country in demanding that you, john mccain, act. we cannot afford donald trump to be our commander-in-chief. amy: donald trump has previously attacked senator mccain and his military record saying, "i like people who weren't captured." mccacain has so far refused to retract his endorsemenent of trump, but he becacame evasive n wednesday when asked by a reporter about the idea of trump having control of nuclear weapons. the clip starts with the reporter. >> are you comfortable with donald trump possibly having control of the nuclear arsenal? anyone that the people of this country choose to be the commander-in-chief and the president of the united states, therefore, can leave this country and will lead and responsible fashion in one who is elected president fairly in this country. and that is the way that our democratic system works. amy: multiple polls suggest hillary clinton has gained in popularity over donald trump since the conventions last month. a new nbc news/wall street journal poll has clinton leading trump by nine points in november's election. meanwhile, a mcclatchy-marist poll that had clinton leading by three points before the conventions, now shows her leading by 15 points. the owners of the trump taj mahal casino said wednesday the atlantic city landmark will close after a 34-day workers strike. donald trump opened the taj mahal 26 years ago, but it now belongs to trump's friend and fellow billionaire carl icahn. icahn said the strike was costing him millions of dollars a month. even after the closing was announced, workers continued to picket. they are demanding better health pension and other benefits eliminated during the 2014 bankruptcy proceedings. this is diana hussein from the ununion unite here. >> the plan is t tcontinue t to hold dowown the line and f fighr what wasas taken away. continue to fight for r the heah care and c continue to figight d stand up to the billionaiaire bully carl icahn. amy: the summer olympic games begin today in rio de janiero against a backdrop of political turmoil in brazil. a brazilian senate committee voted thursday to put suspended president dilma rousseff on trial for breaking budget laws. the entire senate will vote tuesday on whether to move forward with a trial, which could lead to rousseff's impeachment. lawmakers voted to suspend rousseff in may in what many consider a coup by her right-wing opponents. leaked transcripts show at least one official plotted to oust rousseff in order to end a corruption investigation that was targeting him. this is rousseff's lawyer, jose eduardo cardozo. it is equivalent to accepting total impunity, which instead of dissuading crime, consecrates it as champion and makes an example for more, newer violence. amy: a jury has recommended a sentence of 2.5 years for virginia police officer stephen rankin, who was convicted of shooting an unarmed black man he suspected of shoplifting. the killing of william chapman was officer rankin's second fatal shooting of an unarmed man . in britain black lives matter , movement demonstrators have blocked a road leading to london's heathrow airport and held protests in other cities. in addition to drawing attention to british police discrimination against communities of color, demonstrators were marking the fifth anniversary of the police shooting of mark duggan, a killing that sparked protests across the u.k. the officer who shot him claimed he had pointed a gun at police, but a jury decided duggan was unarmemed when he was shot dead. these really government has accused a representative of the u.s. evangelical christian charity of providing millions in aid money to hamas. israel arrested the world vision's manager of operations in gaza last month. he is been held incommunicado by israeli authorities since then and accused of funneling more in his0 million to hamas decade working for world v visi. world vision has denied the allegagations and said the amout of money is given to hamas exceeds their total budget for gaza during that time. hahamas has also denied thee 's government's claim. meanwhile the american clear the 39-year-old yemeni man and get a was accused of having plotted the 9/11 attacks and have a consider when of the prison's forever prisoners. those least likely to ever be released. 34 of the remaining 76 detainees at guantanamo have now been cleared for relelease. some havave been cleleared for years. some for more than a decade. meanwhile the american , psychological association will vote today on whether to roll back some of its new rules prohibiting its members from participating in interrogations that could lead to torture. the apa is the world's largest professional association of psychologists. it banned its members from such work last year after an independent investigation documented how the apa leadership actively colluded with the pentagon and the cia torture programs. to see all of our past coverage of the american psychological association, including the historic 2015 vote, go to democracynow.org. and tomorrow is the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombing of hiroshima. the bombing g killed 140,000 people and seriously injnjured anotheher 100,000. three days later, the u.s. dropped a second atomic bomb on nagasaki, killing another 74,000 people. in may, president barack obama became the first sitting u.s. president to visit hiroshima. he spoke at a memorial for victims s the attacack but disappointed some by failing to offer a formal apology for the bombing. the u.s. ithe only c country to ever have dropped an atomic bomb. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to a man who has been described by donald trump as "overrated," a "third rate -- a "sleaze ball," "a jerk," and a "total loser." he has been writing about donald trump and the possible run for presidency for nearly 30 years. we are talking about the cartoonist garry trudeau, creator of the popular comic strip doonesbury. he is the first cartoonist to win the pulitzer prize. in september trudeau published a 1987, series of comic strips that now seem propophetic. in one strip, reporters are asking trump a series of questions. "mr. trump, your denials notwithstanding, don't the ads you took out suggest a testing of the political waters." trump responds, "as i have said before, i was simply acting as a concerned citizen. at this time, i have no, repeat no, political ambitions whatsoever." a reporter then asks, "ok, but if you did run for congress -- trump then responds, "president, think k president.t." another strip from 1987 features trump being asked, "mr. trump, as a developer of luxury condos and casinos, do you think you'd have any rapport at all with voters of modest means?" trump responds, "are you kidding? i've spent my whole life working with people of modest means." "in what capacity?" he is asked. trump says, "evicting them! i've seen how these people live!" trump has remained a frequent character in doonesbury ever since giving trudeau a chance to , make fun of everything from trump's hair to his ego to his rampant use of insults. these cartoons have just been collected in a new book titled, "yuge: 30 years of doonesbury on trump." garry trudeau joins us now. welcome to democracy now! >> it is a pleasure. amy: it is great to have you with us. are you surprised at everything ththat has unfolded in this past year? clucks yes.>> i'm no smarter than anyone else in underststanding where this ws all going to go. my session after 2012 when he was attacking the president, and he got his first taste of double-digit poll numbers, , tht he would make a run this time around. but i thought it would be just as part of his normal brand enhancement. and once you got the maximum promotional value out of a run, he wouould step out. who knew he would catch on like this? certainly, not me. amy: talk about when you first started covering him in doonesbury. for people who don't know doonesbury, white at you start off by explaining this comic strip. i don't know if there's anyone that doesn't know, but go-ahead. >> it began life when i was in college as a one-off. it was a sports strip about particularly outstanding football player on my college campus. it caught the eye of the syndicate chief who wrote me in my junior year and said, how would you like to do this fofora living? i did not have a particularly long period of paying dues. i jumped in right after graduation and i've been writing this daily comic strip about collegiate life, but him about the broader world and all the many issues i am interested in. amy: how often did your comic strip get banned or dumped for a week -- >> it is impossible to say how often. in the early years, it was every other week or so some newspapers would decide to remove it from the pages. but i've never regarded it as censorship, it is simply editing. editors decide everyday about dozens of things that don't make it into their papers. i never took it seriously. the problem was, it would generate local news. their reporter would call me. he became a very self-conscious thing for me to write because i had to be prepared to defend it after he was published to multiple clients. back fromstepped that. i was not on shows like yours for many years so i could focus on the work. now it is all hands on deck, right? i'm delighted to be here to talk about the work. amy: you have been following donald trump for decades. tell us when he first became a character in doonesbury. >> he bebegan a character in a kind of prophylactic response to his series of ads you took out in "the boston globe" and "new york post" and we learned for the first time the rest of the world was laughing. there were a few trial balloons that went up along with that from others, his friends, and i thought, wow, i do respond to that because we e have been livg in the city with discovered 10 years. his grandiosity is over the top. this is laughable. i just put h him in the strip. it was an early transfer -- easy transfer. you is more like a natural born 'toon. i took them ouout of the box, tk off the tax, and put him right in the strip. he is like a version of daffy duck in terms of his appearance, the silly way in which he talks, the over-the-top self regard -- all of these things just made him a perfect cartoon character. i had him interact with the other characters. they interact with him as a comic strip colleague. i did not have to make any adjustments. i would take things he said and reframe them in a way to maximize the satiric purpose of it, but i did not have to do much in terms of exaggerating the way you normally do in a parody. amy: i want to go to 1999. you have a cartoon with donald trump thing -- "a lot of people have been asking what this election is really about. well, it's not about the economy, stupid! and it's not character, stupid! and it's not authenticity, stupid! it's not even about the issues, stupid! you want to know what this election is about?" someone then says, "you, stupid?" trump replies, "exactly. people are begging me to run. begging me!" >> they are always begging him and always hundreds of calls. what is astonishing is these things are obviously made up. what is most astonishing about his lack of truth is that he wields it out as the most trivial of reasons. i was talking to a crew member on cnn who said he was in his office setting up a camera -- this was a while back. you overheard trump talking to his daughter in the outer office and he said, well, there are five cameras in my office. he said, five? there was one. whilili do your r daughter about how many cameras. -- why lie to your daughter about how many cameras? insignificant things get lied about. up to last night -- amy: fabricatiting? >> secret. i missed that detail. amy: now tweeting out and one of corrections,et it wasn't $400 million being brought into -- >> which he described vividly. amy: and said the iranian government did this to embarrass the u.s., released this video. i want to go to 2011 will stop this comic strip begins with donald trump saying "novelty , candidate? what're you talking about? have you seen my polls? they're extraordinary. i'm polling 41% against obama! 41% and i'm not even running yet!" this was 2011. >> that was i think he thought it was possible. he had a brief interest inin runnnning for governor but that did nothing grand enough. so he started making his early last toward the presidency year. amy: we're going to go to break and then come back with garry trudeau, the pulitzer prize cartoonist, creator of the comic strip doonesbury which appears daily in over 1400 newspapers. in 1975, garry trudeau became the first comic strip artist ever to be awarded a pulitzer prize for editorial cartooning. he has been described as the most influential editorial cartoonist and over a quarter of a century. his new book is titled, "yuge! 30 years of doonesbury on trump." stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: "it's the right time to be rich," from the 1983 broadway production of doonesbury. yes, our guest today is garry trudeau, the pulitzer prize-winning comic, the creator of the comic strip doonesbury which appears in over 1000 newspapers. can you talk about a broadway musical? >> it was called "doonesbury" and it was a song that was sung roland hedley, junior. i've not heard it in yearsrs. always a good time to be rich, but i'm glad you dug that one out. back and your go history. since you do not come out and talk to the world very much except in your comic strip doonesbury, your grandfafather n a tuberculosis sanatotorium of state? >> my great-grandfather. he opened the first sanatorium for the treatment of tubercrculosis. that has been a tradition that my family has had free three generations. amy: my grandmother went to a tuberculosis sanatorium when she was like 50, she got tb, and meningitis. she went to one of these places. i wonder if it was his? they did not know if she would last the year, and she lived until two was 10808. >> it was hellhole for some people. there were not any -- collects it was helpful for some people. it was about a holistic approach that helped. he was very, very committed to recruiting the conditions by which the body and the immune system can optimize its own recovery processes so there was fresh air, good hygiene, healthy food, occupational therapy -- all of these things that were ahead of their time. and have been important in treating all kinds of disease. amy: how did that influence y y? amountew up in awe heritage, as did my father and his father. my great-grandfather was a great man in his day most of tuberculosis was the number-one killer. he was well-known around the world. you grow up in a shadow in my little town, a very big shadow and i never felt any pressure to go into medicine. and once i had left and went to college and it was offered as an alternative employment that i really loved, i never looked acact. amy: and your family was involved with politics in new york. >> no, my mother was a volunteer -- amy: bacack further? >> i grew up in a rockefeller republican household. lived next door. his father was the publisher of the local paper and was a democrat. eventually became an abbasid o ambassador. we regarded politics the difference between the dodgers and the yankees, being new yorkerers. it was not something i drove families apart and were communities apart. amy: and so their feelings about you becoming a comic strip -- >> whose family? amy: your family. >> they are fine with it. my father worried for some years or would not be a living in it and waited for me to pivot into a career that seemed more stable to him. i did go to graduate school in graphic design and set up a graphic studio where i was doing that work in addition to the strip. eventually, i had to pick between the two. amy: i want to go to a quote of yours a few years ago. you said -- "traditionally satire has covered of the flick that while covering the control. you were talking about charlie hebdo, the magazine in paris. this after the attack that took place that killed a number of the cartoonist. explain what you were saying. >> it was controversial at the time, to my great surprise, he did nothing like i was saying anything particularly controversial. the feelings were still raw. although i had honored the cartoonist in the strip i name and including the drawings in a sunday section, i nonetheless disagreed with what they were trying to do with their art. i simply w would not have done . life is full of edititing decisions. you cannot go through a day without making a dozen decisions not to do something. editors do that with newspapers. wewe do it with relationships. it is something i would not do and must cartoonists in this country would not do. you do not do it jusust because you can. we all understand you can. we all get the first amendment. but each person has to decide for themselves when you crossed the line. to "yuge:t's go back 30 years of doonesbury on trump." let's talk about why the title. >> hopefully, that a suffix when a tory. waspractical reason for it there are only four letters, so you can make them very big on a cover. that seemed to be not just a metaphor, but helpful in spotting it in a bookstore. amy: i'm going to go to one of the cartoon strips where you have your character on the radio. "one thing remains the same, a deep have a logical need for attention. always wimping out before the first primary. here he is, contemptuous scowl and hairlike orange cotton candy." welcome, sir." what it is a must like i was painting them, right -- baiting him, right? it was a pretty obvious cartoon just in terms of he was right on the precipicic and i was just as uncertain as anyone else that he would actually go for it. amy: and now i want to go to the cartoon that you're going to read. this is april 17, 2016. you show trump talking to a group of middle schoolers saying, "hey kids, tired of getting killed on insults in the cafeteria? then start fighting back with my quality trumump-brand insults. choose from over 500 tremendous insults i've tweeted out since last june including --" could you read what happens next in the cartoon? >> it is just a sampling. a sampling of these copyrighted insults and i am loathe to read them because i'm sure it would invite a suite, but let's get right into it. lightweight, and bears and, to overcome a disaster, funny, hypocrite, though, fraud, arrogant, loser, third-rate clown, dumb, clueless, nasty, terrible, ridiculous, said, crazy. and then he says, "stop being a huge loser. use trump-brand insults and start winning today. amy: so your thoughts today, 30 years -- >> there are far more. this was just a sampling. 30 years later? thinkow, i don't want to the on november. i hope i have no reason to think beyond november. i look forward to passing them on fifth avenue on his way to work in november, november 9. and without incident and with him getting on with his life and the rest of the country getting on with its. amy: how much of you interacted with him? >> i have observed him in the wild, numerous occasions, most recently at the new hampshire debates. he came out to the press area and i could not take my eyes off the back of his head. it is something that photography just cannot quite capture. it is like a panel of gossamer that has been lacquered onto the back of his head with a kind of golden -- flurry. i wanted to find the words of the imagery to share that with my readers, but really drawing trump is a journey. it is not a destination. you just have to keep after it. amy: has he ever threatened to sue you. >> no. amy: garry trudeau, thank you for being with us. garry trudeau, creator of the comic strip doonesbury which appears daily in over 1400 newspapers. in 1975, trudeau became the first comic strip artist ever to be awarded a pulitzer prize for editorial cartooning. one of the most influential editorial cartoonists in decades. his new book is called "yuge: 30 , years of doonenesbury on trum" this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. thee turn now south to olympics. the 2016 summer olympics open tonight in rio de janeiro, brazil. the first south american city ever to host the games. more than 10,000 athletes across the world have convened in rio plus olympic city for one of the most widely watched sporting events of the year. this comes as brazil is battling an economic recession, a massive zika outbreak, and the recent ouster of its democratically elected president dilma rouseff. human rights organizations have also expressed concern about the impact of the games on rio's most vulnerable communities. residents of rio's favelas have spoken of battles against forced evictions, police violence and wasted spending. about 85,000 police, soldiers, and other security officials will patrol the city during the games. chair of the international olympic committee thomas bach said despite the difficulties, the city i is prepared to host e event. >> there were huge challenges, if not a deep crisis. nevertheless, you see that this thisry, that this city, organizing committee has managed to transform a city and to put olympic games on the stage. amy: well, to talk more about the rio olympics, we're joined now by dave zirin in washington, d.c. he's a sports editor for the nation magazine. his recent article is called, "the last dance: on heading to olympic rio."" he's the author of, "brazil's dance with the devil: the world cup, the olympics and the fight for democracy." he is also the host of edge of sports. welcome to democracy now! tell us about the significance of these olympics and where they are happening in brazil. >> the significance is that they are happening in a city that was not the same city that won the olympics eight years ago. the rio that won the bid in 2008 was experiencing stratospheric economic growth rates. it was a city that was fighting inequality. it was a city that actually argued -- the leadership argued and people believe that hosting the olympics would be a tool for fighting inequality, that would help to a bit social democratic vision that was being put forth by the president at the time, lula, and his successor doma rousseff. it was a broader project of a more democratic and more just brazilil. fast-forward eight years later, it is a dystopia relative to that vision. in a plummet is skyrocketing. it is always double what it was even a couple of years ago in rio when the situation was even stagnating then. and a lot of unrest. at this point, we are talking about 61% of people in thehe whe entire natioion of brazil say ty wish the olympics and never darkened their door. all they have brought is dead displacement and hyper militarization. i got to tell you, and looking at this closely, one of by the concerns about the media coverage from western europe and the united states is that it looks at all of these issues that rio is facing and it looks at them from the perspective of this is about brazil plus governmental dysfunction, rio's inability to host these games. what they do not look at is what we're seeing is a feature of what happens when the olympic come to town because you know this, amy, because i've talked about this on your show since beijing in 2008. we have the same discussion. bill at the met changes is the scenery. -- the only thing that changes is the scenery. amy: talk about the police. amnesty international says killings are up 103%. one in every five homicide in rio was killing by police. >> it is stunning. say that statistic again. rio, one of the most dangerous cities in the western world, one out of five homicides are committed by police. relative to a year ago, police killings are up 135%. when i was in rio in may, i interviewed politicians across the board and people who live in favelas, pro-olympic people, anti-slip it people and i asked thea question. i said, is this increase in police violence, is this because the olympics are coming to town? is this a pre-olympic crackdown like we've seen in some the other cities? agreement across the board, this actually was not because of the olympics. that all of these recent killings has much more to do with the economic crisis -- which has meant the starving of community policing program that had actually helped decrease violence in the favelas. what it has been replaced with instead is what was referred to as swat team policing because it is much more cost-effective. the more cost effective way of policing poor neighborhoods in brazil -- and this might sound familiar to some neighborhoods in the u.s., is you just go in with a militarized police force, shoot, and ask questions later. so -- this is a thing that you cannot separate that from the olympiacs. whether we're talking about shoddy policing with a high body count, talking about the 30% cut that have taken place in health and the state of rio while they're trying to control the zika outbreak him or whether you're talking about cuts in education that are so extreme you have had hundreds of high schools occupied by teachers and students, these crises are taking side-by-side with the 12 billion dollar to $20 billion olympic project that is just swallowing money. amy: can you talk about dilma rousseff? they say they're going to put her on trial that could lead to impeachment. they have removed her as president. >> this is taking place this week. it is interesting is the same week her predecessor, the person who got the olympics,lula da silva, has been brought up on structure and charges. instructing the investigation into the bribery scandal that affected every asset of brazilian politics. what is so interesting right now is that their plans -- when i say their plans, i'm talking about the people who organized notcoup against dilma, are working out as a thought. their plan, i believe, and i think this is what a lot of observers inside of brazil believe, they impeached are specifically at a time so they could wait the six months -- that is what it says in brazil's constitution -- so we could take place within the shadow of these olympics as a kind of kabuki theater decide of world, brazil is now under new management, the economy is up and running, we are now a safe place to invest, you don't have to worry about any about profits being used to fight inequality were all of the things that were objectionable about the workers party. yet, a funny thing is happen on the way to that neoliberal paradise. the economy has now stabilized.. the new president michel temer is more popular than ever. we're in a situation now where i think there's a lot of uncertainty about what is going to happen dilma when finally goes up for the final vote to actually be removed from office. there is a vacuum at work right now. there is no credible, political voice in a position to take her place. and that is why one of the most widely spread photos going viral right now is a torchbearer named look this people can up and find it online on my twitter feed, he was one of the torchbearers for the olympics. right inin the middle, he droppd his shorts. he was wearing a leopard thong. i need side yet the words "impeach temer." yet a a little protest going on that we might call "chcheeky." amy: i want to turn to the american tennis star serena williams who just arrrrived in o and was asked about the republican presidential nominee donald trump. >> i i don't involve myself in politics. i think it is really important for me to really pass the message of love and unity across all nations. it doesn't matter what race. obviously, with me being african-american, i am very sensitive over a lot of things. but i think it is important that we shohould pass the messagege f love as opposed to hate. amy: dave zizirin, , talk aboute significance of f serena willias speaking out. >> for her to say, i don't talk about politics but i believe in love over hate -- i mean, that says something about these elections. to say i am for love over hate is a political message. like what the previous election cycles might sound like a hallmark card, tragically, in 2016, is a cry of resistance because donald trump actually does represent that kind of organized hate. serena williams makes that statement with a background, if you will. with a legacy that she has built over the last couple of years of being someone who has strongly spoken out against extrajudicial killings of young black men and women and someone who has linked her career to raising funds for the equal justice initiative -- which is a tremendous organization that does work in terms of fighting the new jim crow and mass incarceration. everything that serena williams says i think is just from with meaning -- fraught with meaning. it does not taken advanced american studies degree from university to read between the lines of what she is saying. if people want more explicit political talk at these olympics, keep a close eye on a u.s. fencer, the first u.s. athlete ever compete wearing a hijab. she has already been explicit in her condemnation of donald trump . and so proud of the fact she is a muslim representing the united states. amy: we're going to go to break and come back to this discussion. we're talking to dave zirin sports editor for the nation , magazine. we're getting up rio as the rio olympics -- previous the real olympics are about to begin. his book "brazil's dance wiwith , the devil: the world cup, the olympics and the fight for democracy." stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we talked to dave zirin but the opening of the olympics, talk about other athletes you are following, but start out by talking about what is happening with russia right now. how many russian athletes have been banned? is is something like 118? >> yeah. that is right. in each federation now gets to judge which russian athletes get to compete in which russian athletes don't. difficult to separate what is happening right now with russia in the olympics with a lot of the anti-putin, anti-russia hysteria that is been so linked with donald trump these elections. you look at the coverage -- if you look at the pressure that was put on the international olympic committee by the west to ban russia wholesale and just not even have their flags fly at the olympic games, it is because there's credible evidence that russia ran a doping operation. the problem with this, what it has exposed commit the ioc is an utterly transparent cartel. it is a 19th century organization in a wikileaks world. ththat is just not going to be acceptable going forward. so they have produced this report where russia has no rights to appeal, no right stephen look at the evidence that has been presented, and it is presented as fiat for the judgment of the head of the international and the committee. what he has said, he is delivered an opinion that is the equivalent of a taste like chicken. like it does not satisfy anybody. what it has done, it effectively has put a scarlet s on the chest of all russian athletes and banned all of the russian officials from even coming to the olympics. at the same time, he did not do the kind of wholesale ban from the nation one, nation -- condemnation. now we have a situation where in some events, the will be russian participation like in swimming, and and other events, paralympics, no dissipation. it is been left up to the political intricacies of every individual federation themselves as they govern their sport. by the way, their china figure out all of this out in real time as i'm talking to you, amy. like these decisions about been made yet in the olympics are already officially underway. it is a mess and exposing the ioc has no consistent policy on performance-enhancing drugs, no way to control them and no way to resist the kind of broader to political pressures that are put on the olympic movement. amy: so there are 118 russian athletes banned, but there are over, what, 400 russian athletes? so most will be in the olympics. >> right, but there's no real weight of understanding how many the ones competing might begin feeding clean or how many of the ones and might have been clean as well. that is part of the problem, each of these federations are governed by their own politics, their own infighting, and it creates a situation where nobody really knows what the results are going to be. this isn't just about we're seeing how the sausage is made, this is actually being inside the sausage factory and being so repulsed that the sausage itself becomes irrelevant. williams, and serena serena has spoken out against donald trump, are in rio to play tennis. explain. >> yeah. they are part of the olympic team. this is part of what they are there to do. unlike some of the athletes who are concerned about issues like zika, and i think are not going to be the only athletes who have something to say about trump when they are down there. expect this to be one of the more political sincecs that we have seen 1968. ird know of athletes who plan on making political stands while down there, whether they're connected to black lives matter and police or whether those stances are directly related to the u.s. elections and a feeling like they have a moral obligation to stand up to donald trump -- those of the general things i am hearing. i think that will be an interesting challenge for the international olympic committee because they have rules against athletes picking out politically. they say there is no politics that belongs on the olympic field. worse, they allow sponsors that are incredibly political -- of course, they have allowed sponsors that are incredibly political. the olympics themselves are deeply politicized spectaclele f nationalism and whatnot. of course, the mere fact you are going -- 45 heads of state at the opening ceremonies, i mean, this is a political operation in so many respects. the only people not allowed to be political are the athletes other than wearing their sponsors brands. i think this is the year we will see that crack. there was suspicions it would crack around sochi with lgbt rights, but it didn't except for a couple of quick things. i think this is one where the athletes will be more outspoken and feel a need to say something, whether that is about the situation in brazil is self or whether it is u.s. athletes or athletes in western europe saying something for the rights of migrants. amy: dave zirin, can you give us a preview, what you heard, who might be speaking out, who has spoken out? theirst of all, you have whole basketball teams from the united states. the women's basketball team has several players on it were making political stance in standing for black. they're bringing that to rio to an international stage. they stood up to the wnba who tried to fine them. they said, no, we dare you to finene us. they turn into a public spectacle. indigo explain why they were being fined. >> they were wearing shirts in pregame that said "black lives matter" says had the names altonndo castile and sterling" but also said "dallas five" for the five dallas police officers. the fines it to get wnba players do not make a lot of money. average salary is about $50,000 a year. they said, we're going to keep wearing them and we refuse to talk to the media about anything except black lives matter issues, which was really powerful. they were not cooperating with the media except to talk about these politics. the dev unova rescinded. -- the wnba rescinded. they blinked. they backed off. one player in the nba expressed his explicit solidarity with the wnba player, and that is carmelo anthony. he is on the men's usa basketball team. --is the eldest overstatement, down there in rio as well. it would not surprise me at all if carmelo anthony had somethihg to say. then there are the lesser-known athletes. for folks to think about lawrence allstate, a fencer for great britain. feed, olympiaer voice. he is actively trying to fight and resist the idea that olympians have a right to speak out. he plans to test the elasticity or lack thereof of the bonds they keep olympic athletes from speaking out. then of course there is the thetacle -- the fact olympics are actually sponsoring an all refugee team this year. these are world-class athletes who come from syria in south sudan and the democratic republic of the congo, and their one to be competing in olympic event in arriving not under any national flag, but under the olympic flag and the whole point is to raise consciousness and humanity about refugee issues. ioc is kind of like the using this as a form of public relations, like how greatly olympics is we even support the refugee crisis happening globally. that could easily spiral to something political they don't want it to be. particularly, if the refugees have criticisms of some of the country's that expelled or did not play a role in helping them and their families. this is the tricky part, what about the lead displaced people or internal refugees inside rio, the 77,000 people who were displaced in the eight years to make way for the olympic games? that will be very difficult if thomas bob or anyone in the ioc is asked, so you have this refugee team, but what about all of the homeless people in rio?o? rio.let's go to in may, the mayor of rio de janeiro unveiled a new terminal at real's international airport. it is expected to receive 1.5 million passengers during the olympics and cost an estimated $500 million. speaking at a press conference, papaes stressed the importance f the legacy following the games. >> the olympics is an event that lasts 17 or 18 days with a more intense impact over one or two months. physical, tangible, objective legacy. i think it is becoming increasingly clear the amount of things that have been done because of olympic inspiratitio, which are not necessarily for the olympics. amy: talk about that, davd. his comments. >> i interviewed him for about 45 minutes face-to-face and may. i was interviewing him in a non-smoking government building and the man plus ashtrays were overflowing. partly because of the crisis that has taken place in brazil with dilma and the fact that her replacement t michel temer is sh a train wreck, paes is basically the political face of these olympics. he is also bilingual. he has huge aspiration to become the president of the country. the olympics coming off without a hitch is a huge part of it. what you heard him doing is him spinning the fact that so many of the olympic legacy promises that were made when brazil was enjoying 9% annual growth rates are not going to come to pass. they are just not. now it is, hey, whwhat about things inspired by the olympics? it is a way of trying to say that we will be ready, we will figure it out. it is not great,t, just remember we did our best. amy: we are talking to dave zirin, a sports editor for the nation magazine. his recent article is called, "the last dance: on heading to olympic rio." he''s the auththor of, "brazilis dance e with the devil: : the wd cup, the olympics and d the figt for democracy." dave, you mentioned displacement, the dispatch -- displacement of people in the area. there are few figures that are interesting. nearly two thirds of brazilians, 63%, think hosting the olympics will hurt brazil. according to a recent study, only 16% said they are enthusiastic about the games, 51% said they have no interest in the games. talk about the turmoil in the area. the people we won't see interviewed when the networks are down there. >> people who want to be interviewed are going to be protesting today. there's a large protests planned in rio today. these are the people who have been displaced. these are the people who have been victims of police violence. these are the people the olympic monolith has basically landed on top of the last eight years. these are also the folks who feel lied to. en the olympics came in, t they were brought i in with a promise they would be used as a tool to tackle inequality i inside of r. and the opposite has taken place. as one councilman said to me, rio is now a more unequal place than it was before the olympics came. some of that is due to the economic crisis, but people have to understand the olympics do not exist on a parallel realm to the economic crisis in rio. they have e been an aggregator f the very crisis because they have taken out infrastructure fund at a moment when people need them desperately, particularly around health and education. amy: dave, thank you for joining us. dave zirin is a sports editor for the nation magazine. his recent article is called, "the last dance: on heading to olympic rio." author of, "brazil's dance with the devil: the world cup, the olympics and the fight for democracy." he is host of edge of sports . that does it for our show. we have to have job openings. check democracynow.org for those. to amyond farewell littlefield. we wish you all of the best in the future. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to [email protected] or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. 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