is this a form of tax reform or class warfare? wewe will look at the winners ad losers of trump's tax plan, which was unveiled yesterday by two former executives of goldman sachs. in burlington, vermont, we speak to vermont first andnd today ony feel governor madeleine may kunin. >> women's issues like child care, equal p pay foror eagle w, paidid family and medical l lea- those are gut issues for women because we have lived them. so the world still looks different through the eyes of a woman. amy: plus, we go to denver, colorado, where ice agents have detained a mexican immigrant who once sought sanctuary in a church, but left after being told he was no longer a priority for deportation. but now the trump administration says there are no priorities. >> coming to the united states to work in the future for the families. we are not -- amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the white house on wednesday outlined a tax plan that would add trillions of dollars to the u.s. deficit while overwhelmingly benefiting the wealthiest cororporations and individuals, including president trump. the skeletal plan, w which the white house unveiled as a single-page document, would lower the corporate tax rate to 15%, though corporations rarely pay the current rate of 35%. trump's plan would also end the estate tax, referred to by opponents as the death tax. this is white house economic adviser gary cohn. >> we are going to repeal the death tax. the threat of being hit by the death tax leaves small business owners and farmers in this country toto waste countlessss s and resources on complicated estate planning to make sure their children are not hit with a huge tax when they die. no one wants to see their children have to sell the family business to payay an unfair tax. amy: irs statistics show the estatete tax is s paid by jujuse wealthiest 0.2% of americans. trump's tax x plan would also ed the alternative miminimum tax, a move that t would benefit the richest americans, including president trump. a leaked 2005 tax returnrn shows donaldld trump paiaid out $36.6 million in federalal income taxs that year, most of it due to the alternative minimum tax. at the white house, treasury secretary steven mnuchin said the president would not make his tax returns public, even though trump previously said he would release the returns after a routine audit. >> will the president release his tax returns so that -- >> the presidenent has no intention. the president has given more financial disclosure than anybody else -- i think the american population has plenty of information. amy: president trump's tax proposal would also decrease the number of income tax brackets from seven to just three, while lowering the tax rate for the wealthiest individuals by nearly four percentage points. the plan was blasted by congressional democrats, including house minority leader nancy pelosi of california, who called it a "wish list for billionaires." we'll have more on trump's tax point after headlines with james henry of the tax justice network. the top u.s. commander for the asia-pacific region said wednesday he could not rule out a nuclear first-strike by north korea, telling lawmakers the u.s. was prepared to launch a nuclear counter-attack. admiral harry harris was speaking to the house armed services committee. >> with every test kim jong un-un was closer to his stated goal of nuclear strike capability against american cities, and he is not afraid to fail in public. defending our homeland is my top priority. i must assume that kim jong un-un's nuclear claims are true. amy: admiral harris's remarks came as nearly every u.s. senator visited the white house grounds for an unusual, hour-long classified briefing on north korea. bernie sanders refused to go to the white house. meanwhile, u.s. troops backed by south korean forces began installing a missile defense system known as thaad. the deployment drew protests from hundreds of villagers in seongju, south korea, who clashed with police as troops began deploying thaad hardware on a local golf course. this is protest leader lee seok ju. >> thaad is a weapon and can only trigger wars. negotiation between the south and the north is the only way to ease t tensions, a attain peaca. amy: the deployment of thaad is also opposed by chinese officials, who say the missile system actually aims to counter china's military power in the region, not to contain north korea. in washihington, d.c., the chair of the federal communications commission wednesday outlined a sweeping plan to dismantle net neutrality rules, which seek to keep the internet open and prevent corporate service providers from blocking access to websites, slowing down content or providing paid fast , lanes for internet service. fcc chair ajit pai unveiled the plan at a forum hosted by freedomworks, a right-wing group backed by the billionaire koch brothers. the plan would end a rule classifying the internet as a public utility, leaving the industry to largely police itself. evan greer of the digital rights group fight for the future said -- "internet users will fight tooth and nail to defend our basic right to connect, create, learn, and share." the white house says president donald trump told the leaders of canada and mexico on wednesday will remain part of nafta, the north american free trade agreement. while the president seeks to renegotiate the deal. the reported phone calls with prime minister justin trudeau and president pena nieto came just hours after officials said the president was preparing to begin withdrawing u.s. from nanafta. on t the campaign truck, trump called nafta the single worst trade deal ever approved in this country. amy: meanwhile, president trump a review of national monuments potentially opening up millions of acres of public lands to drilling, mining, and logging. trump said his executive order was aimed at reversing president obama's use of the 1906 antiquities act to protect federal land from development. pres. trump: the antiquities act does not give the federal government and limited power to lock up millions of acres of land and water and it is time we ended this abusive practice. amy: conservationists blasted the trump administration's unprecedented move to scale back national monuments and promised legagal challenges. randi spspivak of the center for biological diversity said -- "their goal is to hand our public lands over to corporations to mine, frack, bulldoze, and clear-cut till there's nothing left to dig up." in denver, colorado, u.s. immigration agents arrested arturo hernandez garcia wednesday morning, nearly two years after authorities said he was no longer a target for deportation. in a statement to the "denver post," ice spokesman carl rusnok said -- "hernandez garcia has overstayed his original, six-month visa by nearly 14 years. he has exhausted his petitions through the immigration courts and through ice." garcia's supporters believe there are political motivations behind his arrest, including his immigration activism. jennifer piper of the american friends service committee said -- "nothing has changed in his case other than trump is president now." garcia sought refuge inside denver's first unitarian society church in 2014, where he stayed for nine months as he fought to remain in the u.s. with his wife and two children. after headlines, we'll go to denver to speak with jen piper about hernandez garcia's case and the trump administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants. in turkey, police carried out a wave of arrests at dawn on wednesday, rounding up over a -- 1000 people accused of supporting dissident cleric fethullah gulen, who's accused by president reccep tayyip erdogan of plotting last year's failed coup attempt. turkish authorities said they issued more than 4600 arrest warrants, and suspended more than 9000 police officers accused of backing gulen, who lives in the poconos mountains in pennsylvania. president erdogan has repeatedly asked the u.s. to extrtradite gulen. nearly 50,000 people have been arrested under emergency rule since turkey's military failed in an attempt to oust erdogan last july. nearly 50,000 people have been venezuela's government said wednesday it will withdraw from the organization of american states, accusing the washington, d.c.-based body of backing violent protests seeking to oust socialist president nicolas maduro. this is miguel trinidad, venezuela's ambassador to the oas. >> the venezuelan people have the right to resolve their internal problems without the guardianship of any of those who are here, as anybody am a much less will venezuela's destiny ever be decided from washington popost of the venezuelan people fought very hard to edit years ago so we could decide our own matters in venezuela. and all is in violence -- venezuelanans are proud of our people and our freedom. amy: venezuela's move to withdraw came as opposition parties continued to lead mass street protests across venezuela. on wednesday, three more demonstrators were killed in clashes with police, including a 20-year-old student who died after he was shot with a tear gas canister. at the united nationons, saudi arabia will begin a fofour-year term in 2018 on the u.n. commission on the status of women following a secret-ballot election this week. the move drew swift condemnation critics, including hillel neuer, the executive director of un watch, who said -- "electing saudi arabia to protect women's rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief." saudi women are required to be accompanied at a all timeses bye guardians, who make decisions on marriage, travel, employment and health care. saudi women are barred from holding many jobs and are prohibited from driving cars. in the united states in nevada police a arrested seseven people , wednesesday at a nonviololent protest against u.s. drone warfare at the gates of the creech air force base northwest of las vegegas. the base is home to dronee operators s who pilot deadly reaper and predator drones in missions throughout the middle east and afghanistan. the protesters temporarily shut down a stretch of highway 95, holding banners honoring the victims of u.s. drone attacks. ahead of the protests, veterans for peace launched a series of commercials in las vegas urging drone operators to abandon their missions.. >> u.s. drorones have mururdered thousands, including women and children. please refuse to fly. amy: and the academy award-winning director jonathan demme has died. demme was best known for "the silence of the lambs" and the 1993 oscar-winner "philadelphia," the first major hollywood film to take on the aids epidemic. demme directed two documentaries on haiti, "the agronomist" and "haiti dreams of democracy." his 2011 film "i'm carolyn parker" documented efforts to rebuild new orleans's lower ninth ward in the wake of hurricane katrina. jonathan demme died wednesday at his home in new york city at the age of 73. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from vermont pbs. the white house has outlined a plan to give the nation's millionaires and billionaires a massive tax break while adding trillions of dollars to the u.s. deficit. the plan would lower the corporate tax rate to 15%, and the estate tax, and end the alternative minimum tax, a move that would solely benefit the richest americans, including president trump. a leaked 2005 tax return shows trump paid out $36.6 million in federal income taxes that year, most of it due to the alternative minimum tax. former labor secretary robert reich described trump's planan s a form of class warfare. the e tax plan was unveieiled on wednesday by two former executives at goldman sachs -- trump's chief economic advisor gary cohn and treasusury secrety steven mnuchin -- who hailed the tax cuts. >> we will have a massive tax massivebusinesses and tax reform and simplification. as the president said during the campaign, we will lower the business rate to 15%. we will make it a territorial system. we will have a one time tax on overseas profits, which will bring back trillions of dollars that are offshore to be invested here in the united states to purchase capital and to create jobs. the president is determined to unleash economic growth for businesses. this is not just about large corporations. small and medium-size businesses will be eligible for the business rate as well. amy: to talk more about trump's tatax plan, we are joined by the economist james henry of the tax justice network. let's start off, james, if you could just lay out your reaction to the tax plan as it has been unveiled. >> this is nothing less than the largest wealth transfer that has passedcurred, if it were -- i doubt it will pass. it is amounts to a tax heist by the ruling class, by trump, and the richest administration we have had. it would not only effectively gut the progressive corporate income tax and initiate a race to the bottom among all countries that have corporate taxation around the world because the would be competing with each other, it would also tax,tively gut the estate eliminate that so we would be basically heading for a kind of oligarchy. it would reduce the top rate for 39.6%al income tax from to 35%, so it is an immediate paycheck. this is also going to blowup the federal deficit by testament $3 trillion to $7 trillion over the next 10 years, so that will not make deficit hawks happy. i know the republicans have time and again insisted on budget balances under the obama administration. the congress was deadlocked many times. this just throws that completely out the window. it is especially interesting to see what is going on with the corporate income tax. basically, most of the benefits of this tax plan will go to the googles and microsofts, and apples of ththe world which wiwl now w get an enonormous tax ratn the $2 trillion of offshore assets that they have accumulated. many times, using bogus schemes like transferring intellectual property to places like ireland. now they will able to be bring -- be a little bring that back in a leap pay at most 8% on it. we tried that in 2004. we saw bush do something similar that did not create jobs. multinationals took the momoney back. they used itit to do shareholder buybacks and enrich their senior executivives. but in this case, we're going beyond that. jan to the margin, that will have a global territorial tax. u.s. companies like general electric that realize more than 60% of their income from offshore are no longer going to have to pay any tax on that at all. companies areic going to be stuck with the 15% rate. this is going to be a tremendous boon to trump's own personal pocket. because the only reason he paid any taxes at all -- we really have one tax year for him, 2005 -- the only reason he paid any tax that your was because of what is called the alternative mininimum tax. he is abolishing that under this pl. and all of his rich friends are actually also subject to that same minimum tax. so the list goes on and on. basically, this amounts to transferring the cost of essential services of government, the federal government, to middle-class and the poor that are not going to be able to benefit. they're going to be paying the .ebt this plan will increase there also going to be watching as other countries around the world engage in this tax competition war that trump has just initiated.. amy: james henry, i want to turn to the pulitzer prize-winning journalist david cay johnston who obtained the first two pages of trumps 2005 tax returns. he appeared on democracy now!w! and talked about it. indonald trump in writing his campaign documents has said, we're going to get rid of the alternative minimum tax. the taxes he paid, more than $31 million was because of the alternative minimum tax. that $103 for that is million that was disallowed under the alternative minimum tax, allowed under the regular tax, disallowed under the alternative -- even with the being disallowed, donald trump still got a 20% discount in toxic -- taxes. at that level income in 2005, your tax rate is 35% of your income. if you are on the alternative minimum tax, your tax rate is only 28%. so he was only p paying $.80 on the dollar to begin with. amy: so that is the journalist david cay j johnston. , thee new york magazine headline -- james henry, elaborate on this. >> that alternative minimum tax is one of the key elements of this. i would emphasize many other provisions here. the drop of the top rate of 35% for personal income tax payers, the same time that they're cutting the corporate rate to 15%, is going to create this enormous incentive for rich people to park all of their income in companies. they want the any tax on it until it is distributed. that is just -- have also eliminated the pass-through tax, where income goes from corporate to personal use. that are a lot of games will be played by the very wealthy. 90% of the benefits of this plan go to the top 1% of the population. that is clear. the shareholders of major companies, many of which -- most of which are multinationals that are going to be actually given an incentive to offshore their businesses by this. this is going to increase the use of offshore havens by companies like apple and google because there is now a territorial cut. candidatet to turn to donald trump speaking last year on "today" about taxes. >> candidate trump told "today was quote he would ask wealthy to pay more. >> do you believe in r raising tataxeonon the wealtlthy? mr. trump: i do. including myself. i do. amy: james henry? >> the p president doesn't keep his word on this or many otheher issues. i think his supporters should really the distressed about the fact that going for they're going to live in a country that is essentially much more unequal for the cost of government, basically, on their backs. we tried this experiment before. of these or 40 years types of tax cuts were they were supposed to pay for themselves. they never have. at most, this will pay for maybe economy. growth to the overall, tax revenue will drop by up to $7 trillion over this next decade. we will be saddled with increased debt, multinational committees for tax purposes, and a much unequal society. amy: what happens now? you have a $3 trillion deficit that this was caused? we're talking about a republican-controlled house and senate, who are supposedly deficit hawks. you say you don't think this will pass, but how do you see this playing out and where can people weigh in? >> there are substantial number of democrats who will oppose this just on principle and because the track record we have had that this is going to cause -- this is really going to be a litmus test for the republicans. they're going to be put to a choice here. they're supposed to be interested in fighting d defici. but here we have -- ultimately, this was what the election was all about. this is a land grab, essentially am a by the ruling elites in this country. the republicans who said all along they were deficit hawks, i really going to be fleshed out here. it may produce some of the divisions we saw on the obamacare matter, but, ultimately, i am pessimistic. put to the test many republicans will just give up on their anti-debt principles. amy: james henry, thank you for being with us. this is something we will continue to talk about. tomorrow, we will be joined by congress member welch, one of the caucus, representing vermont. james henry, economist, lawyer, and senior advisor with the tax justice network former chief , economist at mckinsey & company. when we come back, we turn to vermont's only woman governor to get a, it on this 100 days of the trump administration. this is democracy now! we will be back with governor kunin in a moment. ♪ [music break] amy: "nobody's fool" by alejandro rose garcia. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. from vermontasting pbs. this is democracy now! as donald trump approaches his 100th day as president on saturday, his approval ratings are the lowest any president has had at this stage in generations. a recent poll by nbc news and "the wall street journal" found just 40% of americans currently approve of his job performance. trump took t to twitter to call the poll totally wrong. well, we're joined now for the remainder of the hour by former vermont governor madeleine kunin . she was born in switzerland in 1933 and came to the us as a child and later served as a ambassador to switzerland. in recent months, she has been a vocal critic of president trump. she recently participated in a march and wrote a piece thanking trump for "waking us from our slumber." in the article, she writes -- "we're becoming a nation of activists. the election of donald trump has inspired us to get off the couch and 'do something. this is a vibrant, sometimes angry, but fundamentally healthy exercise -- it is the life blood of democracy." governor kunin it is great to have you back on democracy now! >> i am delighted to be here. amy: it is just about 100 days of the donald trump presidency. your assessment? >> some of what he has been doing was expected because we got a lot of clues during the campaign. but it turns out to be worse than we anticipated because he is going full speed ahead. everything from yesterday's announcement that he will review 40 monuments, which is national land, public land, to this latest tax proposal, to his stand on immigration, to just gutting the environmental protection agency, so you don't know what to get angry about first because you are being bombarded right and left by things that many americans vehemently disagree with. amy: you wrote an open commentary thanking donald trump for waking us s from our summer, particularly referring to women. what do you mean? >> i mean things that are really happening all over the country. here in vermont, for example, we had a huge women's march. from my personal experience, i spoke to the university of vermont class and i asked, how many of you consider yourself feminists? honest every hand went up. before trump's inauguration when i would ask that question, one or two would tentatively raise their hands and there was a big discussion about why we are not feminists. whether you are a feminist or not, people are marching who never marched before. people are following the news closely. you can't have a conversation without trump invading it at some point. occupying army almost . he is just on everyone's mind. we can't help it. even if we would like to get away, we can't. amy:y: i would ask about women's represenentation around thee toptry and legislatures in elected offices. "the new york times" recently had ap's "what happens when women legislate." at 39.7%,%, nevada now ranks near the top for women's representation in state politics . second only to vermont. so how has it happened here and where do you see the last ceiling is? >> not only are we second in the nation in the percentage of women in a legislature -- amy: this as top. it says no that is second. >> well, it is a question of decimal points. once we can forget about the decimal points, we want argue who is first or second or third. first,ht colorado was but it may have changed in the meantime. are chairs of key committees, both appropriations committees are chaired by women. our speaker is a woman. it has an impact because different issues come up, as that article said. we are debating a law that would protect pregnant women from arduous tasks in the workplace. fade -- paid family leave. these issues come up, but also, i think women sometimes have a different way of negotiating. there is not as much macho, i win, you lose. we sit down together. amy: and what about progressive politicians and republican politicians as women in the united s states? womenl, the republican have a big hurdle to get over because they won't be accepted by t the pararty if they are pro-choice, if they believe in legal and safe abortions. so that cuts out a lot of people. womenr -- aggressive certainly should be on board. -- but progressive women certain should be on board. ofdon't want to be observers the process anymore. we want to sit at the table where the decisions are made. it is so important for women to be there. and for women who don't want to run for office, to support these women in every way from toancial contributions bringing a casserole for dinner for the woman who is running for office because she can't get home in time to cook. amy: i want to ask you about perhaps the most prominent women in the trump adminisistration, s daughter ivanka. just in the last week in berlin, germany, president trump's daughter and white house adviser, ivanka trump, was booed during a panel discussion at a meeting of women business leaders when she claimed that her fatherer, donald trump, is a champion of families. >> i'm very proud of my father. long before he came into the presidency -- - hehe is beeeea tremendous champn of supporting famililies and abliling tm to thrivive. [inaudible] the panelwas moderator of this event in portland, germany -- berlin, germany. that was ivanka trump talking about her father was a chevy and of women in the workplace. >> there is scant evidence of that. from everything we have seen coming is the fewest number of women in his cabinet. i don't know the exact percentage, but the photo op you usually see is a group of men sitting at the table. a famous photo of the tea party meeting when there was not a woman insight. his attitude on abortion is taking away the rights of women to make their own health care decisions. that is crucial. we will see if the childcare -- her one moment was when she spoke of for child care and for leave.ternity we will see if that happens and how hard she pushes. also, all of her conflict of interest with her own business dealings. she is at a very suspect position as far as ethics goes and conflicts of interest. amy: you are one of only 38 have in u.s. history to served as governor. you among the first woman to be elected in her own right and you remain the only female governor vermont has ever elected. can you tell us a little bit about europe and story, how you came to run for governor, where you came from? >> i was born in zurich, switzerland. i came to this country at the outbreak of world war ii with my mother and brother. what my mother instilled in us is the story of the american dream. i think that gave me a more optimistic view of politics. i did not really get interested in running for anything until the women's movement. i started out in the legislature. lieutenant governor. i worked my way up the ladder. i guess i felt that i could make a difference. i got my education as chair of the house appropriations committee. if you know where the money is, then you can really have an impact. i feel very privileged -- john amy: you say house appropriations committee, you mean in the state house. vermont is never sent a woman to wawashington. >> yes, i should clarifyfy that. which is one of our only black mark that -- we have one loan congressman, as you know. still,l, that isis not a good eh cusese. part of what emerged is aiaiming at is t to elect morore womomend eventutually wee hope soon we wl send a woman to congress and lose that unpleasant distinction. amy: you were born in switzerland. you were the first jewish woman governor in any state in the united states to be elected. and you also became the u.s. ambassador to switzerland. and this was at a controversial time when switzerland's complicity in its banking system with the nazis was being exposed. i first went to get your reactionon to the white e house press secretary sean spicer sparking outrage after comparing certain president bashar al-assad to hitler's and falsely claiming hitler never used chemical weapons. this is spicer speaking on the first day of the jewish holidayy of passover two weeks ago. >> you look, we did not use chemical weapons in world war ii. you had me up, someone as despicable as hitler who did not even sink to using chemical weapons. so you have to, if you u are russia, ask yourself, is this a country that you in a regime -- and a regime you want to aligign yourself with? >> in fact, the nazis systematically used poison gas. remaining with gas the specific purpose of carrying out mass murder. they poured gagas ban's to kill hundreds of thousands of people. i had set up a series of concentration camps were gas chambers were the main method of killing people. at its peak, as many as 6000 people, mostly jews, were gassed to death every day at auschwitz concentration camp alone. during his comments, spicer also refused to to nazi concentration camps as "holocaust centers." governor kunin come your thoughts? totally naive and unaware of what actually happened. i think some of that is typical of the trump administration. people don't believe in research. they don't believe in expertise. they go by the seat of their pants, a lot of issues, which require expertise. we are sort of in a huge anti-elite universe. in the state department, for example, there are no people who have a sense of history or diplomacy and the skill that is needed to be an effective diplomat and served our country. -- and serve our country. i think it is a very important misstatement. you can't call it a lie, because he thought -- he thought he was speaking the truth, when we all know that was fiction. amy: you also served as deputy secretary of education under president clinton. education is very important to you. i'm wondering your thoughts on the current education secretary betsy devos? >> her orientation is entirely different from the mission of the department of education. which is to support the public school system. and her interest in private education and religious schools is very disturbing because public education is always starved for funding. and student financial a aid -- i was very m much involved with tt when i was deputy secretary. we have to find the right way to reduce the huge debt that so many students are left with. again, she is moving in the opposite direction by going to private lenders instead of the calledwith something direct lending. so i am concerned. you know, her ignorance about children with disabilitieies, again, we have to invest in the right places. they even talk about, which is story, eliminating the department of education. she has not said that, but the truck people have referred to that. amy: does vermont have any charter schools? have don't have -- we semi-charter schools, but not officially charter schools. like in burlington, there are ,chools that emphasize the arts thoselize children into schools. but i don't think we have officially a charter school. amy: you have called for 16-year-olds to be able to vote. explain. >> well, i think it would galvanize this group and maybe make education while they are in high school -- what we really have to get back to is the old-fashioned term "civics," were you learned how t the government work. now we can teach it in a much more exciting way. but young people are least likely to vote. and people my age are the most likely to vote. i think, again, the trump administration is igniting hope fear.for young people and so hope and fear may make them want to vote and be good citizens. about want to ask you what has happened at fox. another fox news anchor sean , hannity, is facing accusations of unwanted sexual advances. former fox news guest debbie schlussel has accused hannity of inviting her back to his hotel room, and that after she rejected his advance, "he called me and yelled at me and i kind of knew i wouldn't be back on his show." while schlussel says she doesn't think the incident qualifies as sexual harassment, she says shee thought hannity was weird and creepy. the accusations come after fox's top anchor bill o'reilly, was , ousted last week amid revelations he and fox paid more than $13 million to settle five sexual harassment claims. o'reilly will reportedly receive a payout of about $25 million -- equivalent to one year's salary -- after he was fired. o'reilly's payout follows a $40 million severance package paid to former fox news ceo roger ailes last year after he was accused of sexual harassment by more than 20 women. governor kunin, you recently did a commentary for from a public radio on o'reilly -- four vermont public radio on o'reilly. >> women are speaking out. there are no longer staying silent as we were told to do. you know, if you want to get ahead, don't say anything, just keep your mouth shutut. and these brave women at fox news took the risk and it still is risky to speak out and file their suits and be recognized. the good news is, they had a huge impact. you know, the biggest man in nenews, iconic bill o'reilly, ws toppled from his pedestal. and that sent shock waves, but it also sent a huge message that we are not going to tolerate this anymore. if you misbehave in a sexual way and make women uncomfortable or humiliate them, you are out. and i think that gives other women around the country a huge sense of power. in a way, it comes down to money. the advertisers -- 50 advertisers withdrew. and that is where the action is. suddenly, the lights went on and rupert murdoch has to say, hey, we have to get rid of this guy. amy: me ask you about euro history. you are the first governor in the country to march in a gay pride march? your daughter came out to you decades ago. can you describe that experience and how people responded to you? you marched in burlington. >> well, it was early in the gay-rights movement. it was when these parades were very lively and sort of weird and sort of funny. i gave a talk at the beginning of the parade. after that gay-rights parade, i int to a military ceremony the next council so i thought, what a contrast. because then it was more contrast than it would be now. castnd out later the register in the small town of vermont, they had my picture from the paper and they had a circle with a slash through it. the feeling was much more conflicted 30 years ago. i hate to counted up, but i think that is how long ago it was. amy: finally, in your years as governor and now -- you are extremely active post governor, more so than most anyone in the country, and stating your views, being out there. you started emerge vermont, part of a national organization. talk about what you feel women need to do to get elected at every level of government and what is holding women back. the numbers are so low in the united states. >> they have an equal chance of winning as a man, except when it comes to the presidency. we won't go into that now. there is still a huge barrier at that level. for legislative seaeats, it is a little harder for governor, but not impossible. i think what they need to do is really stand firm in their beliefs. you have to have the inner passion. you have to hahave the motivati. and then you can follow the rules of what it takes to be elected. i think the biggest thing that women lack is confidence. therere is no degree in running for office. i think we're so used to being certified for this, that come or the other thing, or getting an "a" in a course and then we feel good. but there is simply a process that can be managed. i think women are deterred by money, or the funding, by the of politics. it was better in my day, no doubt. but women have to be at the table to make the decisions and be part of the decisions that affect our lives and their families lives. they also have to realize, it is exciting. when i say it is exciting, it is also fun -- which we don't talk about much. it is very rewarding. if you live your life making a difference in the world for others, you really live a good life. amy: governor kunin, thank you for joining us. madeleine may kunin served as governor of vermont for three terms from 1985-1991. she is a marsh professor at the university of vermont and the author of "the new feminist agenda, defining the next revolution for women, work and family." she is also the founder of emerge vermont. when we come back, we're going to denver, colorado, where a mexican immigrant has just been taken by ice agents off the streets where he was working and readied for deportation. but people are coming out and speaking out. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: "i will not be afraid" by caroline rose. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we go now to denver, colorado, where a mexican migrant arturo hernandez was arrested wednesday morning by u.s. immigrgration ad customs enforcement. hernandez garcia had sought sanctuary from deportation at the first unitarian society church for nine months until july 2015 when he was told he was no longer a priority for deportation. in a statement now ice spokesman , carl rusnok said -- "hernandez garcia has overstayed his original, six-month visa by nearly 14 years. he has exhausted his petitions through the immigration courts and through ice." well, supporters of hernandez garcia say he has been targeted in part because of his immigration activism. a group of about two dozen people gathered outside an ice office in centennial on wednesday afternoon to protest his arrest. meanwhile, last week an immigrant rights activist who has sought refuge in the same denver church was named one of "time" magazine's 100 most influential people for 2017. jeanette vizguerra came to the u.s. from mexico in 1997 and is one of the founders of the metro denver sanctuary coalition. she has helped undocumented immigrants seek sanctuary. earlier this year, she skipped a scheduled check-in with ice officials and instead sought refuge in the first unitarian society church. she has four children. three of vizguerra's children are u.s.-born. she made the decision to seek refuge in the church out of fear she would be deported under the trump administration. bighe could not go to the "time" gala for the 100 most influential people, but they had a gala at the church. she could not step outside, afraid of being arrested by ice tuesday night. it was wednesday morning that the man who took refuge at the same church just two years ago was taken by ice agents. to talk more about the situation of undocumented immigrants under the trump administration, we go now to denver, to speak to jennifer piper, an interfaith organizer for american friends service committee in denver, and coordinates the metro denver century coalition along with jeanette vizguerra. can you explain what happened to arturo? explain what has happened now. why was he taken off the street? >> good morning. absolutely nothing has changed in arturo's case. he is been in u.s. for more than 17 years. he has two kids, a 17-year-old and an 11-year-old daughter. he still has no criminal record. he is still a father. he is still a small business owner. he went to work post a fefew wet to p pick up tile. as he was leaving, ice was waiting for him, detained him, took him to the ice office in centennial where we tried to block his exit for several hours. we believe he is now likely in the geo for-profit detention center in aurora. amy: no explain. what did ice tell you? did you call thehem? he was given a letter by department of homeland security in 2015 when he decided to leave the church and there to step outside again? >> yes. we met with high-level immigration and customs enforcement officials after three days of fasting and front of their office in july 2015. after that meeting, we received a leletter stating that immigration and customs enforcement was using theirr discscretion not to implement hs order of deportation. arturo believe this was a gesture of good faith, that the people we were talking with in that meeting were honest and they would continue to fulfill their commitment to him. so in wanting to respond to that good faith, he left sanctuary and went back to his everyday life, continued to organize and work with his community to build peopople up, to bring people together. he is always someone who will bring a smile to your face. he is constantly caring for others. he is a very gentle, firm, smart person who is a leader in our community. abouthat did ice tell you why they picked him up yesterday? >> arturo does have a final order of deportation. that is why he entered the cocongregation in october 2014. everyone who enters sanctuary has a final order of deportation. in his case, we felt they had not used their discretion, so when i spoke with immigration and customs enforcement, they said yet a final order and that there are no longer any priorities under the trump administration for enforcement. we look at trurump's execututive ordeders, that is trtrue. every person who i is removablee from thehe u.s.s. is a priorityr us is administration, regardless of the kernel history or not -- criminal history or not, regardless of their ties to this community. amy: i want to go back to 2015 when i went to the first unitararian society chchurch in denver to meet arturo hernandez garcia. >> i'm a good person. i have been working for 16 years and colorado. i've never been in trouble. i've never been arrested. i never stay in jail before here .n mexico amy: you had your two children here in the united states? isi have one daughter that 15 years old. she was born in mexico. ca, deferred action for students. i have a nine-year-old that is a citizen. amy: what has it been like for you? you have been here for many months now, for november, december -- four months. >> yes. it is hard for me, for my family , too. i want a normal life and come spend time with my daughters and my wife. amy: we are standing in the sanctuary. behind you is a banner that says "all souls are sacred and worthy. there is unity that makes as one." we are standing a front of the organ. >> we come to the united states and for the future of the families. we are not criminals. it is not true with the people, the government say on tv. -- likeke i say, just to work and a better future for my kids. i contribute. we work anand pay taxes. everything i do, i do for my family. amy: jennnifer piper, that is printed as garcia two years ago before he left sanctuary. what will happen now? several dozen of you gathered in centennial, a suburb of denver, to demand his release. what is the process now? we will continue to fight for his release and we will continue to push back on president trump's policies. we know the courts have found again his immigratation policies are unjust, and we call onon people to vivisit their congressssperson today a and puh back on the imimmoral l budget g proposed tomorrow w to say no to $4$4.5 billionon more for bordrd enter enforcement. cocongress is responsiblble fors messss. congressss needs to stand u up, inincluding democrcrats, and say this budgeget is cruel and immoral. we need to visit our commerce people's offices today because the vote is tomorrow. amy: jennifer piper, thank you for being with us or with the interfaith organizer for american friends service committee. that does it for our broadcast. we continue our multicity tour. on saturday, democracy now! will broadcast for five hours on the people's climate march from 10:00 to three a clock p.m. eastern time. 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. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] action. spike lee. aahhh! no one's gonna say, "we're gonna take a chance on you." i never thought that would happen.