05/26/16 05/26/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >>, it would've been better if i used a second e-mail account and carried a second phone, but at the time, this did not seem like an issue. amy: the state department's spectre general concludes hillary clinton broke government rules by using a private e-mail server without approval for her work as u.s. secretary of state. despite saying she would cooperate, she refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. then we go inside the exxon annual meeting where the granddaughter of a former exxon scientist questioned the oil

giant's ceo. >> my grandfather told exxon executives about the risk of climate change in 1977. most 40 years ago. that is how long exxon has known. amy: we will speak to anna kalinsky and to 350.org co-founder bill mckibben who was just named by bernie sanders to serve on the platform committee at this year's democratic national convention. and then transgender rights under attack. >> two hours ago, the state of texas filed a lawsuit against u.s. department of education and the department of justice regarding their directive to open up all school bathrooms to people of both sexes. amy: texas and 10 other states sue the obama administration claiming the president has overstepped his constitutional authority. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. an internal government watchdog has concluded hillary clinton broke government rules by using a private e-mail server without approval for her work while she was secretary of state. that was the key finding of a long-awaited report by the state department inspector general released wednesday. the report concludes clinton would not have been allowed use of private server in her home has she asked the guys it posed "significant security risks." said she wouldn comply with all probes into the server use, she and eight of her deputies, including cheryl mills, jake sullivan, and huma een, declined to be interviewed for the investigation. her use for state department business is also the subject of an ongoing fbi investigation and

has plagued her presidential campaign for months. we will have more on the report and the e-mail controversy after headlines. massachusetts senator elizabeth warren continues to criticize presumptive republican presidential nominee donald trump. speaking at the center for popular democracy's annual gala tuesday, warren called trump go insecure money grubber." >> donald trump drooling over the idea of a housing meltdown because it meant he could buy up more property on the cheap. what kind of a man does that? i will take you exactly what kind. it is a man who cares about no one but himself. a small am insecure money grubber who doesn't care who he makes ao long as profit off of it.

amy: in response, donald trump tempted to criticize elizabeth worn by using the word indian in the name pocahontas as racial slurs during a rally in albuquerque, new mexico. >> hillary clinton said, did you ever hear of pocahontas? it is pocahontas, elizabeth warren. senator thatly the is doing just about the least in the united states senate. she is a total failure. she says she was an indian. amy: elizabeth warren says her family is part cherokee. will donald trump and bernie sanders debate each other ahead of the california june 7 primary? donald trump first agreed to the idea when it was proposed by jimmy kimmel during an interview wednesday night. sanders responded by tweeting, "game on." this comes after hillary clinton refused to debate sanders in california ahead of the primary. polling figures released by the public policy institute wednesday night show sanders and clinton in a dead heat in california.

meanwhile, racial justice scholar and activist cornel west, who is one of bernie sanders' five appointees to the democratic party's platform drafting committee, has accused israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu of war crimes in the continued occupation of palestinian territories. this comes as netanyahu moves his government even further to the right with addition of the right-wing nationalist yisrael beiteinu party. professor west and another sanders' appointee, james zogby, are looking to incorporate opposition to israel's occupation of palestinian territories into the democratic party platform, when the drafting committee meets at the democratic national convention in philadelphia in july. president obama is in japan today for the g7 summit, amid increasing tensions between the two countries over a u.s. military contractor's alleged rape and murder of a 20-year-old japanese woman on the island of okinawa. japanese prime minister shinzo abe spoke out.

>> i feel strong indignation about the selfish and extremely mean crime. it has not only shaken the citizens of okinawa, but the whole of japan. i have told president obama to understand the feelings of these people. amy: the japanese prime minister was speaking at a joint news conference with president obama. president obama apologized at that news conference. >> i want to emphasize the united states is appalled by any violent crimes that may have occurred or been carried out by any u.s. personnel or any u.s. contractors. inexcusable, and we are committed to doing everything that we can to prevent any crimes from taking place. amy: for decades, okinawa residents have called for the expulsion of u.s. troops in large part over a history of sexual assaults.

this comes as president obama is slated to head to hiroshima friday, where he will become the first sitting u.s. president to visit the island where the u.s. dropped a nuclear bomb toward the end of world war ii. 11 states are suing the obama administration over its recent directive saying students ve the right under federal law to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. nine of the 11 states are run by republican governors. texas attorney general ken paxton announced the lawsuit wednesday. state ofurs ago, the texas filed a lawsuit against the u.s. department of education and the department of justice regarding their directive to open up all school bathrooms to people of both sexes. we are taking this action to protect harold independent school district, which on monday night fulfilled first on civility to their committed by adopting a bathroom possibility that puts the safety of their

students first. amy: more later in the broadcast. the taliban has appointed a new leader, following the death of mullah akhtar mohammad mansour in a u.s. drone strike in pakistan on saturday. the religious scholar mawlawi haibatullah akhundzada will become the group's new leader. in france, workers at nuclear power plants have voted to join the growing strikes, which are threatening to immobilize the country amidst protests over labor reforms. gas stations have reported fuel shortages as protesters blockade oil depots and immobilized all is oil depots and immobilized all eight of france's oil refineries tuesday. unions are protesting reforms that would make it easier to fire workers, among other provisions. unionist mathieu pinault spoke out. >> what we want today is for this movement to spread. all of the other sectors in france have decided to stop the frack trees -- factories, so we feel we have a wide movement

that will continue with the will to impact the economy. in a logic, should force the government to withdraw this bill which is an adult in everyone's interest. the u.n. security council has voted unanimously to lift sanctions and an arms embargo against liberia. the restrictions were put in place amid liberia's 14-year civil war, which killed as many as a quarter of a million people. south carolina governor nikki haley has signed legislation banning abortion after 20 weeks, including in cases of rape and incest. the law takes effect immediately. it next south carolina the 13 state to make abortion illegal after 20 weeks of pregnancy. in oak brook, illinois, thousands of fast food workers have pension tents and set up an occupation outside mcdonald's headquarters to demand $15 an minimum wage and union rights. hour the occupation comes as mcdonald's hosts its annual shareholder meeting today. the massive protests shutdown

mcdonald's headquarters wednesday. more protests are planned for today. this comes as former mcdonald's ceo ed rensi has claimed in an interview with fox business that mcdonald's would replace workers with robots if the national minimum wage is raised to $15 an hour. >> i guarantee you if it is a $15 minimum wage across the country, you're going to see a job loss like you cannot believe. i was at the national restaurant show yesterday and if you look at the robotic devices that are coming in to the restaurant industry, it is cheaper to buy a c, then to higher some in making $15 an hour bagging french fries. in a car that is the former mcdonald's ceo. the new york police commissioner bill bratton has called the growing campaign to film the

police an epidemic. speaking after a conference of police chiefs on wednesday, commissioner bratton said -- "there is increasing efforts on the part of individuals, sometimes in a crowd and often times mobs, to attempt to record, intimidate and create fear and physically free a prisoner. this has become very serious," he said. this comes as the nypd faces criticism after a harlem playing close police officer was caught on video pointing his gun at a group of unarmed people inside an apartment building lobby, and then punching one of the residents filming him. in peekskill, new york, two protesters were arrested wednesday after police extracted them from a shipping container blockading the construction of a gas pipeline. spectra's aim pipeline is slated to run only hundreds of feet from the aging indian point nuclear power plant. lee stewart and jane kendall had locked themselves in the fully sustainable shipping container to blockade the pipeline's construction just after dawn on wednesday morning. they have been charged with disorderly conduct, trespassing,

and obstructing government administration. to see the report of the action, you can go to democracynow.org. meanwhile, in massachusetts, more than a dozen religious leaders were arrested wednesday morning blocking construction of another spectra gas pipeline. the interfaith group held a prayer on the construction site in west roxbury, where spectra is trying to build a gas pipeline. local residents and politicians have long opposed the west roxbury lateral pipeline, which is slated to run close to a -- who say it is standards for the pipeline to run alongside a quarry where there is frequent blasting. and in chicago, a migrant justice activist is suing the department of homeland security for refusing to renew her daca protection because of her activism. 29-year-old ireri unzueta carrasco was granted deferred action for childhood arrivals status in 2013. but when she went to renew her status, it was denied because of her participation in civil disobedience actions. more than 100 civil and immigrant rights groups have signed on to a letter to dhs secretary jeh johnson calling on

the agency to renew her daca status and protect the constitutional right to political expression. ireri has organized for immigrant rights for years. in 2014, she spoke on democracy now! about receiving daca protections and her decision to come out as undocumented. >> before i had the deferred action, anything could have put me in deportation proceedings. being at the wrong place at the wrong time. i really wanted to travel, and traveling isn't something that you can just do necessarily and sometimes there are risks involved. they are, you know, different ways to get stopped. i was learningsk every day. to me when i decided to come out publicly and talk about my status, it was a decision about that. this is something i am facing every day, then i need to take this head on. i need to be able to show my side of the story publicly and

use that to benefit the other members of my community. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. an internal government watchdog has concluded hillary clinton broke government rules by using a private email server without approval while she was secretary of state. that was the key finding of a long-awaited report by the state department inspector general. the report concluded that clinton would not have been allowed to use a private server in her home had she asked the department officials in charge of information security because it posed "significant security risks." this contradicts claims by clinton that use of a home server was allowed and that no permission was needed. the report also criticized clinton for not properly preserving e-mail she wrote and received on her personal account. responded in california.

>> looking back, it would have been better if i simply used a second e-mail account and carried a second phone, but at the time, this did not seem like an issue. amy: though hillary clinton said she would comply with all probes into the server use, clinton and eight of her deputies, including cheryl mills, jake sullivan, and huma abedin, declined to be interviewed for the inspector general's investigation. the fbi is conducting a separate inquiry into whether clinton mishandled lassa find information. on hempowicz a project government oversight, said the report exposed a double standard in government that those at the top are allowed to break the rules, while whistleblowers face retribution. >> it is very clear the highest levels of our federal officials don't believe these rules applied to them. i think they absolutely should. amy: for more on the findings and fallout of the inspector

generals report on hiller clinton's e-mails we're joined , by journalist michael tracey. he is a frequent contributor to "vice," "the daily beast," and "the new york daily news." welcome to democracy now! talk about what you think is the most significant finding of the inspector general. >> in addition to the substance of what was found by the inspector general regarding her conduct with installing private e-mail server, what really stuck out to me and i think most observers was she declined to be interviewed for the probe. throughout her campaign, even prior to the campaign, she can repeated assurances that she would comply with every single investigation into the propriety of this conduct. and for her now -- to have been revealed she did not comply with a probe or seen by the department, which she had it for four years -- amy: it was the inspector general of the state department. >> she was the head of that agency for four years. not only did she not

participate, at least nine of her associates, whether they were employees of the department or external employees that were under the auspices of hillary in particular, did not participate, either. of course that is going to raise major questions. nermeen: at the same time, hillary clinton has said she will participate in the fbi investigation will stop is that right? >> right, but if you investigate the statements she has made in her campaign is meant, she never made a clear participation -- distinction between the fbi and the state department probes. so for her now to retroactively a claim that she did make that distinction doesn't hold up to the scrutiny. as recently as may 7, she said she would "talk to anybody investigating the matter on behalf of the federal government." nermeen: she also said, because there is been some speculation about why she chose to use of private e-mail server in the first place, and apparently in

november 2010, this is what the report says, she wrote to one of her top aides that "let's separate, address, or device, but i don't want any risk of the personal being accessible." what do you think the significance of that is? and that is not what she initially claimed her reason was. >> i think it is indicative of her giving a wide variety of explanations for her behavior that do not cohere interest angle, -- single, digestible answer to give the voters. one more point, i think that speaks to why there has been a deficiency in the level of scrutiny that has been applied to in the context of the democratic primary, so bernie sanders has a validly not raise the issue and he has his own reasons for doing so. but the natural consequences of that is it has a man given sufficient airing in the context of the public and it is going to be easily seized upon by donald trump in the context --

clip frome turn to a the democratic debate in march. clinton facing tough questioning from univision moderator jorge ramos about her use of a home-based email server, and who gave her permission to use it. >> it wasn't the best choice. i made a mistake. it was not prohibited. it was not in any way disallowed and as i said, and now has come out, my predecessors did the same thing. in many other people in the government. but here's the cut to the chase fact. i did not send or receive any e-mails marked classified at the time. what you're talking about is retroactive classification. i am not concerned about it. i am not worried about it. and no democrat or american should become either. [applause] >> the question was, who gave you permission? >> there was no permission to be asked. it had been done by my predecessors.

it was permitted. >> if you get indicted, we dropout? >> that is not going to happen. i'm not even answering that. amy: hillary clinton in march. just a note of that the earlier clip of hillary clinton and our lead, it was from march 2015, over a year ago, not from the campaign trail yesterday. --hael tracey, this issue of she did not do anything differently than her predecessors like secretary of state geralol powell, who has also said the same thing, actually? >>t has been a claim repeatedly made by hillary clinton herself and her campaign representatives for as long as this has been a controversy, but the state department's own report now finds that claim has no basis. there were new sets of standards applied to the conduct of hillary clinton that did not apply to her predecessors. when colin powell was in office, for example, he left in 2005. and by then, the use of e-mail

was not nearly as widespread and the security liabilities were not nearly as well understood. so the idea that is the rationale for her behavior, i don't think half muster. amy: she keeps emphasizing she is turned over 55,000 e-mails, certainly more than her predecessors. not only cooleezza rice, by the way, -- not only colin powell, but also condoleezza rice. what about this? 55,000 e-mails that she chose or her people chose to hand over? >> again, that is the claim that as they may without corroboration. now we know the claim is not totally accurate. there were e-mails found independently by the state department investigator between hillary clinton and david portray is that she did not turn over in december 2014 which he purportedly handed over the totality of the batch. obviously, a figure of that significance is someone who the

public is going to want to see -- amy: this is interesting, the general, reading from "the washington post was in the plea agreement, the general admitted to mishandling classified information contained in this personal notebooks. paulad his girlfriend broadwell that is notebooks contain highly classified information and gave them to her and allied to the fbi during the investigation, felony public -- punishable by up to five years in prison. i think it speaks to a broader fallacy in a way that democrats have spoken about this issue. they try to conflate it with partisans gogo very which is going to a gold hillary clinton -- and gulf hillary clinton and has over years. they deflected from the real potential liabilities that this may occasion. another thing in the clip just played, hillary clinton laughed off the possibility of an

indictment. that is probably remote, but it is not laughable that there could be some kind of criminal consequences whether on the part of hillary or her subordinates. amy: explain this because james comey is not exactly a friend of president obama, the head of the fbi, came in under the bush administration as and are minute and number of ways, clearly a conflict. he is pushing forward with this investigation. you could recommend a criminal indictment but it would be obama's justice department that would have to move forward wi it, which would set up a royal conflict and an embarrassing one. >> even if official criminal charges are not levied, it was still provoke a political discord that we have not seen in generations in terms of competing ranges of the federal government coming to different conclusions about whether a certain behavior rises to the level of criminality. for her to laugh off that

possibility and for democrats to laugh off that possibility has made it such that the feasibility of this has not been sears the entertain, maybe until now. one reason why a lawyer would advise quite not to participate in a probe of this nature is because you could double to information that could be used in a separate criminal investigation to establish a pattern of facts, which could result in some kind of criminal charges. that has always been a possibility in the air, but because, you know, the allegations have been so closely associated with republican gamesmanship, i don't think democrats have given it sufficient thought in terms of what kinds of problems this could pose for hillary as a general election candidate. nermeen: i want to turn to a clip from december 2011 the day , before army whistleblower private chelsea manning went on trial for passing hundreds of thousands of documents to wikileaks. >> i think in an age when so

much information is flying cyberspace, we all have to be aware of the fact, you know, some information which is sensitive, which does affect the security of individuals and relationships deserves to be protected. and we will continue to take necessary steps to do so. amy: that with hillary clinton speaking in 2011 about the wikileaks revelations made by chelsea manning. could you comment on what hillary clinton said and whether you think that there's a different standard that has been applied to whistleblowers like chelsea manning and her opposition to the inquiry now regarding her own, let's say, lax security around her e-mails while she was secretary of state? >> the double standards are

overwhelmingly clear. it is not disputed at this point that information marked top secret according to the government traversed the server of hillary clinton. and the server was not secured according to the guidelines established by the federal government. now had someone of less stature committed similar infraction, based on the track record of hillary clinton's own statements, we could draw a logical line and assume she would want the full weight of the criminal apparatus of the federal government to bear down on that individual. nermeen: isn't that what happened to the u.s. ambassador in kenya? >> right. of chelseathe case manning is not totally analogous, but it speaks to abroad or principal not being evenly applied. so whether or not you think the classification regime of the federal government is sound, that has no bearing on whether the regime that exist should be

applied broadly and equitably. theinsisting, that is clinton and her surrogates have done, that this is no big joke, they're essentially arguing for different standard to be applied to themselves. that is why people have so little faith in the system, and it is not just for product -- product every public in fear mongering that there is this hunch that the law is not going to be applied. amy: michael tracey, the effect of one of the person who installed the server in the house been granted immunity? and the other, the reason that they would do this? is it possible it is related to not wanting to have foia requests of e-mails and questions about these e-mails that were involved with countries that had dealings with the clinton foundation? >> a person named brian has been granted immunity by the department of justice, and that does not tend to happen unless

there's some substantial criminal proceeding having been undertaken or underway. so that has not been given adequate consideration by democratic partisans, either. as you mentioned, there is the issue of whether public records laws have been flouted. that could conceivably, you know, depending on how enterprising a prosecutor is, could be folded into a criminal charge because there are certain federal statutes governing how agencies and stewards of agencies must maintain public records. it is already established that hillary clinton's maintenance of records violated the regulatory framework of the state department. now the only question is, whether that rises to the level of a criminal violation of federal code. it is very possible -- again, it is troubling to someone who may have not given us adequate consideration, now i am repeating myself, but this should have been given more of

an erring in the context of the presidential -- democratic presidential primaries because donald is going to have an ,bsolute field day of it whether or not it eventually is in criminal charges. amy: michael tracey, thank you for being with us journalist and , researcher, and a frequent contributor to "vice," "the daily beast," and "the new york daily news." when we come back, we look at an exxon shareholders meeting. the granddaughter of a neck on i just who told exxon decades ago about the dangers of climate change. we will also speak with bill mckibben who has been chosen by presidential candidate bernie sanders to serve on the platform committee at the democratic convention will stop what will he be demanding about climate change? ♪ [music break]

amy: "get off the internet," le tigre. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: at its annual meeting

in dallas, texas exxon mobil , shareholders rejected a series of resolutions wednesday calling for climate action, including resolutions backed by calpers, the california public employee'' retirement system, as well as the new york state comptroller thomas dinapoli and the church of england. shareholders did pass a measure to let minority shareholders nominate outsiders for seats on the board, raising the possibility that a climate activist could some day become a director at exxon. it was the first exxon annual meeting since a series of revelations that for decades the company covered up its own scientific findings linking rising carbon emissions to dangerous climate change. at the shareholders meeting the granddaughter of a former exxon scientist questioned the ceo of exxon about the company's record. this is part of what she said. >> it is good to have the opportunity to speak to you. my name is anna kalinsky. , james of black,

was a scientist for exxon for over 40 years. he started with standard oil during world war ii, later earned dozens of patents for soa later exxon. he briefed the top executives on the scientific realities of climate change. ofsaid man has a time window five to 10 years before the need for hard decisions regarding changes in energy strategies i become critical, like you acknowledged on your slides, almost 40 years ago. amy: that was anna kalinsky, who is the granddaughter of james black msi just for exxon for over 40 years. we are going to hear rex tillerson's answer, the ceo of exxon, and a moment. but first, to anna herself, joining us from dallas along with 350.org cofounder bill mckibben. we welcome you both to democracy

now! anna kalinsky, let's begin with you. talk about what your grandfather found as an exxon scientist. >> absolutely. like i said, my grandfather worked for exxon for about 40 years. in 1977, he gave a presentation to top exxon management. he laid out very clearly that the planet was warming, that this was because of rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, and that those levels were rising because of the burning of fossil fuels. at the time he told exxon that humankind had five to 10 years to start really making the hard decisions regarding climate change or the situation could become dire. nermeen: anna kalinsky, how many other scientists at exxon at the time in the 1970's were doing comparable research, copper bowl

research to what your grandfather did? >> i don't have an exact number for you, but we know at the time there were other scientists at exxon doing climate research and other organizations in addition to exxon were receiving similar briefings. exxon ceot to play rex tillerson's response. >> we will continue to engage in the policy discussions as we currently do with a number of broad-based groups on all sides of these issues, and we will continue to be active in the discussions legislatively in washington and elsewhere, including through the i pcc on what we think are thoughtful, sensible policy actions that accommodate both our need for economic growth as well as addressing these risks which are going to be very daunting. amy: that is the ceo of exxon. anna kalinsky, your response to his answer to your question? >> i find it incredibly

frustrating. to say we're looking at all sides of the climate change issue is ignoring that there has been global consensus on the realities of climate change for years and that exxon has now at this point had for decades of knowledge about climate change, has her own scientist working who know about these sorts of things, and for ceo tillerson to ngy exxon would not be taki decisive action to either cut ties with groups which deliberately spread, change misinformation, groups like the amerco legislative exchange council, and that exxon also, even though they acknowledged during the shareholders meeting that climate change is real and that burning the fossil fuels has an effect, that it was more their and media bottom line.

it is incredibly disheartening. nermeen: your grandfather, james f. black, presented his findings to exxon executives in july 1977, she pointed out, to the exxon ceo. he concluded by saying -- "there is general scientific agreement that the most likely manner in which mankind is influencing the global climate is through carbon dioxide release from the burning of fossil fuels. a doubling of carbon dioxide is estimated to be capable of increasing the average global temperature from 1 degree to 3 degrees centigrade, with a 10 degree centigrade rise predicted at the poles." anna, that was your grandfather's report in 1977 to senior exxon executives. could you say a little bit about what you think the situation would be today had exxon executives listened to the advice of your grandfather? >> absolutely.

something i think that is important to note is that exxon actually did for a while take what my grandfather said sears leave. he gave the initial briefing in 1977 in 1978, exxon had him get a similar briefing to a larger group. for a while, they were funding climate change research, then for a few years exxon really was on the cutting edge of climate change science. and that spun around to situation we are at today, where exxon publicly and anonymously is funding these groups that spread climate change misinformation. but i think that had my grandfather been listened to back in the 1970's and had an organization like exxon really taken action, we would have been much closer were already at a -- andre greener climate economy of greener energy sources instead of our continued reliance on fossil fuels.

amy: can you talk about the petition he delivered at the exxon shareholders meeting? and when you came to understand, as you were growing up, how significant your grandfather was in this whole climate change issue in exposing the large fossil fuel companies like exxon, and how you decided to speak out yourself? >> so i came down as a volunteer truth.org.te when i went to the shareholders meeting, i delivered a petition with almost 35,000 signatures alec,ing that exxon leave that they could access issue is with alec, one of those groups which spreads climate with

information. as for my relationship with my grandfather growing up, he died a few years before i was born, so i never actually had the opportunity to meet him. i was the only scientist growing up in my family. i graduated last your with an undergraduate degree in chemistry, just like he did. so he was owes a mythological sort of figure for me. he was the person where my love of science came from. and so i grew up with stories from my mother about things that my grandfather did -- climate change was one of the things i learned about. this past fall when inside climate news started publishing the articles about how exxon has known about climate change since the 1970's and how he was featured very strong in that, it was something that gave me a lot of pride. i was really excited that my family was a part of this. as time has gone on, i have

continued to feel that way. when climatetruth.org asked me to come down here, i was really proud to carry on the family legacy of speaking out against exxon and speaking on behalf of science and not political rhetoric. amy: in addition to anna kalinsky speaking to us from dallas where she just spoke up at the exxon shareholders meeting, challenging the exxon ceo rex tillerson, talking about her grandfather's findings decades ago, we're joined by bill mckibben, cofounder of 350.org and a scholar in ce at newbury college. . his recent piece for the guardian is headlined, "let's give up the climate change charade: exxon won't change its stripes." bill, we're speaking to you from your home. can you talk about what happened at the exxon meeting, it significance, what shareholder resolutions were voted down, and where you believe the movement

should go from here? >> sure. first of all, just to say, anna, what a good job to do yesterday. that is not easy to do to get up in an auditorium like that and literally speak truth to power. so good for you. what happened yesterday at the exxon meeting is the same thing that has happened at every exxon meeting since 1990. there now have been upwards of 70 shareholder resolutions put forward to do something about climate change. most of them incredibly mild. merely, give us your report about what you plan to somehow do some day to deal with some direction of climate change. every single one of them has been voted down. that is why, you know, the rockefellers, whose family founded the company, devasting all of their stock and gave up -- divested all of their stock and gave up and tried to change in that way a year or so ago, and instead joined us huge growing movement to demand real

change. -- one veryone good good piece of good news, while exxon was stonewalling and continuing time-honored traditions, university of massachusetts became the largest public university system to divest from off also fuels, which was a very powerful moment indeed in this big campaign. i should add, too, it is not just exxon. though exxon, because as anna says, we now know they knew everything about climate change, that there is a sort of horror and their story, but earlier this week at the annual meeting, the ceo of they didd -- explained not want to switch to renewables to quickly because that would "amparo the dividends." we're living in a world that is

basically sliding out of control. 2016 is crashing every record we have ever had for high-temperature, losing vast swaths of coral reef, unprecedentedly large fires burning. this guy thinks the thing that is in peril is his dividends? that should tell you what you need to know. couldn: bill mckibben, you say something about the progress of the divestment movement has made and why you think divestment is likely to be more successful strategy with exxon in getting them to change their climate policy? >> well, i think the real point of the divestment movement has been to withdraw social license from these fossil fuel companies, and thereby reduce their political power. the reason we have not gotten anywhere on climate change for 40 years that we have known

about it is precisely because these guys wheeled so much political power. i mean, exxon knew perfectly grandfather was saying was perfectly correct. they set to climate proofing their drilling rigs for the sea level they knew was coming, but at the same time, they set up this vast framework with others of climate denial and deceit and disinformation. and they continue to hand out a campaign -- campaign checks to precisely the politicians make sure nothing happens on these issues. the point at this point is to use this divestment movement to get that across. it is working. it is not just for mainly that it became the biggest divestment movement ever, i think at this trillionosing in on $4

worth of portfolios and endowments that have invested, the point is it has taken the basic message, the message we have five times as much carbon in our reserves than any scientist thinks we can possibly burn, and it has gotten that through. three or four years ago, that was people like me writing in "rolling stone." now it is the head of the world bank, the head of the imf, the governor of the bank of england speaking to the world insurance industry at lloyd's of london. that message is getting through everywhere except exxon. in its ilk yesterday, mr. tillerson was boasting about how the company was going out and making new finds of oil and new places around the world. we have five times as much carbon in our reserves already as we can burn. the idea that we should celebrate the exploration for new hydrocarbons at this point passed turning to some

dark place i don't really have a name for. amy: jane mayer dusted in major new yorker piece called "sting of myself" about a right-wing organization america rising squared, that targets you, bill mckibben. can you talk about this? >> well, not really, because as you say, no one knows where their money is coming from. i just know now when i go out to speak, there are always people trailing around after me with video cameras and things. they said that it was the first time anyone had done this on this scale to someone who wasn't running for president, which i have not the slightest desire to run for or anything like it. i don't know quite what to make of it except it is sort of creepy. but there you go. on the list of problems afflicting the world, it is probably somewhat smaller than the fact that we just lost huge part of the world's coral reefs

in the course of two weeks as this pulse. amy: what is the group and who is funding it and how do you know this is happening? >> we know it is happening because they announced it. politico out a memo to saying they were spending all of this money and having trekkers everywhere, and now they put up a few second clips of me -- not of me speaking, just of me wherever i am -- to prove they are there. i don't know what is going to come of it. no one knows who is funding it. but, you know, it is what it is. amy: very quickly before we end, bill mckibben, you were just named by senator sanders to serve on the platform committee of this is democratic national cornellon along with west, deborah parker, and keith ellison and palestinian rights

activist and scholar james zogby, who founded the arab and it can institute. can you talk about what you want to see in the democratic platform, what you're going to be pushing for? >> i think my job here -- look, this is not my normal -- i more likely to be found outside protesting than inside, but bernie has earned the right ask people at this point to help him. so when he asked, i said i would. and i will try to focus on the things that he has been focusing on what climate and energy throughout the campaign. trying to close down as much as thean of this expansion of fracking industry, trying to keep fossil fuel in the ground on public lands. keep it in the ground. things like that that event part of the reason

people have been rallying to his standard. amy: will you call for a moratorium on fracking? >> i don't know what the language will be even quite what that would mean, but i think at this point, the key is at least to keep it from growing any faster than it can. theote a long piece in cover of "the nation" about a month ago just explaining what we have learned about the science over the last two or three years makes it extraordinarily clear it is that only desperately dangerous for people in local communities, but also for the climate. because the leakage of that methane into the atmosphere, near as, is darn dangerous as what we're doing with carbon dioxide. amy: how would it translate into a platform to keep the oil in the soil? what exactly would you call for? >> i think the best sort of example of that we have so far is this keep it in the ground at

the 2015 at senator merkley introduced. in fact, i was up on the hill the day he introduced it. senator sanders was there as well as the other -- one of the other cosponsors. that is a really powerful and interesting piece of legislation. amy: i want to thank you for joining us, bill mckibben, cofounder of 350.org, we will link to your piece in the guardian headlined "let's give , up the climate change charade: exxon won't change its stripes." author of many books, including "oil and honey: the education of an unlikely activist." he has been named by senator sanders to the platform committee to the democratic national convention taking place in philadelphia in july. of course, democracy now! will be there throughout. thank you also to anna kalinsky the granddaughter of james f. , black, who worked for decades

as a scientist at exxon. he alerted company executives to the original scientific findings of climate change in the 1970's. sheet ,anna, question the ceo of exxon yesterday at the exxon shareholders meeting in dallas where she is speaking to us today. we will be back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: the lead singer burned her birth certificate on stage at her bill two known as the bathroom bill was passed. she cannot as transgender in 2012. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. 11 states are suing the obama administration over its recent directive saying students have the right under federal law to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. nine of the 11 states have republican governors. texas attorney general ken paxton announced the lawsuit wednesday. >> two hours ago, the state of texas filed a lawsuit against the u.s. department of education and the department of justice regarding their directives that

open of all school bathrooms to people of both sexes. we are taking this action to protect harold independent school district, which on monday night fulfilled a responsibility to their community by adopting a bathroom policy that puts the safety of their students first. amy: the texas led lawsuit comes shortly after the obama administration sue the state of north carolina over the state anti-transgender law hb2 that nullifies ordinances protecting lgbt people from discrimination and forces transgender people to use the bathroom that matches what they were a sign on their birth certificate. for more we are joined by chase strangio, staff attorney at the aclu. talk about the significance of 11 states suing the obama administration. >> well, it is very significant and so far as it is another escalation of really severe discrimination of anti-trans writer from lawmakers across the

country and your we have ken paxton making a statement yesterday about this lawsuit. the lawsuit really is a political stunt. in many ways it is unlikely the lawsuit will go anywhere. it was an opportunity for them to get together and say they disapprove of transgender individuals. they use the term gender identity in scare quotes. when we're thinking about this as a battle between the obama administration and a state, that is playing out. what is also playing out is the horrible discrimination the trans-young people are caught in the middle of and are going to be subjected to. in terms of ken paxton's remarks, he continually is telling lies. the first one is somehow the geithner from the obama administration -- guidance from the obama administration gets rid of segregated bathrooms. it doesn't as all. i think it is important to correct the misperception this

was a directive. it wasn't. it was guidance from the administration. it is nonbinding. it lets schools know what it means to treat transgender students consistent with title ix. it was not binding and it is not a directive, it is guidance. it is the only interpretation of title ix, but there have been many distortions. nermeen: what about the legislation regarding hb2 in north carolina? what is our response to that? >> north carolina we are also seeing hb2 passed in a special session earlier this year. the governor was given several days by the federal government to bring north carolina law into compliance with very well established federal law and he did not do so in an that filed his own lawsuit against the united states which in turn filed a lawsuit against north carolina. there are now five lawsuits pending in north carolina. we have five lawsuits in north carolina, this one brought by governors and other lawmakers

from 11 states. again, this is the government telling young transgender people they are so unworthy of sharing space with their hearers, they're going to waste taxpayer money to file these lawsuits. amy: on tuesday, republican senator richard berg of north carolina said republican lawmakers in his state went too far when they passed a sweeping anti-lgbt law this year. he added, they need to rein it in before a judge does it for them. the significance of him saying this? >> for a while, we were hearing reasonable responsible -- responses from above publi repun lawmakers. earlier in the air, they were saying, we don't need to do this. there's a solution in search of a problem. over the last several months, we have seen things go extreme in the wrong direction but there are still lawmakers who are reasonable. amy: earlier this month, attorney general loretta lynch announced that the justice

department has filed a complaint against the state of north carolina over hb2. >> let me speak directly to the transgender committee itself. some of you have lived freely for decades and others of you are still wondering how you can possibly live the lives that you are born to lead. but no matter how isolated, no matter how afraid and no matter how alone you may feel today, know this that the department of justice and indeed the entire obama administration want you to know that we see you, we stand with you, and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward. please know the history is on your side. this country was founded on the promise of igor right for all -- equal rights for all. we've always managed to move closer to that ideal little by little, day by day. it may not be easy, but we will get there t together. , thechase strangio

significance of what she said and also is funding tied -- you say is is not a directive, but guidance to the state? >> with respect to attorney general lynch, those remarks were powerful. she brought in the force of the federal government, affirmed the trans-community has been under attack, but she is also running the department of justice that is incarcerating chelsea manning, fighting her after the health care, the obama administration is responsible for the deportation of so many in the trans committee. it is important remember all of the other policies that have an impact on the lgbt community. amy: and will funding be tied to the guidance? >> violations of title ix deal with funding to schools. hopefully we will see the a administration take action. amy: chase strangio, staff attorney with the aclu. thank you for being with us. democracy now! [captioning made possible by democracy now!] on this episode of "eat! drink! italy!"...

we visit a 900-year-old italian wine icon, tony verdoni interviews one of the world's finest fish canners, we learn about another italian new kid on the block, lambrusco, and central italy's rising star chef shows us a simple masterpiece. my name is victor rallo, and i love to eat and drink italy. follow me, and i'll prove it. "eat! drink! italy!" is brought to you by wine enthusiast magazine and catalogue, for wine storage, glassware, and accessories. the asaro line of sicilian extra-virgin and organic extra-virgin olive oils, tomatoes, olives, and more. from the asaro family to yours. martin-scott wines,