09/28/16 09/28/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! pawns ine will they be the game. amy: prison guards in alabama refuse to show up for work as prisoners across the country are continuing to wage the largest prison work strike in u.s. history. we will speak to a prisoner in solitary confinement in alabama and two organizers. then to "strangers in their own land: anger and mourning on the american right." we will talk to famed sociologist arlie russell hochschild who has spent the

past five years with some of donald trump's biggest supporters researching her book. >> he is appealing to a sense of loss, of discouragement, america is in shambles, our infrastructure is destroyed, we are being humiliated by the chinese. it is like a preacher. we are so lost and so down, but i will lift you up. it is like a secular rapture. amy: and we will go to san diego where the police killing of an unarmed african-american man tuesday has sparked new protests. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in the wake of monday night's first presidential debate, republican presidential candidate donald trump has begun lashing out at everyone from moderator lester holt to a former miss universe beauty pageant winner.

speaking to fox news on tuesday, trump accused holt of asking "unfair questions." he also reiterated his criticism of former miss universe alicia machado, whom clinton had mentioned during monday night's debate. mr. trump: when she brought up the person that became -- i know that person. a miss universe person. she was the worst we ever had. the absolute worst. she was impossible. and she was a miss universe contestant and ultimately a winner who they had a tremendously difficult time with as miss universe. >> and i know that story. mr. trump: she was the winner and she gained a massive amount of weight. it was a real problem. we had a real problem. amy: that was donald trump after the debate speaking to fox news. in response, alicia machado has attacked donald trump in an interview with the guardian, in

which she also recounted how trump's criticism of her sparked an eating disorder. >> i was sick for most five bulimia.h anorexia, i had eating disorders. amy: that was alicia machado. she's now working for hillary clinton's campaign. donald trump also told abc the -- brought cameras into the gym to show her working out. after the presidential debate donald trump also told abc the , thing he regrets is not raising bill clinton's marital infidelities. mr. trump: i mean, i got everything i wanted to say out other than the transgressions of bill. she takes all of these commercials spending literally hundreds of millions of dollars on commercials and they are

lies. i did not want to do it with chelsea, who i think is a wonderful young lady, i did not want to say what i was going to say with chelsea in the room. amy: donald trump had said he might bring gennifer flowers to sit in the front row of the debate. flowers had an affair with bill clinton in the 1970's. the trump campaign later said it had not extended an invitation to flowers and that she would not attend. this comes as arizona's largest newspaper, "the arizona republic," has endorsed hillary clinton, marking the paper's first time ever endorsing a democratic candidate for president. the editorial board wrote -- "since the arizona republic began publication in 1890, we have never endorsed a democrat over a republican for president. never. this year is different." police in the san diego, california suburb of el cajon shot and killed in unarmed african-american man tuesday after his sister called 911 to report her brother was having a mental health emergency. eyewitnesses said the

30-year-old was holding his hands up when he was tased by one of the police officers. and then fired upon five times by another officer. in a dramatic video posted to facebook, a woman begins filming moments after alfred's shot dead. in the background, his sisters are tearfully confronting police officers over the death of her brother. >> why couldn't you tase him? why? why? why? why couldn't you tase him? you got shot him. amy: the police chief acknowledged it took officers 50 minutes to respond to the 911 call of his sister who warned police her brother was mentally ill. chief davis disputed eyewitness accounts that alfred had his hands in the air. police obtained videos showing officers fired only after an

object was pointed at them. he released a single still image to the press in which he says alfred's hands appeared to be raised at shoulder height as if to fire a weapon. it is unclear if the man is holding any objects. chief davis acknowledged there's no weapon found at the scene of the killing. the killing immediately sparked protest. hundreds gathered at a restaurant where alfred was killed and later protested outside the police headquarters. we will have more on the police killing after headlines. meanwhile, a nine-year-old girl's testimony at charlotte's city council meeting about police brutality has gone viral as protests continue over the fatal police shooting of keith lamont scott. this is zianna oliphant. >> i was born and raised in charlotte and i never felt this way until now.

amy: that was zianna oliphant. she is nine years old. this comes as tennis super star serena williams has also spoken out about police brutality. in a facebook post, she describes riding in the car recently with her 18-year-old nephew, who was driving. when she spotted a police officer, she remembered the video of the fatal police shooting of philando castile -- which was filmed by his girlfriend, diamond lavish reynolds in which she narrated the aftermath of the shooting while she was still in the car with a police officer pointing a gun at her and her four-year-old daughter as her boyfriend lay dying next to her. serena williams wrote -- "i would never forgive myself if

something happened to my nephew. he's so innocent. so were all the 'others.' i won't be silent." in financial news, wells fargo ceo john stumpf is being forced to return $41 million of his personal compensation, amid a massive scandal at the major wall street bank involving thousands of employees who took private customer information to create 2 million fake accounts in order to meet sales targets. the scandal dates back to at least 2011, and stumpf admits he's known about the practice since 2013. senator elizabeth warren has called for stumpf to resign and to be criminally investigated. in more financial news, mylan, the maker of the life-saving allergy shot epipen, is again under fire. this time for reportedly lying to congress. last week mylan ceo heather bresch told a congressional committee the profit off a two-pack of epipens is $100.

but according to the "wall street journal," the profit is actually about $166 -- about 60% higher than bresch disclosed. that's because bresch told congress a profit figure that included a 37.5% tax rate on the epipen, even though mylan paid a tax rate of only 7% last year. an analyst told the "wall street journal" that the $100 reported profit figure "has nothing to do with reality." in international news, former israeli prime minister shimon peres has died at the age of 93. he served twice as prime minister, once has president, and as minister of defense, finance, transportation, and foreign affairs. while serving as defense minister in the 1950's, was a key figure in securing nuclear weapons for the new state of israel through secret negotiations with france and once offered to sell nuclear weapons to the apartheid government of south africa, revealed after secret memo was

uncovered and published. advocateso a leading for the building of the jewish settlements in the occupied west bank and gaza. his slogan was "settlements everywhere." in 1994, he won the nobel peace prize along with these really prime minister -- israeli prime minister for help negotiate the oslo accords. in afghanistan, local officials say a u.s. drone strike has killed 18 people in the province of nangarhar. the local police chief says the strike killed 15 suspected militants and three civilians. he says the strike hit a house, killing almost everyone inside. in syria, the two largest hospitals in east aleppo are currently closed after being struck by airstrikes this morning amid a devastating bombing campaign by the syrian government and russia. one health official called the strikes "catastrophic an unprecedented in modern history." there are reportedly only 30

doctors left in east aleppo where 250,000 people are currently trapped. in britain, senator bernie sanders brother larry sanders, is running for former prime minister david cameron's seat in the parliament on the green party ticket. larry sanders has lived in britain since 1969. the brothers are politically aligned, particularly on issues of economic inequality. cameron stepped down from parliament earlier this month after also resigning as prime minister in july following the brexit vote. and president obama has nominated jeffrey delaurentis to be the first u.s. ambassador to cuba in more than a half century. it's is the latest step in the thawing of ties between cuba and the united states. delaurentis is currently the u.s. chief of mission in havana. his nomination has to be confirmed by the senate, where some lawmakers, including senator marco rubio and senators ted cruz, have said they'll oppose any nomination for a u.s. ambassador to cuba. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez.

welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show in alabama where prison officials have confirmed a group of correction officers refused to report for the evening shift saturday at the holman correctional facility in atmore. the apparent work strike comes as guards have been walking off the job amid safety concerns and overcrowding throughout the summer. prisoners say there are stabbings on a regular basis and call the facility the slaughterhouse. a guard stabbed by a prisoner earlier this month died last week. the warden was stabbed in march. this is incarcerated organizer kinetik justice, speaking from inside the holman prison on saturday. listen closely. >> it is official. at 6:00, no officers came to work. none can do work. none of the officers came to work. debited commissioner,

the warden, sergeant franklin -- deputy commissioner, the warden, sergeant franklin, warden stewart, the captain, and a , and one -- wilson other. those are revealing once here. the commissioner is passing out trays. warden peterson is pushing the book card. -- cart. i can't believe it. with the color busted open, sweating. no officers came to work. on thempletely bucked administration. no more will they be pawns in the game. amy: democracy now! reached out to the alabama department of corrections to confirm reports of a strike by corrections officers at the holman correctional facility.

the department described the reports as unofficial and erroneous, but the department did confirm nine officers did not report to work on saturday. juan: the events at holman come as the largest prison work strike in u.s. history has entered its third week. organizers report that as of last week, at least 20 prisons in 11 states continued to protest, including in alabama, california, florida, indiana, louisiana, michigan, new york, ohio, south carolina, and washington. the incarcerated workers organizing committee says at one point about 20,000 prisoners were on strike. with protest has come punishment. several facilities were put on lockdown, with prisoners kept in their cells and denied phone access both before and during the strike. organizers were also put in solitary confinement. amy: well, for more, we are joined by three guests. pastor kenneth glasgow is founder and national president of the ordinary people's

society, a faith-based organization focusing on criminal justice reform and rehabilitation of repeat offenders. he's also founder of the prodigal child project. azzurra crispino is the media co-chair of the incarcerated workers organizing committee. she is joining us from austin. and kinetik justice is cofounder of the free alabama movement. he is currently serving his 33rd month in solitary confinement at the william c. holman correctional facility in alabama. he joins us by phone from inside the prison, inside holman. can you describe what is happening inside the prison right now? we just heard a clip of what you had to say about what happened saturday night will stop what is happening with the guards in the prisoners? of all, thank you for having me on the show.

saturday come on the second shift, no officers reported to work. that was confirmed by the department of correction, a spokesperson, yesterday. they tried to spin the story and say only nine officers on the third shift did not come. that shows how out of touch the spokesperson is. holman has had two shifts the last decade. officers will 12 hours. there is no third shift. as regard to what is going on now, obviously, there was some concession, some compromise made . almost and entire shift with extra officers, over time from other facilities. they had yard call for the first time in weeks. they're trying to make some kind of concession with the officers, so i can't speak directly to what those compromises were but they did have almost a half

shift yesterday, a whole shift with extra officers from other facilities. juan: has her been any communication from the officers to the inmates in terms of why they are taking these actions? >> yes. they communicate back and forth. the administration really has no regard for human life. it is not directly at the men that are cursory did -- directly at the men that are incarcerated. a lot of them are terrified with what is going on. [indiscernible]

the officers are not coming to save you. juan: what you mean by the violence the administration has created? >> exactly what i mean when i , thehat, earlier this year violence was out of control. officers were being assaulted. there were lawsuits filed about it. they said all of the people incarcerated there were problems sent to holman. they sent a be 50 to 60 people -- they sent maybe 50 to 60 people here. an officer was stabbed three times. they had another uprising maybe two days later. about a month after that, we had a work strike. that lasted for 10 days. immediately after that, this

administration handpicked every person in this prison that was moving in the direction of the movement and transfer them to other institutions while simultaneously, releasing those people who already had assault and stabbing cases and brought in others. they pulled the officers back and told them to step back out of the dorms and allow them to stab each other up. just a whole bunch of foolishness. it got out of control to the point where officers were being threatened and they were reporting to the administration they were being threatened and the administration blew it off like it was nothing. they realized after this field over -- spilled over and the officer was killed, they realized their lives were in danger just as much as the people incarcerated here. on saturdays, they came together

and forced the administration to live and work in the environment they had created for these officers to give them a taste of their own medicine, so to speak. amy: we are talking to kinetik justice inside the holman milestion prison about 55 northeast of mobile near the florida panhandle. i want to turn to a clip of former holman corrections officer who was speaking to the local fox affiliate in alabama. stidham resigned his position after the march riot inside the prison. he's now speaking out about the conditions for guards inside the facility. >> just because an inmate had a bad day, an officer lost his life. i think he is dead due to lack of security inside that prison. it is impossible to follow the rules you're giving or the regs because there's absolutely not enough security there to complete those tasks. amy: kinetik justice, can you respond to that?

also, talk about what the prisoners are doing right now. >> i agree with the former officer to a certain extent. can't runr that you maximum-security prison with 17 people. it is highly impossible. amy: how many prisoners are there? >> 1000. you have 200 and in solitary confinement. you have 100 on death row and a proximally 640 and the general population. he's been are supposedly providing services and by 14, 15, 16 officers. it is impossible. that means a lot of things are going on that cannot be controlled to the point there is no true security.

security is being provided by a street organization. we agreed the administration was not going to protect -- to make sure the elderly were being protected did so forth, so we took it upon ourselves within our own structure to maintain some type of order until we get some help from society in the form of creating a task force. to get an advocate to come up here, an attorney like brian stevenson [indiscernible] come up in your until the department of corrections, [indiscernible] have documentation that proves it is what you say it is in contrast to what you said the propaganda of the movement says it is. juan: you mentioned pastor

kenneth glasgow, who is also joining us from montgomery, the founder and national president of the ordinary people society. welcome to democracy now! can you tell us about the situation of the prisoners in alabama right now, what you're seeing as a member of a faith-based group about the responsibility of those on the outside? >> thank you for having me. what we're seeing is the prisoners -- first of all, we want to give them all of the credit and the applause we can. they overcame religious barriers, racial barriers, geographical barriers, and also they have overcame incarceration barriers. and by overcoming those barriers , they were able to organize, lead, and initiate this prison in 40 toer 24 states

50 different prisons. what they have done is made as on the outside who are organizers and advocates, we have to step up because they are proving to us we then look at even ourselves, being formerly incarcerated person, we look at prison slavery and prison labor. now since this prison strike has happened, we're on the outside looking at who we are going to target, and we're going to boycott next. whole foods has put out a media blitz last year stump we are checking on it right now to make sure they are not still using prison labor. we're looking at starbucks, mcdonald's, looking at victoria's secret, looking at all of the different companies. what is happening inside the prisons right now is that whenever people comes up -- brian stevenson is the best. when we deal with the proximity of the situation, those who are incarcerated them a looking at the fact that people pay taxes for them to be rehabilitated, for them to be educated, for them to be trained in order to

come out into society. 90% of the people in prison are coming out. 98%. in order for them to come out and be able to be productive citizens, they need to have these skills and education and all. they are just being housed. their families are being exploited by alabama department of corrections and the department of corrections and all of the different states because their families are sending their money for commissary, sending money for them to use the phone. the taxpayers are paying anywhere from $31,000 to $81,000 per year depending on what state you are in for them to get this rehabilitation and education, and they're not getting it. what they're getting is being used for free prison labor. most of the industries and companies that own the thatlevel national media are supporting and paying them off, got as believing that their outsourcing jobs, outsourcing

their products, outsourcing the manufacturing and that is why we have unemployment rate. it actually, they are not outsourcing, they are in sourcing. so what does brothers and sisters are doing inside the prison is something that we all need to look at and look at our society and say, wait a minute, we're still producing slavery comes to producing slaves, still producing indentured servitude and look at the 13th amendment and change it. i think what they're doing is very, very necessary and what they're doing and a very, very oureful way shows us that department of corrections, no matter what state you're in, needs to be revamped, revisited, and we looked at. holistic way. amy: kinetik justice, what does a prison work strike look like? what are people refusing to do? you're in solitary confinement, so you would not be working? collects that is absolutely correct. --m not working, but

what a work strike looks like in 12:30,is usually around 12:45 at night, they sent for the kitchen workers, those who will prepare the breakfast meal. when those people do not report to work, they initiate a prison lockdown to do an investigation to see what is going on. nine times out of 10, they already have advanced knowledge there is going to be a work strike so they come around to confirm there is a work strike. no one wants to go to work. once that happens, the wharton arden istched w dispatched to get officers to prepare the meals. in the morning time, the prison is locked down because the officers are trying to feed over 600, 700 people. it is an awkward and frustrating process for them. when work call comes in the

morning for the industry, no one reports. that, ain just like lockdown, officers sure going to provide the basic necessities such as preparing meals and trying to meet the medical and so forth. it is a slow process. we are forced to be in dormitories, 115 people all day long. they can get taxing because due to overcrowding, you're already dealing with tension and frustration. work strike, leadership is required because you have to try to keep a balance. once violence happens the dormitories, the administration will use that to bring in a team to assert violence of we're having a riot or something outside of the character of what we're doing on the work strike.

amy: we will come back to this discussion. kinetik justice is speaking to us in solitary confinement from the holman prison. pastor kenneth glasgow is joining us from endemic, alabama. we will also speak with azzurra crispino about the nationwide prison strike. she will be joining us from austin, texas. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy:. prison blues" by johnny cash. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: the prison guard work strike at the holman correctional facility comes as a largest prison work strike in u.s. history injured its third week. organizers report as of last week, at least 20 prisons in 11 states continued to protest including alabama, florida, indiana, michigan, new york, ohio, south carolina, and washington.

at organizing committee said one point 120,000 prisoners were on strike. several facilities were put on lockdown with prisoners kept in their cells and denied phone access both before and during the strike. organizers were also put in solitary confinement. amy: joining us from austin, texas, azzurra crispino, the media co-chair of the incarcerated workers organizing committee still with us is pastor kenneth glasgow and kinetik justice. azzurra crispino, talk about this nationwide strike. does this have any precedent in ?odern u.s. history how extensive is it. some officials are claiming it has already petered out. >> certainly, the history here, there's repeating, when george stockton was assassinated 45 years ago, he a been calling for prisoners union in a nationwide prison strike. it is fitting on the 45th

anniversary of the attic of rising, we were finally able to deliver the largest prison strike that is ever been seen in u.s. history. in terms of the momentum, certainly now there has in a shift toward dealing with repression. as you stated, there are several facilities across several states in which strike action continues to occur. amy: so what exactly is happening right now across the country? shift tothere's been a a lot more hunger strikes. in merced county jail in california, over 100 prisoners are on hunger strike for joined by the wife of one of the inmates, victoria, also on hunger strike. they're calling for a 2000 toorie diret in an end juvenile solitary confinement in addition to the firing of a lieutenant who is been statistics -- sadistic. in south carolina, there continues to be uprising, specifically at turnbull, and

continuing hunger strikes in michigan as well as ohio. there has been a hunger strike for more than 100 days. they're calling to an end a solitary confinement passed a year. i think the greatest conversation has to do with repression. we just heard less than two days ago that at a unit in michigan, there initially it seemed was going to be a conversation. the warden had come out and was speaking to the inmates, over 400 of them, that have peacefully marched in the yard. after the warden left, basically, a riot repression team came in and drag listeners of of their showers and out their cells. they tie their arms behind their back and threw them in the yard and let them out there for five to six hours in the rain without any access to bathroom facilities.

the repression that prisoners are facing around the country for having participated in the strike israel and very severe. so right now we're focused on responding in order to help get the word out and get people to call into those units so that we can help to support those who are being repressed as well as the continued support of strike workers, whether that is those continuing to be on work stoppages and rolling work stoppages were continuing to hunger strike. amy: kinetik justice, is the strike still going on among prisoners at holman? >> not at holman. a lot of things have been completely unorthodox at holman for the last few days. the last two days, actually had officers to augment the shifts .llow the people to move around a lot of things are trying to get back to normal.

asthings are not on lockdown a strike. so, no, not at holman. amy: we want to thank you all for being with us. we will continue to follow this. kinetik justice in solitary confinement at holman in alabama. prison of 1000 men. azzurra crispino joining us from austin, media co-chair of the incarcerated workers organizing committee. and thank you to pastor kenneth glasgow founder and national , president of the ordinary people society, a faith-based organization focusing on criminal justice reform and rehabilitation of repeat offenders. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. what just took place in san diego, california. juan: police in the san diego, california, suburb of el cajon shot and killed an unarmed african american man tuesday after his sister called 911 to

report her brother was having a mental health emergency. the shooting comes as protests continue over fatal police shooting of keith lamont scott in charlotte and terence crutcher in tulsa, oklahoma. eyewitnesses said 30-year-old alfred olango was holding his hands up when he was tased by one police officer, and then fired upon five times by another officer. reporter ashley matthews of local station nbc7 spoke to michael ray rodriguez, who said he witnessed the killing. >> we were living -- leaving out of these apartments and i see a black man surrounded by officers with their guns out, which caught my attention. i tell the others, look, look, look. we are looking and watching. the black man opens his hands up like this, scared to death not knowing which way he is going to go. he is jerking and confused. he runs this way. he runs this way. they discharge.

boom, boom, five shots into him. that is the honest truth. amy: in a dramatic video posted to facebook, a woman named rumbie mubaiwa begins filming moments after alfred olango is shot dead. in the background, olango's sister is heard crying over the death of her brother. >> ok, so the police did it again,y'all. blackhot another unarmed person as usual. and the lady is saying she called him for help, not to kill her brother. they shot her brother. juan: in the video, alfred olango's grieving sister is seen tearfully confronting police. she tells them, "i called you to help me but you killed my brother." >> why couldn't you tase him? why? why? why? >> what is his birthday so they can find his information? >> you guys shot him. amy: the sister of alfred olango can be heard in the video saying -- "i called three times for them

to come help me. nobody came. they said it's not priority." police scanner audio at the time of the shooting reveals that officers knew they were responding to a so-called "5150" call, or a mental health emergency. it does not appear that officers dispatched a psychiatric emergency response team. el cajon police chief jeff davis acknowledged it took officers 50 minutes to respond to the 911 call of olango's sister. he said there was no weapon found at the scene of the killing. chief davis disputed witness accounts that olango had his hands in the air, saying the man pointed an object at an officer with both hands as if to fire a handgun. >> the e-mail subject paced back-and-forth while the officers tried to talk to him. at one point, with an object from his front pants pocket, placed both hands together on it and extended rapidly toward the officer, taking what appeared to

be a shooting stance. putting the object in the officer's face. at this time, one of the officers with the taser discharged in an effort to subdue the subject. simultaneously, the officer who had the object pointed at him discharged his firearm, striking e-mail. juan: some reports on social media claimed that officers confiscated the cell phones of witnesses who recorded the killing. el cajon police chief davis categorically denied those claims. he said police did obtain a cell phone video from a worker at a drive-through window of a nearby restaurant who filmed the killing and volunteer the footage. chief davis said the video had been handed over as evidence to the district attorney, and would not be made public while an investigation remains ongoing. el cajon police did, however, distribute a picture they say is a still photo from the video, showing a pair of officers training weapons on alfred olango, whose hands appear to be raised at shoulder height. it's unclear from the photo if he's holding any objects.

the killing immediately sparked protests. hundreds gathered at a restaurant where olango was killed later protested outside el caljon police headquarters. >> they're saying they shot an unarmed black man. we have to ask why. why is it ok to kill a man when you think he has a weapon? seesolicy states you must a weapon and more than that, the pointed,st be aimed, or causing harm to you. it is not enough to say summit had a gun, knife, or weapon because you think the have a weapon. police have to fear for their life. in the mayor existence of an object in any man's hand, let alone a black man's hand, is not justification for killing him. amy: san diego protesters are planning to demonstrate all day today outside el caljon police

headquarters beginning at 9:00 a.m. california time. this comes as protests continue over fatal blue shootings of keitlamont scott and terence utcher. compareds recently the police killings of african-americans in the united states to the "past racial terror of lynching." special thanks to john hamilton for that report. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, we will be joined by arlie russell hochschild. her latest book, "strangers in their own land: anger and mourning on the american right." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: " don't drink poison." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in the wake of monday night's first presidential debate, conservative newspapers continue to distance themselves from donald trump amid increasing accusations of racism, sexism, xenophobia and islamophobia. today, former virginia republican senator john warner is reportedly slated to endorse hillary clinton. this comes as arizona's largest newspaper is also endorsed clinton, making the papers first time ever endorsing a democrat for president. the editorial board wrote --

amy: donald trump not lost support from some of his key constituents among the far right, sometimes known as the alt right. during the debate, supporters reportedly bombarded online polls in which the same user could vote multiple times in order to create the illusion that he had won the unofficial polls. trump has embraced the alt-right of the campaign. van and was recently that a breitbart news it which right parts former editor in chief has described as the ultimate right go to website go to. we spent the rest of the hour with arlie russell hochschild who spent much of the last five years with some of donald trump's biggest supporters. she was researching her new book, "strangers in their own land: anger and mourning on the american right." it is just been nominated for an american book award.

congratulations. so talk about why you wrote this book. you are professor university of california berkeley, sociologist. what brought you to southern louisiana? >> five years ago, i felt we were already moving far part in the right -- and the right was growing. i was in an enclave, a geographic enclave, media enclave, electronic enclave. i figured, i want to get as far out of my enclave as i possibly could. i'm aerkeley, california teacher sociology. where is the opposite? ok, the right is growing in the south. so south. it is growing among whites, ok, whites. olderevangelical, ok, evangelical. wereugh, not all evangelical.

and where is the super south? 2012.ed at how many whites voted for obama? in california, it was half. in the south as a whole, as a region, it was one third. in louisiana, it was 16%. i thought, super south. ok, that is where i want to go. as luck would have it, i had one contact and i took it from there. in the end, over five years i interviewed 60 people. 40 were tea party enthusiasts. what i really did was want to climb and empathy wall. i wanted to take my own political alarm system off and actually try and see how it felt to be them. had any, you know, i interesting experience with one

of the first woman i met. she was a gospel singer in a pentecostal church. very friendly, outgoing. love rush limbaugh. i thought to myself, i should talk to her. i don't know why. i'm interested. i am curious. so it sweet peace the next day she said, i love rush limbaugh because he hates them in -- feminazis. as it, what is that? well, those feminists that are hard, tough, mean, and ambitious. i thought, well, i don't like hard, tough, mean people, either. , has it beensaid hard to hear what i'm saying? i thought, well, she is looking back at me. and i told her, actually, no, it is not, because i have my alarm

system off. i'm trying to find out what life feels like to you. and then she said, you know, i do that sometimes. and then we had that actually in common. then she explained, you know what i really like about rush limbaugh? he seems to defend me against all of the liberal media that think i am a redneck, that i am backward, that i'm southern, that i am uneducated, that i am homophobic, racist, a sexist. and thanks for coming. so it was an amazing experience. i met some very interesting, complex people that do not fit the deplorable category. complex each in their own. and in many ways, might have a lot of affinity with the left if we could only cross that bridge.

juan: after all of those interviews in that time span, you decided on the title "strangers in their own land." why? >> here's the thing. i decided on that title because in the end, it described how a lot of them felt. i talk about a deep story because at the end of the day, i keep asking, why do you hate the government? all the things the government does? -- there were say many answers to that, but one was this. it was the deep story. what is the deep story? it is a story that feels true to you. you take the facts out, you take judgment out. you are waiting in line for something you really want at the end, the american dream.

you feel a sense of great deserving. you have worked very hard. a lot of these guys were plant workers come up-editors from petrochemical. tough work. you worked really hard. the line isn't moving. it is like a film acreage up. it is not moving. and you see people cut in line. who are they? they are affirmative action women who would go for formerly , immigrants,obs refugees. as felt, the line is moving back. barack hussein obama who should impartially be the line cutters.

and you think, oh, he is their president and not mine. in fact, he is a line cutter. how did you get a harvard? how to get to columbia? where did he get the money? and then they begin to feel like strangers in their own land. they feel like the government has become a giant marginalization machine. it is not theirs. in fact, it is putting them back. and then someone in front of the line turns around and says, oh, you redneck. and that feels insulted injury. it is the tipping point at which --y feel not only estranged demographically they are getting smaller, they feel like their religious in an secular culture. their attitudes are denigrated, so they are culturally denigrated. and in the economy begins to shake. then they feel, i need another

leader. ie, talk about the man met whose holt committed he was swallowed by a sink all from age rolling disaster. >> it was a man born on a plantation, son of a plumber, a fit of seven, and he spent most of his adulthood working for the oil industry. a big tea party guy. whatould be down to 5% of it should be in his view. he loved fishing and hunting and nature. he lived in a place called by unicorn. was aappened was there company, it will a whole into the bottom of the bayou. underlying salt dome. it was like pulling the plug on the bayou.

the water went down, down, down. whenear-old cypress trees falling down and were sucked in. in this methane gas infused mud house lottarted this size thing, now 37 acres of toxic mud. this man, who told me, you know, government got in the way of community. he loved community. i now texas brine, this company, unregulated, insufficiently regulated, had caused the loss of his community and his tea party. i asked him, gosh, don't you want a good regulation and why are you voting for donald trump -- whose one clear plan is to abolish the environmental protection agency? i don't get it.

he said this about the government being a giant marginalization machine, but he said one thing else that i think -- amy: did and he blamed the company? >> well, i kept asking him, are you mad at the company? he said, yes, i am mad at them, but i am more mad at the state. and there is a reason for that that i did not know and discovered. what is really happening and louisiana, which i think may exaggerate what is happening in a lot of states, is that the oil companies really dominate state. the state is a servant to oil and petrochemical industry. and the state is saying, oh, please come and settle here in louisiana and not texas. we will give you $1.5 billion in incentivepay,

benefit. with that money, these companies make a donation to the audubon society and to a bird sanctuary, and some people think the company is so generous. look like good things the company is doing, plus they're offering jobs. not too many. importing a lot of skill labor. so the copy looks good. meanwhile, the state is doing the bidding of the company. it is not a regulated state. but there are regulators who are not doing their job. in a way, the states have become like the complaint clerk for the companies. it was doing the duty work for the companies. it was, well, you deserve to be regulated, but it doesn't do it. so the mike schaaps of louisiana were saying, why am i paying taxes to a state that is not

doing its job? leaks togetherc with a personal one, because you decades they have not had a raise, their wife is working, they're working overtime, oh money to the bank. they're thinking, how can i get that american dream when i am told. let me get some tax money since they are not doing the job -- that is another reason he was down on the state. juan: let me ask you, many of donald trump's supporters had been referred to by hillaryclinton in her now famous comments, a basket of deplorables. what was your sense from interviewing a lot of them, do you agree with that statement? do you think that it had an impact in the recent surge of support for trump? >> actually, i do. that is a good point. i actually have just come from louisiana. i hosted a dinner for the people i have written about. and one woman came with a red

jacket and pulled the jacket out and she had a red shirt that said "adorable deplorable." so they made a joke of it. and now there is a caravan going around called "rosie for republican women" selling these shirts. but what was the attitude toward race of the people that i came to know? complex. they did not think they were racist. they were afraid -- i would -- and avoid the topic, actually. so i had to wait until it emerged. and then i discovered that they thought of racism as instances where you hate blacks were you use the "n" word. and they did not hate blacks or " word so they did not like racists. they did not look as if you

could get an apartment in trump towers or government benefits after world war ii, that kind of thing. amy: we have 15 seconds. box ok. so complex story. and they shouldn't be given up on. amy: were you shocked when hillary clinton used that term? >> i was. i said, hillary, come to louisiana with me and get to know some people. amy: and their affiliation with donald trump who calls himself a billionaire? >> they see him as a rescue, as a secular rapture. take me up out of this so i no longer am a stranger in my own land. amy: we will continue the conversation after and post it online at democracynow.org. arlie russell hochschild is author of, "strangers in their own land: anger and mourning on the american right." thebook has been listed for 2016 national book award. she is professor emeritus of sociology at the university of california, berkeley.

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