09/07/17 09/07/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> some properties have been totally demolished. it is absolutely heart wrenching. utilityastructure, infrastructure is damaged. the physical infrastructure was damaged. amy: hurricane irma, the most powerful storm ever recorded over the atlantic ocean, has left at least 10 dead in the caribbean, more than a million without power in puerto rico, and the entire island of barbuda virtually uninhabitable. it is now barreling toward the dominican republic, haiti, and then florida. meanwhile, much of the pacific northwest is on fire, the death toll from hurricane harvey has

risen to 70 him a while president trump speaks in north dakota, celebrating his decision to pull out of the paris climate accord and greenlight the dakota access and keystone xl pipeline. pres. trump: in order to protect american industry and workers, we withdrew the united states from the job killing paris climate accord will stop job killer. people have no idea. many people have no idea how bad that was. and right here in north dakota, the dakota access pipeline is finally open for business. amy: we will speak with 350.org co-founder bill mckibben about the killer hurricanes and climate change. then as tensions continue to escalate between north korea and the united states, we will go to south korea, where hundreds are protesting the deployment of thaad missile system. and finally, is nobel peace

prize winner aung san suu kyi presiding over a genocide against rohingya muslims in burma? >> they burned our houses. we could not take our belongings. we were hiding for two days in the rain without food and with my children. when we heard the sound of shooting, we took a boat to cross the sea to come to bangladesh. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. in the caribbean, at least 10 people are dead after hurricane irma brought devastation to small islands as it barreled for the dominican republic, haiti, cuba, and south florida. the eye of the category-5 storm struck st. maarten wednesday with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour, leveling more than 90% of all structures. the prime minister declared

barbuda practically uninhabitable and warned the entire population may need to be evacuated as another storm, hurricane jose, can strike over the weekend. in puerto rico, more than a million people have lost power as authorities warned some areas could be dark for up to six months, partly because the islands electrical infrastructure has gone neglected. in haiti, hundreds of residents of a tent city in the capital port-au-prince left homeless after the 2010 earthquake appealed to the government for shelter from the approaching storm. >> i have no place to go. i have to stay here. i will live or die depending on how the storm hit us. help us, he to will, but we have no place to go. amy: in florida, more than 100,000 people have been told to evacuate as some computer models predict hurricane irma could

make a direct hit on miami as a category-4 storm. warmer ocean temperatures due to climate change likely adds to power according to scientists. we will have more as we speak with climate activist bill mckibben. in texas, family members of prisoners in the flood-ravaged city of beaumont say their loved ones were left for days in flooded cells with inadequate food, water, and medical care after prison officials failed to evacuate them ahead of hurricane harvey. according to at least seven relatives of prisoners at the beaumont federal correctional complex, some cells filled with water calf-deep, temperatures spiked to nearly 100 degrees as eric investors failed, and prisoners wrapped towels over their noses to avoid the stench of sewage from backed-up toilets. in washington, d.c., the house of representatives voted 419-3 wednesday to provide nearly $8 billion in initial emergency aid for relief and rebuilding from hurricane harvey, as texas struggles to recover from what's set to become the most expensive

natural disaster in u.s. history. the relief bill is on track to go to president trump for his signature by friday, just ahead of hurricane irma's expected landfall in south florida. president trump traveled to north dakota wednesday to pitch a tax plan that would overwhelmingly favor the wealthiest americans, while touting his administration's role in slashing environmental protections and promoting the fossil fuel industry. trump made the remarks at an oil refinery in mandan, across the missouri river from the state capital bismarck. protectump: in order to american industry and workers, we withdrew the united states from the job killing paris climate accord. job killer. people have no idea. many people have no idea how bad that was. and right here in north dakota, the dakota access pipeline is finally open for business. amy: president trump also touted

his move to re-authorize the keystone xl pipeline, which would carry more than 800,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day from alberta, canada, to u.s. refineries. president trump struck a three-month deal wednesday with congressional democrats to raise the ceiling on the national debt, postponing a looming fiscal crisis and shocking members of trump's own party, including his own white house aides. the deal left republicans fuming, including tennessee senator bob corker, who last month questioned trump's competence and stability. the agreement sets up a showdown on the federal borrowing limit in december. 15 states and the district of columbia sued the federal government wednesday seeking to block president trump's plan to end daca -- the deferred action for childhood arrivals program, which gives nearly 800,000 young immigrants permission to live and work in the united states. among those pressing the suit is new york attorney general eric schneiderman. >> we understand what is going on in washington, and we know

that when bullies step up, you have to step to them and stepped in quickly. that is what we're here to do today. by definition, dreamers play by the rules list of dreamers work hard. dreamers pay taxes. for most, america is the only home they've ever known. they deserve to stay here. amy: trump's cancellation of daca, which was announced tuesday by attorney general jeff sessions, set off mass protests in cities around the u.s. in washington, d.c., wednesday, activists outside the department of justice building toppled a confederate monument-style effigy of jeff sessions perched atop a cardboard pedestal labeled, "living monument of white supremacy." in south korea, hundreds of protesters clashed with police in seongju county on wednesday over the deployment of launchers for a u.s.-built missile defense system known as thaad. dozens of protesters were injured at the overnight

standoff when police attempted to disassemble protesters' campsites and forcibly remove road blockades. the protests came as south korea's government said it expects the north to test-launch another intercontinental ballistic missile on saturday. we'll cover the escalating tensions between the u.s. and north korea later in the broadcast. in afghanistan, a suicide bomber detonated at a checkpoint near bagram airfield wednesday, injuring six civilians. the taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it retaliation for an incendiary leaflet distributed by the u.s. military featuring a first from the koran superimposed over the image of a dog. meanwhile, the "new york times" reports at least 18 cia operatives have been killed in afghanistan -- a previously undisclosed number of deaths that rivals the number killed during the vietnam war. among the dead are brian ray hoke and nathaniel patrick delemarre, who served as part of the cia's paramilitary arm, the special activities division.

bangladesh's government said wednesday the burmese military has begun planting land mines in the path of thousands of refugees fleeing a brutal crackdown by burmese authorities, which u.n. secretary-general antonio guterres has said could spiral into an ethnic cleansing campaign. cnn published photos showing an activist holding what appears to be a pair of antipersonnel land mines, and refugees reported one rohingya boy had a leg blown off on tuesday after a mine exploded near a border crossing. aid agencies say more than 120,000 rohingyas have fled into neighboring bangladesh in recent days. this is duniya khan, spokesperson for the u.n. high commissioner for human rights. >> some reported their family members were burned or shot or slashed to death. during their flight, many fled into the jungles or mountains, hiding and walking for days before they reach land or river

to cross the border. some of them also told us that they have been walking for three days, and they did not have anything to eat. other than the rainwater or the water on the grounds. amy: in mexico, 29-year-old journalist juan carlos hernandez rios was shot dead tuesday night after he left his home in the state of guanajuato. witnesses say he was killed by two men dressed in black carrying large-caliber weapons. hernandez worked as an editorial assistant and photographer for the website la bandera noticias, which has received multiple threats in recent months over its news coverage. hernandez rios is at least the 10th journalist killed this year in mexico. on capitol hill, representatives of facebook told lawmakers wednesday the company unwittingly sold $100,000 worth of advertisements to a russian company that aimed to polarize the u.s. electorate on issues of gun rights, immigration, lgbtq rights, and racism. the company was described as a russian "troll farm" with a

history of pushing pro-kremlin propaganda. democratic congress member adam schiff cited the move as evidence that russia interfered in the 2016 election. meanwhile, donald trump, jr., is set to testify privately today with congressional investigators as the senate judiciary committee probes a meeting that the president's eldest son arranged in 2016 with a russian lawyer promising damaging information about hillary clinton. the closed-door session comes after special counsel robert mueller urged congress to schedule witness testimony in public session only to avoid the possibility that his investigators could be blocked from accessing information given to the committees privately. in kentucky, a federal judge heard arguments wednesday in a suit by planned parenthood and a women's health clinic in louisville challenging a law that would shutter the state's last remaining abortion clinic. lawyers say the state's requirement that abortion providers have transfer agreements with a hospital and an ambulance service is a thinly veiled attempt to cut off

abortion access. last year, the u.s. supreme court struck down a similar law in texas. in new york city, a bronx prosecutor dropped charges against pedro hernandez wednesday after the 18 euros was imprisoned for more than a year in rikers island, waiting for a trial for crimes he says he did not commit. it was similar to the case of kalief browder. he was held for three years without trial for a crime he says he did not commit. michael bennet from the seattle seahawks said wednesday that police officers assaulted him and threatened his life outside a boxing match in las vegas last month, as they arrested him while he joined a crowd of people fleeing the sound of gun shots. in a statement posted on twitter, bennett wrote that an officer threatened to "blow my effing head off" and that "las vegas police officers singled me

out and pointed their guns at me for doing nothing more than simply being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time." bennett has joined a protest movement led by former 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick against racial injustice, sitting on the sidelines during the playing of the national anthem ahead of seahawks games. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. in the caribbean, at least 10 people have died as the historic category-5 hurricane irma barrels across the atlantic ocean and toward the u.s. coast. hurricane irma is the most powerful storm ever recorded over the atlantic ocean. on wednesday, eight people died on the island of saint martin, one person died on angwilla, and a two-year-old child died on barbuda.

barbuda and st. martin were devastated by the 185 mile an hour winds. on barbuda, 90% of all structures were destroyed. the prime minister, gaston browne, has declared barbuda is practically uninhabitable, and warns the entire island may need to be evacuated as another storm approaches. >> we are threatened now i get potentially another storm, hurricane jose. if that is the case and it is coming our way, clearly, we will have to evacuate the residence of barbuda. amy: on puerto rico, more than million people have lost power. authorities are warning some areas could be without power from to six months partly because the electrical infrastructure has gone neglected because of the debt crisis. the death toll from hurricane irma is expected to rise in the coming days as the storm moves toward the dominican republic

and haiti, and then on to the u.s. southern coast in florida more than 100,000 people have , been told to evacuate their homes in miami-dade county, as irma is predicted to be one of the worst storms to ever hit miami. nermeen: all this comes as the trump administration, and the state of florida, continues to deny the existence of climate change. in 2015, florida governor rick scott banned agencies from using the term "climate change." on wednesday, president trump travel to mend an, north dakota, and celebrated his decision to pull out of the landmark 2015 climate deal while speaking outside an oil refinery. pres. trump: in order to protect american industry and workers, we withdrew the united states from the job killing paris climate accord. job killer. people have no idea. many people have no idea how bad that was. and right here in north dakota,

the dakota access pipeline is finally open for business. i also did keystone. you know about keystone. a big one. big. the first couple of days in office, those two. 48,000 jobs. tremendous, tremendous thing. i think environmentally better. i really believe that. environmentally better. amy: president trump was speaking in mandan, the north dakota town where hundreds of native americans and their allies have been jailed and strip searched during the months-long resistance to the dakota access pipeline. all this comes as houston, the fourth largest city in the us, is beginning to rebuild from hurricane harvey, one of the most powerful hurricanes in u.s. history. the death toll has now risen to 70 people. and while houston was underwater, wide swaths of the pacific northwest continue to be

on fire as uncontrollable wildfires burn hundreds of thousands of acres across oregon, montana, and washington state. well over 1000 more people have died in historic flooding in south asia and parts of africa in recent weeks. one third of bangladesh is underwater. change, on climate hurricane irma, hurricane harvey, and the extreme weather sweeping the globe, we are joined by bill mckibben, co-founder of 350.org. he's the author of several books , including "eaarth: making a life on a tough new planet." bill, welcome back to democracy now! is barreling through the caribbean and at least 10 people have been killed, as houston is digging out from being underwater, president trump was in north dakota celebrating that he pulled out of the paris climate accord and greenlighted

the dakota access pipeline and keystone xl. your response? >> i was interested to hear president trump saying people have no idea how bad it was, the paris climate accord. i have a feeling that is a phrase that a lot of houstonians have been using a last week and the caribbean today of people will be saying up and down the southeast coast of the united states. in washington and oregon, people who aren't in the middle of these disasters have no idea how bad they are. in fact, really, americans can't have any idea how bad they are because we have never had anything quite like them. in houston,rvey which we are on the edge of forgetting about as irma pulls into the southeast, harvey was the largest rainstorm event in u.s. history. rain in some places. that is the kind of storm that is only possible now that we

have remarkably effective the climate. nermeen: bill mckibben, last week we saw virtually unprecedented floods across is onesia as bangladesh third submerged underwater. talk about how this has affected have kinds of events come affected south asia, other parts of the developing world and small island developing states. >> look, the way that water moves around the planet is now dramatically different. and the places that are going to feel it most often and worst and hardest of the poorest and most vulnerable places on the planet. it begins with bangladesh and the low-lying island states. fact toant one physical understand the century we are in, more water vapor

[indiscernible] we have the possibility of storms that are of a different magnitude and skill. the warmth of the atmosphere does other things, too. right now in the high points of u.s., north dakota and montana, haveiggest we going, we what scientists are describing as a flash drought. it is been so hot and so aired that in the course of a month or two, without rain and with that heavy evaporation, farm fields have dried up. many farmers have nothing to harvest. that is what is helping trigger these ridiculous wildfires across the western united states. the fire was so big yesterday, it managed to jump the columbia river from oregon into washington. people in oregon and washington are reporting ash fall from the

forest fires on a scale colorable to what happened when mount saint helens erupted. last week the largest wildfire in los angeles history, which really isn't a big surprise because it is been the hottest year in california history. amy: bill, we're going to go to break and come back to this discussion, bill mckibben, founder of 350.org, speaking to us from vermont as we talk about extreme weather events from south asia were more than 1200 people have died to the fires of the northwest to the hurricanes and harvey, jose is not far behind. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: we will later be talking about whether a genocide is being committed against the rohingya by the burmese military. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we continue our conversation with 350.org cofounder bill mckibben. let's turn back to president trump speaking in north dakota on wednesday. pres. trump: i want to take a moment to send our thoughts and prayers to the people of texas and louisiana who have truly suffered through a catastrophic hurricane. [applause] one of the worst hurricanes in our countries history. and guess what? have another one coming. the one coming now, irma come a

they're thing is largest in recorded history in the atlantic ocean, coming out of the atlantic, which has big ones. i also want to tell the people of north dakota and the western states who are feeling the pain of the devastating drought that we are with you 100%. 100%. i just said to the governor, i did not know you had droughts this far north. guess what? you have them. but we are working hard on it and it will disappear. it will all go away. trumphat was president speaking in north dakota, as he also talked about pulling out of the paris climate accord and greenlighted the dakota access pipeline as well as the keystone xl. bill mckibben, houston, the ofro metro, home to so many u.s. oil refineries, some of the largest in the country like the baytown,l facility in

the second-largest refinery in the country. the fx of the pollution there now, the epa providing waivers during hurricane for these refineries as they close down to emit even more toxins than they are ready do and the people living on the fence line of these refineries so often pork poorties of color -- communities of color. everyone talks about these hurricanes affecting everyone equally, rich and poor. in fact, it is not the case ultimately, who was most affected. and with the $8 million now that congress has just approved to start to help to deal with the recovery in houston, the question is, where will that money go? who will be held in rebuilding -- helped in rebuilding? what does the whole fossil fuel industry have to do with the

kind of severe weather we are experiencing now around the world? usual, the all, as poorest people and most vulnerable get hit first. frontline communities in texas are the perfect example. places like port arthur that were absolutely trashed by harvey are difficult places to live in at best in the best of times because of the incredible daily pollution that comes from the fossil fuel industry. what makes houston so interesting is that it is the nerve center of the hydrocarbon industry. it means, and i think this is unlikely, but it means if auston is really received wake-up call from harvey, more than most places in the world, the rebuilding could help the whole planet. if they seize the moment the sake of "we're going to start getting off oil and start rearranging our industries toward renewable industry," it

would make a huge difference. it is not an impossible ideal. last week all this was going on, denmark announced it was going to use the cash from its closing to build more wind turbines. we are working backwards. no better example of that than trump in north dakota. seen party about the dakota access pipeline is archaic and dangerous piece of technology as we've seen in the station and a long time, coupled with his absurd promise he is going to make the drought disappear in north dakota -- from the reason that stems the fossil fuel industry and the inability to deal with the active business model has to change. that is what is at the bottom of the enormous amount of what we see at as right now. amy: finally, where the climate

connecting,now, like your group, 350.org? >> i think are basically at an end day now. the two point we're trying to make and will make over and over now all over the world with increasing success in most places except the united states, are, one, we have to have it all in terms of renewable energy. we have to go 100% renewable energy and we have to do it fast. that is why senator sanders introduced the bill is a national level, while dozens of cities from salt lake to san diego have adopted what had percent renewable. along with that law, we often have to say there will be no more fossil fuel infrastructure development. that is why we are fighting so hard every single pipeline, every single coal mine. 's standingent, trump

with the fossil fuel industry. they're getting more wishes in this country. right many things that trump touches, i think that this is a last gasp. people will or are coming to associate the insanity of going full speed ahead into this greenhouse future with the most reckless and crazy president that we have ever had. amy: bill mckibben, thank you for being with us, cofounder of 350.org. a number of his books outcome including the last "eaarth: one, making a life on a tough new planet." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: we turn out to the escalating tinges on the korean peninsula and between the u.s. and north korea. on wednesday, south korea said it expects north korea to test-launch another intercontinental ballistic missile on saturday. the expected test comes after north korea carried out its strongest-ever nuclear test

on sunday. the underground nuclear blast was many times more powerful than the bomb the u.s. dropped on hiroshima, which killed 75,000 people. amy: the north's nuclear test came as u.s. and south korea wrapped up their massive joint military drills on the korean peninsula. north korea has long objected to the annual drills, which include tens of thousands of troops. on wednesday, a reporter asked president trump if military action against north korea is on the table. >> [inaudible] pres. trump: we will see what happens. certainly, it is not a first choice, but we will see what happens. amy: president trump has also threatened to cut off trade with any countries that do business with north korea. experts say this proposal is next to impossible, since ceasing trade with china, brazil, germany, mexico and other countries would be an economic catastrophe for the

u.s. trump has also escalated tensions with the u.s.'s longtime ally south korea for being open to initiating peace talks with the north. trump has threatened to cancel a trade agreement between the two countries. amy: that is between the united states and south korea. meanwhile, hundreds of protesters clashed with police in south korea's seongju county on wednesday over the deployment of more thaad missile launchers. dozens of protesters were injured at the overnight standoff when police attempted to disassemble protesters' campsites and forcibly remove road blockades. for more we're joined now by two , guests. wol-san liem joins us via democracy now! video stream. she's the director of international and korean peninsula affairs, kctu-korean public service and transport workers union. lim just came from protesting at the thaad deployment site in south korea. and in washington d.c., we're joined by tim shorrock, an investigative journalist and the author of "spies for hire: the secret world of outsourced intelligence." he grew up in tokyo and seoul and has been writing about the

u.s. role in korea since the late correspondent for the 1970's, nation and the korea center for investigative journalism in seoul. his new piece for the nation is titled, "diplomacy with north korea has worked before, and can work again." tim, let's begin with you. talk about the latest implement, not clear if north korea tested a hydrogen bomb. they say they did. a number of experts say that it could not be. and then going to once again test and it took a month to nettle elastic missile this weekend -- intercontinental ballistic missile. is the u.s. and north korea on a collision course and what do you think needs to happen? >> they're definitely on a collision course, yes. this has been going on for quite some time now. at the beginning of this year am a 2017, kim jong-un declared january 1 speech that he wanted the country to be ready with a nuclear weapon that can be put on an icbm by the end of the

year. so the test in this latest nuclear test do not come as much of a surprise really, but what has really been dangerous has been this escalation of this war of words between the u.s. and north korea and these threats, specially by trump and secretary defense mattis, you know, to destroy north korea, to annihilate north korea. these are dangerous kinds of words to be using. i think it has raised the therens to a point where has got to be some kind of intervention, hopefully, by some other country that can get these -- the situation off of this -- you know, moving toward war and moving toward some kind of peace talks and negotiations. nermeen: you said, tim shorrock, a third country should intervene. what country would have the trust of both the u.s. and north korea? >> well, trump has been trying

to rely on the chinese to pressure north korea. and i think there may be a possibility when the new u.s. sanctions come up in the u.n. security council where china and russia both, of course, have veto power, you know, for the chinese are the russians to come they may support additional sanctions but they will also push for some kind of peace negotiation, some kind of talk between the u.s. and north korea -- a diplomatic solution, rather than war. that is what i mean. but i also think that the south korean government has said from the beginning, since the election, that south korea should be taking the lead in this. and they have been really eclipsed, probably by the fault of the u.s. policy, but i think he has allow that to happen as well. there are aince

country, that the right to negotiate with north korea, despite the fact that trump called their appeal to diplomacy appeasement. so i think this intervention could come from china or russia, but i think south korea has a very important role to play as well. amy: can you talk about what you believe the north korean president once? what is he attempting to accomplish? think at the least, he wants to signal the united states that he is the military power to strike back at not only the u.s. and south korea, but u.s. assets and bases in japan, okinawa, and guam. , theast threat he made last specific threat he made of was a few weeks ago when he said

they would send some missiles toward warm. why guam? because they are the base for b1b bombers that the u.s. would use to attack north korea in case of war. there has been exercises even in the past few days were the have into these b1's from guam korean skies. i think at the least he is trying to show the united states that he has the military capability to fight a war as he says in the pacific region. and he is trying to get some kind of military position -- positioning himself possibly for future negotiations. nermeen: meanwhile, the u.s. representative to the united nations nikki haley has said that north korea is begging for war. as we said earlier, the tests that north korea carried out was the strongest it ever has.

barring the intervention of a ,hird country, tim shorrock where do you see this going? >> i think the people begging for war is cnn and fox news and msnbc, for that matter. i see the networks pushing for war. that is what they're dreaming of, i think. you see a lot of pro-war sentiment and u.s. media as well , sentiment for regime change in this kind of thing. i think it is a very dangerous situation that is things heated up by a press that reports nonsense about north korea and south korea, for that matter. and trump can take advantage of this. there is little investigative reporting, for example, or so much reporting about how large the missiles are and how far they can go, but very little attention on the mechanics of proceed, talks might

what north korea wants, what the u.s. wants, how that might work. that is what i try to do in this article in the nation, was to show the history of u.s.-north korean negotiations and show the agreement made in the 1990's by president clinton and kim jong-il, the father of kim they did not have a bomb then, but that a nuclear program -- it froze it for 12 years. they agreed both to move toward diplomatic and economic, full economic and diplomatic relations. and that agreement was broken during the was administration by -- during thetes bush administration by the united states. south korea cheated on it as well. but both sides are good. the mass media in the u.s., it is always this agreement with through and north agreement broke at the next day. lasted for many years and a finally ended when

the bush administration falsely accused the north koreans of having a uranium program to the bomb in just four of the agreement. it was after that that they proceeded very rapidly to build a nuclear bomb and then exploded their first nuclear bomb in 2006 under bush. i think that talks can work. it is not exactly clear how kim jong-un would react because he is very young. he is not had any negotiations. but he is certainly surrounded by people --'s foreign minister has to go she do with the u.s. for many years, as has his minister. i think diplomacy really is the only way. you can't have sanctions and talk policies without negotiations. that makes the situation worse. amy: we want to bring in wol-san liem, who just came in from

protesting the peninsula. explain where you are right now in south korea, what the thaad is, and what you're calling for list of some and and south korea feel like they are at ground zero. >> thank you for having me on the show. is thatation in korea since last year, the united states and the south korean government authorities, and military authorities, have been moving to deploy and have concert with the deployment of this thaad missile defense system, which is a system that is supposed to be designed to shoot down missiles, including nuclear warheads in the terminal phase as they enter. that isment behind the

this is being used as a deterrent or protection against north korean does the threat of north korean nuclear weapons. but there is a lot of evidence out there that shows these missile defense is actually, particularly thaad, is not effective against most missiles, particularly not north korean missiles that would be targeted at south korea and such a short range. one of the main issues here is is a weapon system, really, because it is part of a larger strategy for u.s. military buildup in the region. it is being deployed in a small about three hours outside of seoul. there are aa where lot of overly people who live there. they're very concerned about the impact of the radar on their farming and on their and my

mental health, but have also -- environmental health, but have also recognize this weapons system is exacerbating tensions between south korea and north korea and also with china, who feels very threatened by the fact that you can use the system -- in fact, the radar that is part of the system, to monitor airspace ashinese well as north korea. so there has been quite a strong protest from the residence in that area, supported by p's activists from around the country to stop the deployment. unfortunately, the u.s. military and korean government just moved through with deploying four more lodges to complete a thaad unit there, so there are six wonders now stationed. it was a passionate struggle but one that we were not able to block the equipment from being brought into the deployment site. youeen: wol-san liem, can

comment on the way that president trump has been responding to this crisis with north korea? echo what timy has said. it is incredibly dangerous, the war of words, the preemptive strike that trump has referenced several times or other raining fire and fury down on north korea -- it clearly exacerbates the situation. i think because trump is really unpredictable and does things that are not calculated, it makes a situation even more dangerous. i wanted to mention this is really, i think that tim alluded to, this is really the crisis that we are experiencing now while exacerbated by the trump administration incredibly, it is part of the product of a long-term history of the united states hostile policies toward north korea stemming back from the cold war. nuclearrea's

development, while i do not want to justify it, it is the result the sense of a threat that united states will at some point use nuclear weapons were conventional weapons against it to try to achieve regime change. this is because the united states maintains a policy of preemptive strike against north korea and because of the war exercises that you mentioned conducted with south korea every year that particularly target does the target of the exercises is an attack on the north korean leadership. --ause of that, the sense understandable sense, if you think about it, the understandable sense of the threat that north korea has felt that unless it wants to be developiraq, it has two nuclear weapons in order to have some kind of defense against much greater powers that is the

united states. and what north korea ultimately wants is a peace treaty that ends the conflict on the korean peninsula. is an armistice, not a peace treaty. the country's at a state of war. , thankl-san liem you for being with us, just back from protesting at the thaad diplomat site and tim shorrock joining us from washington, d.c., investigative journalist. when we come back, we are going to look at what is happening in burma. why are more than 150,000 rohingya, muslim minority, fleeing burma into bangladesh. is there a genocide happening? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. weekend today show by looking at burma. the united nations secretary-general antonio guterres has warned the brutal

burmese military operation against rohingya muslims is at risk of spiraling into an ethnic cleansing campaign, as the violence against the long persecuted minority group continues. the u.n. says almost 150,000 rohingyas have fled the predominantly buddhist country into neighboring bangladesh in the last 12 days since the military operation began, with up to 15,000 more expected to flee every single day this week. amy: advocates say as many as 800 rohingya civilians, including women and children, have been killed in recent days. this is rohingya muslim, salma begum, one of tens of thousands who have fled to bangladesh following the army crackdown which began last month. >> they burned our houses. we could not take our belongings. we were hiding near a hill for two days in the rain without food and with my children. when we heard the sound of shooting, we took a boat to cross the sea to come here to

bangladesh. nermeen: burma's de facto leader and nobel peace laureate aung san suu kyi has blamed terrorists for what she termed "a huge iceberg of misinformation" about violence in the western part of the country. more than 300,000 people have signed a petition calling on the nobel committee to revoke her peace prize over her response to the violence. meanwhile, accusations have emerged that burmese security forces have been planting landmines along the bangladesh border to prevent fleeing rohingya from returning. burmese officials said wednesday they are lobbying powerful allies china and russia to prevent a u.n. security council resolution on the issue. amy: well, to talk more about the issue, we're joined by two people to talk about the rohingya in burma and those who have fled to bangladesh. in london, tun khin is president of the burmese rohingya organization in the u.k. born and brought up in burma's arakan state. in 1982, he was rendered effectively stateless along with a million other ethnic rohingya

under a new nationality law. here in new york, richard weir is fellow in the asia division covering burma at human rights watch. he was based in burma last year. welcome both to democracy now! what is happening to the rohingya, your people? explain to the global audience who may never have heard of that word before, the rohingya muslim minority in burma? >> their native people of our state. their living in our state. got independence --rohingya parliamentary members and mp's are there. according to the history, leaving.were the burmese government's

systematic -- what we're facing today is the largest state of genocide. a strip of citizenship. they were not allowed to move from one village to another. they're not allowed to get married. they cannot get higher education. that is what we have been facing for many years. what is happening now since august 25, burmese military attacks. by taking that excuse, targeting the whole rohingya population according to the information we received, at least 3000 rohingya have been killed, shot dead, and elderlyred, including men, women, and children. we are receiving information that many children have been thrown to the fire. the burmese military continues to earn the villages through today.

some are same as death toll could be more than 7000. thousands of rohingya houses burned down. according to the information we're receiving, 180,000 rohingyas. it is growing. 10,000 rohingya have been trapped in the mountains. there is no food or shelter or a medicine for them. situation perfect we're facing in our history. that should not be happening in the 21st century where the death toll is increasing and children are dying day by day. -- the largest genocide where our government is targeting the whole population to wipe out the rohingya. nermeen: the satellite imagery

shows 700 buildings burn the muslim village. the imagery shows that 99% of the village was destroyed. we're also joined by richard weir a fellow in asia division at human rights watch. you are based in burma last year. first of all, tell us what the satellite imagery showed. books this imagery shows that a village, primarily occupied by is rohingya population, completely destroyed. the damage we're seeing is consistent with burn damage. that is something that we have only been able to see one village at of 21 unique sites that we have identified, where there have been active fires. so this is just sort of a small window into the sort of destruction that is occurring. nermeen: what is happening now is reportedly unprecedented, despite the fact the rohingya

minority has been targeted for decades. it is unprecedented in terms of the sheer violence and brutality that has been deployed by the burmese security forces. could you explain why this is happening now? >> as we have been discussing, the rohingya population has been discriminated against an attack on various occasions throughout the last -- for many decades. followsies of attacks another set of attacks on october 2016 were similar violence was documented by human rights watch, other organizations including the u.n. , which said those violations very much amounted to crimes against humanity. and those attacks and the kind of the scope and scale of the destruction was less than what we're seeing right now. we haven't seen this number of mrs.ges on fire -- and

something we just haven't seen before. amy: i want to go to the role of the nobel peace laureate aung san suu kyi who was imprisoned for like 15 years. she has faced widespread criticism for her response to the crisis. she is considered sort of the to factor leader of the burmese, working closely with the burmese military. she initially blamed "terrorists" for what she termed "a huge iceberg of misinformation" about violence in western burma. earlier today, she said her government is doing its best to protect everyone during the state but she did not refer specifically to the exodus of the rohingya in recent weeks. >> we have to take care of our citizens. if the taker of everybody who's in our country, whether or not they are citizens. it is our duty and we try our best. our resources are not as

complete as we would like them to be, but we try our best and we want to make sure that everyone is entitled to the protection of the law. amy: that is aung san suu kyi , richard weir. what is her role? >> she's the to factor leader of the government. she is not all he that, but she is the leader of the people. as a former lot at human rights advocate, she needs to do more, not just as an advocate, but as the leader of a government that requires the protection of all the people in the states. frankly, her comment that they're doing all they can is not borne out in our research. what we're hearing from people that have fled to bangladesh is that the military is firing on villagers, is using bombs to attack them. it is not -- what she is saying

has not been borne out by our research. amy: more than 300,000 people have signed a petition calling on the nobel committee to revoke her peace prize. how responsible is she? officialhe's not the leader of burma yet. but of course, considered the de leader. a person gelled by the military for so many years, now working closely with the burmese military. >> the problem is in the 2008 burmese constitution, there is a divide between who controls what in the government. the senior controls the military, controls the police, controls the border guards. aung san suu kyi doesn't have direct control over the forces that have engaged in these abuses, but she does have a responsibility to do everything she can to call out these abuses , to force an end to what is going on. , i want ton khin

turn to the 1982 citizenship law with which you are effectively stripped -- well, he became stateless. and even today, rohingya are not citizenship.se could you tell us very quickly what the implications of that are? 1982 citizenship law deprived fundamental right of rohingya. because of that law come today, 1.3 million rohingya become stateless in their own state. because of that law come even myself, i'm not a citizen of burma even though my grandfather was a parliamentary secretary. that law, designed for rohingyas and other minorities in burma, particularly they are practicing for the rohingya muslims because we do not have [indiscernible] we cannot go to university or get married or a move from one village to another.

is, what we'rere facing today is decades of persecution, going on against rohingya, right now mass killing's going on. it is a genocide by the burmese army. mentionurgent u.n. to to send u.n. peacekeeping force to our state to save the lives of rohingya before it is too late, where the death toll is increasing we are 1.3 million people in our state begging, appealing to the international community to come and save us. that is what people have been telling from the ground. day by day, the death toll is increasing -- amy: we have to leave it there. we thank you so much for being with us, president of the burmese rohingya organization in london and thank you to richard weir. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to

outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! democracy now!

surprise! today on "jazzy vegetarian," tofu tastes totally tantalizing with a fun and easy-to-make supper. ♪ easy supper, yeah with a baked entree... ♪ tofu surprise a sassy salad parfait... ♪ avocado salad parfait and a simple-to-make chocolaty dessert. ♪ easy supper, yeah this menu will make tofu the new rock star in your kitchen. so stay tuned. ♪ jazzy, you're gonna be healthy ♪ ♪ with the jazzy vegetarian ♪ jazzy, so snazzy ♪ we're gonna cook something healthy and light ♪ [scat singing] ♪ jazzy, so snazzy so join me in the kitchen right now. ♪ we're gonna cook something healthy and light ♪ ♪ that's right ♪