10/11/17 10/11/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> president trump has approved a major disaster declaration for the state of california to assist in the response to wildfires that are impacting across the state. amy: 17 people dead, emirates destroyed, 20,000 people forced to evacuate their homes in california. we will talk took e university climate scientists whose work shows global warming is responsible for nearly half the forest area burned in the western united states over the past three decades. send three weeks after it was devastated by hurricane maria, president trump allows a 10 day

waiver of the jones act to lapse. it restricts shipments of food, fuel, medicine from foreign flagged ships to nearly half of the island that selects clean water and almost 90% still lacks electricity. we will get an update from reverend jesse jackson, who has gathered aid and headed to the island this week all stop and we will speak with the reverend about how vice president pence flew to indianapolis to stage walkout of an nfl game of the san francisco 49ers and indianapolis colts after players on both teams held a protest against racial injustice during the national anthem. pence tweeted, but is using an old photo. >> the information that -- until avidn prove that he is an colts fan and comes to the nfl on a regular basis. amy: them president trump says he will not restore the daca program protecting hundreds of

thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation unless lawmakers agree to expand the wall on the u.s.-mexico border and move to keep out thousands of children fleeing gang violence in central america. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in california, the death toll from the massive wildfires have risen to 17, with hundreds more hospitalized, as the uncontrollable blazes continue to burn. more than 20,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes. the chief of california's fire agency says the two most destructive fires are 0% contained. in total, more than 115,000 acres have been burned. drone footage of santa rosa, california, shows entire blocks of homes reduced to ash. last year, the u.s. forest service warned an unprecedented five-year drought has led to the

deaths of more than 100 million trees in california, setting the stage for massive fires. climate scientists believe human-driven global warming played a major role in the drought. we'll have more on the california wildfires after headlines. in puerto rico, officials are warning the island's health system is in dire condition as the island still has severely limited electricity and running water nearly three weeks after hurricane maria hit puerto rico as a category 4 storm. "the new york times" reports one teacher named harry figueroa, died after he went a week without the oxygen needed to help him breathe. he was only 58 years old. his corpse then went on an fridge ready for so long, it was impossible to embalm his decomposed body. his daughter, lisandra, said -- "because of the electricity situation, a lot of people died, and are still dying. you can't get sick now." other residents have contracted

bacterial diseases, likely as a result of their exposure to contaminated floodwaters. the official death toll from hurricane maria has now risen to 43. on tuesday, president trump asked congress for $4.9 billion loan to help the island pay government salaries and other expenses. we'll have more on puerto rico later in the broadcast. in news from washington, officials say president trump has called for a nearly tenfold increase in the united states' nuclear weapons arsenal. the unnamed officials told nbc news that trump called for the massive nuclear arms build up during a july 20 meeting with the highest ranking military leaders. it was after this meeting that secretary of state rex tillerson reportedly called trump a moron. in response, trump has now called for an iq competition with tillerson. in an interview with "forbes" published tuesday, trump said about the alleged moron comment, "if he did that, i guess we'll have to compare iq tests."

a shocking new investigation by "the new yorker" has revealed a slew of new rape and sexual assault allegations against disgraced and now-fired movie producer harvey weinstein, who had been one of the most powerful men in hollywood for decades. weinstein has also been a major democratic donor. "the new yorker" reports three women say harvey weinstein raped them, while more say weinstein masturbated in front of them or forcibly touched them without their consent. among the accusers is former aspiring actress lucia evans, who says she had just finished her junior year at middlebury college when she was invited to a daytime meeting with weinstein at the miramax office. she said he pushed her head down and "forced me to perform oral sex on him. i said, over and over, 'i don't want to do this, stop, don't.'. i tried to get away. he's a big guy. he overpowered me." another woman, who was not named, says weinstein forced

himself on her during a meeting and raped her even while she repeatedly said no. like others in the article, she says she did not report the alleged rape and forced herself to continued to have professional contact with weinstein because "i was in a vulnerable position and i needed my job. it just increases the shame and the guilt." the article also reveals audio from a 2015 new york police department sting operation in which weinstein confesses to groping filipina-italian model ambra battilana gutierrez. the recording starts with weinstein. >> i'm telling you right now -- >> what do i have to do? >> nothing. just have a drink. you must come here now. >> i don't want to. >> i'm not doing anything. >> i'm sorry, i do not -- this is kind of aggressive for me.

don't embarrass me in this hotel. >> i don't feel comfortable. >> don't have a fight with me. please, i'm not going to do anything i swear on much of an. i'm a famous guy. >> and very uncomfortable. amy: "the new yorker" article also reports 16 current or former employees of weinstein's companies say they personally knew about weinstein's assaults or harassment. meanwhile, a slew of hollywood's most high-profile actresses have told "the new york times" they, too, experienced weinstein's harassment. among them, gwyneth paltrow, angelina jolie, and "pulp fiction" star rosanna arquette. paltrow said -- "we're at a point in time when women need to send a clear

message that this is over. this way of treating women ends now." weinstein's wife, well-known fashion designer, says she is ending their 10 year marriage. on tuesday, former president barack obama and former secretary of state hillary clinton both condemned weinstein, who is been a major democratic donor. in a statement, obama said he and michelle have been disgusted by the reports and said "any man who demeans and a great women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held a cannibal regardless of wealth or status -- held accountable regardless of wealth or status." opposition to the u.s.-backed saudi-led war in yemen is growing in washington, where lawmakers have introduced a congressional resolution to withdraw u.s. support for the ongoing bombing campaign. in an op-ed for "the new york times" published tuesday, california congressman ro khanna, north carolina congressman walter jones, and wisconsin congressman mark pocan write that they introduced the resolution -- "in order to help put an end to the suffering of a country approaching a famine of biblical proportions. we believe that the american

people, if presented with the facts of this conflict, will oppose the use of their tax dollars to bomb and starve civilians." the ongoing u.s.-backed, saudi-led bombing campaign has killed more than 10,000 civilians, sparked a cholera epidemic by destroying yemen's health, water and sanitation systems, and has exacerbated a famine that's left 7 million on the brink of starvation. in spain, catalonia's leader carles puigdemont said tuesday catalonia has won the right to independence, but appeared to stop short of declaring the region's succession and instead called for negotiations with spain. >> the government and myself, we propose parliament -- to undertake talks in the coming weeks without which it is impossible to reach a solution. we strongly believe the moment requires not only to delay tensions, but above all come in to make a clear compromise to advance the demands made by the catalonian people, taking into

account the results of october 1. amy: later in the day, however, puigdemont and lawmakers did sign a declaration of independence. today, spanish prime minister mariano rajoy said he would move the government to invoke article 155, which has never been used in spain's modern democratic history. it would allow spain to suspend catalonia's lawmakers and seize administrative control of the region. and back in the united states in flood of it, mexican immigrant javier flores is slated to leave the united methodist church where he's been seeking sanctuary to avoid deportation for nearly a year. javier has been living in philadelphia for 20 years and is the father of three u.s.-born children. he took sanctuary only days after president trump was elected president. he's now won an immigration hearing, which will shield him from the threat of deportation for now. he is slated to walk out of the churchoday. 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 in california, where powerful winds and bone-dry conditions are fueling massive wildfires. a state of emergency has been declared in northern areas as the fires have left at least 17 people dead, destroying whole neighborhoods, and forcing 20,000 people to evacuate their homes. state fire officials say they're battling at least 17 major fires in nine counties, which have burned more than 115,000 acres in just the past 12 hours. the chief of california's fire agency says the two most destructive fires are 0% contained. one of the worst blazes was in the city of santa rosa in northern california's sonoma county, where fire ripped through a trailer park, destroyed homes, restaurants and hotels, and forced medical teams at a local hospital to evacuate patients as flames approached. on tuesday, vice president mike pence declared the state a disaster area.

>> cal fire is inspiring the nation. we stand with them with great admiration and appreciation. just a few moments ago, i informed governor brown, president trump has approved a major disaster declaration for the state of california to assist in the response to wildfires that are impacting across the state. amy: the wildfires come after the u.s. forest service warned last year that an unprecedented five-year drought led to the deaths of more than 100 million trees in california, setting the stage for massive fires. climate scientists believe human-caused global warming played a major role in the drought. for more, we're joined by park williams, bio-climatologist at columbia university's lamont- doherty earth observatory. he is the co-author of a 2016 report showing that global warming is responsible for nearly half of the forest area burned in the western united states over the past three decades.

welcome back to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. so explain what is happening right now in california. the devastation is incredible. it is. these fires that are getting the attention in california right now are different from the big forest fires that have been getting our attention for the last several years. these are burning through towns. they are being driven by big high-pressure system sitting over the coast of the u.s. and driving winds from the east to the west, bringing very dry, warm air from the desert of nevada and arizona out to the coast. by the time the air gets to the coast, it is compressed at sea level. it is very warm and dry. it pulls the moisture out of education, makes it ready to burn. juan: he said before the show began, part of the problem may have been the rains that came earlier this year? >> so these fires on the coast are different from forest fires coast ofut near the

california, there is not a whole lot to burn oftentimes. we did not hear a ton about fires occurring near the coast of california during the big drought because it was so dry it wasn't much growing, so not much to burn. this year follows a record-breaking wet or near breaking wet winter in california. anyone who is in california in the spring does it look like an english countryside with green grass growing everywhere. that is what is bringing right now. grass is an effective carrier a fast-moving fire. all you need to do is dry the grass out, at a flame, and strong winds and that is what is going on now. this 2016ave said in report that looks at the link between climate change and 1980 --ires that since well, how much of the fires can be attributable to climate change? >> when we concentrate on forest , we find there is a strongly between drought and the amount of area that burns any given

year. one really important part of the drought link is temperature. we can mathematically determine the relationship between drought to maturetherefore, and fire, and we know from climate modeling the western u.s. has increased into richer by two degrees to 2.5 degrees fahrenheit over the last century because of human caused climate trends. from that value, we can back out the amount of area that is burned due to human caused climate change. about half of the area of forests that have burned over the last 35 years is attributable to that warming trend. that half is big. it equals the size of massachusetts and connecticut combined. juan: what about the issue of urban sprawl? the continued expansion of towns into forest areas as well as has been raised as a factor that makes the spread of these fires even more catastrophic. >> absolutely.

the first thing you need in order to have a fire is a spark that turns into a flame and carries through into a large fire. in the western u.s., especially california, people are the providers of those sparks. this time of year, lightning is not occurring in coastal california. it isin the western sparks i per because they're letting fires actively or human infrastructure is causing fires such as downed power lines. when i say that global warming has increased the amount of fire, that is really promoted by the huge amount of sparks, the amount of ignitions people are providing to the landscape. if it were not for people setting the fires, we would not see fires first wanted to the warming as we have. amy: weiser sent to disconnect between you, the scientific community, and the meteorologist on television? who are they? now there is a second question being asked. they will flash severe weather, extreme weather on their tv screens across the lower part of the tv screen as they talk.

but they do not flash the words "global warming." the second step is, like in a girl -- an anchor will say, what is this? they will say warm weather, cold weather, rain, fog, whatever, but they will not make this link. >> that is an interesting phenomenon. i think the term "global warming" and "climate change" have been politicized. in the circles i work with, real climatologists working on these issues every day, there is the hesitation to use those terms. as you put greenhouse gases and the atmosphere, the globe warms. whether it is the earth or another planet, it is just the law physics. it is surprising to see trained meteorologists on tv steer away from those terms. not all of them do. i have seen some good, refreshing, educated discussion as well. said we terms of -- you should be getting accustomed to

even more virulent fires in the future. you talk about that? >> since the early 1980's, when we go back to talking about forests, we assume the amount of that birds ins any given year increased by 600% to 800%. every year we hear people who are fighting fires saying they have been fighting fires for the whole careers, say 30 years, and seen fire activity different that anything that have seen during their whole careers. based on what we know about global warming and the link between warming and fire and the amount of that fire has already increased in the last 30 years, it is an easy extrapolation to say a warmer world 30 years from now, fires will be unrecognizable to people fighting fires today. they will continue growing. therefore, continue to be coming -- to become far more difficult to fight. amy: i want to thank your much for being with us, park

williams, a, scientist at columbia university's lamont-doherty earth observatory. he is the co-author of a 2016 report showing that global warming is responsible for nearly half of the forest area burned in the western united states over the past three decades. we will link to that at democracynow.org. when we come back, the reverend jesse jackson joins us before he heads off with the planeload of aid to puerto rico. we will talk with him about what is happening on the island. we will go from puerto rico to the football games and to what vice president pence did in going to indianapolis and then leaving a game protesting the black athletes who took the knee, who protested racism during the national anthem. this is democracy now! back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: "silent all these years" by tori amos. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to puerto rico, three weeks after it was devastated by hurricane maria. on tuesday, president trump asked congress for $4.9 billion loan to help the island pay government salaries and other expenses. this comes as he allowed a 10-day waiver of the jones act to lapse, restricting shipments of food, fuel, and medicine from foreign-flagged ships as nearly half of the island still lacks clean water and nearly 90% lacks electricity.

the expiration of the jones act waiver came over the fierce opposition of san juan mayor carmen yulin cruz, who on sunday blasted the trump administration's slow response to the hurricane, tweeting -- "power collapses in san juan hospital with 4 patients now being transferred out. have requested support from fema. nothing." federal emergency management agency chief brock long on monday dismissed mayor cruz's comments, telling reporters, "we don't have time for the political noise." puerto rico governor ricardo rossello said friday that 63 of the island's 69 hospitals are operational. but reporters with the center for investigative journalism say they visited several hospitals and found they had limited capacity or were even closed. on tuesday, the official death toll from hurricane maria rose to 43. amy: this comes as military security firms continue to patrol the streets of puerto rico's capital san juan. academi, formerly known as blackwater, has a pending bid to

provide security services for water transportation. meanwhile, solar companies and non-profits say they could help puerto rico regain power. tesla ceo elon musk tweeted last week that his company could help rebuild puerto rico's electric grid. governor rossello tweeted back that the island could be tesla's flagship project. for more, we're joined by reverend jesse jackson, civil rights leader and the founder and president of the rainbow/push coalition. he ran for president in 1984 and 1988 as a democrat. more recently, he helped to gather aid to send to puerto rico. this saturday, he will be headed there. he has written a column published around the country this week headlined "how to put puerto rico back on its feet." welcome back to democracy now! see you again. amy: first, i want to ask juan about the latest on the jones $4.9nd president trump's billion loan request.

the $4.9 billion doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. an aide is a loan request. in other words, for the regressive effect. board,. imposed control which has a majority of republican members, sent a letter to congress last week and a president trump on friday specifically saying -- i want to quote from this letter, remember, this is the u.s. control board. it "hurricane maria and irma have fundamentally changed puerto rico's reality. the control board goes on to say that the island has not only a $74 billion debt and $53 billion of unfunded pension liabilities that is economy has contracted by 15% in the last decade in the population national by 10%. it says it continues to have severe liquidity challenges persistent budget deficits. so even before the hurricane

hit, the government was bankrupt. had no money. it goes on to say on top of the damage that puerto rico has suffered, it is catastrophic and island-wide from this hurricane and that moody's is estimating that the hurricane did $95 billion in damages, the total gross domestic product of the island. this is a catastrophe on top of an existing total bankruptcy. the board goes on to say, this has never happened. all matching funds from the federal government for any kind of disaster relief to be waived. and it calls for massive help from the government. i want to put in context. after hurricane katrina, the federal government allocated $85 billion to the gulf coast for recovery. after superstorm sandy, the federal government allocated a $50 billion to new york and new jersey for recovery efforts.

we are now talking about a $4.9 billion loan to puerto rico? that is amazing. , virgin islands are american citizens. there are no foreigners as their projected to be. it is a structural dislocation. it is time for massive debt relief and renegotiation for investment. the marshall plan was not so much money that was given or lend it to them, it was a combination of debt forgiveness and advancement. american corporations have used puerto rico as a tax haven. they must also step up to the plate. juan: what are you hoping to do with his aid to package your taking down on saturday? taking -- governor so we need medicine and we need

water and when he generators. one thing they can do, they must have mass evacuation. those persons cannot get -- hospitals have received the sick. to the mainland. there are really americans. second, the children need to be airlifted to schools in the u.s. amy: chicago congressman -- >> the fact that -- if they protect a year without proper power, many will die in hospitals. you probably recall after hurricane katrina, there were thousands of refugees from new orleans who are basically taken in by other states and cities. not refugees. they were citizens. they were able to go first diagram in baton rouge in

houston and chicago and new york. evacuated money to evacuate them from a tough situation. fema can evacuate many people. they may find it more offensive .o be bringing in puerto ricans they are american citizens. for urgent islander massivegoing to need and quick help. issue of, this full the jones act, that there was a waiver for 10 days. people's eyes my glaze over. what is the jones act? the idea that caribbean countries can get aid from cuba, for example, sent 750 doctors and health professionals to the hurricane ravaged places, but they could not come to puerto

rico because of the jones act. eight could not come in from other countries. explain what it is. juan: from venezuela or mexico or any other countries, the jones act means anything coming into porter guys to be on an american ship. ormexico wants to send aid supplies, it would first have to go to florida to be put onto an american ship to then take it to puerto rico. it is just driving up the cost of transporting anything. amy: even president trump said, this involves our shipping companies and then making money. juan: and the shipping companies together with the maritime unions were trying to protect jobs are in an alliance to prevent a waiver come a long term waiver of the jones act, which all of the puerto rican leadership is calling for. >> humanitarian crisis. it gives us the opportunity to address it in a meaningful way. if we have massive debt, the banks in our government, debt forgiveness program, and invest

-- 300 american corporations are ofre must pay their share taxes. they've used puerto ricans as a tax haven. this,we're fiddling with people are literally dying. drug shortage in the united states because so many pharmaceutical companies are based in puerto rico. juan: right come although many have left. there are still quite a few. johnson & johnson is a perfect example of a company that has made much money from its factories in puerto rico and pfizer and these others. katrina, evacuated people around the country. fromed to evacuate people puerto rico to the mainland. i am convinced while we're trying to figure out whether to use solar energy or whatever, people should be evacuated. imperiled.ens are

it brings science to the front. so long as we allow these citizens to open up the ozone layer and the glaciers are melting and the waters are rising, to venture -- temperatures rising, hurricanes are coming, there's no infrastructure on the ground to protect us from -- the islands are in jeopardy right now. not eventually, not in the future. after the hurricane -- the hurricane season is really just begun. amy: elon musk proposing let's make this a solar experiments, which sounded very interesting. at the concert also -- and you have talked a lot about this ,juan, about the power grid, about this very lucrative power company and the push to privatize it. what about all of this? juan: obviously, the porter go electric companies are government owned -- the puerto rico's electric company are government owned. they are wanted to

privatize it. now solar industries are offering supplies now to begin to jumpstart the possibility of whole towns or neighborhoods beginning to develop solar power and break off from this electrical grid. >> new orleans, to privatize schools and jails. some will exploit this for their own reasons. amy: this comes as the epa administrator scott pruitt said monday the federal tax credits for the wind and solar power industry should be eliminated. juan: typical for where we are today in america. amy: we want to turn to a second object with you, reverend jackson, and this is the issue of the controversy of politics and sports. juan: we want to turn to the controversy on vice president sunday mike pence flew to indianapolis where he staged a walkout of an nfl game between the san francisco 49ers and indianapolis colts after players

on both teams held a protest against racial injustice during the national anthem. pence tweeted -- "i left today's colts game because @potus and i will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our flag, or our national anthem. at a time when so many americans are inspiring our nation with their courage, resolve, and resilience, now, more than ever, we should rally around our flag and everything that unites us. while everyone is entitled to their own opinions, i don't think it's too much to ask nfl players to respect the flag and our national anthem." more than 20 members of the san francisco 49ers knelt during the anthem, while colts players stood with locked arms wearing shirts reading, "we will stand for equality, justice, unity, respect, dialogue, opportunity." amy: afterward, several reports surfaced that pence's decision to leave may have been pre-planned. nbc reporter vaughn hillyard, traveling with the vice president's pool, tweeted -- "the media pool was kept in the vans ahead of the game instead of being led in with vpotus.

as media pool has been made aware, a staffer told pool that vpotus may depart the game early. did not indicate how early." donald trump took credit for pence's action, tweeting -- "i asked @vp pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country. i am proud of him and @secondlady karen." on monday, trump's presidential fundraising committee used the walkout in an email, telling supporters -- "immediately after the vice president's honorable display of leadership and patriotism, the fake news media relentlessly attacked him." meanwhile, the selfie that pence tweeted of him and his wife saying he was looking forward to cheering peyton manning and the colts, was the same picture that was used in a tweet by then indiana governor pence in november 2014 when he tweeted -- "cheering on our @colts w/@firstladyin as they kick off

the 2nd half! go #colts, beat jaguars!" san francisco 49ers safety eric reid, who joined quarterback colin kaepernick's national anthem protests last year, referenced the photo sunday. >> the information i have a three euro photo, until he can an avid coltsis fan and comes to nfl games on a regular basis, this is pr work. my mother served in the armed forces. through my uncle served in the armed forces. to thewould have gone persian gulf or has she not been pregnant with me. i have the utmost respect for the military, the anthem, the flight. i will say that every time you interview me. this is about systemic oppression that has been rampant in this country for decades on top of decades. andi will continue to say encourage people to educate themselves of how we got to where we are today. it didn't happen overnight. it is not going happen overnight to fix these issues. amy: vice president pence's

brief visit to indianapolis cost taxpayers an estimated $250,000 after he traveled from las vegas to indianapolis for the brief appearance at lucas oil stadium before flying back to a fundraising event in california. meanwhile on tuesday, trump tweeted -- "why is the nfl getting massive tax breaks while at the same time disrespecting our anthem, flag and country? change tax law!" well, for more, we continue our conversation with reverend jesse jackson. >> trumps issue is the flight. we're talking race discrimination. this is not desecrating the flag as an wearing flag underwear or burning the flag as some have done. and have the right to do that by this -- the constitution. this is about using the simple as a gesture. my father came from world war ii. the flag was still flying. flies the american flag

and the confederate flag pulse of the confederate like is the protest of the american flag. union soldiers were veterans, too. and justice is what the flag is to be about. juan: i want to ask you, your self as a former college football player, when you see the attacks now on these african-american athletes saying these are multimillionaires, they are coddled and they have no right to be engaging -- >> most of them want to schools with 68% black population. they are aware they're gone from picking cotton balls to picking footballs but not really growing. and jerry jones challenging the sense of manhood as raise it to another level. colin kaepernick, his right to have a job trial is being denied. his constitutional right -- players honor the first

amendment. trump and pens are protesting the right to exercise the first amendment right. amy: i want to turn to the owners. from the nba to the nfl. on sunday, jerry jones clarified his position on players kneeling during the national anthem, stating -- "if there is anything that is disrespectful to the flag, then we will not play. period." trump later tweeted in response -- "a big salute to jerry jones, owner of the dallas cowboys, who will bench players who disrespect our flag. stand for anthem or sit for game!" last month, jones, along with members of the dallas cowboys, took a knee before the anthem in a statement of unity with players. the nba also has now said, i mean, trump is really pushing this. that players cannot take the knee during the anthem. the owners are going to meet later this week in the nfl. >> >> owners are threatening the players in challenging their

sense of manhood. these players are going to neil in the lineage of their families they come from. i would have jerry jones will not take a position so strong that is so anti-american. he is otherwise a fairly decent guy. i've known him for a long time. he is a good guy. justice to- racial the flag -- how can trump take the lead on patriotic flag test when when it was time for war, he ran a stop he is a draft dodger. amy: you are a reverend. we had reverend barber on last week. symbolic about the importance of taking a knee, of the symbol of prayer. dr. king, and your with dr. king in his last moments of rat, last images of him -- moments of breath, those images

of him in birmingham taking a knee. his desecrating the flag. some as it did, to make another point. they are simply kneeling. this is a nonviolent protest. it should be met with embrace. protest was made against the owners owning players when they tried to sell him. the reason we are free agency today is floyd. he took the test of courage. he passed the test. he was kicked out of baseball. ali said ise, like have a right to chge my name. he's in the lineage of those athletes medicines of dignity that fight back -- who had a sense of dignity that fight back. he deserves the right, even now, to try out for teams. amy: some of said that colin nomineeck should be no avai

for nobel peace prize. juan: another issue we discussed with reverend barber last week, the issue of voter suppression across the country and the impact that is having on the ability of people to express the democratic will. what'>> [indiscernible] counttopped and do not the votes. you do not fight back. hillary threw in a tell much too quickly. electoral college -- she won the election. about thehe narrative russian hacking. that is the fact the no doubt. both suppression is not dealt with -- voter suppression is not dealt with. the republican chairman celebrated on november 9, "we

celebrate." remove the increasing from the campus. in philadelphia, pennsylvania, in pittsburgh, detroit, wisconsin. voter suppression was a difference in those four critical states. we form a commission to offset the idea of voter fraud. there's evidence of voter suppression. to vote sinceght 1965. vote bilingually. we were able to challenge that and get representation. and democratize democracy. we may havey -- underestimated the impact of voter nullification schemes.

the more we put in the bucket, the bigger the hole gets. .e must fight states rights in illinois, we automatically have voter registration will start we must fight for the constitutional right to vote. constitutionale right to vote so states cannot up in the next election. we must fight for automatic registration age at 18. juan: what can be done in the fact that president trump is creating or has created a commission to investigate voter fraud? grexit alternative commission is a commission on voter justice. we're going around the country doing workshops. amy: has this been constituted -- >> it has been. the chairman of the finance committee and others -- is she is with

the civil rights attorney in washington, d.c.? >> indeed. that commission the bernie sanders is fine with it. elizabeth warren. an alternative to the voter fraud commission. but last week, i went to virginia, went to 21 stops in five days doing voter registration and in new jersey. i found many who are protesting have not yet faced the fact that if you are from new york, go to school in charlottesville, you have the right to do on-site voting where you live actually. so students were living in one place and voting in another make an unnecessary burden upon themselves. we are fighting for residential rights in voting. and students in virginia, higher crime and terror act, they can win the election in virginia. but they cannot very well be in virginia and charlottesville or richmond and not be able to vote

where they live. amy: finally, you know, president trump tweeted against the black athletes but did not tweet about the second charlottesville rally that was held this past weekend. he attacked the black athletes, but not the white supremacists led by richard spencer in charlottesville. this is charlottesville 2 with her torches once again? if they love the american flag so much, why did they challenge the confederate fly, which is antithetical to the american flag? they rally around the robert e lee -- robert e. lee said, don't bury me and confederate uniform. we lost that war and it would be an insult. in the name of feeling, don't put me any confederate careful now you around me. -- care for now you around me. info didn't robert e lee say, don't make statues of me? >> of course he said that.

, amongkes him an idol other things come is bad religion. we must register with passion campus by campus and registered to vote were you actually get your mail every day. in the school you attend. in that area.vote and students across the state -- they can win the election in november and set the pace for 2018. juan: finally, you have been around a long time and is seen a lot of presidents come and go. your reaction to the continued war that president trump is waging against huge sections of the american population? >> it is hard to fathom. this idea that you are starting theaign off challenging birthright, the birthplace of president barack obama, which was incentivized to feed him as

red meat to the south, the fact that you would make a case for obamacare is a name that democrats should of rejected in the beginning. that is like putting the black cannot top of the whitehead to win the race against harvey -- there's no such thing as obama care. as i many people who are really -- affordable care, but not obamacare. it is a rational. it doesn't make sense. the race baiting, the equivalent of those marching against the nazis marching in the raised supremacists from marching with emmett till. we deserve better. i would argue in the struggle of the soul of america, don't surrender. new york, pennsylvania, michigan

have only one day to vote. on tuesday. these states should lead the way in getting automatic registration, a multi-day registration. in the meantime, reacting because he sets the agenda. as long as you're reacting to him, you're not focusing on jobs, health care, and education post of amy: one more thing, reverend jackson, happy 76th birthday. >> thank you. amy: reverend jackson, civil rights leader, founder and president of the rainbow/push coalition. he ran for president in 1984 and 1988 as a democrat. now on a multilayered tour onmoting voter registration college campuses. he is headed to puerto rico with a plane full of aid this weekend. when we come back, president trump pledges to end daca. we will speak with one of the first -- >> amy: back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. the song you're been listening to "almost like praying" by acclaimed playwright lin-manuel miranda, creator of "hamilton." manysong featuring singers. miranda recorded the song less than a week after he tweeted that president trump is going straight to hell for his administration's slow response to the crisis in puerto rico. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we end today's show with immigration news. president trump said sunday he won't restore the daca program protecting hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation, unless lawmakers agree to expand the wall on the u.s.-mexico border and move to keep out thousands of children fleeing gang violence in central america. the senate democratic minority leader chuck schumer called the proposal a nonstarter, tweeting -- "nancy pelosi & i told potus we were open to reasonable border security alongside dreamact. his list goes so far beyond whats reasonable." amy: in september, president trump said the government would stop renewing applications for daca, the deferred action for childhood arrivals program, which gives nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants permission to live and work in the united states. well, for more, we go now to st. louis, missouri where we're joined by cesar vargas. he is the co-director of dream action coalition and new york state's first openly undocumented attorney. cesar vargas, welcome to

democracy now! usually, you're in new york that you're giving a talk in st. louis. respond to what president trump has now proposed. >> the white house immigration demands are troubling and simply dangerous. what this president is simply seeking every opportunity how to deport, detain, and target more immigrants. and the bottom line is that this administration is essentially seeking assistance in persecuting one group of immigrants in exchange to pledging to protect others. it is asking me to be complicit in supporting my own mother in exchange -- deporting my own mother in exchange for a green card. this demand, this deal is dangerously feeling good immigrant versus that immigrant and getting better educated

academically educated immigrants against my own mother, against day laborers, against central american children. this toxic spiel is one we cannot accept because it is essentially targeting immigrants in exchange for just simply, well, we're going to protect other group of immigrants. that is simply something we cannot do. that is something i cannot do, to have my own mother at the crosshairs of this deportation regime. juan: a lot of attention is focused on the president's insistence of congress funding the entire wall that he wants to build, but other aspects of what he is proposing like drastic changes in the family reunification aspect of immigration law that would dramatically change the nature of who comes into the country. can you talk about that as well? >> absolutely. we're seeing this at administration has always been targeting and demonizing undocumented immigrants that immigrants are taking jobs.

but what this administration is also doing is reflecting that nationalist, white supremacist agenda by attorney general jeff sessions of targeting illegal immigrants as well. so he is trying to cut legal immigration to ensure that the sometimeshe spouses, the children, many immigrant families to come together. that is un-american. this nation is founded on basic principles of keeping family's canther, on ensuring people seek a better opportunity and live the american dream. this president, again, is seeking every opportunity to target, detain, and deport more immigrants, both undocumented and legal immigrants. this is something that is a very dangerous potential deal that we are the democrats can push aside. i guess some of young people ,aca whose -- whose daca relief, it expires in a matter of a few weeks. in 2019.y daca expires

but we cannot follow and this vicious cycle of, well, let's hope one group of immigrants or help the good immigrants and the target and persecute that immigrants. that is something we cannot fall trap into, especially by this who is dangerous when it comes to simply every issue, not just -- amy: talk about good immigrants and who the that immigrants are? for me, it is easy for people to say, well, this daca recipients who are in law school, who are lawyers, who are doctors, engineers, those are the good immigrants according to what this administration has been saying. but that implies that, well, if these of the good immigrants, we need to kick out the undesirable ones. we need to kick out the parents who brought these children here. we need to kick out the central american children who many of them are my clients. i represent many of them in

immigration court. this administration is saying, well, we need to stop them. we need to prevent them from coming here, even though they are escaping unacceptable violence. there kicking out day laborers. i think it is fitting that division of the good immigrant versus the bad immigrant. what this a administration is doing is simply saying, cesar, i what you to be complicit in the targeting of persecution of those immigrants in exchange for a green card for you. and for me, that is simply something that i cannot accept. something that we should not accept. that is that something the democrats and republicans should be strong as we are seeing a bipartisan support from both parties from the american people in general for solution and immediate solution about taking the first steps to passing the dream act or some type of legislation, and then let's talk about a broader immigration reform. let's talk about border security and ensuring that we keep our nation secure. i think no one doubts that. but let's start with something

that will provide immediate solution for young people to ensure that they continue to go to school, continued to go to college, and contribute to the country they call home. juan: is your position the dreamact should be dealt with separately and first and then the more thorny issue, complex issue of overall immigration reform? that thes something majority of the american people are requesting, right? two thirds of donald trump supporters are also backing a path to citizenship for some of the daca citizens and rumors. -- recipients and dreamers. we have multiple legislation like the recognize american children act by commerce and karbala. we have the succeed act from north carolina. the dreamact by lindsey graham dick durbin. there's a bipartisan effort already underway. we should start by congressional

action and then let's work with the administration. no one is saying that we don't want to work with the a administration on this deal. but at the same time, we're not going to fall into a trap of accepting something so toxic that is going to persecute one group of immigrants in exchange of protecting others. i think that is something we need to work to ensure we can have a solution for many of these and people and ensure we can contribute to the country we call home. amy: cesar vargas, thank you for being with us, codirector of dream action coalition and new york state's first openly undocumented attorney. that does it for our broadcast. 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! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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