11/10/17 11/10/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! pres. trump: the time for excuses is over. .ow is the time for strength if you want peace, you must stand strong at all times. the world -- [applause] amy: president trump says the -- continues his five-nation tour of asia, today he's in vietnam for the asia-pacific economic cooperation summit. his fleet of helicopters was turned back because of the weather. we will speak with professor bruce cumings just returned from

seoul, south korea, where trump was met with protest. >> we do not want trump to visit south korea because he keeps on talking about war and the korean peninsula and putting pressure on commerce and forcing weapons trading. how can we welcome someone like this in south korea? amy: then at the united nations climate summit in bonn, germany, there will be several delegations from the u.s.. although president trump says he is pulling the u.s. out of the climate accord, the trump administration will be there to push coal, gas, a nuclear power. a number of mayors and governors , saying wee in bonnm are still in. >> we are still in as governors, university president from ngos, and others that are committed to meeting america's obligations under the paris agreement. amy: we will speak with 350.org

founder bill mckibben about the future of the climate accord, the latest catastrophes, and we will talk to him about his new first novel, "radio free vermont: a fable of resistance." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. at least four women have accused roy moore, the republican nominee in alabama for a u.s. senate seat, of making sexual advances on them while they were teenagers, including one woman who says moore forced himself on her when she was 14 years old and he was 32. leigh corfman says moore removed her shirt and pants, and then touched her over her bra and underwear. she recalls thinking, "i wanted it over with -- i wanted out. please just get this over with. whatever this is, just get it over." roy moore is a former state supreme court justice who is currently running to fill jeff

session's senate seat. some republicans are calling on moore to withdraw, but even if he does, other candidates will have to be written in during the december 12 special election. on thursday, alabama state auditor jim zeigler attempted to defend moore, saying -- "take joseph and mary. mary was a teenager and joseph was an adult carpenter. they became parents of jesus. there's just nothing immoral or illegal here. maybe just a little bit unusual." steven bannon, the head of the far right wing media outlet breitbart news, has also defended roy moore by attacking "the washington post [captioning made possible by democracy now!] bannon is trump's former chief strategist, and has been a major backer of roy moore's senate race. post" thathington drop that i'm on donald trump is the same these, amazon, washington post that dropped the

dime this afternoon on judge roy moore. now is that a coincidence? say is what i mean when i opposition party. a statement, sarah huckabee sanders said "like most americans, the president believes we cannot allow and your allegation to destroy a person's life." president trump himself has been accused of sexual assault and harassment by multiple women. during the 2016 election coming: in lives and thread to sue them, although he has not sued them. one woman has in turn sued trump for libel for calling her a liar. roy moore is famous for having been twice ousted as alabama's chief justice. in 2003 for refusing to remove a monument of the ten commandments in the rotunda of the alabama judicial building. after being reelected, he was again ousted in 2016, for ordering his judges to defy the u.s. supreme court's ruling legalizing marriage equality. moore is also well known for his racist, islamophobic and

homophobic positions. in 2005, he said homosexuality should be illegal, like bestiality. meanwhile, other allegations continue to rock state politics and hollywood. multiple women have accused minnesota state senator of sexual harassment. the women say schoen groped and touched them without their consent, and that he sent at least one woman a photo of male genitalia over snapchat. several lawmakers and minnesota governor mark dayton are calling on schoen to resign. this comes after kentucky state congressman jeff hoover has resigned as kentucky's house speaker, after it surfaced that he'd settled a sex harassment claim with one of his female staff members. he is refusing to give up his seat altogether, despite escalating pressure. five women have come forward to accuse powerful comedian louis ck of sexual harassment and misconduct, including masturbating in front of them. the revelations, first reported by "the new york times," come after years of speculation and rumors about louis ck using his

power in the comedy world to repeatedly sexually harass fellow female comedians. the premiere of louis ck's movie "i love you, daddy," was quickly ahead of thesday article's publication in "the new york times." hollywood in emmy-award-winning writer kate ,r gordon has accused matthew weiner, the creator of the hit tv show "mad men," of sexual harassment. gordon says weiner says the two were working together on mad men when "he told me that i owed it to him to let him see me naked." gordon was let go of the show a year later. and film director ridley scott is in the process of editing actor kevin spacey out of the nearly finished movie "all the money in the world," after more than a dozen men accused kevin spacey of sexual harassment and assault. kevin spacey's scenes are currently being re-filmed with a new actor, christopher plummer. in bonn, germany, a coalition of u.s. cities, companies, universities, and faith groups

have opened a 2500-square-meter pavilion outside the u.n. climate conference called "we are still in," an effort to persuade other countries that wide swathes of the united states are still committed to the landmark 2015 paris climate accord. this is alden meyer of the union of concerned scientists. a we are still in as coalition of mayors, governors, business leaders, university presidents, ngos, and others that are committed to meeting america's obligations under the paris agreement. the public opinion polls show an overwhelming majority of americans support harris. they want the u.s. to provide leadership. they don't support what president trump did. even a majority of trumps voters support more clean energy, solar energy, clean cars. they like the solutions to climate change. in the wake of the recent extreme weather events in hurricane irma and jose and maria, there is increasing recognition the cost of not

doing something on climate change could be quite astronomical. amy: this comes as officials in puerto rico have acknowledged that nearly 500 more people died this september, compared to september of last year. the data further casts doubt on the authorities' claims that hurricane maria killed only 55 people. meanwhile, puerto rico's capital san juan and other northern cities in puerto rico were plunged back into darkness on thursday after a main power line failed. the power line that failed was originally repaired by the tiny montana-based company whitefish energy, whose $300 million contract was canceled amid controversy over whitefish's ties to interior secretary ryan zinke. democracy now! is headed to bonn, germany. tune into our coverage on the next week when we broadcast from the u.n. climate summit. u.s. officials say the pentagon is planning to send hundreds more u.s. soldiers to afghanistan in early 2018, boosting the number of u.s.

troops in the country to about 16,000 soldiers. this comes the united nations says a u.s. airstrike in the northern city of kunduz killed at least 10 civilians last week. the u.n. findings contradict a u.s. military investigation, which claims no civilians were killed in the november for airstrike. local officials say up to 55 civilians may have been killed. u.s. airstrikes in afghanistan have increased dramatically under president trump. the syrian army has declared victory over isis militants, after it says it seized control of abu kamal, the final isis-controlled city inside syria. meanwhile, the united nations is warning of a humanitarian crisis in eastern ghouta, which is besieged by the syrian army. u.n. humanitarian adviser jan egeland says 400,000 civilians are in acute need of aid, which has been blocked by the assad government. >> this epicenter of suffering

has 400,000 civilians, men, women, and children, in a dozen besieged towns and villages. i feel as if we are now returning to some of the bleakest days of this conflict again. at least, the fears are that we are now returning with civilians and crossfire in too many provinces at the same time. amy: in news from washington, d.c., senate republicans have unveiled their plan for overhauling the tax code, as republican lawmakers scramble to push through trump's proposed tax plan. the senate version proposing this is different from the house version in several ways, including proposing to delay the dramatic cuts to the corporate tax rate by a year. president trump has made the tax overhaul a top legislative priority. his plan would shower billions of dollars in tax cuts upon the

wealthiest americans, including president trump's family and members of his administration. special counsel robert mueller is investigating whether former white house national security adviser mike flynn plotted to kidnap turkish cleric fethullah gulen, who lives in pennsylvania, and forcibly return him to turkey for $15 million. the turkish government views gulen as a political enemy, and has accused him of plotting the failed military coup last summer. the investigation centers on a december meeting between flynn and representatives of the turkish government, including turkish president recep tayyip erdogan's son-in-law and turkey's foreign minister. flynn was working as a foreign agent for the turkish government last fall, even as he served as a top adviser to donald trump's campaign and failed to disclose his lobbying efforts as required by law. flynn, areson, mike

being investigated. president trump's former bodyguard and longtime confidant keith schiller reportedly testified to the house intelligence committee that he rejected an offer by russia to send women to donald trump's hotel room during a 2013 visit to moscow for the miss universe pageant. the questions came in response to a dossier about trump compiled by former british spy christopher steele during the 2016 election. as the dossier detailed links between trump's campaign and russia, and alleged that russia had damaging sexual information about then candidate trump. new reports have surfaced showing how white house chief of staff john kelly tried to unsuccessfully pressure the acting department of homeland security secretary elaine duke to cancel the special immigration status of more than 50,000 hondurans living in the united states. "the washington post" reports

kelly called duke and tried to convince her to cancel the honduran' tps. duke refused, although she did announce the cancellation of the temporary protected status for 2500 nicaraguans. and in boston, massachusetts, residents are demanding immigration authorities release activist siham byah, who is facing deportation to morocco. byah is the mother of an eight-year-old boy, who is a u.s. citizen. hundreds of people rallied earlier this week outside the federal building in boston to demand her freedom, saying byah is being targeted for her political activism. she has now launched a hunger strike. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president donald trump is in vietnam to attend the asia-pacific economic cooperation summit and discuss trade with leaders from 21 member countries. the visit is part of his five-nation tour in asia.

hours after leaving china, trump took the stage of the apec summit and gave an address that criticized china's lack of a balanced trade relationship with the united states and condemned the multilateral accords pursued by past presidents. pres. trump: for many years, the united states systematically opened our economy with few conditions. we lowered or ended tariffs, reduced trade barriers, and allowed foreign goods to flow freely into our country. marketle we lowered barriers, other countries did not open their markets to us. funny. they must have been one of the beneficiaries. simply put, we have not been treated fairly by the world trade organization. organizations like the wto can only function properly when all

members followed the rules and respect the sovereign rights of every member. we cannot achieve open markets if we do not insure fair market access. i do not blame china or any other country of which there are many. for taking advantage of the united states on trade. if their representatives are able to get away with it, they are just doing their jobs. administrations in my country saw what was happening and did something about it. amy: immediately after president trump made his address, chinese president xi jinping took the stage to deliver a starkly contrasting speech that called for more global trade agreements. the chinese leader also said he supports the paris climate accord.

we have seen a profound change and economic globalization over the last few decades. hasomic globalization contributed significantly to global growth. indeed, it has become an irreversible, historical trend. in the face of deep changes in the global economy, does the asia pacific region of the bravery to face the wave of reform or do we hesitate? should we still economic globalization or should we dither in the face of challenges? should we jointly advance regional cooperation or should we go our separate ways? amy: shortly before trump landed summitnam where the apex is taking place, the white house announced he will not have a formal meeting with russian president vladimir putin, who is also in town to attend the apec summit. u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson said thursday that a meeting between the two leaders would depend on if they had "sufficient substance" to talk

about. white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders said the leaders may meet at an upcoming regional conference in the philippines. she also said they might have an informal meeting in da nang. this comes as trump said thursday after meetings with china's president that he would like russia's help in getting north korea to give up its nuclear weapons. trump spent much of his trip in asia focused on north korea. he told leaders of south korea's government on wednesday that the united states stands ready to attack north korea over its nuclear weapons program. while in korea, trump the tentative visit the demilitarized zone, but his fleet of helicopters that included the press was turned back because of bad weather. trump's first stop on his asia trip took him to japan where he said japan could shoot north korean missiles out of the sky with military equipment bought from the u.s.. ipan's prime minister abe

said they could intercept missiles if necessary and said he is looking into the deal. president trump was pushing billions of dollars of weapons on japan. for more, we're joined in chicago by bruce cumings, professor of history at the university of chicago. he just returned from seoul, south korea, last evening. he is the author of several books on korea, including "korea's place in the sun: a modern history" and "north korea: another country." welcome back to democracy now! can you talk about how president trump was met in south korea, where you also were? >> well, president trump was given the red carpet treatment by the government, just as he was in japan and china. but there were large protests right outside the american embassy, which is in downtown seoul. there were maybe over 1000 protesters. sayingy against trump, particularly, no war.

i was really struck by the violence of emotion on that particular issue. koreans are under the threat of war from north korea. the dmz is just 35 miles from seoul, notice been a case for decades and decades. a trump has raised an immediate issue of attacking north korea, as you just said. i have never experienced the kind of emotion that i saw both in the protests and in the conference that i attended. people in the audience were standing up and saying things like "trump is 10 times more " androus than kim jong-un then everybody clapped. it is remarkable that trump -- running through east and southeast asia talking about north korea, but he only spent a little over a day in korea. instead, is discussing korean problems with prime minister abe in tokyo and president xi in

china. he manages to denigrate south korea without even trying. he told abe over the phone some weeks ago that the south korean president was engaged in appeasement. i just think the relations between south korea and the united states are bad, and probably going to get worse. amy: i just wanted to turn to some of the protest you describe as hundreds gathered as trump toured the u.s. army base camp humfreys. to visitnot want from south korea because he keeps talking about war and the korean peninsula and putting pressure on commerce and forcing weapons trading. how can we welcome someone like this? amy: bruce cumings, if you could respond to that and also if you think trump changed his tone from talking about little rocket man and talking about, you know, fire and fury, bringing that

down on the 25 million north well, taking a different approach. maybe, in fact, more cutting for the north korean leader, talking about his grandfather and his father. >> i think trump modulated his violent rhetoric while he was in korea. that is the least he could do. i did not see anything in what trump said that indicated a diplomatic approach in the wings, diplomatic approach to north korea. essentially, he said almost nothing when he was in korea. nothing that was newsworthy. i thought it was interesting that his staff told everybody that trump wasn't going to go to the dmz because that has become a cliche for american presidents. to then yesterday, he tried get in his helicopter and fly up tough in the look face of the north koreans. but it was a very foggy day, and

he could not land -- as you said. amy: this is very interesting. they actually flew five minutes , not only the dmz marine one, president's helicopter, but the press following. and then they were stopped. many might call it poetic justice -- by the climate. >> it is a cliche where american presidents wear into the north and flex their muscles. the vice president pence has are ready been there doing that. to me, it is just a symbol of the mobility of american policy toward korea going back 60 years now. the dmz was formed in 1953. we have just an armistice that ended the korean war that year. it would be a major step forward if the u.s. would at least try to get together with north korea to thena and put an end

state of war. i was going to say about history to the military base, that is the largest american military outside of theld united states. the u.s. has operational control in a crisis of 650,000 south korean soldiers. and yet the national security mcmasterad general chided south korea for not protecting his sovereignty over a deal that south korea made with china just before trump showed up. i think that is probably the most important thing regarding south korea that happened on this trip. china and south korea agreed there would be no more bad antimissile batteries installed in south korea. the south korean president said explicitly he would not join an ,lliance of the u.s. and japan

whether it is targeted at china or anybody else. and he pointedly said the u.s. is an ally. we have a mutual defense treaty with korea. and japan is not an ally. and then he -- or his staff brought a comfort woman, 88 years old, in other words, a sex slave of the japanese army, to meet with trump when he was in korea. so the japanese were not too happy about that. it is absolutely ridiculous the u.s. keeps trying to knock together an alliance between the uniteda, and states when relations between japan and korea are still as bad as they are and japan has never really issued a proper apology for putting more than 100,000 korean women into sex slavery. about bothn you talk the role of china when it comes

to north korea and also the role of russia? it is not exactly clear if president trump will be meeting with vladimir putin in da nang, vietnam around the -- at the apec summit. now they're saying it is going to be more of a casual setting. you don't hear russia talked about very much with korea. what role does russia play? >> they have about 15 substantive things they could talk about. russia actually has better relations with north korea right now than china does. sayn has been trying to some i think very levelheaded things about the situation come up particularly, no matter how much you sanction north korea, the north koreans are going to eat grass before they give up their nuclear weapons, which is

exactly right. the sanctions have never worked. north korea has been sanctioned since early 1950, before the korean war. weren'tyour listeners alive then. maybe their parents weren't alive then. this constant sanctions, slapping on more sanctions, north korea gets its back to the wall -- which is what the situation they deal with best. over time, it turns out nothing happens in terms of the sanctions actually yielding positive results. north korea's relationship with china is about as bad as it ever has been. these were close allies for decades during the korean war and the cold war thereafter. met tog-un has not jinping. has not been invited to beijing, which used to be a ritual for a new north korean leader. trying to send an envoy to pyongyang for weeks. some young keep saying, stay

home, we know it you're going to say. north korea looks at china is basically ganging up on it. with the united states. in the u.s. has this fantasy that somehow china is going to be able to turn the screws hard enough on north korea that north korea will yell uncle and give up its nuclear weapon. that is never going to happen. but it reflects the poor understanding in washington of the relations. china is never going to do anything about -- without fiercely threatening the stability of that regime. amy: how close do you think the u.s. is to nuclear war with north korea? >> i was asked that by people in korea who had a little more interest in the subject than we do, although probably their muscles can reach here in chicago.

i've been thinking about this question for six monts. i can't believe anyone in their right mind would want to launch a preemptive attack either to take out, if it could be done, north korea's nuclear weapons themissiles or decapitate regime, which we talk about war which the pentagon inside of the way people talk about as if that would be great if we could get away with it. it is clearly in violation of international law to do something like that. a nuclear war between north korea and the united states would devastate the region. but more than that, it would probably lead to at least two years of nuclear winter where the debris swirling around the planet and the atmosphere would make it impossible to grow crops. anyone who talks about nuclear war in this day and age with all we know about nuclear winter and the terrible effects of nuclear

weapons, is basically a war criminal, in my view. nuclear weapons should never be aed, especially to see president of united states go to the united nations and threatened to totally destroy north korea? that was just nauseating. , since thing he forgot he knows no history, is we already did that during the korean war. we raised every north korean city to the ground with firebombing and incendiaries. and it still didn't work. they still fought as to a stalemate. there is no military solution in korea. we should have recognize that in 1953. amy: what is being eviscerated is the state department. it does not get as much attention, but they're about alarms going off for a while now that the diplomatic corps, the highest levels of the state department, are basically people are leaving. they are not being replaced. can you talk about what would be

a diplomatic solution, what you could see that president trump certainly has not gone down the path of but also president obama, and before that -- what could lead to peace in korea and would it mean a united korea, north and south? >> trump went to east asia without an undersecretary -- or whatever they call it, assistant secretary, for east asian affairs, which is the highest position for that region in the state department. i don't think there's ever been a president on it eased asian trip without that crucial position being filled. tillerson doesn't even care about the state department, despite of being the head of the state department. and you are right. it has been gutted. the expertise is flying out the window and any number of issues. number of issues. what would solve the korean problem, and it is important for this alongside the horrible

specter of nuclear war, is for the u.s. to agree to freeze its own huge military exercises in south korea in return for a freeze on north korean testing of its missiles and atomic bombs. the so-called freeze for freeze proposal that would, for example, former secretary of defense william perry supports. the chinese support it. it is not clear the north koreans support it, but we have not tried. and once the freeze is in place, opened diplomatic relations with north korea. it is in poor and to understand diplomacy is not something you do among friends -- although, you do it. diplomacy arose and world history to deal with enemies. we've had no diplomatic relations with north korea for 72 years. it hasn't hurt them any more than the sanctions. or it hurts them, but it is something that could easily be remedied if the u.s. sent them -- the ambassador to pyongyang,

whereupon we might get some influence over this regime. they have wanted diplomatic relations with the united states for 25 years. mr. perry, when he was running the so-called perry process, for bill clinton, new negotiations of diplomacy with the said two things that are absolutely true. one, we should establish diplomatic relations with pyongyang. number two, there nuclear weapons and missiles are for deterrence. if i can do say one more thing about that, in the middle of the summer, the north koreans started saying, and kim jong-un said this, that they are building their deterrent toward an endpoint that is approaching soon. in other words, an endpoint that would allow them to feel comfortable that they have a significant deterrent, but they're not one to go ahead and arsenal of ice

bm's and nuclear weapons. they want to be able to defend themselves. that was a clear signal finally picked up by "the new york times" yesterday, a signal that north korea would like to get involved in diplomacy once it feels that it's to turn to secure. -- it's to trent his secure. they have not tested any bonds for two months. i think the last one was september 15. that is also a signal that they're ready for diplomacy. when you put those relatively modest steps alongside the catastrophic nature of new war mekorea, it just seems to the overwhelming choice is to start talking to north korea and stop treating them like a criminal and a pariah and calling them names -- which only

has the effect of verifying to the north korean public that their leadership has been right all along. that the u.s. just wants to destroy north korea. amy: bruce cumings, they are joining us professor of history , at the university of chicago. author of a number of books on korea, including "korea's place in the sun: a modern history" and "north korea: another country." 60% of the state department's equivalent of four star generals are gone, according to new data from the american foreign services association. the professional organization for america's diplomatic tour. americanrs reveal diplomacy, the backbone of the u.s. global influence come is in a state of near collapse. when we come back, president tomp, after vietnam, will go the philippines before coming home. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump's five nation tour of asia will include a stop in the philippines to attend a summit meeting of specific rim leaders in manila and meet with philippines president duterte. he is been overseeing a bloody war on drugs. on thursday, duterte gave a defiant speech to promote his drug war ahead of a summit and used obscenely was to hit back deadly drugs crackdown. since he was elected in 2016, more than 7000 people have been

extrajudicially killed by police or vigilantes will human rights groups have condemned duterte coming is received backing from president trump invited duterte to the white house. human rights watch slammed the invitation by saying by effectively endorsing duterte's murderous war on drugs am a trump has made himself morally complicit in future killings. i recently sat down with raffy lerma, incredibly brave award-winning photojournalist who has documented to territories were on drugs. he's usually based in the philippines, but he was in new york to discuss his work. postcribed -- having to described one of the night like this -- "photographer raffy lerma was only a few minutes into the overnight shift for the philippine daily inquirer when he received word that three bodies had been found on the streets of manila. out he went to capture the image. then there was a drug bust, and a few hours later an

extrajudicial killing. it was his first night back on the shift, and he was shocked by the rate the calls were coming in." a warning to our viewers, many of the images are graphic. >> it is overwhelming what is happening in the philippines right now. there are close to 14,000 people that have been killed in the drug war. beenhousand of which have claimed by police, in police operations. they claim that killed 4000 people in the rest are unexplained killings. investigationder and some of them are vigilante killings. well, yes, so many people have been killed.

amy: one of us must famous photographs documents president duterte take press yes or and drugs showing a woman grieving as she cradles the lifeless body of her husband. next to him is a sign left by his killers that reads "i am a truck pusher. do not copy." your photo echoes the sculpture in the vatican that shows the virgin mary cradling the dead body of jesus. talk about the night that you took this photograph. >> well, i could remember still what happened that night. we came from another -- actually, it was the third killing that night. see that there was a strong picture. memberid

police car, beside the victim. she was holding on to her partner. interviewed -- she told me she wanted to feel the body of michael was still hot or warm, if he was still alive. remember howould she was telling us to stop to helpictures and just them. amy: how did you feel about that? >> to be honest, like a vulture. on -- taking the pictures. we couldn't do anything. job.e to do my felt --as really -- you

you wanted to do something more, but you also have to do your job. how do she feel now about this picture you took that has become so famous, she has become this image, very much showing the pain of what is happening? you are talking about, what, like more than 10 people killed on average every night? and we're talking about i police, by vigilantes all coordinated in this war on drugs that is coordinated by the president of your country of the philippines, duterte. her. is hard to speak for i'm still in contact with her and her family, but she would rather not remember it and remember what happened that night.

course, forgetf about it and move on. but still, it is hard. amy: did she tell you about michael and who he was? >> of course. i remember, too, i think it was four days later, i went to the wake of michael. first, the family members were hesitant of letting me into the wake. of course what happened that of theynd then kind were feasted upon. everyone taking their pictures. shown cruz. amy: it came about because of your photograph, which duterte specifically address. clearly, you got to him because you captured what is happening on the streets with his own so-called law enforcement forces

will stuff you called your photograph overly dramatic and criticized it as fake? it in the did mention stated dress. he said it was overly dramatic and you're seeing the trade -- portrayed as mother mary of jesus christ. the familyy because of michael was grieving. he should have given them the dignity are ready for me. think i'm part is i not sure with the words, if i was vindicated, that the photo was mentioned during the state of the nation address. now people began talking about the drug war and the killings. amy: president trump visiting the philippines.

trump shocked many when he talked about his admiration for duterte. i want to go to a clip of fellow greens -- philippines president duterte take the last of gender, likening himself to hitler. >> hitler massacred 3 million jews. millione is 3 [indiscernible] amy: philippines president duterte. your thought on what he said, talking about hitler and more? a man, he is the president

and saying this does not help in solving the killings. it.s instigating, promoting amy: and many have our president, the president of the united states, president trump theseemed to endorse so-called war on drugs of duterte. with trump bypoke telephone, said trump was quite sensitive to are worried about drugs. he wishes me well, said duterte. in my campaign, he said, we're doing it as a sovereign nation, the right way. i want to share with you the words of president trump. "i just want it to congratulate you because i'm hearing the unbelievable job on the jug problem." drug it was published by the intercept and also obtained by

"the washington post" and "the new york times." trump said "we have a problem, but what a great job you're doing and i just wanted to call and tell you that," president trump said. >> i'm sorry to say this, but i hope what is happening in the philippines does not happen here. if they are solving the drug problem this way and killing people, i hope it is not going to happen in america. amy: what thoughts do you have a president trump coming to meet the philippines president duterte ? >> i hope he is more aware of what the human rights situation happening in the philippines. and it should be addressed. he's the leader of the free world. he should set an example. and i hope he says something about it now.

amy: raffy lerma, award-winning photojournalist based in manila, philippines, where he was a staff photographer for the philippine daily inquirer. he has been documenting the governments war on drugs, now a freelance photographer. president trump is set to meet with philippines president roderigo duterte this weekend during his five nation tour of asia, which includes a stop in the philippines to attend a summit meeting of pacific rim leaders. 7000 people have been killed by police vigilantes in duterte so-called war on drugs. when we come back, 350.org founder bill mckibben as we had off to bonn, germany, for the u.n. climate summit. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: performer the filipino musician. this is democracy now!

i'm amy goodman. we and the show by looking at the yuan, summit in bonn, germany. we will be broadcasting on the next week from bonn. there will be a number of u.s. delegations, despite the fact president trump said he is pulling the u.s. out of the landmark 2015 paris climate accord. the trump administration is sending officials to push coal, gas, nuclear power during a presentation at the summit. the presentation monday is entitled "the role of cleaner and more efficient fossil fuels and nuclear power in, mitigation." it will feature speakers from coal company peabody energy, nuclear engineering firm new skill power, and liquefied natural gas exporter. meanwhile, coalition of u.s. cities, companies, universities, and faith groups have open a 2500 square meter pavilion outside the u.n. climate summe .

wide slots are still committed to the landmark paris climate accord. governmentas syria's said tuesday it will sign on to the paris agreement on climate change. this means if the u.s. pulls out of the paris deal as trump has vowed, the u.s. will be the only country on earth that is not a part of the landmark 2015 agreement. billore, we're joined by mckibben, cofounder of 350.org. the right livelihood award co-author of a number of books about the climate. but he has a most recent book, why he is in new york right now -- i saw him at strand bookstore last night -- reading from his book, his first novel, "radio free vermont: a fable of resistance." bill, we're going to get to that. but first, let's talk about the latest developments.

syria followed nicaragua. nicaragua has said they were not going to sign because it wasn't effective enough. but now syria in nicaragua 20 the paris climate accord leaves the u.s. alone in the world? >> which is, if you think about it, particularly remarkable because what country has poured more carbon into the atmosphere than any other in the long history of burning coal, gas, oil? almost unbelievable decision to back away, even from this quite modest paris accord, is probably the most dramatic act of american diplomacy -- almost ever. we are literally saying, we know more than everybody else in the world about the biggest problem the planet has ever faced. amy: so talk about what is going to happen at this u.n. climate summit. it is the first 1 -- i mean, last year when we were in

marrakesh, president trump had just been elected. the place was buzzing with the fact that a proud climate and i was now whenever the president. but now he is pulling the u.s. out. what does it mean a talk about the different formations that will be there. >> the u.s. is still sending a delegation. we want it both ways. we're having rejected the paris accord and now want to screw up any efforts to keep it going forward by other countries. you know, it is like -- i don't know what it is like. it is like breaking offering gauge meant the saying, here's what you want the children's names 10 years in the future. we will be there officially saying, burn more coal. that is our message that we're sending over a panel of coal executives to say. there is a group of mayors and governors who are saying, for our states and cities, we are still in. we're going to try to keep the paris accord. most important, there is the

movement-based group, the u.s. people delegation that has emerged. many people you have had on over the years, dallas gold to from the indigenous environment on network and others, who are reminding us that even if we had carried out every promise that everybody made in the paris climate accord, the planet would still warm more quickly than we can possibly deal with. they are the ones saying, the whole world needs to be moving toward 100% renewable energy quickly and it needs to be keeping fossil fuel in the ground. amy: and affirmation is called? >> the people delegation. my guess is they will have the most in common with people around the world. other delegations trying hard to move this process forward. the way to imagine official american decision is, we are not the caboose on the train. we are tossing an anchor off the caboose trying to bring the

whole show to a halt. so a lot has been made in this first year since donald trump was elected, but he has not passed any significant legislation. but doesn't this obscure the fact, especially in the area of the environment, they are moving full speed ahead? >> absolutely. arguably done is the most damage. in a sense, it is not really trump in this case. this would have happened with almost any republican, but this is the koch brothers agenda. this is what they have wanted forever. scott pruitt is their man. amy: the head of the epa. >> yes. they're dismantling years of terminal regulation in the course of a few months. it is a slaughter money environment. of course, the reason that is so dangerous is, with climate

change in particular, this is the one time limited problem the world has ever faced. we are not going to have a chance to repair the damage because by the time the trump administration is over, we're going -- owing to be much further along. melting ice caps, acidifying oceans, breeding storms. that is what is happening now. we're losing, above all, time. desperately needed time. amy: talk about what happened in india in new delhi this week. schoolsd 4000 , ourse the air is so bad machines, our instruments that insure small particulates the atmosphere go up to 999 parts per million. the machine stopped working a few days ago because the levels were way above that. 999 parts per million is 30 times the safe level.

they say the equivalent of just breathing the air in jelly at the moment is smoking 50 cigarettes a day. i have been there in the last couple of years. as it is today, but it was so bad he did not want to be outdoors at all. amy: we just reported on puerto rico. we just came back from puerto rico. hit by hurricane maria, now i think something in the range of 80% of people do not have electricity once again. it is going backwards? >> iraq the first book on -- ite change 30 years ago wrote the first book on climate change 30 years ago. back then it was abstract. we knew it was coming but did not know exactly what it was going to look like. at this point, everything will issue of your broadcast is a kind of gazetteer of the destruction wrought by what we have done to the environment. amy: the fires where we were in napa in santa rosa, absolutely

horrifying, the devastation we saw. flooding of houston, the heart of the petrochemical industry. florida. >> the u.s. covers 2% of the world service. so in the last 60 days on that 2% of the planets, we assume the largest rainstorm in american history with hurricane harvey, the longest extreme wind storm in the planet's history with hurricane irma will step we saw puerto rico knocked back 30 years in its development. then we saw those fires and napa and sonoma. if there's any place in the world that kind of stands for the good life, there you are a beautiful california terrain surrounded by big vats of wine. and yet there were people fleeing for their lives. in some people not able to go fast enough. amy: many people died. parish in the fires. we only have a minute and then we're going to do a post show interview. are you talking for secession for your state? >> i don't think vermont will

secede. but the point radio free vermont is to try and write a love letter to this resistance. i've spent the last 10 or 15 years trying to play my small part around the environment. i have loved watching in the last year as this widespread resistance has sprung up to donald trump. this book, my first attempt at fiction, is an attempt to be a little humorous and a little loving because the resistance needs to keep spreading and needs to be as creative as it possibly could. bernie sanders said on the back "we don't need to secede, but vermont has a long tradition of standing up to power. boy, we needed now more than ever." amy: just a brief summary, tell us what "radio free vermont: a fable of resistance" is about. >> a small band of vermonters who decidedio host that the place that they love,

this local, small, strange little state is just being eroded by the forces of bigness culture.nal consumer so they begin to take steps in defense of the plays that they love. they end up nonviolent fugitives from the law, and they have a series of adventures that conclude not only with what may be the only cross-country ski chase scene in american literature, but consuming inordinate amount of vermont's great product, the micro brewed beer in which we lead the world in production. amy: we will do a web exclusive. you can check it out at democracynow.org about "radio free vermont: a fable of resistance." it is the first novel of bill mckibben, a proud vermonter himself. that does it for our broadcast. democracy now! is looking for

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