11/27/17 11/27/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> they entered the mosque from outside, tender 20 people with weapons, and they destroyed everything. threegypt has declared days of national mourning after at least 305 people were killed in an attack on a crowded mosque in egypt sinai peninsula friday. officials are calling it the deadliest terror attack in egypt's modern history. they blamed the attack on the militant group linked to isis. we will go to cairo for the update with democracy now!

sharif abdel kouddous. then showdown at the consumer financial protection bureau. who will become the acting watchdog? cordray step down. namingimmediately after leandra english, president trump said he planned to go ahead with his own appointment of budget director mick mulvaney i'm who has voted in favor of killing the bureau. suing.lish is who will show up at work today? then can the emergence of nontraditional candidates help revive faltering democratic party that is facing his lowest approval rating and nearly quarter-century? we will speak with democrats who on key races with grassroots sources outside the democratic party in november. in short, north carolina, braxton winston is a former middle school football coach who took to the streets in 2015 to along with hundreds of people to

protest police reality. his win militant secure the second highest number of votes for an at-large charlotte city council seat. >> it was a moment when the fear of what could happen changed to that weg of empowerment are doing the right thing. amy: we will also speak with lee carter, a former marine who unseated the republican majority whip of virginia's house of delegates. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. egypt has declared three days of national mourning after at least 305 people were killed in an attack on a crowded sufi mosque in egypt's sinai peninsula on friday. egyptian officials are calling it the deadliest terror attack in egypt's modern history. on monday, more than two dozen attackers wearing military

combat uniforms detonated a bomb inside the mosque, opened fire with machine guns on fleeing worshipers, and set cars ablaze to stop people from being able to escape. among the victims were at least 27 children. this happened on friday. officials are blaming the attack on a militant group linked to isis. this is mohamed abdel fatah, the imam of the al rawdah sufi mosque, which was attacked on friday. >> yesterday's sermon was on mohammed, the prophet of humanity. the week before that was on mohammed, the prophet for mercy. i believe these are two issues that the entire world, whether muslim or non-muslim, need to implement most of mercy, forgiveness, and humanity. a religion based on few minute he will never condone violence or aggression such as this. amy: over the last year, isis-linked militants in egypt have also repeatedly targeted

coptic christians, bombing two coptic churches and opening fire on a bus headed to a monastery. within hours after friday's attack, egyptian president abdul fattah al-sisi appeared on television, vowing revenge for the attack. only minutes later, egyptian warplanes carried out multiple airstrikes in the desert of the sinai peninsula. the military says they were targeting militants fleeing the attack. we'll go to egypt for more on the attack after headlines. and washington, d.c., there's chaos of the consumer financial protection bureau as to people are battling for control of the consumer protection agency. it was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. after announcing his resignation

earlier in the month, on friday, former director richard cordray resigned and appointed his former chief of staff leandra english to be his successor. a president trump intervened unexpectedly announcing he is appointing as budget director mick mulvaney to head the agency. while serving as the south carolina congressman, mulvaney voted to eliminate the agency entirely. leandra english has sued president trump over his appointment of mulvaney. that creatednk act the agency specifically calls for the deputy director to become acting director when the agency's top spot is vacant. we will have more on the battle at the consumer financial protection bureau later in the broadcast. lawmakers are returning to capitol hill today where they are facing escalating pressure to reveal which lawmakers have used taxpayer money to pay out at least $17 million in settlements for sexual and racial harassment discrimination. while many members of congress are pushing to pass a resolution

to require mandatory sexual harassment awareness training, california congressmember jackie speier is introducing legislation to make all sexual harassment settlements public. the bill would also end a mandatory cooling-off period before accusers can file sexual harassment claims in congress. michigan congressman john conyers is stepping aside as the ranking democratic lawmaker on the house judiciary committee, after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment and misconduct. conyers reportedly paid out $27,000 to one woman who alleged she was fired from his washington staff because she rejected his sexual advances. the news of the settlement was first reported by buzzfeed after a white supremacist blogger gave them the documents. conyers denies the accusations. meanwhile, minnesota democratic senator al franken says he will not resign from the senate, but is returning to capitol hill today feeling embarrassed and ashamed after three women accused him of groping them without their consent. this all comes as president trump continues to offer support for alabama republican senate

candidate roy moore, who has been accused of sexually harassing or assaulting at least nine women when they were children or teenagers. on sunday, trump slammed moore's opponent, doug jones, tweeting -- "the last thing we need in alabama and the u.s. senate is a schumer/pelosi puppet." trump himself has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by at least 16 women. the journalism schools at arizona state university and the university of kentucky have rescinded awards given to charlie rose, who was fired by cbs after nearly a dozen women accused him of sexual harassment and assault. he was also fired as well from pbs and bloomberg, they severed their contracts with him and his program. the dean othe arizona's walter cronkite school of journalism and mass communication said -- "the actions victimized young women much like those who make up the overwhelming majority of

cronkite students -- young women who deserve to enter workplaces that reward them for their hard work, intelligence and creativity and where they do not have to fear for their safety or dignity." women across the world took to the streets on saturday on the annual international day for the elimination of violence against women. crowds poured into the streets in peru, mexico, france, sweden, spain, mozambique, and other countries to protest femicide, rape, and sexual harassment. in turkey, thousands of women clashed with police in istanbul. thisey don't even let march happen. they can't even tolerate this. they don't want the women to be free. but we will not leave the streets as long as we can. needsst, the government to stop discriminating policy.

women will always say no to this. amy: in south africa, the supreme court of appeals has more than doubled the prison seence for olympic and paralympic runner oscar pistorius, who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend reeva steenkamp in 2013. the sentence has now been increased from six years to 15 years. back in washington, d.c., more than 100 senior foreign service officers have left the state department since president trump took office, in what appears to be a forced exodus carried out by secretary of state rex tillerson. among those to have departed was the state department's chief of security, bill miller, who left after tillerson repeatedly refused to meet with him. miller is one of the most

powerful people of the state department, yet he was reportedly forced to cite a law requiring him to be allowed to speak with the secretary of state before tillerson was willing to meet with him for five minutes. we move now to pope francis visiting burma, amid the burmese military's ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign against rohingya muslims in the majority buddhist nation. more than 600,000 rohingyas have fled burma into neighboring bangladesh amid a military campaign of murder, rape, torture, and forcible displacement. pope francis is slated to meet today with the burmese military leader min aung hlaing, who has sole authority over the armed forces, and who is likely planning to run for president in 2020. on tuesday pope francis will

meet with burma's de facto leader, aung san suu kyi, a nobel peace prize winner whose relative silence in the face of the ethnic cleansing campaign has deeply undercut her international standing. this all comes only days after bangladesh and burma signed a deal to repatriate hundreds of thousands of rohingya refugees back to burma. this is abdul mannan, a rohingya refugee speaking from a bangladeshi refugee camp. >> we ought to be returning to our own country, but we're one condition -- we rohingya people want our own nationality to be recognized there.

if we are not recognized by the government there, then we will not go back from here. amy: in honduras, millions of people went to the polls sunday to vote in a contested presidential election that his the authoritarian conservative president against the .rogressive alliances candidate he isthis morning, leading the president by about five percentage points. both candidates have claimed victory, although the results have not been fully counted. in syria, dozens of civilians have been killed in the last 24 hours by shelling and airstrikes reportedly carried out by the syrian regime and russia. the attacks occurred in the isis-controlled eastern province of deir az zor and the rebel-controlled district of eastern ghouta, outside the capital damascus. meanwhile, the pentagon is slated to announce in the coming days that there are already 2000 u.s. soldiers inside syria. the pentagon has previously claimed there are only 500 u.s. soldiers inside syria. this comes as the u.s. is reportedly ending its strategy of arming syrian kurdish on thes, who remain ground fighting. in pakistan, the federal law minister has resigned after weeks of escalating protests in

better homes & gardens, and allrecipes. the koch brothers invested $650 million in the deal. black workers at tesla's fremont, california, factory have filed a class-action lawsuit accusing tesla of being a "hotbed for racist behavior. a former african american tesla worker says he was routinely called the n-word while working at the factory, and that after he complained, he was fired for not having a positive attitude. tesla is also facing lawsuits accusing the company of discriminating against lgbt workers and older workers. and in massachusetts, members of native american tribes from across new england gathered in plymouth on thursday to observe the 48th annual national day of mourning. as many across the country were celebrating thanksgiving, the native americans were gathering to remember the genocide and

colonialism brought by european settlers, who established one of the first permanent settlements in north america in plymouth. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. egypt has declared three days of national mourning after at least people were killed in an attack 300 on a crowded sufi mosque in egypt's sinai peninsula on friday. egyptian officials are calling it the deadliest terror attack in egypt's modern history. more than two dozen attackers wearing military combat uniforms detonated a bomb inside the mosque, opened fire with machine guns on fleeing worshipers, and set cars ablaze to stop people from being able to escape. among the victims were at least 27 children. officials are blaming the attack on a militant group linked to isis. this is mohamed abdel fatah, the imam of the al rawdah sufi mosque, describing friday's attack. >> aut two minutes after i

climbed onto the platform, i heard was sounded like an explosion outside the mosque and then some people came in sight firing at all of the worshipers. of force as soon as people for the firing, they all started to run. some climbed onto the platform. i saw them felt on top of each other. in the assailants were hitting anybody and everybody. anybody was breathing. i did not see their numbers. i did not what they look like. i could only deal their presence inside the mosque. amy: over the last year, isis-linked militants in egypt have also repeatedly targeted coptic christians, bombing two coptic churches and opening fire on a bus headed to a monastery. within hours after friday's attack, egyptian president abdul fattah al-sisi appeared on television, vowing revenge for the attack. only minutes later, egyptian warplanes carried out multiple airstrikes in the desert of the sinai peninsula. the military says they were targeting militants fleeing the attack. >> the military and police

return security and stability with absolute power in a short giving of time. we will respond to this attack with brutal strength to encounter these terrorist extremists. amy: for more, we go to cairo where we are joined by sharif abdel kouddous. shreve, welcome back to democracy now! can you lay out for us what you understand what happened on friday and what has been the response since? is as you describe it. about 25 to 30 militant arrived as the friday prayer was taking place. in for will drive vehicles, position themselves outside the main door in the 12 windows of the mosque and set off explosives in the mosque come at the began opening fire on the worshipers who were trying to flee. they torched several cars outside to prevent people from escaping.

they fired on ambulances that had arrived on scene. we have this horrific death toll of 305 people killed. --this very committed really so this very committed very highly correlated attack. it was to the islamic state as being responsible for this, although there has not been an official claim of responsibility. it looks like their largely to reasons why this mosque was targeted. in the past year, as the islamic sufis in thegeted area, killing a scholar, beheading him and posting pictures of it online, there was an isis commander also who singled out that area of sinai as being one of the places where sufis live, the group wanted or intended to eradicate. there have been reports that have come out now that militants

have stormed the village several times as recently as last week, warning the residence not to allow sufi rituals to take place but also not to coordinate with the police and the army. the tribe from that area are in conflict with the islamic way. aat also looks like it was main motivating factor for them to attack this area. with all of these threats being made against this village, the resident them selves have reportedly set up their own civilian checkpoints to try and protect themselves. and even so, the attack seems to have taken place with relative ease by the militants. we have this very bloody death toll. this is the village of only 2500 people. you're talking about nearly one in 10 people from this village, from this community being killed. buried are there being bil a mass graves.

amy: can you talk to us about this religious group? you shouldn't even really say a sufi mosque. most people would not identify in that way here. this was a mosque that was non-sufid by sufis and s alike. muslims. not a sect of they are not a minority group. they are an integral part of mainstream sunni islam. s have beenes, sufi excepted as mainstream islam. many leading theologians are sufi. the head of egypt's top islamic authority is sufi. so colleagues -- calling it a sufi mosque is a bit misleading. this is also a fact i'm sure the attackers also new they were

killing sunni muslims and this is why this is very shocking that the first militant attack on a muslim congregation marks kind of a new phase in who they are targeting. change in some way, public -- public anger may increase for them in sinai that would help in this conflict. amy: can you talk about who is the affiliate in sinai and what is sisi' stregy sin? talk about for people who are not even familiar with the map, how sinai fits egyptian politics. >> sinai is a peninsula that is attached to mainstream egypt. is technically in asia, not africa. this was occupied by israel in the 1967 war. when they979 or 1980

withdrew following the peace treaty. the region has seen a lot of militancy, especially in the last two years. the islamic state affiliate a're talking about really is group that first appeared on the 2011.in sinai in back then, they were attacking mostly israel, a gas pipeline that led to israel. they stepped up their attacks come as did other islamist militant groups, in 2013 following the overthrow by sisi of president morsi in july of that year. they began attacking police and military relations, claiming responsibility for several high profile attack. in 2014, they pledged allegiance to isis. they call themselves the sinai province. we have seen since then, a

ramping up that these large-scale attacks on civilians . they claimed responsibility for the downing of her russian airliner in 2015 that killed all on board. they launched a very violent campaign against egypt's coptic christian minority in the past year. we have seen bombs in churches in cairo and other cities that have killed dozens. now we see this latest attack, the first of its kind, on a mosque. trumpn friday, president tweeted -- will be calling the president of egypt in a short while to discuss the tragic terrorist attack, with so much loss of life. we have to get tougher and smarter than ever before, and we will. need the wall, need the ban! god bless the people of egypt." that was president trump's tweet. can you talk about u.s. relationship with egypt, trump's relationship with cece? as been uptionship

and question support with egypt as a second largest of the end the recipient of a second only to israel. through mubarak for 30 years, supreme council, mohammed morsi and now sisi. essentially, the support has always in there. is in response to this, as are heard in the clip, he responded with brute force and would avenge the martyrs. we're hearing of airstrikes happening in sinai. this is really continuation of the same exact kind of approach, conventional warfare, security approach that is failing. and is maybe exacerbating the crisis. much of sinai already has been under emergency law since 2014.

there are tens of thousands of soldiers there. there are army tanks, helicopters, heavy armor that has been deployed in the area. these i all of that, there is intangible, very few tangible results. the government's claiming every day, you see a most everyday reports of newspapers captured. if you go to the facebook page of the army, have killed about 3000 militants, which is more than they originally said existed. it is impossible to verify these claims. journalists have not been able to go for over three years now. it is hard to understand what is happening on the ground. meanwhile, egypt and sisi is spending billions of dollars signing massive arms heels for everything from german submarines to russian helicopters to french fighter jets and aircraft carrier. all -- there's been little on

health care and education. critics say these are weaponry that could be used in conventional warfare and not a global to this kind of counterterrorism they are facing. the support of the local population of sinai is key to winning this cut of conflict, but the military has engaged in very heavy-handed tactics. local tribes and residents of sinai have long felt discriminated against. this latest campaign has been particularly brutal. indiscriminate military tactics that have resulted in civilian casualties. multiple accounts of extrajudicial executions and arbitrary detentions and torture. houses have been raised and people displaced. entire villages have been destroyed. the treatment at checkpoints by military police of residence is that tory asleep bad.

the phone service, mobile phone service is regularly disrupted. people who oppose the militants are reluctant to even support the army and the security forces because this is the way they are being treated. themselvests brutally intimidate the collaboratingnst with the army and police and they come in and will kidnap someone and don't their decapitated body of the streets to terrorize the residents. the people of sinai are stuck. they're the one really suffering. amy: before we go, i want to ask you about a recent high court five-year prison sentence plus five year probation and massive fine, the appealed,al can't be

spending another year and a half in jail after three years. can you explain who he is, his significance, and what this means for other protesters also the situation for journalists right now in egypt? >> he is a leading figure of the 2011 uprising, of the revolution. he was a leading thinker and a very respected figure. i think that is why he was targeted so viciously by the government. yes been imprisoned under mubarak and under the supreme council of the armed forces. he was arrested -- issued an arrest work under morsi. aboutbeen imprisoned for 3.5 years out of his five-year sentence full top his final appeal was rejected so he will have just at least another year and a half in prison. he is facing another trial, which the verdict is set for december 30, where he faces more

years in prison. even after he gets out, yes five-year probation. what that means in egypt, spending 12 hours a day, every night in a police station. you would have to go in at 6:00 him everyday and he gets out of 6:00 a.m.. oh that is another five years of half of that being detained. that is difficult. with regards to the state of journalism, after the attacks on friday, the official state information service issued statements to all of the foreign press. in it, it included a warning to international media outlets and human rights organizations, basically saying, if we don't toe the government one we are considered "partners" to terrorism. the regime has come under

widespread criticism for the human rights record. this is kind of the worst wave of oppression in modern history. human rights workers and multiple counts of force disappearances and torture. attacks like these as a pretext to clamp down on political freedoms. in the past few weeks, there's been another wave of arrests. a prominent activist was blogger, a prominent was detained. there was a wave of arrests almost unprecedented targeting the gay community. this is happening and yet the military uses or the government uses these attacks to threaten or worn human rights organizations and journalists. finally, we should remember while friday's mosque attack was the deadliest terrorist attack in egypt, in egyptian history, it wasn't the deadliest incident. the most violent incident came in august 2013 when the army and the police just first the

pro-war to protest the killing between 800 and 1000 people. amy: and just go on with that. explain what happened and how that informs egypt today. >> that was a mass cinema supporters of the ousted separate morsi in two districts in cairo. the police, backed by the army, came in and brutally opened fire. there had been multiple reports on this and multiple accounts. we don't even know what the exact death toll is. i was there that day. for me, it was the bloodiest incident i have witnessed and i have been in something like five different wars now. that one day was the bloodiest i had seen. we're talking about the killing of at least -- i think the official is 700. it probably between 800 and 1000 people. in a matter of hours in one space. so this is one of the worst

state mass killings since tenement square or maybe the worst. it is not something the country is really come to terms with and it is something that kind of revolution. many people took to the streets initially did not agree with the muslim brotherhood and were not supporting these it in, but once you can kill that many people in a day, that was the first on the government and army really have full control back in the revolution was pretty much crushed. amy: i want to thank you for being with us, sharif abdel kouddous, democracy now! , egypt.ndent in cairo comin back, showdown at the consumer financial protection bureau in washington. who will show up for work today as its head? two not soak with traditional democratic their racesho won

in north carolina and virginia. braxton winston became famous in charlotte, north carolina, with his raised fist in front of a police line protesting police brutality. he will now take his seat on the charlotte city council. and we will speak with lee carter, democratic socialist, former marine, unseated the republican majority whip of virginia's legislature known as the virginia house of delegates. this is democracy now! back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

amy: "you want it darker" by leonard cohen. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. you can sign-up for our daily headlines and news alerts by texting the word democracynow to 66866. over the weekend, a fight erupted over who will become the

acting director of the consumer financial protection bureau this morning -- that's the cfpb -- the federal watchdog agency that was established after the 2008 financial crisis to regulate banks, credit card companies, payday lenders, and impose fines for wrongdoing. analysts say whoever is empowered as director has a huge role in deciding what or how much the organization decides to regulate. after announcing his resignation earlier in the month on friday, the director of the bureau, richard cordray, sent a letter to president trump announcing he was leaving and was appointing as his successor, leandra english, the bureau's deputy director and his former chief of staff. but almost immediately, president trump responded with his own announcement that he planned to go ahead with his own appointment of budget director mick mulvaney. not that he is going to step down as budget director, he will just add being head of this agents the until he nominates someone to take on the job.

-- aturday, trump tweeted "the consumer financial protection bureau, or cfpb, has been a total disaster as run by the previous administrations pick. financial institutions have been devastated and unable to properly serve the public. we will bring it back to life!" while veiny had tried to kill the agency. trump nominee must be confirmed by the senate in a marine memorandum obtained by politico -- trumps nominee must be confirmed by the senate. in a memorandum obtained by politico, the cfpb's general counsel mary mcleod said trump had the legal authority to name an acting director to the bureau under the federal vacancies reform act. but the 2010 dodd-frank act that created the agency specifically

calls for the deputy director to become acting director when the agency's top spot is vacant. richard cordray said that english would become the deputy director so she automatically became the director. late sunday night, english filed a complaint saying -- "the president's purported or intended appointment of defendant mulvaney as acting director of the cfpb is unlawful." it also argued -- "the president may not, consistent with the statutory requirement of independence, install a still-serving white house staffer as the acting head of an independent agency." english also said in a statement sunday -- "the talented, dedicated, and hard-working staff of the cfpb spend every day standing up for consumers. as acting director, i am filing this suit to stand up for the cfpb." as we speak, there is a protest underway outside the offices of the bureau by a group calling itself the defend cfpb coalition, including americans for financial reform, center for

responsible lending, national association of consumer advocate, and others. for more, we go to washington, d.c., where we're joined by lisa donner, executive director of americans for financial reform. the group's hundreds of members helped lead the fight for the creation of this bureau. welcome to democracy now! this is extremely convoluted. and you explain what is happening and who is going to work today at the bureau? >> thank you very much for having me. i think you laid out a very complicated situation extremely .ell in that opening as you say, we believe that leandra english is the proper acting director of the cfpb. and mick mulvaney i believe both showed up for work today. the fact that she has filed this lawsuit last night means the

courts will get to decide what happens. forthere is a lot at stake the consumer bureau, which means there's a lot of us take for the american public because the consumer bureau's work is so important. amy: explain the consumer bureau. what it was set up to do, the crisis it was trying to address, and what this all means. what these two acting heads represent. bureau wasonsumer set up after the crisis. i think based on the recognition that one of the sources of the crisis is there had not been any single federal financial regulator that was dedicated to focus on, that had the mission of consumer protection. in the full range of tools to take that on. that is part of the reason we ended up with this explosion of abusive mortgages that cost

millions and millions of people their homes and were a trigger of a financial crisis that cost millions of people their jobs from which most people in the country are still battling to recover. ,ith the creation of the cfpb we finally have an agency with that mission and a range of tools to carry out that mission and the cfpb has been living up to the promise, living up to sort of realizing the idea that was the reason for its creation and pursuing that mission that is been extremely effective. it has one back through enforcement -- including problems that fester for years underdressed, more than $12 billion in relief for 29 million, 30 million consumers. it has written rules to take on abuses in the payday and car title lending market. it has really put a spotlight on

problems in the student lending markets and drawn attention and taken action to crack down on abuses i sham for-profit schools. the problems of students and veterans and seniors, including really making sure the service members civil relief act which provides certain special protections for active duty service members to make sure that financial problems are not -- there particularly vulnerable because their overseas and the make sure their financial stability in family financial stability not undermine those rules have been on the books but n been enforced. cfpb has taken up the charge that it was given to start to make financial markets fair and safer. i think that is exactly why it is so hated in some quarters.

it is not because it has failed, but because it has succeeded in the difference that it makes for regulatory agency willing to follow the fact, pay attention to what the public is saying, and be aggressive in enforcement and supervision and in rule writing when that is warranted. amy: i want to go to elizabeth warren who helped establish the consumer financial rejection bureau while she was a harvard law school bankruptcy professor, and she tweeted a response to trump. she said -- "the only thing that will turn the @cfpb into a disaster is for @realdonaldtrump to ignore

dodd-frank & name an acting director determined to destroy the agency." so what does it mean for mick mulvaney, who has promised he would, well, try to kill this bureau to be named the head and also be the budget director for president trump? >> as you suggested in your opening, there are at least three fundamental problems with mick mulvaney as acting director. statutehat the cfpb clearly says the deputy director becomes the acting director. as a number of legal commenters have pointed out, the legislative history of the cfpb really underlines that was the intent of the drafters. there was one set of language in early versions and the final version there is clarification that there is this plan and process for what happens. so that is one problem. , second problem is the cfpb like the other financial regulators, was established to be independent. and that is to free it some, or at least create some space from the influence of the very powerful industry that it is

charged with regulating. and it is profoundly contradictory to that independence to have somebody has been an official of the white house charged with carrying out executive branch policy to be in charge of the bureau. and finally, mick mulvaney has said that he -- that the cfpb shouldn't exist. he said it is a sad, sick joke will suck yes of the legislation to get rid of it altogether and to get rid of specific powers and authorities of the euro or make it unable to do its job again and again and again. this is -- these are proposals rather that some of the worst actors in the financial industry support and promote and argue for. and those were some of his largest campaign donors when he was a congressman. he took $1.2 million from the

financial services industry who are among the to continue to be able to rip people off post up they want to continue to be unaccountable. the same is true of the auto dealers who have been violently opposed to the cfpb efforts and the way subprime auto loans are price. amy: lisa donner, you also weigh in on taxes. this as president trump's it is a very big week for taxes. he tweeted -- so fit this into what is

happening now with the bureau with what is happening now with president trump's push for tax reform. >> it is kind of remarkable. the tweet senator warren was responding to in this excellent tweets of hers would president trump -- with president saying the banks were being destroyed by cfpb. the fact is, big banks are doing extremely well and small banks are doing well, too. there's just no foundation for that claim. it is sort of detached from reality. at the same time that these kind of unneeded gift like, here, rip people off more kind of gift in the form of trying to destroy the work of the consumer bureau, there also showering trying caps on the financial industry through the tax bill. wells fargo come the same wells fargo that just opened millions

of fake accounts and has been avoiding accountability to the public for opening those millions of fake accounts by making it impossible for people to take them to court around those millions of fake accounts, at wells fargo, perhaps the single largest beneficiary of the tax cuts being proposed. the other large banks are giant beneficiaries as well. both of the cut in the corporate injuring her overseas profits home at a discount pieces of the proposal. i will add the private funds industry also a giant beneficiary of the tax proposals in the form of the pass-through cut being made. although, they want even more. so this is kind of piling -- putting mick mulvaney in charge of her trying to put him in charge of the consumer bureau is

having a fox guard the hen house. which is not even a powerful enough analogy, even as you are also giving the fox presence of additional and houses. amy: i want to thank you very much, lisa donner, executive director of americans for financial reform. its hundreds of members fought for the creation of the consumer finance protection bureau. thank you so much for being with us. a number of people are outside the cfpb right now protesting. we will e who will head up this agency in the meantime. when we come back, two nontraditional democrats win seats in virginia and north carolina. we will speak with both of them. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "matter of time" by sharon jones and the dap kings. can the emergence of non-traditional candidates help revive a faltering democratic party that is facing its lowest approval rating in nearly a quarter century? that's the question many are

after these past elections when november 7 democrats won key races that marked the first major wins under trump that could bolster their party in the 2018 midterms when control of congress will be up for grabs. democrats managed to take the governor's seat in virginia and new jersey, and also flipped two state legislature seats in georgia and a whopping 15 seats in virginia. in total, 19 candidates backed by our revolution and 15 members of democratic socialists of america won seats. meanwhile, maine voted for medicaid expansion by referendum. in some of the victories, support came from grassroots sources outside of the democratic party. for more, we're joined by two of the candidates who won, but hail from nontraditional political backgrounds who challenge traditional definitions of electability. in washington, d.c., we're joined by lee carter, a socialist veteran of the u.s. marine corps who unseated the majority whip of the virginia house.

he just came up from manassas to speak with us. and joining us from charlotte, north carolina, braxton winston is a former middle school football coach who took to the streets in 2015 along with hundreds of people to protest the police killing of keith lamont scott. during one of these protests, winston faced a line of police in riot gear with his left arm raised and fist clenched. an associated press photographer captured the image and it went viral. braxton's win on election night secured the second-highest number of votes for an at-large charlotte city council seat. braxton winston, lee carter, welcome both of you to democracy now! let's begin with you. you are delegate elect for the 50th house district of virginia. you unseated the majority whip in the virginia legislature. you are a marine. you are a self-declared democratic socialist. you did not have the full support of the democratic party

behind you, did you? how did you do it? >> we knew from day one that going up against a member of the republican party leadership in the south was going to be an actual battle. so we knew there was no way we were going to be able to spend more money than him. we tried into italy to avoid a fund-raising arms race, the more mainstream democratic party seems to love. they think the only way to win money than more republicans. we decided we were going to intentionally avoid that and just craft a message that people responded to. and go out there and build a coalition of groups that were invested in this race, you know, from the democratic socialist of america and our revolution, two groups that are more traditionally align with the democratic voter base like planned parenthood and the sierra club. and by doing that, we were able to knock on tens of thousands of doors and deliver a message fighting to empower working

people, both economically and politically, straight to people's doorsteps. we were able to get thousands of people who don't traditionally vote, who have become cynical with the political process, to go out and dan and line on a 40 degree rainy, miserable day and virginia and cast her vote. amy: and what were the key issues that you represented? talk about the majority whip. candidates to you versus another, this was a man who have been elected time and time again and was the width of the virginia majority in the house of delegates. virginia republicans had a 66 to 34 majority in the house of delegates. it takes 67 votes to override a governor's veto. they were very, very close to basically having unilateral control of a despite not having the governor's mansion. he was an 11 year incumbent.

he had been there for quite a long time. he was really sort of a creature of richmond. this was a guy who sat on the subcommittee for consumer lending and to any from payday lenders for this is a guy who took money from the health-insurance industry and consistently voted against medicaid expansion. when we were talking to people at their doors, we were able to make this link between money and politics and bad votes, bad outcome of people's lives. we were able to make it on a very, very can stand basis all stuff that really drove the point home that there is a problem in american politics and that problem really is big money and manifest as the elf in countless ways and people's day-to-day lives. amy: what made you decide to run? you are a marine. what does it mean for you to be a democratic socialist and how did you decide to run up against the democratic establishment? what happened with the democratic hardy and you and you

are running in the primary? >> i decided to run for office after i got hurt at work the summer of 2015. the treatment by my former employer and the compensation commission was so horrible i thought, i need to step forward and fix this so that what happened to me doesn't happen to anyone else. because of that background and the fact i launched my camping in the middle of the presidential primary, i saw a perfect example of house someone can run a grassroots-based campaign, focused entirely on issues as long as that the personal integrity to step forward and a "i'm not one to be a part of this big money and politics problem." the presidential run of senator sanders. so i decided to run exactly that kind of campaign come to say, these are the issues i am fighting for. i'm not when you take any money from for poor fit -- from

for-profit groups. my relationship with the democratic party was then complicated. there different levels of the democratic party in virginia and i had different relationships with each. i had great relationships with the local party committee and with the regional office staff of the coordinated campaign for the gubernatorial race. the state party itself, it was a bit more strained. i was directly attacking some of the corporation to do contribute to the democratic party of virginia. for example, this would be virginia power, now known as dominion energy, which is a large contributor to both political parties in virginia. that we were walking the walk and not taking any money from for-profit operations really let people know when i talk about getting big money out of politics, it is not something i am just saying to get votes, it is something that i cap about. amy: i want to bring in braxton winston, elected to the city

council in charlotte, north carolina, the famous image of you that went viral was standing in front of a police line at a protest against police brutality and police killing. you have your fist in the air. talk about that moment and what made you decide to run for elected office. and then, of course, you won. >> that was just one moment from a long night. it was on old concorde road during the night keith lamont scott was killed by the police. there was a lot of tear gas in the air. that is why i had my shirt off. i was using it as a mask. i wanted to continue to protest. . had my fist in the air those chemicals have a really tough reaction when amplified. it was sort of to keep myself composed, to continue to make my

statements. but after that night, we continued on the street for many nights. there were thousands who came throughout the community. i had to assess what my position was in the city. i knew it was some type of leadership position, some type of change agent. we went forth on developing a sort of citizen journalism tight aspect where we kept on showing up to events and meetings and actions and disseminating facts to people in the charlotte community. there was a social activism side of things all stuff i created a platform and other people give me the privilege and opportunity to amplify their voices. i'm a student of anthropology. that is what my degree is in from davidson college. i looked through a cultural lens. while is this important to organize, we're a culture of laws and policies. i saw the best way to affect widespread change to attack the

inequities in the systems that we saw is through the halls of government to affect those laws and policy. as i was going to different tables and rooms trying to push new leaders and ideas forward, it became clear i could be that change agent. it was a bit of "if not me, then who? amy: there were others you considered our allies that were elected. >> we have five new faces to charlotte city council. , butill are 92 democratic it is a new voice. we're not here running for party office. we're here to get the city of charlotte right are taking a very seriously along with our first black female mayor. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us, braxton winston, newly elected to the city council of charlotte, north carolina. and lee carter, a socialist and a cracked, marine, alike to delegate for virginia's 50th

house district.

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