from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> a terrorist opened fire at me. iran upstairs and jumped from the third floor. i fell unconscious. >> in northwest pakistan, at least the people were killed and dozens wounded when attackers stormed the northwest bacha khan university and gunned down students and teachers. this

comes just over a year after gunmen killed over 150 people, mostly children at a nearby school. as a federal emergency is declared over lead poisoning in the int wate supply, the state ofichigan is facing another crisis over basic services. this time in detro. >> i want to be able to go to school and not have to worry about being bitten by mice. being knocked out by the gases. being cold in the rooms. amy: on wednesday, nearly 90% of detroit schools were closed as --chers staged a sit out . sick out detroit schools are run by the same emergency manager who oversaw the poisoning of flint's water supply. we will get the latest. a shocking new report lines the world's richest 622 billionaires now own as much wealth as half

the world. all that and more, coming up. ♪ this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. his firstobama issued public statements about the flint water crisis. an unelected emergency manager switched flint's drinking water to the flint river in a bid to save money. obama said he would be beside himself if he were a flint parent. >> i am proud of what i have done as president. [applause] >> the only job that is more important to me is the job of father. i know that if i was a parent there, i would be beside myself that my kids' health could be

at risk. amy: obama met with the newly elected flint mayor karen weaver in washington, on tuesday. this comes as governor rick snyder has released copies of his emails that show he was made aware of the water contamination issues as early as february 1, 2015, but that his administration was dismissive of residents' concerns. some of the pages of the e-mails are entirely redirected. meanwhile, the detroit public school system, which is run by the same emergency manager who switched flint's drinking water, has filed an injunction in to stop teachers from their "sick out" protests. nearly all of detroit's public schools were closed wednesday amid teacher protests over black mold, rat infestations, crumbling buildings and over-crowded classrooms. we will go to detroit for the latest later in the broadcast. scientists have reported 2015 was the hottest year on record by far. the experts pinned the record-breaking heat on long-term global warming caused by the emission of greenhouse

gases. 2015's record breaks the previous record set year before in 2014. in response to the findings gerald meehl, a scientist at the , national center for atmospheric research said, "the whole system is warming up, relentlessly." in afghanistan, a suicide bomb has killed at least six employees of the afghan station tolo tv. four of the victims are reported to be women. no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the committee to protect journalists has documented a taliban website threatening tolo tv journalists with, "elimination." meanwhile, at least four people were killed in a separate suicide bomb attack near the russian embassy in kabul. amnesty international is accusing western-backed kurdish fighters of possible war crimes over the "large-scale destruction" of thousands of arab homes in northern iraq. amnesty says kurdish forces, "appear to be spearheading a

concerted campaign to forcibly displace arab communities," end ." meanwhile, satellite photographs shows the self-proclaimed islamic state has destroyed one of the oldest christian sites in iraq. the 1,400-year-old monastery of st. elijah stood south of mosul. photographs show the site was destroyed in late august or september 2014, a few months after isil fighters seized control of mosul. in egypt, former president hosni mubarak begins his second trial today over the killing of protesters during the 20 uprising against his rule. mubarak was originally sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to murder demonstrators, but a retrial was ordered on appeal. this comes as cia director john brennan has finished a two-day visit to cairo after meeting with egyptian president abdel fattah el-sisi. it was brennan's second visit to cairo in less than a year. the u.s. has restored diplomatic and

military ties with egypt despite president sisi's crackdown on human rights, including the increasing jailing of journalists. the former president of the maldives has been temporarily released from prison and permitted to travel to britain for back surgery. nasheed was the maldives' first democratically elected president, known internationally for his work on climate change. he was ousted in 2012 in what he called an armed coup by supporters of his predecessor, maumoon abdul gayoom. nasheed is serving a 13-year sentence under anti-terror laws. a british investigation says russian president vladimir putin, "probably approved" the 2006 murder of alexander litvinenko, a former kgb officer who blew the whistle on corruption inside moscow's security services. litvinenko died after ingesting green tea poisoned with a toxic, radioactive isotope. the 328-page report was issued by

retired british high court judge robert owen. russia's foreign minister has dismissed the report as, "politically motivated." back in the united states, black lives matter activists have repeatedly disrupted the us conference of mayors meeting in washington, d.c. to protest police killings of unarmed african americans across the country. protesters held signs reading, "16 shots is a cover up. #laquanmcdonald, #resignhm" -- a reference to chicago mayor rahm emanuel. he's facing increasing protests over a possible cover up of the police killing of unarmed african american teenager laquan mcdonald, who was shot 16 times by white police officer jason van dyke more than one year ago. activists also disrupted the speech of baltimore mayor stephanie rawlings-blake by shouting "you failed us." this comes as the trial of three baltimore police officers charged in the death of unarmed african american freddie gray is

slated to resume on friday, after a judge denied a motion that would have compelled a fellow officer to testify in their cases, threatening to postpone the trials indefinitely. in minneapolis, hundreds of students have walked out of class to protest the obama administration's new round of raids against central american families. the raids have targeted people who sought asylum in the united states after fleeing violence in their home countries. on students staged the walkout and wednesday, then rallied at martin luther king jr. park to demand an end to deportations. meanwhile, in arizona, grammy-winning singer john legend and colombian musician juanes held a concert outside the eloy detention facility to draw attention to the long-term detention of immigrants. eloy is run by the for-profit company corrections corporation of america. the facility has long drawn criticism for mistreatment of detainees and inadequate medical care. john legend spoke about the

concert's purpose. >> we want to affirm their right to exist. their right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, no matter where they are from. no matter where they are born. amy: during the concert, john legend and on juanes sang bob marley's "redemption song." a group of parents have lodged a formal complaint against new york city's largest charter school chain, success charter network, for violating the rights of students with disabilities. democracy now! co-host juan gonzalez was the first to break the story in his column for the new york daily news. the complaint alleges success charter network has denied special education services to students and instead forced them to repeat grades; has suspended special needs students multiple times without keeping records, and and has harassed parents to move their students back into regular public schools. and billionaire republican donor david koch has left the board of the prestigious american museum of natural history after 23 years. this comes after a campaign called on the american museum of

natural history and other top scientific institutions to divest from the fossil fuel industry and cut ties with david koch, whose company, koch industries, has poured millions into climate denial. earlier this week, we spoke with award-winning new yorker writer jane mayer about the koch brothers' interest in funding climate denial. >> their fortune is build on fossil fuels. they have tremendous numbers of pipelines. they own a huge amount of the tar sands up in canada. if america moved off fossil fuels, it would be catastrophic for their business. it is a direct interest they have in this. one of the things i do is try to follow the money in the denial of climate change. awful lot of it goes back to the kochs and their circle. says -- davide

koch says the letter did not influence his decision to leave the board of the american museum of natural history. he still sits on the advisory board of the smithsonian national museum of natural history. and those are some of the headlines this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: welcome to our listeners around the world. pakistan is morning mass casualties -- is mourning mass casualties from an armed assault on one of its schools. at least 20 people were killed and dozens injured on wednesday when gunmen stormed the northwest bacha khan university under the cover of morning fog. the four attackers scaled the school's rear wall before storming through the campus, gunning down students and teachers in classrooms and halls. one witness described the scene. >> i was sitting in class when the firing started. there was lots of fault and visibility was poor.

security personnel came and asked us to leave. we ran away from their bank. we went upstairs on the third floor. when i was waiting at the stairs , a terrorist came there and opened fire at me. i escaped the gunfire, ran upstairs and jumped from the third floor. i fell unconscious. nermeen: the rampage ended when pakistani security forces cornered the attackers, and killed them before they could detonate their suicide vests. at least some of the gunmen were apparently teenagers. the assault came on the 28th anniversary of the death of pashtun nationalist leader, bacha khan, the university's namesake. khan's party, the awami national party, is known for its anti-taliban views. the attack also comes just weeks after pakistan marked the first anniversary of the december 2014 -- december 2012 taliban massacre at a school in peshawar. more than 150 people were killed in the massacre, most of them children from military families. it was the deadliest militant attack in pakistan's history.

amy: the taliban faction that committed the peshawar massacre has also taken responsibility for wednesday's attack, calling it revenge for the military's intensified crackdown on its members. pakistan has hanged over 300 alleged taliban members over the past year as part of a wider offensive launched in june 2014. but pakistan's main taliban group - the tehrik-e-taliban pakistan -- quickly disavowed wednesday's massacre, calling it an "un-islamic act." the pakistani taliban is an off-shoot of the taliban movement in neighboring afghanistan. the afghan taliban remains divided over whether to join peace talks to end afghanistan's more than 14-year war. for more we are joined by two .ariq ali we are going to london to speak with him, a political commentator, filmmaker, and editor of new left review. , theost recent book

extreme centre: a warning. he is also the author of several books on pakistani politics and history. can you explain where this is and the significance of this? tariq: every atrocity comes as a shock and a surprise. i have to point out that this has been going on now for several years. began,e afghanistan war i pointed out that one of the side effects of this war was going to be the destabilization of pakistan, especially in the northern province which borders afghanistan and where people speak the same language as many -- there are very close links between therovince d kistan.

whou wagear on on coury and e way yowage tha war, is very dficult tstop th war frospilling over. e effectof ts spilla now in pakistahave become completely uncontrollable. every me theres an atrity, no just t sool chilen who were kild a few ars ago or the tredy that happened two daysgo, it inot just them, it i attacksn differt parts of the cntry by difrent fuamentali groups. every ti itappens,he prime minister of the country battles in publito end this -- vows in public t end this menace forever. the army does mount some operations but these operations are temporary affairs and they cannot be anything else. they come back from the area and .ore recruits are found

the attack on this particular university seems to be motivated by little less than symbolism. of university is in the name bacha khan, one of the pre-partition leaders of the national movement for indian independence together with gandhi and others. his most important contribution in this region was to teach people the value of nonviolence. all his work, his political work in this area, was carried out on the basis of nonviolence. and it was successful. even when the british committed atrocities like the massacres that took place during british rule. his response was we will fight disobedience.

we will not use violence. -- he is seenday today as a secular, progressive, nonviolent leader who fought for his people against the british. this they do not like because they do not like him. imprisoned by virtually every single pakistani government when he was alive. military dictatorships and civilian governments. when he died, his will said he -- this is aburied symbolic attack to stop the university from marking his anniversary by a group of fanatics. his serious question that we have to ask is this, what are the transmission belts that supply these young fanatics to

organizations? this is a question that the ruling elites in pakistan never actually asked themselves. if they ask this question, they themselves are partially guilty. nermeen: in addition to the problem that you point to, many commentators say that the pakistani state and military deliberately turn a blind eye to a number of these militant groups operating in pakistan. could you respond to that? tariq: i think this has been true over the last 20 years. because pakistan feels it has a stake in afghanistan. don't forget, the capture of afghanistan by the taliban, when it happened, was backed by pakistani troops, pakistani air

force units, undercover people, organized arms funded by the isi , the inter-services intelligence. after 9/11, when the united states compelled them, actually forced them at the point of a gun, to withdraw support and bring the taliban out of their, they did so but reluctantly. they had been waiting for a long .ime to go back in this is one reason why some touchednot all, are not by them because they see them as a strategic asset which might need to be used again. once the u.s. withdraws. amy: we're going to bring gibran jibran messier into this conversation. he is joining us by democracynow video stream.

the reaction inside pakistan to this latest horror, not so far from the attack last year. what this means for pakistan right now before we talk about u.s. pakistan relations as well. jibran: i think we have been using the term the war against terror for a long time to think that is a misnomer. this madness does not seem to have an end. the world is part of it right now. these attacks have been taking place in the regions wherever the terrorists find a soft target. everybody is up in arms. this is expected because operations have been launched against the taliban. incifically launched northern pakistan.

whenever they find a soft target they will come back and attack it. they do not really have any models or rule of law they would like to follow. simple terror they want to spread. they would go to any extent achieve their ends and aims. what i would like to stress here is this attack is in pakistan but it is against pakistanis. we are victims of terrorism in this instance. nermeen: could you also say who the senior pakistani taliban commander who was apparently responsible for the attack on the schools and who initially claimed responsibly for yesterday's attack? -- i'veall i can say is not seen any of his messages or any things. question,ou gain the

who are the transmission belts. we need to look at that. this entire nexus of terrorism -- these sanctions keep on popping up. they are all getting funding from some and. this attack took place, not on the border of pakistan. the distance from the afghani -- various security points throughout that way. how are these people able to get weapons, walk through security checks and enter the university? the failure happened th the securityreach hapned. what we need to know is what precautis and what measures are being taken by the state of

pakistan and how were these people able to carry out this atck goinghrough a of the security checks. do yothink counts for the facthat the were ae to breh all of the secutyheckpoints and gain access to this university campus? , this: the thing here is is not a war between two countries. this is an ideological war with religion and things broughinto th picture itsn ideolocal battle. we need to realize this. because pakistan has been part of this war for the past 40 years -- the telegram was created in the 1990's. -- the taliban was created in the 1990's. they were not seen as terrorists at that time. 9/11, the scale has changed around the world. they are now seen as terrorists. to a state of

conflict. the society of pakistan on religious grounds and other grounds. -- it all comes down to which ideology do you want to prescribes to. you may be a bureaucrat, a military officer, a politician, a journalist. at the same time, are you keeping your human identity first? -- pakistan will have to -- we are trying to get over perversn of menl corrtion whi went onor thre dades andndoing at willake a loof timeecause evil are still refusing to let go of this ideology. amy: how does u.s. relationship with pakistan affect what is going on? the longest war in u.s. history,

going on right next door in afghanistan. jibran: i think u.s. learned a lot of lessons from what is going on in pakistan. u.s. is seeing odd incidents andng of racial violence divisive ideology. certain humans believe they have a god-given right and they can cause violence on someone else not considered able enough. there is a religious battle going on in pakistan. people from different functions within islam think they are better in a position. there are lessons to learn. this is a human war. a war of ideology which is supposed to be won by dialogue, education reforms, awareness. the message u.s. has been using, be at arbitrary messages, would not do pakistan much good.

we are dealing with humans there. we are dealing with ideologies. implemented ines u.s. to get rid of racial violence in america, we are trying to implement in pakistan to get rid of religious violence but this ideology will take a long time before we get rid of it. ali, could you talk about how the pakistani state has responded to the attack and what you think accounts for the rise of islamic militancy in pakistan? tariq: the pakistani state has responded to the attack as it always does. it has denounced it and it has pledged that it will diover th people o orderethe atck sincehe perpeators ve alrea beenilled. no dou, army uts wille sent out to y and fd a few pele. but th is not ing to b suicient.

it ia long hl, thi. asor how tse group devel, theris no doubtwe know . theyevelop wn the soet ion as ithen was ented ghanistato try a save a pro-sovi govnment anthe uned state deced that is was eiropportuny toet revee for thdefeat in vietnam d tch the rsians a lesson the unedtates poed in money to the regio armed ligious group helped createhem. ezinski ood on t border with afghastan, wi religio leers, and said go andage th jihadis . the ney cread these groups. they were eated fr above with theupport o washingn, london, and the local isi and

military dictator general's. that is when they started. the fact that they were created in this way does not mean that they are still totally controlled by the military or the isi. many of these monsters have patterns ofeir own functioning. some of them fight against the military, kill military officers, kill their children, etc. the key is, how can we bring this under control? two things are necessary. one is peace in afghanistan. at whatever cost, with whatever government, we need to end. afghanistan has been fighting wars and subjected to war longer than the first and second world wars put together. you can only imagine the effect that leaves on the population. this is appalling society. that degree of appalling

ness is existing in pakistan. while one can blame the united states, and i often do, there is no doubt in my opinion that the atmosphere created in pakistan by successive military and civilian governments has made it impossible to challenge any of this. the fact that religious schools teach people violence, in many cases, not in every case, that they basically provide transmission belts where young kids are taught lessons which lead them to become sympathetic to these groups. the fact that religiosity has reached such a height that just a few days ago almost at the same time as the attack near peshawar, you had a young boy who it been incited and told you committed some blasphemy and this boy cut off his own hand to

repent. when you have a situation like this, we have to say, the fault lies largely within pakistani society which has failed to educate it people. it educates the elite, educate itself. for the children of the elite there are great schools, hospitals in many parts of pakistan. but there is nothing for the poor. nothing for the bulk of the population so ey are vulnerable they have nothing else left. a gornment i pakistan,o gornment, neither th ppp, nor anymilary, has spent money in creating education stem whe everyonis educated. amy: tariq a, we will have to break. i want to ask you a question. it weighed into u.s. politics

and where you are. british parliament had a debate over whether to ban donald trump. they decided not to because of a statement that he wanted to ban all muslims from coming into the united states. the significance of this? but wast is significant not a surprising decision. i myself, i have to say that am not in favor of banning people because once you start ,anning people from the right this leads to similar bans against progressive people, people on the left accused of being terrorists. it's better to debate these people out rather than ban them. amy: thank you for being with us, tariq ali. a number of books on pakistani politics and history. nasir joining us.

when we come back, we go directly to detroit. stay with us.

amy: president obama has made his first -- nermeen: president obama has made his first public comments on the water contamination crisis in flint, michigan. flint's water was poisoned with lead in 2014 after an unelected emergency manager, appointed by governor rick snyder, switched the city's water supply to the long-contaminated and highly corrosive flint river in a bid to save money. on wednesday, governor snyder released copies of his e-mails that show he w made aware of e water ntamination issues as early as february 1, 2013 but that his administration was dismissive of concerns. some pages of the e-mails are entirely redacted.

the flint engine plant of general motors stopped using flint's water in 2014 saying it was rusting its parts. speaking wednesday at the united auto workers general motors training center in detroit obama , said he would be "beside himself" if he were the parent of a flint child. he added that the crisis serves as a "reminder of why you can't shortchange basic services ar." >> i am very proud of what i have done as president. the only job that is more important to me is the job of father. i know that if i was a parent there, i would be beside myself met my kids' health could be at risk. yesterday i met with mayor weaver in the oval office and i told her that we are going to back and all the people

of flint's back as they work their way through this tragedy. of why youinder can't shortchange basic services that we provide to our people and that we provide is a government to make sure public health and safety is preserved. amy: there is another crisis over basic services in michigan that obama did not address. during obama's visit to detroit, the city where he spoke, dire conditions under an unelected emergency manager have led schoolteachers to declare an emergency of their own. on wednesday, 88 of detroit's roughly 100 public schools were closed in the latest mass teacher "sickouts" protesting underfunding, black mold, rat infestations, crumbling buildings, and inadequate staffing. detroit's public schools are under the control of unelected emergency manager darnell early.

he is none other than the unelected emergency manager who presided over the water contamination in flint. he was then moved to detroit. journalist kate levy has been speaking to students, teachers and parents in detroit about the crisis. >> i have gotten used to seeing rats everywhere. i have gotten used to seeing the dead bugs. i have tried to ignore all the graffiti when i'm trying to use the bathroom. i'm still bothered by these things. it makes me feel second and it does not feel good. -- it makes me feel sick and it does not feel good. in detroit, almost the entire political district was closed wednesday because of the latest teacher sickout. >> my name is alicia. my daughter -- my son and

daughter go to the academy of america. >> an old building. it is falling apart. we were trying to move -- there was a movement to move the building. they are still there. there's rats, mold. you can smell it when you open the door. not a good environment for the kids to be in all day. baxter and i carl am out here to support the teachers as a parent because i dcs.children that attend the long-term effecwith mol in theuilding,here's no telling. whiche the city of flint is experiencing a public health crisis over -- detroit's public school district is appointed by an unelected emergency manager. detroit schools are run by darnell early, the same

emergency manager who presided over flint's change in water sources. ,ince 2009, detroit residents parents and the elected school board have had no say in how the district is run. >> emergency management has created public safety and health es.si irreparable harm is being done to our studes, tchers, parents, and community as a whole. government to the assume all the authority of the elected officials. >> since emergency management began, over 75 school buildings have been closed in the city of detroit. since 2009, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent repairing school buildings that were subsequently closed down or handed over to an alternative state run district that is currently under

investigation. three top officials in this district have pled guilty. for many detroit public school students, remaining open schools are often worse off than the ones the students came from. palsyothy has cerebral and attended oakland element tree school, the only school in the district built specifically for special needs students. it was closed down in 2013. sent timothy they to henderson. when you get there, you pass this man sized hole in the ceiling that was leaking from the time we did the inspection of the schools to this year. all they did was put some cones around and a garbage can to collect water. we had fire exits that were blocked. fire windows that had security bars on them. >> under emergency management since 2009, a number of service

workers has dropped from 2000 to 820. the numberf skilled craft workers has dropped from 405 to only 13. jim is an engineer and treasurer of the engineers union. 2014, whiler of detroit republic school was under emergency management, the school requested from the city of detroit a variant to their ordinance that requires an engineer to be on staff whenever a boiler is operating. we feel it puts the children's lives, the teacher's lives and the general public's lives in jeopardy of a boiler explosion. we can relate to the flint water crisis, the fact that we have poisoned kids in flint under ule. emergency manager r and now the same manager is operating detroit public schools . we are afraid this is going to cause a safety issue and potentially lives at risk. >> the situation has created

increasingnxiety. >> i want to be able to go to school and not have to worry about being bitten by mice. being knocked out by the gases. being cold in the rooms. awanna simpsonsimps >> it is mandatory for all young people in this country. it is not a good thing to spin democracy. emergency management does not care about our students. they are there f the botm line. a very unjust thing to try a run a hool district as a corporation. >> i'm kate leavy in detroit. amy: the detroit public school system is seeking a preliminary injunction that would stop the sickouts. we will be joined by an

education activist and a retired teacher in detroit. stay with us. ♪

amy: politicians in my eyes, by death. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. with nermeen shaikh. protesting underfunding, black mold, rat infestations, crumley buildings, and in adequate staffing. detroit public schools are under control of darnell early. he is none other than the unelected emergency manager who presided over the water contamination in flint. amy: we are joined by victor gibson, retired detroit public school teacher and active union -- he trained

engineers working in the public detroit schools. victor gibson, talk about your school. you are tired from it last year. one of the schools that was closed by the sickout on the day president obama was in detroit, hailing the success of the auto industry. victor: let me be clear that my school, the name is paul robeson malcolm x. but it is a competition of both schools from an earlier combination of closing of schools. my school is the school, the three ladies that have been active in getting the main body of teachers to stand up for themselves after being quietly left into the classrooms for so long. this school is one of the schools that said enough is enough. these teachers listened to themselves, listened to their students and parents who have

stated these children and our children have been under such great duress and strain from not -- not for being educated, but constantly being tested. i know most of your listeners should be aware of the phenomenon of reform for schools that have gone on since 2005, 2006 and even before that. this whole thing of changing the curriculum from one where you are nurturing children to their fullest potential to one where they are being put in front of the computers and lab rat tested on -- amy: i think that is the operative word. not just liebrandt's -- not just lab rats but actual rats in the school. can you talk about the conditions we saw described? a lot of the nation's focus is on flint. black mold? rats? mice in the schools?

how has it come to this point? victor: if you look at it as a homeowner, if you buy a home and you do not invest in infrastructure, the longer you stay in that building, the building will deteriorate. spending --ficit for the money being counted away from the structure of the buildings, yes the roof has leaks. paul robeson malcolm x., this is our fourth school we had been placed in. each school is getting progressively worse. being now a k-8 school housed in a building that was originally built for k through five. everything is primarily on a small scale. when you look at the roof that has gone neglected -- the electrical infrastructure. we have all of this high tech equipment trying to interface and infuse into the school system but you have a building that does not carry the kind of electrical load. even if you get the technology in their, there's a good chance

it will not work. far as e structe of the building -- we look at the windows for schools back in the 1940's, 1950's. these windows are still in place. there might have been upgrade here and there but between the water system, the pipes, the plumbing. one water system we had i had to prevent the children from drinking from that water back in 2012 we moved into the building because i noticed the orange yellowish tint coming out of the faucet. i made the administration aware but the only thing they did was to try to shut down that particular drinking station in the schools. smy: let me bring rus bellant into this conversation. , using instead of the detroit water system that flint had used for 50 years, the

corrosive polluted flint river, has now been moved to oversee the dps. can you explain the connection? the common thread is the governor in the state of michigan. in this case, rick snyder. one of three governors since 1999 who have been systematically dismantling the detroit public system, taking it from a big surplus that had under the elected school board and rising enrollment and rising test scores through 1999, they took it over. what we are looking at is a 17 year process of dismantling the detroit public school system. erodinge in it -- yo its capacity for service to this community. the governor is not fully telling the truth.

he said in october that the debt will be about 515 million. you look at the audited financial reporrom 2013it was86 milli. june 25, reporng 786 milln. he iaying 51million. this is govnor who s not gotheommitmento educaon and followsn a line of sevel oers who syematical exploit dps and created ls to miead the puic so pele woulduy into the support and the end of democracy in detroit and dictato -- dictatorship from lansing. nermeen: now the situation is such that detroit public schools could run out of money as early as april. could you talk about what that would mean? russ: when they say run out of

money, they are saying teachers would not get paid, the staff would not get paid. picture of ableak system being shut down. the other thing that this talks to is that the state of michigan has never done an analysis of what it costs to educate a child. they were mandated to come up with a cost estimate. they failed to do so. what they are really suggesting -- there is other school districts suffering on the funding side. they are really saying they are not adequately funding education. amy: it is not just about not having money. you have two amazing state run

city school systems. can you talk about where that money is going? there are millions of dollars going into the schools. russ: huge amount of the money is going to contractors and district --ere the this goes back some years under the period when our elected board was dismantled by law. it ceased to exist. .hey did huge financial deals we paid 50% financial costs for hundreds of millions of dollars. we are paying that as well as a and bondw loans programs that were unnecessary. all of this was to enrich contractors. many of us in the community believe that the real reason for the takeover of the detroit public school system by these

governors was about a looting operation and using it as a cash cow for friends and contractors and investors. the district is being run by a consulting company out of new york city. they are not putting top talent in area there putting college graduates in, making decisions educators should be making. called, the it contractor in new york? russ: the parthenon group. bellant and victor gibson. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: five years ago the combined wealth of the top 388 billionaires was equal to half the world's population. consider how many billionaires it takes for that same divide today. 62. according to a new report from oxfam, it is now just 62 of the

world's richest billionaires who own as much wealth as half the world's population. the wealth of the poorest half, 3.6 billion people, has fallen by $1 trillion since 2010. at the same time, the wealth of the world's richest 62 people has increased by more than half $1 trillion. oxfam fault a global financial system that has "supercharged the age-old ability of the rich and powerful to use their position to further concentrate their wealth." amy: the report singles out deregulation privatization, and , offshore tax havens that have let trillions of dollars go untaxed. oxfam says denying governments of this massive source of revenue has hampered efforts to provide basic social services and tackle inequality. a review of some 200 major companies shows that 90 percent operate in at least one tax haven. the oxfam report is timed to coincide with the meeting of global elites at the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. addressing the

for more we turn to ramin raymond offenheiser, president of oxfam america. 62 of the world's wealthiest people have more wealth than half the world's population? raymond: that is correct. what are report is trying to do is point out the fact that i think we have a global inequality crisis and we are trying to legitimize than narrative through the use of these kinds of numbers. i think what has been stunning to us is not only the fact that we have that level of concentration, but the process is accelerating. if we allow this process to accelerate, not only here in the united states, but in countries around the world and in regions you might not expect it, it raises a lot of questions. how do we fund public services for the poor?

how we finance development into the future? how do we easily be -- how do we alleviate poverty? we are trying to underline the fact that there is an inequality crisis and we have to address directly this accelerating concentration of wealth and the systems that enable it. nermeen: can you explain specifically what the role of tax havens are in this staggering inequality the report points to? is and: tax havens mechanism created to allow corporations to produce value in one location and transfer that value that may have a high tax base or tax rate and transfer it in some fashion or another to another location with a lower tax rate and pay the tax rate in those locations where it is more favorable. all sorts of accounting mechanisms that allow this to happen and also legislation that provides loopholes that enable

companies to move value overseas. here in the united states, companies can conduct the cost -- conduct the cost of moving jobs overseas. they can move the value of brands and trademarks overseas. they can actually -- they are exempt from taxing the value of subsidiaries overseas. a variety of ways these tax havens -- tax rules enable the tax havens to work. the nk indusy has benefiary oall these. you haveeen an elosionf banking -- offshore banking. amy: what is to stop -- what is the stop tax haven abuse act? raymond: carl levin from michigan and lloyd doggett from texas. it is an act that has ordered one sponsors in the house, three in the senate. it tries to close the loopholes

i mentioned and a variety of others. is, it closes those loopholes and tries to force, through fec regulation, greater levels of transparency and try to get rid of this disconnect between when you generate value and where you reported -- where you generate value and where you report it. overseas, thatue should be transparent so we can get a fair deal on taxation corporations. it is that diminished over taxation that is creating the situations we see in flint and a variety of other locations around the world. nermeen: a large number of the billionaires listed in forbes have inherited their wealth. could you talk about the importance of estate tax? raymond: i think we believe the whole issue of wealth of individuals is as important -- is as important to corporate tax. i think 47 of the 62

millionaires are actually americans. we have a particular problem at home. what oxfam is focused on, what does this mean for developing countries where we try to address poverty issues. what does it mean in some of these emerging economies where we see wealth at higher rates of growth. if we allow the system to continue in the way it is continuing, those countries will lose critical value they need now to fund their own development. is one ine we seek which countries are taking responsibility for their own development and building strong institutions and a tax system that will fund citizens welfare. amy: what is the real price of tax dodging? raymond: here in the united states i think we estimate if we close the loophole through the stoxx hat -- through the stop tax haven abuse act, 220 billion we can invest in the economy. amy: we will continue this conversation. post online at democracynow.org. raymond offenheiser. we will link to the report just put out.

how privilege and power in the economy drive extreme inequality and how this can be stopped. that does it for the broadcast. we have two job openings.

óóóañógñtñxñú jacques: everyone wants to be thin. it means beauty, desirability, success, and yet 60% of us are overweight. i'm jacques peretti, and in this series i've investigated the men who made their fortunes out of our desire to be thin. in this final episode i'll be meeting america's most controversial diet guru.