amy from the republican national : convnvention in cleveveland, , this is democracy now! >> for the sake of our second amendment and for the sake of all our other god-given liberties, we must ensure that our next president appointing justices to the supreme court is donald trump. amy: indiana governor mike pence accepts the republican nomination for vice president, but pence's night was

overshadowed by senator ted cruz's decision not to endorse his former rival donald trump in a defiant primetime speech. senator cruz: if you love our country and left your children as much as i know that you do, stand and speak and vote your conscienence, vote for c candids of and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the constitution. amy: we will get the latest from the rnc, and we will host a the republican party stance on lgbtq issues. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org -- "breaking

with convention: war, peace, and the presidency." the turkey president has declared -- tens of thousands of public employees, including soldiers, police officers, and tens of thousands of teachers have been fired. some have been arrested. in the turkish capital of ankara, erdogan supporters say they welcomed the decision. >> if he deemed the state of emergency necessary, it is the best option. hopefully we will overcome this under his leadership. we do not have any fear or reservations about the state of emergency. live continues in turkey, so does our demonstrations for democracy at night. god willing, this time will continue. inbound activist say u.s. airstrikes in a town in northern syria killed at least 73 civilians on tuesday. a group says it is the deadliest

u.s. airstrike for civilians to date since 2014. the u.s.-supported militia began an assault on a town called manbij monday. at least 190 civilians have been killed in u.s. airstrikes in the town. the u.s. military has said it is investigating the incident. until earlier this year, the pentagon claimed no surveillance had been cleared debt had been killed, while at the same time coming more than 20,000 isis fighters had been killed. in cleveland, ohio, wednesday marked the third day of the republican national convention. indian governor mike pence formally accepted the nomination to be donald trump's running mate. >> i am deeply humbled by your confidence, and on behalf of your family, here and gone, i accept your nomination to run and serve as a vice president of the united states of america. but the new york times is

reporting donald trump actually wanted ohio governor john kasich to be his running mate and that casey declined. according to the new york times, donald trump's son called kasich's advisor asking the governor of he wanted to be "the most our full vice president and history." donald trump's son reportedly said his father's role as president would be simply making america great again trump's campaign disputes this account. ohio governor kasich is not come to the convention, even though obviouslyn that it is held in his own state and he has been in cleveland this week. ultimately, the trump up campaign ended up picking governor pence. less night during his speech, governor pence spoke about u.s. form policy, saying donald trump would stand with our allies. >> we cannot have four more

years apologizing to our enemies and abandoning our friends. america needs to be strong for the world to be safe and on the world stage, donald trump will lead from strengths. donald trump will rebuild our military and stand with our allies. but donald trump himself directly contradicted governor pence during an interview with the new york times wednesday, saying he would break the long-standing u.s. for policy by not automatically defending nato allies from attacks. instead, jump up said he would only help nato allies if they fulfill their obligations to us. coverage from last hour, go to democracynow.org. last night at the rnc, governor

pence was overshadowed by texas senator ted cruz, who refused to officially endorse donald trump in his primetime speech. senator cruz: if you love our country and love your children as much as i know you do, stand and speak and vote your conscience, votote for candidats up and down the ticket whwho you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the constitution. was booing last night at the rnc as ted cruz refused to endorse donald trump. his wife, heidi cruz, had to be escorted out as she was heckled by the pro-trump delegates who shouted "goldman sachs." heidi cruz is managing director of the firm. after the speech, delegates expressed outrage. >> those 1, 2 sentences is all

that was needed, and instead, he said vote your conscience, did a mic drop, and walked out. it was a big middle finger to the convention. just set oftonight the united states to be ruled by that crooked woman. there probably will not even be a republican party in four years. amy: attendees at the republican national convention are overwhelmingly white, according to the republican's party owned it. out of nearly 2500 delegates come a only 18 are african-american. it is compiled, and the study shows that is the fewest number of black delegates at t the rncn at least a century. one of the few african-american delegates at the rnc this year spoke out. >> a delegate is a delegate is a delegate, and that is what matters. hopefully for the next time around, we will have more african-american delegates and people of color.

however, right now, it is only about americans. amy: this comes as donald trump has an approval rating among african americans in ohio of 0%. this is according to a recent poll come a which also said he had 0% approval rating among african americans in pennsylvania, as well. the rnc has b been markeded by intense anger against secretary of state hillary clinton, with "any chanting "lock her up during speeches. one trump adviser has called for her to be executed. the new hampshire state representative made the new hampshire state representative may be comments while speaking on a conservative boston radio show. this disgusts me. hillary clinton should be put on the fire line and shop for treason. amy: l boulder cerro advises trump on veteran issues to the secret service is investigating him for his comments. reuters is reporting donald trump is considering nominating a fracking tycoon to be energy

secretary if he is president. hamm is ceo of continental energy. in response, cofounder of 350.o america'smocracy now! frag or in chief -- what could go wrong? in-housemciver, an staff writer for the trump of organization has taken responsibility for the plagiarism in melania trump's speech at the rnc monday night. it had m multiple sections that were from michelle obama's 2008 dnc speech. melania trump talked about liking the speech and had read parts of the text to mciver on the phone. she said she left some of those lines of michelle obama's spspeh in thehe final draft. think progress is recording --

reporting that the apology is barking additional questions about whether trump's campaign is broken any laws by receiving illegal contributions from his company. mciver works for the trump organization and the apology was , printing on the company's letterhead. former federal election commission general counsel lawrence noble said, "his company is not supposed to be supporting his campaign. the lines are becoming very blurred." news and indonesia, an international tribunal has found that the government of indonesia was responsible for genocide against members and supporters of the country's communist party in 1965 and 1966. the government of general suharto killed an estimated -- killed up to 1 million people after the general deposed his predecessor president sukharno. general suharto was backed by the united states. speaking to al jazeera on wednesday, the head of the international people's tribunal at the hague called on the the indonesian government to apologize and providide compensation for s survivors. a federal appeals court has ruled that the texas strict

voter id law legally discriminates against blacks and hispanics and violates the voting rights act. the appeals court upheld the lower court ruling that found the law disproportionately affect minorities you'd among the issues with the types s of d acceptable. concealedd weapons permits were on the list, while student id's were not. another shocking video of a police shooting of an african-american man has emergeged. in e shooting happened monday north miami, florida. police shohot the unarmed m mann the leg as he was attempting to help an autistic man who had wandered away from a group home. the shot man, social worker charles kinsey, is seen lying on the ground with his handnds in e air when police shoooot him. police have s said they were responding to a 911 call about a man with a gun. but in cell phone video released yesterday, kinsey can be heard

telling police, "all he has is a toy truck, a toy truck. i am a behavioral therapist at a group home." listen carefully -- amy: kinsey can also be heard on the video trying to calm down his artistic patient. he says he was more worried about his patient's safety than his own as his patient cradles a toy truck. the video does not show the moment the shohots were fired, d kinsey said officers offered no exexplanation.n. like, ihe hit me, i am said, i just got shot. i was like, sir,r, why didid you shshoot me? his words, he said, i don't know. and d i'm am on the ground with cuffffs on waiting for the squad

to c ce. abouout 20 minutes, and i was jt bleeding. black lives matter activists launched protetests in multltiple cities s wednesday,y, including new york city, washington, d.c., and detroit. 10 people in new york city arrested after activists lockekd themselves into each other. in detroit, six people were arrested at a protest outside a police precinct. the protesters were rememberingg aa seveven-year-old girl killedn her own home in 2010 during a ninight raid by police that was being filmed by a reality t tv show. in w washington, d.c., activist project ink youth black lives matter locked themselves to the steps of the fraternal order of police. police officers need to stop paying dues to a private union that defense officers accused of brutality. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org -- "breaking with convention: war, , peace, d

the presidency." i'm amy goodman. we are in cleveland, ohio, covering the republican national convention, inside and out, from the streets to the corporate suites to the convention floor. indianasday night, governor mike pence accepted the republican nomination for vice president. >> as this election of, every american should know that, while we are feeling the presidency of the next quarter years, this election will define the supreme court for the next 40 spirit we all better think very carefully, very carefully about what this means for our constitution and limited government. elect hillary clinton, and you better get used to being subject to unelected judges using unaccountable power to take unconstitutional actions. say i'm for the sake

of the rule of law, for the sake , for thenctity of life sake of our second amendment, and for the sake of all our weer god-given liberties, must ensure that the next president appointing justices to the supreme court is donald trump. amy: but governor pence's speech wednesday night was largely overshadowed i texas senator ted cruz, who refused to endorse donald trump in a stunning 21-minute primetime adaddress tt was greeted by boos from trump supporters. youror cruz: -- and love children as much as i know that you do. stand and speak and vote your conscience, vovote for candidats up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the

constitution. amy: to talk more about the republican national convention, we're joined now by peter montgomery, senior fellow for people for the american way. his recent piece is headline -- how will the religious right vp?ond to pence as welcome. how are they responding? >> most of them are responding very strongly. for the most part, they're very happy with him. he was a member of congress before he decided to run for the governorship. he was seen as the dream candidate in 2012, and he won the straw poll at the religious right value voters summit. he was compared to madadonna. for the most part, they're pretty happy with him. fethullah gulen amy: talk about donald trump's selection --

inbound talk about donald trump's selection of pence as vice president. john kasich was said to be a choice, and he has not shown up to the convention. the trump campaign is denying it, but it has been reported in detail that donald trump, jr., approached kasich and said that he would be in charge of both domestic and foreign policy. the new york times reports that kasich directly spoke to donald that he would no, not accept this. so it is governor pence. talk about why you think donald trump chose him? >> probably because mike pence is close to t the political network and the religigious rig, two hugely important parts of the republican infrastructure that have not been uniformly excited about trump. some have been very concerned

about him. in one fell swoooop, he ststrengthened his connections o religious right leaders and to the koch brothers network. he is someone who comes across as a stable person when people are concerned about his, you know, t trump's temperament. amy: talk about the american conservative union confederation event tuesdaday night. >> the american conservrvative unioion had a a conversatation t whether conservatives would be supporting trump. pence showed up as a surprise keynoter, telling cononrvatives at the primaries were over and it was time to get in line and he alsohim, and tried to convince them that trump opposite good man he used that phrase a lot of times in his speech, this good man. amy: explained governor pence's involvement with what is called the religious freedomm

rerestoration act, seen as a yor sleep anti-lgbtq law -- seen as anti-lgbtq law that he signed on. >> it is a law he signed last spring, an effort to pass the state laws that would rereally give special legal protection to anti-lgbt discrimination, would allow business owners and other to claim religious exemption from nondiscrimination laws. ofsigned it with a lot religious leaders around him. they were very happy. but there was huge backlash led by the business community. he was forced to sign an amendment to that law that said it be used to discriminate. many of the religious right allies saw it as a betrayal. he was caught between his allies in the business community and his allies on the religious right. tonyome people, like

perkins at the family research council, they are still a little bitter about that. he saiaid the other day when talking about trump's choice of pence that he gives trump credit for trying and wanted to reach up but he's still not too happy with pence on that. amy: he got tremendous corporate backlash, angie's list, apple, the ncaa, all saying that they boycottaeave indiana, indiana. >> and i think he was absolutely unprepared for that. the circles he travels in, the culture that he has been part of for so long, i think he did not realize how much the business community has moved, the way the issues.as moved on lgbt i think he was not prepared for that kind of business backlash for supporting that legislation. amy: you have been tracking hate speech at the rnc.

peter montgomery, talk about it. >> i think there has been a tremendous amount of rhetoric on the floor. theain people, misogynist, way people refer to hillary clinton. there have been a lot of attacks on the floor and some of the right wing gatherings that have taken place, attack on black lives matter activists, attacks on immigration. it has really been a disturbing show. trumpnd the gays for party you attended last night? >> that was one of the stranger things i have experienced. it was organized by a group trump, and the focus was to highlight some hard-core, extreme anti-islam activists who, while they were talking about freedom for gay people, they were talking about islamizing western societies and enteringuslims frorom

based on t tir religioion. all of that was happening in this context off posters on the wall of young men with "make america great" hats and guns. event.a very odd it was disturbing to me as a progressive gay man to be at this event were gay people and their supporters were chanting their support for this kind of incredibly divisive and discriminatory rhetoric about muslims. amy: hmm. we are going to talk about that and have a debate in our next segment. peter montgomery, we will link to your piece headlined -- how would religious right respond to pence as vp? he has been covering the convention all week. this is democracy now! stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: music from the floor of the rnc. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org -- "breaking with convention: war, peace, and the presidency." i'm amy goodman. we broadcasting from the republican and democratic conventions for two publics with two-hour broadcasts. if you missed any of them, you can go to democracynow.org. platform haslican

been described as the most anti-lgbt platform and the 162 have in your history of the party. that is the conclusion of log cabin republicans, a group of gay republicans. the platform appears to endorse so-called conversion therapy by stating the right of parents to determine the proper treatment of therapy for their minor children. the platform criticizes the department of education for the recommendation that schools allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity. we're joined by two guests. charles moran is a board member with the log cabin republicans, which represents lgbt conservatives and allies. he is a delegate to the republican national convention from california. elena joke of --alana jochum is also with us executive director , of equality ohio. charles moran, let's begin with you. talklk about your concerns at ts convention. >> we really did have an opportunity at this convention with the nomination of donald

trump to modernize the republican party platform. it is something a number of us have been working on for several months now. what we saw is the republican nomination process started to shake out, and donald trump began admitting that he has no plans on investing any kind of capital into the republican party platform because he's ugly does not agree to follow it. it is nonbinding. he probably never even read it and admits to it as much. what i call the platform is the ted cruzuz consolation prize.. the platatform committee was run by a bunch of ted cruz supporters. they were lookoking to create a firewall againinst what would be donald trump reshahaping the pay in termsms of something that is much more socially moderate, something much more contemporary than senator cruz and his followers would tolerate. amy: talk about how this platform was decided upon. who influenced it? whwhere was the lolog cabin rerepublicans in all of this? >> again, the platform cocommite

was made up of over 100 people, different groups and organizations were invited too cementnt different languages,, groups like log cabin republicans and d american unity fund wororked closelely to o sut language. again, it really is about ththe makeup of the committee. we know that the ted cruz campaign had spend a lot of time and a lot of effort trying to feed allll of these committees with their supporters, people who would believe in n their agenda. there is a lot more of them. ted cruz'z's grgroup of people,t like people like kindle and roof nruh, have been exercising their lovers within the republican party. the platformm committee is an extension of thahat, trying to count the heheads and geget ther people placed on the cap -- thee platform committee to pass what is really a 19th century stylele platformrm. amy:y: what did you make of the

doing of ted cruz when he refused to endorse ted cruz last night? >> what makes sense is the bulk of the people on the floor at this time around are all supporters of donald trump. that is what we came here for. i think that the ted cruz supporters are looking for their consolation prize. i think they almost want to see donald trump lose so that ted cruz can run in 2020. i came to cleveland and toinated donald j. trump and injury g gets victory in novemb. i i do not know were senator crz and the rest of his supupporters are on that.t. why didid they come here? amy: you came here to endorse donald j. trump and mike pencnc? >> and mike pence. clearly, there are some concerns with his advancement of the religious freedom restoration act. part of that was somee understanding that this country has moved forwrward and business have movedorward, and he wilill haveoo step back and make amendments to his is listing l w and speak outut on some o of tht

discriminatoryry language. i think there'll be a quick correction foror mike pence realizing that now he e is not just the goverernor of his one statate or representing his one belief s system. he has to represent all americans, and that includes so many americans that have progressed quickly on the lgbt a quality issue. amy: alana jochum, your thoughts? >> the hats say "make america greatt again answer but the policy really says "make america straight again." the platform has been hostile to the lgbtq community, implying that conversion therapy is acceptable, and then the decision on same-sex marriage, a major supreme court case that we saw last year. ohio has successfully implemented marriage equality for all couples. it is law, and this tries to reverse that. i think that what we're seeing here with the advisors that trump has put around him, his

platform, and his choice of mike pence as his vice president, we're going to halt or at least not see any advancements in the lgbtq equality rights battle. amy: charles moran says it is not donald trump who is anti-gay . >> i think the policies are clear. heels i had a choice as to advise presidential candidate he would take, and mike pence is no friend to the lgbtq community. he has a strong record of anti-lgbtq equality and opposed lgbtq people in the military. he does not think even basic nonondiscrimination laws are acceptable for lgbtq people. housing, employment, public accommodation. there are 28 states, ohio being one of them, that does not have statewide nondiscrimination protections place. and he also put forward rfrara. ?my: c charles maron bound by trump is not

ththe platform. every y state in the country has their own republican party platform, and there are a number of states that have removed anti-lgbt language, places like california, nevada, washington. amy: every state has their own, but then the republican party -- >> i it is nonbindining. generalllly, officials have not read thehe platform.m. i do not knowow why we hahave aa platform and i do not know why we continue to go throuough this drill when it is n nonbindiningd our candidates,, truruly the rerepresentation of the party, openly say that they do not know with the party platform is and have no plans of following it. amy: let me ask alana jochum what you feel about that. donald trump has not read it and where does it say he does not plan to follow it? hass consistent messaging been, i and the candidate and i will not bend to the party, the party will come and follow me. >> we are a nonpartisan organization and have been

watching this closely. it is cleaear that there is a strong anti-lgbtq sentiment emerging. the e platform does have t the ststrongest language thahat weae seen condemning lgbtq people and marriage equality, which is essentially established law. i just do not think this is a step in the right direction. i do not expect thahat the presididential candidacy is goig .o raise lgbtq equality >> one of the things i am heartened by i is that tonight, peter thiel, o one of the most visible open lgbtbt business members inin our community, fofounder of paypal, an initial investoror and f facebook, will begin make a speech. the washington post is reporting at he willll use the words somemewhere along the lines of,i am an openly proudud gay man. that will be prime time tonight, the first time an openly gay active republican speaker at the

conventionon primetime. i think it shows that even if you look to o speeches, ted cruz last night actually recognizing the gay y versus straight, and knowledge and yet in a positive way. no other speakerers brought up y kind of anti-lgbt rhetoric. we have not seen f family values it mentions from thehe stage at all here and havaving some of te light peter thiel speak tonight primemetime, it showswst there is a disconnect between the ted cruz consolation prize platform and the steering away from the divisive social battle. >> i do think thehere is a disconnect between where americans are on lgbtq equality issues and what the platform is showing. as a n nonpartisan organization, we are always encouraging this dialogue, and that is something we take heart in. whole like rachel hauth fought to try to have inclusive forth.e put she describes her as of as the first openly gay delegate on the republican platform committee.

she had a beautiful and impassioned speech advocating for inclusive language, and in what we got was very hostile language. but those conversations, that is what will ultimately change the dialogue. we are pleased to be seeing these issues spoken about and lgbt individuals who identify as republican coming forth. amy: earlier this week, deena guzder spoke with jennifer williams, new jersey republican county committee women, who recently wrote a piece for the washingtonon post called " "i'ma transgender republican. my party has betrayed me." >> my name is jennifer williams, and i and here at the rnc as an honorary delegate, here is a transgender woman trying to break through the gap between the republican party and he transgender people and lgbtq community. >> do you feel the republican party has betrayed you? >> what they have done in the last year of the state party level are these bathroom bills,

which are really full disk nation bills. once you does -- discriminate people from using bathrooms, it hurts them from finding jobs and housing. if you put it other that a transgender woman is a dangerous, who will want to hire someone our work with some and who is transgender, let alone rent an apartment or sell a home to one? some think the party needs to look at themselves and realize is that they are really hurting a minority community. at the same time, when they put in a party platform about restroom use and locker room usage, and even with title ix with kids in schools, you are really hurting the future of the party. amy: that is new jersey republican committee member jennifer williams. she wrote this piece in the washington post, which is headlined "i'm a transgender , republican. my party has betrayed me." atonce again, i say to look

the lines of dodonald trump twoo months a ago, he said caitlyn jenner can use whatever bathroom she wanted. there is a disconnect here between the platform committee, ted cruz activists who want to see the platform steered hard to the right, and then the forces of moderation and progress, people like donald j. trump who have a business record of being inclusive, and that speaks directly to ms. williams' concerns about the economic issue. amy: let's go to caitlyn jenner. on wednesday, the transgender celebrity athlete met with members of the american unity fund as part of her support for the republican national convention. asit was easy to come out trans. it was harder to come out as republican. as far as social issues, when i came out in the community, i get it, the democratic party does a better job when it comes to the lgbtq community, the trans community, and that kind of stuff, and obama actually has been very good from that standpoint, which is recently

letting trans people serve openly in the military. they are already there. finally, they can serve openly. i think it is a very good step for our community, for equal rights. amy: that is caitlyn jenner. alana jochum? >> that may have been her experience, but it is easierer o come up as trans than as republican, but i do not think many transgender individuals with a it is easy to come out as transgender. the disparities facing the transgender community are significant.t. twice the ratetes of unemployme, 41% higher suicide rate. a recent study by the u.s. trans survey 2015 is at 59% of transgender individuals avoid bathrooms altogether just to avoid conflict and hostile situations. disparities.l this is why federal and state nondiscriminination prototectio, inclcluding gender ideity, a are so needed.d. >> we have been having this

conversation on the fact that you have somebody likike caitlyn jenner who has brought so much visibility to this community. 20 years ago, we werere not talking about t these issues. 10 years ago, we w were not. asmam route of caitlyn jenner a proud republican ofof califofornia. she e has stood up to criticism from within her immununity and from the republican party.y. i have talked to a lot of people who heard caitlyn jenner was comiming, and asked the questio, how can i get a tickeket questin or i i want to h hear what t shs to sayay. i am hoping g at the nexext republican convention quarter years from now somebody like caitlyn jenner can take the stage and speak. amy: were you disappointed by donald trump is a selection ofof governor pence given his long-standing criticism of the lgbtq community and his support for the so-calllled religious restoration reform, the religious restoratation act? >> it is somethihing that weigis heavily on me.

but donald j. trumpmp needs t to take a lot o of things into a cp -- i into account, more e than t this onene issue, when selectina vice presidential nominee. i i did not know about john kash being the first c call. i ththink that would have made r a lot more excitement. that at the end of the day, he needed to find some of the who could bring the skills t that, d ththat is what he neededed, somd with legislativeve experience, a legislative leader, and somebody with executitive experience from being governor. governor pence fits that description very well. his temperament is s much morore low-key. he will bebe the ying to donald trump's s yang. one of the drawbacks is this anti-lgbt sentiment that he has harbored over the years, but i look fororward to having a an opportunitity to be up to o work with governor pencnce. he will not be just the governor, hehe will be t the vie presidential nominee. he will have to tow donald trump's line. >> we are very disappointed and governor pence's selection.

he is not a friend at all to the lgbtq community. one of the things quality or ohio as to do is try to service a bridge among all ideologieies. lgbtq equality is a human issue. i think this is a reminder of how much education we have to go. amy: on a lighter note, it is not like people who have the noro-virus. on the california delegation, that has been a big thing. staffers at the republican california party, how many can done with noro-virus? >> slightly under a dozen. -- i ame toto none the fine. none o of the dedelegation has n impacted. they have been supportive with working at the hotel and with our staff. fire, we'reto the staying in a lovely city called sandusky, two miles west of the convention. sandusky, ohio. every day, the california delegation has been taking a

12-bus convoy the 60 miles into the city with a police as court. i have seen a lot of wonderful, beautiful ohio landscapes. city.dusky is a nice amy: we are going to leave it there. i want to think charles moran of log cabin republicans. alana jochum andalana jochum, in -- and alana jochum, executive director of the quality ohio. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org -- "breaking with convention: war, peace, and the presididency." i'm amy goodman. where are the african-american delegates? the lowest number of black delegates in a century. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "i'm an alien" by rebel diaz. democracy now! interviewed the bronx-based duo protesting outside of the republican national convention earlier this week. yes, we are "breaking with convention: war, peace, and the presidency." democracy now! is in cleveland, ohio, covering the republican national convention from the inside out, from the streets to the corporate suites to the convention floor. i am amy goodman and we're broadcasting two hours a day. if you miss any heart of it, go to democracynow.org. there are fewer black delegates at this year's convention than at any point in at least a century. according to the republican party's own data, only 18 of the nearly 2500 republican delegates are african-american, less than 1%. theecent as 2004, 7% of republican delegates were black. on wednesday night, we tracked down some of the 18 black delegates. >> james evans, celtic city,

utah. >> i just read in the washington post that this year the republican convention has the lowest number of african-american delegatates and like a century. your thoughts about why the loww numbers. >> first of all, the republican party does not believe" is, so we know that the political left love identity politics did you have to have a certain present of this or that. that is how the republican party -- that is not have the republican party is it some years we have higher n numbers e to others we have lower numbers. people make choices whether they attend or not. but we do not have a quota like the democratic party. >> of course, this year with donald trump being the nominee, there were some rarallies that were little bit of violent. you think that had anything to do witith how many african-americans are here this year? >> i am struggling to see, what does that have to do with donald trump? does read individual americans expressing themselves, rightly or wrongly, but it has nothing to do with donald trump.

what do you not think he should have spoken up more forcefully about people saying racist comment that his rallies? like i think he has spoken out against any head of discrimination. but i think it is more damaging that the political left plays racicial polititics and picks gs against each other. >> i am from houston, texas. i have been a republican since i was little to we still have a ways to go. but when we go in the black community, they have got to open the doorors and welcome us. i have had friends who campaigned the republican party and got thrown out of churches by the pastor appeared so it goes both ways. >> do you think donald trump as a nominee had to do with the lower numbers this year? >> i do not think so, because he is only saying how he feels. people think what his words are and the democratic party and the media throws it into a racial comments. when he calls at one like present in the audience as an african-american, the call him a

racist. hillary clinton said at a black church, well, she uses a black dialect at a black church, like i don't get noswhere. that is all black people talk. when she goes into a blank area, she has to say that she carries on sauce. that is more racist than saying that is my african-american. i say, that is my brother. what's i am from anchorage, alaska, eagle river, actually, and i am a delegate. i the o only african-american fm the state of alaska. i do not know if a republican convention has a huge number of african-americans, but i must say, i am pleased to see the african-americans that are here. when the state gave their nomination for donald trump, there was probably fourur or fie

states that had african american women announce for their states, and i am proud of that. click my name is calvin tucker. philadelphia and dam a delegate. >> i just read a washington post article that talked about this of being the lowest number of african-american delegates in about a century at the republican convention. your thoughts about the lack of diversity, especially with african-americans? >> i mean, there are african-americans here, delegates and alternates delegates. i do not know the number specifically. but we have to do our work in the african-american community. there are some deep-seated problems in our community. this process has been run for a long time. i do not know why that is a case. but we need to get the solutions to go farther. i think the donald trump, who is

a builder, who understands how to create jobs, and the job is as illusions to many of the problems that we face. so i think that it is incumbent on me to make the case to my community that in order to have political leverage and not do the same things over and over and over, that this is an option that we ought to explore. much to carla so willes, democracy now! producer. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. though some 18 never can american delegates, the washington post is reporting there were likely fewer like delegates of this user public and convention than at any point in at least the last century, less than 1%. we're joined right now by reverend dr. jawanza karriem

colvin, director of the institutioionalaptist church, one of the largest african-american congregations in cleveland and he was recently profiled in politico. in, welcome to take on the e police - -- how? >> when the incident took place with respect to the shooting of a decision i made that we cannot allow the death of this young boy to go without justice. i reached out to the department of justice, beganan to reach out to my brothers and sisters in the activist community. many not in the church but was conscience,nity of don't run academics, people in the nonprofit community, and we began to work together and figure out a way in which we could bring this issue to light. the family had done a great job in bringing national civil rights attorneys to their assistance. but we thought that they do not

have community support, and they do not have community activism to continue to bring this, not only for individual justice for their son, but to make sure that brought tootential the injustice related to the entire cleveland police department. amy: can you explain something to me -- when we went to the recreational center where young tamir, 12 years old, november 22, 20 14, had a toy gun, and police move in within a few seconds. the officer shoots tamir rice dead. now we are here at the convention. there have been protests around the issue of assault weapons. you have open carry in this state. so people carry guns all the time. even if they thought he had a gun, within seconds shooting him? and it has been shown by studies that white police officers think kids, black kids, are older,

like by 10 years than they arar. so here they see him a as like , and he has got a gun. you are allowed to carry a gun in this state. >> except if you are an african-american male, particularly in a community perceived as hostile, if you are in a a communinity with which yg people are often t times vieweds muchch older than th particularly are. the chahallenge is that t theree a number of forces that were working against tamir that day. being a young black male with historical challenges between police and c community. tamir found himself in a police -- and a place and a position where the officer, who we know had a history of instability with respect to his unfitness to being in another department, but when he came to the city of cleveland, he was allolowed to t onlyly have a badge but a also s allolowed to cararry a gun, andn tamir found himself in the crosshairs, less than two seconds of this young boy playing with a toy gun, only

doing somemething that anyy youg 12 year old would do, in a community center, a place he went to every day, obviously found himself in a circumstance and situation which, unfortunately, was not in the best judgment of those police officers. amy: neither police officers, the one who shot him, who was described as having low gun and pulse control at a past precinct, and the other had a case of excessive force around him and the police had to pay out, i think, a six-figure amount. what about the federal investigation? >> at this point, in terms of civil rights, the civil rights bar is so high that often times we do not see federal action taking place. that is why that i and several colleagues went into minutes abu court looking at the ohio revised code and finding there was a statute that citizens can come and find an affidavit and file an affidavit stating there is evidence to believe a crime

has been committed to review can do that. we did that. so that video indicated that there was probable cause. and the fact that while aiming usable court judge, and african-american municipal or judge in a majority african-american city found there was reasonable, or at least probable, cause, which is a low bar, ironically, when it went to the county, the county prosecutor found that there was not enough evidence to even have an indictment. that is proboblematic. you have seen the gq.com article, which indicates that it wawas a sham from the beginning, that it was an orchestrated attempt really to try y this cae in secret, which i only thought we did in eastern bloc countries 50 y years ago. amy: and the judge lost his race against a >> unfortunate -- fortunately,y, he did, but juste has not been served. unfortunately, we still have the case, and there is no statute of limitations on m murder.

it is up t to t the family whetr they w want to contitinue to pue ththat. many of us in the activist community are serving the family in such a case or do what wewe o know is from both h the law enforcementt community to thee prosececutor's office, there was clearly injustice that was done, and it is not simply found with that. it is systemic and institutional, and i am not sure the changining one prosecutor wl change the process. amy: i wanted to go to the republican national convention. on monday night, the milwaukee ,ounty sheriff, david clarke celebrated the acquittal of baltimore police officer brian rice, one of the offers on -- officers on trial in the fredede gray case spirit we were on the floor when sheriff clarke took the stage of the convention. >> there is some good news out of baltimore, maryland, as

lieutenant brian rice was acquitted on all charges. witnessed in ferguson, baltimore, and baton rouge was a collapse of the social order. so many of the actions of the occupy movement and d black livs matterer transcends peaceful protests and violates the code of conduct we rely on. i call it anarchy. amy: that is the milwaukee county sure of, david clarke. your response? is whatis interesting the sheriff was calling anarchy we call our first amendment rights, the right to protest, the right to peaceful assembly. like lives matter is utilized -- utilizeves matter has nonviolent direct action. the only thing and the only association he can connect with the murders o of those police ofofficers and black lives mattr is the fact that they are, in fact, black. we talk about the challenge with

respect to rebuilding the trust between officers and law enforcement and the c community. historically, there has never been trust betweenen the law enfoforcement cocommunity a ande african-american community, and this only reinforces the same type of t thing, the deeply embedded mistrust that is clearly not simply just on the perspective of the african american community. amy: the texas lieutenant governor, dan patrick, appeared on cnn in cleveland, expressing support for an investigation following donald trump of the statement monday night on fox news that if elected, he would instruct his attorney general to look into black lives matter. >> well, thankfully, he is lieutenant governor now, nothing had of the depepartment of justice. it is a movemement that is s brt to the foror the issueue of pole misconduduct. black lives matter is fininally

put on the national platform, and national conversation, the issue of excessive use of force and the u unconstitutionality of the encoununters with police and are nowamericans themselves being criminalized. they are the ones being criminalized. it is an amazing phenomemenon tt we have a law enforcement commmmunity and those who suppot them saying somehow that the blue shield is more important than citizenship and express and constitutional rights. amy: the number of like delegates, 18, the lowest number believed in more than a century here at the republican convention. >> and i would add to that, so the recent poll that 0% support for donald trump, and i know that is not within the margin of error. it is absolutely right. the recent most african-americans not conservatives today is because there's nothing to cononserve. ththere is nothing i in the curt state ofof the american economoy this is ththe current state of american social order, the current state of policing in

america that african-americans would want to preserve. so i a am not surprised. i am actually surprirised that e have the view that we do have, even in light of the venture he all we have coming out of donald trump. i would say this, african-americans are not going to be, even on the left,, are nt going to be intimidated to vote against donald trump. we will not be in any w way, shape, or form made to feel that he is a bogeyman or anything of that nature be that the truth is, african-americans, over the course of 400 years, have dealt with all kinds of blowhards, whether we''re talking about george wallace or others. we know how to deal with the donald trumps. so it is not about who we are voting against, but rather, who we are voting for. amy: thank you for being with us , dr. jawanza karriem colvin. that does it for our show. i will be doing a report back

from the conventions after tupac weeks of coverage come on friday, july 29, in massachusetts. and then saturday, july 30, from martha's vineyard. check our website for the latest from