09/30/16 09/30/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is dedemocracy now! >> rememarkable new data last week, the world is a ready in production, oilfields, gas, past the two degree mark the world has identifieded as catastrophe. that means we cannot build anything else. no new coal mines, no new pipelines. joins50.org bill mckibben us in new york and one of his latest pieces in the new

republic headlined, "a world war: we're under attack by climate c change and our only he is to mobilize like we did in world war ii." then in the first ever override of an obama veto, congress votes to allow americans to sue saudui arabia over the 9/11 attacks. >> there is mounting evidence that the saudi government, at least organizations and operatives within the saudi government, aided and abetted one of the most massive crimes in the united states. in our system, the truth behind those facts deseserves to be presented in court. comes as the obama administration declassified 28 pages from the september 11 report detailing possible ties between the saudi government and the 9/11 attacks. we will speakith medeaa benjamin, cofounder of cododepi.

author of "kingdom of the , unjust: behind the u.s.-saudi connection." and inin news from the campaigin trail, a new investigation by newsweek reveals one of donald trump's businesses violated the u.s. embargo on cuba, s secretly doing business there in the late 1990's. mr.. t trump: i've had a lot of offers, , sadly, it t has been y onently, to go ininto c cuba deals, b business deals,s, real estate a and other deals. and i i have rejected them on te basis that i wilil g go when cua is f free. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in syria, russian and syrian warplanes pounded the city of aleppo will troops massed east of the city and the united nations warned of a huhumanitarn catastrophe. at least 100,000 children remain

trapped in the eastern part of aleppo, where the u.n. says food is nearly exhausted for more than 250,000 people. u.n. humanitarian chief stephen o'brien told the security council that aleppo had descended into a "merciless abyss of humanitarian catastrophe." be realems there will accountability and the court of world opinion. goodness knows, nothing else seems to be working to stotop ts deliberarate, gratuitotous carne of lives lost and smashed. amy: a u.s.- and russian-brokered ceasefire in early september began unraveling two weeks ago after a u.s.-led airstrike killed dozens of syrian troops in what officials called an accident. russian diplomats yesterday -- thursday rejected a pause in bombing to allow for humanitarian aid to reach aleppo, instead offering 48 hours cease-fires. secretary of state john kerry said he waonon the verge off cutting g off all talks with russia over the crisis.

>> i think we're on the verge of suspending the discussion in the it is a rational context of the kind of bombing taking place to be sitting there trying to take things seriously. amy: meanwhile, russian officials are condemning comments by u.s. state department spokesperson john kirby, who said this week that russia's bombing campaign could lead to terror attacks in russian cities and russian troops being shipped home in body bags. kremlin spokesperson dmitry peskov said the statement amounted to u.s. support for terrorism. in kashmir, pakistan is vowing to defend itself against what it calls indian aggression, after two of its soldiers were killed in cross-border fighting thursday. india says it launched surgical strikes against militants in the disputed line of control region betweeeen indian- and papakistani-controlled kashmiri. pakistan's prime minister called an emergency cabinet meeting over the latest fighting, which comes less than two weeks after an attack on an indian army base

killed 18 soldiers. india has ordered the evacuation of thousands of people in villages near its border with pakistan. in israel, world leaders gathered friday for the funeral of former prime minister shihimn peres, who died in tel aviv on wednesday at the age of 93. among those paying tribute was president bararack obama. pres. obama: i don't believe he was naive. but he understood from hard-earned experience that true security comes through making peace with your neighbors. "we won them all" he said of israel's war, but we did not win the greatest victory that we aspire to. amy: palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas attended the funeral, where he briefly shook hands and exchanged words with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. in 1994, peres won the nobel peace prize for helping

negotiate the oslo accccds. he was prime minister in 1996, when israelili forces shelled a refugee camp in qana, lebanon, killing 106 people and injuring 116 others. peres was a leading advocate for the building of jewish settlements in the occupied west bank and gaza. his slogan was "settlements everywhere." in hoboken, new jersey, at least one person was killed and more than 100 injured, many critically, after a commuter train hurtled through a station and crashed through a wall during the morning rush on thursday. witnesses described a horrific scene of bloodied bodies and twisted metal. eyewitness william blane said the crash sounded lilike a bomb. >> iran out. i looked to the right and i just saw bodies. i saw debris. i looked and i saw this guy who try to get up. i saw another person bleeding. i went to help them out but a couple of other people got to help them. i looked over and solve the train in the wall.

it just blew my mind. amy: officials are still investigating why the new jersey transit train failed to brake as it approached the hoboken terminal, but they're treating the disaster as an accident. the train did not have p positie train control, a technology that can automatically stop a train that is in danger of derailment or a collision. new jersey transit was supposed to have implemented the technology by the end of 2015 under a congressional mandate passed in 2008, but was granted a three-year extension after the railroad industry lobbied successfully for a delay. in news of global warming, a new analysis by top climate scientists finds the earth's average temperature is on track to increase by twtwo degrees celsius, or 3.6 degrees fahrenheheit, by midcentury, unless governments take drdramac steps to limit grereenhouse gas emissions. the study finds that current pledges to combat climate change under a u.u.n. agrgreement crafd in paris last december fall far short of preventing g a temperaturure rise of 1.5 degres celsius, one of the agreement's

goals. the study was led by the u.n.'s former top climate scientist, robert watson, who said -- governments need to double or triple the efforts to meet the paris target. meanwhile, the mauna loa observatory in hawaii reports atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have topped 4 400 parts r million throroughout 2016, and e unlikely to fall below that level for the foreseeable fututure. that's far above the 350 parts per millllion considered by ny climate scscientiststs to be the safe limit. in other climate-related news, a new federal lawsuit targets exxonmobil in what advocates say is the first legal action targeting the oil giant for its decades-long cover-up of climate change. the suit by the environmental group conservation law foundation charges exxonmobil continues to pollute the island end and mystic rivers near boston, in part by failing to fortify a storage facility to withstand rising seas and extreme weather caused by climate change. last year, insideclimate news and the l.a. times revealed that

for decades, beginning in 1977, exxon concealed its own findings that fossil fuels cause global warming, alter the climate and melt the arctic ice. we'll have more on climate change with 350.org founder bill mckibben later in the broadcast. the family of alfred olango, a ugandan refugee shot dead by police is calling for peaceful tuesday, protests and the release of a video tape showing the killing. olango's mother, pamela benge, said her son was distraught over the recent death of a friend and was having a mental breakdown on tuesday when police confronted him. she says officers should have helped her son, but instead opened fire. benge said her family arrived in the u.s. in 1991 as refugees seeking to escape violence. >> w whave come from a a war zo. ..we wanted prorotection

that is why we a are her i wanted t the chihildren not te running around d being in feaear evevery niight, sleepining in te bushsh. that is why we a h here. there are millionsns of refugees thatat are here just seeking g r betterer place, a sasafer plala. safetyty. we w wanted just t to be safe. but now i asked the question, wherere should we go? i don't know. amy: olango's family and supporters are demanding the release of a cell phone video, recorded by a bystander, that captured the killiling. in new york, newly released court papers reveal the city's police department has secretly recorded black lives matter protesters since the death of ericic garner in 2014, sending undercover officers to demonstratioions. the disclosure came as the nypd refused to make public videos, photos, and other records requested under the freedom of information act. lawyers seekining the records sy the susurveillance couould viole the first and fourth amendments.

they say the nypd may have also violated so-called handschu guidelines, which bar the nypd from spying on protesters for solely political reasons. in august, the intercept reported that new york transit police also spied on black lives matter protesters. in financial news, the ceo of wells fargo was grilled by lawmakers on capitol hill on thursday over a scandal that saw thousands of employees use private customer information to create 2 million fake accounts in order to meet sales targets. ceceo john stumpf apologizeded o the house e financial services committee and said h his bank wl elimiminate sales quotas for emplployees beginning onon octor onone thing. -- octobober 1. earlieiethis week,k, theanank to back $ $41 million i in stock awawarded to stumpf. that did litittle to appease lawmakers, incncluding new york represenentative carololyn malo, who noteted stumpf solold $13 million n worth of welells fargo stock in 2013. >> s so my question is, did y yu

don't $13 million of wells fargo stock, which you did three your family trust, right after you found out that your bank had been fraudulently opening hundreds of thousands of scam acaccounts, ripping off yourur customers?s? >> i sold those shares and i sold them with proper approvals with no view about anything that was going on with sales practices or anything else. amy: earlier this month, stumpf appeared before the senate banking committee where massachusetts democrat elizabeth warren accused him of "gutless leadership" and said he should be criminally prosecuted. in news fromom the campaign tra, the editorial board of "usa today" has declared republican nominee donald trump unfit for the presidency. it's the first t time in its history that the countntry's highest-circulation newspaper has taken sides in a presidential race. this is "usa today" editorial page editor bill sternberg. >> unanimous c consensus of f te

board d is that hehe lacks thehe tetemperamt,t, the knonowledge, maturity, steadiness that america needs in itits presiden. amy: the "usa today" editorial board wrote of trump -- "he is erratic. he is ill-equipped to be commander in chief. he traffics in prejudice. his business career is checkered. he isn't leveling with the american people. he speaks recklessly. he has coarsened the national dialogue. and he is a serial liar." "usa today" has not endorsed hillllary clinton or any other candidate. in other campaign news, democratic nominee hillary clinton said thursday that donald trump appeared to violate u.s. law by attempting to do business in cuba. clinton was referring to an investigation by newswsweek that revealed that t a trump company violated the u.s. embargo against cuba in 1998, spending at least $68,000 during a secret business trip to havana.a. the investigation also reveals that trump had knowledge of top executives working to cover up the illegal expenditures.

he then went on to write an op-ed piece that attacked fidel castro. we'll have more on donald trump and the cuban embargo later in the broadcast. and in the philippines president , rodrigo duterte said today he'd be happy to slaughter drug addicts just like adolph hitler massacred millions of jews during the holocaust. duterte made the remarks during a rambling speech after returning from a trip to vietnam. >> massacred 3 million jews. [indiscernible] and say the next generation.

amy: a wave of extrajudicial killings in ththe philippines hs claimed thousands of lives since rodrigo duterte became president in june. he vowed during his campaign to crack down on drug users just like he didid as thehe longtime mayor of the city of davao, where his strongman tactics prompted human rights watch to call him the death squad mayor. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. this year may be only half over but 2016 is a ready on track to be the hottest year ever on record. in the midst of this during the first presidential debate on monday, republican presidential candidate donald trump and his democratic rival hillary clilinn sparred briefly overer climate change. mrs. clinton: take clean energy. some country is going to be big superpower the 21st century. donald inc. climate change is a

hoax, perpetrated by the chinese. i think israel. mr. trump: i did not say that. i do not say -- mrs. clinton: we grip this and deal with it both at home and abroad. juan: clinton was s referring ta tweet the donald trump sent in 2012 -- "the conceptpt of global warming was created by and for the chinese in order to make u.s. manufafacturing non-cocompetiti" his continued to suggest climate change is some sort of a hoax. his comments were highlighted in a w tv aroduceceby the sierralub. mrmr. trump: all of thisis withe global warming -- a lot of it is a hoax. it is the money may thing -- moneymaking industry. >> they said you called climate change a hoax. is that true? mr. trump: w well, i might have. i belilieve that climate changes not man-m-made. we are g going to cancel the pas climate agreementnt.

our president is worried about global warming. what a ridiculous situation. juan: that is right, d donald trumump said d if elected, he wl weaken the u.s. and bar mental protection agency, abolish president obama's cleaean power plan, from of alsoso fuel exploration, rececruit oil and s executives to lead his. our next guest rights in the new republic about "a world at war: we're under attack from climate change and our only hope is to mobilize agree did in world war ii." "day after day, week after week, saboteurs behind our lines are releasing a series of brilliant and overwhelming attacks. in the past few months alone, our foes have used a firestorm to force the total evavacuationf a cicity of 90,00000 in canada a drought of ravaged crops to the point were southern africans are literally eating their seed corn and floods that threaten a priceless repository of cardinal lou." image to our guest goes on to write --

zika virus loaded like a bomb into a growing army of mosquitoes has shrunk the heads of newborn babies across the entire continent, panicked health ministers in seven countries are now emerging women not to get pregnant and ass an all confct, miioions of refugees are fleeing t h horrors of warar. thr r numbers spreading daily as air force to abandonon their hos toto escape famimine and desolon and d disease. worlrld war iii is well and truy underway and we are losing. those are the words of bill mckibben who joins us today co-founder of 350.org. , he's the author of several books including, "eaarth: making a life on a tough new planet." his other new piece in the new republic is headlined "recalculating the climate , math." welcome back. so you just heard the clip from the first presidential debate. escalating thely

discussion about where climate change needs to fit into this. talk about what the candidates have said and what you think actually needs to happen. is, july andt august were the two hottest months we have ever measured on this planet and in fact, the scientists who look at the proxy records from before we had thermometers tell us july and august were probably the two hottest months in ththe historyf civilizationon. againsnst that backdrop, to seea buffoon like trump playing games with climate change, is sobering, but it is also sobering to realize, you know, nonone of our political leaders have said what we need to do on the scale we need to do it. if we're going to have a chance of dealing with climimate chang, it means mobilizing in ways that we haven't been a very long time. one of the points of writing this first piece for the new republic this year was to

demonstrate at least it was possible. if you go look at how america mobilize during world war ii, the industrial might we brought to bear, and then you do the calculations -- it is at the outside edge of possible that we could in the short time that we have built enough solar panels and wind turbines, but it willl take the same kind of focused effort. juan: but your use of the analogy of war for a country that is involved in were the drop of the hat, war on terrorism, war on drugs, war on poverty, not to mention all of the shooting wars as well, the actual wars, your decision to use that analogy? >> the point in this case, the war on drugs is completely phony idea, right? it is just a way of justifying all sorts of that ideas. inin this case, it is not that e need to go to war with climate change, it is that we are under siege.

by all the measures by which one we areabout work -- or, in one. we're losing territory all the time. literally, islands are disappearing. huge swaths of coral this year alone. 90% of places, 80%, coral died in a matter of weeks. these atolls that have been there for years. ice that is enough for millennia upon m millennia is now gonene. the world looks entirely different from a satellite now than it did 30 years ago. so the question is not whether or not we are in a conflict, the question is whether or not we're going to fight it or whether we're going to keep listening to the exxons of the world and do nothing. amy: so in this piece you do recalculating the climate math, the numbers on global warming are even scarier than we thought, what shocked you most? > this comes from a remarkabe

report from a group called oil change international. a few years ago, we talked about the sort of new climate math that launched the fossil fuel divestment movement. at that time, what we understood was the world's fossil fuel -- far tood far more much carbon in its reserves, five times as much as we could afford to burn. with a new study indicates, and it is important to get this, is that the coal mines and oil and gas fields that we already h hae inin production have enough carn in them to take as past the two degree mark that the u.n. has said is ththe line for cataststrophe. that is there'nothingg about the future anymore. we literally cannot build anything else and stay within those limits. no dakota pipeline, no new coal mines in australia, none of the things that our political leaders -- justin trudeau in

canada two days ago greenlighted a massive project in the british columbia coast. in the light of this new climate data, it is completely clear that these things -- we just can't do. we can't drain most of what is in the fields that we have already got in production. but as that dwindles, we have to be replacing it day by day with renewable energy instead. juan: how do you feel in terms of the amount of time devoted to the issue of climate change? come aates previously democrats and republicans, and down the first actctl presesidential debatate? >> in the course of the whole debate season, by far the high point was when the senator from my home state of vermont stood up and someone asked him at one of the debates, what is the most important challenge facing the world? he said, climate change.

two weeks later at the next debate after all of the editorialists touted how he should've said terrorism or something, they asked him again and he's at it again. -- he said it again. that is a good sunday is the most popular politician in america. but it hasn't yet f fully filted down into the clinton campaign and certainlnly not the trump campaign. the democratic platform is very good on n these issues. one hopes that if mrs. clinton is elected, we will be able to press her to tryry to live up to that platform.m. amy: you were not feeling as encouraged when he served on the democratic platform m committee. you describe this in your piece. explain what happened, what you're calling f for, and what ultimately -- >> i was depressed halfway ththrough. when t the platform committee -- we took a series of votes and we of partylinert votes, on all sorts of things. but then bernie refused to concede.

he did not back down. he did not do what everyone told him to do. he cap in the race through the final meeting about the platform in orlando to ask before the convention. and he did thahat in order to ensure he would have leverage and those discussions. it is not like eight years ago when hillary clinton wanted barack obama to pay off his campaign debt. you want to progress on the issues. as a result, by staring them down, , the platform at the last minute turned markedly more progressive. among other things, there is a call in there for an emergency climate summit within the first 100 days of a new administration designed to -- and it says this in the platform -- mobilize us for something like world war ii approach to climate change. we will see if we can hold them to it. clearly, it will take hundreds of thousands of people in the street, just like in new york two years ago this month.

amy: w we're going to go to brek and come back to this discussion with bill mckibben, cofounder of 350.org, author of two pieces of the new republic, most recently, the climate math." ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juann gonzalez. our guest is bill mckibben, cofounder of 350.org. among his books " eearth." juan: i want to ask about the specifics of this massive movement toward dealing with climate change. you mention in your writing, mark jacobson, a stanford professor who has studied this for years that has come up with a model for how each state in the union could be able to deal with reachable goals. can you talk about some of the specifics he has? >> you can't believe how

detailed the work this team at stanford has done. if you go into their database and ask how many y acres of souh facing roof there are in alabama that are n not shaded by trerees where you can put solar panels, a number pops up. now the same for most countries in the world. what they demonstrate is, it is within both economic and to, byal possibility 2030, be getting 80%0% of our power from renewable energy. it is not easy because the fossil fuel complex is the center o of our economy and d te an huge amount of s something investstment that would have toe written off, but it is a hell a lot cheaper. juan: you turn on the tv now, any day, and you see the campaign for the energy voter. >> the fossil fuel industry knows their back is against the wall.

they know they have a losing hand. look what is going on in the dakotas. no sane person could look at the pictures that democracy now! provided from the standing rock onervation with dogs sicced protesters try to protect their water. and you go let's go to a clip of that. this was september 3, labor day weekend, native americans at the massive resistance camps now thousands did not expect the dakota a access pipeline, the 38 billion dollar pipeline, was going to be excavating at this point. it was a holiday weekend. they were going to plant their travel flights in a ceremony. what they found shocked them. all those are in full gear host of the security guards were there with have for spray. they assaulted attacked, tackle the native americans, and they sicced dogs on them. are threatening us with these dogs. that woman over there, she was

charging them. amy: the dog has blood in its nose and mouth. >> and she is still standing here threatening. you can't -- amy: why you letting her dog go after the protesters? was the scene. describe what is actually taking place here and what is at stake. why the dakota access pipeline would want to hurt these protesters. >> first thing to understand what is taking place there is everybody else acknowledging what some of us have known for a long time, which is frontline communities, particularly indigenous people, have been in the forefront of this climate fight. they were in keystone and now clearly in the dakotas. they're holding the line against something that threatens not only the reservation, but the whole planet. we cannot hope more oil -- we cannot pump more oil. we have to start opening up reserves.

their work is astonishing. against all odds, they have been able for the moment to bring a temporary halt to some of that giving, one hopes, cooler heads for a chance to look at the available data and common sense to prevail. earlier this year, the president said any new projects would have to pass a climate test. there is an even stiffer version of that in the next democratic platform. this pipeline could not pass those tests. it should be stopped. thank heaven for the bravery of those people and really for the environmental justice movement that has sprung up all around the country. not even sprung up. today we're celebrating the 50th anniversrsary of up rose, reall, one of the original seminal environmental justice outfits here in new york. that is where the leadership is coming from and it is really powerful to see. amy: what is hillaryclinton stance on the dakota pipeline? >> one has no idea.

she so far has refused to say anything about it. let's hope that changes. this is not only a practical challenge, at this point, it is a clear moral test. look, on the long list of oppressed people on this know, it may be the absolute top of the list. the idea we are putting dogs on people in 2016, that we are pictures that look just like the pictures from birmingham in 1963, that should be enough to cause revulsion along any normal person looking on. juan: given the fact we're still dealing with a congress controlled by climate change deniers, what do you think could still be done by a president, either obama in his last few months were clinton if she is elected, through executive action to be able to move forward on this issue? >> there are certain things the

presidident can do. and one of them, sort of obvious, straightforward one, is to stop allowing people to drill for oil and gas and mine coal on public land, federal land. that is something like half the carbon deposits are on federal land. the obama administration, late in the game, has finally allowed just stopped allowing new coal leases, but that should go to fracking and oil wells and every thing else. at the very least, we should take public land off the table because the president can do that. amy: bill, you have talked in "thehe new york times" about you yourself being persecuted. can you talk about who has been going after you, photographing you, and what this is all about? >> there is an outfit called america a rising squared, or something, some kind of right-wing gop also feel industry sort of thing -- no one

quite knows where their money comes from. they announced earlier in the year there were going to do opposition research and video tracking on a level that previously have been reserved, as they said, for presidential candidates. yes, sometimes now, often in public, there are people following me everywhere with cameras and stuff. look, it is not a lot of fun but compared to what is happening to people in other places, i can live with it. it is not like -- amy: what are they doing? >> tracking. amy: this is not just at a public protest. >> no, i'm giving a speech or they follow me. once or twice i've had to go into the men's room to, you know -- it is just designed to get in one's head, i guess. frankly, sometimes it does a little bit. say, look,y want to there are environment activist who are now getting shot in this

world on a weekly basis. people in countries that are trying to stop mines, pipelines. it is a great luxury to be in america, at least until we elect donald trump, that we don't have to worry quite in those ways. the real point is, the fossil fuel industry will do anything -- anything to avoid actuallyy talklking about t the issue. and the issue is that if they keep their business model going, and the planet tanks. that is where we are. you aboutone to ask the organized labor movement. there has been some change in terms of the environmental movement and trade union movement getting closer together. the dakota accesess pipeline, afl-cio, has come out in favor of it. your thoughts on that? >> the good news, if you want some, a bunch of unions have come out on the right side on this issue. and quite strongly.

the communication workers, transport workers, nurses union, groups like that. and all the kind of caucuses l for the af of communities of color. these are important. one understands why the construction trades want to build pipelines. look, these are good jobs and they pay good wages. it is too bad that the world literally can't zorba the carbon that flows through these things -- absorb the carbon that flows are these things. it would be easier for the whole we could just say we would like a few more years of this or whatever. but i do think this is an important moment for labor, as for everybody else. what is going on in the dakota's is indefensible. literally indefensible. what is powerful to see there is

the oldest wisdom on this continent matching up perfectly with the newest scientific events. a powerful combination. i think it will be powerful enough maybe to overwhelm even the financial might of the fossil feel industry. amy: there is been a terrible accidedent in hoboken with t the train. the train smashing into the hoboken station when it should have stopped. we don't know what happened to the engineer, the person who was driving, but the question was, why didn't stop even if something had happened to him? heart attack or whatever. we have in or miss investment in the highways of this country. the whole issue of investment in mass transit -- the discussion on all of the networks nonstop with the terrorism, well, it wasn't terrorisism, but the question of where is the investment in mass transit? >> let's talk about investment in infrastructure generally. great opportunity in the first

months of the clinton administration would be a serious grand barargain for serious investment in infrastructure especially around renewable energy, but around mass transit, route all kinds of things. amy: that alsoso means a massive number of jobs. >> exactly rigight. exactly right. this is the future bernie sanders was talking about. we have to put serious numbers on the table. the talk in the m momentt, sometimes secretary clinton will talk about $250 billion. it has to be multiples of that because we are deep, deep in the hole. when people say wewe don't have the money, welcome at the moment money is cheap for a lot of reasonons. what we e really don't have the money for is somemehow trying to deal with a world where the ocean is rising. you have seen in the last few months, and increased focus on what is going to happen here in manhattan over the next decades

the sea level rises. think about just in this one island, how much economic w weah is at risk if we let the planet heat going on the path that is going on now. juan: you mention the massive investment needed immediately. interestingly, when all of the candidates came into the new york editorial board earlier this year, they all talked quietly, not publicly, that it is commonly accepted that one of the things the new congress will do is work out the amnesty for corporations that have trillions of dollars parked overseas because they don't want have to pay to corporate tax. so they all are expecting a huge infusion of money. the only question is, at what percent will they allow the amnesty, which is what it was, for all of these corporations to bring this money home and that is where hillary expect to get all of her infrastructure money, where the republicans expect to be able to cut taxes -- all on the basis of this -- it is not

one time, it is the second major amnesty, to corporations. >> yes. there our knees aplenty -- ironies aplenty in that scheme. if we're going to do it, let's make sure the e get out of jail free card is not free, that it comes with a hefty price tag because when we are dealing with the of a structure challenges, especially a around renewablee $100y that we have, 100 -- billllion doesn't begigin to cu. we need actual date money, the kind of money that we've been spending on, sasay, thehe mility for the last decades. that is the kind of money that we need to face this challenge. amy: about a year ago, almost exactly, you were there in for my in your hometown standing there ingn -- you were your hometown, standing with the sun, i think you got arrested in front of your mobile station is ily, "this pump temporary

close because exxonmobil lieded about climate." today in our headlines, the first legal action targeting the oioil giant for its decades long of climate change. talk about this. year is been a troubling for exxon. about exactly year ago inside climate news, the l.a. times, columbia journalism school, started releasining probably the most important investigative reporting we have seen in a very long time. what he demonstrtrated was our most important and largest fossil fuel company, indeed for much of history the largest company on earth, had known everything there was to know about climate change, had used it in its own internal calculations to make sure they were prepared, you know, building their drilling rigs to cope with sea level rise, and at the same time, lying to the rest of us. setting up this architecture of deceit and denial and disinformation. well, i wanted to make sure -- i

wanted to get arrested because i wanted to make sure those stories did not disappear in the daily wave of news that we all live under. similarr people did things. and thank heavens people started listening. snyderman, the attorney generaral, quite bravely took on exxon. inwas followed by the ag massacachusetts. last weeeek, the sec announceded they w were joining this investigation. onthe time e we got the sec board, well, i mean, i guess they made a federal case out of it. -- and fact,nt it is pretty remarkable. it is a sign of just how far into this crisis we are. juan: not only are these companies lying to the public, they are also lying to their shareholders in terms of what is the actual value of the company if they understand what is ahead in terms of global warming. >> that's right. there is a story today that indicates exxon, over the last

seven or eight years, has quadrupled its holdings in the tar sands in canada. it is now 35% of their reserves in those tar sands. this is ininside climamate news today. the idea they're going to be ugly get all of that oil out seems unlikely to me. pipeline.keystone there's opposition to the energy east and pipelines in canada. if their predictions for economic future have been predicated on the fact they're going to be tar sands giant, well, that may have not been a very good bet. amy: and the koch brothers. a lot of the republican establishment has given up on donald trump, but they haven't given up on the other races. can you talk about the amount of money the koch brothers are pouring in right now to try to defeat candidates were deeply concerned about climate change? >> i don't know the exact numbers, but apparently, people

not spending that money on trump, they are spending it down ballot in places like in the ohio senate race. there has been a spigot of money turned on to benefit the fossil employeestriey's hired that are running. that is sad on a number of counts. this is the place where things like citizens united where the rubber really meet the road because we cannot afford another two years another four yeaears f inaction on climate. we have had of for a quarter century, and it has yielded the hottest of interest. amy: bill mckibben, thank you for being with us. we willing to your "a world at war" and "recalculating the climate math." bill mckibben is cofounder of 350.org and shuman scholar at military college in vermont.

-- middlebury college in vermont. when we come back, the first overriddenma veto is by congress. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to wednesday's decisive vote by congress to allow americans to sue saudi arabia over the 9/11 attacks. overriding president obama's veto of the bill. it's the first time during obama's presididency that his vo has bebeen overridden by congre. the senate rejected the veto 97 to 1, while the house rejected it 348 to 77. this means the "justice against sponsors of terrorism act" now becomes law. this legislation would allow courts to waive claim of foreign sovereign immunity after an act of terrorism occurs within u.s. borders. the bill had passed both the

house and the senate earlier this year, but president obama had vetoed it earlier this month. this is the president speaking to cnn wednesday. pres. obama: legislation did was citizenif a private believes that having been terrorism -- i terrorism, then they can file a personal lawsuit, a private lawsuit in court. that is t that if we eliminate this notion of sovereign immunity, then our men and women in uniform around the startcould potentially seeing ourselves subject too rereciprocal laws. anand the concern that i have hd

has nothing to do with saudi arabia per se or my simple the for 9/11 famamilies, i it has to with me nonot wanting a situatin and when n we're sududdenly expd to liabilities for all of the work we're doing all around the world. amy: in july, the obama administration declassified 28 pages from the september 11 report detailing possible ties between the saudi government and the 9/11 attacks. the declassified documents raise new questions about the role of a saudi consular official based in the los angeles area. he personally helped two of the hijackers after they arrived in los angeles in early 2000. 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were from saudi arabia. the saudi government financed an extensive lobbying campaign against the legislation, but stopped short of threatening any retaliation if the law was passed. there was no official reaction from saudi arabia after r the votes. the override of president obamama's veto comeses as the se lastst week rejecteded a proposo block the u.s. from supplying the kingdom with more than a -- $1 billion worth of tanks and other military hardware.

critics of the weapons deal say it could drag the u.s. into the saudi-led war in yemen and contribute to the humanitarian crisis there. for more we are joined by medea , benjamin, cofounder of codepink. her most rececent book is "kingm of the unjust: behind the u.s.-saudi connection." if you could talk about the significance of this firsrst-evr override of an obama veto and what this means for saudi arabia. >> i think the significance is that, finally, we have an example of the u.s. congress putting the u.s. citizens above the relationship with the saudi government. and this is significant because year after year after year, congress has done nothing to stop arming to the teeth the saudi government, $115 billion worth of weapons house under obama alone, aa government that treats its own citizens with tremendous repression, beheads peaceful dissidents, treats women as minors their entire

lives, has millions of foreign workers were treated like servants, and spreads this and tolerant am a distorted version around the world. and the u.s. is not only arming the saudi government, but is directly involved with the saudis and a devastating war going on in yemen. so the sort of opens the issue up to much larger questions. the president's argument on the issue of the impact in a broader sense to the united states, and also the talk now in the house and senate about revisiting this legislation with some carveouts or changes to it later? >> actually, this legislation is quite narrowly written and people do not think it will allow the payment of compensation. in the executive branch could stop the courts at any point.

so i think this question about whether it would open up u.s. officials overseas to lawsuits, i actually think that could be a positive thing. for example, if the families of victims of drone attacks, innocent families, were able to take the u.s. to court instead of joining isis were al qaeda as her only resort, that would be a very positive thing. juan: do you see the prospects of the house and senate revisiting this legislation? >> they certainly might revisit the legislation. they might make it more narrow. i think we should look at the larger picture of what has happened since the iran nuclear deal, since the recent questioning of the saudi weapons deals. and i think we should start looking at all of the areas that the saudis have been using to

buy consent in the u.s., giving large donations to ivy league colleges, to think tanks, to the clinton foundation, to the john mccain foundation, paying eight different groups and washington, d.c., as lobbyists -- for example, the brother of john podesta who runs the clinton's presidential campaign receiving $140,000 a month from the saudis. all of these things should come out now as we question the u.s. relationship with the saudi government. amy: what do you most want to find out? information coming out in lawsuits of the 9/11 families about saudia arabia's lawsuits? >> supposedly, there are 80,000 pages of documentation about relationships between the hijackers that we know nothing about, particularly those that live in florida, in new jersey, and virginia. this has all been hidden from

the public. and through the courts is the only way to get some of this information out. i think it is like ripping the band-aid off. let's see what is underneath that. and then this really allows us to start the much broader issue of questioning. and the fact you just had all bill mckibben talking about the devastating impact of the fossil fuel industry, let's also connect that to saudi arabia where the basis of our relationship has been for decades around oil and now includes the saudis propping of the military-industrial complex, by far the largest purchasers of u.s. weapons. amy: medea benjamin, thank you for being with us, cofounder of codepink. author of "kingdom of the , unjust: behind the u.s.-saudi connection." juan: in news from the campaign trail, under investigation by newsweek reveals that one of donald trump's businesses violated the u.s. embargo on cuba and secretly did business there in the late 1990's.

and then tried to cover it up. the investigation draws on internal company documents showining trump's company, then called trump hotels & casino resorts, spent at least $68,000 in cuba during a secret business trip to havana. at the time, it was illegal under u.s. law to spend any corporate money in cuba. amy: a year later, trump wrote in an op-ed in the miami herald in 1999 -- "i would rather take a financial hit than become a financial backer of one of the world's most brutal dictators. of course we should keep the embargo in place." well, for more, we go now to dallas, texas, where we're joined by kurt eichenwald, a senior writer at newsweek and a contributing editor at vanity fair. his cover story for newsweek is headlined "donald trump's castro , connection." in these last few minutes, can you lay ouout what youou found? >> simply, that donanald trump violated the cuban embargo. he did so with a lot of

plannining. ththey did a business trip. thousands m many, many of dollars, which is completely illegal. this is not donald trump personally. they sent someone from an outside company and reimbursed him for all of the costs, but that was the w way to do it. they met with governrnment officials, financiers, businessmen. toame back, plotted on how make it look likike this was actuallyly a humanitarian effort sponsored by a charityty. that, no dealer came out of itit, but seven mons later, trump was on the campaign trail running for the nomominatn of the reform party. and he said, s spending money in cucuba is giving it to castro. anand he is a murderer. whilile he is ststanding there,e knows that he had d just done that. juan: and the reason he did that

at the time was looooking oututr , atntial casinos inn havana the time his own c company was n financial trououble? >> yes. there were rumblings that the embargo might be about to be revised. to get,rump was trying you know, a foot in the door. he was trying to get people on the ground in havana who would help with the government aspects, help with thehe financl aspects, help with the partnership aspect. basically, was getting bracecedo dash ththrough the door as soons it started getting open. it did not get opened and you're not allowed to do that. it was illegal to begin with. so it was a fifinancial decision for what was t then a very financially struggliling compan. to me, what is so shocking about casually they broke

the law, , how casuaually the motivation of it was so -- was so based and, you know, just financial calalculations. amy: you have a lot of people -- there are a lot of people opposed to the embargo who felt it was wrong. except donald trump would not be not category publicly because, as you point out in the miami heraldld, he said "i would rathr take a financial hit than become a financial backer of one of the world's most brutal dictators." how do you know, in this last minute, that donald trump directly knew about the $68,0000 expendnditure? >> two things. first of all, thehe 68,000 dolls was comiming out from the very highest rereaches of the compan. itit wasn't likeke there were se account doing it. the president chief executivee officer were in charge, the chieief fininancial officer was

involved. i knknow from people directly involved in the circumstances who were thehere that trump knew and was fully on board. you u don't write a $68,000 chek and - -- actually, onone of h hr thousandnd dollars check bececae they were paying for other things, too. with t the consultant that trump is doing with personally and have nobody know about it. yes, he knew. amy: and the investigation that you did of the coverup afterwards? of executives? >> what that entailed was after the money had been paid,d,here arare ways for a humanitarian effort to be expended in cuba that are legal. and it was, well, maybe we should try and make e it look le this. maybe we should get t a charityo have sponsored our trip. it doesn't work that way. you can't do a business deal or

business transaction or a business trip and then say, oh, let's make it look like a humanitarian -- amy: we have to leave it there, kurt eichenwald. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

narrator: europe is perhaps the region most associated with supranationalism-- the voluntary association of three or more countries. one example of supranationalism is the european union-- an economic alliance designed to improve european competitiveness in the world economy.

but this alliance is more than just economic. it is also europe's attempt to forge a community with common values, even as individual state identity is maintained. strasbourg is located on the border of france and germany and has endured centuries of conflict between those two nations. today, it is one seat of the european union-- a symbol of modern unity. as political boundaries become more permeable, perceptions of place change as well as deeper, more personal meanings of national identity. when state boundaries become porous, what does it mean to be french or german or european? strasbourg serves as one of three centers for the european union. this medium-sized city of 250,000 is not a major player in europe's financial or industrial arenas. so why is it playing such an important role in europe's political future?

the answer can be found in strasbourg's cultural history-- a product of its unique borderland location. strasbourg literally means "city of the roads that cross." these roads lead west to atlantic europe, east to central europe, north to great britain and south to the mediterranean world. most crucial of all, strasbourg sits on the rhine river between two of europe's strongest historical rivals-- france and germany. strasbourg really occupies a very special kind of position. of course, it's bounced back and forth a bit between german and french influence, and, in fact, 500 or 600 years ago, it was really falling within the influence of the german empire. and then as the french empire was expanding and in conflict with the german empire along the rhine, it came under french influence. the franco-prussian war in the 1870s, however, was partly driven by german efforts to expand to the west bank of the rhine-- that's where strasbourg sits.

so it became formally a part of germany at that time. and then in the 20th century, it's fallen back under french control. those original cultural and linguistic ties with germany are still there, so you have a dialect that is a germanic dialect, but it's now, of course, formally a part of france. and this particular and special situation gives it a bifurcated identity, which is really sort of special for a city of its sort. narrator: as the capital of france's alsace region, strasbourg's combination of cultures is one of its strengths. ( speaking french ) translator: we are fortunate, some would say, to be the fruit of a mixed marriage-- a marriage between a so-called "germanic" culture and a latin culture. this is alsace. narrator: you can see this dual history in the architecture here. strasbourg is german in its 16th-century timber-framed houses. strasbourg is french in the ordered lines of the 18th-century rohan palace.

strasbourg is german in the neoclassical architecture of emperor wilhelm ii's rhine palace. and strasbourg is french in its walls fortified by vauban in the time of louis xiv. in today's strasbourg, though, the walls that once existed between the city's two cultures are breaking down. when you cross from germany into strasbourg, you notice something unusual at the border between two countries-- no one is stopping at customs. ( speaking french ) translator: the 1st of january 1993 marked the setting up of the european internal market, freeing circulation between the 12 countries of the european community. border crossings are no longer subject to customs controls at the point of entry to a country. all such controls take place within the borders and are supervised by mobile units.

narrator: thirty kilometers south of strasbourg on the rhine river is a district called rhinau. most of rhinau is in france, but part is in germany. this is a very unusual situation left over from medieval times, but it shows how the meaning of borders is changing today. ( speaking french ) translator: i go to germany to reap the corn on my land-- a thousand hectares-- which is in the district of rhinau. when the borders were closed, i had to stop here, and the custom officers would ask what i was doing. so i would explain that i owned some land here. ( speaking french ) translator: all along the rhine, there are dozens of people who work in germany who are very happy that these openings still exist. and germans also come here to do their shopping. the formal transboundary cooperation agreements

that have developed across the upper rhine have facilitated the ability of germans to come into the strasbourg area and to buy up property. and what this means, of course, is that they are living now in a different context from the one they used to live in, and that makes them think about themselves and their place in different ways, and it certainly helps to break down a sense of "this is french, and this is german," which, of course, lay behind some of the animosities that characterized this region throughout much of the 20th century. ( man speaking french ) translator: now we have come to the point that every house for sale is bought by german buyers. they even buy building sites. one of them has built his house out here. you know, the price is so much lower here that they can buy a house and its site with the price they would pay for a site alone over there. on the down side, however, of course, is they come in in growing numbers, buy up property;

this raises real estate prices. and, of course, it makes it more difficult then for locals, particularly locals of less... who are less well off, to get into the real estate market. and so there are potential resentments that can be fostered by this sort of activity as well. narrator: strasbourg's stature as an important center of european cooperation grew from a decision in 1949 to locate the council of europe here. ( speaking french ) translator: the council of europe finally became, at least to some extent, the route to a democratic europe, because all the democracies, one by one, became members. narrator: the council of europe was established in 1949 with ten countries. new members have continued to join, and since the fall of the iron curtain, the entry of russia and most of the eastern european countries has brought the total to 41. subsequently, the so-called european communities were born. firstly the coal and steel community, then in brussels, the european community.

these were the predecessors of the european union. adinolfi: all of the countries that joined the european community were, first of all, members of the council. so it can be considered as a sort of antechamber for the european union. narrator: today strasbourg is also home to the european union's legislative branch-- the european parliament. but the capital of the european union is, in a sense, split with major administrative centers in brussels and luxembourg city, as well as strasbourg. murphy: there's a little bit of a struggle about where the future of this will go. there's an enormous expense right now associated with running back and forth between brussels and strasbourg. indeed, many of the parliamentary committees meet in brussels. then they have to get on a train with their tons of documents and get on over to strasbourg for their formal parliamentary meetings. so it's an issue before europe of how much this is worth. but, of course, there are political and cultural interests vested in this.

( speaking french ) translator: strasbourg is on the border between germany and france, and for centuries, the city has been caught in the middle of conflicts between the two nations, and reconciliation between them has passed by strasbourg. since we have so few symbols in europe, strasbourg is surely an appropriate symbol of unification and peace. and the parliament would be crazy not to take advantage of the possibilities of this town as its seat. even if the european union remains simply an economic union, it has already achieved a lot. but if it remains only economic, if it does not enter into the hearts of the people, if there is no common belief, it will run aground. narrator: these cultural foundations

will be crucial to the success of the european union. translator: i am from naples, and i am completely, thoroughly neapolitan. yet i have decided to spend my life in strasbourg. i will spend all my life here. it feels good here. i have a lot of friends here, and this environment, the european atmosphere, which is so much a part of strasbourg, suits me perfectly. narrator: further economic unification continued in 2002 with the adoption of a common currency, the euro. but, as economic, political and cultural unification proceeds, will the europeans be able to maintain their national and cultural identities? many still feel themselves to be french, and many still feel themselves to be german on either side of the international boundary. strasbourg, as we were talking about earlier, has always had a little bit of an in-between position with respect to that. but what this does is... the recent developments help to reinforce that in-between position.

and i think, probably, although it's difficult to get survey evidence to show this, it tends to make people think more in terms of, not even so much necessarily local alsatian terms, but in terms of multiple levels of identity in which europe is one of them. narrator: and how do these multiple levels of identity translate to a self-image for the people who live in border regions such as alsace? translator: we are alsatian, and we are proud to be. but we are also proud to be french, and i hope we will soon be proud to be european. narrator: as one of the capitals of a new, united europe, strasbourg symbolizes an increasingly important concept: that of supranationalism, as embodied by the european union. it is an idea that transcends cultural and national definitions of state territory. as boundaries allow more fluid movement, perceptions of state identity may become more fluid as well.

in the final analysis, europe's supranationalism seeks to enhance how european places interact with each other and how europe, as a region, can most effectively interact with the world. europe has seen increasing supranationalism through organizations like the european union. however, at the same time, certain countries in the region have split apart-- a process called "devolution." though former yugoslavia dissolved into bitter war, its neighbor, czechoslovakia, separated peacefully into the czech and slovak republics. our focus is on the slovak republic. we'll see that this young country still struggles with border disputes, ethnic tensions and economic development issues connected to its communist past and its independent future.

thirty miles east of vienna lies a nation that is barely beyond its first decade of existence. the slovak republic-- or slovakia-- only came into being on january 1, 1993, with the breakup of the old czechoslovakian federation. french geographer ewa kulesza is exploring how boundary issues have affected the people of this young east central european country. located only three miles from the austrian border, slovakia's capital, bratislava, already possesses a long frontier history which starts with the danube. it was the northern limit of the roman empire. then, having fallen under hungarian domination during the ninth century, bratislava, then named pozsony, lay at the limits of the territory. later, pozsony became pressburg and marked the border of the two halves

of the austro-hungarian empire. finally, pressburg became bratislava when, in 1918, the first czechoslovakian state was forged. but one war and a few years later, the old castle still saw another frontier pass at its feet-- the iron curtain. then, in its turn, this last empire fell in 1989. ( man speaking slovak ) translator: at a certain point, the czech political class decided that it would suit them better if slovakia became independent, thus to create a barrier to the ukraine and the balkans. they thought that this would allow their economy to conform more easily to western european norms. concurrently, a group of slovak leaders felt that the economic restructuring program proposed by the czechs was not very advantageous for slovakia.

this was how, following the 1992 elections, the new prime ministers, vaclav klaus for the czech republic and vladimir meciar for slovakia, decided that the two federal states must separate peacefully. ( speaking slovak ) ( cheers and applause ) the slovaks always felt that they were treated as second-class citizens within czechoslovakia. they thought it was supposed to be an equal union, and they felt that the czechs looked down upon them, and they didn't like that. that's part of the driving force for separating. it became... it helped slovak national self-esteem by having their own country and feeling like they had total governance over themselves. narrator: the so-called "velvet divorce" announced, the territory still had to be divided. for two years, a bilateral commission worked

to determine the true line of the border. this line follows approximately the historic limitations of the ancient czech and slovak federal republics. ( speaking french ) translator: so, there's the border. kulesza ( translated ): this border corresponds more or less to an ancient historic line. but, you can see that a border is a physical reality that is set out meter by meter, with very real consequences for people. borders are where we as human beings decide that we want to place them. and we change them and we change them every so often-- decades, sometimes it takes centuries-- but they're not what often people think as natural, you know, that somehow... that they're supposed to be there. borders are really human constructs. narrator: in the village of sidonia, the little stream which defines the border meanders so much

that it was decided to use the road as the dividing line. ( speaking slovak ) translator: here, for example, the border takes the center line of the road. the family's house lies on the czech side of the road, while their outhouses are located on the slovak side. but you must understand that this situation arose as a result of a will to compromise in order to facilitate the lives of the village people. ( woman speaking czech ) translator: i've lived on the czech side. i've always lived there, and when i saw barriers at the end of the road, i cried. why is it like this? who wanted it? why did those people up there decide to separate the people? it's really awful! narrator: along with such local concerns, larger economic and political challenges are to be found along slovakia's borders. the gabcikovo dam rises over the danube river

on the boundary between slovakia and its southern neighbor, hungary. begun in 1977, this was one of the last gigantic construction projects undertaken by the communist regime. a joint venture between hungary and czechoslovakia, this immense hydroelectric project has become an inherited source of conflict. white: the idea was that they would divert water from the danube river through turbines to generate hydroelectric energy. but at the same time, it was potentially environmentally destructive. it would move 97% of the water from the danube river through a concrete channel that could then be run through the turbines. hungarian scientists began to realize that there would be vast environmental consequences-- pollution of groundwater tables, even surface water would be polluted. it could potentially destroy habitat for animals. and there was another issue

that downriver from the dam is budapest, a city of 2 1/2 million people. in time, hunrians, through street protests, et cetera pressured their own government to slow down on their... their half of the project, so that by late 1980s, the hungarians only had completed roughly ten percent of their project, where the slovaks had pushed ahead, actually, and were almost 90% done. so this started to create tensions between the two countries. with the hungarians not wanting it to go through and... and stopping, the slovaks came up with an option to just completely finish the dam and the whole project on their side of the boundary. kulesza ( translated ): it has produced a tangled web of unresolved ecological, political and legal problems with the southern neighbor. the two countries have applied to the international court of justice at the hague to resolve this dispute by peaceful means. this is not the balkans, this is central europe.

the hungarians accuse the slovaks of having displaced the border between the two countries by a few hundred meters. narrator: in 1997, the court ruled that both parties must work to negotiate a new solution to their conflict. the gabcikovo hydropower plant is operational, but issues of water control along the border continue to be a hostile point between the two countries. another legacy of slovakia's communist past is its flagging economy. as part of czechoslovakia, its orientation was east, its economy tied to the soviet union. since separation, slovakia has lagged behind the czech republic, due in part to its eastern location and lack of infrastructure. the czech half of the country was more industrialized. and without that half, the slovak part of it has languished more economically, especially since the czech part of the country,

if you look at a map of europe, is much closer to the industrialized part of western europe. the czech republic is in a good position in terms of import and export. the distances are quite short. slovakia ends up being farther away. bratislava is very close to vienna and budapest, and is probably prospering more than the eastern parts of the country, which now seem very far away for any kind of german investment or french investment. just... they... they won't invest in factories in the eastern part of slovakia just because of transportation problems, communication problems, lack of infrastructure. countries bordering, you know, countries of the european union-- very industrialized-- have prospered quite nicely, but the eastern halves of the country haven't received the kind of investment that the western portions of the country have. narrator: slovakia initially applied for european union membership in 1995, eager for the economic and political benefits this alliance provides. membership approval is expected early this century.

the e delay in membership can be attributed in part to both slovakia's languishing economy and ongoing ethnic tensions. the area north of the danube is home to 560,000 hungarians, about ten percent of slovakia's population. generally speaking, the two ethnic groups get along on a local level. ( speaking slovak ) translator: actually, the population of the village is 63% hungarian and 37% slovak. there are no problems of coexistence between these simple people. here, primary schools exist for each community. the parents are free to choose, but two-thirds of the children go to the slovak school. ( speaking hungarian ) translator: i am hungarian with some german blood as well. we hungarians do not have any problems with the slovaks. it is the politicians who want to turn us

against one another. ( speaking slovak ) translator: i've got nothing against the hungarians, even if i am a slovak. narrator: however, differences, both political and cultural, do exist. when the hungarian minority go to the polls, it unanimously votes for more or less independent leaders. one of them provides this assessment of the problems of slovak hungarians. only 2.9% of hungarians in slovakia have higher education, and with... with such a small intelligentsia, you can... you cannot build your future in the long run. narrator: there are also mixed signals from the local slovak populace. ( speaking slovak ) translator: i have a cousin who emigrated to the united states. his children were born in america, and so they are american.

when one is born in a country, one takes the nationality of that country, no? so why are the hungarians who were born in slovakia not slovaks? they were born in slovakia, they are slovaks, and that's the end of it! independent slovakia made many hungarians nervous within slovakia. they felt better in a bigger czechoslovak state, where they felt that the government in prague, which was the government for czechoslovakia-- they would be treated more fairly in that kind of government. in a newly independent slovakia, they felt like they were a minority in a country where the dominant people, now the slovaks, had historical grievances against them and they didn't have the czechs anymore to appeal to. narrator: during the communist era, the totalitarian system tried to deal with nationality problems by denying them. but they never went away. in a country in the process of adapting to a market economy,

there is often the temptation to designate scapegoats in order to mask real problems. ( speaking slovak ) translator: it doesn't make any difference if you're hungarian or slovak. that's not the problem. the real problem-- i'll tell you what it is. it's the gypsies! ( speaking slovak ) translator: miss, i'm going to tell you the truth. we have nothing! we are slovakian gypsies, and here, everybody hates us! white: it's hard, once you have conflict. one issue leads into another issue-- old competitions between people, such as slovaks not having been happy living in hungary finally get their own country, and you think there's going to be peace-- although, of course, boundaries weren't drawn to people's satisfaction, so there's a lingering antagonism there. majorities that become minorities and minorities that become majorities, the tables become turned, and it's hard for people to let bygones be bygones, so discrimination might now... might continue but in reverse.

and then you get modern issues coming along like building a dam, which you would think should be around the issues of energy and... and self-sufficiency in energy. but in europe, they get wrapped up in these old ethnic disputes, where one group feels that they never really received justice, and now a new issue is coming along, and they see this not only as a contemporary problem of building a dam, but a... a way of the other side grinding an ax or getting back at them. narrator: resolving these ethnic difficulties will be of vital importance in slovakia's future. ( speaking french ) translator: the most remarkable impression this journey leaves is of the strength of the slovak national sentiment. it remains for this national sentiment to find its balance in the fast-changing europe left by the collapse of the communist regimes. narrator: since independence, slovakia has struggled with a number of difficult questions stemming from its communist past. these include:

born of the forces of devolution, slovakia is poised to reap the benefits of supranationalism as it makes its way through the 21st century. captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

annenberg media ♪ gracias. narrador: bienvenidos al episodio 28 de destinos. en este episodio angela y raquel todavía están en el sitio de la excavación esperando que pronto roberto sea rescatado.

también hay noticias de don fernando. su estado es muy delicado. es necesario consultar a una especialista. en este episodio vamos a aprender vocabulario relacionado con el cuerpo humano. maricarmen: dos ojos una nariz... simón dice, "toca la boca." doctor: ahora las orejas... a ver dame la mano. a ver los brazos. con los piernas es importante hacer este movimiento. voy a poner este aparato en tu pecho.

ahora quiero ver tu respiración. voy a escuchar por tu espalda. también vamos a aprender un poco sobre la geografía de méxico. angela, lo que temíamos es cierto... captioning of this program is made possible by the annenberg/cpb project and the geraldine r. dodge foundation.

en el episodio previo, raquel y angela llegaron a méxico y alquilaron un carro para ir a buscar a roberto, el hermano de angela. roberto es estudiante de arqueología y hubo un accidente en la excavación donde él trabajaba. mientras raquel manejaba, angela hablaba de su hermano de lo estudioso que era y también de su relación con él. roberto y tú son muy unidos, ¿verdad? en puerto rico me decías siempre que tu hermano era un encanto. cuando llegaron al sitio de la excavación no pudieron pasar. el guardia les dijo que podían pedir información

en el hospital del pueblo. ha habido un accidente. no se puede pasar. por favor, señor, el hermano de ella estaba en la excavación. no sabemos lo que le ha pasado. en ese caso, deben ir al pueblo. por allá, a no más de quince minutos. en el hospital le dan información a todos los familiares. mientras raquel y angela buscaban a roberto arturo llegó al hotel en la ciudad de méxico. allí preguntó por raquel. la señorita raquel rodríguez ¿se ha registrado? rodríguez... no. a ver. sí, hay una reservación pero ella no se ha presentado. iqué raro! ¿me permite el teléfono? por supuesto. arturo estaba un poco perplejo. ¿por qué no estaba raquel en el hotel? ibueno!

ahora el teléfono del hotel está ocupado. raquel intentó varias veces comunicarse con arturo por teléfono, pero no pudo. iraquel! ialgo está pasando afuera! ihay movimiento! ¿vamos? isí, vamos! méxico es un país de grandes contrastes geográficos y climáticos. está situado al sur de los estados unidos con el océano pacífico al oeste y el golfo de méxico al este. en la parte central hay tres cordilleras:

la sierra madre occidental la sierra madre oriental y la más pequeña, la sierra madre del sur. son montañas altas y rocosas y en algunas partes hay volcanes activos. al norte, en la alta meseta de las montañas se encuentra una gran zona árida. es el desierto de méxico. la península de yucatán está situada al este. aquí, en yucatán, el terreno es llano, no montañoso

y parte de la península está cubierta de una densa vegetación. el centro-sur del país es una alta meseta y aquí se encuentra méxico, distrito federal y capital del país. otras ciudades importantes son veracruz, en la costa del golfo de méxico

monterrey, en el norte del país y guadalajara, al oeste de la ciudad de méxico. pero el centro político y cultural del país es méxico. méxico no es solamente la ciudad más grande del país sino también la más grande del mundo. ♪ soy pura mexicana, nacida en este suelo ♪ ♪ en esta hermosa tierra de mi linda nación. ♪ ♪ mi méxico querido, qué linda es mi bandera. ♪ ♪ si alguno la mancilla, le parto el corazón. ♪ ♪ iviva méxico! iviva! ♪ iviva américa! ♪ oh, suelo bendito de dios. ♪ iviva méxico! iviva! ♪ iviva américa! ♪ mi sangre por ti daré yo.

( música continúa ) iay! iay! iay! y aquí, en esta gran ciudad en esta metrópoli de tantas personas se encuentra esta clínica. y en la clínica, hay un hombre gravemente enfermo. su estado es muy delicado. es necesario consultar a una especialista. ¿ud. recomienda a alguien en particular? conozco al mejor especialista en méxico pero está de viaje. está dando una serie de conferencias en europa. no regresa hasta el fin de mes. ¿y podemos esperar hasta entonces? no. recomiendo que lo examine un especialista lo antes posible. ¿y no hay otro doctor?

¿uno que sea de confianza? también conozco a otro muy bueno que radica en la ciudad de guadalajara. tiene una clínica muy bien equipada en la universidad de guadalajara. ¿en guadalajara? ¿y aceptará venir a méxico? eso no lo sé. esta es la casa de ramón castillo en la ciudad de méxico. en este momento, se encuentran varios miembros de la familia castillo en su casa. simón dice, "toca el pelo." simón dice, "toca los ojos." simón dice, "toca la nariz." simón dice, "toca la cabeza." simón dice, "toca las orejas." simón dice, "toca los ojos." simón dice, "toca la nariz." simón dice, "toca la boca." simón dice, "toca el pelo." simón dice, "toca la oreja." simón dice, "toca los ojos." toca la oreja. iaja! ( risas )

yo no me toqué las orejas, papá. sí, mi amor. ya sé que no. ihola! ¿a qué están jugando? a "simón dice." iyo voy ganando! ino, yo! ilos dos van ganando! es un juego norteamericano. lo aprendieron en miami. iqué bien! ¿puedo jugar yo también? ¿qué les parece? ¿quieren competencia? isí, sí! isí, acércate! itú también, tío juan! ( teléfono suena ) yo contesto. ¿listos? simón dice, "toca la mano." simón dice, "toca el brazo." simón dice, "toca la pierna." simón dice, "toca el pecho." simón dice, "toca el pie." simón dice, "toca el brazo." simón dice, "toca el pecho." simón dice, "toca la mano." toca la pierna. iaja! simón dice... sigue... simón dice, "toca el pecho." simón dice, "toca el brazo." simón dice, "toca la mano." simón dice, "toca el pie." simón dice, "toca la pierna." toca el pecho.

( ríe ) sí, sí. maricarmen y yo llegamos al término. sí, vamos. ahora es más difícil. simón dice, "toca el pelo." simón dice, "toca los ojos." simón dice, "toca la mano." simón dice, "toca el pecho." simón dice, "toca el pie." simón dice, "toca la pierna." simón dice, "toca el brazo." simón dice, "toca el pelo." simón dice, "toca la cabeza." simón dice, "toca las orejas." simón dice, "toca el pecho." toca el brazo, toca la mano. ( todos ríen ) ¿qué hubo? qué pasó? era ramón. dice que hay que llamar a un especialista para papá. ¿un especialista? sí, parece que el doctor necesita una segunda opinión y hay un especialista muy bueno en guadalajara. pensaba ir a visitar al hospital a papá. allí podremos hablar con mercedes de esto. bien. entonces, vamos. yo me quedo aquí. gloria no está y alguien tiene que cuidar a los niños.

bien. ivamos a jugar! niños: isí! simón dice... en la clínica, cerca del sitio de la excavación raquel y angela esperan noticias y un doctor examina a un muchacho del pueblo. ¿te han examinado antes? bueno. no tengas miedo. no es nada, ¿eh? primero, los ojos. ahora la nariz. ahora las orejas.

a ver, dame la mano. la otra mano. a ver los brazos. ahora vamos a examinar las piernas. con las piernas es importante hacer este movimiento, manolito.

bueno. ahora voy a escuchar tu corazón. voy a poner este aparato en tu pecho. ahora quiero ver tu respiración. voy a escuchar por tu espalda. hombre: ivengan, vengan! están a punto de rescatar a los hombres atrapados. nosotras tenemos carro. ibueno! ¿qué esperamos? iestá bien, está bien, soy yo! iah! gracias.

ya verás que todo irá bien. ay, gracias, raquel. me alegro de que estés aquí conmigo. espérenme aquí, no se muevan. voy a ver qué pasa.

mientras tanto una nueva dotación ha llegado al lugar del accidente para relevar a los exhaustos trabajadores que llevan ya muchas horas excavando sin descanso. hay esperanzas de alcanzar en pocas horas a las personas atrapadas antes de que se les agote el poco oxígeno de que disponen. ¿qué tienes allí, maricarmen? es un juguete que juanita me trajo de los estados unidos. se llama "sr. papa." ah, ¿sí? sí. aquí está todo lo que necesitas, pati: dos ojos una nariz... una boca... dos orejas... un brazo con una mano

otro brazo con otra mano y los pies. oye, maricarmen, ¿dónde están las piernas? pati, el sr. papa no necesita piernas; sólo pies. ¿y el resto del cuerpo? ¿no tiene espalda, ni pecho? no, pati. ¿y por qué se llama "el sr. papa"? porque su cabeza es una papa. ¿y no tiene pelo? no, pati. las papas no tienen pelo. ( charlan ) ihola, niños! ¿cómo estás, maricarmen! maricarmen: ihola! juanita: ihola, tíos! maricarmen: hola, mi papá. ihola, chicos! hola. ¿qué hay juan? iah! papá sigue igual. y el doctor aún tiene dudas. ¿y el especialista? vamos a llamar a guadalajara.

parece que el doctor no puede viajar. en este preciso momento vemos a la nueva dotación de rescate equipándose para entrar en el túnel. estos voluntarios excavarán hasta alcanzar a las tres personas que aún están atrapadas. carlos: muy bien, ya es tarde. todos a la cama. vamos. niños: iay, no, no, no! ya es muy tarde, es muy tarde ya. antes que nos vayamos quiero hablar con carlos. ¿está acostando a los niños? sí. creo que sí. ¿ha regresado gloria? todavía no. mejor ya váyanse. se les va a hacer tarde para viajar. sí. buenas noches a todos. todos: buenas noches. hasta luego. todo pasa al mismo tiempo.

¿qué quieres decir? lo de papá, y ahora, juan y pati. ¿juan y pati? sí, tienen dificultades. ¿no lo sabías? no. ni siquiera tenía idea. pues, así es, y no creo que nosotros podamos hacer nada por ayudarlos. no. no debemos intervenir en los matrimonios. además, tenemos el problema de la oficina en miami aunque carlos no nos ha dicho nada. bueno, tío, yo también me voy a dormir. buenas noches, mercedes. que descanses. tú también. no te quedes hasta muy tarde. hasta mañana. pedro: "don pedro, llamó un tal doctor arturo iglesias-- gran hotel de la ciudad de méxico".

lástima. ya es muy tarde para llamarlo. angela, lo que temíamos es cierto. su hermano roberto es una de las personas atrapadas. pero hay esperanzas. contestan los llamados con golpes en las piedras. entonces, ¿están vivos? sí, seguro. ¿podemos hacer algo? no. lo único que podemos hacer es esperar, con fe. bien, vamos.

iqué buenas noticias! parece que roberto está vivo. pero no estábamos seguros de eso al comienzo. bueno. raquel: en el hospital, hice una llamada telefónica. ¿con quién quería hablar yo? yo quería hablar con arturo y también con pedro. pero no pude comunicarme con ellos.

mientras angela y yo hablábamos con el padre rodrigo entró un hombre. nosotras tenemos carro. raquel: este hombre traía noticias muy importantes. ¿qué noticias eran? el hombre dijo que estaban a punto de rescatar a las personas atrapadas. bueno. entonces, angela, el padre rodrigo y yo vinimos en seguida aquí, al lugar de la excavación pero esta vez pudimos pasar sin problemas. iestá bien, está bien, soy yo! iah!

gracias. menos mal que el padre rodrigo estaba con nosotras. hace unos minutos, vino el padre rodrigo con noticias. ¿qué nos dijo? ¿era roberto una de las personas atrapadas? angela, lo que temíamos es cierto. tu hermano roberto es una de las personas atrapadas. pero hay esperanzas. contestan los llamados con golpes en las piedras. entonces, ¿están vivos? sí, roberto era una de las personas atrapadas. pero también nos dijo que estaban vivos que contestaban a los llamados.

bueno. aquí estamos esperando que los rescaten pronto. tenemos muchas esperanzas. pero me da pena no haber podido comunicarme ni con pedro ni con arturo. ¿es posible que tengan noticias de este accidente? ¿ha podido arturo comunicarse con pedro? ♪ te quiero más y más y más, por tu manera de pensar ♪ mujer: con cada comida que le sirvo a mi hijo... ♪ por tu figura sin igual... le sirvo su vaso de leche. ♪ te quiero más y más y más. hombre: por eso yo digo, "salud con leche". inoticias de último momento! el equipo de canal 10 presente en la excavación de michoacán nos avisa que pronto serán traídas a la superficie las tres personas atrapadas vivas en el túnel derrumbado. según han informado los atrapados son andrés villa

alicia trujillo y roberto castillo todos estudiantes del instituto nacional de antropología. quédese en canal 10 donde le daremos más información en nuestra última edición, de medianoche. captioned by the caption center wgbh educational foundation