democracynow.org 02/23/17 02/23/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> worried all the time about being bullied by kids commit even being bullied by educators, and other have to worry about the attorney general of the night is eight and the president bullying them? it is not ok. amy: the trump administration has rescinded president obama's landmark decision to order public schools to let transgender students use the bathroom matching their chosen gender identity. we will get response from the

aclu. into standing rock. ofafter the deadline february 22, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. we are all at risk of facing arrest, police brutality, federal charges, and prison time. amy: 10 people are arrested as the main resistance cap set up by lakota water protectors fighting the dakota access pipeline has largely been vacated after they were ordered to leave the camp. we will go to north dakota for the latest. more evidence comes to light about the close ties between new epa had scott pruitt and the fossil fuel industry. >> why do you need an outside oil company to draft a letter when you have 250 people working for you? >> senator, as i have indicated, that was an effort protecting the interest and making sure we made the voices of all oklahomans heard on a very important industry to our state. amy: thousands of pages of newly released emails reveal how scott pruitt closely collaborated with

koch brothers comedies to rollback environmental regulations during his time as oakland's attorney general. all of that and more coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in north dakota, the main resistance camp set up by the lakota water protectors fighting me $3.8 billion dakota access pipeline has largely been vacated after protesters were ordered to leave the camp wednesday. police arrested about 10 people. the u.s. army corps of engineers and the north dakota governor had imposed a new eviction deadline for the hundreds of water protectors still living at the resistance camp. this is governor doug speaking on wednesday. >> are big ask for tomorrow is anyone remaining in the camp, we want to make sure that have an opportunity to voluntarily leave, take your belongings,

remove anything that might be culturally significant and we will help you get on your way if you need that. amy: prayer sermon is were held in part of the camp was set on fire. water protectors say the resistance camp sits on unseeded to territory under the 1851 treaty of fort laramie and they have a right to remain on their ancestral land. a couple dozen people are still remaining at the camp ful. consequences come from that, but i believe wholeheartedly in the move. amy: earlier this month, construction crews resumed work on the final section of the pipeline after the trump administration granted an easement to allow energy transfer partners to jewel beneath the missouri river. the trump administration has rescinded key protections for transgender students in public schools. the move reverses president obama's landmark decision last may to order public schools to let transgender students use the

bathrooms matching their chosen gender identity. on wednesday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the white house to call on trump to protect transgender students. participants included mara keisling of the national center for transgender rights. >> the worst-case scenario is what is already happening. children all over the country are scared by this man. they are really worried they're going to go to school tomorrow, they're going to be bullied. these are kids who have to go to school worried about being bullied by other kids, even being bullied by educators. now they have to worry about the attorney general of the united states and the president of the united states bullying them? amy: according to press accounts there was initially a split in the trump administration over the issue between attorney general jeff sessions and education secretary betsy devos. "the new york times" reports devos initially resisted signing off and told trump that she was uncomfortable because of the potential harm that rescinding the protections could cause transgender students.

the president sided with sessions and pushed devos to drop her opposition which she , did. the white house says president trump will wait until next week to unveil a new ban on rugees and travelers from some majority-muslim countries. president trump's january 27 executive order canceled tens of thousands of visas, stranding travelers worldwide and sparking mass protests at airports before a federal appeals court blocked the order. trump had promised to unveil a revised order this week. secretary of state rex tillerson and john kelly visited mexico city on wednesday, in the first visit by a senior trump administration official since mexican president enrique peña nieto canceled a planned meeting with president trump last month. the pair sought to improve relations with mexico after trump promised to force mexico to pay for an expanded border wall and after his administration announced plans for mass deportations to mexico including immigrants who are not

, mexican citizens. mexico's foreign minister wednesday angrily denounced those plans. clearly and say emphatically the government of mexico and the mexan people do not have to accept provisions that one government unilaterally wants to impose on the other. we will not accept it because there is no reason why we should and because it is not an interest of mexico. amy: the mexican foreign minister added that mexico will ask the united nations to help preserve the rights of immigrants inside the united states. at the u.s.-mexico border a , 45-year-old man leapt to his death just minutes after he was deported by u.s. border guards. witnesses say guadalupe olivas valencia was distraught and shouted he did not want to return to mexico, moments before he committed suicide by jumping from a bridge at the el chaparral border crossing in tijuana. olivas's family says he was a widowed father of three who was struggling to support his children.

in texas, ice officers removed an undocumented immigrant asylum-seeker from a hospital where she was being treated for a brain tumor and returned her to a detention center. lawyers for the salvadoran woman, who's identified only as sara, say immigration agents cut off all communication with her family and attorneys and bound , her hands and ankles as they transferred her from the hospital to the for-profit prairieland detention center near dallas. the lawyers say sara has been suffering convulsions, nose bleeds, and severe headaches, and needs brain surgery if she's to survive. protests by thousands of angry constituents at town hall meetings across the country wednesday once again targeted lawmakers as voters challenged the policies of president trump and the republican congress. in louisiana, constituents chand, "where is he?" as senator bill cassady arrived nearly a half hour late to a public forum.

they booed as senator cassidy defended his plans to repeal the affordable care act. in arkansas, senator tom cotton was jeered by hundreds after quote -- proclaiming u.s. as the best health care and questioned about president trump's plans to expand the wall on the u.s.-mexico border. >> donald trump makes ma mexicans not important to people in arkansas, like me, my mom, my grandma. just to make a wall. he is doing all that stuff just for a wall.

amy: that was a seven year old named toby. in new jersey, leonard lance heard angry boos from constituents after pledging to bar federal funding for abortion. wednesday's raucous town hall meetings come on the heels of similar protests at events by republican senators chuck grassley and joni ernst of iowa, florida congressmember dennis ross, tennessee congressmember marsha blackburn, and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell of kentucky. thousands of pages of newly released emails reveal how epa administrator scott pruitt closely collaborated with koch brothers-backed oil, coal and gas companies to rollback environmental regulations during his time as oklahoma's attorney general. the documents were released just days after pruitt was sworn in as the new head of the epa, the agency tasked with curtailing pollution and safeguarding public health. the trove of new documents shows how energy companies drafted language for pruitt's attorney

general office to use to sue the epa over environmental regulations. we will have more on scott pruitt's emails after headlines. we will speak with lisa graves, which successfully sued for the mess release. the supreme court overturned the death sentence of a texas prisoner wednesday after ruling his own defense team presented a jury with racist comments. duane buck was convicted of murdering his former girlfriend in 1996. at his trial, a state psychologist called by the defense testified that , african-american criminals are more likely to pose a future danger to the public. writing for the majority in a 6-2 decision, chief justice john roberts ruled -- "the testimony appealed to a powerful racial stereotypethat of black men as 'violence prone.'" in anaheim, california, video has emerged of an off-duty police officer grabbing a 13-year-old boy by his hoodie and restraining him before drawing a pistol and firing a single shot. no one was injured in tuesday's

incident, which was captured on a cell phone video that went viral on social media. the video shows a man in plain clothes holding a boy against his will, who says repeatedly, "let me go." the officer is surrounded by other children, who eventually come to the aid of the boy, pushing the officer over a row of hedges. the man is then seen drawing a pistol from his waistband before a gunshot rings out. amy: anaheim police say the officer had an ongoing dispute against children who were walking on his lawn. both the 13-year-old boy and his 15-year-old brother were arrested. the off-duty officer, who has not been identified, was questioned by anaheim police and released. the lapd said today he is on paid administrative leave. overnight, hundreds of protesters gathered near the

officer's home before marching through anaheim's streets and blocking intersections. in iraq, security forces stormed mosul's airport and a nearby military base today as they sought to capture the city's western half from isis. mosul has been besieged since october, when u.s. special forces joined iraq's army, shia militias, and kurdish fighters in a campaign to recapture the city from the self-proclaimed islamic state. a military spokesman admitted u.s. tros have been wounded in the fiting, but would not say how many. eight groups say they have prepared food and basic supplies for up to 400,000 civilians who are expected to flee the fighting. the united nations says it needs to raise $5.6 billion, most of it by the end of march, to avert a famine affecting 20 million people in yemen and several african countries. u.n. secretary general antonio guterres said wednesday that war and climate change have left millions at risk of starvation

in a world of plenty. >> i'm here with my colleagues to draw the world's attention to more than 20 million people in south sudan, somalia, yemen and nigeria are going hungry and facing devastating levels of food insecurity. famine is already a reality and parts of south sudan. aless we act now, it is only matter of time until it affects other areas and other countries. we are facing a tragedy. we must avoid it becoming a catastrophe. this is preventable if the international community takes decisive action. amy: hardest hit is yemen, where a u.s.-backed, saudi-led bombing campaign and naval blockade has left more than 14 million people hungry. among them, nearly a half million children who face severe acute malnutrition. the trump administration is seeking to shield a high-ranking intelligence official from testifying over her role in

torturing prisoners at a secret cia black site. in a court filing, the justice department says it will assert a state secrets privilege to a shield cia deputy director gina haspel from being deposed in a civil trial against psychologists james mitchell and bruce jessen. the pair are being sued for overseeing the torture of four men, one of whom died in cia custody. haspel was reportedly present at a cia black site in thailand in 2002 as interrogators carried out mitchell and jessen's program of waterboarding, beatings, sleep deprivation, starvation, and other forms of torture. this month, the former acting director of the cia confirmed that in 2005, haspel personally oversaw the destruction of videotapes showing torture at the black site. in san jose, california more , than 14,000 residents have been forced to evacuate their homes after heavy rains caused the region's largest reservoir to overflow. some neighborhoods were so badly flooded that firefighters went

door-to-door in boats rescuing trapped residents. it's the worst flooding to hit silicon valley in a century. and richmond, california has become the first u.s. city to call for an investigation into whether to impeach president donald trump. tuesday's resolution, approved by the richmond city council, states trump is in violation of the emoluments clause of the constitution, which prohibits people holding federal office from accepting payments from foreign governments. these are some of the city officials who voted unanimously in favor of the impeachment resolution. >> ordinarily, it would be odd to be talking about -- well, everything about this administration is on, but it would be odd to be talking about an impeachment of her president only a month into his term. fortunately, with this president, it is oddly appropriate. >> the word is very, very clear the residents of these united states are not in

alignment with his movement of hate, his movement of fear, his movement of bullying and intimidation, and his movement of out and out lies. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the trump administration has rescinded key protections for transgender students in public schools. the move reverses president obama's landmark decision last may to order public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms tching their chosen gender identity. the obama administration had threatened to withhold funding for schools that did not comply. according to press accounts there was initially a split in , the trump administration over the issue between attorney general jeff sessions and education secretary betsy devos. "the new york times" reports devos initially resisted signing off and told trump that she was uncomfortable because of the potential harm that rescinding the protections could cause transgender students. at a meeting on tuesday in the

oval office, the president sided with sessions and pushed devos to drop her opposition which she , did. devos later issued a statement. on wednesday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the white house to call on trump to protect transgender speakers. participants included gavin grimm, a 17- year-old transgender student in virginia whose lawsuit against the gloucester county school board has gone to the supreme court. >> this frustrating that was even proposed, but this isn't going to stop us in our tracks. you're going to fight as hard as we always have. will not slow down at any point. or any reason. amy: mara keisling of the national center for transgender equality also spoke outside the white house. >> the worst case scenario is what is already happening. children all over the country are scared by this man. they are really worried they're

going to go to school tomorrow, they are going to be bullied. these are kids who have to go to school all of the time worried about being bullied by kids, even sometimes by educators. now they have to worry about the attorney general of the united states and the president of the united states bullying them? it is not ok. amy: to talk more about trump's decision to roll back protections for transgender students, we are joined by chase strangio, staff attorney with the aclu's lgbt & aids project. the aclu is representing gavin grimm in his supreme court case. welcome, chase. talk about the significance of what has just taken place. >> thank you for having me. yesterday's action by the trump administration was just another example of mean-spirited vulnerablef horribl people. clarified in the guidance last your were incredibly important for this community last year that it is vulnerable to violence and bullying in

schools. what is important, as much as the trump administration may want to change federal law, it is still in the province of congress and the court. yesterday's action, while sending a terrible message to the am people who are going to this country, young people who face incredibly high rates of suicide and harassment, it does not change the law. that is important because the protections themselves come thig people who face incredibly high rates of from title ix and the constitution and the president himself and hishis executive agencies cannot change that. amy cozad the supreme court case that has been brought by gavin grimm, this supreme court case will determine what happens? grexit absolutely. yesterday's actions highlight just how important this case is. this case before the supreme court involving gavin grimm, the 17-year-old boy from virginia whose been barred from common space at his school just because he is transgender, his case -- amy: explain he is been barred from the common space. policy,chool has a

solely because his principal and his guidance counselor in the people closest to him at the school said, we understand you're a boy and you will be able to use voice restrooms and other facilities like other boys. thatchool board decided was unacceptable and has to policy targeting him, explaining he and he alone is not able to use the shared restrooms and has to be banished to separate, isolating, far away and stigmatizing restroom. he filed a lawsuit. the cases before the supreme court. the question before the court is, what does title ix mean when it comes to transgender students? courts, for many years, have made clear thatis, what does tin it comes to transgender students? on sex this cremation include prohibitions on discrimination against people who are they areer because transgender. amy: let's go to the white house press briefing yesterday with press secretary sean spicer talking about the supreme court decision. >> there is a case pending in

the supreme court in which we have to decide whether or not to continue to issue guidance to the court. is dictated by that. the obama administration had issued joint guidance from the department of education and justice. we have to decide whether or not this administration wants to continue that track they were on. if we don't, -- there are problems both in the legal and processed way in which guidance was issued. it is incumbent upon us to follow the law. amy: that is press secretary sean spicer talking about the supreme court case. >> and he does them a little confused about the case. the united states is not a party to the case. the united states has no role, there is no deadline campaigning for that. case, haveo the agreed before the court that the court should resolve the steps instead of question about title ix. there was no -- substantive question about title ix. there is no question.

respond. amy: can you explain what these reports are in "the new york times" and other places of the devos-sessions battle in the oval office tuesday? andoss, well known for her take a stance for years, and attorney general jeff sessions? >> i was not there. it is hard to know what was going on. after an i'm a little surprised to hear it. i would have thought both betsy devos and jeff sessions would have been in support of resending this guidance, certainly it is not a surprise from sessions who we are hearing is absolutely determined to rollback not only the guidance, but the protections for trans individuals. when it comes to devos, i am imagining she was presented with the very clear evidence that transgender students face high rates of bullying and harassment and suicide, and that the thing

that helps protect transit students is respecting who they are and treating them like their peers. she must have thought, as she should, that perhaps it was a terrible idea to take away clarity about the protections for this population when we know that with support and protections, trance students copperpper metal -- mental outcomes. without them, they face suicide nine times their peers. maybe she took a cost of the perhaps this was a horrible idea, but of portland, she caved and the reality is, kids will be harmed by this and i cannot say it more strongly, but the blood is on the hands of these lawmakers who are making it a kidsity to make vulnerable feel less safe. amy: i want to turn to donald trump himself. president donald trump was asked about transgender rights when he was running for president and appeared at a town hall event on

nbc's "today show" last april. >> be specific and tell us your views on lgbt, how you plan to be inclusive as president. speak about north carolina bathroom law in particular. pres. trump: i knew that question was going to come up. if more carolina did something, very strong, and they're paying a big prize. there's a lot of problems. i heard one of the best answers i heard was from a commentator yesterday saying, leave it the way it is right now. very few problems. leave the way it is. north carolina, where they're going through with all of the strife -- that is on both sides. leave it the way it is. there have been very few complaints the way it is. people go and use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. there is been so little trouble. and the problem with what happen in north carolina is the strife and the economic -- i mean, the economic punishment they are taking. >> do you have any transgenr

people working in your organization? pres. trump: i don't know. i probably do. >> is caitlyn jenner were to walk into trump tower and want to use the bathroom, you would be fine with her using any bathroom she chooses? that is correct. amy: so caitlyn jenner could use chooses inm she trump tower, candidate donald trump said. that president donald trump has gone with a very different approach. >> that was a surprising amount of clarity from then candidate on the issue. i think what it reflexes with people first think about this, it makes perfect sense to not worry about or people go to the bathroom because we on the issu. i think what it reflexes with have all been using the bathroom, trans people and non-transferable ally, for a very long time with no problem and the emphasis on trying to expel trans people from the bathroom's we have been in factr decades is creating a problem. what we have seen now in his

position is he is being caught up in the rhetoric that is about demonizing trans individuals and making it seem not palatable to share public space with us. that is not a tenable position. when it comes to states rights, federal, civil laws -- federal civil rights laws are by definition designed to create federal status when it comes to civil rights. there is no way he can relegate this to the states of we're talking about united states constitution and federal civil rights laws, which by the definition are designed to ensure evils rights cannot be rolled back at the state level. amy: just two days before president obama left office, he spoke about the change over the last decade around lgbtq rights. that inama: proud certain places we may be provided a good block downfield to help the movement advance. i don't think it is something

, because be reversible american society has changed the attitudes of young people, in changed.r, have legal issues, issues surrounding transgender persons. there are still going to be some battles leading to take place. amy: that was president obama right before he left office, chase. >> he is right. the key things he said, we're not going to rollback of progress. that is absolutely right. not only does this action by the trump administration not change the substantive legal protections, but there is a movement of people supporting the trans community, trance people are speaking out there for themselves. to the extent people's answer to the question of, what to do about trans people existing in the world, to tell us to not

exist at all, that is not tenable and people will not stand for that. i know we will continue to march forward and we will continue to stand beside the young people, particularly, who are taking on so much. amy: on june 12, omar mateen, 29 euros security guard, who opened fire in the pulse nightclub in orlando and killed 49 people, wounding 53 others and a clear terrorist attack. after the orlando shooting, michigan lawmaker jeremy moss tweeted -- "i literally never want to your again that lgbt people in the bathroom are a threat to public safety." so what happens next, chase? >> what happens next is we tell the young people and their families that we will not stop fighting for them and we tell everyone in this country to mobilize around the supreme court case that is happening with arguments on march 28. that is where we will continue to make our case for the protections that transgender individuals need, and we will stand in solidarity with all of the communities being targeted by this administration.

amy: if a child or anyone is harassed in school, wherever, what can they do? >> is a child is harassed, denied access to the restroom, they can contact your local aclu office, they can contact any organization that works with lgbt community in our state. they can find me on twitter. they can search for other people who are out there. we will not be silent and we will not let people be isolated and targeted, no matter how much targeting happens from the federal government and down into the states. , thank youstrangio for joining us, staff attorney at the aclu. when we come back, we go to north dakota to the standoff at standing rock. stay with us. , thank you amy: this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in north dakota, the resistance camp set up by lakota water protectors fighting the $3.8 billion dakota access pipeline has been largely vacated after protesters were ordered to leave the camp on wednesday. police arrested around 10 people. the u.s. army corps of engineers and the north dakota governor had imposed a noon eviction deadline for hundreds of water protectors still living at the resistance camp. prayers ceremonies were held on wednesday and part of the camp was set on fire before the eviction began. water protectors say the resistance camp sits on unceded sioux territory under the 1851 treaty of fort laramie and that they have a right to remain on their ancestral land.

a couple dozen people we believe are still remaining at the camp. the ongoing encampments in north dakota were the largest gathering of native americans in decades. at its peak, more than 10,000 people were at the various resistance camps. earlier this month construction , crews resumed work on the final section of the pipeline, after the trump administration granted an easement to allow energy transfer partners to drill beneath the missouri river. we go now to north dakota where we are joined by two guests. ladonna brave bull allard is a member of the standing rock sioux tribe and founder of sacred stone camp. linda black elk is a ethnobotanist and head of the medic and healer council at standing rock. why don't we begin with ladonna brave bull allard. the sacred stone camp, which is on your property. ,ut the main resistance camp

people were evicted yesterday and arrested. can you tell us what happened? camp,at the oceti sakowin the people were given a 2:00 deadline to leave the camp. and we had like a small snowstorm that came in and also rain. and right now, to get people out of the camp is almost impossible with the mud. trucks are stuck in the mud. people are trying their best to follow, but the weather has not .een cooperating so at 2:00, we figure they would come in. .e went on a hill and prayed at 3:00, they still had not come in. at 4:00, we got word they were coming in. or so, they arrested

some media people. and that was about 10 people that got arrested yesterday, mostly all media. and the police and national guard backed off and said they would be in the camp at 9:00 this morning. hours.day, in just a few your camp, however, sacred stone camp, are people still encamped there? >> because of so many people coming in -- we were kind of joking, we were taking all of the refugees from oceti. i had cars all the way up to the gate. people were coming in with teepees and tents. i think our cap has quadrupled in the last 24 hours. amy: how many people would you estimate on your land, your private property?

200e were averaging about when the numbers got really low, then we had the veterans come in. they must be a couple thousand veterans. and all of the new people. so i don't even have an account. there are a lot of people. , can youa black elk talk about what is happening now and where you see the standoff at standing rock headed and why it is important to you? >> well, you know, the whole reason that i got involved in this -- i live on standing rock and my children are from here. they are members of the standing rock nation. the whole reason i got involved is because i could not stand to see the legacy that their ancestors have left them to be destroyed yet again or to be threatened yet again.

so i got involved to protect the water. but, you know, i realized that this is about more than just water. this is, of course, about tree rights also. this is about the protection of sacred sites. but even more so, as an ethnobotanist, i've come to realize that this is about the edible and medicinal plants that grow adjacent to the pipeline, right within the path of the pipeline. this pipeline is a can do cultural genocide. i know i have to stand up and keep fighting. yesterday, this eviction from the large camp, it is a part of the process. i am not deterred at all. ladonna is not deterred at all. we know we have to keep standing. the dakota access pipeline and the fossil fuel industry in general have to be far on all fronts. we need these camps.

we need people on the front line. we need people locking down of the drill pad to oppose this pipeline, but we also need people fighting the legal battle. we need people in washington, d.c. we need people to continue to divest from banks that support the fossil fuel industry. this is just partf the story. it is just part of it. we have people who have moved into ladonna's sacred stone camp, but we also have people who are going down to texas to fight the pipeline. we have people going to louisiana to fight the bayou bridge pipeline of florida to fight their pipeline. even up into canada and the northern united states to fight enbridge. started a movement. we will continue to see that movement through. for the sake of our children. amy: ladonna brave bull allard, we spoke with you at sacred stone camp when we went to north dakota and also at the main

resistance camp. this court case that is the 27,d, a hearing for can we -- can you explain what is expected to happen there? >> the court cases that are coming up, i think there are more than just one on the 27th. there are others that are coming up. tryingow they are just to, as again, make them follow -- law, to do a complete eis amy: environmental impact statement. >> yes. and to stop the construction, to sit down and talk. we understand that the matter what we do or say at this moment by with we must stand

the legal people are doing -- i always tell people, we are doing our best to follow the law, but we're also doing our best to stand up against injustice. and because they did the evictions, they thought they would stop the movement. all they have done is enhanced us. all they have done is made us understand what kind of limits they would go to. we know that when you are on the right side of justice, you continue to stand in prayer and nonviolent resistance. amy: can you explain, linda black elk, the fires that were set? some said to return the land, the resistance camp, to its original condition before they were evicted. is that true? >> well, you know, it is true

that controlled burning is certainly a part of the lakota culture traditionally. the lakota woodburn large pieces of land -- would burn large pieces of land in order to enrich the soil. i can't say that was the goal of the people who set those fires. i think a part of it was just that they did not want to see -- when people came to camp, when people came to oceti, they came for the long haul. people built their lives in cap who even would go to work everyday from camp and then come back. they have their families there. it really was about creating sustainable community where live forever. people were not in traditional lakota teepees. so i think people did not want to see their beloved home taken

or confiscated by the same people who are attacking us and oppressing us. north dakota -- i have said it many times. north dakota has lost its mind. i am just a mom and a teacher, dog ratescan tell you that have attacked me. i know the difference between tear gas and pepper spray in the difference in the way those feel. i know how to spot infiltrators and agent provocateur's. i know these things. on standing rock working to protect her children. i know things that i never in my wildest imagination thought i would have to know. i understand the sort of panic and grief that people were going through. when they burned those

structures, part of their hearts were ithat. yeah, it is just coming you know, it is a connued legacy of oppression by the united states government. amy: was anyone injured in the blaze? we heard two children, a 17-year-old and a seven-year-old. have you heard anything about that? >> so we know a 17-year-old girl was injured -- >> no seven-year-old. upn a propane canister blew that was inside one of the buildings. i will tell you that what had happened at the front lines when the people came in and they came in and they broke up tp polls and broke down the tp's, they did horrible things to the property and so people at oceti said they did not want that to happen to their property. as you know, each one of the tp poll is sacred and how the teepees go up.

they were bulldozing and pee pullsup these tee of people did not want that. amy: let me ask about legislation. in north dakota, that have advanced a bill that would allow, these to conceal spills of oil, natural gas, contaminated water. house bill 1151, passing overwhelmingly, would end the requirement of fossil fuel companies report spills at wellsite of less than 10 barrels or 420 gallons. what do you know about this? >> so, you know, we have heard over and over, one of the arguments for the dakota access pipeline, people keep telling us that pipelines are by far safer than traveling over the road or traveling over rail. the issue is that pipeline spills do not get reported at the same rate as those other methods of transportation. and so we know -- it is not illegal to leak a little bit of

oil. it is not illegal for these pipelines to leak a little bit. so what i know is that has always been going on. they have just legalized it and made it so these companies who are putting money into the pocketbooks of north dakota politicians don't have to report it. they are friends and their one to keep doing things for each other. more reason we have to stand up and resist. amy: as we wrap up, ladonna brave bull allard, what is next? >> we continue to stand. we continue to educate. everywhere to let people know that there is a better way to live, a better way to live with the earth, with green energy, and that is time for us now to start divesting from fossil fuel because we must save the water. we must say the water. amy: we thank you both for being

with us, ladonna brave bull allard, of the standing rock sioux tribe. also runs the sacred stone resistance camp. and linda black elk, medic and healer and mom, part of the medic and healer council at standing rock and ethnobotanist. ton we come back, we go madison, wisconsin, to talk about the new epa administrator. while he was approved last week, thousands of emails have just released from the oklahoma attorney general office. he was the oklahoma attorney general. we will speak with lisa graves about what is in them. thank you. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. thousands of pages of newly released e-mails reveal how epa administrator scott pruitt closely collaborated with koch brothers-backed oil, coal, and gas companies to rollback environmental regulations during his time as oklahoma's attorney general. the documents were released just days after pruitt was sworn-in as the new head of the epa, the agency tasked with curtailing pollution and safeguarding public health. last week, senate democrats unsuccessfully attempted to postpone pruitt's final confirmation until the emails were released, but republicans pressed forward and confirmed him in a 52-46 vote, largely along party-lines. as oklahoma attorney general, pruitt sued the epa 14 times. the trove of new documents show how energy companies drafted language for pruitt's attorney general office to use to sue the epa over environmental

regulations. in an email from august 2013, from matt ball of the koch-backed "americans for prosperity" to pruitt's communications director, ball writes -- "thank you to your respective bosses and all they are doing to push back against president obama's epa and its axis with liberal environmental groups to increase energy costs for oklahomans and american families across the states. you both work for true champions of freedom and liberty!" these documents were obtained by the media watchdog group the center for media and democracy after a lengthy battle. the emails were released because a judge ordered them released. for more we go now to madison, , wisconsin, where we're joined now by the group's executive director, lisa graves, also the publisher of exposedbycmd.org and prwatch.org. lisa, welcome back to democracy now! explain what these emails show. you just got thousands of them in the last two days. >> these emails help show the

cozy relationship between scott pruitt and the industries he was tasked with regulating as the oklahoma attorney general. and so what they reveal is more of that relationship, the way in which you was praised by the koch brothers, the way in which he was urged by energy companies, lobbyists, to cut and paste from their materials and from other documents they had jointly or worked on together to produce. this is part of a longer investigation that we have been conducting about scott pruitt and the republican attorney general's association where you can see through the documentation we have obtained how much these industries are paying to curry favor with these attorney general's. in this instance coming up this man who is now the head of our environmental protection agency and has such close relationships -- and i think the republican senators comes senator mcconnell and the white house, were eager

to rush his nomination through because they feared that more information, or evidence would come out about the closeness of those relationships. this is just the two of the iceberg. we know they are still stonewalling us. we know there are thousands more evil than failed to produce and are part of our ongoing set of aboutts for information scott pruitt and the communications of his office with these industries, including devon energy, koch energy and more. amy: in 2013, a lobbyist from the law firm hunton & williams, which represents major utility companies, sent pruitt's deputy solicitor general a white paper and talking points. the lobbyist suggested that the staffer should "cut and paste" from it when encouraging other states to file comments on an epa protection aimed at addressing air pollution. >> right. you have that emailed i just came out as well as the emails that were discussed by eric lipton and his "new york times"

story that won a pulitzer prize story in 2014, 2015. what you can see from that is this idea come and other emails, that maybe we should call him cut and paste pruitt. basically, the relationship between industry and industry groups are utilities and pruitt's office was so close, that there are numerous references to saying just cut and paste this and cut and paste that. that is not what we expect of our attorneys general. that is that we expect of the head of the epa. these guys are not supposed to be doing the eating of private industry. private industry has their own lawyer. the head of the epa is supposed to represent all americans, not just the corporations yet you have this man who has basically spent his life's work advancing the industry, targeting and attacking efforts to regulate the toxin of mercury, other serious pollutants, trying to undermine efforts to address the

harms to our climate and more. that email is one of many that shows this pattern that we see of this cut and paste idea for scott pruitt and his team. amy: so talk about the relationship that is exposed through these thousands of pages of emails that you got through a lawsuit. a judge ruling, what was it, last thursday, last week that these should be released immediately and the senate moving very quickly to confirm pruitt before the males were delivered to you -- the emails were delivered to you. >> the judge ordered the first , that orderents, came out on thursday afternoon, and it was plenty of time for the senate to wait to get answers and part because it was that wereur unanswered, but numerous requests a senators on the environmental and public works committee that pruitt was stonewalling them as well.

there was this rush to push him through. why the rush? there was no need for him to be advanced so quickly to helm the epa. the american people are entitled to the information. what these mills show is a friendly relationship between pruitt's team and these energy companies. at one point, any male talks about his chief of staff wanting to get a special tour to the top of devon towers, a skyscraper in oklahoma, because of this relationship they cultivated with these energy companies. but there is more. there is more praise from these energy companies for the job he is doing. beyond that as part of our ongoing investigation, we help document how scott pruitt has done closed door briefings with some of the hugest energy companies in the country, including murray energy, in which a panel was calling me clean power plan dangerous. the idea we should be taking measures to address carbon

dangerous. these are extreme positions, positions of industry. you see it over and over in these emails, the closeness, the coziness of these industry lobbyists and lawyers in the office that scott pruitt was running and obama. amy: last month, the epa minister nominee at the time pruitt testified in front of the senate during his confirmation hearings. senator jeff merkley questioned pruitt about a 2011 letter, the obama attorney general sent to the epa opposing regulations limiting emissions from the energy sector. senator merkley said much of the letter was largely written by the oklahoma company devon energy. >> you used your office as a direct extension of an oil company, rather than a direct extension of the interest of the public health of the people of oklahoma. do you acknowledge you presented a private oil companies position rather than a position developed other people of oklahoma? >> with respect, i disagree.

the efforts i took as attorney general were representing the interests of the state of oklahoma. >> why did need an outside will come in to draft a letter when you have 250 people working for you? >> as i've indicated, that was an effort protecting the states interest in making sure we made the voices of all oklahomans heard on a very important industry to our state. >> but you only set it on behalf of a single voice, the oil company. thank you. amy: that was senator merkley questioning scott pruitt was just approved as the epa administrator. your response, lisa graves? >> senator merkley got that exactly right. it is astonishing or someone in a position of public trust to give such special privilege to some of the richest corporations, the richest interest in our country over the interest of ordinary americans for cleaner water, cleaner air, efforts to address harm to our climate. the american people want to swamp thatabout the

trump is drawn from him and not draining, but perpetuating and expanding. they can go listen to that c-span debate all night swamp tt trump last thursday into friday morning were senators white house and merkley and other senators were speaking out eloquently about the conflicts that mr. pruitt's actions represent, the concerns, the grave concerns they have about what he will do to our environmental protections, and just the depth of his stonewalling of the senate and more portly, the american people, about the true extent of his relationship with these companies and how much he will use his office to do their bidding and not advance the interest of all people. and that letter that senator merkley pointed out is an example of how he perceives his role is to represent their interest. he thinks that is representing government action. those corporations do not have a right to vote, the american people have a say in these measures and these statutes are on the books to protect us, not oil companies. companies that have polluted our

waters and air and have harmed our climate. amy: one issue, the headline today, trump rescinding the obama directive on bathroom use, dropping protection for transgender youth. clearly now, the attorney general jeff sessions has played a key role. you wrote a letter opposing jeff sessions as attorney general. we are seeing this as one of his first acts. can you ugly comment -- can you quickly comment? >> i'm not surprised his office would be used in the way that senator sessions, now attorney general sessions, is using it to advance discriminatory policies, policies that hurt some of our most vulnerable people in our country, our young people who face such a high risk of suicide. i think it is an indictment of his character, of jeff sessions's character, that he would push his office forward to undo the protections that have been put in place to try to protect these young people. amy: your joining us from

madison, wisconsin, where attorneys for the family of an african-american teenager was shot and have reached a settlement. norma unarmed.a he was shot in 2015. seven times your response to this settlement that is, i believe, the largest in madison? >> it is the largest settlement. i think we will hear from the family later today about it. at this is a situation in which an enormous amount of force was used, even of the police said the force was justified. it calls into question in cities across the country the use of force versus nonlethal force or nonlethal efforts to subdue individuals if there is an altercation or if there is a dispute. seven shots fired is a significant amount. that settlement is a significant amount. i hope the settlement means there will be more reforms to

provide greater instruction and makeing for our police to sure -- john amy: lisa, we have to leave it there. lisa graves is for the center for media and democracy. they give for joining us. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] vp

[captions made possible by kcet television] laura: this week on the laura flanders show, can americans learn about digital security from dallas activists -- dallas inivists -- dalit activists india? more and words from me on the trump campaign against the court, and it may not be as met cap as you think. coming up on the laura flanders show, the place where people who say it can't be done take a backseat to the ones who are doing it. the trump administration is taking