06/05/17 06/05/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> since the emergence of the threat from islamist inspired terrorism, our country has made significant progress in disrupting plots and protecting the public. but it is time to say enough is enough. amy: 12 people have been arrested in london after three attackers killed seven people and injured 48 more on saturday night after attackers rammed a van into pedestrians on london bridge and then stabbed people

in borough market. the three attackers were shot dead by police. it is the third terror attack in the u.k. in three months. britain's national elections are on we'll go to london for an thursday. update from guardian columnist paul mason. president trump used the london attacks to call for the u.s. to impose his proposed muslim travel ban. ben is the trump administration attempting to erase hisistory ae returnining to congress copies f the senate's explosive 2014 report on cia torture? copies of the classified report could now be buried in senate vaults or even destroyed, and along with it, lessons from one of the darkest chapters s in amererica's histotory. > when a situatition -- when torture was used, when dick cheney said with to operate in the dark side, what he did not say was what was going to be the consequence of that torture. amy: as donald trump holes the

u.s. out of the paris climate agreement, nearly 200 u.s. mayors have signed on to an agreement to uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the accord. we will go to california to speak with the senate president pro tem kevin de leon about new legislation to put the state on a path to 100% clean renewable energy by the year 2045. >> when trump goes rogue am a california goes mainstream. mainstream is s dealing with climate change. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in london, at least 12 people have been arrested after three attackers killed seven people and injured 48 more on saturday night. the attackers rammed a v van ino pedestrians on london bridge and then stabbed people in borough market. the three attackers were shot dead by police. this is a witness to the attack.

fair on the streets of london. i have never experienced that before. i have been the for 12 years, basically. i have never seen that kind of fare, , especially on nights o . to be involveddc in that t kind of situatioion. amy: isis claimed responsibiliy for saturday's attack, which came less than two weeks after 22 people were killed in a bombing in manchester at an ariana grande concert. on sunday, ariana grande held a memorial concert in manchester to raise money for the bombing victims and their families. following saturday's attack, britain's conservative party and the opposition labour party temporarily suspended campaigning for the national elections this thursday. british prime minister theresa may has vowed to conduct a sweeping review of britain's counterterrorism strategy, saying enough is enough. london's mayor sadiq khan also oke out afafter the attack. there aren'n't words to

describe the grief and anger our city will be feeling today. i am appalleled and furious that these cowardly terrorists would do -- to liberally target bystanders. there e can be no justification for the acts of these terrorists. i'm quite clear we will never let them win, nor alallow them o cower our city or londoners. londoners will see an increasedd popolice presence and over thee course o of the nexext few days. no reason to be alarmed. one thining we all need to do is make sure we are safe as wee possibly can be. i am reassured we are all the safest double cities in the world, if not the e safest globl city in the world.d. we always evolve and review ways to make sure we remain as safe as we possibly can. amy: following london mayor sadiq khan's remarks, u.s. president donald trump took to twitter to attack the mayor, tweeting -- "at least 7 dead and 48 wounded

in terror attack and mayor of london says s there is "no reasn to be alarmed!" in fact, mayor khan had been speaeaking about thehe increased police presence in the city when he said ththere was no reasonono be alarmed. a spokesman for mayor khan later dismissed trump's comments, responding that the mayor -- "has more important things to do than respond to donald trump's ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of con his remarks urging londoners not to be alarmed when they saw more police -- including armed officers -- on the streets." the united states acting ambassador to britain lew lukens contradicted president trump, tweeting -- "i commend the strong leadership of the @mayoroflondon as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack." khan is london's first muslim mayor. president trump also launched a tweet storm this morning and over the weekend, calling for the courts to impose his

proposed muslim travel ban, which would prohibit all refugees and citizens of six majority muslim countries from entering the united states. on saturday, trump tweeted -- "we need to be smart, vigilant and tough. we need the courts to give us back our rights. we need the travel ban as an extra level of safety!" this morning, trump tweeted -- "people, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but i am calling it what we need and what it is, a travel ban!" the trump administration has asked the supreme court to revive his muslim travel ban, until a. in court ruling. we'll have more on the london attack, the british electitis on thursday and trump's proposed muslim travel ban, after headlines. in afghanistan, deadly violence continued in the capital kabul over the weekend. at least 20 people were killed in a series of explosions saturday at a funeral for one of the prprotesters who was killed during demonstrations on friday. at leastst five people were kild at friday's protests demanding the resignation of president

ashraf ghani following wednesday's massive suicide bombing in a diplomatic area of kabul, which killed more than 90 people and wounded over 400 . in iraq, reuters reports dozens of civilians, including women and children, were killed over the weekend trying to escape an isis-held area of mosul, amid the ongoing u.s. offensive to retake control of the city. an aid worker says some of the civilians were shot by isis militants while they were trying to flee the zanjili neighborhood. airwars says 20 cicivilians were reportedly kililled on thuhursdn that s same neighborhood by shelling and airstrikes likely launched by the u.s.-backed iraqi military. among those reportedly killed by the shelling was hussein abbas, along with his brothers and sisters. in a major diplomatic crisis in the persian gulf, saudi arabia, bahrain, egypt, yemen, libya, and the united arab emirates have broken off relations with qatar, accusing qatar of backing militant groups, including isis and al qaeda.

qatar has denied the accusations. the united arab emirates has suspended all fights and sea travel to and from qatar. saudi arabia has also closed all ports between the two countries. back in the united states, thousands of people demonstrated saturday at dozens of "march for truth" rallies to demand an independent congressional commission to investigate possible collusion between the trump campaign and alleged russian interference in the 2016 election. protests were held in nearly every single u.s. state. this comes as former fbi director james comey is slated to testify to the senate intelligence committee on thursday. trump fired comey in part over the fbi's investigation into the trump campaign's ties to russia. despite speculation over the weekend, it appears president trump will not try to block comey's testimony. hbo is facing mounting calls to fire late-night host bill maher

after the comedian used the "n-word" during his live interview with nebraska republican senator ben sasse on friday night. >> nebraska -- >> y you're weelcome. we would love to have you work in the fields with us. >> in the fields? i'm not -- [bleep] amy: bill maher has since apologized for using the racial slur. in news on honduras, a handful of international funders say they will stop financing the agua zarca hydroelectric dam, which has faced years of resistance, including from murdered environmental activist berta caceres, who was fighting the project when she was assassinated in 2016. the guardian reports dutch bank fmo and finnish finance company finnfund have announced they'll withdraw from the project entirely. the dam's largest financer, the central american bank of economic integration, says it has already stopped funding the

project. in news from colombia amnesty , international is condemning the colombian government for its repression and excessive use of force in the port city of buenaventura, where afro-colombian residents on their 21st day of a general strike to protest the lack of basic services, including clean drinking water. amnesty says the colombian government has been dropping tear gas canisters from helicopters and breaking into people's homes. it also says children, elderly people, and protesters have been injured by security forces firing to excessive tear gas and live ammunitition. in mexico, radio journalist and indigenousus activist marcela de jesus natalia is in criticalal condition after she was shot in the head in the southern state of guerrero on saturday as she was leaving the radio station where she hosts a morning program. at least six mexican journalists have been assassinated this year. back in the united states, a criminal sexual assault trial against comedian bill cosby

begins in pennsylvania today. andrea constand, the former director of operations for the women's basketball team at temple university, has accused cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her at his home in 2004. cosby was an alum of temple university. constand was one of about 60 women have accused cosby of sexual assaults dating back decades. and in new york city, more t thn 100 jewish activists disrupted the celebrate israel day parade on on the eve of the 50th sunday anniversary of the israeli occupation of the palestinian territories. seven activists were arrested amid a series of protests. one group of demonstrators locked themselves to each other across 5th avenue to protest the new york police department's collaboration they said with israeli security forces. another group of lgbt jews staged a sit-in holding signs reading "no pride in apartheid" and "queer jews for a free palestine."

and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. british counter-terrorism -- british prime minister has out a sweeping review of thee counterterrorism strategy, declclaring enough is enough following a terror attack in london saturday that left seven dead and dozens injured. 11tish police are holding people. attackers rammed a van into pedestrians on london bridge and then stabbed people in nearby borough market. the three attackers were shot dead by the police. this i is a witnessss to the at. ofit was fear in the streets london, basically. i have not experienced that before. i have been there for 12 years, basically, never seen that kind of fare, especially on nights out. involvedrrific to be

in that kind of situation. nermeen: this is the third terror attack in the u.k. in threee months following the car and knife attack on westminster bridge in march, in which five people were killed, and the manchester bombing less than two weeks ago, in n which 22 peoplpe were killed. the islamic c stathas claimed respsponsibility for all three f the attacks. britn'n's national elections are scheduled this thursday. the conservative party andnd the opposition labour party temporarily suspended campaigning for the parliamentary elections out of respect for the victims, while the right-wing u.k. independence party said it would continue holding campaign events. during an interview this morning , prime minister may chaired a meeting of the government's emergency committee cobra with intelligence and security chiefs and said response to the attacks is ongoing. >> the independent joint terrorism analysis center have confirmed the national threat level remains at severe.

that means a terrorist attack is highly likely. the police have reported they have put additional security measures in place to protect the public and provide reassssuranc, including additional security measures at a number of bridges and london. the police are working hard to establish the identity of all of those who were tragicacay killed or injured in the event on saturday night. but it is now clear that, sadly, victims and from a number of nationalities. this was an attack on london and the u united kingdom, b but it s also an attack on the freeee world. nenermeen: prime minister may vowed sunday to conduct a sweeping review of britain's counterterrorism strategy, saying enough is enougugh. london's mayor sadiq khan also spoke e out after the attack. >> there aren't words to describe the grief and a anger r city will be feeling tododay. i am appalled and furious that these cowardly terrorists wittily t target innnnocent

byststanders e enjoyg g their sasaturday night. there can be no justifications for the askk of thesese terroris them and i'm quite clear that we will never let them win the miminority will we allowow themo cower r our city or r londoners. londoners will see an increreasd police presence today and ovever the course of thehe next few da. no reason to be a alarmed. one of the things the police need t to do is makake sure we e safe as we can be. i am reassured we are all just one o of the safest globacicitis in the world, ifif not the safet global city inin the world. we always the e evolve anand rereview ways that we remain as safe as we possibly can. amy: that is london's first muslim mayor. following his remarks, president donald trump took to twitter to imply the mayor had played down the severity of f the attack, tweeting -- "at least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and mayor of london says there is "no reason to be alarmed!" in fact, khan had been speaking about the increased police presence in the city when he said there was no reason to be alarmed.

a spokesman for khan later dismissed trump's comments, responding that the mayor -- "has more important things to do than respond to donald trump's ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of con his remarks urging londoners not to be alarmed when they saw more police -- including armed officers -- on the streets." in contrast to the president, other parts of the u.s. government tweeted more supportive comments. the acting u.s. ambassador to london lew lukens tweeted -- "i commend the strong leadership of the @mayoroflondon as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack." all of this comes as prime minister may has also called for increased d web surveillance so the internet is no longer a "safe space for terrorists." for more, we go to london where we're joined by paul mason, a columnist for the guardian. his most recent book is, "postcapitalism: a guide to our future." paul, welcome back to democracy now! can you first respond to the attacks and then talk about

thenald trumpmp's attttack on first muslim mayor of london as he tries to calm and reassure londoners? >> good morning, amy. here in london, it is worth saying we are implacacable. we are s standing firm. ordinary briritish people fought those attackers fact with chairs and bottless and whatever they could later hands-on. policemand british fought them with their bare hands until only eight minutes after the first emergency call, a squad of armed police went in and shot them dead. eight minutes after the incident started. so we are pretty clear that we have an immediate response facility to this kind of terror attack, but the worrying thing is that they are increasing. three in the last 70 days, successful ones, five it has been revealed today for 10. we have an increased temperature

hot he attacks on civilians, ordinary people on the streets tobritain, , and just -- situate things, borough market is a saturday night venue for people to go have fun. it is a bit like venice beach or manhattan bridge. it is that kind of place. it is teeming with treating alcohol, wearing as little as possible as spring turns into summer. men and women having fun together. men and men, women and women. it is very liberal. that is what those attackers were attacking. the majority of muslim population say no to this. nermeen: paul mason, you have pointed out the number of attacks in the u.k., this was the third that occurred in as many months, what do you think accounts for the fact that isis is stepping up its campaign there? >> we don't knowow. we don't see all the intelligence. but my hunch is this -- my hunch is many islamist militants and

radicals across the world have been inspired by the caliphate of isis. that is the semi-state they set inbetween mosel andnd raqqa syria. the end of that state is soon to come. i think the u.s., europe, britain, most western democracies have to worry about what h happens when the islamic caliphate come at the isis want to do set up and did set up, is wiped out. that is my hunch. the other problem we have in britain, a real issue, i don't think will be solved by blanket travel bans, the real issue is that we have 23,000 people on a list held by our s security services who are at risk of becoming dangerous t terrorists. sobering number. 3000 on our watchlist that are being more or less continuously under surveillance.

what is worrying, the last three successful attacks involved people who weree known to our intelligence services, but considered not at risk of becoming violent. we have to ask serious questions about how to deal with that, blame-free questions. you have to learn from the experience, but the political blame, especially this morning in britain, is being laid at the door of the government. the government cut 20,000 people from the pulleys, about 1/6 of the number. they cut 1300 armed officers -- again, a large -- a big chunk of the armed contingents of u.k. police. they cut them while doing what? going to libya, destabilizing libya, pulling out of libya, bombing syria, taking part in numerous wars in the middle east. the question is not center, well, if you attack a middle eastern country, expect terror. that is simplistic. the question is, if you're going to take part in global -- in a global intervention into

countries like libya where you create chaos, what happens then? do you need a better and more well resourced police force to deal with the potential threat that incomes do you? we don't yet know who did the attack on london bridge. the names are not released. we don't know whether national background is. the guy did the bombing of the na grande concert, his father had been one of those who travel between the countries because our anti-qaddafi. yet the joint of the anti-terror aspect of policing intent origins -- policing intelligence. ,hey cut the police force dabbled in middle eastern politics, and it is unfortunately, we are not -- we're now paying the price of having a very much reduced capability in terms of what community policing.

we want our cops to be out there walking around the streets or people live, pickingng up intelligence. it has come out this morning, for example, one of the guys we think did saturday night attack had been kicked out of a mosque by that mosque, so the community had done its job.b. people reporteded him to the anti-terror hotline. nothing happened. amy: this is all coming just before the national elections in britain on thursday. prime minister may's opponent, germany and corbin -- jeremy corbyn, raised this issue you're talking about, criticizing her ensuring that police maintain public safety. he previviously had question the wisdom of a shoot to kill policy, but said on sunday the police should use whatever force is necessary to save lives. >> we are ready to consider whatever proposals may be brought forward by t the police and security services more effectctively to deal with the terrorist threat. if labor i is elected, i will

commission a report from the security services on friday on the changing nature of the terrorist threat. our priority must be public sasafety. i will take whatever action is necessary and effective to protect the security of our people and our country.. that includess full authority fr the popolice to use whatever foe is necesessary to protect and se life as they did last night, as they did in westminster in march. amy: during his speech on sunday, jeremy corbyn also made a scaththing reference to president trump. sadiq khann mayor recognized, but which the cucurrent occupant of the whitie orse hasas more the grace since to grasp today, whether we are mumuslim or christian, black or white, mamale or female, gayr straight thomas we are united i our values, by determinatioion r a better w world, and that we cn build a better society.

amy: so that brings us back to , donald trump's tweet against the first muslim mayor of london. and even that ways and for the reason why the attack of sadiq khan? >> there's not a single person on the right over left of politics who sympathizes with what trump is doing. eventually been force this morning to distance herself and criticized trump, which she did reluctantly. others are furious because it seemed like trump has a thing about sadiq khan. seems like the fact that one of the biggest liberal global cities on earth has a muslim mayor, seems to annoy trump every time he thinks about it. this is beyond a joke.e. we are allies in the war -- what is sensible about the war on terror? finding the terrorists, sharing intelligence, and trying to target them andnd prevent their

activities. we're supposed to be allies. for trump to carry on this knee-jerk political attack on a guy he clearly just does not like because the guy is a muslim, let's be honest, is just not helping. it is not helping. what else is not helping? we reported earlier today, have this huge diplomatic war breaking out in ththe gulf, the very place both our countries have been obsessing about for 20 years. we have the saudi arabia , closing itsar airspace, disrupting the economy of the region. ? why saudi accuses qatar, this gulf monarchy, of being supporting isis. the truth is, saudi arabia has been pumping out money and resources for extreme islamism for decades. to be honest, qatar has done its well supporting a best a cut or groups and so is saudi arabia. but why now? because trump visited saudi arabia. gave them something to green

light to be much tougher on iran. what is saudi saying about qatar this morning? qatar is too soft on iran. this is donald trump meddling in issues and matters he just does not understand. nermeen: i want to go back to jeremy corbyn speech on sunday because he also referred to saudi arabia, calling for "some difficult conversations" with saudi arabia and other gulf states who he said were fuelling extremist ideologies. he also accused the u.k. government of "suppressing a report" into the foreign funding of extremist groups. >> we do need to have some difficult conversations starting with saudi arabia and other gulf states who have funded and fueled extremist ideology. it is no good. theresa may suppressing report into the funding of extremist groups. we have to get serious about

cutting off their funding to these terror networks, including isis here and in the middle east. corbyn: that is jeremy speaking, labor leaders speaking sunday night. the elections are just in a matter of days on thursday. can you talk about what impact you think this attacack will ha, if any, on t the election? also, explain what this report is that jeremy corbyn says the may governmement is suppressing. >> we're all trying not to politicize it. there are lessons to be learned from this attack. just technological and opoperational lessons ofof how u prevent editor terrorism. may has is that theresa visited saudi arabia, sold arms to saudi arabia. the report that is been suppressed is a report by david cameron, her predecessor, the conservative prime minister. we are told it implicates saudi arabia in the funding of

terrorism. and it is being buried and suppressed. which we think is a bad idea. know byiewers must friday, jeremy corbyn could be prime minister. it i is unlikelyly because the conservatives started this with a massive advantage. nevin even more biaseded press than in the u.s. against the left and the labour party. things are changing quite rapidly. i want to tell your viewers come if jeremy corbyn is able to form a government on friday, then the whole game is up for western backing of thesese extremee rumors ins and had saudi arabiaia because britain,, sure, , we're a countryry equaly implicated in thee long-term and backing that regime and other unjujust regimes and the middle east. if corbin gets to 10 downing street, he will stop that day one, our one, second one. that will cause a big problem for trump. i think it is time we in the west had a long look at what is

happening to sure, there ran, saudi a arabia traditional enemy is equally a sponsor of terror. it is equally repressiveve. we need d to try to export valus and restraint and multilateralism into that gulf region, not as we in the united kingdom are dodoing currently, arming the saudis so they can bomb yemen and hospitals and people into starvation. jeremy corbyn represents a real change. if any of your viewers feel like it in british friends, please encourage them to have no hesisitation in changing this government becauause we want too what you n need to do. we neeeed to get rid of f the kd centuryaurs of the 20th view of -- the 20th century view of islamophobia, which i'm afraid trump's comment and that tweet a about sadiq khan speak

volumes some textually about the islamic phobic nature. amy: may said in her speech about cracking down that the internet has provided a safe haven for terrorists and that big companies thaha provide havenet-based services been complicit. what do you see coming out of this, paulul? > i think before was anything else, we have to say the analysysis is s correct. we have big cocompanies claiming they don't have any interest in the content they create. carried aner advertisement for al qaeda or i says, that newspapers should be shut down.n. it is governable in america where most of those internet companies are based. i don't does he be does i don't does increased surveillance for censorship, but in america, unlike your coming of your first amendment rights host up but what i think is likely and may's

comments -- i think may will be one of the last people to do this, people i been speaking to the past couple of weeks, are more and more confident that sooner or later in the united states, those companies will be faced with a class-action lawsuit which accuses them of fafacilitating the distributionf terrorist propaganda. they need to wake up and think about how to regulate what is done thehere more clearly. i would also say in the u.s., look, your first amendment rights are very, very important, precious to you. so is your right to carry arms. here in the united kingdom, the only reason we're not talking about maybe tens or hundreds dead is because those three guys could d not put their finger ona nine millimeter pistol, let alone an assault rifle. they had to use knives guess they can't get guns. just bear that lesson in mind. when we think about -- the constitutional freedoms we all hold dear come at a pricee. and how this relates to the -- i don't is a big

crackdown on freedom of expression and freedom of speech, but we have e to work ot how we stop people being radicalized online. the community those guys came from is known. it is about two or three miles from here. that community knew them. that community reported them to the police. the other community they must have been part of was an online network where people are being recruited. a civilhink we do, as society, need to ask ourselves what power we give to the state in order to find those networks. i don't think breaking encryption or banning encryption works, but we need targeted surveillance. i think that level, we do need web companies to start collaborating and cooperating with d democratic states becaus, otherwise, you create a safe space online where these guys are getting radicalized in

getting their orders. amy: paul mason, we want to thank you for being with us. we will continue to cover this issue and many others. bookmason, his most recent , "postcapitalism: a guide to our future." president trump has raise the muslim and as a response to what happened in london. we will discuss it. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "liar, liar" by captain ska. this song, protesting prime minister theresa may, rose to number 4 on the u.k. singles chart last week, even as the bbc refused to broadcast the song, and made it unavailable for streaming on the bbc website. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. following the attacks in london on saturday night, president trump launched a tweet from this morning and over the weekend. insistently calling for the u.s. to impose his proposed muslim travel ban.

the ban would prohibit all refugees and citizens of six muslim majority countries from entering the united states. on saturday, trump tweeted -- "we need to be smart to vigilant , and tough. we need the courts to give us back our rights. we need the travel ban as and a level of safety." tweeteds morning, trump -- "people, the lawyers, and the courts can call it whatever they want, but i am calling it what we need and what it is -- a travel ban." amy: on thursday, the trump administration asked the supreme court to revive his muslim travel ban, which has been blocked by multiple courts. the trump the administration has .iled emergency the supreme court will deliberate on whether to allow the ban to go into effect from among other things, consider whether trump's election campaign rhetoric can be used as evidence the order was intended

to discriminate against muslims. from war, we're joined by shayana kadidal, senior managing attorney at the center for constitutional rights. it is great to have you back. why don't you start off by responding to this tweet storm stuff for a long time, the trump administration and its spokespeople were castigating the press saying this is not a ban, it is about vetting. now he is saying, call it what it is, a ban, and i want it impose now. >> the office that handles the president supreme court appeals, the solicitor general's office, relatively apolitical but i do let -- i bet the really nice guy who runs it is probably pulling out his remaining here on this. one of the few decent issues they have on this appeal was the 2.0 somehow travel ban contains the ability to ask for ban on waiver, you know, issuing visas but you can ask for an individual waiver. they said, well, this means the plaintiffs are not really harmed because they have not asked for waivers yet.

by calling it a ban, i think it makes us look k more select the waiver provision. inserted as camino, something essentially to be able to allow the government to make a standing argument, not to really put holes in what otherwise in version 1.0 was a flat out ban. amy: he is asking the supreme to goto allow the ban into effect while they consider it. is that right? >> which is a little remarkable. it is hard to get the supreme court's attention on short notice, but this expires a week from wednesday. there's no disagreement between the courts of appeals. the ninth circuit in washington and the hawaii cases has already -- in the washington case, weight in as well as the maryland case. there is no disagreement among the courts of appeals either. but there are only a few days left on the original dental some nermeen: is that the case that they have put in place the

application company application for visas has been approved, which calls for extreme vetting, which requires applicants to provide social media information and something like 15 years of employment and resident history? followed the actual procedures in place. the version 2.0 of thehe ban, executive order said these new procedures were essentially supposed to be done by the time the ban was set to expire -- which is a week from wednesday. amy: it was quite something that president trump attacked his own justice department saying the justice department should have stayed with the original travel ban, not the watered down politically correct version they submitted to sc or supreme court. that is what he tweeted. >> maybe the only real merits issue that seem to have a little bit of traction in the academic commentary was the idea that somehow you should not be able

to hold a candidate's statements against them. people have asked, well, to the court of appeals rulings mean any restriction on entry from muslim countries during the next four years is going to be rolled to violate the religion cause of the constitution? i think that misses the key point. what is missing is the other side. there is no national security justification that managed to produce. department of homeland security founder was no national security rationale for this. that along with the eminent expert of the original ban are entirely missing from the solicitor general's papers. if trump was going to criticize something, maybe that is what he said of criticize. nermeen: we turn to another issue, is the trump administration attempting to erase history? on friday, congressional officials confirmed the administration has begun returning to congress copies of the senate's explosive 2014 report on cia torture.

the move raises concerns that copies of the e classified repot wiwill now be buried in senate vaults or even destroyed -- and, along with it, lessons from one of the darkest chapters in america's history. under the obama administration, the 6770-page landmark investigative senate report was initially sent to federal agencies in hopes it would eventually be made public. now the reports will be returned to the republican-controlled senate. documents held by congress are not subjected to laws requiring government records to eventually be made public. on friday, the american civil liberties union said in a statement -- "it would be a travesty for agencies to return the cia torture report instead of reading and learning from it, as senators intended. this critically important investigation should have been made public." democrats are expressing fear amy: that the trump administration intends to erase electronic copies and destroy hard copies of the report.

in a statement, democratic senator ron wyden of oregon accused the trump administration of seeking to "pave the way for the kind of falsehoods used to justify an illegal and dangerous torture program." throughout the campaign and since taking office, donald trump has voiced his support for torture. this is abc's david muir questioning trump about torture in january. >> you told me during one of the debates you would bring back of f aarding and a h hell lot wars. pres. trump: i want to keep our country safe. when they are chopping off thehe heads ofof our people and d othr people, when thehey're c choppig off the heads of people because they happen to be a christian in wheniddle east, what -- isis is doing things w has ever heard of since medieval times, what i feel strongly about waterboarding? as for as i'm concerned, we have to fight fire with fire. i've spoken as recently as 24 hours ago which people at the highest level of intelligence

and i asked them the question, does it work? does torture work? and the answer was, yes, absolutely post of amy: that was president trump speaking to abc's david muir in january. the freedom of the press foundation is now calling for whistleblowers within the trump administration to contacact the press before the senate torture report is potentially lost forever. the group tweeted -- "if you work for the trump administration and your conscience compels you to blow the whistle, you can use @securedrop to contact the press." well, for more, we're joined now -- we're continuing to be joined by shayana kadidal, a senior managing attorney at the center for constitutional rights, or ccr. ccr represents s two men named s former cia prisoners in the executive summary of the senate torture report released in 2014. majid khan and guled hassan duran are both currently held at guantanamo. talk about the significance of

what the trump administration is doing with this report. it is highly significant to individual cases. back a littleo go bit of a reminder sells what has been released and what we might still be waiting on. december 2014 after many years of struggle with the obama administration over essentially reduction of classification review of the parts of the the 525they released page executive summary, which shows, among other things, that techniques that were applied were much worse than what was revealed in those torture memos under the bush administration. that it was applied against a lot more people than previously was discussed and that group of people included at least 26 people who were wrongly suspected of involvement in terrorism, basically, gives people "innocent" right? exceeded theniques legal authorization spelled out in thohose memos.

and finally, really nothing productive came out of the torture and detention program, right? that there was not actionable intelligence that came out of it in the was not cooperation induced among detainees, right? the bottom line i think is the most important thing that probably remains to be reinforced by the 6000 plus pages that have not been released, that have not been ted and released publicly. we know this because of senator feinstein. but she says the remaining portion of the report that senator burns tried to very common at the agencies are returning, contains a great till more detail about the ineffectiveness of the program, how did not produce useful intelligence like the cia claims, and it response in great detail to the cia's defense of the program. on top of that, we know from feinstein's cover letter to the executive summary that there are details -- detailed chapters on the 190 detainees. this might be useful in

individual cases, might be useful in the sentencing proceeding of our client majid khan who cooperated and cut a deal in the habeas corpus arguing for his freedom for guled hassan duran, our other client. described asis distractible and overly critical of the cia and the bush -- george w. bush administration. at one point, he called the report nothing more than "a footnote." in history could you explain why he thinks republicans are so averse to releasing this report and what we can speculate is in the report that might be particularly critical of them? >> that is the million-dollar question. this is the -- 6000 plus footnote. the product of intensive labor by senate staffers. unanimously.

it is mysterious why they want to bury it. i think the only clue we have is what feinstein has said about what is in there which is precisely that it undercuts the cia's arguments that the program was somehow effective in producing intelligence, and disrupting active terrorist threats and helping find osama bin laden. with a republican president out there, extolling the virtues of torture once again in a way that remarkable inmed 2008 when john mccain and senator obama were saying we need to move on from, i think it is pretty clear this is simply an attempt to make sure the public is not exposed to the idea that torture does not work, right? polling data shows most people have not even heard that statement. they have not heard that argument. nermeen: is there any chance,

given his opposition, the report may eventually be released or is it now foregone conclusion that it will not? >> there are four copies apparently being returned, all from intelligence agencies will sub the fbi, two from the cia, and the director of national intelligence copy. there are three copies still out there outside of the senate's copies. one is with president obama stashed archives presidential records. they cannot be released by law i think until 2028. that one is safe e for now. ththere are two others being hed for court preservation orders because they might be important to cases. one from the military commissions and one from the havey is cases. those will still be out there. it is very difficult to get any record like this declassified. it to four just to get the executive summary out from under president obama. it is a long, long struggle. one key point image and at the outset, we want the agencies to read this so they learn from it

and so it never happens again. amy: wikileaks founder jululian assangnge tweeted -- "trump, threatened by #resistance-cia alliance, gives cia concessions from prosecuting wikileaks to hiding torture" your response? >> i don't think truck needed to make concessions. his statements about torture seem sort of crazy when we think back to the bipartisan consensus against it at earlier times. he may be crazy like a fox. the polling data since the middle of the bush administration shows consistently the public is unfamiliar with the idea that torture does not work and that goals does evangelicals supported not because a big it works, but because they think it is justifiable punishment. there you understand evil genius of trump's campaign statement that, sure, it works, and even if it doesn't, they deserved it anyway. amy: before we go, you have been talking about the origins of isis.

>> with everything in the news lately, it is important to remember something that got buried when it was first reported on right when the torture report summary came out 25 of the14, which is 27 top leaders of isis were all held together by the u.s. in a camp, the guantanamo-like detentionn facacility where we d both religious radicals and a whole bunch of people from thebaath party from saddam hussein's army. the crazy kind of mix we have with isis of religious millinery and the people with actual excuse and running battlefield campaigns, which usually you don't see because the generals usually don't think the rapture is coming tomorrow. that was pulled together in the camp for people were being abused because of their sectarian affiliation, muslim religion, just like at guantanamo and all the great and everywhere else. , andottom line with isis

we've seen this reported in frugally, we created this movevement and its leadership wh our own misguided and amateurish detention and interrogation policies by keeping guantanamo open, speaking approvingly of torture, president trump is doing nothing more than running a long-standing commercial for isis. amy: shayana kadidal, thank you for being with us senior , managing attorney at the center for constitutional rights. when we come back, we will be joined by the senate pro tem. we will be back with them in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: "evil eyes" by jacee and the jags. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: we end today's show in california, where the state senate just passed legislation to put the state on a path to 100% clean renewable energy by the year 2045. california is just one of dozens of state and local governments committing to fight climate

change after president trump announced thursday the country will pull out of the paris climate agreement. this comes after the environmental ministers of canada and mexico visited san francisco in april to sign a global pact that was drafted largely by california to lower planet-warming greenhouse pollution. california governor jerry brown is scheduled to visit china this friday to lead a conference of states and other subnational actors making voluntary commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions. amy: nearly 200 u.s. mayors have signed on to an agreement to uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the paris agreement. as a state with the world's 6th largest economy, analysts often cite california as a model for its ambitious environmental policy. for more we go to sacramento, california, the state capital, where we are joined by kevin de leon, president pro tem of the california state senate. welcome e back to democracy now! talk f first about president trp pulling out, pulling the u.s.

out of the paris accord, and then what you are doing about it. >> good morning, amy and nermeen. this is our reality. we're not going to allow one huge potentially catastrophic decision by the president to reverse generations of progress at the height of our historic diversity, scientific advancement, or economic output, as well as our sins s of global reresponsibility. we refuse to go back. we are moving forward. we are ahead with 100% clean energy senate bill 100, the most far-reaching ambitious proposal of its time in the nation, and the entire world. we cannot retreat now given the fact the president has demonstrated and shown to the world that he has actually served the climate leadership mantle directly to the chinese and the chinese are more than happy to assume the role to be the world leader when it comes to the climate energy. 100%e moving forward with

clean energy. we will generate all of our energy from clean energy, renewablee sources, whether it s when, solar, or geothermal. we have no choice. we have to move forward if we're going to continue to grow our economy. 1.i want to make, t this is not just about the environment. this is about the economy. we have created upwards of clean0 new jobs in the energy space. to put this in context for all americans, democrats and republicans alike, there are 10 times for jobs in california in the clean energy space than there are in the coal mining industry in all of america. nermeen: california has the world's sixth largest economy. could you talk about what you expect the effect of california's climate agenda to be on the issue of climate change come also globally and locally in california and in the united states? >> we're successfully decoupled carbon from gdp. what that means is we are 39%

less carbon intensive as a state since 1990 levels, and we have created upupwards of 500,000 jos to become the sixth largest economy in the world. there only five larger in the world than that of california. we have done so by sending the right market signals that have attracted the necessary capital, created the technologies that have helped us meet our ambitious target goals. it is through good public policy, through intentionality, a sense of purpose wanting to do galvanized our economy, create jobs, grow our economy, put people to work at the same time, clean our air so our children can n breathe cleaner air. we believe strongly it is a model not just for the rest of the nation and hemispherical he, but also for the rest of the entire world. amy: can you talk about your governor, governor brown strip to china and also what it means for trump to pull out of the climateccord? if california is just moving forward, what difference did this climate accord mean?

how is it going to set you back after will they prevent you from caring forward on what you want to do? >> governor brown is in china meeting with leaders throughout the country. secondly, this could be potentially catastrophic for the united states economy.y. he would be a big blow to our jobs. that is why we need to forge ahead sooner rather than later. quite frankly, as a subnational, what with the six largest economy, i it is our responsibility both legagally ad morally and scientifically to engage with other subnational throughout the country as well as throughout the world as well as other national governments, whether it be canada or mexico, as well as macron from france who perhaps shortly will be coming to the u.s. specifically to the state of california. it is incumbent upon us to engage other subnational's, provinces, as well as other national governments to forge

ahead with or without washington. i want to be clear about something, amy. we are going to move ford with or without donald trump he cannot stop the momentum that is happening in california. he cannot hold the global momentum happening right now with regard to climate policies. nermeen: several senators in california have been asking governor brown to convene a withte summit, partnering mexico and canada. could you talk about what you think such a summit would achieve and whether brown is likely to grant this request? >> i think it is quite possible. we have spoken. just recently lastst week we haa private conversation about convening like-minded nations as well as provinces and subnationals like our friendndso the north and south, coming together in light of the decision that president trump has just made recently and forge our minds together, share technologygy and climatee leadership, and exexport it acrs the worlrld.

the bottom line is, we as a state will step up at the international level, if in fact, washington steps down. it looks like they're stepping down, so we will move ahead. it is important we move ahead with like-minded countries and subnationals t throughout the world whether it is the pacific rim, africa, europe, eastern europe. we need to move ford because we have no other choice. this is not a scientific issue. all of the climate science -- scientific researchers have clearly said this is not sustainable. this is a political issue. it is a leadership issue. it is a lack of leadership from washington. we have no choice but to step up and move forward. amy: kevin de leon, thank you to speaking to us from sacrament no, as governor brown is in china. kevin de leon is president pro tem of the california state senate. that does it for our broadcast.

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