the u.s. role there. it will explososives how involv, how directly involved united states is in the war r in yemen. amy: can you talk about this direct hit that happened, who buthaina is, the five-year-old girl, and what exactly happened to her family? >> there was so much attention in the air world because there was a tv interview. some tv reporter went to the hospital to check on her. whois a five-year-old girl just came out of this huge attack that killed 17 civilians, including her entire family. so the reporter talks to her and asks her about her family. she answers with her innocence, she says her family went to heaven.

she tries to open her eyes, but she can't open them because she is injured. so she uses her fingers to open her eyelids. and that one picture of her opening her eyelids with her little fingegers ended up being this iconic photo. it went viral. it is a symbolic photo of a child seeing the world, let people talk about the famous eyes seeing the world through famous eyes. it got a lot of attention in the airborne and social media and even in mainstream media. we knew all along that it was the saudi-led coalition. was behind the attack. the saudi led coalition issued a statement admitting they hit the house. according to them, it was a technical error.

they said they were going to investigate themselves. everyone who has been following the alleged investigation, nothing has happened. there are no signs that saudi arabia or other countries involved in the coalition has been taking any steps towards investigating themselves or holding anyone accountable. and that is why amnesty international is calling for an international investigation into what happened, into this particular incident and into other incidents that appears to be violations of international law by all parties, including the saudi-led coalition. amy: how did you access the shrapnel in order to identify the bomb that killed buthaina's whole family? >> a local yemeni journalist took pictures of the building.

went through the rubble and dugout parts of the shrapnel and took pictures of them and sent them to amnesty international, to our team. and so what our team of experts ofnd was a small piece computer board, a motherboard, that is linked to guided missiles. so u.s. laserguided bombs. they identified that it is 100% linked to u.s.-made guided bombs. so the information came through the local journalalists and analysis hapappen through oururm of experts. amy: can you talk about the larger role of the u.s., this being one example? inthe u.s. is very involved the war in yemen.

the u.s. is very involved in multiple armed conflicts in the middle east region. cases,olvement, in some our direct involvement, like we have seen the u.s. direct compartment -- one bartman and ground troop involvement in iraq and syria in other parts of the middle east. in yemen, u.s. involvement has been very significant through since a -- selling weapons, saudi led coalition. also through other ways such as fighter jets of the saudi-led coalition. and also providing them with intelligence and targeting information. so there is a lot of involvement there. this involvement -- and that is one of the other points of amnesty international, is we have made this point over and over again, that this is not

only about saudi arabia or emirates or other members of the saudi-led coalition committing war crimes or violations of international law. the trump administration, the u.s. government, is also complicit in these violations of international law, including war crimes because they are selling weapons to countries knowing these weapons will be used for violations. knowing these weapons will be used to kill civiliansns. so that isis one of ththe import angles is that this is not only an action that will requiring because of vioiolations of a thirird-party, it actually constitutes a violation by the u.s. government and the u.s. has to abide not only by international law in this regard, but also by u.s. a law. there u.s. laws and regulations that prohibit the e u.s. frorom transferring weapons to other

countries when we have enough suspicion or knowledge that the weapons will be used for gross violations are war crimes. -- war were crimes. so it is a very serious involvement. u.s. involvement in yemen is extremely serious. --hink now that we have can confirmed this iconic attack that has killed buthaina's family, that this attack also resembles or is also an example of the u.s. involvement by supplying saudi arabia with the weapons, which were used to kill civilians, i think it should be another -- there should be another push to demand that the trump administration immediately to thell weapon sales saudi-led coalition. this is something that can happen and should happen

immediately. that no more weapons are sold to saudi arabia or any other members of the coalition because we have e to stopop the supply f topons s that are being used kill civilians. amy: can you talk about the resolution that was presented to the u.n. human rights council by the dutch calling for a new entity? this was tabled? that would investigate what is going on. >> the resolution was tabled. it should be voted on either next thursday or friday. the resolution, in paragraph eight, it establishes a new international body that would crimes, anyany war violations of international humanitarian law or international law in yemen for the last few years. notrtunately, the u.s. is supportive of that resolution, either. the u.s. seems to be trying to push another resolution that has

been introduced by a number of other untries, including saudi arabia. and that other resolution tries importance ofhe investigating crimes or alleged crimes of violations through the local and regional body. and the idea of relying on saudi arabia to investigate itself doesn't sound bad as a principle, but it actuaually i't working. therere are no -- or is no evididence thahat saudi a arabis been able to i investigate itsef and itss violations by itself. and that is why many coununtries and many international organizations, including amnesty international, have been calling for ththe establishment for this international inquiry. so it will be a close vote if the vote happens there say or friday. it is going to be close.

i think out of the 47 members of ththe human rights council, it s a must split now. we're all watchining very close. that it will pass. because having an international body to investigate these war tomes is extremely important hold individuals and governments who have committed violations, to hold them accountable and to ensure that future attacks will also be investigated and any potential crimes will not go unpunished. amy: raed jarrar, thank you for being with us, advocacy director for the middle east and north africa at amnesty international. later in the broadcast, we will look at the nuclear ban that over 50 countries have signed onto, the nuclear weapons ban. gathert up, thousands

outside washington, d.c., to remember the human rights activist and comedian dick grgregory. stayay with usus. ♪ [music break]

amy: ayanna gregory, daughter of the late dick gregory, seeing a dick gregory celebration of life last saturday. this is democracy now!,, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. this past saturday, thousands

gathered at the city of praise in landovever, maryland,d, to celebrate the lifefe of legendar comedidian and humanan rights activist dick gregory, who passed away on august 19 at the age of 84. in the early 1960's gregory became one of the most popular comedians in the country, paving the way for generations of african-american comedians. he was the first african-american comedian to sit on the couch of "the tonight show," then hosted by jack parr. as his popularity grew, so did his activism. in 1967, dick gregory ran for mayor of chicago against the infamous richard daley. he was a close friend of reverend martin luther king jr., and in 1968 dick gregory ran for president against richard nixon. he also became well known for his hunger strikes for justice. a 1967, he began a public fast starting thanksgiving day to protest the war in vietnam. 40 days later, he broke his fast with a hearty glass of fruit juice. he weighed 97 pounds.

in the summer of 1968, he fasted for 45 days as a show solidarity with native americans. the following summer, he did another 45 day fast in protest of de facto segregation in the chicago public schools. in 1970, gregory went 81 days without food to bring attention to the drug problem in america. a getting a 1971, he went nearly three years without solid food. again, to protest the war. during that fast, he ran 900 miles from chicago to washington, d.c. during the iran hostage crisis, he traveled to tehran in an effort to raise free to hostages in the northern ireland to advise hunger striking ira prisoners. hunger,ampaign against he traveled to ethiopia more than 10 times. or recently come his face appeared in newspapers across the country for his community action approach to investigate allegations behind the cia's connection with drugs in the african-american community. he camped out in dealer-ridden

public parks and rallied community leaders to shut down head shops. he protested at cia headquarters and was arrested. throughout his life, dick gregory has been a target of fbi and police surveillance. and he was virtually banned from the entertainment arena for his political activism. well, saturday's six-hour celebration of dick gregory featured passionate speeches and musical tributes. the program booklet also included letters from former president barack obama, the national newspaper publishers association, the naacp, and the congressional black caucus. we turn now to some of those who gathered to remember dick gregory. we hear from the children of the legends, martin luther king, junior, richard pryor, malcolmx, medgar evars. we begin with r reverend william barber, president t and senior lecturer of repairerers of the breach. >> to anyone who thinks justice

inin in justice isis final, thee isis on you. salms says the would get plot against the godly may snarl at them in defiance, but thee lord just laughs. fofohe sees ththeir day of judgment coming. dick gregogory knew this. hehe was a f free man, nevever t his humanity. he was a political and comedic satirist off the highest order. actsswrit said humorist dick gregogory was a a man of ny words whose fighting spirit helped transform americaca. he was known for his off-the-cucuff no holds barredd humor. he could capaptivate any c crowd with his cool, but passionate, demeanor. he said that he openlnly refused to shy awaway from stinging subjects, but often reminded

people that humor was not enough . it was a vehicle, but t not enenough. he saiaid humor can n no more fa solution t to raise problems thn it can n cure cancer. we did n not laugh hitler's outf existence, he once said. in a time when dissenting opinion this writer set on rarae and discririmination cououldut a littlele t target -- little tart on your back. he said it like you u sought, bt th he did it. marcrching for votin rights, performing at benefits for civil rights groups. he was even n shot in the leg while e serving asas a piecece r during the 1965 right in los angeles. i love that. racism,once said about he saiaid, hold lotsts of ameris got thatat attitude. we tolerate it becausese you can hide youour feelings behind policies.. that is why we got t to work to flflesh this whole t thing out.

gregory understood that racism was far more than whether or not you had a black friend. hihis laughter r was a battlele. his j jokes w were not merely fr entertainment t and money, but r empowerment and movement building. his laughter and his comomedy ws a ld criritique. hihis satire wasas fearless anad as he challenged america's original sin o of genocide a and racism and war. he boldly wentnt where otherer comedianans refused to g go. but t his comomedy was nonot ona battttle cry in n a bold cririt, his comemedy and his l laughters a bomb in gileadad. it helped d to heal thee woundsd slavery by ththe violent vestigeges and racism ad poverty and war.r. hihis comedy helped us livve through and make it t through a

psychihic trauma. he was a genius. he was brilliant. his comedy was not mere buffoooonery. he gavave us backbonene. and when you listen to dick gregory's comededy, you were not hearing a performer, but a prophet. phets s of thero bible were e sarah's. when jerememiah put iron yoke around his neck k to show thee nation how f flish it was to do wrong, he was being a comedic satirist. it was comedic. it was satirical genius when jejesus said of f the hypocritef his day, when you try to be outside, butthe you heard people on the inside, it is just like having graves that you make r real white but inside of them, they are f fullf deadad men's bones. when jesus i in his day set of hypocrites, you trtry to be

religious, but you leave undone love, memercy, and justice, thtt is comommitted genius. and dick gregory was prophpheti. in f fact, i want to c channel y energygy gregory. if hee was commementing totodaye mighght just say, yoyou know, president gives like babies in texas the other day. say he is n not aacist or a white s supremacist. dick might say, we don't need to remember the alamo, we need remember the okey doe. becaususe when you u kiss a blak baby i in texas whilile you're tryiying to take b babies health care i in d.c., when yoyou kissa black k baby in texas are stealg their voting rights in d.c., whwhen you kiss a baby or brown baby i in texas butt you a are stealing t their immigrarant ris in d.c., that is the okkieie do.

or if i was to channel my y innr didick gregory, i can hear him saying to o some parts o of whie amica, we popoor black fololks d white folks b better come togher and stop votining forr these pee lying to you about tax cuts and his extremism when all they're going to do is give momore tax cuts to thee g greedy will s stu betterer learn how t to work wih black k folks and browown folks bebecause when t they get all of your money and givive it to the corporatioion and you lose your jobs and can't pay your light bill, just remember, we all black in the dark. [laughter] i am just saying. g gregory -- dick gregory's comedy was prophetic. it cut to thee truth, challenged lies, , exposed racicism as a fm of socieietal insanity and d maa foolol o of jim crow.w.

hehe wasn't performing. he was prpreaching. he made e you want to leave the comedy club and get in the fight for justice. >> when our mothers and fathers decide to change the world, and they do, there are places -- their places in history are cemented. and they are among our most reveredand legends, picking up the mantle to fight for justice are the children of the way makers and the freedom fighters we hold so dear. so please put your hands ain pryor,o welcome r the daughter of richard p pryor. > i am honored to be here inn sharing thisis day of celebratin ancestor, brother dick gregory. i remember the first thrhree bos by father ever gave me. rerevolutionary suicide.

malcolm x and nigger.r. i was to r read them and understand them well. the shea of feel our anancestors. [applalause] feel his family, hitit all ofof the admirerers t tt are he. prolificcdick gregogory, actitivi, wieldingng truth likis wield swordss, his words popoignant, funny, painful, awakenining, joyce, likekehat of ancicient who flfloat on ancesel drums heard in the rhythm of our hearts. life.as a part of my prioror since e i was old enouough to underrstand and listen wiwith a

whole heart to the stories that made our eyes water and p power siside s split from masterful ad mamaster field lips that poured out truth libations. troops t that werere soul food, troooops that were soso we can e by their words. father gregory would tell me t to truth wesley them choose your r words lilike thert ancestral wordsmitiths witithout getttting drunk on n its l lies. told abobout us and tolold about them. be who you say. it doesn't matterer what she they's h have to say. so today as s we honor ourur net iconic a ancestor and d stand wh e e gregory familily, , let us l remember w what the e real meang of carining the legacycy meansn. caring the legacy is not t for s to become, not for us to morph

into, not for us to imitate the greatness. the legacy is s to a always spek our highghest truth and becomee better than their greatness. better than what they carved out , edged, and reaped into this life. it is to recall ththeir spirit d those of the ancestors. oururep them listed in actions as w we become the c che ththey sought, as wewe b becomee words that they wrote. legacy is w what runs thrhroughr veins s and everery manifestatin thatat we toucch. as he e would'veve wanted, letes celebrate and live up his legacy so t that they can keep growing thr wings. and as we e say in my tradition when magic touches both earth andd sky -- [applause] >> d daughter of medgar evers. >> thohough they y were not blod brothers, my father and dick

gregory were b brothers of the spiriritual part. [applause] they cononnected on the intellectualal level. ththey connected emotitionally,, especiallyly when he came to our mississippi.on, welcome back, mark, if you ever go back to jackson. i remember the timimes of heated peals ofnss a and laughter.. bebecause my father had a wickcd sense of humor. and didick gregory brought out evevery wicked strtrain he had. [laughter] remember there was had a heated they

d andssion over the n-woror where it w was appropriate andnw to use it anand how too own it r disown it. i found out later in my 20's when at one function that t we attended with dick gregory -- he ."nnot to me and said, "girl i said, , "i'm here, i'm here." "come here steps it down." he saiaid, "i want t to tell you about yoyour dadad and i want to tell you the promise i maade hi. i'm your godfather.

and i said, "what?" wouldd, "i prpromised him i i prototect you and i would help u move up in life. anand that is n not moving ththt financialllly, that is spiritua. that is understandingg whatt humanity is all about." so i have special memorieies of laughter, but always of knowledge. always of feeliling from thee heart, determination to make things right. >> martin luther king iii. >> he has been a friend really to a lot of us. but he was a mentor to me, like a father figure. having lost my father at 10 years old, not having an

opportunity to have a adult convertitions, b havaving the opportunity to have many withh dick gregory. many of those words, those deeds i will never forget. i think it is for interesting that when dick gregory transitioned on that dayay in august, that o on that same dayn the statate were his children we raised and wife lives in massachusetts, there was the largest to missed ration for peace andustice andnd human rights on the day ththat he went home to o live with god. interesting is vevery that just yesterday in the city of st. louis were dick gregory was born, that there were protesters prorotesting about te death h of an african-american o had been killed by police. and probablyly what went unnotic was most of those protesters were white americans. even they realize that injustice

anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. malcolm x.hter of fivive sisters, of my i amam humbled and hononored toe here witith you on this special day as we e celebrate the life f this extraordinary man, dick gregory. , dickike our fathers gregory stood up to the power structure to reclaim truth a and justicfor his peoplple. and when it t was time too clary who took k brother malcolm''s l, it was d dick gregory who rose o the occasioion. [applause] and whenen it wass time to clary

who assassinated d dr. martin luther king, it was dick gregory who rose to t the o occasion. [applaususe] he raised d his voice for malalm and dr. king and medgar r evers and all of the o others who work ,lang g by bulullies, by bigots because they could not do so for themselves. when this new generation of powerful voices reminded ththe woworld that blalack lives mata- [applause]] it wasas yet again baba dig gregory who stood by them and spoke truth too power whether yu like him or nonot. we know ththat dick gregegory wa comedian, i iellectual,l, and we

know that t he was funny. we are -- so extraordinary abouout him was hs williningness to shahare his st, but not just anytory, enengaging story that informed, entertrtained, a and empowers hs listeners. it was his ability to criticize us because he loved us. and like myy fatheher he e saw himself in us. educated.d.a a miss shortly afteter my mother passed away in n 1997, my sisters a ani attended a gatathering with distinctive african-americican leaders, maya angelou, coretta, dick gregory amongst them. i was sitting quiet and dick gregory cameme over to me and ststarted talalking. he saiaid, "ilyasa, have eveverd

you about my magicic glasses?" justid,d, " "one day i was walking g in the forest mindingy business and i saw something glistening in the grgrass. so i bid down to get a closer look and it looks likee magic. it was a pair ofof glasses that illuminanated light. but bebefore i could catch t the spipiritses, "hehe said, "a surroundnded me anand the spspit don't tatake of those glasses. bebecause if you do, y you wille imag t that will consume you.. pain and injustices your stomach will not containin. your heartrt will pound through your heaead and will b be no tug

back. criminal s sins off injustice commmmitted against h humanity. looking througugh these g gsses will change the course of yoyour career andnd require youou to at and sharththe gospel.. dick gregory explained that meeting my father acted as a lens, , which identified d whate could do o in this quest. you see, before malcolm's life was taken from us, he said, atat ththe heart of o our plight wawt race, but ececonomic injustice. said,d, we must ensurerehe economic system is jujust and fair or t the massesf our people will continue toto remain t trapped and lingering n the periphery of economic justice and opportunity. >> conongresswoman maxinine wat. >> we're all herere to celebrare

tributeilife and t to pay to his extxtraordinary contributitions, not onlnly to s famimily and his fririends, buto ourr society, to this country, o the world. heardday, y you have all over and over agagain about allf his tremendous and awesome talent. you have heard about his genius. you have heard and you know about his civil rights advocacy, his politics, humor, his wisdom, vision, and uncanny ability to dissect personalities, events, national andnd internationonal proboblems, and ococcurrences. for h hoursith dick and he wldld come with stacks of newspapers from all over the world. and we would talk -- no, he would talk. i would listen. and hehe would explain to me wht was really goioing on in t the d

in hisis own fashionon. and he taught meme to look twtwe at people. he taught me to payay a attenti. becacause he said, you can't always pay attention too what ththeyay, it's what thehey do. and so i listened, i paid attention, and because of that, it has brought me to a time and place in my life where i have taken off the gloves. [applause] decided thahat i have no fear. i decided ththat i don't want to be s safe. i am not lookingng for who likes me and who does not lilike me.e. us to walkfor all of in the walk of dick gregory. did you like him? did you love him? did you care abobout him?

if you like tim, if y youlove him, if youu cared about him, yu have to stock bebeing weak. you have to stop speaking that which you don't mean. you just got grinning. it is time to stand up and deal with the problems of this country. amy: caucus member maxine waters reading saturday at the city of praise family ministry in landover, maryland, as she addressed thousands among so many others at the celebration of the life of legendary comedian and human rights activist dick gregory who passed away on august 19 at the age of 84. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org. among those who honored h him, stevie wonder. ♪ [music break]

amy: stevie wonder singing at dick gregory's memorial service last saturday. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. amid tensions over north korea's nuclear and missile tests, president donald trump told the u.n. general assembly tuesday that the united states would totally destroy north korea, a country of 26 million people. then on wednesday, 51 countries signed a new treaty to outlaw

nuclear weapons. the united nations calls it the world's first legally-binding treaty banning nuclear weapons. it prohibits the development, testing, and possession of nuclear weapons, as well as using or threatening to use these weapons. the treaty is set to take effect 90 days after it was ratified. it was first adopted in july by 122 u.n. member states, despite heavy u.s. opposition. none of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons signed the measure. those countries are the united egg, russia britain, china, , france, india, pakistan, north korea, and israel. for more, we're joined by susi snyder, nuclear disarmament program manager for the netherlands-based group pax, and author of the report, "don't bank on bomb." welcome to democracy now! talk about what happened this week at the u.n.. >> 50 countries said, we ultimately reject nuclear weapons. we find them completely illegitimate and we're willing to sign the first treaty that makes them totally illegal. this is the first 50. that are 42 in an hour.

it is the first time that nuclear weapons are categorically prohibited. this is new and it is an effective measure that responsible countries are taking to make sure to reduce nuclear dangers. amy: what is that mean exactly? what does it mean to adopt it and now to sign it and what happens with ratification? >> every country has a ratification process that is a little different. adopting this treaty is part of national law. there are already 115 countries that have rejected nuclear weapons and regional agreements. we expect a lot of those will be able to ratify quickly. all the way through this process, countries have been condemning nuclear weapons because they are inhumane, catastrophic effects. this is a humanitarian treaty that is rooted in international humanitarian law, the law of war, saying nuclear weapons cannot be possessed or used or even the threat of nuclear weapons is illegal. that is a positive step for us. you'll see 50 ratifications in the coming year or so.

enter intoeaty will force. amy: what does it mean the nuclear countries, none of them participated? >> it is unfortunate, especially since five them are required by the nonproliferation treaty to negotiate nuclear disarmament. they did not do that. they are missing an opportunity. the countries that led this process recognize that it is the impact of nuclear weapons it when you do talk about them as weapons, not as tools. that is what reframed the debate, reframed the discussion. and the impact it will have on the nuclear armed state is we are strengthening a norm and making the weapons illegitimate. that has led historically to disarmament. amy: you are author of "don't bank on bomb." >> it works with the financial sector to stop investment in nuclear weapon producing company will stop at a great announcement from a bank in new york here on the day of the signing that said, hey, we don't have any investment in nuclear

weapons producers because we find it illegitimate. that is the first u.s. bank bank we know of that has made such an announcement. this is one of the things that will have a big impact on making sure the production of weapons, nuclear weapons, stops. amy: who are the forces he hide this nuclear ban? >> it is been a coalition of nongovernmental organizations through the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, governments spend about -- about 120 governments have been emphatic about this. an international committee of the red cross and red crescent of talked about the humanitarian consequences of this weapon. amy: what about the fact this is happening iran as well as threatening the country of north korea? >> that is deplorable. that type of activity is what this treaty seekeks to end. the iran deal -- it is a good deal. it stops the iranian nuclear program. the activities of north korea,

there should've been a negotiation directly with north korea to make a similar deal. we missed that opportunity. there needs to be direct negotiations that we don't get into war. amy: thank you, susi snyder, for joining us, nuclear disarmament program manager for the group pax, based in the netherlands, and author of the report, "don't bank on bomb." that does it for our broadcast. be speakingz will next week in kansas city. i will be speaking and when it had, canada. go to democracynow.org for a complete listing. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

announcer: this is a production of china central television america. mike: a genius is defined as one who has exceptional intellect or creative power or another natural ability. this week on "full frame," we'll introduce you to some of the world's 21st-century geniuses, from one of the youngest to one of the oldest. one maman is being calleled the next albert einstein, and one was a child d prodigy. they each offer their own unique gift of high intellect. i'm mimike walter coming to you from the heart of new york city's times square. let's tatake it full frarame.