10/16/17 10/16/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> the situation from a humanitarian standpoint is a catastrophe. we have something cluster million cases of cholera made by the end of the year, the whole general public services is really disintegrating in yemen. amy: in yemen, the u.s.-backed saudi-led war has sparked the worst cholera outbreak in modern world history. we'll speak with california democratic congressmember ro khanna, who's demanding the u.s.

stop the unconstitutional war in yemen. then to california, where 40 people have died, hundreds are missin thousands of homes have been destroyed by uncontrollable wildfires. >> i saw this wall of flame come over the hill. i jumped in my car. some neighbors across the valley from me saw me drive down in the flames overtook the entire house. it was that close. amy: we'll speak with ucla climate scientist daniel swain and mendocino county resident jan hoyman, who narrowly escaped the fires. then, has the trump administration launched cointelpro 2? we'll look at a leaked fbi report claiming black identity extremists pose a violent threat to police officers. civil rights groups have slammed the fbi memo as the government's excuse to enact a new wave of repression against black activists. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in somalia's capital city of mogadishu, two massive truck bombs exploded in quick succession saturday night, killing at least 300 people and wounding 300 more. it was the deadliest attack in somalia since the rise of the al-shabab militant group a decade ago of the worst bombings , one by a non-state actor in recent years. in the worst of the two bombings, a truck packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives detonated near the safari hotel, collapsing the building, igniting a nearby fuel tanker. the resulting fireball set cars on fire, flattened nearby businesses and homes, trapping people under rubble. on sunday, hundreds of somalis poured into the streets of mogadishu to condemn the attacks. this is rahma abdi ali, one of the protesters. >> it was a massacre that

happened yesterday, and i never saw such a thing in the last 27 years. i witnessed a little boy's head lang on the ground and his mother another children with their heads also cut an explosion. people buried at people's body parts separately. it was a very shocking event. amy: somalia's president declared three days of national mourning after the attacks. there's been no claim of responsibility, but somalia's government was quick to blame al-shabab militants, who've been behind past bombings in mogadishu. the explosions came after the trump administration stepped up a u.s. campaign against al-shabab in somalia. in march, president trump declared somalia a so-called zone of active hostilities, giving wide latitude to military leaders to launch airstrikes and ground assaults. in may, that led to the first u.s. combat death in somalia since 1993, when navy seal officer kyle milliken was killed in an assault on an al-shabab radio station. in august, a raid by u.s. soldiers and somali troops on a

village outside mogadishu left 10 civilians dead, including three children. president trump said friday he would refuse to certify iran's compliance with an international nuclear deal, calling on congress to toughen the united states' stance toward iran. trump reportedly wanted to withdraw the u.s. completely from the seven-nation agreement, but was talked out of it by defense secretary james mattis and other members of his cabinet. this is u.s. ambassador to the united nations nikki haley, speaking on "meet the press" sunday. you will see is us stay in the deal. we hope we can improve the situation. that is the goal. we're in the deal to see how we can make it better, and that is the goal. it is not that we're getting out of the deal, we're just china make the situation better so the american people feel safer. -- we're just trying to make the situation better so americans can feel safer. in tehran president hassan

, rouhani condemned president trump's decision. >> mainers and attitude have great importance. president trump's reach was full of falsehoods, unfair insults, lies, and take accusations against the great iranian nation will stop iran is not a nation that will yield a forceful talking papal speeches from a dictator. the iranian nation will not surrender to any nation. amy: in washington, secretary of state rex tillerson said sunday he approved of president trump's foreign policy moves, shrugging off comments by republican senator bob corker that trump had "castrated" his secretary of state. speaking with cnn's jake tapper, tillerson said he was fully intact. tillerson also repeatedly refused to confirm an nbc report that he called trump a moron during a meeting with top military officials last july. >> did you call him a mornon? >> is a indicated earlier, i'm

not going to deal with that kind of petty stuff. this is a town that seems to ,elish gossip, rumor, innuendo and they feed on it. they feed on one another in a very destructive way. i don't work that way. i don't deal that way. amy: in california, the death toll from unprecedented wildfires has risen to at least 40 people, with hundreds more missing, as firefighters continue to battle fifteen major blazes across the state. the fires have destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and are now the deadliest in california since record-keeping began. at least 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate, with about 75,000 people still displaced. later in the broadcast we'll go to california for the latest on the wildfires. in ireland, the remnants of hurricane ophelia made landfall monday as a post-tropical cyclone, bringing gusts of more than 100 miles per hour and knocking out power to tens of thousands of people. ophelia made history by becoming

a category 3 hurricane farther east than any other storm in recordedistory, fueled by much-warmer-than-usual ocean surface temperatures. a 2013 study in geophysical research letters predicts that human-fueled climate change will fuel more hurricanes that can survive long enough to make landfall in europe. president trump has named former texas environmental regulator and climate-change denier kathleen hartnett white as his senior adviser on environmental policy. white served as chair of the texas commission on environmental quality under then-governor rick perry, who's now trump's secretary of energy. white has argued that carbon dioxide is harmless and should not be regulated, has described solar and wind power as unreliable and parasitic, and has called climate change "a dogma that has little to do with science." in a 2014 blog post titled "energy and freedom," white wrote coal "dissolved the economic justification for slavery."

in louisiana, seven workers were injured, five of them critically, one person missing after an oil rig exploded in lake point to train. authorities say the rig burst into flames when cleaning chemicals ignited on the surface of the platform. it's not yet known whether the explosion caused any oil to spill. in puerto rico, the official death toll from hurricane maria rose to 48 on saturday, but officials warned the true toll could be far higher, since power outages across the island have forced medical officials to rely on handwritten records rather than electronic data. this comes as residents desperate for drinking water have begun pumping groundwater contamination site and hazardous waste superfund site. the epa warns the water contains chemicals to cause liver damage and increase risk of cancer. about one third of pueo rico still lacks clean drinking water and at least close to 90% of the

residentsillion still lacks electricity from the grid. devon are ricardo rossello said heas pushing a plan to restore power to 95% of the grid by the end of december. attorneys general from 19 u.s. states are suing the federal government after president trump said he would cut off billions of dollars in federal subsidies to insurance companies to help -- that help cover low-income people's healthcare plans. experts say ending the subsidies will dramatically increase s andance chromium's cost could unravel the healthcare market. this is new york state attorney general eric schneiderman. >>'s effort to get the subsidies with no warning or even a plan to contain the fallout is breathtakingly great close this reckless. he is failed twice and never stoop legislatively repeal them

replace the affordable care act. we will not allow president trump he's your families as political ponds in this dangerous partisan campaign to sabotage our health care system. amy: iraq's army has begun an offensive aimed at seizing the northern city of kirkuk from kurdish peshmerga fighters after voters in iraq's kurdish regions voted overwhelmingly for independence. a kurdish commander said monday his forces had retreated to positions outside the city of 1 million people as iraqi forces moved in and also seized an oil company south of kirkuk, adding that there were lots of casualties due to fighting. in yemen, the world health organization is warning a cholera epidemic brought on my the u.s.-backed saudi-led war and naval blockade has become the largest and fastest-spreading outbreak of the disease in modern world history. the world health organization says there are expected to be a million cases of cholera in yemen by the end of the year,

th at let 600,000 children likely to be affected. after headlines, we'll speak with congressmember ro khanna, democratic congress member from california who recently co-authored a "new york times" op-ed headlined "stop the unconstitutional war in yemen." in guatemala, a court opened a new trial friday for former u.s.-backed dictator efrain rios montt on charges of genocide for a massacre in 1982 that killed 273 indigenous people, nearly half of them children. rios montt was found guilty of genocide in 2013, but a court annulled his 80-year sentence less than two weeks later. in hollywood, the academy of motion picture arts and sciences voted saturday to expel harvey weinstein following investigations by "the new yorker" and "the new york times," which revealed a slew of rape and sexual assault allegations against the movie mogul. in a statement, the academy said -- "the era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behavior and

workplace harassment in our industry is over." the statement came as four more women stepped forward to accuse weinstein of rape. they are british soap star lysette anthony italian fashion , model samantha panagrosso, british actor alice evans, and a mirimax employee using the pseudonym of sarah smith. meanwhile, musician courtney love said over the weekend she was punished after she publicly warned women about harvey weinstein in 2005. this is courtney love in questioned that year at a red carpet event by the comedian natasha leggero. >> do you have any advice for young girls in hollywood? >> um, [indiscernible] amy: on twitter, courtney love said that comment got her blacklisted by the powerful hollywood talent agency creative artists agency, writing --

"although i wasn't one of his victims, i was eternally banned by caa for speaking out against harvey weinstein rape." meanwhile, amazon studios says it has placed chief roy price on an indefinite leave of absence, following allegations of sexual harassment. isa hackett, a producer with the amazon tv series "man in the high castle," said price sexually harassed her at a the comic-con convention in 2015. a lawyer for a former contestant on trump's reality television show "the apprentice" has sued dish subpoenaed donald trump's presidential campaign for all documents relating to her and any other women who have accused trump of unwanted sexual contact. summer zervos accused trump of repeatedly sexually assaulting her during a meeting in 2007, saying trump kissed her on the lips, pressed his body against hers groped her breasts, all , without her consent. she was among a series of women

who accused trump of sexual assault during the 2016 campaign. trump, in return, called zervos and the other women liars. and former san francisco 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick is suing the owners of nfl teams, charging a unlawfully colluded to keep him out of the league for taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice. the lawsuit charges the owners secretly conspired to deprive kaepernick of a job in violation of the nfl players union agreement. theremained unsigned since 2016 season, even though he loved the san francisco 49ers and isowl in 2013 considered one of the league's best quarterbacks. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show in yemen,

where the u.s.-backed saudi-led war and naval blockade has sparked a cholera epidemic that has become the largest and fastest-spreading outbreak of the disease in modern world history. there are expected to be a million cases of cholera in yemen by the end of the year, with at least 600,000 children likely to be affected. this is unicef's middle east regional director geert cappelaere. >> every day we have at least 5000 to 10,000 new reported cases drought the country. th is unprecedented. it also requires an precedented massive response from the authories here, but also from the international community. amy: the ongoing u.s.-backed, saudi-led bombing campaign has killed more than 10,000 civilians, sparked the cholera epidemic by destroying yemen's health, water, sanitation systems. and it has exacerbated a famine that's left 7 million on the

brink of starvation. the saudi naval blockade has prevented food and medice from reaching yemeni civilians. saudi arabia launched its offensive in 2015 to target houthi rebels currently allied with longtime former leader ali abdullah saleh. the u.s. has been a major backer of the saudi-led war. earlier this year, the senate voted 53 to 47 to approve the sale of $500 million in precision-guided munitions to saudi arabia. the vote came just weeks after president trump traveled to saudi arabia in his first foreign trip abroad as president. but in washington, oppition to the u.s. support for the saudi-led war is growing. a surprising number of lawmakers voted against the $500 million weapons deal earlier this ar. and now, lawmakers have introduce a constitutional resolution to withdraw all u.s. support for the war. in an op-ed for "the new york

times," california congressman ro khanna, north carolina congressman walter jones, and wisconsin congressman mark pocan write they introduced the resolution "in order to help put an end to the suffering of a country approaching 'a famine of biblical proportions.' we believe that the american people, if presented with the facts of this conflict, will oppose the use of their tax dollars to bomb and starve civilians." well, to talk more about opposition to the u.s.-backed war in yemen, we go to palo alto , california, to speak with ro khanna, democratic congress member from california, co-author of "the new york times" piece headlined "stop the unconstitutional war in yemen." welcome to democracy now! what are you demanding right now? explain the scope, the gravity of the crisis in yemen. >> thank you for calling attention to this issue because it needs far more attention in

the media. as you mentioned, there is a humanitarian crisis in yemen. there is an outbreak of cholera, of unprecedented numbers come all most one million people who are going to be affected, a famine of a nearly 7 million yemenis are not getting a sick food. they are not getting sanitation. it is because of the saudi campaign. unfortunately, we have been aiding saudi arabia. we have been fueling the saudi, refueling saudi planes, assisting them with targeting. none of this has been approved by the united states congress. so we invoked the war powers resolution, which says very simply, congress needs to vote on our actions in yemen. we hope both republicans and democrats will vote to stop our assistance to saudi arabia in a campaign that has violated human rights. amy: what exactly would that mean?

stopping arms sales to saudi arabia? >> very clearly that we should not in the way the refueling saudi planes. if we stop refueling these planes, it would make it much harder for saudi arabia to bomb civilians in yemen. it means we should stop cord meeting with saudi arabia in targeting any civilians. on the secretary mattis house armed services committee whether we were still doing these things. he saithat we are not. but up until recent reports, there was activity of our refueling or assting in targeting. we want to make it very clear going forward but this should not continue. that is what this resolution would do. amy: earlier this, au and rp said 683 children in yemen were killed -- earlier this month, a u.n. report said 683 children in yemen were killed or injured by the saudi-led coalition in 2016. amnesty international and other rights groups criticized the u.n. report for underplaying the role of the saudi-led coalition in human rights violations in

yemen, while saudi arabia rejected the findings as inaccurate and misleading. this is saudi arabia's ambassador to the u.n., abdallah al mouallimi. >> we exercise the maximum degree of care and precaution to avoid civilian harm. that a credible -- regrettable those loyal tom former president saleh. use of immoral legal actions -- illegal actions including using children as human shields and their continued grave violations in this regard with impunity and ability. these heinous acts by the houthi committedr allies are to advance their goals and objectives in complete disregard to the fact of human life. we reaffirm that we are taking

important measures to protect civilians during all military operations to and the suffering of the yemeni people and .inimize humanitarian costs in a car that is the saudi ambassador to the united nations. your response, congressman khanna? >> it is propaganda. every human rights group that has looked at this knows that the saudis have been indiscriminate in the bombing of some of the civilians. both the who the rebels are not of clean hands. rebels are not of clean hands. they're not blameless. the saudis maybe argument that most of the famine and cholera sre in areas the houthi control. the reality is, they may be controlling the areas, but the reason the famine is taking place is because the saudis are not allowing food or medicine to go in there and the saudis are bombing those areas.

what we're saying is the united states, one, has no stake in alping saudi arabia get regime in. it is a proxy war with iran. we need a diplomatic situation we should t be taking sides in aiding saudi arabia in their bombing. amy: a want to ask about the extent of u.s. military involvement. this is the former deputy director of the cia speaking on "the charlie rose" show last month. >> their u.s. special forces on the ground in yemen. they were put there by the trump administration to support with the saudis an mri these are doing, supporting our allies and pushing back on with the iranians are trying to achieve in yemen. amy: that is a former deputy director michael moore l saying there are u.s. special forces on the ground in yemen. comment on, can you this? what is the role of these special forces? >> if you talk to military leaders, they will tell you some of our forces there are in gauged encounter terrorism operations against al qaeda.

that is why our resolution makes it very clear. the resolution does nothing to restrict any potential counterterrorism operations against al qaeda, but what it says is we can't have any of our military forces or special forces coordinating with saudi arabia in a civil war to try to overthrow the houthi rebels. saudi arabia is alied with al qaeda in this will stop what we see here is the united states ran.g a counterterror this type of balance of power calculations have got nothing in trouble in the past -- gotten us in trouble in the past. our first principle should be "do no harm," to have greater restraint in our foreign policy, not to try to pick owners and losers and side with one foreign power over another were we have had a history of doing more harm in the middle east and in the

greater world. amy: your op-ed headline is "stop the unconstitutional war in yemen." it begins "imagine the entire ,opulation of washington state 7.3 million people, were on the brink of starvation. with the port city of seattle under a naval and aerial blockade, leaving it unable to receive and distribute countless tons of food and aid that's it waiting offshore? a can on to say this is of the obscene reality occurring in the middle east for schedule coming yemen, the hands of the regions richest, saudi arabia, with unyielding united states military support that congress is not authorized and that violates the constitution." president trump's first foreign trip anywhere abroad was to saudi arabia. of course, that followed president obama who went there a number of times -- i think four times. can you talk about this relationship?

one of the closest allies of the united states is saudi arabia? >> well, we need to reorient this relationship. senator bernie sanders gave a speech recently talking about that. the question is, do human rights matter? are we going to stand up for basic human rights and basic values? in the past, the united states in this area has taken a view that, let's just balance iran and it doesn't matter what saudi arabia is doing. if they are opposed to iran, we should be for them. but this has led to a .umanitarian crisis in yemen here's the thing. if you talk to ordinary americans and if they were to know what we were doing, they would be appalled. they would not want usiding the saudis and bombing civilians in yemen. and they suddenly don't think the united states has a stake in a fight against thhouthis or

in a proxy war against iran. this resolution is actually bringing this for a debate. that is why the war powers act sa it has to be congress that make these decisns because congress is more accountable to people. about want to ask you where you are now, palo alto, california, and the district you represent. i want to ask you about the fires, which we're going to go into more deeply in our next segment with a ucla climate scientist. at this year's hurricane striking with his tort force, the 10th hurricane this year until you just named. there have not been 10 hurricanes in one season since 1893. to the uncontrolled wildfires raging where you are in northern california, including your district. at least 40 people killed. thousands of homes gone. hundreds of people still missing. scientists finding a direct link between climate change in the

fires. at the network tv meteorologists had barely utter the words "climate change" and president trump says he is withdrawing u.s. from the paris climate accord. what you think needs to be done right now? >> it is heartbreaking. as i landed back home, you could actually smell the smoke landing in the san francisco airport. and the stories of elderly couples, some of them who have passed way because they could not evacuate. we know in part the cause of windsfires, the diablo coupled with extreme heat in the summer has led to some of the biggt fires in hl of 20 history. scientists may not say definitively that climate change caused the deal blow winds or the extreme heat conditions, but with they will tell you is these are the types of extreme climate

conditions that we to tragedy. we ought to take heed and say, we want to prevent these type of extreme clinic conditions here in california or going forward, given that we see the extraordinary devastating impact. siliconrepresent valley, a place of extraordinary technology. of these type of events are reminders of our own -- the limits of human power, the sense that nature and the planet still matter and they should give us a sense of humility that we should not chance the fate of the planet, that we caot control the environmental catastrophes caused by extreme climate conditions. amy: we're going to go to this more extended discussion in a moment, but i did want to ask about kevin deleon, the california senate pro tem announcing yesterday that he will be running for senator

thine feinstein's seat, running against her. your thoughts on this saying he's going to represent a wing of the party that has been really iced out? >> i called for a challenge to senator feinstein. she is been wrong on the major issues of our time. she was a supporter of the war in iraq. she has supported a neocon-neoliberal interventionist foreign-policy and libya, increasing troops in afghanistan. she was for the extension of the patriot act and for mass surveillance and worked with republicans to have that mass surveillance. need someone who is going to be for a progressive foreign-policy, who is going to stand up for civil liberties. and i think have an dili on can do that. there may be others, but i think california is one of the most progressive places it when it's someone who can articulate those values. amy: ro khanna, thank you for

being with us. have you formally endorsed him? >> i have. i think kevin has done terrific work on the environment and he has done terrific work on health care for all. --e i said, my bigger theme i like kevin and am supporting him, but i want to see new progressive ideas come forward from california. respect senator feinstein, but she is been wrong on some of the biggest issues of our time. given my own perspective on foreign-policy and civil liberties, i don't think she is the right voice for california going for it. , thank you for being with us, recently co-authored an op-ed in "the new york times" headlined "stop the unconstitutional war in yemen." when we come back, climate change and the wildfires of northern california. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "d for no" by a musician from california who said us that song. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we go now to california, where raging, climate-fueled wildfires have killed at least 40 people, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, and scorched more than 200,000 acres -- roughly the size of new york city. the fires are now the deadliest in california since record-keeping began. at least 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate, with about still displaced. 75,000 some residents had to flee for their lives as drought conditions and powerful, erratic winds have contributed to the explosive spread of the fires. this is cal fire chief ken pimlott. >> we are still impacted with

five years of drought. the significant rain last winter, those effects are gone of that moisture and we're literally looking at explosive vegetation. these fires are burning actively during the day and at night, when one would expect a fire to subside. and make no mistake, this is a serious, critical, catastrophic event. amy: more than 11,000 firefighters are battling th wildfires, with the support of hundreds of fire engines, and dozens of helicopters and airplanes. many of the firefighters are prisoners, who are working for as little as a $1 a day. among the victims of the wildfires were elderly residents of sonoma county, where authorities say their bodies were so charred, the only way to identify some of them waby the serial numbers on artificial joints or other medical devices. the fires have also contributed to a housing crisis, leaving thousands homeless in neighborhoods of california where rental prices were already sky-high before the blazes. for more, we go to california where we're joined by two guests. in los angeles, daniel swain is

a climate scientist at ucla and author of "whether west," the california weather blog. and via democracy now! videostream, we're joined by jan hoyman, an artist who had to flee her home to escape the fire in mendocino county last week. let's go right now to los angeles where we're joined by daniel swain. talk about the fires and whether you believe there is a connection to climate change. >> thanks for having me. the scope of the wildfires we have been seeing over the past week or so in northern california is really kind of sobering. as you mentioned, these fires have the highest death toll and the highest number of structures burned of any series of fires in california history. california does have a long history of deadly and destructive wildfires. the fires we have seen this week have -- bear some similarities to the historical fires that

have caused big problems in the past, which is the presence of these very strong and dry land to sea winds known locally as the diablo winds. winds when thesewinds -- when these winds blow, it causes existing fires to spread very quickly. in some cases, i think faster than people have been able to out run them, unfortunately. climate conditions over the past several months in california have been, in some ways, unprecedented. california has experienced its record warmest summer, which comes immediately on the heels winter was quite a wet i'm actually. counter intuitively, that transition from very wet winter to record hot summer may have contributed to significant

degree to the fires we have seen that increasing the amount of grass and dry brush that grew during the winter and spring, and then leaving to an unprecedented amount of vegetation drying over the last several months. amy: there also wildfires raging in spain and portugal. what is the connection? >> well, one of the interesting things about all of these locations is they tend to have similar climates. they have what are known as mediterranean climates. from a far perspective, that is important because these regions tend to have long, dry summers. even under natural climate conditions. the challenging part is recently, though summers have become longer and writer. the fire season in many of these parts of the world that were already some subs to 2 -- susceptible are expressing longer burning seasons and hotter, drier summers.

amy: can you talk about how wildfires should be dealt with in the future and what can be the approach to climate change that can make a difference here? >> well, you know, wildfire and global warming sort of represents an interesting example of a natural hazard that in places like california or really anywhere with a mediterranean climate with high fire risk where there is a significant degree of pre-existing risk that people who live in these regions and people who plan, do hazard planning in these regions, are well aware of. at the warming temperatures aggravate this existing risk and in some cases, make it considerably worse than it would have been otherwise. so in some ways, the same sorts of adaptations we make to wildfires in general will still apply to the wildfires of the future. that may include being careful

where we build our homes in urban areas and thinking more carefully about what we do and how we manage fires once they occur. but on the bigger scale, the changes in climate we are experiencing are marginally due to the human emission of greenhouse gases. and we expect warming to continue for as long as we continue to emit those greenhouse gases. and so there is both the challenge and opportunity here. if we choose to reduce and eventually to eliminate our greenhouse gas emissions, we will avert much of the warming, much of the increased risk of extreme events like wildfires that otherwise would have occurred. and right now, we are starting to see signs of heading in that trajectory -- at least internationally. but we are not quite where we need to be to be on the right

track to eventually level off at risk. in the last week, democracy now! spoke with park williams, a scientist at columbia university's lamont-doherty earth observatory. i asked him about the failure of network tv meteorologists to make the connection between extreme weather and climate change. >> i think it is because the term "global warming" and the term "climate change" have been politicized. in the circles i work with, with onl, tele justs working these issues every day, there is the hesitation to use those words. the globe warms, whether it is the earth or other planets, it is just the law of physics. it is surprising to see trained meteorologists on tv steer away from those terms. amy: that is climate scientist park williams. i want to turn to jan hoyman, who is in ukiah in northern california in a pottery artist a narrowly escaped the fiery

mendocino county last week. thank you so much for being with us. can you describe what happened to you? iowa monday morning really early. i'm not sure what time. i awoke to the sound of the locomotive and then there were the pops of propane tanks exploding. i smelled smoke. i looked out the window and i knew the fire was right next to me. in mybed my dog and i'm nightgown. as i'm running to my car, my neighbor is coming down the hill with -- i live remotely. coming down the hill honking her born. i jump in my car. there shethe road and is. her car is stuck in the road. she jumps in with her four kids. now the flames are 20 to 30 feet tall on both sides of our ranch driveway. everything is on fire.

we are trying to get out to the main road. there is a pine tree down in the middle-of-the-road on fire. instead of turning around, we ba up and go very quickly, as fast as we can, to a place where we can then try to go across the vineyard. they were on fire. we turned and started to go .phill back toward her house when we were about halfway up to her house, maybe the road is two we couldg, and then start to breathe a little bit easier. the kids were nice and calm the whole time. the fire wasn't all around us at this point. we did get to her home. ,er husband and four kids charlotte, and i, jumped into trucksour-wheel-drive and drove to another spot. i have hiked to this spot many times, but i could not have

found it in the dark. she and her husband were just the savior for me at this point. i helped them by getting the kids in the car. they helped me by getting to rattlesnake rock. we then hiked in the dark with the kids, flashlights in hand, up and down a ravine a couple of times to another neighbor's house. this is maybe three quarters of a mile away. down infire is farther the valley, but we can see it in croke in, coming closer. wheelerand found a four initiative and neighbors who had left days earlier. there were keys in the ignition. we were quite lucky about that. he found a trailer to put behind us, and now all seven of us drove down the road on the four wheeler. we are watching the fire, the ,ountainside at this point -- of the mountainside at this point. we get to another neighbor's house. they are watching the fire.

they don't know if they're going to evacuate. we have a flat tire. but one of the young men finally took us in his truck to willits. to drive to willits usually takes about half an hour if you have clear roads. we wound our way in the back mountainous roads to the willits evacuation center, which was the police station community center. amy: was her mandatory evacuation in your area? i think what people don't understand your not experiencing these fires, is how fast they come up. left until the point when you did? i think that is what a lot of people can't understand. >> that is a great question. out.ectricity was myself on wasn't working. that is how i receive messages, through my cell phone. when the electricity went down in the cell towers went down because the fire was moving so quickly, there was no way to let

people know how quickly they needed to move. yes, there was mandatory evacuations, but i had no idea that that was happening. system on the cell phone to let people know what is happening is really a faulty idea. at least in our area because the towers go down. amy: do you think state and local officials should have done more what do you think should happen at the federal level? >> i cannot make a comment on that because i'm just a person thereiving and i think are some in the complicated issues around it. yes, i think in general, we need to prepare more for these kind of catastrophes. my personal opinion is we as a commity -- the ranch i live on has about 20 different homes on it, scattered around about 1000 acres. i think we as a small community

need to try to investigate and put together a system that we can mourn each other. amy: do you know if your home still exists? >> my home is melted. -- i had stucco walls and a metal roof. maybe parts of it is standing, but really there is no home left. i have some photographs that a neighbor took. i've not been allowed back into the area. there is still mandatory evacuations. in: return to daniel swain. how toxic is the ash and smoke in these areas? inand surly not in expert the composition of wildfire smoke. but the smoke and these fires, you have to remember, especially when they burn through populated areas, it is an just would smoke in particular matter from the brush and grass as you get in the wildfire.

what euros of getting his compounds that are combusting in people's homes and businesses burning as well. you have what must be a pretty volatile mix of stuff up there in these plumes when they start burning urban areas. amy: daniel swain, thank you for joining us from ucla, climate scientist in los angeles. to jan hoyman, all the best you, your community. thank god you escaped. jan hoyman, an artist, escaped the fire in mendocino county. when we come back, who is a black identity extremists and was the federal government putting out reports on them? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: mavis staples, "if all i was was black." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

we end today's show by looking at daily at the eye counterterrorism memo which claims so-called black identity extremists pose a threat to law enforcement. that is according to foreign policy magazine, which obtained the document written by the ss to mystic terrorism announces unit. the memo was dated august 3, 2017, only days before the deadly white supremacist rally in charlottesville, virginia, where was a from assist ku klux klan members, neo-nazis killed in antiracist protester -- d dozens more. it is not concerned with the threat of white supremacist. it reads -- "the fbi assesses it is very likely black identity extremist perceptions of police brutality against african americans spurred an increase in premeditated, retaliatory lethal violence against law enforcement and will very likely serve as justification for such violence." civil liberties groups warn the "black identity extremists" designation threatens the rights of protesters with black lives matter and other groups, and

many have compared it to the fbi's cointelpro program of the which through 1970's targeted the civil rights movement. for more, we are going to san francisco, california, where we are joined by malkia cyril. she's the co-founder and executive director of the center for media justice as well as a black lives matter-bay area activists. can you talk about this and what your assessment is of this term they have used black identity extremists? >> thank you for having me. it is a great question. what is a black identity extremist? i think we are all try to figure that out. nobody knows in part because it doesn't exist. it is a term fabricated by the fbi, constructed. it has a history. for a very long time, for many decades in this country, probably centuries, the fbi has criminalized black dissent. we saw it through the cointelpro

1950's, 1960's, 1970's. we're seeing it again today, blackerm, this idea of extremism are coming up by the fbi, being used as a way to criminalize democratically protected speech and activity. it is wrong. it is erroneous. it should be withdrawn. amy: what is your understanding of where it stands now? >> right now, we don't know. that is part of the problem. we need some information from the fbi. it is clear the fbi should provide this unredacted description. what do they mean by black identity extremists? right now that description is pretty vague. it refers to some antiwhite ideologies that compares -- talks about the ideologies of black separatism.

but it doesn't have anything concrete. theink that is part of problem, that this is a categorization that has been constructed, the definition has -- makes no sense. we need more information from the fbi so that we can actually respond effectively to this categorization. refer to black lives matter specifically. can you talk about that? >> well, you know, it doesn't refer to any specific ,rganization because the fbi through its own guidelines, can't really do that, number one. number two, it's guidelines say can't start investigations or investigate anyone solely on the basis of race. so what it has done is constructed, looking at six different cases over three years, it has absolutely nothing to do it each other, people who

have committed violence against police officers. they constructed a relationship between these cases that doesn't exist. and then assign some political ideology to those cases that doesn't exist. antiwhite feelings or sentiment doesn't lead to police violence. being angry as a black person in america about -- excuse me, doesn't lead to violence against police. being angry about police violence in america, violence that is targeting largely people of color, also does not lead to violence against the police. so the bottom line here is that we have a rampant situation where white nationalism is on the rise. and yet the fbi has chosen to use its resources to construct and fabricate a threat that does not exist instead of addressing

exist.t that does so whether he refers directly to black lis matter as an organization or not it is clear this is an attempt to criminalize black dissent, which will have an outside negative impact on those who are working in orgizations like black lives matter. amy: i want to ask you about another issue, about these allegations a russian company spent more than $100,000 buying thousands of ads that sought to politicize the u.s. electorate ahead of the 2016 presidential election. some of the allegations relate to russian facebook ads, specifically referencing like lives matter, targeting audiences in baltimore and ferguson, missouri. meanwhile, google also says "suspected russian agents" paid for tens of thousands of dollars worth of political advertisements last year, also aimed at slowing the 2016 presidential election. your thoughts?

>> first of all, we have to be really clear. this is not simply about what russia has done. this is about how russia and the right wing of the united states have collaborated to undermine democracy. i want to be clear. when we talk about russia buying these ads or using these facebook pages, so on and so forth, what we are really talking about is a collusion, a collaboration between a global right-wing. that is really important. we need to be really clear about that, number one. number two, whether the ads or the facebook pages seem to be pro-or anti-black lives matter, the fact is, these pages and .hese ads were anti-black that is what is clear. there are using anti-black militancy to sway an election and undermine my chrissy.

this is not new. the cia has sent us for decades. tactic that is been used by the united states internationally for decades. we should not be surprised that it is being used now. aboutd to think carefully what is going to happen over the next several years to undermine the next presidential election. and we need to get ready. amy: i want to ask about a cnn report, social media campaign tivist usedelf black facebook and twitter to amplify racial tensions during the election. they attribute it to two sources with knowledge of the matter talking to cnn. the twitter account has been handed over to congress. the facebook account is expected to be handed over in the coming days, was the report. s?ur response to blacktivist >> i have heard about it and i have seen the page in the past.

time looking at possibly fake pages that talk about black issues, trying to weed them out om pages that are related to real come on the ground organizations. what we have seen is interestingly, while this has come to light, you know, the blacktivist pages have come to light being associated with this disinformation campaign, it is clear this is just the to the iceberg. pagesare dozens of fake on facebook, dozens of fake accounts on twitter that claim to be related to some black movement, but in fact, are not. what we need to be is very careful making sure the pages we follow, the accounts we follow are actually connected to real organizations that are doing real work on the ground.

and it is hard to do. it means that facebook and twitter have to take real responsibility for this kind of disinformation on their site. really do something to protect black activists are working on their site. and differentiate between the fake pages and the realpage is because it has real consequences for black activism. , you certainlyil are familiar with cointelpro. can you talk about your own family experience? we have just about a minute. december 4, 1969, mark clark and fred hampton, the head of the black panthers in chicago, illinois, are done down by police as they are sleeping in bed. what the counterintelligence program did and the effect, for example, on your family? >> my mother was a member of the black panther party in new york. she ran the breakfast program in new york. my mother was visited by the fbi just weeks before she died in

2005. so this is not something -- this harassment, the kind of edgar harassment of like activists did not end in 1969. it did not end whenointelpro was exposed in 1971. it is continuing today. there are hundreds of political ,risoners in our prison system black political prisoners, puerto rican political prisoners, native american political prisoners because of the counterintelligence program. we need to make sure that never, ever happens in america again. amy: malkia cyril, thank you for taking this time with us, cofounder and executive director of the center for media justice. a black lives matter activist. that does it for our broadcast. happy birthday to miguel nogueira! 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

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