/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/8 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! hour, american forces are in early stages of military operations to disarmplplplplplpd the world from great danger. amy: 15 years ago today when the u.s. invaded iraq. the war would go on to destabilize the middle easast ad continues today. the invasion's will be felt for generations.

iraq remains a shattered country. we will speak with an iraq war veteran turned peace actctivist the impact of the war on ira women. undocumented and unpaid. we go to texas six months of hurricane harvey flooded houston. day laborers havaveacacacacacact -- >> did you ask them foththe ertitime? >> no. there are lots of people they a afraid oftirring things up. amy: a new report by the intercept documents how two houston day laborers fought back and won after they worked weeks without pay for a major disaster recovery firm. we'll also look at fefefefefefee houston with u.s.-born children. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and i'm amy goodman. a new channel 4 news investigation has revealed executives from the company cambridge analytica boasting about entrapping politicians and launchg fake news campaigns in order to sway elections around the world. the revelations come only days after it was revealed cambridge analytica harvested the data of more than 50 million facebook users, whout their permission, in efforts to sway voters to support president donald trump. cambridge analytica was founded by billionaire robert mercer.ant newsws. on mdaday, chael 4 4 new brbrdcast videos it seetetly recorded of the executives tatalkin abobo entrapping polititians by sendingdidididide poposing as developerers to proe a bribebe

this is s a clip of the e channl in whichk newss report the rertrter wt t t t t t t t t ordeder to reveaeal cambridgee analytica tactics. the video featuresamambridge next andc ceo alelexander exececutive mark humboldt, but t gigins wit narrationon. it seseems to run their clients opponents through handouts andd honey traps. and spies.,x, secrets, tactics. >> [inaudible] the x was a comes as facebook stock plummeted monday following the revelations about how cambridge analytica harvested its data in order to

ads in the caring of robert mercer's far right polilitical agenda in helping president trump when the 2016 election. the reports have spurred calls for increased regegulation of facececececececececececececece facebook amid an internal dispute over how much to disclose to the public about how russians used the platform to spread propaganda ahead of the 2016 election. information security officer. the news of his impending departure this august comes as facebook is now confronting a new firestorm about the cambridge analytica data breach. president trump again called for the death penalty for drug dealers during a speech in manchester, and a hamsher, monday. pres. trump: the ultimate penalty has s to be ththe dee ey the death penalty for the really bad pushers and a abusers, we ae

going to get nowhere. i'm telling you, we're going to get somewhere. amy: preliminary data from the centers for disease control and prevention says more than 67,000 peop died from drug overdoses last year. during trump's speech, he also atatatat lawrence, masshusetts,laming the city for the spread of fentanyl in new hampshire. a package destined for austin exploded at a fedex facility in schertz, texasnonortheast ofanan antonio overnight. the package was filled with nails and pieces of metal. early reports indicate no fedex workers were seriously injured in the explosision. authoritieies are investigatinig whethe is related to the serial bombings across austin, which have killed two members of prominent black families and injured six others since the first bombing on march 2. authorities said monday that the fourth explosisisisisisisisisisi

night, was set off by a trip wire, indicating a higher level of sophistication. police are investigating whether the bombings are hate crimes. to the people k killed communitn austin. a 17-year-old teenager and a 39-year-old man. in washington, d.c., activist have laid 5000 flowers onto the symbolize the 5000 yemeni children who have been killed or injured in the ongoing u.s.-backed saudi-led bombing campaign in yemen. the protest comes as the saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman is slated to arrive in washington, d.c., today to meet with president trump. on monday, activists called on lawmakers to support a new bipartisan resolution, senate joint resolution 54, to end the u.s. military involvement in yemen within 30 days unless congress formally authorizes the military action.

this is activist iram ali. this is one of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world right now and it is still ongoing. it c could be stuffed with just passing this legislation and amy: the bipartisan legislation was introduced by vermont -- the bipartisan legislation could be voted on as early as today. northwestern city of afrin, amid reports of widesprpread lootingy turkish and d turkish-backed troops who seized contntrol of e syrian kurdish city on sunday. turkish president recep tayyip erdogan has now vowed to continue the turkish military offensive against other kurdish-controlled areas in northwestern syria. >> after controlling the city center of afrin yesterd, , completed the most important phase of operation olive branch.

now we will continue this with others until we president of thisis corridor. nicolas sarkozozy has been taken into police custody for questioning amid an investigation into whether he received millions of euros in illegal campaign financing from the late libya gaddafi in 2007. sarkozy has repeatedly denied the allegations. back in the united states, vermont senator bernie sanders, massachusetts senator elizabeth warren, and other experts hosted a livestream town hall on "inequality in america: the rise of oligarchy and collapse of the middle class." during me discussion, economist darrick hamilton spoke about the intersections of race, education, and class. >> we know you are the head of

household graduated from college, your family's wealth is lower than the of a white family with head that dropped out of high school. this feeds into the narrative of, can we simply work hard, study hard, and address inequality? the answereducation is importans own right, so when the standards proposes we should have tuition-free public education? absolutely. [applause] as an end unto itself, we exaggerate the economic returns to education, particularly for marginalized groups. would we start getting into these narrativesaaa post-racial's excited, we're not there. we can come up with conference of programs that include everybody, but we need to do it differently this way so that we make sure nobody is left the hind. amy: monday night town hall came as a a landmark new st shows rich white boys are likely to remain rich as adults, but that

rich black voice are more likely to become poorer middle-class as adults. the study, led by y y y y y y e census bureau, debunks widely held ideas about income inequality and race. it shows that racism still t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t e in the cotry's richest neighborhoods and have similar levels of education. the study also shows the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on even the richest black men -- showing how black men who were raised by millionaires are just as likely to be incarcrcerated as white mn who were raised in poor households. the supreme court has rejected a republblican appeal to block the redrawing of pennsylvania's congreiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaie court ruled the congressional map unconstitutionally favored republican candidates and ordered it redrawn. the new, more equitable map is exexpected to offer a boost to

democratic candidates during t 2018 midterm elections. in arizona, a self-driving uber car killed a pedestrian on sunday night in tempe, leading uber to quickly suspend its-d-d, pittsburgh, san francisco, and toronto. sunday night's fatal crash occurred despite the fact that there was an emergency backup driver -- a human -- sitting behind the wheel. the pedestrian is believed to be the first person to be killed in association with new, self-driving technology. cynthia and the andrrrrrrrrrrrrr vernor of new york. she will be challenging new york governor andrew romo in the democratic primary later this year. in mississippi republican governor phil bryant has signed restrictive anti-abortion laws in the country, banning abortions after 15 weeks even in the case of rape or incest.

the center for reproductive rights has sued mississippi over the ban, calling it unconstitutional. lawsuits by the center have blocked similar laws in arizona, north dakota, and arkansas in recent years. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracyn.org, the r and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. it was 15 years ago this week that the u.s. invaded iraq on the e false pretext that iraqi president saddam hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction. the attack came despite worldwide protest and a lack of authorization the u.n. security council. at around d 5:30 a.m. in baghdad on march 20th 2003 air raid sirens were heard as the u.s. invasion began. within the hour, president george w. bush gave a nationally televised speech from the oval office announcing the war r r r

coalition forcess in t the early s stages of miliy opererations to didisarm iraq, o free i its people, and to defend the world from grave danger. amy: six weeks later on may 1, 2003, president bush landed on the deck of the uss abraham lincoln of t t coast of f san diego and declared the end of major combat. >> my fellow americansns, major combat operations in iraq have ended the e battle of iraq, thee united s states and ouourhave p. the fighting is yet to end the death tololl may nevr , conservative estimates put the iraqi civilian death toll at 200,000. but t some counts range as highs 2 million. in 2006, the british medical journal lancet estimated 600,000

iraqis died in just the first 40 months o of the war. 4500 soldiers in iraq. just l last week, seseven u.s. service members died in a hehelicopter crash in westerernq nenear the syrer. the war in iraq is to stabilize much of the middle east. former united nations secretary-general kofi annan and others have directly blamed the u.s. invasion of iraq for the rise of f f f f f f f f f f f fh anniversary of the u.s. invasion of iraq, we are joined by three guests. zahra ali is a sociology professor at rutgegers universi. her fofofofofofofofofofofofofofo "women andender in iraq: between nation-building and fragmentation." she grew up in france. matt howard is co-director of "about face: veterans againstfos

against the war." he served in iraq once in 2004 and then again in 2005. we welcome you both to democracy nonow! professor, let's begin with you. 15 years ago today the u.s. invaded iraq. talk about whahat happened then and the repercussions. >> first of all, i would like to say as a daughter of an iraqi political exiled family, i was 16 years old at the time of the war, and i refused this. linda -- either you oppose the regime or either you oppose the war. i post the regime and we had to flee iraq because of it and i also got involved in the antiwar move in france. mememememememememememememememem. we have toame it as a criminal war. we have to to find it as -- define it as an operation of the

destruction of as a functioning state in society. this authorization started before 2003, it started in 1991. if we talked about u.s. influence in the region,cacacan go back to the 60's, but at least for this specific operation, we have to talk about 1991 host of u.s. led coalition bombing -- terminal bombing of iraq that were described as sususususususususususususususu t targeted water a and elelectricy schools, bridges, hospitals, left the country and humanitarian crisis. after this terrible situation, the un's sananctions that were terrible for the iraqi population and pushed by the u.s. administration at the time. a country that needed to be reconstructed was plunged into a deep humanitarianititititititit,

weakened to an extreme level its infrastructures. before the ascension, with a free and strong educationcacacam for functioning states. this is the situation that characterized iraqi in 2003 when the invasion happened. the iraqi society had a ready been been brutalized by violence, repression of the different uprising in the north and south. in social and humanitarian crisis. the u.s. invasion exacerbated this situation, this crisis. first of all, in destroying what was left of the states, its institution and services that provide basic human needs to the society, that makes a functioning society -- access to running water, electricity.

it disbanded the army. and also something that is very important and that we have to remind ourselves to understand what is going on today, the rise of political system based on what i called in my research -- in other words, the u.s. administration has institutionalized iraq. they have created a political regime that relies on communal-based identity. in iraq in 2003, since 2003, you're not just a political leader defined by your beliefs are you are a kurdish political leader, arab sunni, shia, or christian. this is what provoked the alalalalalalalalalalalalalalalan the cocotry. asas well we have to say that te

u.s. in administration brought to power political elite that mamamamamamamamamamamamamamamamr some of th, since the 1980's. so very much disconnected with the realities on the ground. even for those who had some political legitimacy ininininins legitimacy because they happen to be extremely sectarian, extremely conservative, and extremely corrupted as well. juan: i would like e to bring in the founder andlililililililil, director of the muslim peacemaker teams in iraq. he lives in the iraqi city of najaf. he moved back to iraq in 2004 after living abroad for nearly 30 years. he left ir i in the late97970s and eventually moved to the united states and settled down in minneapolis. welcome back to democracy now! could you talk about your afterts now, 15 years

president bush declared mission accomplished, what the situation in iraq is today? me onnk you for having the show. 15 years and the tragedy continues to unfold. disasters and adversity keep trapping us. asking whether we have learned anything from that tragedy. was one of the today,residents, but yet some people think what we have currentltltltltltltltltltltltltd george bush in comparison, better.

entered -- in 2003 with no end from the invasion to occupation t to and we should not forget about the iranian expansion in iraq. [indiscerernible] another conflict betet t the north and south.

security --quality, army is not yet credit -- the keep iraq safe iraqi army is not yet credible to keep iraq safe. unfortunately, the iraraqi peope are paying a heavy price. -- peacemaker team workingo [indiscernible]

factions, regardless if tyy are shia, muslims, or christians. right now [indiscernible] the project is called english for reconciliation.

six months ago, trying to bring [indiscernible] according to the american mainstream media. to break bread together. that they'rend out nothing but brothers and sistery ,stablishing lasting friendship mutual understanding, and trust. amy: sami, we a little trouble understanding you, but i want to thank you for being with us from iraq. sami rasouli was an institution in minneapolis growth on the

cover of minneapolis magazine. veve everything to return to his country at the height of the war to be with his countrymen and women and family. sami rasouli am a founder of muslimwawawawawawawawawawawawawe anniversary of the u.s. invasion. when we come back, we will continue with professor zahra ali and matt howard,d,d,d,d,d,d. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: in that piece you hear medea benjamin of codepink interrupting congress, protesting the war.

thisisisisisisisisisisisisisis'n gonzalez. as we continue our look at the 15th anniversary of the u.s. invasion of iraq. we are joined here in new york by two guests. is a sociology professor at rutgers university. her forthcoming book is titled "women and gender in iraq: between nation-building and fragmentation." matt h h h h h h h h h h h h h h about face: veterans against the war, the organization formerly known as iraraq veterans against the war. he served in iraq once in 2004 and then again in n 2005. i would like to begin withmatt. talk about your first employment, your sense at the time of what the iraq war was about and your own evolution in terms of your understanding of the war. >> when i - - - - - - - - - - -i tched the invasion from okinawa, japan, when i was stationed there and had a real

sense of dread that we were making a decision we could never step bacack from. a year later, i was stationed in iraq outside fallujah in support of helicopters casualty evacuation. experience crystallized forexpee where i really went down a path of challenging everything that i have been told to me was when we were guarding iraqi men who were laborers coming onto our base who basically spelled out everything said that the quality of life had taken a dramatic hit and that everything we were bebeing told in terms of our hearts and minds and how we were going to make this place better is far from the truth that possibly be. amy: why did you end up going to iraq? where did you grow up? >> portland, oregon. i joined the marine cowhen was 17 -- before i finished high schohohohohohohohohohohohohohoh.

i deployed or went to boot camp about a month after september 11. juan: the casualty numbers for iraqr,r,r,r,r,r,r,r,r,r,r,r,r,'h american side -- to have been a great. 4500 soldiers. it when you think about the 22,000 who were injured as well, many of those soldiers injured would have in previous w w w w f scnce and medicine, but many have survived with lifelong injuries, amputated limbs, traumatic shock and brain damage will stop can you talk a t t the impact on the soldiers for this constant warfare? obviously, they were never able to win the hearts and minds of the iraqi people. >> there's something that would talk a about at t t t t t t t ty occur many time for some folks and sometimes as many as 10 times, and also the

invisible wounds of the war as you're mentioning, whether that isgegegegegegegegegegegegegegegy sexual trauma that are often not tallied in the kind of figures that we have are these things. i want to make it clear that if that goes for the military, that definitely goes for the iraqi civililililililili continuing to deal with the aftereffects of this war. i think one thing we have noticed is that people are also coming home to an underfunded v.a. and a v v v v v v v v v v o privatize it. soso all of this rhetoricic of taking c care of our troopops is very quickckly diminishes dedededededededededededededededr about-face, matt? >> good question. i joined about-face when it was ivwwhen i came home.

itit was an antiwar protest. the winter soldier hearings. amy: if you could explain what they were? >> the winter soldier hearings were a moment together really y to the cost of war, both in afghanistan and iraq, and to let the american people know what was being done in our name. juan: professor, and the terms of the cost of war, last took we had a segment on the vietnam war were we talked about the long-lasting damage in vietnam from agent orange, defects thata agent of the war orange. that thet in civilian population still dealing with? >> thank you for asking that. fallujah.ention

uranium was usused in fallujahah. it was a dirty war. amy: white phosphorus. >> and the effect for the iraqi -- it goes even for generations. all you think of the use of of the chemicals etc. u.s. soldiers can country, but l in the middle of the war. we live the war. i don't know any iraqi household , including my household, that has not been directly affected explosiontnessed a car or lost a member of the family. is the current reality. and now when you think about the invasion of isis and the veryy militarization of the society and the militarization of the

public spaces, for example, if you take baghdad, the capital of iraq. ishave to have this image in the capital is divided, fragmented by checkpoints and walls that divide the neighborhoods according to sectarian religious, ethnic belongings. i talk about it when i talk about women and human rights in general and my research in iraq. when you -- every kilometer, you have to pass through an aed male soldier, checkpoints. even the population of baghdad, 65% of the population itself has been displaced either in baghdad worked iraq or outside iraq. amy: professor, you write in your piece about a proposed constitutional amendment which would have a massive effect on women. article 41 is in the

constitution. what happened is since 2003, there have been several attempts made by sectarian conservatives, army, to question came to power a long text terry lines, the basis of women's legal rights. sectarian lines, the basis of women's legal rights. family law. it old laws, legislations related to marriage, divorce, inheritance, cut cities. -- custody. it is important to recall it is the political culture of the time that was eliminated by the imperialist left. progressivet groups in the region.

the participation of women's rights activists for the first iraqi and arab minister participated. the second dimension that is reported to understand what is stillon now is it gathers it has a unifying dimension. is, i think, the political legacy that is being questioned since 2003. now we have it in the article 41. and thanks to feminist, women's rights, society mobilization, the article 41 is still not implemented but still in the name of this article, we have so the proposition made by conservative, sectarian, islamist parties that are in power since 2003. law in 2014.e

amy: in the e e e e e e e e e et existence fore -- so law based on the scscscscscscscscscscscscscscscse problematic, progressive thing for women's rights, that it allows very informal forms of unions in which women do not alalalalalalalalalalalalalalala. if ever implemented, it can the age ofw marriages as early as nine years old. this is the kind of questioning of women's legal rights that is made. i also want to make a point that we tend to approach women's rights in a very simplistic manner. as if it was very abstract just as -- it is very concrete steps

when you talk about the right to vote. if you think of the right to vote, of course it is essential for women and also the sense. you also have the have the structural context that last people to vote to the voting sites without being scared of being shot or kidnapped, right? for functioning state, childcare, health care, education, access to the job market. as well, when we talk about the situation, a all of the militarizati h had already started under the regime with a different wars in the 1980's. it now we have really rich and extreme. militarization really defined gender norms and relations toward masculine ways o of hoods the fact that women need protection and men are the protectors of women. these are very important dimensions to o keep in mind...y

people we're mentioned have blamed, especially in the latter period of this u.s. intervention in iraq, the rise of isis....... invasion and especially the attempt t of the initial administrators of a rack, the coalition, in terms of reaching leaders andhe moving them from civil service, dismantling the military, basically destroying the existing institutions of iraq. i'm wondering your thoughts on thatat? what you saw directly? and 2005.here in 2004 august the, the rise and the emergence of isis was significantly further down the line. but it is pretty clear all blame that can be laid to is the u.s. government and u.s. military

really laid into his lap arounud the emergence of isis. part of t t t t t t t t t t t tt coalition prison run facilities. they essenentially cut their teh during the occupation of iraq, the, and were politicized and found themselves, obviously, in positions in syria and other places. i think, if anything, it points to the role in stabilizing the region and the aftereffects addressing right now and throughout the middle east and central asia. amy: i want to turn to tony blair. rmrmrmrmrmrmrmrmrmrmrmrmrmrmrmrh prime minister speaking to cnn saying there were "elements of truth to the claim that removing saddam hussein playeyed a part n the creation of isis." >> you canan't say those of us o removed said am that there no

responsible for the situationn n 201515. it i is importanant also to reae that, one, the e air of spring which begantodaday an two, i isy me to prominence from a base in syria and not in iraq. amy:responsisible was presidente w. bush. in 2010, in his first major interview since leaving office, bush spoke to nbc's matt lauer before he wass fired about the iraq war. by the time you gave e order to start military operations in iraq, did you personally have any doubt, any shred of doubt about that intelligencece? pres.>> that everybody thought u should go to war. pres. bubush: i was a dissenting

voice. i i did not use of f f >> you still have a sick thing feeling most of what is therere ever a any consideration of apologizing? bush:h: apologizingng for asicallyy say the decision was wrong decision, and i don't believe it was a wrong decision. >> if you knew then what you know nowow you would still go to war in iraq? pres. bush: first of all, i did not have that luxury. yoyou don't have the luxury when you are president. i will s say deftly the e worlds betterer off without saddam hussein in power, as are 25 million people who now have a chance to live in freedom. amy: that his former president 2010. bush speaking and you return home to a rack a couple of times a year, zahra ali, your character politic dissenters -- your parents are political dissenters.

your response, both to bush and to blair? terminology, thisininininininis vocabulary in the u.k. and the u.s., it was a mistake, whatever. it was a crime, come on. it is a criminal war and these people have to be judged for their crimes, right? but also, i want to say something about this narrative proven to betic -- very antidemocratic. when we think of the context ant happened around it, we also have to talk about the fact that in iraq, despite the very terriblet , morehave citizens recently since 2015, we have very strong grassroots popular

movement that questionedededede3 regime, women's rights activists involved in that movement. but the situation is that, in a to here,s that ts war on terror narratives is really used to justify any kind of repression, any kind of silent -- silencing of radical in thesm country. amy: we want to thank you both for beining here.e. matt howard of about face: veterans against the war, and also zahra ali, sociology or pfizer at rutgers, french-iraqi woman who is writing a book right now on iraqi women, her forthcoming book, and activists. "women and gender in iraq: between nation-building and fragmentation."

she grew up in france. her parents are political exiles. when we come back, what has happened to the undocumented workers who are rebuilding houston? undocumented and unpaid. will bringenee feltz us report. ♪ [music break]

amy: "yellow ribbon," by emily yates, a member of iraq veterans against the war. she says s she wrote the sonong after speaking with fellow veterans about the yellow ribbbn magnets pe p p put on their cars. yates was deployed twice to iraq, where she served in the 3rd infantry division as an army public affairs specialist from 2002 to 2008. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to houston, the nation's fourth largest city, where hurricane harvey dumped more than 50 inches of rain six months ago. after the storm,m,m,m,m,m,m,m,m, now the city is beginning a multi-year rebuilding process. much of the work is being done by undocumented immigrants, who make up at least half of the texas construction workforce. high demand after e storm,

many are facing widespread wage theft. few of them report the abuse because they fear deportation if they go to police. just last week, the u.s. fifthed much of the state's so-called "show me your papers" that allows police to ask anyone in their custody their immigration status. this is a houston day laborerade intercept. he is a mexican immigrant who was says he worked 60 hour weweeks, but only gopapaid f 40 . >> avoid paying me for ovtitime. > d you askhem fofo overtime? >> no post of people a are afrad of stirring things u up. a lot immigras are reportg.

amy: undocented migrant workers ke adrn lost eft aftehurricanharvey but someave faback andon eir pahecks byressurin e of t nation's largt saster recery firmwith lp from labor advotes. learn mor we're joineby inoustonmauricio igless is the commity orgazer fothe rkers dense projecin uston. and re in new rk, rene feltis a lgtime demoacy now! pducer anaward-nning porter. her test sry for the inrcept headlined"amid rampt wageheft in po-harvereconstrucon, immiant woers taken dister rovery gian-- and win. st novemr, she rorted on w "immrant dayaborers coront a pfect srm of exploitaon in huicane haeyeyeyey welcome th of yoto democcy now! nee, y'reecently ck from housto scribe wt you foun ree: i was out aboue condions for people who arrebuilng houst.

60 incs of rn felon the city. first, lot of thbuilding had be clned o, t mudududududud that pcess wil take a ng me. i nted tsee who reilding andt is mosy documented immrant lorers. at i fou to be eeciall intesting isemememememememememe. we ao know there we storms in floda, puto rico,ires aliforni -- a lot of renstructi to be de. t these wkers who js were erywhere, were oft not tting pa for theork th theyid. pa the rean for tha as we mtionedn the introction come is cause tes has at theyall a sh me yourapers law. eyeyeyeyeyeyeyeyeyeyeyeyeyeyey might aaid tt policean asthem aut theirmmigration status notvethough it a crime to paiworkerven if theare

orororororororororororororororor it. we called this undomented a unpa, butnother w to say it is document and unpd -- until w. en it we to housn recentlyi wawawawawawawawawawawa two woers i me with che medarla a hectowere woing onebuilding d aptment colex inouston and ended uworkinseveralnononononon. ey inqred aboutt and asked, whei going get pai ash.ere gting paiin en carlaas injur at som poin wh she wento the hpital, she neededhat cash fr what she it worked toelp pay r hebills. e subconactor wanot payi her. they sout help. she soug help om a lawye whsaid, i c't donything for yo esseially, s felt li she hano right evenhough shhad just wk all these wks. maybe chele canick it up

tells whatappenewhen they turn to new fthold in workers defen project. - -- go ahead chele. >> gooood morning. what happened is that hector reached out to me through social media. he wanted to know what we can h. he was not getting paid for several weeks. at first, he talked to me. he did n t trust me at first. but then when i spoke to him and we met and told him what we are, what our organization is, he became acquainted with us and gained -- - - - - - trust.

we were able to help hector and eventually filililililagainst g and we were able to recover their wages. amy: amazing success. i want to return to a relatedd report that was in hstston aer h hurcane rvey.. renee: half-year after hurrinene rveyey, ny homomwners who faced heavflfloodi arere sll recovering with little or nor rt wh an orgizer with the workerdedefensprojojec chele. >> you can still see a l o of mud on the streets.............a workinclclass ighbhborod buiui near the intersectioofof the wawateays of two bayous.

we drive down streetse.e.e.e.e.. >> most of the homeowners here are constrtition workers are working general labor. the price is low.nted but now ty are goi to sink and be underhehe wat. again. renee: l l l l l l l l le water nenes. they're interspsesed wi fulully reststed houses and th others in very statesf f repa. one of the first residts we meet is an immigntnt fro who showus her house that flooded thth thr feeeet waterer during the storm. everything got damaged. , the living stove room. eveverytng..

we hadad throw everything away. rene is s thhouseetitill damaged? >> so-so. weusust fid two bedrooms. in the kitchen. renee: we're curious if opople haveve hrd from fema and what thatxpxperiee wawas ke. yes, they did help us, thank d.d. e ininsptors w we nice. the use to gift cdd om h her church to buy drywall anand inlatiti so her r sbandd could turn to papair t h house before their fema check ririved. cook he spoke a litt b bit o anish, butot mucuc down the stet, we ststoppeto l looat one of the houses that appeed to be abandoned. , now looks li od.icocovereby wo

i lookednsnside d ththerare nono walls. four's.e it looks like somee e is ling there according to fema, they are saying that these heses are habitable. habitable to me or ty huhuman being. street, wesoss the meeticarardoa mexixin immigrant who isnloading , which flooded with more than a foot of water duri h hurrine h hary. asked him what was damaged. >> practically everything. can you tell ushat happenedhen n fe came? >> really, they never came. i only spoke with them cece on my phone a t they ked d a r my sa sececity. they said there is nowithwiwiwia secuty. renee: can you describe the

impa of not having fema hel >> he says for him, it feels like iwill be e same because therarare otr peopleho a are mumumumumumumumumumumumumumumume gotten a a andhey are still not fully recovered and there in a worse state. economically.rt saying he snt many his savings recovering. ............ renee:e go around the rnrner andd me an immigrant fm m el lvador w moved bk into h house not long after itufuffere heavy flooding from haeyey. she e lis thererwith her husband,o o relaves,s, a her children. her daughter has speci n needs join saiai fema helped pay for

hol l roomut t theamily y d to we then came back to theeheheh> house e e way it was. much of an kept getting sick a lot becaee my baby girl suffers from asta a and r lulungs notot workrkptimally. myight-year-oldonononononononons asthma. i had to bngng tm to the doctor very often. evenave e me letters to take the femaecause h says our house was not livable. i spoke with fema and th told me t they uld d t pay fothe hotel beuse my house was livable. did the insctor come to e e hous >> yes, he did come to inspect but only for five to 10 minutes. he was only here a few mututes. hehe w ameririn and did not expaers. he camend only checked the front of the use. he did n go to the bedededededee nee: when she shows us the progress she anderer husnd of may so f, , eachoom m inhe

house looks about half rey y to live in. many windo a are sll b bei ininalled, iluding in the bedroom her children sharshshshp lingng here and she aners -- close yes, of course, ieeeed to keepeporkingngo make money and to keep goingecause we came here from our country that e not as gooas here. it is diffict,t, butot imssibible renee: i am renee feltz for fema across this response to these immigrant homeowners from a number with u.s. born children? it still smelled like mold when i went there. the mold is going away, but many do not have windows installed in their bedrooms. other posts storm situations, these are long-term

resides.s. some have lived five to 20 years in houston. it is something that needs to be addressed. and thank you for that excellent report. chele iglesias. [[captioning made possssible by

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