09/11/18 09/11/18 09/11/18 09/11/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from san francisco, this is democracy now! >> let me be clear. north carolina is taking hurricane florence seriously and you should, too.

get reready now. amy: more than 1.5.5 million people arere evacuating from the carolinas and vivirgia a as catetegory 4 bang hurricane threatens s the region. wewe will speak toto climate scientisist michael mann on how climate chchange is superchargig hurricanes. then preresident trump''s natiol securityty advisor john bolton attacks the e internationall criminal courtrt for probing possible u.s. war crimes in afghanistan and israeli war crimes in the occupied territories. >> we will let the icc die on its own. after all, for all intents and purposes, the icc is already dead to us. amy: we will speak to jamil dakwar of the american civil liberties union. and then tennis superstar serena williams calls out sexism in the sport after she is repeatedly penalized in the u.s. open byby a male umpire. >> for me to say thief it'd take

again, that is a sexist remarar. he has never took a game from a man because they said thief. it blows my y mind. amy: we will speak to penn state professor amira rose davis. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump's national security adviser john bolton threatened sanctions against internationanal criminal c court judges if they proceed with an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by u.s. troops in afghanistan. >> we will ban its judges and prosecutors from entering the united states. we will sanction their funds in the u.s. mental system, and we will prosecute them in the u.s. criminal system. we will do the same for any company or state that assist in

icc investigation of americans. amy: that was national security adviser john bolton speaking during a speech to the federalist society in washington, d.c., monday. bolton also announced the trump adminiration is osing thth palestine liberation organization office in washington, d.c. the plo called the move a dangerous escalation, saying it shs -- "the u.s. is willing to disband the international system in order to protect israeli crimes and attacks against the land and people of palestine, as well as against peace and security in the rest of our region." we will have more on john bolton's speech lateter in the brbroadcast. the enorormous category y 4 huhurricane florenences barrrreg towardrd the easast coast, with5 million pelele across vivirgini, north carorolina, anand south carolina facing evacuation ordersrs. the natitional hurricaneenter is warning of wididespread flooding and a possiblele life-threateneg storm surge. this is nortrth carolina governr roy cooper. >> the forecast places north

carolina in the bullseye of hurricane florence. and the storm is rapidly getting stronger. when weather forecasters tell us "life-threatening," we know it is serious. amy: we will have more on hurricane florence and the links between hurricanes and climate change after the headlines. the trump administration is aiming to make it easier for oil and gas companies to pollute the atmosphere with methane gas, one of thehe most powerful greenhoue gases contributing to climate change. the trump administration could announce the rollback of the obama-era rules requiring companies to monitor and repair methane leaks on oil and gas wells as early as this week. in more climate change news, california governor jerry brown has signed a new law to shift california to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045. >> there is no understating the

importance of this measure. is sending a message to california into the world that we are going to meet the paris agreement and continue down that path to transition our economy to zero emission, zero carbon omission, and a have the resiliency and s sustainability that science t tells us we must achieve. amy: that was california governor jerry brown speaking monday ahead of the global climate action summit here in san francisco. we will be broadcasting from san francisco throughout the week. meanwhile, united nations secretary general antonio guterres warned monday of the risks of runaway climate change, calling on world leaders to take dramatic steps to limit greenhouse gas emissions within the next two years. >> there needs to be ways of dealing with this problem.

>>, change is the defining issue of our time. and we are at the defining moment. we face a direct, existential threat. climate e change is moving fastr than we are. provoked sonicic across the world. if we do not change course by 2020, we risk missing the point where we can avoid runaway climate change with disastrous consequences for people and all of the natural systems that sustain us. amy: and 350.org co-founder bill mckibben announced monday that more than $6 trillion of endowments and portfolios have now been divested from fossil fuel companies. the new target by 2020, he says, is $10 trillion divested from fossil fuel companies. on monday, new york city mayor bill deblasio and london mayor sadiq khan published a joint op-ed in the guardian, calling

on other cities around the world to divest their assets from writing -- "we believe that ending institutional investment in companies that extract fossil fuels and contribute directly to climate change can help send a very powerful message that renewables and low-carbon options are the future." "the washington post" reports that federal workers have left 1600 the environmental protection agency since president trump took office, a mass exodus that has shrunk the epa's workforce to levels not seen since the reagan administration. among the epa workers to depart the agency was scientist ann williamson, who left after 33 years saying -- "i did not want to any longer be any part of this administration's nonsense." a top united nations official is warning that a a all-out syrian government ground offensive against idlib province, the last major rebel-held territory in syria, could lead to the worst

loss of life in the 21st century. >> there needs to be ways of dealing with this problem. that don't -- the next few months in idlib, the biggest loss of life of the 2 21st century. the tsunami that many, the atrocious famine in s somalia in 2011 the killed another 250,000 people. we must -- it is not acceptable to have huge loss of life in idlib over the next period. amy: in afghanistan, at least 20 people have been killed in a suicide bombing in the eastern province of nangarhar. no group has claimed responsibility for the attacacko far. the white house says it's preparing for a second possible meeting between president trump

and north korean leader kimm jong-un after trump received a very warm, very positive letter from kim requesting a second meeting. trump and kim met for a summit in siningapore in june, marking the first time a u.s. . presidet has met with a north korean leader. meanwhile, south korean president moon jae-in is slated to hold his third summmmit with kim next week as the two leaders continue discussing plans to formally end the 1950-1953 korean war. in migration news, doctors without borders says more than 100 people died earlier this month when their boats shipwrecked off the coast of libya en route to europe. among the victims were at least 20 children, including babies. the united n nations says atat t 1000 people have d drowned in te mediterraneaean so far this s yr trying to reach europe. back in the united states, in texas, more than people rallied 100 outside the dallas police

headquarters monday night to protest the police killing of 26-year-old botham jean. white dallas police officer ambeber guyger killed jean, aa black man, i in his own apartme, after she walked in allegedly believing it was her apartment. the two live in the same from a complexex. officer guygeger has been chargd with manslaughter. in florida, republican congressmember ron desantis has announced he's immediately resigning from congress in order to focus on his gubernatorial campaign. desantis is in a tight race against democratic tallahassee mayor andrew gillum, who is vying to be the first african american governor in florida's history. desantis' resignation from congress comes as "the washington post" has revealed he has spoken four times at a conservative conference, where far-right speakers regularly spout islamophobic, xenophobic and racist views. other recent speakers at the annual david horowitz freedom center restoration weekend

conference include president trump's former chief strategist stephen bannon and white supremacist milo yiannopoulos. and federal prosecutors have admitted they wrongly accused russian gun rights activist maria butina of trading sex-for-influence with high-level republicans. the justice department has charged butina with acting as an unregistered agent of the russian government and accused her of trying to infiltrate the nra and other right-wing groups. but the prosecutors now admit they mistakenly interpreted a joking text exchange between her and her longtime friend who took butina's car for an inspection, and then texted her -- "i don't know what you owe me for insurance. butina jokingly answered: "sex. thank you so much." prosecutors now admit this exchange does not prove she was trading sex as part of a secret russian government effort to infiltrate high-level republican circles. on monday, federal judge ruled butina must stay in jail after

her trial because she is a flight risk. 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 with hurricane florence. more than 1.5 million people haveve been ordered d evavacuae the coast of virgia,a, north carolina, and the south carolina coast as thehe storm continues o gain strength. the huhurricane isis barreliling toward the east coast, briringig with it heavy rains and high winds that could linger for days after hitting land. people up and down the coast are preparing for extreme flooding and what the national hurricane center is calling a life-threatening storm surge. it is projected to make landfall on thursday or friday, and experts are warnining the damage could be catastrophic. this is north carolina governor roy cooper. >> the forecast places north carolina in the bullseye of hurricane florence. in the storm is rapidly getting

stronger. when weather forecasters tell us "life-threatening," we know it is serious. north carolina faces thrhree threats. first, the ocean surge along our coast. in the strong winds, which may be higher r than the other hurricanes we every suddenly experienced. anand of course, inland flooding from heavy rains. and weere in nororth carolina are bracing for a hard hit. amy: hurricane florence has grown more powerful due to unusually high sea surface temperatures in the atlantic linked to climate change. warmer temperatures also means more moisture, which scientists say could lead to more extreme rainfall and flooding. for more, we are going to pennsylvania to speak with michael mann distinguished , professor and director of the earth system science center, penn state university.

his latest book co-authored with political cartoonist tom toles is titled "the madhouse effect : how climate change denial is threatening our planet, destroying our politics, and driving us crazy." welcome back to democracy now! talk about the significance of hurricane florence and why you believe it links directly to climate change. thanks, amy. it is good to be with you. as you heard the governor say earlier, this hurricane is a triple threat. it poses a great risk in terms of the storm surge and the coastal flooding that is likely to come with that. it is when to be packing powerful winds. it could potentially strengthen to a category 5 storm. very damaging winds. of all,most significant it is predicted to stall when it makes landfall. so that will lead to very large amounts of rainfall, flooding rainfall, perhaps rivaling what

we saw with hurricane harvey last year -- which was the worst flooding event on record. climate change is playing a role with each of those threats. sea level rise, already a foot, adding to the storm surge. warmer atmosphere holds more washer so you get more rainfnfa. in a warmemer ocean has more enenergy to strengthen thehese storms. partf ththe problem with s stors like florence and with harvey last year is they have intensified very rapidly. when you get those very warm ocean waters, which are in your record levels right now, you get rapid intensification, faster often than the models predict. suddenly, you're scrambling to 4 monster storm you do not expect. amy: talk about the lingering of the storm. right now it is category 4 bank, expected it may reach category 5. what it means when it lingers in

an area. the inundation of the land, the people will exexperience. >> that's right. if we look at harvey last year, what made that storm so devastating, again, record flooding event, the worst flooding event on record in the united states in history, what made it a record flooding event was the fact that that storm stalled. it did not move on. so it is sitting over the same location. in that case, houston. dumping rain day after day after day. florence is predicted to do the same thing over the east coast of the u.s., the southeast coast and the interior sort of portions of south carolina up into virginia, potentially even into pennsylvania, the state i live in. now one of the other more subtle potential impacts of climate behavior.this sort of storms like harvey and now with florence, tending to stall, tending to stay in the same

place day after day, which is what makes them such record-soaking events. we think there is a linkage with how climate changes influencing the jet stream. it is influencing the jet stream in a way that pushes it further north in the summer and into the fall, so that it is unable to pick up those storms and carry them out to see -- which the jetstream would normally do. that has to do with an expanding region of high pressure in the subtropics. climate models were used to predict that particular climate change feature decades ago. we are seeing it happen and it is impacting even on storms like florence. amy: explain more of what the jetstream is. >> it is this band a very strong winds that blow from west to east above the surface of the earth. it is the reason that the flight from the west coast to the east coast is so much quicker than

the flight in the opposite direction. because you have those very strong tail winds aloft. though same strong winds aloft literally move the systems from west to ease. when the gesturing gets pushed up north as it is right now, and that is a very robust feature of the projections of climate models, that the gesture and tends to get moved further north, it is unable to move those storm systetems like florence from wewest to o east t to see. it appears this s particular phenomenon plalayed a rolole n n just w with florence, but with many of f the extreme weathther events w we saw thihis summer. they w were tied to a very -- a very highly meandering jetstream, wiggling jetstream, bringing unusual weather around the entire northern hemisphere. and a slow gesturing so that the weather stays locked in place and you get epic droughts, epic wildfires, and then in this case with florence, potentially an

epic flooding event. amy: let me ask about the latest news, the trouble administration planning to make it easier for oil and gas companies to pollute the atmosphere with methane gas, one of the most powerful greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. the a administration could announce the roll back of these obama your rules requiring companies to repair methane leaks on oil and gas wells as early as this week. the significance of this? >> this is just the latest assault by the trump administration on basic environmental protections that have been put in place over by republican as well as democratic administrations. in this case, by allowing polluters to release more methane into the atmosphere. methane is an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. it exists in much lower concentrations in it does not hang around for as long, but if we release enough methane into the atmosphere over the next

decade or so, that could boost the warming that we see. at the end of a summer now where we have seen unprecedented extreme weather events that signify how climate change is in a far-off threat -- it is impacting as now, today, where we live -- at a time when the impacts of climate change are so obvious that not even the most fervent climate change denier can deny that they are there, we see efforts by the trump administration to roll back the policies,e very regulation of carbon emissions, regulation of methane emissions in this case, that have the potential to stay involved dangerous warming, that have the potential to help us meet our obligation to the paris agreement so that we do avoid catastrophic warming of the planet. so this is just the latest assault by the trump administration on global efforts

, and efforts here in the united states, to avert catastrophic climate change. amy: and this latest news that at this point, something like 1600 federal workers have left the epa. 1600. scientists leaving in droves. the significance of this? >> visit administration does not like with the scientists are telling them. this a administration is basically about these for polluting interests. they are basically used every avenue available to them to roll back basic environmental protections, to intimidate government scientist to prevent him from doing their work, prevent them from talking to the public in informing our public discourse. so this is part of this assault by the current administration and enabling congressional republicans on our efforts as a society to try to confront the greatest challenge that we face,

human caused climate change. here is the good news. as you know, we have a midterm election in just a matter of 60 or so days. we have an opportunity to send a signal that we want to be part of a larger solution to this problem. we don't want to be the problem itself. if people don't like the fact that the current administration and congressional republicans are doing everything they can to scuttle global efforts to tackle the climate change problem, they can turn out at the midterm election and make their voice heard at the voting booth. amy: on more climate change ins, what we -- we are here san francisco. california governor jerry brown has signed a new law to shshift carbon-forto 100% electricity by 2045. can you talk about the significance of this, and overall -- w're he for the entire weebrbroadctingng bause the g gbal climate action summit that is taking plac here, a a kind of mini cop befoe

the big climate summit in:. the significance of this kind of activism, professor mann? >> i could not be there for the conference because i am teaching penn state university. let me say in full disclosure, the governor jerry brown is a close friend of mine. he has really made climate change, addressing climate change sort of the central, sort of principle of his administration of his governorship. and here now, thanks to the state legislature, which has written this very tough new governorill, and the who has now signed that bill, california sending a signal to the rest of the world. let's forget california is the fifth-largest economy in the world. so when california speaks, people listen. governments listen.

policy makers listen. california has sent a very strong signal, we are moving ahead. we want to be part of the solutition. wewe realize w we can preseserve envivironment to grow o our ecoy at the same time and liliforn i is dog ththat ththrest of the world needs to get onoaoard a well. most of threrest othe e wod . many states in this country, like california, theest coas states, in england stas,s, are onon brd. t we have, again, at the hight leleveof ourur government, our presidenti administration and ngngressnall rubublica, doineveverytng t thecan toto block progress. we need to chan t that. one way to change th is voting elections. amy: let mask you, giv your ofd frienand havehe ear govern brown, ere at t majomarch this weekend, the largest one in the u.s., here in san francisco, tens of thousands of people came out. among the criticisms was his

continued support for fracking. they called it a huge sneer on governor brown screen record. california'slike against fracking said it is supercritical for brown to call him a climate leader. if you could comment on this? >> so he has let in so many ways. i think sometimes there is the danger of the perfect being the enemy of the good. perhaps one could argue there are some blind spots in those brown hasbut governor probably done more than any other governor in the country to advance action on climate change. and at a time when we have in action on the part of our administration and the part of the congressional republican leadership, we need every ally we can find. jerry brown has been a leader on

this issue. he continues to lead on this issue. and he does have our ear. tobe there is an opportunity make some progress on the issue of natural gas and fracking. it is a problem here in pennsylvania as well. we have an economy substantially driven by the natural gas industry. so these are tough issues to deal with. they do sort of get at the heart of the economies in many of our larger states. but we need to make progress on this issue as well, no question about that. amy: and finally, on this issue overallte change, your assessment of president trump, what you would say to him right now? had, andrewepa wheeler, the former coal lobbyist who replaced the disgraced scott pruitt who was forced out over so many corruption investigations? >> i would give himan "f," but

that would the unfair because that would imply maybe he gets 60% which is normally the cut off for a failing grade. he actually get 0%. amy: you're talking about trump? >> trump has taken us backward. he is done everything in his power to dismantle existing environmental protections, including the policy advances that were made under the previous a administration, under the obama administration when it comes to fuel efficiency standards in the clean power from theut our power sector. tomeeting our obligations the world and keeping up our end of the paris accord. trump has tried to undo all of that. as you mentioned earlier, now he is rolling back these key methane rules. think it is probably fair to say when it comes to the environment, donald trump the worst president we have ever had.

past republican presidents like ,ext and, reagan -- nixon reagan, both bushes actually acted to support policies to protect the environment. nixon created the epa. george h.w. bush created cap and trade to do with the problem of acid rain. ronald reagan's on the montreal ban the core four carbons that were destroying the ozone layer, these pollutants that were destroying the ozone layer. it is unprecedented to have a president who exactly trying to take us backward rather than forward when it comes to acting on the greatest environmental threats we face. to me it is ironic because if you are a true conservative, you should want to conserve the environment, conserve the planet. and trump is doing the opposite. that has dire implications for our children and grandchildren. donald trump may be the greatest

threat that we face because of his policies that favor environmental destruction. amy: finally, , michael mann, although i said finally about what tro times right now, but there is nonstop coverage him as there should be, of this category 4 bang possibly 5 hurricane that is barreling down on the carolinas and virginia. 1.5 million people being evacuated. and yet there is rarely an mentioned by these meteorologists when people are watching tv of the connection to climate change. this is when people are taking in the most information. your thoughts on this, on the tv meteorologists coverage? i'm not talking about the specials k flay. down on the network, but the daily drumbeat coverage of these catastrophes linking them to climate change? >> >> there are some great meteorologists who are trying to

connect the dots for the public. rod marciano of "good morning america" comes to mind. meteorologists don't really connect the dots for the public when it comes to the role that climate change is playing here. i think there are a number of reasons for that. one of them is just that it requires context. it requires explanation. and in a soundbite-driven media environment we live in an the 24 hour news, the rapid new cycle, sometimes it is difficult to work that context into discussions of whether what role is climate change playing with these extreme weather events. we actually did see some good coverage this summer in the wake of these unprecedented weather , the california wildfires, the heat ways, the drought across the globe. we did see network news coverage

where they were talking about the role that climate change was playing. but that was only after many of us complained about the lack of that context. they were listening to us. there was eventually an opportunity to provide that. i hope that will happen here. we're at the very beginning right now of the discussion of the news cycle that is going to be driven by florence and its impacts. ashope is that we will come the coverage proceeds, see that context, that network news programs will be inviting climate scientists like myself onto those programs to talk about these linkages because it is a huge lost opportunity if we don't explain to the public the fact that much of the threat we are seeing today when it comes to these unprecedented weather extremes, is being caused by the aggravating effect of climate change. the public needs to understand that so they can force policymakers to act on this problem. amy: michael mann, thank you for

being with us distinguished , professor and director of the earth system science center, penn state university. his latest book is titled "the madhouse effect: how climate change denial is threatening our planet, destroying our politics, and driving us crazy." coming up, president trump's national security advisor attacking the international criminal court, saying they will theallow icc judges into united states, among other things. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump's national security adviser john bolton has threatened u.s. sanctions against international criminal court judges if they proceed with an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by u.s. troops in afghanistan. in a an icc report accused the 2016, u.s. military of torturing at least 61 prisoners in afghanistan during the ongoing

war. the report also accused the cia of subjecting at least 27 prisoners to torture, including rape, at cia prison sites in afghanistan, poland, romania and lithuania. john bolton made the comments in a speech at the federalist society monday. of septemberhe eve 1111, i want to deliver a cleaer anand unambiguous messssage on behalf of the president of the united states. the united states will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecutions by this illegitimate court. we will not cooperate with the icc. we will provide no assistance to the icc. and we certainly will not join the icc. [applause] we will let t the icc die on its

own. after all, for all intents and purposes, ththe icc is already dead to us. amy: john bolton also threatened to directly target judges on the icc. >> we will respond against the icc and its personnel to the .xtent permitted by u.s. law we will ban its judges and prosecutors from entering the united states. we will sanction their funds in the u.s. financial system, and we will prosecute them in the u.s. criminal system. we will do the same for any anpany or state that assist icc investigation of americans. amy: during his speech, john bolton also announced that the trump administration would close the palestine liberation organization's office in washington in response to a palestinian effort to push thehe icc to invnvestigate israel for war crimes. >> the trump administration not keep the office open.

when the palestinians refuse to take steps to start direct and meaningful negotiations with israel. the united states supports a direct and robust peace process, and we will not allow the icc or any other organization to constrain israel's right to self-defense. amy: palestinian diplomat saeb erekat criticized the move. >> lower the palestinian flag. this is an affirmation of the u.s. administration's determination to continue blackmail and extortion, and undermining the peace process of a two state solution. ey have cucut all human a terry and aid. amy: well, for more, we're joined by jamil dakwar is director of the american civil liberties union's human rights program. welcome to democracy now!

can you talk about w what john bolton saying, the significance of his federalist society speech yesterday on a sanctioning of the icc, saying he will not allow icc, international criminal court judges come into the united states because of they might be investigating the united states and israel for possible war crimes? >> unprecedented attack on the rule of law. this is unheard of. we have a government and the country that has committed acts of torture in another country, and the country itself, the united statates, failed to hold any official accountable for acts of torture by the cia, by the u.s. military, during armed conflict in afghanistan. and that happened during the bush years and the obama administration faiailed to take comprehensive, thorough investstigation into those acts and said, we will look forward, not backward. and now we're seeing a trump

administration doubling down on their assault on international law and human rights and impunity and fighting impunity by saying we will now go against the same body that is a last resort for victims of torture. the e only international institution recognized as the one that is supposed to prosecute, investigate and prosecute war crimes, genocide, and the trump administration is saying we will b be treatingouor judges and prosecutors like to traffickers, like war criminals, instead of admittiting there waa failure in holding officials accountable. so john bolton basically is the same john bolton he was in the bush administration. he made destroying the court a lifetime project and goal. the difference now, he is in

this place where he can do more than what he was doing in the bush years. it is a very dangerousus attackn the international body where 1 3 countries are members, many of them are close u u.s. allies, particularly in europe, that is this body andfend yet we see john bolton perhaps wants to score points with the political base, people supporting trump in the u.s., by invoking distorted and misinformation about the fact the court is likely to investigate crimes that actually do not exist under the law of the icc. -- at the very tipping point or the administration is basically saying, we're going to have a frontal attack on judges and prosecutors -- by the way, there is no legal theory to support

that. i don't understand what it is, how it is that they would be prosecuting judges for the mere doing their job and responsibility under international treaty that is recognized, again, and ratified by 1 120 three countries. what is also concerning and very dangerous is the threat is not just against the judges and thee prosecutors and the personnel of the court, but also against any state or party that is supposed to or willing to assist the icc and its investigation of the u.s. war crimes in afghanistan,, lithuania, romaniaia, and polan. these arere the three countries where the cia had black sites where people were tortured. ,nd that meansnshey aree opening sendining this threat to anyone, virtually anyone who would be an a position to assist the icc. does that include lawyers? does that include individuals, organizations here in the united ststates?

lawyers who represented torture victims, including us at the aclu? what is at the trumpet administration wants to do? saying the they are icc is about to open an investigation into torture in afghanistan. as a report said, this investigation is not only against the united states. it is the united states and afghan forces, taliban forces were part of the armed conflict in afghanistan. what makes it so important and significant here is that the united states is the country that has the longest tradition of upholding the rule of law, and having an embedded -- independent investigative body in judiciary to investigate acts of torture when they occur. and yet it failed to do so. that is why the icc is stepping in. the icc is not stepping in just for the sake of how bolton put it does to undermine your sovereignty. this is really nonsense. they are stepping in because we failed to up hold the rule of

law. failed to investigate acts of torture that were well-documented by the senate torture report that was published or at least partially declassified in december 2014. where we in a position see an escalation in attack on international bodies. this is the same administration that withdrew from the human rights council and is now changing the rules of engagement with regard to the use of targeted killings. this is the same administration that is pulling out of international treaties, including the issue like the paris accord, which you talked about in their previous segment. so we are very concerned about that. but i think we also need to put it into perspective. this is the same trump administration that has a record of human rights here in the u.s. and is trying to encourage other countries to follow its pattern, the pattern of disregarding a

court of law, the rule of law. disregarding international law. and basically saying certain countries are above international law,w, that they shshould enjoy immunity, should not be prosecuted or investigated. the united states is the one that conducting these operatitis that were involving torture and prolonged detention of detainees in afghanistan. and that is why i think we ought what itback and look at is and not buy into the false and misinformation that is being spread by john bolton without no basis in u.s. law as to certain prosecutors and judges and so forth. amy: what about the u.s. closing the plo's offices in washington in retaliation for them pushing for israel to be investigated for war crimes in the occupied territories?

>> it follows the simkin of argument. the administration is basically arguing that israel has conducted, has a very robust judicial system that would investigate war crimes in gaza or the west bank. we know from human rights watch and amnesty internationonal, frm is really organizationsike that's a limim that thereere no fl indepeent vestigatns into w crimes into ga. th is why e palestians dust justice before the icc. there was no recourse for victims of people who were killed by bombings in gaza, by other violations of international law. ongoing for a long time. they decided to take that step of seeking justice at international level. yet now the trump administration is trying to use the israeli to kind of protect

itself from its own war c crimes in afghaniststan and otherer cocountries where ththe cia had operated black sites. i think ultimately it is about whetether this adminisistrationl be allowed to breach international l law, to act as f it is a country that does not follow international -- when the u.s. once to pursue, use international law, it does a probably very effectively against its adversaries. when it comes to close allies, it turns to say, no, the law does not apply here, they should not be recognized in the jurisdiction of the icc just because it harms u.s. interest. that is an opportunity for us to talk about the united states, whether it is really fulfilling and playing a role of a fair and really true champion

of human rights, and upholding law while we see again and again examples where it is not doing that. it is axa goining to protetect e peperpetrators of war crimes. what does that say about other situations of the icc? about 22 situations that are being, whether it is ongoing investigations or preliminary investigations including places like georgia, with the war or the armed conflict between georgia and russia. they just announced recently an investigation that wilill be in the philippines and the war on drugs and the atrocities that are happening there. what is the message the trump administration is sending to those governments as farce the way they should be trereating te icc, the judges and prosecutors, and whoever is assisting those icc investigations? this really goes to the core of fundamental principles of

defending human rights and human dignity and fightiting impunity. amy: very quickly, i want to get to unra, the u.n. agency that supports posting refugees in the occupied territories and beyond, the 5 million people, the u.s.. saying it is cutting off all funding. >> this goes to the pattern of what serves the political agenda. does it serve u.s. interest long-term? doesn't understand the consequences of cutting aid to hospitals in east jerusalem that are operating, providining cancr treatments to palestinians? does it really help to close down the education situations that help educate refugees? been a supporter of many institutions ththat provide aid to refugees, including two

unra, yet it is clearly part of that agenda of attacking refugees, attacking anything that is really standing in the of histrump's agenda political priorities, particularly when it comes to its alliance with israel, it seeing refugees as enemy rather than people who deserve to seek asylum and refuge and safe haven. so i think one has to be wondering, where is the administration taking? what is the message being sent by shutting down aid in cutting aid toand cutting humanitarian organizations by attacking the credibility and legitimacy of international court if it is upholding particularly law, in a time where we see there is more and more were crimes, crimes against humanity

committed everywhere, and there is a need for accountability so there won't -- there will be consequences not just for acts of torture, but for much wider scale, atrocities we've seen in other places in the world. yet this administration is saying following trump's dangerous america first agenda is trying to abandon, in some ways, some good things that the u.s. did after norm berg, the u.s. supported minute international were crimes tribunals that particular leak in the 1990's and led to the establishment of the icc. i think it is important for us here in america to understand why this matters. the icc, after all, is trying to help preserve humanity, trying to fight impunity. if the united states will become the enemy of this icc court, people will have a different view of the united states, and

it will have consequences for the united states and its relationship with the particularly, member states in europe where they have to abide by the international obligations under the icc and to defend the icc and to cooperate with the icc. that will be difficult for the icc to conduct a throw investigation if -- throw investigation of this is imminent to be authorized by the pretrial chamber. for us it is important to understand this attack is really unprecedented. it will only make it worse for any future where we can see accountability and justice and where can see some sort of deterrent against those governments that are tryining to undermine ininternational law ad for the sake of their own nationalists or other kind of interest that are somewhat to what trump is trying to do here -- amy: jamil dakwar, thank you for

being with us director of the , american civil liberties union's human rights program. this is democracy now! when we come back, tennis superstar serena williams calls out sexism in u.s. tennis. stay with us. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we end the show with sports and politics, and ongoing fallout from the women's u.s. open final where tennis superstar serena saturday williams lost to 20-year-old naomi osaka after accusing umpire carlos ramos of sexism. on monday, the women's tennis association came out in support

of williams, with chief executive steve simon suggesting the umpire showed a different level of tolerance to williams because she is a woman. during the final, ramos gave williams a code violation after he deemed a gesture made towards by her coach to be "coaching," which is banned during a game. ramos then penalized williams a point after she destroyed her racket in anger and docked her an entire game after she subsequently called the umpire a "liar" and a "thief" for stealing her pointnt. this is an exchange between williams and ramos. apology.e be in i've never cheated in my life. i have never cheated. you owe me an a apology. you owe an apology. you'll never, ever be on another court of mine as long as you live. you are the liar. you stole a point for me. you are a thief, too. >> verbal abuse.

amy: williams' opponent, naomi osaka, who is of haitian and japanese descent, went on to win the match 6-2, 6-4 in her first grand slam victory. on saturday, she became the first japanese born player to win a grand slam single's tournament. speaking during a post-match press conference, serena williams said her treatment was different than how male tennis players are treated by umpires. >> i can't sit here and say i wouldn't say he is a thief because i thought he took a gain from it, but i've seen other men call other umpires several things and i am here fighting for women's rights and women's equality and for all kinds of stuff. and for me to say thief and him to take a game? it made me think it was a sexist remark. he is never took a game from a man because he said thief. it blows my mind.

amy: the tournament referee's office later fined williams $17,000 for the incident duringg the match. well, for more, we go to penn state university where we're joined by amira rose davis, assistant professor of history and women's, gender, and sexuality studies. she is co-host of the sports podcast, "burn it all down" and her forthcoming book "can't eat , a medal: the lives and labors of black women athletes in the age of jim crow." welcome to democracy now! can you start off by talking about just what happened yet, i this? youw rare is hahave two black women on ththe finals court. you have a spanish empire and they're playing in arthur ashe stadium. and look at this controversy with serena williams calling out sexism in u.s. tennis. >> it was a real mess. it is the second straight year with had two black women in the final, and certainly being in arthur ashe gives it a significance. but i think one of the things that we've seen here is this

conversation about sexism in tennis keeps coming up. just two weeks ago, we were talking about s serena's catsuit ban and the warning for the woman taking off her shirt. i think that is one of the reasons why all of this came to bear on this match. when i watched it, i thought, what a mess because not only was a very hard for serena to navigate the situation, but it overshadowed dominates an impressive play by naomi osaka. also important, professor davis. this issue of who naomi osaka is, who ends up crying while -- when she is presented with her trophy, and people are doing. yet you have serena williams who is then hiding her understanding exactly what this meant, this moment that is been such a victory for naomi said serena williams is the reason she is in tennis, so inspired by her.

two lack women kind of pitted against each other. >> precisely. i think one of the things that is happen in the wake of this is there has been a move in media headlines to pay naomi osaka as against serena in some way. there's a particularly vile racism, sexist cartoon in the herald sun that depicts serena williams as a kind of oversized, full lipped reminiscent of a character drawing of african-americans in the jim crow era throwing a tantrum. naomi osaka is in the background with long blonde hair and almost like she is been whitewashed. we can't lose fact this point. one of the reasons naomi osaka was so emotional after the match is she is a serena fan. she once serena to win. she has to get out of that mindset in order to compete with her but she said when serena embraced me at the net it was like i was a kid again and i was her big fan. i think that is such a strong point. her father, who is haitian, got

her into the sport after watching the williams sisters. he mimicked the blueprint to get naomi into the game. very much this is part and parcel the same thing. naomi osaka is not against serena. in fact, one of the things serena is advocating for to really look at the box of place around athletes in terms of what emotions they can express and how tennis lessons are adjudicated, that is to the benefit of players like naomi osaka and future players to come. amy: just to correct, the umpire ray most is portuguese. finally, the featuring of serena williams and colin kaepernick's video, the video of colin kaepernick, the nike video that open'se out as the nfl in the is not signed to a team coming is who are the leaders in sports, breaking every record.

>> precisely. i think that is a huge point. while the conversation has veered toward sexism inn tennis, it is really about serena as a black woman that has prompted such a visceral reaction for many black womomen. serena symbolizes the feelinings of a lot of blacack women in ths country whose bodies are scrutinized, whose parameteters for r expression seemed to be pretty tightened, who have dominated -- you know, are the best in a craft and seemingly still a really gated outsiders to their profession. so i think one of the reasons that the reaction was so visceral to this moment is a lot of people identify did with serena williams in the struggle she is manifesting which is not to say it was the frustration, rather the fact who is allowed to be frustrated, who is allowed to have outbursts. as serena sighted and many male players on the circuit have come out in defense of her said "i

said far worse things and i have more leeway on that end." one of the reasons why we can tie that -- joint amy: we have to end it here but we are doing part two at democracynow.org. chuck webb explosives. chuck webb explosives. ♪??

( harpsichord music ) man: with the advantages of the example and instruction which you could have in europe, you would be a valuable acquisition to the art, and one of the first painters in the world, provided you could receive these aids before it is too late in life, and before your manner and taste were corrupted or fixed