10/03/18 10/03/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, ththis is dedemocracy now! pres. trump: how did you get home? i don't remember. where was the place? i don't remember. how many years ago was it? i don't know. i don't knknow. i i don't know. amy: president trump openly mocks dr. christine blasey ford at a rally just days after calling her a very credible witness. as the fbi continues its

investigation into her claims that judge kavanaugh tried to rape her in high school, mental health experts are calling for kavanaugh to undergo a full psychological and substance abuse assessment before the senate votes on his confirmation. we will speak with dr. bandy lee of the yale school of medicine. >> we feel pressed to warn about the situation where somomeone is not acting within normal range, where one is normalizing what is in one'sa malignancy interpretation. amy: then as brett kavanaugh objects to being held accountable for his behavior and high school, we look at the criminalization of black and brown students that led to what is known as the school to prison pipeline. >> thehe problem has gotteten so severe, that by y the time black

students get the high school, the 75% of them would have been suspended or expelled atat some point t in theirir lives. a majority of blackmaiails who fill to graduate in high school will end up in prison at some point in our lives. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in indndonesia, the death toll from friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami continues to rise with the official toll now topping 1400 dead. an indonesian government spokesperson said rescue efforts continue as the risk of hunger, disease, and lack of basic necessities pose new challenges. >> 2509 people are heavily injured and being treated in hospitals. 113 people are missing. 152 people have been buried.

and 70,82121 people have taken refuge in 141 different spots. amy: a volcano on the island of sulawesi, the epicenter of the earthquake, spewing volcanic ash impedingair, further rescue efforts. meanwhile, scientists are warning that rising sea levels due to climate change will make future tsunamis like last week's disaster even more destructive. in a major expose, "the new york times" has revealed president trump inherited his family's wealth through tax dodges and outright fraud, receiving at least $413 million in inflation-adjusted dollars from his father's real estate empire. "the new york times" 13,000-word investigative report found fred and mary trump transferred more than $1 billion in wealth to their children, much of it to donald trump, paying less than

5% of the $550 million in n taxs they should have under inheritance tax rates. "the times" reports donald trump helped his parents undervalue real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars in irs tax returns. "thehe times" " also reports trp earned $200,000 a year in today's dollars from his parents' companies, beginning at the age of three, with a salary that increased to $1 million a year after trump graduated college and to $5 million a year when trump was in his 40's. during the 2016 campaign, trump repeatedly portrayed himself as a self-made billionaire whose only head start was a small loan -- was "a small loan of a million dollars from his dad." pres. trump: i started off in brooklyn. my father gave me a small loan of a million dollars. became to manhattan and i had to pay him back with interest. amy: in fact, "the times" reports fred trump lent his son

at least $140 million in today's dollars and much of it was never repaid. as "the new york times" expose broke tuesday, the new york state department of taxation and finance said it has opened an investigation into t the times' allegations of fraud and tax evasion. republican senate leader mitch mcconnell said tuesday the fbi is wrapping up its investigation into sexual mimisconduct allegations against brett kavanaugh, and that he's prepared to call a vote on president trump's supreme court nominee by the end of the week. >> we will get an fbi report soon. it will be made available to s senatorstor and only will be allowed to look at it. that is the way these reports are always handled. amy: "the washington post" reports fbi agents spoke on tuesday with a former georgetown prep classmate of kavanaugh's named tim gaudette. he hosted a party on july 1, 1982, which investigators have

been zeroing in on. according to his own calendar, kavanaugh drank along with two other classmates who were identified by christine blasey ford as present at the gathering when she was allegedly sexually assaulted. the investigation barreled toward a rapid conclusion as lawyers for dr. blasey ford said they were baffled that the fbi has yet to question her over her allegations that kavanaugh tried to rape her in 1982 when the y were both teenagers. lawyers for another kavanaugh accuser, debbie ramirez, said tuesday the fbi hadn't interviewed another 20 witnesses ramirez has identified. meanwhile, "the new york times" published a letter kavanaugh wrote to his high school classmates in the summer of 1983 as he planned a beach week celebration on maryland's coast. the letter, which kavanaugh signed "fffff, bart," urges the classmates to "warn the neighbors that we're loud,

obnoxious drunks with prolific pukers among us." kavanaugh was 18 at the time.. maryland had just raised its drinking age to 21. ," notned the letter "bart brett. that is the name mark judge used in his book " "wasted." president trump praised judge kavanaugh and mocked his accusers tuesday. this is trump speaking to reporters outside the white house. pres. trump: whihile i say it ia very scary time for young men in america when you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of. this is a very, very difficult time. amy: later tuesday, president christineed dr. blasey ford during a campaign rally in mississippi, just days after he called her a very credible witness. pres. trump: i had one beer.

i had one beer. nope, it was one beer. how did you get home? i don't remember. how did you get there? i don't remember. how many years ago was it? i don't know. i don't know. i don't know. i don't know. amy: we'll have more on the fight over judge kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court after headlines when we speak with dr. bandy lee, a forensnsic psychiatrist on the faculty of yale s school of medicine. lee is co-o-author of a lelettey mental health professionals warning kavanaugh's behavior is consistent with someone struggling with an alcohol problem. the u.n.'s top court has ordered the united states to l lift sanctions on iran for humanitarian and medical goods and services, as well as agricultural goods and those linked to aviation safety. the trump administration reimposed unilateral sanctions against iran in may after withdrawing from the iran nuclear deal.

the u.s. has questioned the u.n.'s court jurisdiction and is expected to move ahead with further sanctions against iran next month. in afghanistan, at least 13 pepeople were killed and dozens more injured tuesday after a suicide bomber targeted a campaign rally near the eastern city of jalalabad. the islamic state group later claimed responsibility for the bombing. it's the latest in a string of attacks on election-related targets ahead of parliamentary elections on october 20. ethiopian n state media reports that at least 44 people were killed over the weekend after -- as rival ethnic groups clashed in the western part of the country. has continued to plague the eastern african nation despite recently elected prime minister abiy ahmed's promises to reduce ethnic tensions and violence. he made history by signing a peace agreement with neighboring eritrea earlier this year. first lady melania trumpmp continued her r solo tour in africa b by visitingng cape coat

castle in ghana used by the slave traders used in the 17th century. the former slave dungeon is noww a monument to millions of africans cast into slavery. after her visit, the first lady told reporters that she signed the site's guest book "thank you for your warm welcome. with love, melania trump." the state department confirmed tuesday that the u.s. admitted just over 22,000 refugees during the last fiscal year, the fewest number in four decades. the number of refugees resettled in the united states was half of the trump administration's cap for the year of 45,000 -- a number that itself would have been among the lowest on record. at least 34 refugees have drowned off of the moroccan coast according to the u.n. a local activist said they really -- failed to respond to the shipwreck for 36 hours after it was reported. tens of thousands have attempted the perilous journey from morocco to europe by boat so far this year. the u.n. has recorded 1700

refugee deaths in the mediterranean since e the startf 2018. back in n the united statates, l phone users across t the country will receive a message from the president later today as part of a test for an alert system managed by the federal emergency management agency and the federal communications commission. televisions and radios will also receive alerts shortly after cell phones. the system allows the white house to send messages to cell phone users only in cases of emergency, but some are already raising alarm that trump or another president may try to abuse the system. in virginia, federal prosecutors have charged four white supremacists from california with conspiracy and inciting rioting at the deadly unite the right rally in charlottesville last august. u.s. attorney thomas cullen said that the men also engaged in acts of violence in their home state of california at a series of political rallies, dubbing them serial rioters. last year's protest left activist heather heyer dead

after white supremacist james alex fields, jr., plowed his car into a crowd of peaceful counter protesters. in the wake of the rally, president trump declared -- "i think there is blame on both sides but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides." in canada, university of waterloo professor donna strickland will share the nobel prize for physics for her work on creating advanced lasers. strickland is just the third woman ever to win a nobel physics prize, and the first since 1963. strickland's prize comes just three weeks after astrophysicist jocelyn bell burnell was awarded the special breakthrough prize in fundamental physics 50 years after she made a historic astronomical discovery, only to have her male adviser take credit and receive a nobel prize for her work. bell burnell will donate her $3 million award to fund scholarships for women, refugees and other underrepresented groups. and in mexico city giant mexican , a flag was lowered to half-mast in the capital city's main zocalo square tuesday to

commemorate the 50th anniversary ofof the tlatelolco massacre. it was october 2, 1968, when hundreds of stududent protesters were g gunned down by soldiers s ththey held peacefeful protestsn the eve of the mexico city olympic games. this is mexican president-elect andres manuel lopez obrador speaking at a ceremony commemorating the anniversary. >> we guarantee that force will never be used again to resolve conflicts, differences, and social protest. we may, to noth repress the people. amy: just last week, a mexican government official admitted for the first time that the massacre amounted to a state crime, though no one has ever been prosecuted for the killings. this is tlatelolco massacre survivor juan avila arreaga, one of tens of thousands who marched from tlatelolco plaza on tuesday. >> my name is juan.

i am 67 years old and today i came here because 50 years have passed since the soldiers opened fire on us. there were women, children, and i would like to speak about the young people, especially the students who were gunned down in 1968. deal and then we request of the government was a public dialogue. this was the most important thing. young 2018, once again, people and students are being disappeared and bird. amy: arreaga was referring to the 43 students who vanished from the a ayotzinapa teachers' school i in 2014 after they were attacked by local police. president-elect andres manuel lopez obrador has promised to create a truth commission to investigate the ayotzinapa disappeararances. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. on tuesday night, president trump openly mocked dr. christine blasey ford, the california psychologist who has accused supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh of attempting to rape her when she was 15 years old.

during a rally in southaven, mississippi, trump cast doubt on her claim. pres. trump: what he is going through, 36 years ago this happened. i had one beer. i had one beer. nope, it was one beer. how did you get home? i don't remember. how did you get their? i don't remember. how many years ago was it? i don't know. i don't know. i don't know. i don't know. what neighborhood was it in? i don't know. where is the house? i don't know. upstairs, downstairs, what was it? i don't know. but i had one beer. that is the only thing i remember. tatters.n's life is in a man's life is shattered. his wife is shattered. his daughters who are beautiful,

-- theyle young kids want to destroy people. these are really evil people. amy: president trump's mocking of dr. christine blasey ford came just days after he described her as a very credible witness. pres. trump: she looks like a very fine woman to me. vevery fine woman. and i thought that brett's testimony, l likewise,e, was rey something that i haven't seen before. it was incredible. it was an incredible moment i think in the history of our country. certainly, she was a very credible witness. manyas very good in respects. amy: president trump himself has been accused of sexual assault or harassment by at least 16 women. this all comes as the fbi continues its investigation into multiple allegations of sexual

misconduct against judge kavanaugh. "the washington post" is reporting fbi agents spoke on tuesday with a former georgetown prep classmate of kavanaugh's named tim gaudette. he hosted the party on july 1, 1982, which investigators have been zeroing in on. according to his own calendar, kavanaugh drank along with two other classmates who were identified by blasey ford as present at the gathering when she was allegedly sexually assaulted. meanwhile, "the new york times" has obtained a 1983 letter written by kavanaugh to friends who were renting a beach house together. in the letter, kavanaugh wrote that whoever arrived first at the condo should "warn the neighbors that we're loud, obnoxious drunks with prolific pukers among us." we turn now to look at how a group of mental health experts are urging the examination of the supreme court nominee and stating he has "demonstrated a pattern that is consistent with someone struggling with an alcohol problem."

in a letter, they write of kavanaugh's emototional and oftn explosively angry testimony last week -- "judge kavanaugh exhibited behavior that, if engaged in during his possible tenure as a supreme court justice, would yield a dangerous combination of instability and power. at the hearing, judge kavanaugh manipulated and evaded direct and substantive responses, denigrated those who challenged him, and accused many of conspiring against him. all that behavior reflects an underlying belief that he is above norms and laws." well, for more, we're joined by the lead author of this letter dr. bandy lee. she is a forensic psychiatrist on the faculty of yale school of medicine, and an internationally recognized expert on violence. she is the editor of the best-selling book "the dangerous case of donald trump: 27 psychiatrists and mental health experts assess a president." we will get to the president in a minute. but you have issued this new letter around judge kavanaugh, dr. lee.

explain what you observed them a whether you the right to observe from afar, not having analyzed in yourself personally, and what you are calling for. >> first of all, i would clarify that we are not diagnosing judge kavanaugh. we don't purport to be able to make any assessment other than calling for an evaluation, as we are doing, due to the troubling signs that we see. the letter itself was actually written by a group of us, the national coalition of concerned mental health experts. it is the same group that also called for an evaluation of the president. some of the troubling signs that we saw were poor regulation of emotion, evasion of questions, exaggerated entitlement -- which

actually makes someone more likely to be capable of violating others'rights. other troubling signs that we have seen work paranoia, conspiracy theories, and an inability to have empathy for others. those were some of the signs that we feel as mental health professionals -- it is our duty to call out signs that are indicateand signs that possibly a troubling condition on the part of mr. kavanaugh. how manywho is -- people have signed on to this letter?? >> so far, about 150 have signed on. our group is actually quite large, several thousand in number, but it is often hard to get everyone mobilized within just a couple of days. so we issued the letter and sent

senators,the fbi, to and to the media. amy: i want to turn to judge brett kavanaugh giving part of his opening statement last thursday. obobviously, this was right aftr dr. blasey ford, obviously enraged. >> this whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about president trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups. .hthis is a circus amy: i would like to go back to judge kavanaugh during last thursday when democratic senenar amy clover sure question him --

klobuchar question him. she is just revealed her father was an alcoholic and still goes to aa at the age of 90. you drank so time much you cannot remember what happened or part of what happened the night before? >> no. i remember what happened, and i think, you're probably had beers senators -- >> you're saying there has never been a case for you drank so much he did not remember what happened the night before or part of what happened? >> you're asking about a blackout. have you? >> could you answer the question, judge? that has not happened, is that your answer? >> yeah, and i'm curious if you have? >> i have no drinking problem. >> nor do i. amy: your thoughts, dr. bandy lee on that reaction -- interaction? >> denial, deflection, and annoyayance in crcriticism aboue

strange t thing are actually symptotoms of our call disorder. it comes with psychological signs as well as the physiological dependence. even looking at him, there are signs such as rosacea were reddening of the central areas of his face. this does not mean we can diagnose alcohol use disorder, but they certainly point to the possibility. also, drinking that has begun at an early age and heavy drinking makes one vulnerable to alcoholism later in life. so it would be important to assess whether he suffers from it and whether it would affecect his functioning. amy: and who are you meeting with? you just came from washington recently? >> recently, yes. i was invited to speak about the

25th amendment immediately after some concerns that were raised after the u.n. has conference, as well as -- there was a letter in "the new york times" by again on -- anonymous u.s. official .nd bob woodward's new book so for various reasons, i was called by the aspen institute to speak about the 25th amendment. amy: we're going to get to the 20th of the mimic in a moment. you are part of this movement called duty to warn. if you can explain -- restarted it. if you can explain what that is and how you feel that is relevant and judge kavanaugh's case? parallel to the concerns that we have about the president. when the president was about to

or nominate the supreme court nominee, we issued a to house members expressing our concerns about the signs the president was showing of a lack of capacity to make important decisions. and so we actually thought it was injudicious to allow him to nominate a supreme court nominee , as well as to make important trips such as the helsinki really came nothing of that. that was actually a different group, a group of prominent psychiatrists and myself. but in terms of the duty to warn, i know there is a group out there that took the name and call themselves duty to warn. but he came out of my

conference, which i organized a year and half ago. amy: at yale university. >> that's right. about the ethical question of, basically, the professional responsibility of the importance of restricting what we say, which has revolved around the old rule, and our societal responsibility to educate, to promote public health, and to warn when n necessary. and wewe came to the conclusion that there are instances where we do have a duty to warn. in fact, in psychiatry, we have a duty to warn and a duty to protect when it comes to patients. and the same should also apply with respect to society because the ethical guidelines make their that we have a duty to patients and a separate duty to society. if i may, i will explain a little bit about the goldwater

role, which many of heard of. it has been adulterated in meistance -- in a sense to provision only. of the original goldwater rule actually falls under the principle that we contribute to the improvementnt of the communy and the betterment of public health. so it is a mandate to act. amy: explain who goldwater was. >> the rule came about because the psychiatric profession was embabarrassed during the 1964 barry goldwater campaign for presidency. survey" magazine put out a to about 12,000 psychiatrists and about less than 10% came back saying that mr. goldwater was unfit to be president and gave all caps of diagnoses. because of that, the magazine was sued and they went out of business. but the american psychiatric

association, because of the embarrassment to the profession, as and to institute it ethical rule, not to diagnose a public figure without a personal examination and without authorization. which i actually agree with. it just follows along the general principles of good practice. but the goldwater rule, as it is stated, says that when you are asked about a public figure educate the public, just don't diagnose. that is whwhat it says. and under the e principle that t falls under, it is s actually mandate to act. not just prohibition. but two months after inauguration, the american psychiatric association actually changed the meaning of the goldwater rule, not to just prohibit diagnoses, but prohibit

any comment whatsoever about a public figure under any circumstance, even when the nation is thought to be in danger. amy: which is something you're not willing to abide by. is that right? because you have now, in this well-known book and a movement that is gathering more and more steam, you have question donald question hisu have capacity to govern. invokingtalked about the 25th amend meant. that is interesting because recently there was an op-ed piece in "the new york times" by an official in the trump administration who apparently was talking about the same thing. explain the 25th amendment and why you weighed in on that and moving now from kavanaugh to tromp, why you have this evaluation of donald trump. i would like you to put it in the context, for example, last

night in mississippi, he attacks the woman who accused brett kavanaugh of attempting to rape her when she was 15 and he 17. donald trump originally said she was very credible. last night in mississippi, he mocked her. >> yes. first of all, the 25th amendment is a political decisioion and it is a political action,n, so i don't purport to comment on that in any way. what i do as a mental health expert is to call attention to restriction,ere removal from access to weapons, or restriction on the powers of the presidency are called for, fromat removal -- it seems thetical experts, that is

only means we have available. op-ed piece in "the new york times," it seems containment itself is not working, therefore, it does seem correct that something like the 25th amendment would need to be invoked. the section iv deals with presidential inability and inability to perform their duties. president's mocking at the rally -- amy: following talking about her as a very credible witness. she had not said anything publicly between the two times that he said that, and then openly ridiculed her. >> i think that is when mental health professionals can be helpful with their input because they are used to dealing with

many disorders, they are used to dealing with personalities that may deceive and manipulate the public. therefore, it is impmportant to one that not everything says is true. and when the president was sympathy for -- amy: praise for the woman. >> credibility for the woman. there is a superficiality to it. i think at the u.n. press conference, he spoke about how difficult it is for her or her family to come forward, so he understands it may take many years. you can see how is speech is

rather formulaic. he senses very keenly what the public wants to hear and with the public might respond to. that is often very strong in orividuals who are deceptive manipulative. amy: this movement began that you have been involved with over a year and half ago. first, tell how many people were at your original yale conference and then the response to it afterwards. >> at the original conference, i had four speakers, some of the most renowned figures in psychiatry. amy: how many people were in the audience? >> only about two dozen people in the audieience, which was surprising. it was the prime auditorium space at yale school of medicine. amy: and then what happened? >> later we realized that more than 100 people had tuned in. and soon after when we got

national attention, hundreds and hundreds, now thousands, of mental health professionals got in touch with me, agreeing with us and stating t their own concerns. what we discovered was that there was pretty much in your consensus and mental health field, even among my colleagues when i spoke abobout the issue s the amy: i would like to ask about one other thing before we and. you have on the one hand your analysis of president trump from afar, but then the effect of what is happening in congress, hearing dr. blasey ford share her story, which she had not shared with the public ever, only a few times with her family, the effect this is having on women and victims in general around this country. women cocoming forward telling their stories. in many cases, for the first

time. toe maria gallagher speaking senator flake. she had never publicly said that story. she did not even know she was speaking publicly, but there was a camera. this is precisely why this is a public health issue. we are not as concerned about the personal mental health of the president or diagnosing the president. we are not interested in armchair psychiatry. in fact, we are expressly trying to avoid all of this by calling for a valid evaluation because any other situation of this magnitude, of this influence, there would be an intervention and an urgent evaluation. so the dangerousness and trauma and psychological effects, as well as policies and national and international effects that come out of this psychological

dangerousness of this presidency are all there to see. and we have the data. so what we do as mental health professionals is to call attention to the urgency and the dangers, and we very well know the dangers will not go away, but only increase. act att we cannot do is a national level. amy: you wrote to congress and the fbi. have they responded? >> not yet. but what politicians, the political bodies can do, is act nationally. but what they cannot do is recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health problems. therefore, there needs to be a dialogue. we usually wait to be called as an expert consultant, to educate , and to issue recommendations. but since we have nonot been called, we are warning, alerertg

as you h have said, but actually tried to educate the public of the need for intervention. that is based on our special knowledge. amy: dr. bandy lee, thank you for being with us forensic , psychiatrist on the faculty of yale school of medicine, and an internationally recognized expert on violence editor of the , best-selling book "the dangerous case of donald trump: 27 psychiatrists and mental health experts assess a president." when we come back, brett kavanaugh objects to being held accountable for his behavior in high school. we will look at the criminalization of black and brown students that has led to what is known as the school to prison pipeline. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as brett kavanaugh hopes to be -- objectsts to being held accountablble for r his behavion high school, we look at the criminalization of black and brown's didn't but is led to what is known as the school to prison pipeline. the movement saw a setback on sunday when california governor

jerry brown vetoed a bill that would have expanded a statewide ban on suspensions for students in kindergarten to third grade to include fourth through eighth graders. the ban fofocused on suspensions for "disruption and defiance." a recent ucla study found black seventh and eighth graders lost nearly four times the number of school days to such suspensions than white students. just last week at oak view elementary in decatur, georgia, two teachers resigned after students complained they punished them by zip-tying their hands behind their backs like they were under arrest by police. the students were four years old. writer and activist sean king tweeted, "this is the pre-school to prison pipeline." one of the girls' mothers spoke to wsb-tv. >> has really shaken me to the core. she said that one teacher tied her up and the other cut her loose.

she said, mommy,she said, mommyo to you because i thought i was going to get in trouble. i want them to pay. i want them to not have any license to teach because they don't need to teach. who would do this? would they like this to happen to their own kids? amy: well, for more, we are joined by a roundtable of community activists engaged in the fight to save schools and push for alternatives to punishment and privatization. their voices are highlighted in an incredible new book titled, "lift us up, don't push us out! voices from the front lines of the educational justice movement." in chicago, jitu brown is national director of the journey for justice. he's been an education activist for the past quarter of a century. in 2015, he led a successful 34-day hunger strike to prevent the closing of dyett high school in chicago's south side. in washington, d.c., zakiya sankara-jabar is co-founder of racial justice now! and field organizer for the dignity in schools campaign. she became active when her black son was repeatedly suspended in pre-school in dayton, ohio. she then campaigned for dayton

public schools to adopt a moratorium on pre-k suspensions. here in new york, e.m. eisen-markowitz is a restorative justice coordinator and high schoolteacher and a board member of teachers unite. also with us mark warren, who , along with my brother david goodman co-authored "lift us up, , don't push us out," which brings together these voices and many more. mark is a professor of public policy and public affairs at the university of massachusetts, boston founder and co-chair of , the urban research-based action network. we welcome you all to democracy now! jitu brown, i want to begin with you. pause at that issue. brett kavanaugh and many supporters are saying, why are you going back to high school? he should not be held accountable for his high school behavior. even if it involves an attempted rape. can you talk about what is happening to black and brown children, not just 17, 16, and

15, but as young as four years old in school? >> absolutely. amy, thank you for having me on. i would just say that we don't have a policy problem in public education. we have a values program. there is a believe system that is rooted in the hatred of black fuelsown children that education policy. just think that parents had to fight because her son was being suspended in preschool. i have seen the story over and over again. in pittsburgh, paris had organized to stop the suspension of kindergarten through third grade. in new york, this has been a fight. in chicago, young people five to stop 10 day suspensions in chicago public schools. if the discipline policies are administered through a lens of often these policy

makers would not apply to their own children. and that is why the numbers around the suspension of black, brown, and white students for the same infractions are so glaring. that there is a believe system -- and we know research says this -- that black and brown children are viewed as older than their white counterparts. so i think we have to challenge that. and not just challenge that strictly around discipline, but also around just the starving of neighborhood schools. i have experienced in my alliance across the country black and brown schools not having pre-k services. half-day kindergarten. not having a library. no teacher aides in the building. overcrowded classrooms. in the same city, there were counter parts have a completely didifferent experience will stop now, we don't have any acrimony

toward those babies that happened to be white or wealthy having the things they need, but the fight should be to make sure that all children have what they need, not punish those schools for being starved. so long with the suspension policy, the policy of starving and then closing schools has had a disastrous impact in our communities across the country. amy: i want to go now to zakiya sankara-jabar, who is now in washington, d.c., but talk about what happened to your child when he was four years old in dayton, ohio. >> thank you for having me on. yes, i began organizing very organically as a parent, pushing back when my son was actually three, what is now known as the preschool to prison pipeline as you mentioned. one of the things that i did as a pair and, you know, not thinking initially it was a race

issue or a class issue, that i just questioned their policies and practices were questioned what was actual normal behavior for a three-year-old to be exhibiting in a classroom, some of the things that they would complain about was, oh, he has problems transitioning or is having temper tantrums. so what i saw was happening and began to realize was there was a pathologist in abnormal childhood behavior of my son. i then began to take a deeper look and noticed he was the only black boy out of only two black students in a class of 19. in the just overall, cheaper -- future representation as well as the school was overwhelmingly light. the administration was all white. beginning to put those factors together as i began to ask other black women, black parents at the school if they were having similar experiences.

so one-sided that, i went to my co-founder of racial justice now , professor randall, and talk to her about what i was experiencing. that was basically how racial justice now was founded in her living room, saying we needed to really have a response to this. shift policies. of how young people, particularly black students in our families, or being treated in the school at that time. that is led to a deeper analysis . until just recently because of the work of working-class in the city of dayton, ohio just recently passed the law house bill 318 to ban most out of school pre-k through third grade suspensions across the entire state. so that is a huge victory for a small organization of -- community-based organization like racial justice now in a

very conservative state like ohio, but it took years of organizing and being supported by national organizations like dignity in schools campaign, being supported on the ground to be able to get that worked at and get something so big accomplished in a very conservative space. amy: mark warren, you have written this book "lift us up." you have edited a book of essays that includes our guest today. talk about the studies that have been done that show what happens in this preschool -- it is hard to believe, preschool to prison pipeline. how the markets are suspended, what happens to them as they move through the system? >> sure. thank you for having us. yes, it is becoming increasingly know now that the school to prison pipeline starts in pre-k, which is really shocking. these archila and as young as three years old and four years old were often exhibiting normal

bebehavior -- jumping around in the class were acting out in different kinds of ways. unfortunately, many of these children, particularly if they are black and brown children, if they are boys or special needs, but also girls, are labeled very early on. and the solution is seen as pushing them out of the classroom, getting rid of the so-called troublemakers. ,his starts a train of labeling harsh discipline that carries on through elementary school and middle school. many studies have found students who are repeatedly suspended in elementary, particularly in middle school, are very likely to fail to graduate from high school. either they are expelled or become so alienated and so far behind that they choose to leave school on their own. once that happens, they are out on the streets or -- where there also subject to oftentimes discriminatory policing and

police abuse, then they end up in the juvenile criminal justice system. we actually have now more law enforcement officers in our schools then we have social workers. so it is not just they are facing police in the streets, many young children n and high scschool children are facing police right in their schools. in chicago, the police departmentnt actually has substations located in high schools. these are not school police. they are arresting and booking childrdren in schools. so in this book, what we try to do is bring together the voices of people who are actually working to combat the school to prison pipeline. our starting point is the systemic racism that children are facing. what we're trying to show people is there our alternatives. when grassroots people, whether they are activists or parents or start toctivists,

organize and their community's, they can change these kinds of discipline policies and organize and build alternatives like restorative justice. amy: i want to go to our last guest but we will do that after break, to talk about what restorative justice means in this context. she's a teacher in the new york city schools and organizers with teachers unite. where talking to jitu brown, zakiya sankara-jabar, mark warren. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. of teachers and activists around the schools and what is happening to the black and brown children and the children of color throughout the united states in schools, is -- includes e.m. eisen-markowitz, restorative justice coordinator

and high school teacher & teachers unite board member. we are also joined by mark warren, author of "lift us up, don't push us out." zakiya sankara-jabar with racial justice now and dignity in schools campaign, asas well as jitu brown with journey for justice alliance in chicago. m., if you can talk about what restorative justice means. this preschool to prison is just astounding. and the disproportionate number of children of color who are going through this pipeline and what suspensions mean. >> thank you for having me and for being here. it is s good to be here. so restorative justice in this context, and the way that we're advocating for it to be grown at school sites around the country, is a relational approach to discscipline.

we talk about it in sort of three tiers. and the base of the tiers is intentional community and relationship building, which is a shame we have to even put that in there that schools are not doing and not prioritizing, not allocating resources to. but as you heard from jitu who explain clearly what is happening to starting schools across the country, especially in black and brown neighborhoods, there is intentional community building and relationship building. once those relationships are there, restorative justice practices are there to help people reflect on behavior and change from those behaviors. a lot of that looks like mediation. it looks like guidance interventions. it looks like community circles related to conflict that happens. amy: who gets suspended and what are basis than it for? >> you heard from other contributors that disproportionally, like in new york city, there are 27% of new

york city students are black and 54 of our suspension -- 54% of our suspensions are black students. amy: suspended for what? >> the disproportionate suspensions that are happening around subjective offenses like insubordination or defying authority, which you heard a little bit about from your other guests. that means two terabytes is meansuencing -- that teacher bias is influencing. we're not talking about evenn fighting or bringing a weapon to school, we're talking about insubordination or defying authority. amy: so these children, many of them being suspended for defiance -- i want to go back to jitu. education secretary betsy devos announced in august that she would allow states to use federal funds to purchase firearms for teachers and school employees. the plan would use federal student support and academic enrichment grants to pay for

firearms and to train educators in their use, reversing longstanding federal policy prohibiting federal funds for arming educators. talk about the significance of this. moving the money from education to guns. >> absolutely. i would like to make a connection to betsy devos effective. betsy devos, who has been a major contributor to ruining education in the state of michigan, who helped destroy the elected school board in detroit, and took detroit -- michigan schools from the middle of the pack thomist the bottom in achievement in the united states, was rewarded with the promotion to being the u.s. education secretary. so of course, she is going to have policies that are

sense toh that make no regarding educational achievement, and are have a political -- hyper political. but there's a problem i don't think we connect to. unqualifiedwas also to be superintendent of chicago public schools, so they made him ceo. educational achievement flatlined on his watch. massive resistance to school closings, students doing actions on him around the school to prison pipeline. and he was rewarded with becoming education secretary of the united states. and what is s the real differene between him and betsy devos? vouchers? there was no arne duncan, there were be no betsy devos. we have to realize that education is too important for talking points. education -- the education for

black people has been a way to oppressionffocating and a way to build a future for our famimilies andnd communities acrossss the united states. for immigrant families, it has been a way to make sure that children don't have to live in fear and that they can build a future in the united states. so we should be making policy that is rooted in sound educational principle. like where arne duncan since his children. they don't have -- amy: we have 10 seconds for the >> they don't have overcrowded classrooms. so i think betsy devos is doing what she's supposed to do as an ultra-white ring unqualified person in a position she has no reason to be in other than to advance an agenda. amy: we will do part two on

democracynow.org. jitu brown, zakiya sankara-jabar , mark warren, and ♪ [music break]