10/10/18 10/10/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! to look att excited what has happened in two years with the united states on foreign policy. now the united states is rerespected. countries may not like what we do, but they respect what we do. amy: surprise announcement, nikki haley resigns as u.s. ambassador to the united nations. ding her tenure at the u.n., the u.s. pulled out of the paris, the court, the iran nuclear

deal, and the u.n. human rights council, cut all funding to sanction threatened to judges on the international criminal court. we will speak with columbia university professor or she khalidi on nikki haley's time in ofoffice and what it means for e future of negotiations. we will also speak with the professor about the disappearance of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi, who is believed to have been killed inside t the saudi consulalate n turkey.. then we go to minnesota where a court has acquitted three anti-pipeline activists who broke into an oil pipeline facility intending to cut off ththe flow of tar sandss oil cog into the uniteted states from canada. >> what is lacking is the political will. if we can't get their attention through elections, through , through your protests

petitions, loving, all of the things all of us tried over and over and over again to no avail, then civil disobedience is our last option. amy: we will speak with two of the climate activists and pioneering climate scientist james hansen, who is hoping g to testify at their trial. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. residents of the gulf coast are acacing for d deadly winds anand massive ooooding, as hururrica michael approach t the flori panhane asas a mor catategy 4 storm. thee hurricane is forecast to make landfdfall betweeeen panama joe joeeach and port saint this afternoon as a category 4 being hurricicane with s sustaid winds of 140 miles per hour. ahead of the strong, florida governor rick scott urged residents to heed evacuation orders.

>> you cannot hide -- your is no way to hide from storm surge. it is impossible. give prepared and get out if in evacuation is ordered. every familyly must be prepared now. amy: officials warn the low-lying florida panhandle is to o stormulnerable surg witith e geographphy that cocould concentratate vast amous homeses andaters in busisseses. the ststm coululd deliver up t o eight ineses of rain in pas of floririda and m may spawn torna. climate scientist say global warming from human activity is rising ocean temperatures, making stotorms like hurricane michael far more powerful. we will discuss all of this with climate scientist james hansen later in the broadcast. u.s. ambassador to the united nations nikki haley said tuesday she will step down from her post at the end of f the year. hahaley made the surprise announcement at the white house alongside president trump tuesday. what'sk at

happening two years. now the united states is respected. countries may not like whahat we do, but they respect what we do. they know if we say we're going to do something, we follow through. amy: it caught top officials by surprise. during haley's time as u.s. ambassador to the u.n., the united states withdrew from the paris climate accord, the u.n. human rights council, the iran nuclear deal, unrwa -- the u.n. agency that provides humanitarian aid to palestinians, and unesco -- the u.n. educational and cultural agency. haley's resignation came just a day after a government ethics watchdog called on the state department to probe her use of several free flights on private jets, paid for by three different south carolina businessmen. trump told reporters he is considering several people to replace haley as u.n. ambassador, including former deputy national security advisor goldman sachs executive dina powell, as well as his daughter ivanka trump, who currently serves as a senior adviser to the president.

though he said that would be nepotism. would bemp: ivanka incredible. it doesn''t mean i would pick hr because you would be accused of nepotism, even though i'm nonot sure there is anyone more confident in the world will stop at that's ok. n numerousng at people. amy: we will have more on nikki haley's as u.s. ambassador to the united nations after headlines with columbia university professor rashid khalidi. turkish officials have concluded that missing saudi journalist jamal khashoggi was assassinated inside the saudi consulate in istanbul eight days ago by a team of 15 saudi operatives who used a bone saw to dismember his body before smuggling body parts out of the building. "the new york times" cited an unnamed senior turkish official who compared the alleged killing to the gruesome quentin tarantino film "pulp fiction." the official told "the times" the assassination was ordered at the highest levels of the saudi royal court.

khashoggi is a columnist for "the washington post" who had been living in self-imposed exile in the united states. his disappearance has drawn condemnation from diplomats and heads of state around the world, but president trump has yet to issue a formal statement, or even a tweet, about khashoggi. trump was briefly asked about the disappearance at the white house on tuesday. >> have you spoken to the family? pres. trump: i have not. but i will be. at some point. >> what do you know? pres. trump: i know what everyone else knows, nothing. amy: the u.n. has raised new alarm over the widespread malnlnutritition plaguguing norh korea. thu.u.n.'s world food prorograme is one of ththe few humanitarian agagencies allowed in the notoriouously isolatated countrt is at ririsk of cuts to o its program due to fundingng shortages.s. this is a world food program spokesperson. are0 million people

undernourished and require humanitarian assistance. one in five children are suffering from l nutrition. amy: a minnesota court has acquitted three anti-pipeline activists who broke into an oil pipeline facility two years ago, intending to cut off the flow of tar sands oil coming into the united states from canada. in october of 2016, the so-called valve turners -- cut chains and turned manual safety valves on a pair of enbridge pipelines to stop the flow of oil. the activists say their decision to break the law was necessitated by the clear and present danger posed by climate change. they had hoped to call expert witnesses, including the former top climate scientist at nasa, james hansen, to testify to jujurors. but on tuesday, a district judge agreed with a defense motion to throw out charges because the activists had not intended to damage the pipeline. this is emily nesbitt johnston speaking just after her acquittal on felony charges tuesday. >> i'm very relieved that the

state of minnesota acknowledged we did no damage and intended to do no damagege. i admit i'm didisappointed thate did d not get to put o on the tl we had hoped f for. wewe very much wanted eveveryono be ablble here from our expert witntnesses. we did this action almost two yearars ago to the day. thursday wilill be the s second anniversary.y. because the problem of climate change is so urgent that we have to start shutting tar sands pipelines down now. amamy: later in the broadcast, e will speak with two of the valve turners, their attorneys, and climate scientist james hansen. amy: an associated press investigigation has revealed charis deported from the u.s. may lose their children to adoption without their knowledge. the ap found holes in the system allowing for state judges to put children of deported central american immigrants in the custody of u.s. families. this couould also affect immigrants who crossed the border during the trump

administration zero-tolerance policy, which routinely separated parents from their children as they e entered the t on the states. an appeals court has sided with a federal judge's order that commerce secretary wilbur ross should be deposed over his role in adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. the addition of the question has caused widespread condemnation by immigrant rights advocates, who say it will deter immigrants from participating in the senses and could help republicans win more congressional seats. last month, mother jones reported that wilbur ross lied under oath to congress about the controversial citizenship question in the census. ross told lawmakers that the justice department requested the addition of the question, but surfaced emails contradict that statement, showing ross was the who approached the doj about one including the question after consulting with senior white house officials. the trump administration recently requested that the supreme court block ross from being deposed. ross now has until thursday to

ask the supreme court directly to halt his deposition. in more legal news, the supreme court ruled tuesday it will alallow north dakota to enforcre its new voter id requirement during the 2018 midterm elections. a federal judge had temporarily blocked the stricter voter id lalaw, which will require voters to show identificacation demonstratating a residential street address after native american challengers argued the new rule disproportionately disenfranchises their communities. justice ruth bader ginsburg wrote a dissent, joined by justice kagan. newly seated justice kavanaugh did not take part in the decision. president trump has ordered the epa to roll back limits on the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline in a move that will benefit big agribusiness companies. trump announced the ethanol rule change at a campaign rally in iowa tuesday evening, where he appealed to his republican base to turn out during next month's midterm elections. at the rally, trump mocked california democratic senator

dianne feinstein, claiming she leaked a letter written by professor christine blasey ford alleging supreme court justice brett kavanaugh tried to rape her when they were teenagers. trump then laughed as his supporters chanted, "lock her up!" -- referring not to hillary clinton, but t to senatorr feinstein. pres. trump: how about senator feinstein? that is a beauty. did you leak the documents? well. no idea. leak? no, no. no. she goes, no. >> lock her up! lock her up! "lock her up" they chanted

referring to senator feinstein as president trump chuckled. inwrote an op-ed wednesday the usa today newspaper asking americans to vote for republicans in the midterm elections. he wrote -- in media news, former white house communications director hope hicks is joining fox as chief communications officer. fox, which is a new company resulting from last year's purchase of 21st century fox by disney, will run fox news, a channel preferred by many conservatives, including the president. hicks resigned from the white house in april. in july, former fox news co-president bill shine was appointed as the new white house communications director. he was ousted from the network after being accused of helping to enable and cover up sexual harassment by disgraced late ceo roger ailes. google said tuesday it will not

compete for a $10 billion project aimed at creating a cloud computing system that would expand the pentagon's ability to share data and wage war more effectively. in a statement, google s said it willll no lolonger bid for the t enterprise defense infrastructure, or jedi, project in part because the company's new ethics guidelines bar google from using its advanced artificial intelligence software in weapons systems. other tech giants including microsoft and amazon will continue to bid for the $10 billion project. thousands of google employees have publicly spoken out against their company's plans to work with the pentagon. in july, google dropped out of the pentagon program that would have used artificial intelligence, ai, to improve the targeting of drone strikes. the huffington post is reporting that andrew wheeler, the acting head of the environmental protection agency, regularly engaged with right-wing conspiracy accounts on social media and "liked" a racist post featuring the obamas in 2013.

the post is a picture of barack and michelle obama at a sports game, appearing to look at a hand holding out a banana. on another occasion, wheeler retweeted a prominent "pizzagate" conspiracy theorist, who's repeatedly claimed hillary clinton and other prominent democrats were running a child sex ring from the back rooms of a washington, d.c., pizza parlor. wheeler is a former coal lobbyist and has been the acting head of the epa since scott pruitt resigned in july amid an onslaught of financial and ethics scandals. and in california, the group of activist catholic nuns known as nuns on the bus have launched a countrywide tour under the banner "tax justice truth tour." they will appear at events around the country, , focusingnn the republican tax bill which they say poses a "existential threat" to many americans. they were joined by house minority leader nancy pelosi at the launch event who said -- "if you want peace, work for

justice -- and there is no justice in this tax bill." to see our interviews with sister simone campbell of the nuns on the bus, go to our website at democracynow.org. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nikki haley, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, has announced she is resigning her post at the end of the year. the former south carolina governoror was one of ththe few women in trump's cabinet. she gave no rereason for her depaparture. haley made the surprise announcement at the white house tuesday alongside president trump. during her remarks, she praised the prpresident for pulling outf the iran nuclear deal and for being a close ally to o israel. >> i am most excited, look at the two years. look what has happening to use years with the united states on foreign policy. is the united states respected. countries may not like what we do, but they respect what we do.

they know if we say we're going to do something, we follow it through. the president prove that, whether it was with the chemical weapons in syria, nato saying other countries have to pay their share, whether it is the trade deals -- which have been amazing. they get the president means busineness and theyy follow thrh with that. but then if you look at just these two years at the u.n., we cut $1.3 billion in the u.n.'s budget. we have made a stronger anand me efficient. south susudan, we got an arms embargrgo. freeee north korean sanctions taxes which were the largest -- packages whichch were the large, done in a way that we could work toward d denuclearizing north korea. the iran deal, bringing attention to the world that every country needs to understand you can't overlook all of the bad things they're doing. you have to see them for the threat they are. i ththink you look at the anti-israel bias and the strength encourage the president showed up and moving the embassy

and join the rest of the world we will put our embassies where we want to put them. amy: during nikki haley's time as u.s. ambassador to the united nations, the united states withdrew from the paris climate accord, the u.n. human rights council, the iran nuclear deal, unrwa -- the u.n. agency that provides humanitarian aid to palestinians, and unesco -- the u.n. educational and cultural agency. e e trumadadminiration also threatened to nction judges on internioional imininalourt i i it would after israeor the united stas s for r crcrim. d the u.s. refud d to sn n the globalomompactn mimigrion,n, a set of non-bdiding res for safe, orderly, a regular migration. while haley did t t say y shshe was s regning,g,he dismied speculatiothat sheasas anning trun n fopresididt in 20. prident trp says hwill name a repcement iththe cong week on tuesday, heaiaid hidaughter ivankatrump wod be increble at t job. ivka trump lat tweetedhat she uld not be rlacing haley. e person who does replacer

will have to go before a senate confirmation. donald trump also said one possible candidate is dina powell, an egyptian-born goldman sachs executive and trump's former deputy national security adviser. powell is said to be close to the president as well as his daughter ivanka and her husband jared kushner. while at the white house, powell focused in part on u.s. relations with israel and saudi arabia. she attended president trump's first meeting with the crown prince of saudi arabia, mohammed bin salman. nbc reports she was also involved with overseeing a $200 billion arms deal between the u.s. and saudi arabia. to talk about the significance of nikki haley step archer and the role of the united states at the united nations, we're joined now by rashid khalidi, the edward said professor of arab studies at columbia university. he's the author of several books, his most recent is titled "brokers of deceit: how the u.s. has undermined peace in the middle east." his next book, titled "the hundred-years war on palestine" will be out in may. professor, welcome back to democracy now!

your first response. was this a shock to you like so many others? >> it was a surprise because she put such a nice face, and articulate face on a policy that is horrific in many respects. vis-a-vis palestine and air ran --iran. what she was putting ford, while perhaps reddening to the president is probably horrible to most americans and contrary to what she said, may the united states much more isolated internationally. amy: also interesting, the timing. they were saying they did not want to look like after the midterm elections, but they say that last week, the resignation letter was put in, which was right after judge kavanaugh at the time testified and during .he fbi supposed investigation so to say the least, there was a lot of tension within the trump administration around this.

she did not say anything about this at the time, but of course, if she ran in the future, she could refer back to the period of time that she actually resign. >> and she distanced herself from the president in the campaign i think any allegations by women should be heard and investigated. she is a very ambititious woman. ifif she i is finding a run, ths sets her up perfectly. it fits perfectly that the ambitious, calculating natature that she has already shown at the u.n. and in sosouth carolin. amy: i wanant to go back t to wt nikki haley said sitting next to president trump in the white house about her relationship with both trump's daughter ivanka and s son-in-law jared kushner. she singled them out for praise. a hidden genius that no one understands.

to redo the nafta deal the way he did, what i have done working with him on the middle east peace plan, it is so unbelievably well done. and d ivanka has been a great friend. they do o a lot of things behind the scenes that i wish more people knew about because w we e a better country because they are in this administration. amy: that was nikki haley speaking in the oval office next to president trump, talking about jared kushner. this is your expertise. your palestinian-american at columbia university. talk about jared kushner and what she describes as his incredible role in dealing with the middle east. >> you would only consider it remarkable if you think that denying the palestinians have a role -- that the palestinian refugees should return or have is a good that unrwa

thing, that jerusalem is the capital and should be a capital for palestine. the policies she has advocated so effectively and articulately our policies that are horrific to most of the world, the arab world, and the israelis relies this is leading them down a path to were no copper musas possible. were israel becomes the sole ruler of everything. trump seems to be very content with this. the palestinians should root -- except whatever is offered to them. that is what kushner has been doing. systematically on jerusalem, refugees, the idea of a palestinian state, they have dismanantled all of the elements of what t i've always considered to be a very bad a american policy, has become much worse thanks to her. jared kushner is a genius if you believe that israel has won and hing they want.y if you believe that, it is a

wonderful policy. amy: on may 14, the israeli military massacred at least 61 unararmed palestiniansns and wod 270000 more for protestingng agt the israeli occupation and the opening of the new u.s. embassy in jerusalem. at the united nations, u.s. ambassador nikki haley blocked a call for an international investigigation into israel's actions. >> i asked my colleagues here in the security council, who among us would accept this type of activity on your border? no one would. no country in this chamber would act with more restraint than israel has. amy: since march 30, the beginning of the right of return israeli protests, soldiers and snipers have killed at least in the area of 190 five palestinians, wounded more than 18,000. your comments on what she performed at the united nations?

that shottry on earth thousands of people on the other side of its border in a situation in which none of its own citizens were hurt -- one israeli soldier was killed -- would be free of condemnation in the united nations. imagine if the united states shot down hundreds of memexican, killed 200, and wounded were named thousands across the border inside mexico and the sovereign territory of another country. it would be compleletely unacceptabable. the palestinians don't have rights. the victim can be vilified by people at nikki haley. itpeople at nikki haley. it is revolting. the very description of the palestinians as the aggressors and the israelis as victims, with israeli snipers targetingng these people one by one and the israelis are being defended by nikki haley of the united nations. " just before the the you and assembly denounced -- amy: just simla, haleyn.

tweeted a warning to other nations. she wrote -- the u.n. we're always asked to at the u.n. we're always asked to do more and give more. so, when we make a decision, at the will of the american people, about where to locate our embassy, we don't expect those we've helped to target us. on there'll be a vote thursday criticizing our choice. the u.s. will be taking names." professor? >> this is the most vibrant american exceptionalism i've ever heard. the united statetes is not bound by laws s or conventions. it does as it pleases. a complicated legal issue, but it is not that complicated. everything the united states has done has shredded seven decades -- even more -- of international consensus as far as the treatment of jerusalem. and they don't care. the united states under trump -- the united states has always done more or less as it pleased, but at least it paid lip service

to law and international legitimacy. not under this in administration. card to say the least, has been whatever is happening behind the scenes s in lockstep with the administration. she announced in june that the united states would with raw from the u.n. human rights council, accusing the council being biased against israel. >> for too long, the human rights council has been a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias. regrettably, it isis now clear r call for reform was not heated. amy: the significance of this? >> yet again, the u.s. is proclaiming that only its views count. the views of the entire world on these issues are simply irrelevant, as far as this administration is concerned. the u.s. has run interference for israel, prececting it in the united nations for decades now. i expect that to continue

irrespective of whether trump stays on after 2020. at this is the most egregious example i've ever seen. amy: i want to go back to john bolton because he is the powerhouse now. last month, the national secure divisor announced the trump administration would close the palestine liberation organization's office in washshington in response to a palestinian effort to push the icc to investigate israel for war crimes. this is bolton making the announcement in a speech at the federalist society. >> the trump administration will 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 seself-defense. amy: so that is john bolton, not

nikki haley, but she has supported this. today is the day? > i believe so. amy: that the mission will be closed? and what is the significance? once again, the dimension that the palestinians can speak for themselves, that they can have a voice, that they are a party to this conflict. in fact, they are the main party. and what the united states and israel have been doing is to sideline them, divide them, and essentially try t to dictate terms. this is part of the whole process this administration is taken to a new level of knocking out the pillars that had formerly been assumed to be absolutely essential for any approach to o peace in palestin. recognitionrusalem, of palestinian self-determination. amy: let's talk about refugees. ththe trump administration saidn september it would end all u.s. funding for unrwa, the u.n. agency that provides humanitarian aid too paleststinians. the move was seen as an effort

to undermine palestinians' right to return to the lands they were displaced from by israeli settlers. this is chief palestinian negotiator saeb erekat. an americanis is political decision added to their decision to organize -- to move the embassy, settlements two state solution. this is a program and agenda of adelson and netanyahu. the united states, we'e're the right to say we dodon't want to give taxpayers money, but who gave the u.s.s. the right for te stealing o of my land? my fututure? my church? they have no right whatsoever. amy: the ending of unrwa funding. one third for this u.n. agency that helps palestinians. what does this mean for

palestinians? >> it will mean further him is a ration of a population in many places like the gaza strip were any point of a humanitarian crisis. this unrecognized genius and nikki haley's words, jared kushner, is pushing, which is to say there are no palestinian refugees. this is a false problem created by the arab states to embarrass israel that three generations on they should be forced to stay in the countries to which they were expelled by ethnic cleansing in 1948. and the problem is solved. israel kicked them out and they must not ever be allowed to return. kicking out a pillar of a settlement, making peace much more difficult. if the united states does that recognize e that our posting refugees, in jordan, for example because of jordanian nationality, they are t therefoe nonot refugeeses, then y you're denying one of the major issues

that has bedeviled the world for 70 odd years. amy: i want to ask you about the 22-year-old student laura at the university of florida who has been detained in an israeli airport for more than a week for supporting a pro-palestinian boycott campaign. she arrived at the airport last week with plans to enroll at an israeli university and has been held there while she appeals the deportation order. on tuesday, the israeli government told her to apologize and renounce her support for bds or return to the united states. professor, what about laura? >> police are at work here. this is part of an effort to repress speech in this country, in europe, and israel around this issue, around the issue of israel's violations of palestinian rights, generally, and specific issues like occupation or refugee return. the person who is making the states and israel is a very important character, the

minister of strategic affairs. he is in fact one of the central people in this worldwide campaign. we see an element of it in turning back people at the ben-gurion airport him and not american-jewish who are beinge detained and harassed and in -- cases turned back, amy: a leading law professor. >> one of my colleagues. and in this country, the same centralized apparatus is harassing students on campus, bringing lawsuits of absolutely anderit again and again again, spending hundreds of millions of dollars it seems to me on a campaign worldwide in britain, germany, and this country, to essentially shut down discourse on palestine. you can't talk about that, they say. amy: what needs to happen? doesn't matter who is the u.s.

ambassador to the united nations under president trump? matters, but is a administration's policicies are not going to change of a less or more articulate representative of nauseating and horrific policies is installed in that seat. the american governments policies on iran are causing and norma's suffering inside iran.. and norma's suffering in places like gaza. schools will shut down. children will go without education. those are awful policies. they're guided by since that the only evil in the middle east is iran and its clients and allies. ignoring the normandy's perpetrated by u.s. -- in normandy's perpetrated by the u.s., which is making war in yemen, creating human a during crisis in yemen and at the same time, apparerently, liquiuidated dissidents, prominent dissidents. amy: is talk about that. let's go t to the missing saudi journalist jamal khashoggi who was last seen at the saudi

consulate in istanbul last week 's list of a turkish official told "the new york times" he was assassinated inside the consulate by team of 15 saudi operatives who used a bone saw to dismember his body before smuggling body parts out of the building. turkey has now said it will conduct a search of the consulate. president trump has not issued a statement or even a tweet. >> have you spoken [indiscernible] pres. trump:p: i have not. but i will be, some point. >> [indiscernible] pres. trump: i know nothing. amy: that was president trump sitting in the oval office. is a columnist for "the washington post" and lastly they issued a blank white column called "a missing voice." the significance?

i meanan, he wasn'n't a didissin the sense of a radicalal opponet of the saudi regime. he was part of a loyal opposition. >> he was, but this is the most absolute iteration of the most absolute monarchy on earth. this is pre-magna carta, lou xiv. coming in particular from him or members of the royal family, to some of whom he was close -- he was a close adviser to the sign-up the king who was the head of saudi intelligence. elite.as a person of the intimately connected to the royal family. they are shutting down royals. they are shutting down people of prominent families. they are taking their wealth in many cases. there are reports that some of them have either disappeared or been killed. we are no longer talking about

low-level dissidents, but the highest level within the royal family, within the elite families that have been profiting from the regime for generations. nobody can raise their head in saudi arabia. anyone who tells you they're going to saudi arabia and talk to people is talking through their have. people don't dare speak anymore. it indicates they are trying to send a message -- don't you just talk about what we're doing. amy: and the trump administration of responding? speaks withis, who the saudi counterparts often, saying, we are monitoring intellectually. of course, president trump and jared kushner's very close relationship to the defector ruler in saudi arabia. >> yeah, i think the saudis must have cut related -- the s sun ad the king must have calculated, if the king had anything to do

with it, must have calculated that they're going to get a pass from washington, that the contract are two important, that the alliance is too important, the billions of dollars the united states gets out of arms and planes and other things in saudi arabia -- banking, oil -- is much more important in washington than some dissident who was disappeared in istanbul. or the hundreds of thousands of yemenis were dying of diseases like cholera that are completely treatable because of the siege imposed by the saudis and the m roddy's and their allies -- emirates and their allies. one would wish our supine senators and members of house of representatives would get up on their hind legs and they could affect this. the trump administration won't, but they could. more and moreg egregious. i don't not how much longer people are going to build a stand the stench of this kind of absolute monarchy imposing itself in stamping out all kinds of basic freedoms, while

tokenng basically reforms. it is wonderful that women can drive. it would be great if women could open the rounds. it is wonderful people can go to cinemas. it would be great if they could freely by books and have newspapers that don't reside in -- don't represent the king's point of view. was saudi arabia and its allies are doing all over the region in every country which they are exerting influence, they're not working for democracy. they're working against democracy and against representative govovernment. amy: and working with the united dates, for example come in yemen. >> hand in glove with the united states. the united states is refueling in yemen. it is handing glove and everything they do. disappearance,is but the united states has been since 1933, the longest relationship the u.s. has in the middle east, before israel was even established, before tuturky join nato, the united states and saudi arabia were like this.

that relationship has not changed one bit. amy: i want to thank you, rashid khalidi, edward said professor of arab studies at columbia university. of several books, his most other recent is titled "brokers of deceit: how the u.s. has undermined peace in the middle east." his next book "the hundred-years , war on palestine," will be out in may. when we come back, we had to minnesota to speak with the s and, scientist james hansen. we will talk about climate activism and the hurricane that is bearing down on the florida panhandle. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "the star" by yazan. we turn now to minnesota, where a court has acquitted three anti-pipeline activists who broke into an oil pipeline facility, intending to cut off the flow of tar sands oil coming into the united states from canada. the so-called valve turners -- annette klapstein and emily

johnston, along with a support person, benjamin joldersma -- are part of a group which calls themselveses climate direct actition. the activists mounted a coordinateted campgn on octobebr 11, 201616, in which they cut chains and turned the manual safety valves to stop the flow through the pipelines in four locations. joldersma calli enbridge to warnhehem ofhe acon.. >> we are calling from leonard, minnesota. we're crently at the valve site f l linesourr and 67. for the sake of climate justice, tonsnsure future for human cililizati, wewe must mentally ho t the eractctioof burning of t sands. for safe, , i'm: t to form you that when i hang up e e phon w'rerelosing the valves. please shut down these two

pipelines never our safety and for our future. amy: that was ben joldersma in a clip from the filmvavalve tuturns," asase called enbridge engygy. in a all, people rere arrted as part t the cpaigign at sawaw similar titions nororthakota,a, montana, andasashingn ststat ththe other defendants who tookk part in the effo have lo their cas s and ced shor seences,s,ommunityervice ndatesesand deferred imprisonntnt. the minnotota ca wasas t firstst and only of the four vveve rnerer ces whehe a judge allowewed the defendants to use the cecessitdefefens e activists say eieir decisionon to break the lawaw was necessitat by the ear and present daerer pos by y clate change later, t j judgeuleded tt pert witnesses, includin 350.g g founr bibillckibbebe and former top nasa imate scientist james nsnsen, uldd not bebellowed to testify on eir r belf. this is defendant emily johnston speaking after her acquittal. >> i'm very relieved the state of minnesota acknowledged we did no damage an intended to do no damage.

i i also admit that i amm disappoiointed that we did not t to p on the trtrial that we hahd hoped for. we very y much wanted everyryono be up to hear r from our e expet wiwitnesses. almosost two a action years agago to thehe day. ththursday wilill be the second anniversarary. climatee the proboblem of change is so urgent that we have to start shutting tar sands pipelines down now. amy: the trial came just as the united nations' climate panel warned in a landmark report that humanity has only a dozen years to mitigate climate change orr face global catastrophe. for more, we go to minneapolis where we are joined by valve turners annette klapstein and emily johnston, as well as dr. james hansen, the former top climate scientist at nasa. now the director of climate science, awareness and solutions at columbia university's earth institute. and kelsey skaggs, one of the attorneys representing the valve turners in their necessity defense. she is also executive director of the climate defense project. we welcome you all to democracy now!

let's begin with the valve turners yourselves, emily and annette. talk about the significance of your acquittal. but first, what exactly you did in october 2 years ago. >> thank you, amy. so we entered -- we broke the links to a couple of chains to enter into the enclosures were the pipelines were with their valves. we began to shut off one of those valves. we had made two safety goals in advance or they could be shut down remotely if they chose to. we knew that was standard procedure, and they did in fact start doing that shortly thereafter. annette klapstein, why did you decide to do this? becausecided to do this tar sands are the dirtiest and most climate-polluting oil that there is.

and as dr. hanson has said, it is game over for the climate if these are developed. we wanted to shut them down because they absolutely have to be shut down if we're to have a chance o of having our childrern and d future generations have a habitae planet.. amy: can you talk about your role as a retired attorney and a raging granny? who do you represent? >> who do i represent? amy: no, as an attorney? >> i was a staff attorney for an indian to of her 21 years. i retired in 2005. amy: did some of your work there and form what you did here? >> yes, to some extent. i mostly worked on fisheries issues and fisheries are the the spiritual,of cultural, and economic life of

pacific northwest tribes. the salmon are now endangered almost everywhere in part because of climate change. we have the issue of these streams and rivers where the salmon spohn becoming too warm for them to do that. we have another -- a number of salmon that are endangered and threatened and in a couple of cases, extinct. youremily johnston, concern about facing terrorism charges yet explain exactly what you faced. you were acquitted, but what you were facing. >> we knew what we planned this actually would be open to all kindnds of homeland security charges and potentially federal charges. in statutes that were developed after 9/11.

we went into this with our eyes open. in fact, the charge that we received, the main charge, was one of thosetatutes. in a way i think thatt was oddly lucky because it was over reach, and that is why we were acquitted. ony could have gotten us trpapassinor s something e else. the because they went for something they could not support, that explains what happened. you're any skaggs, attorney for the valve turners. are you surprised by what transpired? first the judge ruled on indigenous peoples day come on columbus day, on monday, that they could not have their expert witnesses -- bill mckibben of 350.org and our next guest dr. james hansen -- within a acquitted them. explain what happened. >> yes, i was surprised both times.

we received a ruling in this case a year ago allowing us to present the climate necessity defense, which would include expert testimony, as you mentioned, and then the last minute ruling really rolled that fact and excluded much of the expert testimony that we had prepared. that seemed to us to be directly contradictory to the-year-old ruling in this case, so we were very surprised by that. we were disappointed. in terms of the acquittal, it is procedurally quite rare e for a judge toto equip clients at that stage of the case. in our current legal system, the state hahas to group with the dedefendants did. and this judge's decision to quit -- to a acquitted early on in the casement it did not even go to the jury. the judge determined no jury could reasonably convict them. so it doesn't happen very often will stop agree with emily's

assessment that these defendants were inappropriately charged from the beginning under one of the anti-protest laws that we've seen the fossil fuel industry try to push through across the country. it certainly was overreach. i think the acquittal is a good sign that prosecutions under these anti-protest laws may not stand. and the we're going to go to break. kelsey skaggs is the attorney for annette klapstein and emily johnston, the so-called valve turners who were acquitted by a judge yesterday in minnesota as they took on the pipeline politics of this country, challenging the flow of tar sands from canada through the united states. when we come back, we will also be joined by dr. james hansen, who was going to testify around the issue of climate change in their defense, b but the judge said no. stay with us.

♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. dr. james hansen is the former top clclimate scientist at nasa. from 1981 to 2013, he was the head of the nasa goddard institute for space studies. he is now the director of climate science awareness, and solutions at columbia university's earth institute. he traveled to minnesota to testify at the trial for the valve turners, but the judge ruled she would not allow expert witnesses like dr. hanson and 350.org founder bill mckibben to raise this issue -- to testify at all or raise this issue about climate change in the connection to what the valve turners were doing. why did you agree to testify in this case? why did you want to defend the

valve turners? >> they're trying to draw attention to the climate issue, particularly to the egregious role of the tar sands. and i just was supposed to help consequenceslimate of this carbon source. amy: and talk about the consequences. because ultimately, as the valve turners have said, this is why they have done what they have done. it is this connection to climate change. >> the difficulty is the delayed response of the climate system and the fact that it includes amplifying feedback. so the public does not see that much going on. the public does realize that climate is beginning to change, but it doesn't have a good picture of the ultimate consequences of that because they will be much greater in the lifetimes of our children and

grandchildren. on aed to begin to move path of decreasing emissions very rapidly if we're going to preserve the same planet that we have enjoyed for our children and grandchildren. and that just has not been clear --ugh, i think, in the prior and the public's mind. amy: it is interesting that this trial came just as the united nations climate scientist warned in a landmark report thatat humanity has only a dozen years to mitigate climate change or face global catastrophe. if you, dr. hanson, can talk about the significance of this report and at the same time, this massive monster hurricane, hurricane michael, bearing down on the florida panhandle -- it is believed to be the worst

floridida has seseennd s somethg likeke aentury i ithisrea -- about to make lalafall. >> i think this report is really a good report from ipcc, the intergovernmental panel on climate change. prior reports do not always convey the urgency of the issue. and really, make it very clear to the public. but this one i think did a very good job. both in warning about the consequences if we don't do something and and making clear that we still can do something, but we have to be in dish again very quickly to actually phase down emissions while in fact emissions will continue to climb if we don't have some significant policy changes. amy: i don't know if you're getting a chance to see the climate coverage of the

meteorologist, reporters down in the panhandle warning people must leave, evacuate, of course, the politicians as well. but there is almost no mention of climate change. can you talk about that connection, the intensification of these hurricanes? >> sure. if you look at the temperatures gulf andean, in the off the east coast of the united states, they are way above normal. knows, i, as everyone think even the public understands, if the ocean is warmer, that provides the fuel for these tropical storms. that is exactly what we are seeing. that storm is intensifying because the water is unusually warm. so we're getting a very strong storm out of what would have been a weaker storm without that

additional push from the extraordinarily warm ocean. tsunami, the earthquake and tsunami that we saw in indonesia, this horror where it looks like 5000 people are missing, 1700 confirmed dead -- is there any link there, stop the earthquake, the power of the tsunami? >> there is a link in terms of the impact of the tsunami. there are recent papers on this that show sea level is rising and when you add the human caused increase in sea level to the tsunami, it makes it more damaging. that has been apparent on the recent hurricanes hitting in the united states. the sea level -- global average

sea level has gone up by 20 centimeters because of greenhouse warming, which is about eight inches. but along the coast, eastern coast of the united states, it is about twice as much. and when you add that sea level rise to the storm surges, it makes them that much worse. of course, the warming also increases the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, increases the rainfall totals. affectthe global warming has been making hurricane affect significantly larger. paper thato a recent argues the speed, the translation speed of these storms in many cases has been slowed down. and in the case of the houston and carolinas hurricanes, they moved slowly so the rainfall

totals were exceptionally large. and this is attributable, the slowing of the speed in general, can be related to the global warming. amy: emily johnston, you cofounded 350.org in seattle, washington. onwe wrap up, your thohoughts what your plans are now that you are acquitted? >> well, in the immediate sense, we are engaged in many climate campaigns in seattle and in washington state. there is plenty of work to be done. i look forward to getting back to it. a great majority of that work is legal, but we do engage in some civil disobedience actions. with this trial, we particularly wanted to do the necessity defense. this would have been sort of the dream trial in terms of our expert witnesses and our ability to present that defense. the fact that we could not do

that is pretty heartbreaking. i know a lot of people are still thinking about -- amy: we have to end it there and we will do part two and post it on democracynow.org. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]