03/18/19 03/18/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> the terror attack in christchurch on friday was the worst act of terrorism on our shores. it was in fact one of the worst globally in recent times. it has exposed a range of weaknesses in new zealand's gun laws. in history around the world, to make our communities safer and a

time to act is now. amy: new zealand is racing to enact new gun reform measures three days after a white supremacist gunman shot dead 50 muslim worshipers at two mosques in the city of christchurch. we will speak to the australian activist who led a campaign to overhaul australia's gun laws two decades ago after a massacre that killed 35 people. plus, we will speak to a leading scholar on islamaphobia and a former white supremacist who now campaigns against radicalization. then to the global strike for climate change inspired by the 16-year-old swedish student greta thunberg. >> the last time i checked, there were over 123 countries on strike todayay in over 2000 cities. amy: an estimated 1.4 million children across 125 countries took part in a global climate strike friday to demand world leaders to do more to address climate change.

we will speak to two activists, the daughter of ilhan omar isra hirsi, and alysa chen. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. mourners gathered over the weekend in new zealand and around the world to pay tribute to the victims of friday's deadly terrorist massacre at two mosques in christchurch, new zealand. the death toll has reached 50, with at least 50 people injured. police have arrested and charged 28-year-old australian brenton tarrant, who they say acted as a lone gunman and is described as a right-wing extremist. tarrant livestreamed the attack and published a manifesto in which he praised president donald trump as a "symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose." in the wake of the horrific attack, the deadliest shooting in new zealand's history, prime

minister jacinda ardern vowed to reform the country's gun laws. >> we cannot be deterred from the work we need to do on their gun laws in new zealand. they need to change, regardless of what activity may or may not have happened with than retailers they will change. amy: meanwhile, president trump came under fire for refusing to acknowledge the global rise of white nationalism in the wake of the attack. pres. trump: i think it is a small group of people that have very come a very serious problems. i guess if you look at what happened in new zealand, perhaps that is the case. i don't know enough about it yet. they're just learning about the person and the people involved, but it is certainly a terrible thing. amy: trump tweeted more over the weekend about the late senator john mccain and advocating for fox news to bring back host jeanine pirro, who appeared to be suspended after attacking congressmember ilhan omar for

wearing a hijab last week. he did not tweak once in 20 tweets about the massacre. security experts and government agencies have warned that white nationalist attacks are on the rise and pose a major domestic threat. the fbi and the department of homeland security said in 2017 white supremacist groups carried out more attacks in the u.s. than any other domestic extremist group since 2001. on sunday, white house chief of staff mick mulvaney was asked on fox news if trump would deliver a speech condemning white supremacy and islamophobia, to which he responded -- "the president is not a white supremacist. i'm not sure how many times we haveve to say that." president trump signed his first presidential veto friday after lawmakers in both houses of congress voted in favor of a resolution reversing trump's declaration of a national emergency on the u.s.-mexico border. he once again attacked immigrants as he signed the veto. nationanaltremendous

emergrgency. it is a tremenendous crisis. last month, more than 76,000 illegal migrants arrived at our border. we are on track for one million illegal aliens to rusush our borders. people hate the word invasion, but that is what it is. it is an invasion of drugs and criminals and people you have no idea who they are. amy: trumps the statement came just after the manifesto of the new zealand attacker was released in which he echoed that term "invasion." the veto sends the measure back to lawmakers but they are not expected to garner the two thirds majority required to overturn it. california and other states filed a lawsuit last month challenging trump's national emergency. the ethiopian transport minister said early investigations have revealed clear similarities between the crashes ofof ethiopn airlines flight 302 and october's lionon a flilight 610n innesisia. while detailed informationon has yet toto be released, flflight tracking data shows bothth fligs

on the boeing 73737 max 8 aircrt seemed to go through unpredictable climbs and then a nosedive after they took off. both flights killed all crew and passengers on board after the planes crashed minutes after takeoff. "the wall street journal" reported sunday that the transportation department is launching investigations into regulators' approvals of the boeing 737 max 8, as well as into the development of the aircraft. faulty flight control software has been cited as a possible culprit in the two fatal crashes. secretary of state mike pompeo announced friday the u.s. will start denying visas to members of the international criminal court who may be investigating alleged war crimes by u.s. military in afghanistan. >> november 2017, the icc prosecutor requested approval to initiate investigations into "the situation in afghanistan" that could legitimately target u.s. personnel for prosecutions and sentencing. i am announcing a policy of u.s.

visa restrictions on those individuals directly responsible for any icc investigation of u.s. personnel. amy: in response to the news, the aclu said -- "this is an unprecedented attempt to skirt international accountability for well-documented war crimes that haunt our clients to this day. in more news about the icc, the philippines officially withdrew from the court sunday. the international criminal court is investigating whether the thousands of murders committed as part of president rodrigo duteterte's war r on drugs amouo crimes against humanity. at least 5000 people have been killed by y the police since 20, with many more killed in extrajudicial raids attacks. students around the world left the classroom and took to the streets frfriday for thehe youth climate ststrike, callining for decisive action on climate change. the international day of action was inspired by 16-year swedish activist great thunberg, who started a weekly friday strike outside the swedish parliament building last year. this is thunberg speaking at the

stockholm demonstration. we, the young people, have not contributed to this crisis. we are not going to accept it. we're not going to let it happen , and that is why we are striking. we strike because we want a future and we will continue. has beena thunberg nominated for a nobel peace prize. here in new york city, democracy now! spoke to students rallying outside city hall friday. from urban assembly institute of math and science for young women. they say education is or the sacrifice to make a political point, but i think they are wrong because we are all here going to school and we think that we have this big future for us. but our education will be ignored if we are too busy trying to survive instead of living. amy: later in the broadcast, we will speak with the high school students from the bronx high school of science as well as ilhan omar's daughter in

minneapolis. at least two people have died, with thousands more displaced as historic levels of flooding in the upper midwest due to heavy rains and melting snow from last week's bomb cyclone led to states of emergency in the region. nebraska saw its worst flooding in half a century, prompting concerns about a nuclear power plant located along the missouri river, although authorities say the plant continued to operate as ususual through the weekend. in zimbabwe and mozambique, at least 120 people are believed to be dead, with many more missing after a tropical cyclone battered the southern african nations from thursday to saturday. the death toll is expected to mount in what mozambique's environmenent minister called te biggggest natural didisaster the country has ever faced. in indonesia, major flooding and landslides i in the eastern papa reregion killed at least 7 77 pe over the weekend according to officials. thousands wewere forceced to evacuatete their homes.. also in indonesia, a l landslide triggered by a a 5.5 magnitude earthquake on lombok island,

killed at least two people sundnday. in israel, the supreme court banned the far-right leader of the otzma yehudit, or jewish power party, from running in the upcoming elections, citing racist, anti-arab comments by michael ben-ari. last month, embattled prime minister benjamin netanyahu formed an alliance with the party despite it being compared to the kkk for its racist and homophobic beliefs. meanwhile, the court ruled that candidates from the balad-united arab list -- an alliance of israeli arab parties -- can run, overturning a ban by israel's election committee earlier this month. in denenver, colorado, noted immigrant rights activist jeannette vizguerra once again took sanctuary at the first -- unitarian church after her stay of deportation expired friday. she spent 86 days in sanctuary at the church in 2017 before receiving her stay of deportation. vizguerra also announced she is

suing immigration and customs enforcement for denying her right to due process in her immigration battle. jeanette vizguerra spoke to her supporters at the denver church friday. it a is ridiculous to call national emergency. they want to put up a wall when there are national emergencies inside the country like public health, the environment, housing, and we have lots of youth who in a come on hard times must sleepep on the stree. they are american citizens and they are not extending a helping hand to them. amy: in kentucky, a federal judge blocked the new, highly restrictive so-called fetal heartbeat law hours after republican governor matt bevin signed the legislation friday. the law would have banned abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, something that typically happens just six weeks into a pregnancy and before many women even realize they're pregnant. the measure is now on holdld for two weeks pendnding further heararings. staffers on the bernie sanders 2020 presidential campaign announced friday they were

unionizing in what is believed to be a first for any major presidential campaign. the president of united food and commercial workers local 400, which will represent the sanders campaign staffers, said -- "we expect unionizing will mean pay parity and transparency on the campaign, with no gender bias or harassment, and equal treatment for every worker, whether they're in washington, d.c., iowa, new hampshire, or anywhere else." several women staffers accused sanders' 2016 presidential campaign of not properly handling sexual harassment and unequal pay complaints. and new york senator kirsten gillibrand officially launched her 2020 presidential bid sunday. in her campaign video entitled "braveinins," llibibrand pdged support r paid family y lee, unersal health car a green new dealgun contro and king money out opoliliti. shwas alson outspon early supporter t the #too moment, bureports erged earliethis mon that he office mhandled sexual rassmentomplaintrom a rmer staer. senar gillibnd is inting susuppters to et hereror a raray on m mch 24 in fnt of e trump ternrnatnal hohol in new york

anand ose are me of th headlis. this idemocracnow!, democracow.org, e war an peacreport. i'amy goodn. 50 people are dead and millions around the globe are mourning following the massacre at two mosques in christchurch, new zealand on friday. the terrorist attack unfolded during friday prayer, when a lone gunman and avid white supremacist opened fire on worshipers while livestreaming the attack on facebook. it was the deadliest shooting in the country's history. new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern described friday as one of new zealand's darkest days and vowed to change the country's gun laws. the terror attack in christchurch on friday was the worst act of terrorism on our shores. it was in fact one of the worst globally in recent times. it has exposed a range of witnesses in new zealand's gun laws.

around the world, to make our community safe, the time to act is now. amy: police have arrested and charged a 28-year-old australian named brenton tarrant, grazing president trump as a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose. but trump has refused to acknowledge the global rise of white nationalism in the wake of the attack, saying -- "i think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems, i guess." in new zealand, the muslim community is mourning the dead. the youngest among them, three years old. he was murdered after being separated from his brother and father in a chaos at the mosque. the terror began in the early afternoon in central christchurch when the gunman entered the al noor mosque and opened fire on worshipers gathered for friday prayer. the shooter livestreamed the massacre, shooting dead one man who attempted to tackle him and

killing 41 more in a six minute rampage. at one point, the gunman went to his car to get another weapon and returned to the mosque to kill more people. a paramedic said -- "there was a river of blood coming out of the mosque." the shooter drove away before police arrived on the scene and headed four miles east to a second mosque, the linwood mosque, where he once again opened fire on worshipers, this time through a window. that's when abdul aziz, who was praying at the linwood mosque with his sons, ran towards the attacker, flinging a credit card machine at him and causing him to drop his shotgun. the gunman then ran to his car and aziz threw the shotgun, shattering the car window. the shooter drove away, leaving seven dead at the linwood mosque. this is abdul aziz describing his encounter with the attacker. >> he dropped his gun and run and i chased him. car.sed him to his

hand and shotgun in my i threw it. i threw the shohotgun and that shotgun actually smashed his window. then he took off. amy: minutes later, new zealand police operated the shooter. the first call to police from al noor mososque came iat 1:41 p.m. the gunmnman was arresested at 7 p.m. 49 people were dead anonone more would later die in theosospital. ththe shooter rereportedly usese guguns to cay y out the attatac, including two semiautotitic assault weapons. new zealand's attorney general david parker told radio new zealand "we need tban some miautomati, perhaps all of emem." well, for more, we're joined by rebecca peters in sydney, australia an intnternational ars , control advocate a and memberf the international network on small arms. she led the campaiaign trefoform australia's gun laws after the 1996 port arthur massacre, when

a gunman shot dead 35 people at . after the attack, australia crackdown on gun violence, outlawing semiautomatic weapons. more than 640,000 weapons were turned into auththorities in a nationwide buyback. rebecca peters, welcome to democracy now! first, your response to what --pened and neighboring happen in neighboring new zealand. then talk about the immediate call of the new zealand prime minister to do with gun control immediately, even faster thahan you did after the tasmanian massacre. soof course it was just devastating g and heartbrbreakio hear that yet another atrtrocity of this sosort had taken place. we are accusustomed to heariring about ththese things happening n we haveve statetes, but

got out of the habit i in australia since we dnonot have them anymomore. it was just shockining to reaeae that it hahad occurred in new zealand anand that i it was a an australian w who it carrrried ot is horrific attack. i supposose for those of us whwo have worked d on the issssue of tryingng to p prevent gun v vle, in a addition to being heartbrereaking,g, it wass heart sinkingg because there have been plenty of warnings and advice over the years that new zealand should strengthen its gun laws but those warnings and advice had never been heated. amy: let's go back to new zealand prime minister jacinda ardern. >> i want to acknowledge when australia found itself tragically in a similar position to what we find ourselves now, they took 12 days to make the decision. we have taken 72 hours. there are still some details

that need to be worked through. i want to do that, but still move as quickly as we can. amy: so that is the new zealand prime minister. rebecca peters, explain what happened in australia. i mean, a country, it is believed, of crocodile dundees or gun lovers, how quickly this turned and what you are seeing as beieing debated rigight now n new zealand. stroll you, you are right, we are an outdooror country. we are a frontier country. we have a a lot of people who le to use guns. in that sense, we're simililar o new zealand. -- thereaws have been was a patchwork of l laws across the country. many of ththem were not very strong. for example, semi automatic weapons were avavailable in some states, butt banned in n others. some statess havave already straight of guns and some did

not. that meant was possible e to tae advavantage of the loopholes proved by the weaker r law .tateses to commimit gun violene and in 1996, we had a mass shooting at portrthur in test mania. 35 people were killed. at the time, i it was ththe lart tragedy of that type in n the world.d. and personally, it has been surpasassed since thenen. although there been many the laws,reform lawmakers had been i in today by the e gun lobby and rereluctanto do a anything. b brand-newheher prime minisister and hehe said'm going to f fix this.s. statetesled all of the togetherer and said d we're g go once and for all fix thihis proboblem. and ththey came up with a scheme ofof -- a list of points s thatl of t the statetes agrgreed to po their laws as a miminimum stanandard..

that included a ban onon semi semiautomatatic weapons, a a buybackck to get rf them, regigistration of all guns in every state, mumuch higher standadard of licensing includig the need to prove you have a legitimate reaeason, andnd a lof other -- a 28 day waitining period, and various otheher measasures, which babasically cd the loloophole and raisesed the standadard. we have been much safer r ever since. the firsrst thing that obviously comes s to mind when n an atrocy like this happppens is the questition of semiautomatic weweapons. the prime mininister of new zealaland correctly mentioned tt as a priority. a as j jacinda adern mentioned,t took 12 2 days for this agreement too be fettered out. it had to be negototiated betwen eight states, but that w was obviously pretetty quiuick. in new zealand, she hass announced pretty w well

immediately that they planan to make reforms. mymy slight concern is that they should take e the time to c conr not just a piece bill change, not just banning military assault weapons, but looking at all of the reforms that need to be made because the new zealand gun law is full of loopholes. amy: what kind of gun lobby does new zealand have? is it similar to australia? why didn't new zealand passes and kind of legislation when you did back i in the e time of the tasa massacre? >> originally, new zeaealand should have joineded that t sche becacause the schcheme was devee under the auspices ofof somethig called the a australasasian pole ministers council. new zealand d also hasas a piece minister. and d it m means a strong and nw

zealand.d. ouour two countries w worked together on policing questions a lot. it makes sense f for new z zeald also to pass the same e sort of gun laws thatt were being passed in australia, but the gun lobbyy is very powerful inin new zealad wascally -- at the time, it the national partyty goverent, which is more susceceptible to e gun lobby because it has -- it seeses its strength as being in rorole-playing areas.. -- rurural areasas. joining g the australia's scheme was vetotoed byy the g gun lobb, which was a huhuge shame because ththey did n not make the progrs they should have made. amy: new york times reported friday new zealand is almost alone with the united statates d not registering 96% of its firearms. those are its most common firearms, the oncece most used n crimes will ststop rebecca?

caseah,h, and that was the in a at least three australian states 20 years ago. the ononly firearms registerered were handguns. but mosost guns are not handgun. f f the vastts mamajority of guns in new zeala, there is no recordrd of who has them or wheree t they are. there is no abilitity to know wn a person b becomes ineligigibleo have a gun. therere no o way of knowing thy hahave it, therefore, there e io way y of takining it away from . in our strut your, the most commmmon reasosofor losing y yor license is d domestic violence. -- in a australia, the most comn reason for losing youricenense is domestic violence.. the other thing about registration, , which is just so crucial l but if you havave a lilicensing systemm -- new zeald does come alththough it is very easy to get a license, the idea of a licensing systetem is o ona persrson witith a licicense is d

toto have a gun. ifif you do nonot have a registrationon system, then thte is notothing to keep a licicensn owowner acaccountable. lilike if i have a a i buy a gun,n, since therere is no registration, , i can easilyly l it or give i it to you eveven th you u do not have a license. there isis n chance i will b be caught. registration is absolutely crucial to make surere your licensing system works. those are the e kinds of things that the new zealand g governmet should look a at. the loopholes they shoululd look at closising rather than just focusing on b banning assauault weapons.s. they bench and assault weapons a lo obviously, ty shshould bee baed, b but the tricky thining with semi-automatic rifle's is semiautomatic weapons are not considered to be assauault weapapons, but then can n be modified so they bececome assaut apons. that i is whin australalia come all semi automatic rifles were banned to avoid the problem of people buying nonon-assault

weapons s and modifying them t o become assauault weapopons. new zealand should takeke that sameme step.p. amy: rebeccaca peters, i want to thank you f for beingng with us, international arms control advocate, member of the international network on small arms. led the campaign to reform australia's gun laws after the port arthur massacre. .ne last question the laws were changed in 1996 in australia after 35 people were killed in tasmania. how mamany massacreses have thee been since? >> well,l, since then, we have never had another one off these public mass shootingngs of the type t that we staff a l lot of. whatat we have had is a couplelf famimily killilings where a fatr has killed his famimily while ty were sleep, for r example.e. but that is a fffferent typepe o phenomenon and it dodoes not require e semiautotomatic. but when youou think about these kinds of evevents that are -- tt

the e u.s., for amplple, so plagueued by and the type e of t we had a 199996, the one that jt occurred in new zealand, we have never had another event like that. amy: rebecca peters, thank you for being with us. we can't count the number of times in the united states, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds in this last 23 years. this is democracy now! we will link to your piece headlined "'it didn't have to be this way': how the gun lobby made new zealand less safe." this is democracy now! when we come back, we will look at islamophobia and white supremacy. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we're continuing our coverage of friday's massacre in new zealand when a white supremacist gunman shot dead 50 muslim worshipers

at two mosques in christchurch. we turn now to president trump's response to the attacks. on friday was asked about the increasing threat of white nationalism. >> white nationalism andnd the rising t threat around the worl? pres. trump: i don't really. i think it is a small group of people that have very, very serious problems. i guguess if you look at what happen in new zealand, perhaps that is the case. i don't know enough about it yet. they are just learning about the person and the people involved. but it is certainly a terrible thing. amy: on the same day of the massacre in new zealand, friday, president trump signed h his fit presesidential veto after lawmakers in both houses of congress voted in favor of a resolution reversing trump's declaration of a national emergency on the u.s.-mexico border. trump claimed there was an invasion occurring on thee southern bororder. pres. trtrump: congress' vote to deny the crisis the southern

border, a vote against reality. it is a tremendous national emergency.y. it is a tremendous crisis. last month, more than 76,000 illegal migrants arrived at our border. we are o on track for one millin illelegal aliens to rush our borders.s. people hate the word invasion, but that is what it is. it is an invasion of drugs and criminal and people. we have no idea who they are. we are bursting at the seams. you can only do so much. the only option then is t to release them, but we can't do that, either, because when you release them, they come into our society and in many cases, they are stone cold criminals. and in many cases, some cases, you have killers coming in and murderers coming in, and we're not going to allow that to happen. amy: president trump's use of the word "invasion" came just hours after the new zealand government issued a manifesto he described immigrants as

invaders. in the same manifesto, the government praised trump as a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose. for more, we're going to khaled beydoun, law professor at the university of arkansas, author of "american islamophobia: understanding the roots and rise of fear." we're also joined by christian picciolini, founder of free radicals project, a nonprofit helping people disengage from hate and violent extremism. he was a leaeading neo-nazii skinhead a and far right extremt in the and 1990's. 1980's he is the author of "white american youth: my descent into america's most violent hate movement--and how i got out." we welcome you both to democracy now! professor khaled beydoun, can you respond to what happened in new zealand? >> generally, first, just kind of struck me as individual, being american muslim myself, having family members who were

going to the mosque. it struck a real deep personal fear, obviously, because this kind of thing can happen in the united states, especially with the kind of brazen rhetoric we see from the president. so before i can read my head around the politics of everything, it was a real kind of moment of chilling fear that set in. amy: can you talk about why you decided to start a twitter thread with images of the massacre, friday's and what happened when he started posting those pictures? >> i was doing a lot of media the morning of here in the states after the massacre. i just felt a bit dissatisfied. there was a fixation on the terrorist, the manifesto of the

terrorist, a lot of sintering of him at the expense of not focusing on the victims. during my work on islamophobia, there's a tendency in the mainstream media the kind of clump up specifically muslim victimhood as faceless, model of dehumanizing lots of people. i wanted to take the opportunity to put a face on the victims, tell their stories, drove human connections that really resonated with people on social media. amy: and what was the response to what you started posting? a series of it was responses. i think the most striking responses were after the thread had caught some attention and was generating an audience. i was getting messages from family members of victims, friends of the victims, classmates of the victims telling me more about them, feeding me with more intimate

information about who they were. i tried to compile as much information about these individuals in the rolling thread, , again, to show the people who were killed, the 50 people, were far more than just a just six. these were individuals who lead lives. they were young kids, three years old, like you mentioned earlier. they were individuals as old as 72. the first identified victim standing at the door who welcomed in the terrorist into the mosque. i tried as much as possible to put a face on who these people were, illustrating stories that showed these people were far more than just statistics. amy: can you respond to the alleged shooter in his so-called manifesto, more than 80 pages, praising trump as a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose? whether it, i think

is causation or correlation, this kind of rhetoric that we at from white supremacists the very top like president trump, whether it be using dock whistles like invasion, this is embolden terrorists like the one in new zealand, christchurch. we can see the same language being used in his manifesto. that it isthe book important to kind of think about this political rhetoric as far more than just words, but actual dictates that are authorizing individuals on the ground who engage in his vigilante violence extreme tragedy fund individuals who look like the kind of invaders that trump is talking about. amy: talk more about, well, the title of yourr book, k khaled islamophobia,can

understanding the roots and rise of fear. >> so the book looks to track the history, the genesis, the illusion of islamophobia as both a popular but also a state-sponsored phenomenon. what has happened in recent years with the rise of trump is islamophobia has become recognized as a form of animus, a form of the country. but in the book i try to show that this form of animus and racism and anti-religious bigotry has deep roots in the united states, both in the legal system, in the media imagination, and the political discourses. there is an underbelly of anti-muslim animus that facilitates the emergence of the very brazen islamophobia we see today, weaponize by people like president trump or terrorists on the ground in places like new zealand who commit massacres like we saw on friday. amy: i want to bring christian picciolini into this

conversation, founder of free radicals project, a nonprofit that helps people this engage from hate and violent extremism. leading neo-nazi skinhead and far right extremist himself in the 1980's and 1990's. talk about your response friday when you heard what happened in thezealand and heard about white supremacist, the white nationalist to open fire, killing 50 muslim worshipers. >> well, amy, this tragedy was similar to the hundreds of tragedies that have been happening since the 1980's and 1990's. this is not an isolated incident. this is not a fringe problem. this is a transnational terrorist alliance. dating bacack to the late 1980's and early 1990's, there havave always been coconnections to overseas white supremacist groups connected to the united states, and this is no different.

this is also an example of how words matter, especially words from the president. this is now the third or fourth time just in a matter of months where violence has occurred or almost occurred because of words the president said. what has happened now is the internet has created a platform were propaganda and conspiracy theories are being spread to the furthest reaches of the internet, and it is reaching some of our most vulnerable, broken individuals who are unstable but our taking these narratives. and it is fulfilling them. it is empowering them to a certain degree. the end result is always violence, death. we just saw another example of that in christchurch. i suspect it is not going to be the last one we see. amy: i want to go back to what president trump said on friday when he was holding what he called his veto ceremony around wishes,congress'

republicans and democratic senators and congressmembers, and saying he's going to appropriate over $8 million to build a wall on the border. a reporter shouted out a question to him about the increasing threat of white nationalism. nationaliststs, risingg ththreat around the world? pres. trump: i don't really. i think it is a small group of people who are very, very serious problems. if you look at what happened in new zealand, perhaps that is the case. i don't know enough about it yet. they are just learning about the person and the people involved. but it is certainly a terrible thing. terrible thing. amy: "terrible thing," he says, christian picciolini. respond. >> i think the president is either uninformed or he is complicit because this is a problem that has been very visible in our country for the last five or six decades. it started with timothy mcveigh

and really with the oklahoma city bombing and it has not stopped. in t the 1980's and 199990's, te white supremacist whom it had a strategy to mainstream. we recognize back then when i was involved that we were too edgy. our tattoos were putting off the average american white racist. we decided we needed to look like them, sound like them, go where they were. we encourage people to grow their hair out, to get suits and jobs and law enforcement, to go to the military and get training. and also to run for office if they had a clean record. the fruits of that labor are now coming to fruition. but i can tie you even 30 years ago, i never would have guessed that we would be in this position today. i can take you 30 years ago we did not have a propaganda center and a commandd posost on pennsylvania avenue. talk about the importance of the internet and all of this, christian picciolini.

onwe now know, what happened friday, the shooter, as he opened fire, he livestreamed this on fafacebook. we have not shown any of those images. facebook would soon take that down. of course, some caught it. hours after friday's attack, the president of the council on his ofcair blameddent trump for the rise of terror. >> the terrorist has quoted the most powerful person in the world, president trump, and i would like to address mr. trump. mr. trump, your words matter. your policies matter. the impact the lives of innocent people at home and globally. notyou should condemn this

only as a hate crime, but as a white supremacistst terror atta. us you need to assure all of -- muslims, blacks, jews, immigrants, that we are protected and you will not tolerate any physical violence against us because we are immigrants or we are minorities. during your presidency and during y your election campaign, islamophobia took a sharp rise. on innocents have skyryrocketed. we hold you responsible for this growing anti-muslim sentiment in the country and in europe. amy: i would like you to respond to that, christian, and also the importance of the internet when it comes to the spread of right-wing white supremacy. wordshink the president's

don't just have immediate consequences, they will have lasting consequences for all of the young people who are being borne out into this environment of pure extremism. as far as the internet goes, let me paint a picture of who may be on the internet. it is not just our friends and dog pictures, but there are millions of marginalized, alienated, broken young people who are looking for identity, community, and purpose and relied and cannot find it theree but thth can onlinine. in the internet has become flooded since the 2016 election and even just before that by propaganda and conspiracy theories coming in from eastern europe and from russia. it is very difficult to not land on some of this propaganda. but some of the month -- they're also going to some of the places where the most vulnerable people forms, onlinen autism forms, talking to are

turning over headsets when they are playing multiplayer gaming, and try to recruit them with these narratives that are mimicking whatat the president s saying. and because there are so many people online who are not able to potentially establish those relationships and roll life, they can build whatever identity , community, and purpose they want. the narratives are being given to them. this is becoming the fastest growing underground social movement i've seen in my life. amy: what you mean online autism forums? >> discussion forums where people are discussing living with autism or even facebook groups. but it doesn't stop there. they're going to wear vulnerable people go to find help, to talk to other peoplple, or even where young people might go where they are looking for the sins of identity, community, and purpose. this is no different from what i used to do 30 yeyears ago when i looked for vulnerable outsidedef arcacades or punk rock concertsr skate parks.

the idea is, you'rere banking on the fact somebody there is going to feel marginalized, going to have what i call potholes that , things their path like,, abuse, poverty, mental illness that may be alienate them from the rest of societies and then thehey promise them paradise. amy: i wanted to go to the australian lawmaker who has been publicly shamed for his comments following friday's massacre in which he said immigration is to blblame for the terrorist attac. queensland senator fraser anning said -- "the real cause of bloodshed on new zealand streets today is the immigration program which allowed muslim fanatics to migrate to new zealand in the first place." on saturday, while anning was addressing reporters in melbourne, australia 17-year old , william connolly stood behind him and cracked a raw egg on the back of his head. the far-right politician immediately swung around and

punched the teenager in the face. he then attacked connolly again, before the two were forcibly separated.d. a group of men then n tackled connolly to o the ground and placed him in a chokehold. connolly was brieflyly arrested before being releasesed without charge. the australian pririme minister scott t morron has sided witith the teenager, condndemning anningng's comments and s sayine lawmaker shohould be charged for assaululting connolly. let me ask khaled beydoun your response. >> first, the rhetoric of wereng senator anning's pretty much echoing what president trump has been saying for a long time. one additional point i want to make besides rhetoric and words from politicians, itit is important t also to focus on how policies -- we have a standing muslim ban and the u.s. which has been upheld by the supreme court which echoes what president trump is saying but

embolden individuals, private terrace -- terrorists go on and do. o of think we all sort champion what connolly did. i think he demonstrated the kind of frustration that individuals intellectually for the kind of rhetoric politicians are making against immigrants. i'm happy the prime minister of australia sided with the kid, condemning that rhetoric, especially after the massacre. for a senator to say that after a massacre is just egregious. to go to mickw mulvaney. this was truly an astounding moment, the acting chief of staff of president trump, who was speaking on fox news. this is the chief of staff of the president of the united states who found it necessary to say this. >> thehe preresident iss not a e

supremacist. i'm not sure how many times we have to say that. amy: "the president is not a white supremacist. i'm not sure how many times we have to say that," he said. christian picciolini, you come out of that movement, you were an avowed, proud white supremacist for decades in the 1980's and 1990's. president trump tweeted t this weekend over 20 times. not want did he mention the massacre. -- not once did he mention the massacre. can you respond to what mick mulvaney says? how do you define white supremacy? you were a white supremacist for years and now you fight against it and try to bring people out of this whole movement. just lilikehink tred, whitite supremacy is born of ignorance.

fear is its father and isolation is its mother.r. when we don't understand something and we become afraid of it, sometimes that turns into hate. i think a lot of policies that have come out of this administration have mimicked things that 30 years ago i would have applauded. in fact, white supremacists today are applauding this president's policies and even his words. and on occasion, the president will retweet a conspiracy theory from a white nationalist. , one,s a problem because we are not calling it out. we all loosely have very open wounds in the united states a deal with racism. they are still affecting people. it is something we should not take lightly because now it is turned into direct action against people of color, against jewish people, against muslims, and against even the media and politicians. this is something that words really have consequences. racists ago, i wrote

music and lyrics. i performed those and sold at music. i never really thought it had gone anywhere. but 30 years later, that music got into the hands of dylann roof who post to my lyrics on a white supremacist message boardd just four months before walking into the church in charleston. thoseat is the power and are the consequences of our words. like i said earlier, president trump's words are going to have lasting implications for our democracy, for our children growing up, and for citizens now who are in fear of their lives because we cannot even acknowledge there's a problem, let alone we are not prepared to address it. in 2007, and gerald johnson with the department of homeland security called out the fact that white supremacy was on the rise. under president obama,a, thatt s shelved. this goes back a long period in our history.

this certainly is not just president trump, but i can take for the first time in modern history, our president's words are actually causing people to murder each other. amy: again, the alleged shooter in new zealand praised donald praised dillon roof and talked about what inspiration he was. yes, it is important not to talk only about what happppened ther, but also to talk a about what happened in pittsburgh with the killing of the jews, the same language used there at the trere of life synagogue, talking about invaders and invasion. it is the same language that president trump used once again on friday, hours after the manifesto came out, repeating thosee words. i want to end by reading a few of the names of the victims of the friday massacre at the new zealand mosque. 71-year-oldad are --

44-year-old, father of two. enter your old -- and a three-year-old boy. just four of the 50 lives lost in the terrorist attack. the muslim community in new zealand and minds of people around the world are mourning their deaths. i want to think khaled beydoun, law professor at university of arkansas, author of "american islamophobia: understanding the roots and rise of fear." christian picciolini andchristian picciolini, founder of free raradicals project, a what supremacist in the 1980's and 1990's and has written a number of books on this issue. among them "white american , youth: my descent into america's most violent hate movement -- and how i got out." when we come back, young people take to the streets around the world to demand change around climate change. stay with us.

amy: "i'm an island." the cop is written for 23. this is democracy now!,, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. up to 1.4 million young people around the world took part in a global climate strike on friday to demand world leaders to do more to address the dangers of climate. strikes were reported in 125 countries. the mass protests were sparked by 16-year-old swedish climate activist greta thunberg, who has

skipped school every friday to sit outside the swedish parliament to demand leaders act on climate. on friday, greta spoke at a rally in stockholm. checked,st time i there were over 123 countries instructed a, and over 2000 places, cities. amy: greta thunberg was just nominated for a nobel peace prize. here in new york, students held a climate strike rally outside city hall. [indiscernible] i come here today from the bronx. this country needs to get its priorities straight. i demand our mayor support the

changes of climate change is a national emergency. >> my name is diego. i go to the bronx academy for software engineering will stop the reason i came here with my flag puerto rico is i wanted to show support for the island. want to show support for the rest of the caribbean because it is a very low area that needs staff support put onto it because the oceans are rising very quickly and susceptible to that. hurricane maria hit puerto rico and other islands in 2017. many still have not recovered. 3000 people died in puerto rico, including members of my own family. i think it is an issue the united dates did not focus enough on an puerto rico did not receive enough aid from the united states. it just goes to show that climate change is killing people already in the u.s. has complete an action on it. >> my name is zoe. i go to the brooklyn preschool.

no becauses fracking fracking is wrong. there's nothing good about it. earthquake. it pollutes the water around it. can dive. animals it is horrible. >> and from urban assembly institute of math and science for young woman. they say education is it worth sacrificing to make a political point, but i think they are wrong because we are all here going to school and we think that we have this big future for us. but our education will be ignored if we are too busy trying to survive instead of living. annie go some of the voices here theew york at this part of global climate march. for more, we're joined in new ,ork by 18-year-old alysa chen

senior a at the bronx high schol of science and an environmental activist. why did you organize bronx science? >> for the longest time, i thought i was only one of my school who felt veryry strongly about this a and felt we neededa have a presence in this march. but apparently, i was joined by three other very passionate individuals in my school, one of which had created her own instagram account and mobilized hundreds of our students to follow it. and keep up with this climate strike we were organizing. and then for two weeks straight, with barely any sleep, we worked on a seven-page proposal to ouor school a administration. we work on the logistics behind this walkout that we were going to walk out to this park outside of our school and give speeches in the bleachers and be able to mobilize these people and make them feel very angry at the government for what it has not

done to address climate change. amy: what do you want t mayor de blasio to do? >> i want the mayor to recognize we have a voice in this, that we have the ability and the passion and the will to move this forward and solve the climate crisis. if politicians today are not addressing this, and those are the ones in office right now, we are the ones who want -- has calledent trump immigration and national emergency. what do you respond to him? >> i respond in that climate change is the real demanding existential issue of today, not to ignore immigration, not to devalue the issue, but i think he is drawing the attention away from the biggest elephant in the room, from what our country, as the second-highest polluter in the world -- amy: do you think climate change

is a national emergency? >> i thoroughly believe so and i've leave scientists across the world and the nation and also agree with me. amy: alysa chen, thank you for being with us. thank you so much for joining us. [cap