04/03/19 04/03/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> where a king and america. forget the american revolution. forget t the constitutioion. the president can do whatever he wants now. we have no rule of law that applies to the president. amy: the house oversight committee has subpoenaed the director of white house personnel security after a whistleblower revealed senior trump administstration officials 25 security clearance

denials, despite serious disqualifying issues. we will stick with california congressmember ro khanna who says, "congressional oversight is not a choice -- it's the law." we will also speak with him about the latest congressional actions around yemen, saudi arabia, and venezuela. then to chicago, where voters made history tuesday by electing lori lightfoot, the city's first african-american woman mayor and openly gay mayor. >> from the bottom of my heart, thank you. today, you did more than make history. you created a movement for change. amy: we will speak with professor barbara ransby who says the rising black left movement behind chicago's historic elections. and as president trump continues his threats to close the u.s.-mexico border to stop the flow of asylum seekers, we'll look at the response from mexican president andres manuel

lopez obrador and the first 100 days of his presidency. >> the mexican state i represent will not act with arbitrariness. we will not violate human rights. there was a time in which the main violator of human rights was the state. it was the violator par excellence of human rights. amy: we wiwill go to mexico city to speak with historian humberto beck, co-editor of "the future is today: radical ideas for mexico." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in chicago, voters made history tuesday night by electing the city's first african-american woman mayor and the city's first openly gay mayor. lori lightfoot won a landslide victory, beating her opponent toni preckwinkle in a run-off vote by more than 47 percentage points. lightfoot is a newcomer in

electoral politics, who previously worked as a federal prosecutor. in 2015, now-outgoing mayor rahm emmanuel appointed her to head the chicago police board. she was also chair of the police accountability task force in 2016 that issued a damning report after the police killing of african american teenager laquan mcdonald. part of her mayoral campaign focused on ousting chicago's political machine. this is lightfoot addressing her supppporters in her victory speech. >> together we can and will finally put the interest of our people, all of our people, head of the interests of a powerful few. together we can and will make chicago a place where your zip code does not determine your destiny. amy: we'll have more on chicago's historic mayoral election later in the show with professor and author barbara ransby. president trump appeared to partially walk back on his

threat to shut down the u.s.-mexico border. last week, he announced a border closure could come as soon as this week unless mexico intervened to stop several central americans traveling towards the border. but on tuesday, trump said mexico started apprehendnding ththousandnds of migrantnts andt he would wait to s see what hahappens, but a added that he d 100% follow through on his threat if no deal was reached with congress on immigration. trump also said he wanted to get rid of judges in immigration cases. lawmakers, economic experts, and companies have warned of massive disruptions and billions of dollars of economic losses if trump follows through on his threat to close the border. at an oval office meeting with nato secretary general jens stoltenberg tuesday, president trump falsely claimed his father was born in germany. pres. trump: german and, honestly, is not saying their fair share. i have a great respect for angela and the country.

my father is german, was german. wonderful place in germany. amy: fred trump was in fact born in the bronx, in new york city. it was not the first time trump made the claim. he made the comments as he once again accused germany and other nato members of paying less than their fair share of defense costs. the house oversight committee voted tuesday to subpoena carl kline, the former white hohouse personnel security director. long-time white house security specialist tricia newbold accused kline of overturning security clearances for at least 25 people, despite serious disqualifying issues. we'll have more on this story after headlines with congressmember ro khanna. the oversight committee also voted tuesday to subpoena commerce secretary wilbur ross for documents related to the department's decision to include a citizenship question in the 2020 census. voting rights activists say the citizenship question will lead to a vast undercount in states with large immigrant

communities, impacting everything from the redrawing of congressional maps to the allocation of federal funding. this is california congressmember k katie hill. >> a recent study commissioned by the senses euro itself that shows neaearly half ofof purchae evevent in the study think the census i is used d to identify people here without legalal documentntation, which in and of itself s shows how unlikely they are to fully dissipate in the study. amy: the supreme court is set to hear a case challenging the census citizenship question this month. "the washington post" is reporting saudi arabia has given million-dollar homes and tens of thousands of dollars to the four children of slain journalist and saudi government critic jamal khashoggi. three of khashoggi's children are currently in the u.s., while his eldest son is reportedly still based in saudi arabia. he was temporarily barred from leaving the country following his father's killing. sources close to khashoggi's

family have said they fear possible retaliation for speaking out about their father's death and that the payments are buying their silence. a trial is now under way after saudi's public prosecutor charged 11 people over khashoggi's murder at the saudi consulate in istanbul last october. in december, the u.s. senate passed a resolution condemning the saudi crown prince mohamed bin salman for khashoggigi's murder. in britain, prime minister theresa may said she will ask european leaders for an additional brexit extension after lawmakers failed to agree on either may's original deal negotiated with the eu, or a series of alternative exit strategies. may said she would enter into discussions with opposition labour leader jeremy corbyn to come up with a new joint proposal. britain is currently scheduled to leave the european union at the end of next week. in thehe democratic republic of congo, the u.n. is warning the ongoing ebola outbreak is spreading at its fastest rate since it was first detected.

over 1000 cases have been identified. with a death toll of an estimated d 680 people, it's now the second deadliest ebola outbreak in histstory. medicacal workers say their effortrts to stem the spread of the disease have been hampmpered by fighting between government forces and rebels, as well as widespread public mistrust that has led to attacks on treatment centers. this is world health organization spokesman christian lindmeier. >> it is a mix of reasons why we think these cases hahave increased. access is one of them. isc course, the trust important, community outreach is so important to make sure that everybody knows how to seek out. amy: in algeria, president abdelaziz bouteflika resigned with immediate effect tuesday, one day after he announced he would resign by the e end of his current term at the end of april and shortly after military leaders called for an immediate declaration that he was no longer fit to serve. he has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013. algerians have been organizing

mass protests for weeks demanding he step down, as well as an overhaul to the current political system. in venezuela, the government of president nicolas maduro has stripped opposition leader and self-proclaimed president juan guaido of parliamentary immunity as venezuela's leadership crisis deepens. the measure would allow for authorities to arrest and try guaido. he has vowed to keep fighting maduro's leadership, calling the move cowardly. guaido previously defied a travel ban imposed by the maduro government, touring several latin american countries to garner support for his efforts to oust maduro and take over the presidency. back in the united states, the pittsburgh city council approved a series of gun control measures tuesday, including a ban on certain semi-automatic assault rifles. the bills were introduced in the wake of last october's mass shooting at the tree of life synagogue, which claimed the lives of 11 jewish worshipers. police say the gunman was armed with an ar-15 rifle.

authorities will also have the power toto confiscate firearms from people e who may y pose a k to themselves or others. so-called gun rights activists have said they will legally challenge the new laws. meanwhile, california attorney general xavier becerra is appealing a recent ruling which overturned a state ban on high capacity ammunition magazines -- that is magazines with more than 10 bullets. he warned that shipments of high-capacity magazines into california had already started for the first time in nearly two decades and it would be difficult to remove them even if the ruling were overturned. "the daily beast" is reporting the department of homeland security disbanded its domestic terrorism unit last year, reassigning its analysts to other departments. dhss the threat of homegrown extremism has been significantly reduced, but civil rights groups and security experts say that membership in white supremacist groupsps is on the rise and that domestic terrorists pose a growing security threat.

students from the university of kentucky who embarked on a hunger strike last week are celebrating after their demands were met by the school's administration. over 350 students joined the campaign and at least six had refused any food starting last wednesday, as they demanded the creation of a basic needs center to support students who are food insecure and otherwise struggling financially. as of tuesday night, university of kentucky administrators agreed to create the center and establish a basic needs fund. in a parallel action, students from the black student advisory council, who launched a campaign to increase diversity and better support black students at the university, also had the majority of their demands met. among other things, they have been demanding the removal of a racist mural from campus, which depicts african slaves and native americans attacking white women. this is a university of kentucky student speaking in front of t e mural. >> as you can see, the people in the painting, they are working. i saw myself in the painting.

it is a harsh reminder of this university. amy: yesterday, the university of kentucky agreed as a temporary measure to cover up the mural and create a committee to figure out a long-term solution. students from both the basic needs campaign and the black student advisory council had been occupying a campus building since the start of this week. and the 2019 izzy award for outstanding achievement in independent media will shared between four recipients, earth island journal and three journalists -- laura flanders, aaron mate, and dave lindorff. earth island journal's issue on "women and the environment" highlighted the often ignored connections between environmental rights and women's rights. journalist and tv host laura flanders is being honored for work exploring alternative political, social and economic models, and her recent reporting on the labor movement in the u.k. independent journalist aaron mate, formerly a democracy now! producer, consistently challenged the media's coverage of the russia-trump campaign collusion story, known as "russiagate" in his reporting for the nation. dave lindorff's investigation

into the pentagon's accounting revealed it has been fabricating numbers in its annual financial reports to congress, obscuring the pentagon's actual spending and making the agency unaccountable for its budget. lindorff is the founder of the alternative news site thiscantbehappening.net the izzy award is presented by the park center for independent media at ithaca college, and is named for legendary dissident journalist i.f. stone. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today with explosive revelations by a white house whistleblower who's a senior trump officials overturned at least 25 security clearance denials, despite "serious disqualifying issues." in a memo released monday, tricia newbold, who works in the white house personnel security office, told the house oversight and reform committee the

individuals had been flagged by her office due to concerns about blackmail, conflicts of interests, criminal conduct, and foreign influence. newbold explained by she decided to speak out in an interview on nbc. >> the protection of nationalal security is not a democratic issue or a republican issue. it is an american issue. and we a asked security professionals a what to make our recommendations and the best interest of national security. i am always concerned, but it is important we stand up to do the right thing the matter what. juan: newbold said she was subject to retaliation for refusing to issue the security clearances, including a 14 day suspension without pay. well, on tuesday, the house oversight committee voted along party lines to subpoena newbold's supervisor carl kline, the former director of personnel security at the white house who overruled her denials. the move is part of its investigation into the white house security clearance process.

this is oversight committee chair elijah cummings. yesterday -- until keep in mind, we started in january. it was not until yesterday after the whistleblower's claims were made public i in less thahan 24 hours before today subpoena vote that we finally receieived a last-minute letter from mr. kline's lawyer and the white house saying that he would voluntarilily comply. -- -- and there is a big but but there is a cacatch. voluntarily, but he will not answer any of our questions about specific ofofficials, about s specificc security violations, or about specific security clearance adjudications. instead, he will only talk about general policies.

this is clearly not sufficient, and he knows that. and so i strongly urge e my colleagues to support this subpoena. amy: the white house has previously come under fire for its handling of security clearances. reports emerged earlier this year that president trump pressured his former chief of staff john kelly to grant clearances for his daughter ivanka and his son-in-law jared kushner, both senior advisers, despite the objections of intelligence officials. ivanka trump and jared kushner are reportedly included in the group of 25 individuals newbold raised. following these most recent revelations, california congressmember and member of the oversight committee ro khanna, tweeted -- "congressional oversight is not a choice -- it's the law. it's long past time for this white house to start playing by the rules and put our national security above personal politics." for more, we go to washington, d.c., to speak with congressmember ro khanna.

explaiain why you feel this is such a critical issue. >> this is a systematic assault on civil servants and expertise in our democracy. it is unprecedented. here you have a situation where the civil servant, tracy newbold, ray courage, has come forward and it is saying just by the career recommendations to deny security clearances, the president overruled that and for theseal reasons, gave security clearances. there are some serious allegations of why people were initially denied these clearances. drug use, potential for an context, potential concerns of business dealings. so the american publblic needs o knowow why career officials were overruled in the security council's were granted. juan: jim jordan and others have said the committee's chair

picking the testimony that newbold gave behind closed doors and after all the president has the ultimate authority to grant securityty clearanances. how do you respond to that? >> i would say twowo things.s. first, we arere not cherry pickg as a testimony. the republican memo, which people should read d for themselves, there may be four or five issues that are very seserious, not all 2 25. that is hardly a defense. even they are acknowledging there are four or five very serious races. second, the president does not have absolute authority to do anything. or examplele, i'm not alleging this, but if there were allegations the white house was selling security clearances, certaiainly that wouould be ill. the president does have discretion, but not the authority to have misconduct. what we need to investigate is was there misconduct? p people granted securirity clearances because of political preferences or nepotism, and were t the rules not followed?

amy: i want to go back to tuesday's during. this is alexandria ocasio-cortez . that we are suggesting are conducting foreign relations with folk was security clearancesvia whatsapp. everyday we go on without getting to the bottom of this matter is a day we are putting hundreds, if not potentially thousands, of americans at risk. i mean, really, what is next, putting nuclear codes in instagram dm's? we need to get to the bottom of this. in order to do that, we have to isissue subpoenas because people in this administration are not cooperating. amy: so that is alexandria ocasio-cortez from new york, your colleague on the oversight committee. also, the issue of retaliation against tricia newbold, the staffer at the white house who has blown the whistle on at

least it looks like 25 people who she recommended not get that security clearance and then it went up from there and that was overturned. she now is on a 14 day suspension. she suffers from a kind of dwarfism. she said files were put out of her reach and that she was discriminated against in various ways. >> she has shown incredible courage. imagine what she is facing. here you have a president who is apt to tweet about any person he disagrees with or feels is a threat to his presidency. and dedespite that, despite the potential republicans attacking -- orere media attacking media attacking her, she is comfort in a patriotic what is say the country really needs to understand what went on.n. i will giv credit to a couple

of republican colleagues on the oversight committee who yesterday assured her that they would protect her ability to come forward and w would make se there was not any public retaliation. because what she is done has really shown courage. amy: let me ask about the question of the mueller report, the vote that is about to take place around releasing the full mueller report. what is your assessment of what has been released so far? a lot of questions about the continued assertions of congress members on that there is clear collusion as opposed to corruption. what do you feel barr has released and what he should have the power to hold back and whether you should see the whole report? whwhat kind of power does cocons have? hasirst of all, congress already voted on this. we voted 420-0 to release the

full reporort. that is my vieiew of what muellr intended. he did not intend for barr to make a detetermination foror the americican public of a two-year investigation. he was very careful. he was methodical. he spent two years collecting the evidence. he wanted that transmitted to congress and the american people for folks to decide. this has been a very cynicical atattempt by the administrtratio thehebill barr to define termrms of debate an issue of opinions without letting anyone else see it. on the merits of the report itself, i think it is important to go to a a few points. russians is clear the intervened in our elections. that should be the headline, that the russians were trying to emails, dnc's manipulalating social media to suppreress the vote, that ththey wanted trump to win. and there shouldld be outrage, frankly, in the e country ababot that interference and a question

of how we cann deal with that interference. second, on the obstruction of concludedueller has he cannot exonerate the president. there are numerous issues about the president's conduct that are questionable. the congress needs to have a debate about that and a debate about the p president's conduct and whether it was appropriatete or not.. usurping thes conversation and the american people need to take a back by demand and the full release of the report. juan: i want to turn to another topic, a foreign-policy issue you have been involved in. you been in the forefront of pushing a war powers resolution in congress related to stopping u.s. backing for the saudi war in yemen and a version of that bill has passed in both the house and the senate. what is your expectation of what president trump will do? do you have any indication from the white house? >> it passed the house and senate, but we need to repass it

in the house this week. unfortunately, the republicans are trying to play games. they may try to weaponize anti-semitism to attach a measure to the war powers resolutionon to try to prevent them from going to the president't's desk. we havave been working veryy ha. i giveve majority leader hoyer credit to make sure they d don't attach some resolution to defeat the yemen war powers resolution from going to the president's desk. i am hopeful the president may sign this. it h has bipartisan support t wh people like senator rand paul and senator lee. what we're talking about here is a humanitarian n catastrophe. 14 million yemenis may face famine. i was justst with artan griffit, the envoy to the e area. he said if we e do not act in te next few months for the saudi's to lift the blockade and get food and medicinee there, ththee coululd be a a real humanitarian catastrophe where the famine

becomes a reversible. i am so passionanate aboutut ths bebecause in 1943 when my grandfdfather wasas in jail in india,a, there was a famine of 3 million people and that was because of british indifference, because they did not do anything to help those folks. we should not repeat t that miststake today. we have to a act. the world has to act. it is not a partisan issue. venezuela, issue of you were among those -- you sent a letter to secretary of state mike pompeo warning against u.s. military intervention in venezuela. while there is not military intervention, the country is suffering a series of blackouts. the people are being plunged into poverty. the entire country is totally disrupted. the president maduro says the u.s. is workining with guaido to sabotage the country even

further than the varied or coney true coneyns -- very and sanctions. do you feel -- what have you told the trump administration you want to see hahappen there?? is notr intervention making issues any better. what i told the trump administration they should take up the pope and his offer or mexico to have a mediated settlement.. for not an apologist maduro. some of his actions have been reprehensible. guaidoea of going after and possibly putting him in jail is a violation of human rights or the idea that guaido should not be in office -- but the reality is, when the united states intervened, when mike pence is calling guaido and propping him up, that is actually playing into maduro's hands. maduro uses that to rile up his base. in a far more thoughtful policy

would be to call out the human rights violations, to call out maduro for violations, but to say that we are going to rely on the pope or mexico to call for new elections, and i was just a with president carter. he said the previous elections, let the carter center in, we should have new elections. but there has to be credible fofolks with credibility in the international community and regional credibility to help mediate that. our intervention to stop making that any more likely. amy: ro khanna, thank you for being with us, democratic congressmember from california, member of the house committee on oversight and reform. when we come back, we e will lok at this historic win in chicago in the role of movements in the mayoral race. then we will look at mexico. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we turn now to chicago where voters made history tuesday by electing lori lightfoot as both the city's first african-american woman mayor and openly gay mayor. lightfoot's victory comes after a february runoff that pitted her against toni preckwinkle, a former alder-person who is president of the cook county board. while preckwinkle had been viewed as a highly formidable candidate, lightfoot is a political outsider who has never held political office. she is a former federal prosecutor who entereded the mayoral race and a longshot bid before mayor rahm emmanuel announced he would not run for a third term. in 2015, emmanuel appointed her to head the chicago police board. she was also chair of the police accountability task force in 2016, created after the police killing of laquan mcdonald that issued a damning report on chicago police relations with

black residents. part of her mayoral campaign focused on ousting chicacago's political machine, and she linknked preckwinkle to an ongog federal corruption investigation at city hall. this is lightfoot addressing her supporters tuesday night in a victory speech. >> thank you, chicago. [cheers] frfrom the bottom of my heart, ththank you. a few moments ago, i spoke w wih toni preckwinklele. in this election, we were competitors. but our differences are nothing compared to what we can achieve together. [cheers] now that it is over, i know we will work together for the city that we both love. [applause]

today you did more than make history. you created a movement for change. them ornot us versus neighborhood versus downtown. we're in this together, and we will grow together. we can and we will build trust between our people and our brave police officers so that the communities and police trust each other, not fear each other. [applause] thisn andnd we will break city's endless cycle of corruption. [cheers] and never again -- never, ever allow politicians to profit from

elected positions. [applause] out there tonight, a lot of little girls and boys are watching. they are watching u us.. and thth are seeining the beginning of something, well, a little bit different. [cheers] they are seeing a city reborn, a city where does not matter what color you are. and surely where does not matter how tall you are. [applause] where it does not matter who you .ove just as long as you love let me say that again. where it does not matter who you as you loves long

with all of your heart. will buildago we together, we will celebrate our differences. we will embrace our uniqueness. and we will make certain that all have every opportunity to succeed. [applause] every child out there should know this, each of you one day can be the mayor of chicago. [applause] you want to know why? just look right here. standnd on myll shoulders as i stand on the shoulders of so many. the shoulders of strong black women like ida b wells, gwendolyn brooks, and annie ruth

lowery. lgbtq plus trof , andrs, like dr. ron sable art johnston. in the shoulders of political giants like the late great harold washington. amy: that was chicago's mayor-elect lori lightfoot addressing supporters in her victory speech tuesday night. she won 73% of the vote. she e will take over as s mayort month. for more we go to chicago where , we are joined by barbara ransby, professor of african american studies, gender and women's studies and history at the university of illinois, chicago. she wrote about all of this for the nation in piece headlined, "the rising black left movement behind chicago's historic elections." her latest book is "making all black lives matter: reimagining freedom in the twenty-first century." welcome back to democracy now! professor, can you talk about the significance of the mayoral election yesterday? >> yes, thank you for having me,

amy. there is significant on two levels. as a historian, i would be the last to deny the significance of having an openly gay african-american woman as the mayor of the third largest city because the way the racism has worked in this city and in this country in the past is through exclusion. so the fact we have overcome that hurdle in terms of representation is significant. but what is more significant is the way in which this generation of activistss, particularly young black activists, have insisted that politicians like lori lightfoot and toni preckwinkle and others adhere to a set of progressive demands and issues that have defined this campaign. so i think on another level, the real victory is movement organizers, young black andx latin organizers, have put

issues on the table and the two contenders both had to present themselves and make promises around a progressive agenda. the question now is, will they keep that agenda. i should also say in all fairness, there were critiques of both candidates. i think that reflects a level of political savvy and sophistication, that it wasn't enough to say we're going of a black woman mayor, that many ueer activists were critical of lori lightfoot's role on the police board and did not feel she fought hard enough to hold please accountable, to punish police for police crimes and so forth. so they were not timid about doing that simply because she was an effort than american -- african-american woman and it out gay black woman. the two full victory is in some ways the white led machine in chicago politics has been wounded, if not defeated, but it is also a challenge that a whole ecosystem of black and latinx

and antiracist what activists in chicago have shaped the debate around this campaign and will continue to push after the inauguration in may. professor, the last african-american mayor or the first african-american mayor of chicago harold washington, was elected amidst a huge racial divide politically where the white political establishment made his first be years almost impossible to govern. and now we're seeing a situation where you have two african-american women and the winner with all of the awards -- the awards of chicago, which seems to indicate that at least now for the first time in the white community, there is no sense of trepidation about voting for an african-american candidate. is 20 preckwinkle, while she

considered an establishment candidate, wasn't she one of the key figures in the progressive caucus of the city council? so why this huge landslide for her opponent? >> we're still waiting to see how many people actually voted. by a lori lightfoot won landslide. that is undeniable. in the february election, however, we did not see either preckwinkle or lori lightfoot when a majority of the black awards. that was just not the case. how we see this playing out, we're still figuring it out, but this i will say, i think people have a desire for change. i think sometimes they be we're not as critical as we should be about what kind of change is likely to come. i think both of the candidates made some impressive commitments . again, i think we have to see whether lori lightfoot is in fact going to deliver on the

promises made. withnk the desire to break tradition, and toni preckwinkle was seen as part of the old guard. she was one of the founders and the city council when she served their of the progressive caucus and certainly was supported by the progressive wing of the labor movement here in chicago. but i think the idea of someone who had not held office, the idea of someone who had a strong message of being independent and so forth, was appealing to a number of people. that said, a lot of people with money supported lori lightfoot. a lot of northside wealthy ortricts, wards, what with lightfoot and that allow for tv ads and a reach that toni preckwinkle did not have. people vote for a lot of different reasons. i guess part of the way i am making sense of this this morning is that it is not just about what individual wins.

it is about what issues got put on the table and what commitments were extracted. phase two is to see whether the movement sustains its pressure, sustains the push, and actually holds lori lightfoot accountable to the things she has promised to do. amy: if you contact -- you could talk more about the issues of police brutality, police killings, and how they very much played into this campaign and the -- ultimately, the dumping of the defeat of alvarez with the killing of laquan mcdonald. rahm emanuel holding back that videotape of the police killing of mcdonald right through his reelection. and the fact that lightfoot, the head of the chicago police board, and how all of these different movements like the black lives matter movement, all came together around this, and now what mayor elect lightfoot says about issues of police brutality and police violence

since there were so central to this campaign? >> absolutely. i want to preface my response to your question by saying they are also a very set of related economic issues. the people who are most innerable to police violence chicago and elsewhere are poor and working-class, primarily black and secondarily latinx folks. the movement has also been clear about gentrification, issues of the fact blackk people are being pushed out of the city because of the price ines and the abandonment of services. all of that as a backdrop to the issue of police violence. but you are right, the laquan mcdonald case was really the pivot of this election in a lot of ways. it was the issue that rahm emanuel could not run away from and could not run away from it because of the relentless pressure by a whole network a ad coalition of organizations from black lives matter chicago to

assata's daughters, to black youth project 100. so putting the pressure on rahm emanuel not to run or letting him know that this is one to be the fight of his life if he did run, it was part of what shaped the election as it unfolded. secondly, the movement really confronted lori lightfoot when she was in her role as the chair of the police board. young people confronted herr arou t the rakia boyden marder duringuan mcdonald issue the campaign. there were t-shirts that said queers against lori lightfoot, which was interesting andnd eye-catching for a number of people to see that kind of formulation of people saying this is not just about identity. and a lot of that centered around grievances around police accountability. of course, lori lightfoot is the former prosecutor. many felt much too closely allie

d with police, even other promises she has made is for police reform and accountability. again, it is a question of pushing and making sure that at least some of those promises are kept and the movement sustains its momentum. juan: professor, chicago is one of the city's about one third african-american, one third white. any sense of how this election played out in the latina community of chicago? i understand to garcia, who last rant against rahm emanuel, was backing lightfoot. how did this play out against -- among the voters? >> i think the latina community was divided. high-profile latinx leaders in the city ultimately sided with an endorsed lori lightfoot. she we garcia was one of those. toni preckwinkle

did not endorse him against rahm emanuel. there may have been some residual against that. susan mendoza, the other high-profile latinx candidate in the race, three chico, both endorsed lori lightfoot. what i would say on the grassroots level, organizers in the immigrant rights movement, withorganizers allied young black organizers in challenging that scenario and challenging lori lightfoot and challenging the idea that she would be some sort of savior for the city. so there were latinos on both thes of the debate between two contenders. there areink -- political ideological differences and we don't see black people voting in a single block. we don't see latinx people voting in a single block. i think there is a real move beyond a certain kind of narrow identity politics and really embracing issues in forming new

alliances. we have really seen more black /brown unity at the grassroots level in chicago than we have in actual more formal electoral coalitions. amy: lover ransby, thank you for being with us, professor of african american studies, gender and women's studies and history at the university of illinois, chicago. her latest book "making all , black lives matter: reimagining freedom in the twenty-first century." we will link to your piece in the nation, "the rising black left movement behind chicago's historic elections." when we come back, we go to mexico city. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: president trump is continuing threats to close the southern border if mexico does not stop the flow of asylum seekers arriving at the u.s. border. but he partially backed off his warning in remarks at the oval office tuesday, saying mexico had increased its apprehensions of immigrants since he first

threat last week. pres. trump: i'm ready to close it if i have to close it. mexico, as of yesterday, has been starting to apprerehend a t of people at their southern border coming in from honduras and guatemala and el salvador. they are really everything thousands of people. it is the first time really in decades this has taken p place d should have taken place a long time ago. juan: trump said he w would 100% follow through on his plan to wase the border if no deal reached with congress on immigration. he also said he wanted to "get rid of judges" in immigration cases. economic and policy experts warn a border closure between the u.s. and mexico could result in a hit of billions of dollars of losses to the economy by disrupting trade and the daily flow of goods and people between the two countries. members of trump's own administration have expressed concerns with the possible closure.

senate majority leader mitch mcconnell set closing the border would be "catastrophic." but trump said tuesday that he was willing to shut the border anyway, saying, "security is more important to me than trade." amy: on monday, mexican prpresident t andres mananuel lz obrador said his administration would help regulate the flow of central american migrants passing ththrough mexican territory to the united states. prudent anded to be i think that is the best thing, to have a policy of friendship with the u.s. government, a relationship of good neighbors with the u.s. government, and to act with a lot of caution. to not get hooked in a confrontation in a row. course we have to help because central american migrants pastor our territory, and we have to bring order to that migration so that it is legal. and at the same time, for human rights to be protected. so that is where we are at. but let's stay calm. we would enter into this dynamic and i prefer love and peace.

of course i take it seriously that we should act with caution. amy: as transport showdown continues, we turn to look at the first 100 days of the presidency of mexican president andres manuel lopez obrador. mexixico's first leftist presidt in decades. in mexicico city, we are joinedy humberto beck, historian and editor based in mexico city. he is currently a professor at "the college of mexico." can you talk about both w what amlo is saying about the border, how he is dealing with president trump, but most important what the four months of this presidency of obrador have been about? >> thank you for having me. i think lopez obrador does not want to confront trump openly. some trying to create

breaches up -- bridges of corporation with other dynamics of u.s. government. for example, he had a meeting with u.s. congressman about the possibility of creating some ind of inversion program southern mexico and central america. i think that is what he wants to do because he is really not trying to stop the flow of migrants. he knows, evenen though he does know want to acknowledge it openly, he knows that sending back migrants to central america, sending these people back to unlivable situations because of violence. i think what he wants to do is not to confront trtrump openly, try to work in some kind of cooperation program with the u.s., and try to create what could be, if it is ambitious enough, some kind of martial program with the south of mexico, central america. and about the first month of the lopez obrador presidency, i would say there is a very

powerful change in the discourse of the government. if you can't trust what president like oprah's -- lopez or door says, there is a real change from other mexican presidents. lopez obrador is one of the few mexican politicians who talk about inequality as a main problem of mexico. i think he is right. to a great extent, the reason why he won last year the elections. now the question is to find out if he can deliver. so far he is greeted in a vicious social spending program that -- it will be funded according to his calculations with cuts in government spending in other arereas. of mexicanpending government officials. so this is probabably going to work for a while. but in the long run, what is

needed is deep tax reform. because a mexico, the richest people really don't pay taxes. i think a program of such spending of lopez obrador cannot be sustainable if there is not some kind of deep, radical tax reform. i'm: humberto beck, wondering if you could comment on the enormous popularity even greater that he has now been when he was elected? some polls showing yes it of percent favorability rating among -- he has 80% favorability rating. the style he is adopted, for instance, selling the presidential jet -- not only the presidential jet that was just basically put in the service in the last presidency, but also selling 60 other government owned jet, refusing to live in the presidential palace, holding daily press conferences to reach

out to the press and the public about his stance, closing the the mostrison -- notorious prison in mexico where many had been tortured over decades. to what degree this has had an impact on ththe populalation segmgments realllly is a differt kind of polititician? >> that t is definitely one of e .ainin aspecects people feel this is a sense of authenticity in what lopez obrador says and what he does. the symbol of selling the presidential plane was really important in his discourse about austerity. and then neoliliberal sense of cutting social spending, but in the sense of cutting off the excessive luxuries that many government officials used to have before he came to power. he also has made this policy of day, about to start

probably right now, conferences with the press. this is an also important change because the previous president almost practically never h had a spontaneous encounter with the press. lopez obrador has changed that. i think this adds up to the sense of what the deuce city -- authenenticity with the american public. however, i think there are a couple of issues that might turn problematic in the next years. for example, there has been also an important change in discourse about security and about the fight against crime. the concrete measures this d do government is about to adopt are ambivalent in that sense. so there might be a clash between the sense of the discourse the president has adopted and the actual

implplications o of the policie, such as s the creation of the national guard that is supposed to be a hybrid between military and civilian elements. but leaves open the door for a continuation of the policy of military is asian that is characterized -- militarizatatin that is characacterized mexico n the past and created human suffering through the disappearances of tens of thousands of people, killing of hundreds of thousands of people and a large amount of human rights abuses on the part of the military in mexico. amy: the issue of the killing of journalists, i think we're up to maybe that fifth journalist, radio journalist who was just killed, the targeting of them and what amlo is doing about this? think he acknowledges the problem but he has not really addressed it in a spspecific way.

that issue of f the relationonsp between the new government and the press s is really important. the issue of the killing of journalists that has been going on for almost a decade in mexico, but also the issue of the relatitionship between the government and the press in generaral. so that might be also onone of e problems coming in the next fears. has thisadopted -- he attitude of sometimes confronting the press and saying thatare not really honest, -- he is not using "fake news," but implying they want to attack him and giving false information. i think that creates an atmosphere for the media that is not the best for liberty of speech. juan: i want to ask about his

labor policy as well as because one of the things that he did was he doubled the minimum wage ,n the northern border areas and that led to strikes by workers demanding sharp increases in wages. surprisingly, the government remained neutral. i remember back in the days come if workers went on strike, especially in the foreign owned companies, the government would intervene and even arrest strike leaders at the time. at least the government at this stage remained neutral. how has he been seen in terms of his labor policy so far? the think this change in atattitude t toward labor polics part of the larger turn in bringing back inequality is a main issue of the new government . so one of the things they have done is to i think tried to vindicate dignity of workers

through the increase in the minimum wage and also through this respect against strikes. and also i think what he is trying to do is create a new equilibrium between let's say labor and capital. so even though amlo is far from a radical, so all of this talk about heaving a a new madururo r chavez, is not really true. todoes not really want abolish -- or something like that. but he really wants to create this new equilibrium between the factories of production. i think there is a real opportunity there of increasing the quality of life of workers in mexico. however, also in that area, there are some aspects -- amy: we have five seconds.

>> sorry? amy: we have five seconds. amy: for example, -- on humberto beck,