04/09/19 04/09/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democrcracy now! >> today the united states is continuing to build its maximum pressure campaign against their rainy and regime. -- iranian regime. in accordance with section 219 of the iigrationon and nationality act.t. amy: in an unprecedented move, the trump administration has formally labeled another

military as a terrorist. we will look at what this means. the president trump for more separation of families as the intensifies his crackdown on immigration and purges the leadership of the department of homeland security. secretary kristjen nielsen and the director of the secret service have already been removed as trump puts hard-line advisor stephen miller in charge of the nation's immigration policy. pres. trump: catch and whistle illegal border crosses can be quickly and safely returned to their home. sorry, get out. can't handle it. told my people yesterday, our country is f full. we are full. can't come in. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the white house announced monday the director of the secret service randolph "tex" alles has been removed from his position, one day after homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen's announced departure. as head of the secret service, he reported directly to nielsen. trump reportedly ordered alles's firing as part of a purge of top officials overseeing immigration policy and spearheaded by white house senior adviser stephen miller. cnn is reporting francis cissna, head of u.s. citizenship and immigration services, and john mitnick, general counsel of the department of homeland security, could be next to leave the administration. in related news, nbc news reports trump has been pushing monday to revive his family separation policy at the southern u.s. border for months and that nielsen's resistance to the move further drove a wedge between the two. unnamed officials who spoke to

nbc said nielsen told trump the department of homeland security could not act against fedederal court orders barring the policy, and that trump would be defying his own executive order last year that put an end to it. kevin mcaleenan, head of customs and border patrol and incoming acting dhs secretary, reportedly was open to reinstating a form of family separation in which families would have to choose between being separated or being taken into long-term detention with their children. meanwhile cnn is reporting trump , told border agents not to let migrants in and to tell judges "we don't have room." on friday, trump repeated his call to get rid of immigration judges while speaking to reporters after making the comment earlier in the week while at a meeting with the secretary general of nato. in more immigratioion news, a federal judge in san f francisco has blocked president trump's so-called "remain in mexico" policy, which forces asylum

seekers to wait in mexico while their cases make their way through u.s. courts. judge richard seeborg ruled that the practice, which went into effect in january, violates existing immigration laws and does not comply with u.s. policy against returning migrants to countries where their "life or freedom would be threatened." in a statement, human rights first, which repreresents cliens affected by trump's policy, said -- "as president trump rids the department of homeland security of top officials in search of even more extreme immigration hardliners, today's ruling is a reminder that the policies already put in place to dismantle the asylum system are -- in many cases -- illegal, and will not hold up in court." judge seeborg's injunction is set to go into effect friday. as the news broke monday, reports emerged that customs and border patrorol were sending bas multipiple immigrant families so mexico after they appeared in u.s. courts for their hearings.

the trump administration designated iran's elite islamic revolutiononary guard corps as a foreign terrorist organization monday -- the first time the u.s. has f formally laled d an m of anotherer country's militarya terrorist group. the pentagon and cia opposed the decisionon, warning itit could t u.s. troops at risk. but national security advisor john bolton and secretary of state mike pompeo pushed for the move as s e u.s. continues its "maximum pressure" campaign against iran. this is pompeo annnnouncing the decision. >> the first time the united states has designated a part of a government as an fdl. we'rere doing it because the iranian regime's use terrorism as a tool makes it fundamentally different from any other government. businesses and banks around the world now have a clear duty to ensure that companies with which they cononduct national transactions are not connected

to the irgc in any material way. amy: on monday, iran's supreme national security council in return designated the united states central command, also known as centcom, and all its forces as terrorists. the council also labeled the u.s. a "supporter of terrorism." we'll have more on this story after headlines with author and founder of the national iranian american council trita parsi. in israel, voters are heading to the polls today in a hotly contested parliamentary election that many say is a referendum on prime minister benjamin netanyahu's 10 year rule. netanyahu has been embroiled in multiple c corruption scandals d his hard-line nationalist rhetoric and policies have raised concern among centrist israelis. meanwhile, unwnwavering support from the trump administration, including recent moves to recognize the golan heights as sovereigign israeli territoranad to designate iraran's revolutionary guard as a terror group, has bolstered his popularity among conservative israelis. netanyahu's main opponent,

former army chief benny gantz, who heads the blue and white party, has also relied on pro-security and military rhetoric, but claims he will be able t to unite israelis. asas voting got under way around the country, a judge filed a complaint after netanyahu's likukud party providided electin observers at polling stations in arab neighborhoods with 1200 body cameras. in libya, authorities shut down tripoli's only operational airport monday after forces from the eaststern libybyan nationaly launched an aiairstrike as theyy continue theirir offensive led y renegagade general khalifa haft. haftar, a dual u.s.-libyan citizen, startrted to lead his forces towards tripoli last week in an n attempt to seize the capital from the u.n.-backed government of national accord. the united nations has called for an immediate truce and the evacuation of civilians caught in the crossfire. in afghanistan, three u.s. military members and one u.s. contractor died monday after a

road side bomb went off near bagram airbase outside the capital kabul. the taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. the deaths came amid ongoing peace talks between the u.s. and taliban officials and after a rash of attacks around the country in recent days killed dozens of afghan security forces and military members. at least 32 military personnel were killed after taliban fighters attacked an army base in western badghis province last week according to afghan officials. u.s. authorities have revoked the visa of the prosecutor of the international criminal court, fatou bensouda, weeks after the trump administration announced it was barring entry into the u.s. to icc investigators who may be investigating alleged war crimes by the u.s. military in afghanistan. bensouda asked icc judges to authorize an investigation into possible u.s. war crimes in afghanistan in 2017.

a 2016 icc report accused the u.s. military of torturing at least 61 prisoners in afghanistan and accused the cia of subjecting at least 27 prisoners to torture, including rape, at a number of cia prison sites. three former new york city firefighters involved in the 9/11 rescue effort died last week. they all suffered from illnesses related to their exposure to lethal toxins at the wreckage site of the twin towers. two of the men died of cancer. funeral services for timothy o'neill, kevin lennon, and michael andreachi will be held this week. a fund set up to cover healthcare costs for 9/11 first responders and survivors is set to expire in 2020. earlier this year, lawmakers, including new york senator kirsten gillibrand, announced a bill to permanently fund the federal program. in boston, 13 parents, including

hollywood actress felicity huffman, and one coach agreed to plead guilty to fraud as part of the elite college admissions scandal known as operation varsity blues. huffman admitted to paying $15,000 to have someone cheat on the s.a.t.'s for her daughter. the money was funneled through a charity set up by the scheme's mastermind rick singer. stanford university announced this week they expelled a student who they say was connected to a $500,000 donation to singer's charity and who provided false information in their college application. meanwhile, "the boston globe" reported last week that harvard university is investigating the sale of a home belonging to the school's fencing coach, to the father of a student who was soon after committed to harvard, and onto the fencing team. the case is not believed to be related to operation varsity blues. two congress members have joined the crowded democratic field for the 2020 presidential nomination. tim ryan of ohio kicked off his campaign saturday at a rally in youngstown, where he touted his appeal to working class voters

from purple states. >> flyover states are my states. yourlyover states are states. in the flyover states are going to start governing in the united states of america again. amy: ryan has backed key progressive issues including medicare for all and renewable energy initiatives. he previously worked against reproductive rights but in 2015 reversed his position on abortions, saying the choice should be up to women, not politicians. he also disavowed his prior relationship with the nra, who for years gave him "a" ratings. after the 2017 mass shooting in las vegas, he pledged to donate contributions from the group to gun control efforts. on monday, eric swalwell of california announced his candidacy on the "the late show with stephen colbert." >> i talked to teachers and truckers and nurses, and it seems like they're just running a place and it is not adding up to anything. i talked to people who were just like me, the first in a family to go to college.

have a lot of student debt, cannot buy home or start a business. i talked to get to sit in the classroom afraid there will be the next victim of gun violence. amy: congressman swalwell sits on the house judiciary and intelligence committees. he has been vocal on gun control, supports medicare for all, and the green new deal. his recent messaging has focused on generational issues affecting young people, such as student debt. theyeyring the number two about 18 presisidential candidates on ththe democratic side. in l louisiana, authorities are investigatining fires at three black k churches over a period f 10 days, which they say are likely related, though no motive or suspect has been found thus far. no deaths or injuries were reported in the blazes. the first fire occurred at the end of last month and the two others last week, , all in the same community, about 30 minutes north of lafafayette.. a fourth fire that occurred last sunday at a predominantly white church in another part of louisiana is also being investigated, but is n not believed to be connected. in his latest attack on the environment, president trump has

reportedly slashed funding for an obama-era conservation program that tackles issues such as climate change, flooding, and species extinction. scientists who work for the landscape conservation cooperatives, or lcc's, told the guardian that over half of the 22 groups that form the conservation collective have been dissolved or put on indefinite hiatus. this despite congress approving renewed funding for lcc's. one source told the guardian, "i'd say there could be five to six years down the drain." another lawsuit a against boeing has been filed in the u.s. over last month's fatal ethiopian airlines crash, which killed all 157 people on board. the family of 29-yeaear old mucd hussein abdalla from minnesota says boeing neglected known safety issues in the design of its flight control system on the 737 max 8 aircraft and that it did not properly train pilots on the software. last week, the family of 24-year-old samya stumo sued boeing and filed a claim against the federal aviation administration. boeing's ceo admitted wrongdoing

and apologized for the crash for the first time last week. and human rights activist blase bonpane has died. for more than half a century, the former maryknoll priest and longtime director of the office of the americas worked to promote human rights in latin america. he was a catholic priest in guatemala during the 1960's where heas expelled for ss efforts b behalof t theoor and disenfncnchise for 50 yrsrs, heosteted e showow "world focus" on pacific radio's kpfk ilolos anles.s. alslso thorededf many books, clududin"civilization is possible" and hiauautobiraphphy "imagine no religi."." noam chomsky wrote of the book -- "i am often asked by young people, deeply disturbed by the state of the world, 'what can i do to make this sad world a better place?' an eloquent answer now is 'read blase bonpane's autobiography. if you can aspire to a fraction

of what he has achieved, you will look ck on a fefe wel lid' >> i think we have to deal with the ideology of militarism because the militarism hahas become the very fabric of o our culture. militarism has no relationship to democracy. if it is militarist, and his anti-democratic. and if we based our thinkiking n might makes right, we really don't care about who has acclaimed anything. we don't care aboutut law. we become lawless. in policy hasas been lawless cecentral america, and south america, and africa cocome in te middle easast. it has been lawless. it has been an argument and a policy of power and militarism. amy: to see our interview with

blase bonpane, go to democracynow.org, including our trip to visit lori berenson in peru. blase bonpane was 89 years old. 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. in an unprecedented move, the trump administration has designated iran's elite islamic revolutionary guard corps as a foreign terrorist organization resulting in sweeping economic and travel restrictions on its members. this marks the first time the united states has formally labebeled an arm o of another country's military a a terrorist group. the pentagon and cia opposed the decision, warning it could put u.s. troops at risk. kekey backers of the move includ national security advisor john bolton and secretary of state mike pompeo, who formally announced the new policy on

monday. >> today the united states is continuing to build its maximum pressure campaign against the iranian regime. i'm announcing our intent to designate the islamic revolutionary guard corps, including itskuds force, such as organization in accordance with section 219. this designation will take effect one week from today. this is the first time the united states has designated a part of another government as an fdl. we're doing it because the iranian regime's use terrorism as a tool of statecraft makes a phenomenally different from any other government. this historic step will define the leading state sponsor of terror, the financial means to spread misery and death around the world. amy: the s step is the latest in the white house's efforts to isolate iran after the u.s. withdrew from the landmark iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on the country last year, despite widespread international condemnation.

"the new york times" reports the trump administration timed the announcement in an attempt to give a last-minute boost to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu ahead of today's elections in israel. netanyahu thanked trump on twitter for taking the action against the islamic revolutionary guard corps. iranian officials swiftly condemned the new policy and warned the designation will destabilize the region. on monday, iran's supreme national security council retaliated by designating the united states central command, known as centcom, and all its forces as terrorists. the council also labeled the u.s. a "supporter of terrorism." well, for more, we go now to washington, d.c., where we're joined by trita parsi, the founder of the national iranian american council. his most recent book is titled "losing an enemy: obama, iran, and the triumph of diplomacy." he's also the author of "a single roll of the dice: obama's diplomacy with iran." trita parsi is an adjunct associate professor in the center for security studies at georgetown university. trita, welcome to democracy now! the significance of this u.s.

designation as a iranian revolutionary guard as terrorist and then iran reciprocates by dennis and was central command. so ththere is both shorort-term and long-term consequences of this. the short term, as the cia and pentagon themselves have warned, is that they does this increases the risk of a confrontation in the r region and in that sense t makes the united states less safe by increasing the likelihood of war. the long-term effffects, howeve, i think are even more problematic because they're more likely, and that is that this move seems to be designed to entrap the united states in a permanent state of enmity with iran. or 2024, in 2020 decides to reverse some of the measures of the trump administration, wants to reenter the jcp p or wants to o pursue e formrm of normal diplomacy with iran in order to reduce tensions without country, it will find its political maneuver

by thisantly inhibited decision. for instance, being able to go back into the jcp requires the u.s. to lift the sanctions it has been re-imposing on the dust under the trump administration but that will be much more difficult because of sanctions have been reinforced -- reimposed under terrorism laws and now the irgc is on a terrorist list. so the political capital for the next to administration to do something instructive and asked to create some sort of diplomatic momentum with will necessitate reversing this decision on the irgc. and that is an extremely heavy lift. as a result, the future opportunities for diplomacy are going to be significantly hampered by this, which then traps ththe u.s. in this prolond almost permanent state of enmity with iran, which i think is precisely what someone like netanyahu and the crown prince of saudi arabia are looking for. juan: what about the impact on

neighboring countntries, especially a rat in syria, where effectively, the revolutionary tord were in effect working dust together against isis? >> in iraq, thehe irgc and the iranians were, according to the iraqis, the first ones descendent ammunition and help in order to defeat isis and according to the iraqi defense minister, had it not been for ran, baghdad would have fallen to isis. because this was during the obama administration, the iranians and the americans coordinator through the iraqis how they were jointly defeating and fighting back agagainst isi. that type of an opportunity for collababoration now it is closed off. as a result of this designation. moreover, ththis is putting a tremendous amount of pressure on iraq. iraq is a ready in a delicate situation. the country has been severely

destabilizes because of thiss invasion, and they are stuck between the u.s. and iran. they need the iranians for different things. most in, they want to avoid becoming an arena which the united states and iran fight each other on iraqi soil. they are a drive-by shooting victim in all of this. this designationon makes it even more difficult f for them m bece many of ththe c companies and my of the entities they're working with in iran and one where another are connected to the irgc. this is important keep in mind. according to o the u.s. governmt itseself, this designation may include up to as many as 11 million people come almost 1/8 of iran's population. this is not designating a small entity that is manageable. this is talking about in 11 million people and you can imagine how problematic that will be for r ighboring countries who for their own interest want to have some sort of peaceful relationship with iran. coming as af this iss rent a struggling under heavy flooding.

"the new york times" reports iran's foreign ministry accused the trump administration a blocking efforts to aid iranian victims of calamitous floods are restrictionscruel imposed by renewed american banking sanctions on the country. can you explain what is happening here? administration and a secretary pompeo saiai has gonene for what they call a maximum pressure campaign. they every imposed sanctions. withhave threatened banks astronomical fines. they have imposed astronomical fines for anyone who is even been in the gray zone of violating the sanctions. as a result, therere creatated e situation in which no banks aree willing g to deal with iranian banknking system. i think it is important to note, much of this existed during the obama administration as well because that is when this maximum strategy o originatedd from. ononce the n new care deal was struck, the us government at that timime went on a tour and

were essentially doing every thing that could to get banks to start connecting with iranian banks again. the trump administration has reversed that and scacared away the banks. as a result, even though these transactions are not sanctioned by the united states, not prohibited by the united states, the pressure on the banks has led to a scenario in which no one is willing to handle the transactions, which is left the iranians in a precarious situation because it is difficult for them to now get aid from the outside because no one is willing to handle those financial transactions. juan: what about the impact internally on iran of this latest move the trump administration, given the fact the rouhani administration, administration, was seeking in one way or another to rein in the revolutionary guard? >> this is quite a a bit of iroy of thihis. the rouhuhani government has ben

loggerheads with the rgc for some time and has tried to really reduce the irgc's influence on society, which is extensive and should be noted that the irgc itself has played a very negative role in clampdown's, repression, etc., inside the country. it now as a result of this decision, you can clearly see a rallying around the flag situation in iran in which a lot of the folks that are critical of the irgc view them as political opponents have now felt forced to come out and defend the irgc. because now they are essentially sensing they are in the same boat. this is part of the kind of productive notion of this decision. instead of actually creating who space for those in iran want to see her more open society, who want to move iran closer to the west, offer the population for greater freedoms,

etc.c., those forceses right noe on the defensive because of the aggression by the trump administration. they're even feeling forced to come out and defend the irgc even though under normal circumstances they would be viewing the irgc as the main opponent for the purpose of bringing greater democracy to iran. davidson017, adam wrote a piece headlined "donald trump's worst deal." according to the article, trump helped build a hotel in azerbaijan that appears to be a corrupt operation engineered by oligarchs tied to iran's revolutionary guard. davidson reports the trump organization's chief legal officer, alan garten, acknowledged that trump and his daughter ivanka knew their baku azerbaijan partners were likely laundering money for the iran's revolutionary guard. david's a tweeting monday asking reporters to include these details and the reporting on the iranian revolutionary guard a terrorist designation. can you explain this?

will, should we really be surprised by now, mindful of everything else we know about how the trump organization has been o operating?? i don't see what we would think at all the trump organization would have any qualms about dealing with the company that likely was laundering money for the irgc. what this really shows, what this comes down to is not because there was a great since this actually would advance america's national interest or this truly would put more pressure on iran economically -- and fact, the irgc is already tremendously sanction. this designation does not add any significant or meaningful additional economic pressure on the irgc. all it does is it creates political obstacles for future administrations to be of the actually resolve tensions with iran. i think that is frame much the intent of someone like john bolton. it is very much the intent of netanyahu and mbs and the israel

is have beenen pushing for this for a longtime. the trump administration has essentially auction out its foreign policy in the middle east to the highest bidder and is doing a tremendous amount of favors to its allies there, completely disregarding what this will have -- the impact this will have on the u.s.'s national interest. it is noteworthy both the pentagon and the cia opposed this. theyey have for quitite some e e when t these proposals were firt brought up m more than 10 years ago, precisely because of the fact it makes america less safe. that does not seem to be much of a concern n for donald trump, however. juan: would you comment on the potential impact of the iranian government declaring the united states central command as a terrorist organization? now what potentially that could lead to in the middle east? >> i don't think that response

by the i iranians will lead d to them actually targeting u.s. troops or anything of that measure. but what it dodoes show i is tht pressure gets counter pressure. instead of thinking this maximum pressure campaign will force the iranians to capitulate come all that it does is it creates an escorted tour a cycle in which will be a tit-for-tat and if there are no exit ramps from this, then the tit-for-tat eventually will lead to a military confrontation. that is the danger here. the arena in response i think more than anything else is symbolic in that sense. what i think has happened internally is more important. there are now closing ranks. their sing themselves as being in the same boat. and the division that existed within the regime between various parties is noww essentially brushed over because they have this greatater externl threat. in the biggest losers out of that are those in iran who have argued for trying to find someone to reconcile with the

united states, to try to find someone to improve relations with the west and the u united states, those people who are championing the nuclear deal as a way of reducing tensions with the rest of f the world. they are the biggest losers of this because they cannot show any longer that there diplomacy and their efforts are reconciliation of actually brought about a better situation for ordinary iranians. on the contrarary, it is only gt an greater hostility because of what the trump administration has decided to do. amy: will this broaden u.s. military actions in syria because now that they're calling the iranian revolutionary guard terrorists, you'll broroaden thr tatargets there? >> i think there is a risk for that. we'll see how that does those in the trump administration such as bolton who have constantly tried to make sure the u.s. presence in syria would continue, have had a hard time being able to justify that both internally as well as externally. trumump has gone out and said is

is defeated, time to go home. bolton has done every thing he could to be up to keep the troops there and using iraran aa pretext saying the troops have to stay there in order to keep the iranians out. now he is a new argument. if the u.s. was there to defeat isis because it is a terrorist organization, even if trump belilieves that job is finisish, he stillll has not finished a jb as a wholele because the irgc is in syria and t the irgc is now designated as a terrorist organization. so i suspect that argument will thesed by those inside adadministstration in ororder to commit does convince trucking is to stay in syria and probably to escalate tensions in syria by starting to target the irgc there. if that happens, we are one giant step closer to a broader war. amy: trita parsi, thank you for being with us, founder of the national iranian american council. most recent book "losing an , enemy: obama, iran, and the triumph of diplomacy."

trita parsi is an adjunct associate professor in the center for security studies at georgetown university. when we come back, the trump administration's policies around immigration. president trump is calling on border guards to break the law to stop all people from coming in to the united states and to get rid of immigration judges. we will talk about all of that and more, coming up. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. president trumpmp is intensifying his crackdown on immigration as he purges the leadership of the department of homeland security. on sunday, dhs secretary kirstjen nielsen was forced out after reportedly resisting a move b by trump to revive his family separation policy at the u.s. southerern borderer. nielsen had overseen trump's zero tolerance family separation policy last year and came under fire by democrats for lying to congress about the policy, as well as for withholding information on children who died in u.s. custody. on monday, the white house announced secret service randolph "tex" alles has been removed from his position. several other high-ranking dhs officials are also reportedly on the verge of being purged.

meanwhile, on trump withdrew friday, nominee ronald vitiello to head immigration and customs enforcement, indicating he wasn't "tough" enough for the role. amy: this all comes in the wake of trump reportedly putting advisor stephen miller, a longtime hardliner on immigration, in charge of the administration's immigration policy. "the wall street journal" reports miller has backed the reinstatement of trump's family-separation policy and has beenen pushing officials at the homeland s security and justice departments to get in line with a more hard-line immigration approach. trump has named cucustoms and border protection commissioner kevin mcaleenan acting dhs secretary. mcaleenan reportedly was open to reinstating a form of family separation in which families would have to choose between being separated or being taken into long-term detention with their children. meanwhile, cnn is reporting trump told border agents not to allow migrants entry at the border and to tell judges we don't have room.

on saturday, trumpmp repeated te claim during ann address the republican jewish coalition. pres. trump: i will do whatever is necessary to stop an invasion of our country. that is what it is. at the heart of ththe crisis are the ninth circuit rulingsgs in e flores case and the trafficking victims protection reauthorization act, driving a staggering s surge of illegal families and miners into the hands of our incredible border patrol people. they have done an incredible job. what they do is incredible. catch and release so illegal border crossers can be quickly and safely returned to their home will stop get out. sorry, get out. can't handle it. yesterday,my people

our country is full.l. we are full. our country is full. can't come in. what can you do? we can't handle anymore. our country is full. can't come in, i'm sorry. it is very simple. amy: well, for more, we are joined by erika andiola, chief advocacy officer foror raices, e refugee and immigrant center for education and legal services. she is joining us from phoenix, arizona. if you could respond to this purging at homeland security and what is happening on the border. >> thank you so much for having me this morning. it is really, really disturbing what is going on. we are very worried. the secretaryad of homeland security, who was the person taking children from their parents so they could make a political desk basically send

a political message out to the american people, this is the same person who was just fired because he was not tough enough. this is definitely -- it is worrying us a lot because what we have seen already is we already have children who are still being separated from their parents. we're a lot more people who are being detained with their kids and family detention centers. it seems what trump is referring to right now in a speech he just did is he wants to double down on that, more families being detained and more people being taken away from their children by using scare tactics for the american public to think that, you know, migrants are bad people, that they should not be here, when that is not the reality. erika, in terms of seeing kristjen nielsen now, as you say, portrayed as a moderate, which was really thehe leader of

the family sepeparation policy d that the idea that she was not tough enough, what kind of signal does that send to immigrant rights groups across the country of what to expect in the next few months? >> it is deftly not going to get any easier. we are under in a administration that is being led by someone who is campaigning already for 2020. what we have already seen is not just rhetoric. it is not just trump basically referring to mean, you have heard what he has been saying about the undocumented community . it is not just his rhetotoric, t is also his policies. right now we have seen from one of his policies the return to mexico or the remaining mexico policy where he implemented the family separation policy. all of these actions have hurt a lot of people.

are working with clients who have gone through this. not too long ago, had a one-year-old baby and family detention being sick for over 20 days. he was not being taking care of at all. these are stories that continue to occur. is not really he telling the truth that these folks are human beings who are seeking asylum in this country. it is really not going to get any easier for us. we of got to continue to fight back. we have to continue to provide services and help these folks as they are detained, as they're coming in and asking for help and really continue to use all the tools we have, including fighting back these policies which we have been doing for a while now as well. amy: on sunday, dhs secretary kristjen nielsen was fororced ot after reportedly resisting the

move by trump to revive, separation policy at the u.s. border, but she oversaw trump's zero power -- coming under fire for democrats for lying to congress as well as withholding information on children who died in u.s. custody. at least two children died under nielelsen's l leadershihip, eigr old philippe eight and seven-year-old jake lane. this is nielsen spspeaking last your abobout the conditions of detainment grandchildren. >> it is important to note these miners are very well taken care . don'n't believe the press. they're very well taking care of. we operate accorording to some f the highest standards in n the country. we provide food, medical, education, and all needs the child requests. amy: this is bonnie watson coleman of new jersey questioning nielsen about the conditions children are held in during the hearing last month. fence, is a chain-link

enclosed into a chamber on n a concrete floor represent to you? is that ak? >> it is a detention space that has existed for decades. >> visit of her from the cages you put your dogs and when you let them stay outside? is it different? >> yes. >> in what sense? >> it is larger. it has facilities. it provides room to sit, stand, lay down. >> so did my dogs cage. cage" into the dogs response to kristjen nielsen. this is the woman a president trump says is not tough enough on policy. we're joined by dememocracy now! correspondent t and producer ree feltz. >> you and i took the democracy

now! team to the border during a family separation crisis. that was not long after kristjen nielsen denied that family separation was happening. schiffer said zero tolerance does not mean they were taking parents away from their children. interestingly, that was s later proven to be a l lie when n it a release of a dhs memo she is signed off on. who else signed off on it? the new person who is taking her .lace, kevin mcacaleenan amy: by the way, in order for trump to put him there, he had to get rid of clare grady, who .s the number two we will see if she is fired because that is the order of succession. quickly aso get as he can to a yes person who will help him carry out stephen miller's policy, who is lurking in the background as an advisor. it is important to note kristjen nielsen open the gates for family separation to happen.

she was a yes person n for trump herself, even though she is being for trade as someone who occasionally said no. family separation continues to happen now. the administration says sometimes there separating children who come with their parents for their own safety. there was a recording of a young girl who was separated from her mother that was shared with group you look up to stop -- propublica. you can hear the child sobbing. anyone who has heard that will never forget. juan: i think we have that audio. children between the ages of four and 10 or heard crying after being separated from their parents. this is the audio. >> we have an orchestra here,

right? what we're missing is a conductor. amy: that is a border agent. juan: that was a border agent. >> incredible to see people carried out this policy, to hear he carried out. kristjen nielsen was one of those people. she helped president trump. we see "the new york timeses" .esterday they had an editorial it implies kristjen nielsen said no. i disagree with that characterization. wayink she helped pave the for a lot of these policies that are continuing. wewe see her replacement was to cacarry out what he calls binary likes -- choice, sort of sophie's choice. these parents travel to bring their children to safety in america are told you have a choice. you can agree to let us take your child w while we detain you

while you seek asylum or you can detained the child with you. wewe have heard ababout the hore conditions and these facilities. that is kind of what she opened the gates for host of amy: what about the people who say no? >> i'm glad you brought that up. people say no and the courts and at the local level. in the courts we saw two huge victories. kristjen nielsen was to work with trump's son-in-law and close advisor jared kushner i'm getting mexico to agree to hold people while they were seeking asylum instead of letting them stay in the u.s. we saw a judge but a hold on that yesterday, a major victory. on friday, another major victory or people who are seeking asylum and a credible fear granted to and can have a bond hearing seek the release before a judge within seven days instead of being and jeff l.a. detained. we are seeing pushback on that level. in california, they passed a state law were they limited the

expansion of immigrant detention centers. many of these facilities -- i wanted to bring this up wrote quick because many of these facilities are having their contracts ended with the cities, for example, california candidates with the second largest facility run by geo group. that contract could now come back as a contract is between ice and geo group. theirpeople are saying success in coffin and pushing back, we could actually see an end run with an increase in family detentionthere. wew're seeeeing cities reject permits for these facilities children in detention. we sought in houston and philadelphia. amy: we're going to go to break and come back to this discussion. you mentioned sophie's choice. we're going to bring in the uncle of the man who is now the point person on immigration evee

further consolidated, stephen miller. renee feltz and erika andiola, stay with us. back in 30 seconds. ♪ [music break] this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. at presidento look trump's intensifying crackdown and immigration amidst a purge

of the leadership of the department of homeland security. we'll go back to trump for just a second, saturday, addressing the repupublican jewish h coali. pres. trump: a and the assignmet program is a scam. some of the roughest people e yu have ever seen, people that look like they should be fighting for the ufc. they read a little page given by lawyers that are all over the place. they tell them what to say. you look at this gunnynysack, well, that is a tough cookie. -- you look at this guy and say, wow, that is a tough cookie. "i am fearful for my life. i very worried i will be if ousted back home." asylum, oh, give him asylum, he is afraid. hehe is afraid. we don't love the fact he has

tattoos on his face. ththat is not t a good sign. we don't love the fact that he is carrying the flag of honduras onlyatemala or el salvador to say he is petrified to be in his country. amy: that is president trump speaking saturday to the republican jewish coalition in las vegas. this all comes as trump has reportedly put adviser stephen miller, longtime hardliner immigration in charge of the immigration policy. "the wall street journal" reports miller has backed the reinstatement of family separation policy, pushing officials at homeland security and justice to get in line with the more hardline immigration approach as we turn now to philadelphia where we're joined by dr. david glosser, uncle of stephen miller. he is a retired neuropsychologist and d former faculty member at boston university school of medicine and jefferson medical college. dr. glosser works as a volunteer with refugees in philadelphia.

last year, he wrote a piece for politico magazine headlined "stephen miller is an immigration hypocrite. i know because i'm his uncle." dr. glosser, if you can respond to this speech that president trump gave to the republican jewish coalition as he talked , aut the country being full makeshift think of the msa close and world war ii that the u.s. would now not allowed to dock with over 900 jews were eventually sent back, many of them to die. stephen miller, who president trump is working with even more closely, if possible. your thoughts? >> i have a couple of points. thank you for inviting me to speak. first point i would like to make, i think as a general point about racial hatred.

one group treat another group. the greater need to demonize that in order to justify the exploitation of them. here we see trump spewing the lies regarding the asylum seeker , trying to criminalize them -- implying that they are vermin during his explosive rants before the midterms. it doesn't really represent the reality at all. it is the same racial and ethnic hatred that has faced other ethnic groups trying to come to the country at other times. the moniker of the so-called america firsters, it was the same thing when my ancestors were trying to come into thihis country and some

succeeded in doing so. the other point i would like to it is been't know made explicitly, i w would refer people to a computer search internationalase " committee of the red cross, hostagetaking, were crimes, was military code." a there you will find description of the u.s. military code regarding the taking of hostages, the definition of it, which holds that taking hostages among civilians for the purpose of causing them or someone else to either take a course of action or to stop taking a course of action during a conflict, during the war, is actually capital crime and punishable by life imprisonment or death. so i fail to see the real distinction between separating children from their parents and

willing the prisoner with no apparent clear intention of ever reuniting them again or even keeping track of them for the purpose of deterring legal attempts to make asylum claims in the united states and hostagetaking in the time of war. so it is not something loud even to armies during -- allowed even to armies during conflict. but here we have become so deconditioned, so an s the ties to outrage -- anesthetized outrage that we accept it as a matter of course now. the next point i would like to make -- go ahead. juan: dr. glosser, i want to ask you about the statement that president trump made about the country is full. i mean, he is made many fabrications, but this is one of the most easily disprove a bowl fact -- fabrications that he is

climbing the united states is now full with people. thed a quick search, just population densities of countries around the world. according to the u.n., 277 nations and territories in the world, the u.s. is 177th. we're at the bottom half of population density in the world. laces like bangladesh have more than 3000 people per square mile , india 1100, china, 390. even france, 308. great britain, 712 pepeople per square m mile. germany, 611. u.s. has 92 people per square mile of its territory. it is in the bottom half a population density of the world. for him to say our nation is full, that means most of the nations in the world are full right now. it is amazing. it seems -- it is not the question of the country being full, it is who is coming in.

i think that is the issue you're saying in terms of the demonization of the folks coming in. >> there are a couple of points. you're barking up a logic tree and you're not going to find president trump at the top list of trying to make a logical explanation of a crisis is a fruitless exercise. he lies just to stay and practice it seems. the real border crisis we face in the request is for trump is not the fact there is been a spike in the flood of families fleeing from the field states in central america, it is not a problem for trump. that is his opportunity. that is essentially the only thing is to offer is red meat base. he was elected in large part because he was willing to stir up and divide instrument ethnic hatreds and fears and anxieties

about so-called invaders. he doubled down on that during the midterms. famously putting himself on the ballot, his policies on the ballot, and having an explosive rantnts of ethnic and racial fer at the midterms. he was stunningly repudiated. he seems yes decided to double down on that bet again. here we see the policies he is followed since the inauguration, actually since the campaign, trying to exclude people who come from the wrong countries, as you point out. first by making the so-called muslim ban, which was overturned in the courts. yesterday's decision by the the decisiondating hold people in mexico before making an asylum claim. he has got in a popular tax bill. he is not what buddha health

care president. be thes not going to health care president. amy: i'm wondering if you have a message for your nephew, for stephen miller. that -- i don't really have a message for him that i haven't otherwise explained. his history is going to be one of great interest for biographers in the future as a how this all came to pass and why he feels this way and so forth. frankly, who cares about that? it is the public persona, the public acts of the administration, the cowardice of the republican party, those are the things we're interested in. the ononly thing that wiwill soe this is not logical argument, but the united states must start a three-pronged approach toward solving it, which is to reduce the pressures for outmigration for these failed states, immigration marshall plan, trying to revise our laws to help with temporary migrants,

and then to set realistic and fair admission standards for true asylum seekers amy: have to leave it there but will do part 2 with dr. david glosser him a erika andiola, renee feltz. erika andiola, renee feltz.

♪ erika andiola, renee feltz. (narrator) henri de toulouse-lautrec captured the essence of parisian night life at the turn of the century like no other artist. talented and precocious, he drew and painted brilliantly in his early 20s. his first lithographs stunned critics and electrified the public. a master of surface, he also looked into the psychology of his subjects.