05/28/19 05/28/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> clilimate protectioion and ts threat never european solidarity must be on the agenda now. instead of further blockades in europe by the grand coalition, we need a joint new start for europe. amy: green party candidates across europe are celebrating as the party surges in popularity in the european union election. but it came as far right parties

scored major victors in france, -- victories innfrance, brbrita, and italy. >> not onlnly the first party in italy, but marine le pen is the first t party in france. thehe u.k., nigel farage is first. italy, france, england, it is a sign of a europe that is changing. amy: we will go to greece, britain, and germany for response. then we look at the student debt crisisis in the united states where the average student debt is now $32,000. earlier this month, the billionaire investor robert smith stunned many when he offered to pay off the student loans of the graduation class at morehoususe college. >> o of the eieight generaratiof my famamily who have b been in s country, w we're going to puputa .ittle fuel l in your bus

i have the amni over tre. this ia challenge to you, alumni. this is my class, 2019. and myamily is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. amy: we will speak to one of the morehouse graduates, de'jaun correia, as well as ben jealous, the former head of the naacp. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in missouri, republican governor mike parson signed into law a bill banning abortions a at eigt weeks of pregnancy. the bill does not make exceptions in cases of rape or incest. it also includes a provision that would completely ban abortion at any stage if roe v. wade is overturned. architects of the bill, as well as similar bills in alabama and other states, say they're aimed at overturning roe v. wade, the

landmark 1973 supreme court ruling that recognizes the constitutional right to an abortion. meanwhile, a federal judge on friday blocked a mississippi law bannining abortions as e early s six weeks into pregnancy, which was set to go into effect july 1. in a blow to president trump's attempt to build a massive wall along the u.s.-mexico border, a judge and got 20 block trump from redirecting $1 billion of army personnel funds to build sections of the wall as part of his declaration of a national emergency. in his ruling, judge haywood gilliam said, "the position that when congress declines the executive's request to appropriate funds, the executive nonetheless may simply find a way to spend those funds 'without congress' does not square with fundamental separation of powers principles." the decision came in response to a lawsuit brought by the sierra club and the southern border communities coalition, and affects portions of the wall

running through yuma, arizona, and el paso, texas. anwhwhil a groro called d "we bubuilthe wawa" has said they successful c compled constructi o on ha a m milof border wall p priva proropey in el soso. the e grp is b bked by steve nnon andormer kaas secrarary oftate krikobach. europe parliamtary eleions ok place over ur days of ting thasaw the ghest turnout nce 1994 centrist parties lost dozens of seats, while far right nationalist and green candidates gained significant ground. in france, the far-right national rally led by marine le pen narrowly beat the centrist alliance led by french president emmanuel macron amid widespread discontent with the government and montnths of popular protests by the yellow w vest movement. in britain, the brexit party led by nigel farage came i in first with 31% of the vote. the elections came soon after prime minister theresa may announced her resignation over

the failure to pass her brexit deal. in italy, far-right nationalist league party placed first while hungarian right-wing prime minister viktor orban's fidesz party is set to score around 52% of votes. the green party soared in popularity in many nations especially germany where it placed second. greens also did well in finland, france, and ireland the next president of the european commission will likely be bas eickhout of the dutch green party. in spain, leftist barcelona mayor ada colau lost to catalan separatist ernest maragall by less than 5000 votes. and madrid mayor manuela carmena said she will step down despite -- the mostgh votes votes. more on the elections after headlines. president trump appeared to tone recent u.s.

rhetoric against iran over the weekend during an official trip to japan, saying he was not seeking regime change in iran, and was simply interested in preventing the country from developing nuclear weaeapons. iranian foreign minister mohammad javad zarif rebuked trump's statements monday, saying iran was not been seeking nuclear arms, saying viaia twitter, "#economicterrorism is hurting the iranian people & causing tension in the region. actions -- not words -- will show whether or not that's @realdonaldtrump's intent." the u.s. pulled out t of the landmark 201015 iranan nuclear l last year, despite european allies and the united nations saying iran was in full compliance.. on friday, trump said he was sending 1500 more troops to the middle east, a move zarif characterizes as dangerous and said must be countered. zarif met with his iraqi counterpart over the weekend as bothth parties u urged regional cooperation in the facace of

escalating tensions with the united states. this is iraqi foreign minister mohamed al hakim. >> we are clearly saying we are against the unilateral measures taken by the united states. we're completely against these instructions and orders given to our neighbor it ran. we're s standing by neighboring iran and its position and god willingly comply immediately role between the parties. amy: also while in japan, trump dismissed concerns over recent missile tests by north korea, coming to leader kim jong-un's defense and reiterating optimism over a future denuclearizazation deal. north korea conducted two tests thisis month, firing off at leat three missiles. trump also welcomed comments recently aired on north korean state media about democratic presidential candidate and former vice president joe biden. pres. trump: kim jong-un made a statement that joe biden is a low iq individual. you probably is, based on his

record. i ththink i agree with him on that. at thehe same time, my people think it could have been a violation, as you know. i view it differently. i view it as a man perhaps he wants to get attention a and perhaps not. who knows? it doesn't matter. all i know is that there have been no nuclear tests. amy: trump also suggested via twitter the comments about biden may be a direct signal sent from kim. in february, a much-anticipated denuclearization talks between trump and kim ended after trump walked during negotiations. north korea has repeatedly said sanctions rerelief is a nenecesy condition in any future agreement. the united nations confirmed that a saudi-led airstrike on friday killed 12 civilians, including seven children in southern city of taiz. the u.n. said that at least 27 children in yemen have been killed or injured over a period of 10 days. friday's attack came as trump announced he was declaring a national emergency to push through $7 billion worth of u.s.

weapons sales to saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. the declaration allows trump to circumvent congress, which has used the war powers resolution to oppose military support for the war in yemen. the head of citizenship and immigration services, l. francis cissna, was forced to resign friday as the trump administration continues its purge of top immigration officials, a plan reportedly orchestrated by hard-line anti-immigrant adviser stephen miller. former virginia attorney general ken cuccinelli is reportedly slated to take on the role. as a state lawmaker in virginia, cuccinelli authored legislation seeking to force employees to speak english in the workplace, and he unsuccessfully fought to eliminate the 14th amendment's birthright citizenship clause. oklahoma reached an $85 million settlement deal with teva pharmaceuticals sunday, just ahead of today's landmark trial, brought by the state against drug companies responsible for the deadly opioid crisis.

oklahoma settled with purdue pharma in march for $270 million. the trial is still set to go ahead with remaining defendant johnson & johnson. oklahoma is the first civil trial against a drug company for their role in the opioid epidemic. in court filings, the oklahoma attorney general mike hunter likened johnson & johnson to a beenin, which has targeting an unsuspecting public since the 1990's. there are nearly 1900 federal and state lawsuits targeting drug makers and distributors pending around the country. in related news, jpmorgan chase has cut ties with purdue pharma, the makers of the highly addictive opioid o oxycontin, according to recent reporting by reuters. the transportation security administration will allow a pediatric epilepsy drug that contains cannabis on flights. the drug is approved by the fda for children who have epileptic seizures.

it is the first time medical marijuana has been allowed on flights. "the new york times" is reporting e e trum adminirarations rarampg up its assault on clite s scice throh h a codinanate multi-agency eort. the titionallimamatessessmsmt will rortedly move any worscacase snario prectitions in upcoming poports,s wewell a set up a clitete chae rerevi panel that wldld "qutionon the aessmentsonclusio." in aition, t nationa securi councilnder joh bolton haslso beenold to remo referens to clite changen speech and pubc statements, and the u.s. geological survey will no longer project the impact of climate chanange through t the end of te century, but stop at the year 2040. one of the architects of the trump administration's climate popolicy is willlliam happer, ,a known climatate science denier o once compared the fight against climate change to the holocaust, saying, "the demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor jews

under hitler." tornadoes, heavy storms, and flooding left a trail of damage across the midwest over the weekend. in oklahoma, two people were killed saturday as a tornado ripped through a hotel and homes in the town of el reno. tens of ththousands have been lt without power after tornadoes hit near dayton, ohio, and parts of indiana overnight monday. auththorities warn more severe weather could hit the region as the week prorogresses residentnts in oklahoma and arkansas arere bracing for popotentially devastatating flog of the arkanansas river. meanwhile, in parts of the southeast, temperatures hit record highs, topping 100 degrees fahrenheit in georgia. the heat, which is about 15% higher than normal for this time of yeaear, combined wiwith low rainfall, has caused concern for possible wildfires in the region. and to members of the move 9 were released from prison on parole saturday. janine phillips africa and janet

holloway africa spent 40 years behind bars after being convicted of third-degree murder in police officer's james ramp 1978 death. they were arrested with seven others following a philadelphia police raid on the house of move, a radical, anti-police-brutality and largely african-american group. husband and wife mike africa sr. and debbie africa were both released last year. 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 am juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show looking at the european union elections which saw centrist parties losing dozens of seats while far right and green candidates made significant strides. in france, the far-right national rally party led by marine le pen narrowly beat the centrist alliance led by french president emmanuel macron. in britain, the brexit party led

by nigel farage came in first with 31% of the vote. the ruling tory party placed fifth. the elections came soon after prime minister theresa may announced her resignation. in italy, the far-right nanationalist league pararty pld first, winning 34% of the vote. the party is led by italy's deputy prime minisister matteo salvini. >> notot only the league, the first party inintaly, but t mare le p pen is the first party in frfrance. in the u.k., nigel farage is the first. italy, france, england, it is a sign of europe that is changing. amy: while right-wing euroskeptic parties slightly increased their power in the european union assembly, about 75% of voters still backed parties that support europe. traditional center-left and center-right parties suffered broad defeats, but the green party soared in popularity in

many nations, especially germany, where it placed greens second. also did well in finland, france, and ireland. the next president of the european commission will likely be bas eickhout t of the dutch green party. >> we have been campaigning on climate action, social justice, and democracy. so those three topics will also from the negotiation table a greeeen pererspective, and d l make our demands there andnd we will make very clear that any new president of the commission needs to come very clear on these topics and deliver change. amy: to talk more about the european parliament elections, we are joined by guests. three david adler is the policy coordinator for the democracy in europe movement, or diem25. he joins us from athens greece. where greek prime minister alexis a process called for snap elections. in london, paul mason is with us, author, phone maker, and contributing writer at the new statesman.

mason's most recent book is titled "clear bright future: a radical defense of the human being." and in germany, we are joined by luisa neubauer. she is a 23-year-old member of the german green party. she brought the climate protests to germany, which greta thunberg had initiated in sweden. protesting outside the swedish parliament. we welcome you all to democracy now! we will begin right now by talking to david adler. in athens, greece. talk about the significance of the european parliament, especially i think for the u.s. audience, there isn't an understatanding of a transnatiol governing body, what the european parliament means, and then what the surge of the green party means, and also the surge of nationalist parties as well, though they did nonot do as well as people feared. >> sure. i think it is crucial to put

these european parliament elections and context. this is the world's second-largest exercise of democracy after india's 400 million voters acrcross 28 untries cocompeting for this eupepean parliament where there m.v.p.'s in total. the stakes of this are who can spspeak for europe. who has a platform to speak on behalf of europe and for which europe is going to speak. i think one of the main takeaways is they are european eyes and. for years pundits held the rise for the return of the nationstates and pointed to the european evidence -- union as evidence of that. in the last three years, almost all of these calls have gone silent. and all of these programs, even marine le pen who asked people to call her -- has scrubbed their programs of reference to the exit of the european union. we've seen a fortification of the european union on the

outside, namely there is no cacalls for exitit, but an intensification of competition for grabbing power from the inside. this is what we would call the trans-nationalization of --on the promise side, we were born to fight for transnational politics i did not say i am german against the greeks, germans against the greeks, used east against west, north against south. we are seeing a real investment in this thing called european politics. thes a recognition many of most important issues of our day, namely climate change, migration -- these issues will not be solved at the nation state level. thatat is while we are pushing r green new deal for europe, introduced as a way of binding european countries together, building in the process. you mentioned the gains made by the far right. we are seeing a kind of transnationalization of the far

right. they are banding together as we've seen that this rally in salvini brought all of these characters together. they are doing well to put aside their differences to fight together. the danger is the same pathology we want associated with the nationstates are just scaling up and becoming exclusive european unionism. a white,believe in christian europe. we're seeing this big battle over who can speak for e europe and whether that will be exclusive all-white europe or more aggressive with climate justice -- progressive with, justice at its heart. juan: at the issue of the attacks on immigrants in the vision of a white christian europe, what about the fact the biggest countries are precisely the ones, france, italy, britain, that have had this

surge of this right-wing vote and also art many of the centrist parties, the centerleft and center-right parties, increasisingly kowtowing to the anti-immigrant fervor across the continent? >> absolutely. i think there's a real misunderstanding about the nature of the far right. in the run-up to thehe election, we saw a lot of panic, especially in n the american prs . steve bannon was lurking under the coverss, building a transnational movement. when that failed to matateriali, as a field to end up with a sweeping coup in european parliament terms of far right parties across europe, many commentators are studyin sayinie is no far right. the goal shoululd not be t to se off a purge -- a surge, rather,, in the far right, should be to guarantee a purge of those parties to make sure they have no place in our politics. people are saying g it is ok,

nigel farage, he won about the same both a as before. that is not the point. there is still healthy politics in these institutions. we should be terrified not only they are still hanging around in capturing even more votote shar, but precisely their winning the war. you are right when you say even left-wing parties in places like areark and france developing a consensus or a need to build a fortress arouound europe to prevent the influx of migrants. wanted to bring luisa neubauer into this conversation, speaking to us from germany. you have angela merkel's christian democrats, the cdu, technically coming in first, but it tumbled to a historic low of

28%. and you have the green party, your party, doubling at the same time. the green party surging to 22% of the vote and coming in second. first, i wanteted to turnn too e coleader of the green party sven giegold. >>, protection and the strengthening of the european solidarity must be on the agenda now. instead of further blockades in europe by the grand coalition, we need a joint new start for europe. therefore, we stand for topics related to european policies and climate protection and for european agricultural transition will stop but also for investments into jointnt europen projects like france now, the german governmenent h has to cop with an ambitious concept for a new start in europe. amy: so that is the cohead of the green party. luisa neubauer, you are being

referred to as the greta thunberg of germany. protestst the climate that you brought to germany as a member of the gegerman green pay.y. we have been climate strikingg in germany for 22 weeks in a row now. we starteded in december 2018.8. the friday that greta was giving her spepeech in p poland, we s d thisis climate movovement in germany. it skyrocketeded, in a sense. we have been increasing strikes, increasingng the number r of students on the ststets alalmost every weeeek. i now we are active in 500 cities a across the e country. striking every friday agagain ad again. on march 15, it was a global climatate strike.. we approached 30300,000 students onon the streets. and soso did we just last week, the fridayay before the european

elections, when we particularly striked for the european elelections and brought 320,000 students in the streets, demanding for people to vote for demomocratic parties, to oppose the move towoward right nanationalism, and also to vote for the climatete and vote for partieies that are actually able and willing to bring climate politics on the agenda for the european union. juan: what do you hope to do now with a mandate that the greeks have gotten now in germany? what you expect would happen? >> the green party germany, they have a big job to dodo now. the expectatioions are huge. acrosst 33% of the vote the country, which means every third person voted for the first time, 18 years old my for instance, they trusted the green climate actually bring and all other demands of young people into the parties of the

european union. it is a tough job. the green party is quite aware, i believe, of that job, of that mandate. and we now expect really them to act and to push european parliament toward climate action. as we know, the european parliament to reach the pairs agreement, meaning they need to drastically reduce emissions and a much faster rate than currently outlined meaning we need a strong climate coalition among the parties represented in pushing fornt stronger action, which only the new member states are willing to push as well in their respective countries. this is one reason what the christian democrats, the current ruling party in germany, has lost tremendously in this election. they talk about european

solutions. they try to kind of get out of national commitment by referring angelape, the we know merkel and her party are blocking climate action on the european level. we need european green party's across all countries to push frfrom -- to push climatate locs and the european parliament and nudge them toward actual action. amy: i want to turn to the dutch politician, one of the leaders of european greens. in april, he thanked ravitch and berg for a dressing the european parliament. when n we are in jujuly going o vote on ththe new p psident of e european commission, andnd a lot of youou will come back, everyre hohopes, i hope that everyone wl rememeer this day whwhen we were apapplauding greta thunberg for her speech, taining abo the world ist t stak, bubuthat also

means w we have to ththen look t the p program --

>> welcome i don't think the european parliament, maybe in 10 years time, but not now. not anytytime soon.. what we're seeing g is we as studentsts across germany,y, wee climate on the agenda. within five momonths w we have transforormed the politicall dialue in germany. actually domominated the politil discussions.. people talk about climate a and voters statated it was the numbr one priority in those e ectiono. i fefeel it is tremendously important we keep on pushing. moree realizing morore and every day thatat we need those actions on the street, we need the society to really demanand clclimate actioion, otherwise te politicians s won't act.t. when talking about s solutions,e dedemand the german government n power.cular to o quit coal germany is the europeans leader and ththat type of energy. it is ruining any kind of

.limate balanance we are one of the richest countries in the world. --re e ecologically far off technolog technologically far o. secondly, we demand germany to quit fossil fuel subsidies, which is crucial. it is ridiculous millions are flowing into the fossil fuel industry while we all know they're the last ones who need it. they're the only ones profiting from the climate crisis. we're also asking the government to introduce a carbon tax, which has been tremendously successful with other european countries is also something which highly recommended by thousands of scientists which call themselves scientists for future and officially backing up the

movement in germany and stating our demands are right and just and feasible and that our demand is rapid climate action legitimate. amy: i want to thank you for being with us, luisa neubauer, speaking to us from germany, member of the german green party my brought the climate protests to germany which greta thunberg began in swededen. when we come back, we will turn to the results in the united kingdom or the brexit party, led by nigel farage, came in first. we will speak with journalist paul mason and continue to talk to david adler in athens, greece. this is democracy now! stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we continue to look at the eu elections, we turn to the results of the united kingdom or the brexit party, led by nigel farage, came in first with 31% of the vote. announced tory party

her resignation. puthis is a vote that says know jill brexit back on the table. make it part of ththe negotiations. without that you have no chance of getting free trade till. involved in be that. it says the 31st of october is the next big day in this process. if we don't leave on that day, then youan expect t the brex party to repeat this kind of surprise in the next general election. one for we are joined by paul mason of determining writer from the new statesman, author and film maker. his most recent work is titled "clear bright future: a radical defense of the human being." welcome to democracy now! , theted to ask you conservatives not only came in fifth, but the labour party came in fourth in these elections. you have the phenomena of a relatively new party, winning

such a huge portion of the vote for representation in the european union. your sense of what happened here to both the conservatives and to labor? falling off from what was said earlier in a program come the first thing we have to recognize is the general phenomenon in europe of the right wing not making -- the far rate not making a surge, but the center right, , so our conservatives, the equivalent of your republicans, are losing their ideological defenses against the far right ideology. so they are switching their policies and the rhetoric towards exactly the terrain the far right has been setting for the last 10 years. so in britain, the local version of that happening was all into a survey did by the failure of brexit to happen. so we had a referendum three years ago, people voted narrowly to leave the european union, but it did not happen because no form of leaving was acceptable

to the people who wanted it to happen. as result, our prime minister in the building behind me has resigned on friday and in this sense, the brexit party was able to come from nowhere in six weeks and take 30% of the vote because so many conservative members and activists and voters in britain, really all they want is this xenophobic, , right-wing project of brexit. the brexit party itself has no policies. it has no membership shropshire. it is controlled by one man as a private company. but many of the candidates or the classic cast of characters. they are climate deniers, hostile to gay sexuality. some believe it is disgusting. they are antiabortion. they are pro-fossil fuel. many of them work in the fossil fuel industry. it is a tragedy that 30% of the people in my country who bothered to turnout, 17% of the electorate as a whole, 30% voted

for the party because in a way, centrist, liberal centrist conservatism no longer has the answers to a country like this, which is wracked with what youou already have, we're just in the middle of an unannounced cultural war. amy: this is jeremy corbyn addressing reporters shortly after the election. >> t the priority at the m momei tonk is for this government call for a general election and actually have a genenerallection so we can n decide t the future. it has n no program and parliamt hahas basically been given nothg to do by the government. i think it i is a demamand that should bee made. john has also pointed out, and i support this, any final deal has to be put to a public vote. juan: that was jeremy corbyn. paul mason, what happened to labor? they registered in single digits in this boat. >> they got 14%.

six weeks s ago at the start of the campaign, was 34%. what happened is about half of the vote went to liberal democrats. about almost another half went to the green party. tout one in four voters went the brexit party. these are working class, white communities where they are attracted by this new right phenomenon. the problem that jeremy corbyn had, he had been trying to make a pitch to voters we're all sick of brexit. they are working class people and progressives on both sides, let't's come together r on a prm about everything except brexexi. climate change, democracy. the voters did not want to hear that. progressssive voters in this country know they are in a culture war. they wanted a party prepared to does as alexandra color 10 -- alexandria ocasio-cortez does, but corbyn cannot bring

himself to do that. we have half a million memember. the activists did not turn out. they were confused, discouraged, and the real problem for corbyn is this is a multiparty election . the general election for the parliament is a two-party election. ifbyn's real problem is one the greens turn up as an alternative left force. amy: what you think labor should do now? arbyn is saying he supportsts second referendum on any brexit deal. >> yes, but he is not saying how the party would vote in that referendum. two me and to many of m my left-wing colleagues in the labour party, it is urgent that corbyn, like many of his team, is prepared to commit to labor having a policy of stopping brexit. brexit is the project of xenophobia. it will collapse ourur economy.

of thethe problems, all grievances against muslims, against black people, against gays don't go away just because brexit happens. slides, these same right-wing forces will be saying, now we know who is the problem. we know who is at full because brexit did not work. they will be targeting the minorities again, so we have e to stop it. i am a supporter of jeremy corbyn. he does not get it. he did not get it for six weeks. he is getting it now because large numbers of the labour party are saying we are not just losing votes, we're l losing activists to an alternative left force. the wind is in the sales of the green parties. they have a utopia. and it is a green new deal and a europe of tolerance. we and part the labor movement, we are clinging to our industrial heartland's. it is tough to convince people

were the cold months will close down, and terminal politics are the right thing. it is the same thing as in was virginia in the states. have that argument. i'm currently engaged in a fight to bring labor back to that core position of a tolerant society, of an internationalist outlook, and the green new deal, which i think is where we could agree with the green party's both here in the u k and in the european parliament should britain b be staying in europe. amy: david adler in athens, greece, you are a policy coordinator for democracy in europe movovement, diem25, workg with yanis varoufakis, the former finance minister of greece. you are a little less optimistic about what is happening with the green party. can you talk about that? also, how did yanis varoufakis fare? in the european parliament elections? will take each onone of those

questions in turn. the first question, as described as a green wave. all of the activism that has climatee in demanding good on the agenda is extremely importanant. -- work is extremely unroll admirable. there is no party now who can claim not to have a plan around the climate. even marine le pen speaking about environmentalism as patriotism, as a way of fulfilling the french nationalist dream. i think that suggests a real danger. in the u.s., we're so used to polarization of the climate debate. you're right wing and a climate in our or left-wing and you accept the climate but also accepted various elements of the justice agenda that goes alolong with it. in europe, there's a much broader scope of what is possible under the umbrella of green politics. this is very dangerous because it means co-optation.

i think there's been a lot of optimism around the constructing duty of a green new deal. we can throw any of our dreams and our best policies inside that big idea, but there is a real danger. we have people who arere achieve your credits and member of a center-right speaking about the need for eu green new deal, that is fantastic. it cannot be just about carbon taxes. it c cannot be just about coal. it has to be part of a broader transformative vision. if the green party are going to be the prime minister sharares f this kind of politics, they have to lead into mending a green new deal for europe. this is at the core of diem25's program. to build ang transnational movement of her green new deal for europe because the worst thing that could happen is the green new deal ends up with a series of small technocratic fixes instead of a real transformative vision that brings people together. in the same way when the left

betrays its principles and implement things like austerity as syriza has done here and now , soing thee brooder harvest if the greens fell to deliver a proper transformative vision for green politics, i promise you it will take the sales out of the green agenda for the fuel into the far right. ourasked me how yanis and movement affair. i think it is crucial to contextualize that in a broader, how to t the left farere betweee labour party and context, you mentioned in the intro these tragic near losses for two. is crucial to get a grip p on wt is hapappening with ththe ft.. there are reasons to be cheerful in this election and reasons to be depressed. when i think about our transnational movement, we tried something a bit crazy, which was to forgo traditional party structures and bases and all the resources that flow from the public offers and try to build

something new and transnational postal we are proud of the progress we were able to make, even if we fell short, and in the case here in greece, there fell 0.01 now that we percent below the threshold to enter european parliament. we still working through it. let's talk about the broader annihilation of the left. this applies to u us in the labr party and france and gegermany. what happened here? two crucial things. the left failed to ground the climate crisis in the social justice realm. we feel to say there will be no green transition without an economic transition that ends austerity. you look at the way they're talking about climate. does he mention austerity? does he mention the suffering sweeping through southern europe at the hands of the troika? no. fill your number two after

gravel with is the problem with fragmentation. in the west we have gotten used to the democratic party that builds a broad church and forces liberals to fight with leftists, a fight with all sorts of other types and they have to arrive at consensus or they don't with it will usually stand behind one candidate.e. europe's party structures meeeet there is infinite room for fragmentation and egos in the left split off between each other and room for the left to pick up on minor differences and as itself lose its place speaking with one voice on behalf of workers and families across europe. this is our challenge. the far right have shown time and again when it comes to the question, they're willing to band together and put forward a single vision and say, you know what? let's speak together on behalf of an all-white anti-islamic government. .urope was not able to do thatt amy: we just have 30 seconds.

i wanted to ask paul mason, is milkshake in the new form of resistance? throwing milkshakes of people like nigel farage another right-wing leaders? >> in my day, it was the heart of resistance but now the rule of law must prevail. single ofg is the her american dollar from the fascist who did try to stand, a massive following all over the world among the real alt-right, he got milkshaked more important, he completely failed. the people of northwest english rejeed him. amy: tmp is cong for atate sit, the entir trumpgoing to be meing suppedly with rich charles who says climate changes is his number one issue. what do expect of this and will there be mass protests in the streets? close there will be mass protest , but the important thing is, if

we don't haveve a government, te prime minister is a zombie. government -- the conservative government is tearing itself apart. any idea this is a kind of victory lap for trump in britain is wrong. the brexital allies, party nigel farage, will be there to welcome him. we are a progressive country. many of our cities, very, very culturally integrated, and london becomes, when he comes, will certainly turn out to protest him and the message will be the same as last time, he is not welcome. he is seen through. everything he says stirrers the just t taste and division -- sts the just taste and division. you're not welcome, president trump. go away. amy: we will live at their but we will continue to follow this issue. paul mason, new statesman contributing writer, author and filmmaker. his most recent book "clear

bright future: a radical defense of the human being." and david adler, policy inrdinator for diem25 athens, greece. when we come back, a billionaire and now says he will pay the student debt of the entire graduating class, almost 400 students, the this shortly black college morehouse in atlanta. we will speak with one of those students and we will talk to the former head of the naacp ben jealous. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: as graduation season continues across the country, we turn now to look at the student debt crisis. the average student debt is now $32,000. nationwide, 44 million people owe nearly $1.5 trillion in

student debt. student debt is expected to increase to $2 trillion by 2022. earlier this month, the billionaire investor robert smith stunned many whenen he offered to pay off the student loans of the 2019 grgraduating class atat the historicacally bk morehousee cocollege. eightn behahalf of of the gegenerationons of my family who haveve been in this country, w'e going g to put a l littlfuelel n yoyo busus. there.ehe alumni over this is a allenge to you, alumni. this is my css, 2019. my fily is making a grant to eliminatate their student loans. amy: robert f. smith is the founder of investment firm vista

equity partners and is the richest like man in america. we are joined by de'jaun correia and ben jealous, former head of the naacp who ran for the governor of maryland last year. he is known de'jaun correia since he was three years old and encouraged him to attend morehouse. aun, congratulations on your adulation and you're a, schmitz. can you talk about y your reactn as you are listening to yet another standard graduation address -- this one by an alum robert smith's -- when he shocked everyone, including fairly the president of morehouse, by announcing he was going to pay off the college debt of all of you come almost 400 students? >> i was very surprised.

was mind blowing when he said what he was going to do. i'm very appreciative for it. those --oard to sing ford to sing those accounts be zero very soon. juan: ben jealous, you were not completely surprised about the announced. could you talk about your connection to smith? you were texting with him that day? >> all of us were very surprised. he is a friend. he has been n a supporter of my cacampaign. we're both big supporters of the college. i have been on the board for several years. so when i got the news, i shot him a text. forward frankly, look to what this class does. we both are ofof the conviction that this class will pay this forward several times over.

de'jaun correia, what does this mean for you? what were your plans before he made this announcement and does this change what you were able to do -- what you are able to do afterwards? >> for me, this means a lot. i'm not going to take anything from that for the moment for what he has said. especially going forward not having to worry about having to pay for a large bills of student loans that could open up many more possibilities. business opportunities, just having extra money in your pocket as time goes on. for me personally, alongside ben, his health, and other mentors i've had throughout my years, i've been putting myself into a nice predicament where does not try to sound rude, but if the situation did not happen,

i would have my best foot forward because right now i'm working engineer. a started working back in january -- i start a working back in january. i definitely put my foot forward with this will give me an even bigger boost than i initially thought i would have coming out of college. juan: ben jealous, could you talk about how your relationship developed, how you first met de'jaun? >> when he was three years old, we met at a conference with his mom. davis,,s brother is joy the geororgia deatath row -- try davis, the georgia jethro, that was put to death despite the fact he had not committed the , about eight years ago. when i was on death row with troy, troy looked at me and said, probabably three months before georgia put them to death

, "if they kill me, you're responsible for him now." i said, what does that mean? he said, you have to make sure he gets through college and on to a career. i gave him my commitment right then and there, not knowing how i could afford to do that. a funny thing happened. about a month after he was executed, i received a prize will stop somebody and put my name in for this leadership prize. it came with a sum. i took most of that sum and put it into making sure he got through college. we have been talking about what college to go to for some time. he said he was not going to go to morehouse. he had a different school in mine. at when he thought about it, a really try to save his uncle where the morehouse students were there and he told them he was not going to go to morehouse , then he went to morehouse. i think it is one of the best decisions you ever made. amy: de'jaun, i want to go back to you in 2011 during a

democracy now! special broadcast where your uncle troy, where his execution was carried out. we got a chance to speak to you. this is part of what you said that night before your uncle's execution when i asked you what your uncle troy taught you. >> most important, dignity, honor, and just how to recognize injustice, how to recognize fairness, how to recognize peaceful o over the world. he always told me to keep my head up and educate myself. since i know those things, it is my right as a human being to stand up and fight against those things. jaun, that is you in 2011. your thoughts? ben, you put out this amazing tweet as de'jaun was graduating

from morehouse where you talked about his remarkable accomplishments. it uncle make -- making through your uncle's execution and then a few weeks later, your mother, who i met you with numerous t times, martina korea, honored as the leading wife as she fought for breast cancer awareness among black women in savannah, georgia. she herself died of breast cancer. ben tweeted -- your thoughts, how you made it through, what you said other young people? of felte always kind

myself to be defined as resilient because going through a lot of things that i've been going through from a young age, yes, ther they have been very, ties in. you don't differ without, one, faith, and two, foundation. ben has been there every step of the way. the work is not done. this is only the beginning. but just going through those things as i was coming up as a young person, i had a pretty good grasp on life as a whole just from the way my mother raised me to be acceptable, to know good and bad, just to how to roll with the punches. it is easier said than done, but with the right mindset and the people around you, you can be just as, i will say, successful as i am were on the track i'm going.

even more successful than i am. i feel like i have taken advantage of the people around me and definitely have kept my head held high. i've had a goal. like ben said, troy challenged him and my mother challenged me on the night she passed away. for me, she knew how competitive i was. she challenged me and i could not back down. i accepted it. i knew it was going to be a long journey, but i stayed focus. the whole issue of student debt in these presidential -- the upcoming presidential race, several candidates, bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, are developing plans around college education. your thoughts? >> this is the biggest thing that is s holding back our econy riright now. we are a great nation because so many people have riskeked everything they had to createe great businesses, but what is made up possiblele again and agn has been our public universities

. and the fact that they were free for most of our history. out here in the silicon valley, people talk about stanford but it is also about berkeley. amy: we have to leave it there but we will do