06/06/19 06/06/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we visited his people hold the security forces accountable for the dispersing of the sit in. amy: the death toll in sudan rises to more than 100 following a deadly military raid on a nonviolent sit-in in khartoum monday.

doctors with the ongoing anti-government uprising say at least 40 bodies were dredged up from the now river. we will do the latest. then the trump administration cracks down on american travel to cuba. the new regulations stop the people to people program and affects nearly 800,000 bookings on crew ships. trump's policy is wrong because it is just like what other united states presidents have de. th reaty is, iaffects e cun pulatioand not e gornment. am then nely 100 amal ghts actists a free toy afr being rested f carrng out aescue miion at a northe califora duck fm th say torres anims. we will eak witheading animal rhts activist priya sawhney and wayne hsiung. he was just released from jail. to theve gone government, you have gone a law-enforcement, gone to the

corporations and ceos and politicians, time and time again, and the only way to make this violence stop is for people to take direct action. in eco-both activists face years in jail -- amy: both activists space years in jail. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump has brought the united states one step closer to a devastating trade war with mexico, saying talks with mexican officials at the white house wednesday ended without a deal. trump has threatened to impose a 5% tariffs on all imports from mexico beginning monday unless it agrees to crack down further on central american migrants bound for the u.s. trump's plans have drawn resistance even from within his own party, with republican leaders including mitch mcconnell threatening a congressional revolt. democratic house speaker nancy pelosi, fresh off a meeting with mexico's foreign minister,

denounced trump's tariff plans. >> i think the sustained or's territory. this is not a way to treat a friend, not a way to deal with immigration, not a way to meet the humanitarian needs at the border. amy: the trump administration said wednesday it will suspend legal aid programs, recreational activities, and english classes for unaccompanied migrant children jailed in federally-run immigration centers. the move drew condemnation from human rights groups, including amnesty international usa, which wrote -- "it's bad enough that the trump administration is trying to normalize the warehousing of children. it's unconscionable that they would so blatantly try to strip them of their rights. locking up children and then denying them legal aid, education, and even playtime is all part of this administration's cruel efforts to dehumanize people who have come to the u.s. seeking safety." in mexico, police arrested two prominent immigration rights

activists wednesday. cristobal sanchez was arrested by six plainclothes police officers outside his home in mexico city and driven away in an unmarked car. and in the border town of sonoyta, sonora, police detained irineo mujica, director of the organization pueblos sin fronteras -- or people without borders. in a statement, the group called both arrests illegal and said the activists were targeted by the mexican government for their humanitarian aid work with asylum seekers. mujica has worked closely with scott warren, a humanitarian aid volunteer with the group no more deaths in tucson, arizona, who faces up to 20 years in prison water, clean two asylumbeds for seekers. in france, president emanuel

macron welcomed president donald trump to normandy today for a commemoration marking the 75th anniversary of d-day, the allied invasion of western europe in 1944. it was a major turning point in the u.s. led campaign against nazi germany. trump's trip to france followed his state visit to the united kingdom and a short visit to ireland wednesday, where trump met with the irish prime minister. during their brief encounter, trump said he believed brexit would be a boon to the irish republic and compared ireland's soft border to his plans to expand the wall between u.s. and mexico. pres. trump: [indiscernible] we have a border situation. amy: public opposition runs deep against any new border controls in a post-brexit ireland. as trump arrived at ireland's shannon airport, hundreds of protesters set up a peace camp to call out trump's policies on

climate change, immigration, and war. >> i am here today because trumps misogyny, basically, and also he is a homophobic, a racist and out and out narcissist. that is why i'm here today. i can't stand any of his policies. >> i think he is a menace to the planet. he denies climate change, which is rampant in threatening the whole planet. he has withdrawn from the paris agreement. amy: president trump has denied the existence of climate change, telling a brother -- british television show that weather "changes both ways." trump was speaking with the host of "good morning britain," piers morgan, a former contestant on trump's nbc reality show "the apprentice." >> do you personally believe in climate change? pres. trump: i think there is a change in weather and i think it changes both ways. amy: during the 30-minute interview recorded tuesday, trump deflected questions on gun control and defended his ban on transgender soldiers in the

military, claiming it was too expensive to provide them medical care. asked if the united states would take military action against iran, trump replied, "there's always a chance." in southern saudi arabia, houthi rebels from yemen say they've crossed into saudi territory in a surprise offensive that's left them in control of nearly two dozen positions. there was no comment from saudi officials on the claim, which would represent an escalation of yemen's more than three-year-old civil war. the fighting has left at least 7300 children killed or seriously injured by u.s.-backed saudi coalition airstrikes and pushed half of yemen's 28 million people to the brink of starvation. cnn reports the trump administration has learned that saudi arabia has significantly escalated its ballistic missile program with the help of china, threatening to spark a new arms race in the middle east. democratic lawmakers were reportedly furious that the white house failed to disclose news of the saudi missile program, saying the intelligence had been deliberately withheld during briefings where it should have been revealed to members of congress.

this comes as a bipartisan group of senators said wednesday they'll introduce a bill that would require the white house get congressional approval before approving $8 billion in weapons to saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. in april, president trump vetoed a congressional war powers resolution to end u.s. support for the saudi-led war in yemen. in sudan, the death toll has risen to at least 100 following a deadly raid on a protest camp in khartoum monday morning. that's according to doctors who have been taking part in the ongoing anti-government uprising, who say at least forty bodies were dredged up from the nile river in the aftermath of the carnage. on wednesday, the transitional military council said it had launched an investigation into the violence and offered to resume a dialogue on a transition to democracy, just one day after scrapping all agreements with an opposition alliance. we'll have more on the crisis in sudan after headlines. in australia, press freedom groups are sounding the alarm over a pair of police raids on journalists. on wednesday, australian federal police swept into the headquarters of the australian broadcasting corporation in sydney, reviewing thousands of

documents for information about a 2017 report that found australian special forces soldiers may have committed war crimes in afghanistan. abc executive editor john lyons spoke on his own network just minutes after police served a warrant naming a news director and the two reporters who broke the story. 214they have dowoaded doments. i coted them. and they are now going through them. they set of a huge screen and they're going through email by email. it is quite extraordinary. i feel as a journalist it is a real violation because these are emails between this particular journalist and his boss, her boss, it's draft, scripts of stories. i've never seen an assault on the media as savage as this one we are seeing today at the abc. and the chilling message is not some much for the journalist's, but also for the public. amy: wednesday's raid on abc

came one day after police in rated --, australia, raided the home of annika smethurst, a reporter with "the herald sun" newspaper. police served a warrant related to smethurst's reporting on a secret effort by an australian intelligence service to expand its surveillance capabilities, including against australian nationals. australia's acting federal police commissioner neil gaughan defended the raids, saying journalists could face prison time for holding classified information. >> no sector of the community should be immune of this type of activity, or evidence collection, more broadly. this includes law enforcement itself, the media, or indeed, even politicians. amy: in denmark, social democrat mette frederiksen is poised to become prime minister after her party won the largest share of votes in parliamentary elections held wednesday, with more than a quarter of ballots cast. frederiksen has promised to defend denmark's social welfare programs and has made combating climate change a priority. the far-right anti-immigrant danish people's party saw its

support plunge below 9%. in southeast asia, health officials are warning an outbreak of the highly contagious pig disease known as african swine fever is spreading and on track to become what some epidemiologists are calling the "biggest animal disease outbreak" ever recorded. swine fever, which causes internal bleeding in pigs and spreads rapidly in dense factory farms, has appeared in china, vietnam, mongolia and cambodia, with reports of a new outbreak in north korea. health officials estimate china may be gearing up to slaughter up to 200 million pigs ahead of schedule in an effort to quarantine the outbreak. youtube said wednesday it will remove thousands of videos and online channels promoting white supremacy, hate speech, and extremism. youtube says its new policy will remove videos "alleging that a group is superior in order to justify discrimination, segregation or exclusion." the trump wednesday canceled

millions of dollars in federal research funds for a california laboratory that uses fetal tissue are life-saving medical research. "the washington post" reports the move was ordered directly by president trump. it represents a victory for anti-choice groups and comes as a number of states have passed bans on most abortions in a challenge to the roe v. wade supreme court ruling legalizing abortion nationwide. the laboratory at the university of california at san francisco uses tissue gathered from elective abortions to carry out research into treatments for cancer, viruses like hiv and zika, as well as treatments for neurological disorders like parkinson's. doug melton, a harvard professor and president of the international society for stem cell research, said -- "with these new arbitrary restrictions on research, the united states is ceding its role as the global leader in the development of cellular therapies and regenerative medicine." in more news on reproductive rights, former vice president joe biden angered much of his

own democratic party wednesday when his campaign manager said biden still supports the hyde amendment, a decades-old ban on federal funding for most abortions which disproportionately impacts the poor and women of color. biden's position puts him at odds with the democratic national committee's 2016 platform, as well as all of the women senators challenging him for the 2020 presidential nomination kirsten gillibrand, kamala harris, amy klobuchar, and elizabeth warren. all four are co-sponsors of legislation to overturn the hyde amendment. other 2020 president candidates also weighed in as well, including senator bernie sanders, who tweeted -- "there is no middle ground on women's rights. abortion is a constitutional right. under my medicare for all plan, we will repeal the hyde amendment." meanwhile, senator bernie sanders confronted executives at walmart wednesday, blasting "starvation wages" and extreme wealth inequality at the retail giant's annual shareholder meeting in arkansas.

speaking as a proxy for a walmart employee who invited him to attend sanders introduced a , resolution to raise wages and to put hourly workers on walmart's board of directors. >> walmart is the largest private employer in america and is owned by the walton family, the wealthiest family in the united states the work approximately $175 billion. and yet despite the incredible wealth of its owner of a walmart pays many of its employees starvation wages, wages that are so low that many of these employees are forced to rely on government programs like food stamps, medicaid, and public housing in order to survive. amy: the resolution was quickly dismissed by rachel brand, walmart's executive vice president of global governance. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners

and viewers from around the country and around the world. the death toll in sudan has risen to more than 100 following a deadly military raid on a nonviolent sit-in in khartoum monday morning. according to doctors who have been taking part in the ongoing anti-government uprising, at least 40 bodies were dredged up from the nile river in the aftermath of the carnage. meanwhile, the state news agency suna reported thursday that the death toll was no more than 46. on wednesday, the transitional military council said it had launched an investigation into the violence and offered to resume a dialogue on a transition to democracy, just a day after scrapping all agreements with an opposition alliance. this is lieutenant general abdel fattah al-burhan. >> sit in squares and spaces have witnessed important events, showing the true depths of

sudanese culture and identity. history will record this. we in the transitional military council open our hands to negotiation with no purpose but the interest of the nation through which we can complete the establishment of a legitimate authority that expresses the ambitions of the sudanese revolution and all its for righties. nermeen: but the opposition has rejected the military's calls to negotiate, citing ongoing violence against civilians. this is a protestor on the streets of khartoum wednesday. >> what about our children? we started from wanting to change the regime, now the regime has fallen completely so the military council must respond to our demands or leave. amy: demonstrators from a range of civil society groups are continuing to demand a civilian transitional government following the overthrow of president omar al-bashir in after a months-long popular april uprising and the military's subsequent government takeover. for more, we're joined here in new york city by marine alneel, a sudanese activist just back from khartoum. she was at the sit-in just a day

before it was raided. welcome back to democracy now! can you talk about the numbers of people who have been killed, why people are sitting in, and who did the killing? >> the numbers are saying it is more than 100 is a gross this isimation because not a safe area. it is difficult to go and find the dead bodies of the protesters that may still be there. there are news of people being stuck in buildings within the sit-in area. they cannot leave because the streets are full of rapid support forces. the forces that have attacked the sit-in and are still terrorizing khartoum. khartoum is frankly under military occupation by the rapid support forces. he is still calling for attacking the people who are

barricading the streets around khartoum. he is saying they will pay the price. says hangve when he the prize, he is only talking about killing. amy: explain who he is. is the vice president of the military council. he is the person who is leading all of the attacks happening that have happen at the sit-in khartoum an happening around khartoum. whaten: can you explain the transitional military council is that has taken power in sudan after president bashir was ousted and what role they are playing now? >> the transitional military council, more accurately referred to as the military council, is not a transitional government. they are only the security council that was supporting bashir. they have ousted bashir, but they remain part of the previous regime. withhave been negotiating

the change forces, but it seems these negotiations have not been in good faith. they've never intended to give up power for a silly and government. amy: i want to go to hemedti, the military council general who you have been talking about. aboutnesday, he talked the gang members -- he claimed the protesters are really gang members threatening and attacking people. throughout the past few days, we have had rising numbers of martyrs. the last of which were two yesterday. people going through their days, my brothers, the matter is now clear. they want rapid support forces troops to be killed. they call themselves protesters. those are not protesters. they are gangs, which we have warned against early on.

the conspiring group will not get through to the sudanese people. now we are warning from here. warning all the sudanese people that they are false. in disguise aso, rapid support forces, threatening and attacking people. .my: hemedti they're saying about elections and what the civilian uprising is demanding right now. >> they said they want to conduct elections within nine months and that those nine months have started already, the ousting of this year, so within seven months, that would be 2020, that is going back to bashir's plan of holding elections in 2020. the country is not ready for elections. it is not saved. the capital city is not safe, let alone the places facing conflict for years are not safe.

there is no freedom of expression. there are no parties that are ready to offer the people programs that might be satisfying to these people. the opposition is calling for a civil disobedience starting sunday. there are signs of it already. however, because of holidays, and is difficult to evaluate the level of the civil disobedience. there is an umbrella that hold unions such as doctors unions, lawyers unions, but we're also seeing people outside from the professional association who have said they will join the civil disobedience. for example, a group called diplomat for change. they will also be part of the civil disobedience, which means even foreign embassies in sudan will not be functioning starting sunday. nermeen: can you explain, for people who are not clear, what the relationship is between the rsf in the military council?

you're talking about early, mid reports suggest he is in fact the most powerful person in sudan. and the rsf has been accused of genocide and the darfur war. becomefs has legitimized by the previous regime. they are the same forces that ine conducted the genocide darfur. later on it became more powerful in numbers and because of the legitimization by the government, they now hold more weapons. that had funding coming in funnel through the government, but mainly from the e.u., to curb the migrations of immigrants because sudan is sort of a portal to north africa and then crossing the mediterranean to europe. so they have been given that task of stopping the migrants at the borders of sudan by any means.

and their main mean is killing these immigrants. amy: for people to understand what sudan has been going carnage that has been wreaked by omar al-bashir -- explain where he is right now, the prison he is in, and what has happened in that prison over the years. militarying to the council, omar al-bashir is being held in a prison that is infamous that many political prisoners have been held in. however, there is been no confirmation of these reports. ofhave not even seen images omar al-bashir since his ousting . we have not seen images of him being arrested when ousting occurred. it is very difficult to confirm his whereabouts. nermeen: before we conclude, i want to ask about all of the different countries that are involved in the conflict in sudan posted egypt, saudi

arabia, and the uae have all been supporting the military in sudan, helping to suppress the opposition, the protesters. and just last month, hemedti met with the saudi crown prince been someone -- been someone. they have in do supporting this military council and whether protesters are saying about that? >> it would be difficult of sudan has people transition to civilian government, somewhat of a trigger for the egyptian people saying that ok, this is possible and maybe we can have a different conclusion to our revolution instead of having a military government, which is what happened in egypt. for the uae and saudi arabia, they are interested in sudan's unfortunate involvement in the yemen war, so that has been providing them with soldiers --

many of whom are child soldiers fighting on the ground. people have praised the government for using our people instead of theirs to fight on the ground so that they would save more of their people's lives. a there is a transition to civilian government, the civilian government, one of its first demand is to stop this outsourcing that is happening to sedan of our people, especially human rights violations of using child soldiers, and to stop the conflict within sudan. amy: as we wrap up, you have been back and forth to sudan. you just came back. you were there just before they opened fire on the sit-in. you were jailed in january come a detained. describe what it is like to be there and why you continue to go back and forth and hold out hope. >> and my most recent visit, what i saw was very different

from january and definitely from what is happening now. the sit-in was a place for people to get together, a place where a lot of segregation you see around khartoum, the ethnic, the gender segregation that you see in khartoum, you did not see that at the sit-in. young people could get together and speak up their hopes, organize, unionize. during the days i was there, there was a lot of preparation for eids. the homeless children of khartoum finding a family for themselves. people who are willing to get them new clothes for the holiday. a lot of this has been ended tragically by the raid that has cost many lives and we don't even know the number. amy: thank you so much for being with us marine alneel, sudanese , activist based in new york city. when we come back on the trump crackdown on u.s. travel to cuba. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: we turn now to look at the trump administration's crack down on american travel to cuba after the treasury department announced tuesday that it is ending the people-to-people program, the most popular way for americans to visit the country through organized group trips in spite of the embargo. private cruises to the island will also be banned. on wednesday, the cruise companies carnival corporation, royal caribbean, and norwegian all announced they will no longer travel to cuba. the new regulations affect nearly 8000 bookings. in a statement, treasury secretary steven mnuchin claimed the ban is in retaliation for cuba "providing a communist foothold in the region and propping up u.s. adversaries in places like venezuela and nicaragua." cuba supports the government of venezuelan president nicolas maduro, while the u.s. has backed opposition leader juan guaido and calls to overthrow the maduro government.

on tuesday, national security advisor john bolton tweeted -- "the administration has advanced the president's cuba policy by ending 'veiled tourism' to cuba and imposing restrictions on vessels. cuba has continued to prop up the illegitimate maduro regime in venezuela and will be held responsible for this ongoing man-made crisis. president trump has made it clear that we stand with the cuban and venezuelan people as they fight for freedom." amy: the move is just the latest move by the trump administration to squeeze the cuban economy. in april, the administration moved to allow u.s. nationals to sue any company that does business in cuba using private property seized during the cuban revolution. the president of cuba, miguel diaz-canel, responded to the news by saying -- "cuba will not be frightened or distracted with new threats and restrictions. work, creativity, efforts and resistance is our response. they haven't been able to suffocate us. they won't be able to stop us."

many cubans were also critical of the move. this is artisan angel millo. >> i think trump's policy is wrong because it is just like what other united states presidents have done. the reality is it effects the cuban population and of the government. the cuban people are affected by these arbitrary measures that not only affect us, but imagine also irritates americans because it is limiting them from getting to know the culture in our country. amy: for more on the impact of the trump administration's policies, we go to charlottesville, virginia, to talk to cuban political science professor arturo lopez levy. he teaches at gustavus adolphus college in minnesota. he is the co-author of the book, "raul castro and the new cuba: a close-up view of change." welcome to democracy now can you start off by talking about this latest crackdown on cuba, what exactly it means for your country? >> this crackdown basically means buying educational and

cultural group trips to cuba. according to the administration, --is to stop what they call in reality, they are trying to stop contact between the people of cuba and the people of the united states. nermeen: what impact the you think this will have on people in cuba come and not just a ban on travel, but the other policies put in place by the trump administration, including the sanctions. >> first, it is a very negative impact all over the board. first, it will use the contact in a moment when they're at a critical juncture. the countries are going through an important process of reform. acently, the country approved constitutional reform.

there are important measures such as a mixed economy with an important interaction between a state government property and is nonstate sector -- and a nonstate sector, basically creating a new country. in the sense that private people are having a part in an economy .hat has been -- been stalled second, it is a moment of great debate of ideas because the era is ending. although the successor has claimed is basically about , but there is a lot of change. in a more tangible way, a very important issue is he is reasoning the hard-core -- the

country is receiving particularly this emerging private sector. amy: in an interview with pbs newshour in john bolton was april, asked why he had tweeted that the monroe doctrine was "alive and well." this was his response. >> many u.s. allies in this region and this hemisphere, those closest to us, welcome the u.s. leadership here under president trump to keep foreign powers from extending their influence, particularly in venezuela, which is what i was referring to when i said the monroe doctrine is alive and well. it is intended to throw a shield around the hemisphere. it has worked for a long time. and i think it is an important doctrine to keep in mind as we work for the objective that president trump seeks year, which is the first completely free hemisphere in human th history. amy: in november, he said they

were part of a troika of tyranny. >> the troika of tyranny in this hemisphere, cuba, venezuela, nicaragua, has finally met its match. this troika of tyranny, this triangle of stretching from isana to not grok what, immense human suffering. the impetus of enormous instability and a cradle of communism in the western hemisphere. amy: that is john bolton. arturo lopez levy, if you can respond to what he has said as he talks about trying to stop communism, having a first free hemisphere in the world, can you respond to all of this and this troika of tyranny that he is talking about, putting together cuba with nicaragua and venezuela? >> this reference to the monroe doctrine, to the troika of red meat to amply

crowd when he makes those speeches. this makes the use of american foreign-policy for electoral purposes 100%. obviously, the monroe doctrine is a reference in history to a a lot of bad things that have happened between the united states and the hemisphere. and it is part of history that does not exist anymore because the united states is not anymore the only country or the country which almost all latin american countries is oriented. china is the first partner of brazil,peru, chile. in the case of cuba, i think there are 60 years that have demonstrated the conditions in cuba are taken in havana, not

washington. nermeen: earlier this year, "the wall street journal" reported the u.s.-backed effort to oust venezuelan president nicolas maduro is just the first step in the trump administration's plan to reshape latin america, with cuba next on its radar. the report suggested the u.s. would announce new measures against cuba, including new sanctions and would also restore cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. according to "the wall street journal," the u.s. then plans to target nicaragua. in november, national security adviser john bolton dubbed the three nations the troika of tyranny. in january, vice president mike pence said that president trump is "not a fan" of u.s. interventions abroad, except for in this hemisphere. arturo, could you respond to that and what you see happening next? i don't think it is reasonable to expect a reasonable behavior from the

u.s.e that are running policy toward latin america in this administration. this is an administration that is guided by every particularly -- after the replacement of mcmaster by national security advisor john bolton. it is the administration guided by a night a logical view of a relationship -- john bolton is a protege of jesse helms. say he hasto followed on the steps of his mentor. left andvision about right, that it is very much on the right. to the right of genghis khan. a vision about the political forces in latin america. and obviously, they of try to push as much as possible for

policies that are not clear to me they are in line with international law or even with the purpose of the national interest and values of the united states. the state of mr. pompeo talking to some leaders of jewish organizations in which he even admits those ideas about using the venezuelan opposition to put the maduro government out of the game were excessively optimistic. amy: arturo lopez levy, they give for being with us, cuban political science professor at gustavus adolphus college. co-author of the new book "raul castro and the new cuba: a close-up view of change." when we come back from break, nearly 100 animal rights activists are free today after being arrested for carrying out

a rescue mission at a north carolina duck farm they say tortures animals. we will speak with leaving animal rights activists priya sawhney and wayne hsiung. in prisonface years for different actions. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. nermeen: we end today's show in northern california, where nearly 100 animal rights activists are free today after being arrested for carrying out a rescue mission and protest at the reichardt duck farm in petaluma, which they accuse of animal torture. more than 600 activists with dire action erywheretormed the slghterhou monday, fanninout in tms to chn thselves tether athe trance, ee dozenof ducks d in se cases, lck themsees by thneck to e slghter ne. veral ofhe activts made inside t slaughthouse, wre theyegan tryinto rescue duckthat werhanging side wn by thr feet.

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poli, armed th riot ar, arrested8 activis who participed in thaction. despite merous cplaints, thoritiehave yeto investige the peluma facry d slaughterhouse. activists, however, have been repeatedly arrested, with many facing multiple felony charges and, if convicted, decades in prison. pulitzer prize-winning journalist and co-founder of the intercept glenn greenwald praised monday's action, tweeting -- "the real criminality is the systemic torture and slaughter of billions of animals in the cruelest, filthiest, most sadistic conditions. it breaks multiple laws. but the police protect the corporate criminals, and instead arrest those saving lives." well, for more, we're joined by two guests. priya sawhney is one of the co-founders and a lead investigator of direct action everywhere. she is speaking to us from las

vegas. wayne hsiung is a co-founder and lead organizer for direct action everywhere, and a former law professor. he was arrested during monday's action and was released late wednesday. he is facing a total of 17 felony charges in jurisdictions around the country for his animal rescue actions. priya sawhney is also facing felony charges. welcome to democracy now! thank you for joining us. wind, you just got out of jail. can you explain exactly what this petaluma farm is, what the reichardt duck farm does, why you went there, why you targeted it and what you hope to accomplish? duck firms isrdt one of the largest in the state of california. they slaughter one million animals every year and have been refuted reports of animal cruelty from even people walking down the street because the smell emanating from this facility is so awful that it is hard to breathe when you're standing outside. this i the fact there been in so

fromcomplaints, including former procutors, iminal l profsors indating crinal olations happeningt this farm andther facry farms acss the ste of cifornia, the gornment fled to te anaction aall. what 've sn is ordary citizens take action when the government has been us leap at the wheel. amy: can you explain what are the criminal violations taking place? what is illegal that these companies are doing? is animal cruelty of this kind illegal? you concretee example. one of the whistleblower accounts we received showed a duck with a gaping hole in her side collapsed on the ground of the factory floor, writhing in agony, rolli back anforth, unable teven sta. hi amal inll lelihood start death. you a i did ts from hom abbed p and lefher to slowlyleed to rot to ath, i

woulbe animacruelty yet there en multie whtleblowe aounts ross e statehowingystemati violce on acale 10,0 times worsthanhat you i mht ve done an indidual duck th clearlyould be ariminal violion if y are i d in our o home. becausthese arpowerful corporatinteres that he deep ties to the govnment, donateines odollars politicians aoss the tion, especially in farm counties, there is no accountability or transparency whatsoever. amy: tell us the history of this reichardt facility and what exactly happened to thomas chiang in this duck facility. >> reichardt was first 2014 who foundn birds for having necks ripped and broken prettily and thrown in a garbage bin, some of them probably still alive while they

slowly rot to death inside a landfill or a dumpster. a criminal cruelty investigation was to me to buy activist. at that point the government did take some action abroad some police officers out and even brought a veterinarian with them. but even the veterinarian said the investigation they did was completely perfunctory. they did not walk in or do a systematic investigation of the conditions inside the barn. were broughtarges in 2014. since then, there been multiple reports of additional cruelty happening at the facility. we're seeing birds with sickening diseases that if there were able to get out andnfect e humapopulati would endanger families. died as ant has oppounity to instigate findut what happeni and w have ce afterhe anil rits activts f exposg it the rponse inot too y with and dissate ithe facof the chargebut moreore ople areighting back cause we see this as a threat not just

the animals we love, but to our own communities. amy: what are you all charged with? almost 100 of you were arrested. >> i am still shaken. we saw some of our friends nearly decapitated, teenage girls being threatened by farmers. these are people holding flowers and their hands, grandmothers, small children. yet the police did not arrest or investigate anything happening at the farm whether the animals or the humans who were there to protest the facilities cruelty and yet 100 activists face felony charges and could face years in prison for merely protesting and try to do something to stop the systematic cruelty happening inside factory farms. amy: and thomas chiang? what exactly happened? >> thomas decided to lock himself to the slaughterhouse line with others. while it might seem extreme, when you see the stematic brutality and animals being ripped to pieceshile ave, ding on e fors, a you

e the gornment doing nothing out it and corporations ming millions, people are starting to use the tactics oother soal movents. owave lened from others we c use dirt actiono see attentn to maksure the governnt realishis isn ise. thas was aumber of activis whlocked h own body t slauter line show solidari to anims and frankly,he human beiseing threaten by is indusy. themployeeat the fm and responseecided tturn on e a milar li and neay ripped his he off. thauthories did nothing and instead charged and arrested 100 activists. nermeen: in 2018, hundreds of people with the group direct action everywhere marched to an industrial shed housing chickens in petaluma, california, that is owned by sunrise farms, which supplies cage-free eggs to amazon and whole foods. what happened next unfolded on facebook live, narrated at first by you, wayne hsiung.

this is an edited recap. >> ollanta showed a photo of what is happening inside this farm. activists were here as recently as a couple of days ago. you see animals collapsed on e ground in feces rodding the debt. this is standard practice. people don't realize this provides food to whole foods and amazon. to 300 milliong households across the country. it is time for this to stop. the only way to make it stop we have gone to the government and law enforcement and the corporations and the ceos and politicians time and again, the only way to make this violence stop is for people to take direct action. >> i am juliann. i'm he with direct action everywhere. >> out of the way. >> sir, we have the right --

>> off the concrete. we're going to have to ask that you leave now. >> you don't think this animal is suffering? this was taken from this farm. --any person who and pounds >> i mean no disrespect you, but, guys. putting on barrel security gear. activist holding flowers. there are hundreds of activist here today demanding to know what happens inside of corporate farms, what happens to chickens who are held in these farms. when you buy cage free organic eggs -- >> you don't have a right of anything. >> we do. >> i don't care what you took.

nermeen: activists say they removed 37 chickens and took them to get veterinary care. police arrested 39 people for trespassing. wayne, can you talk about what happened then in 2018? twon 2018, there were massates to rations -- two demonstrations. these activists were working under a legal authority. there's a good samaritan statute in california that historically has mostly been applied to dogs and cats eye gives you the right to enter facility were you evidence animals are being denied food and water, just give them care and eight. activists set up a medical care tent. we showed animals were being denied access to food and water. but in response, we had farm workers and authorities threatened to run us over which ith trucks.

a woman felt like her life was being endangered. when multiple activists in fear of their lives of these demonstrations yet when the police were called, the police in that arrested the activists instead of the folks threatening to kill us. this is coming from the discovery in the cases. the farmers are saying directly to the police, "i'm going to kill these people." taking action against this violence, the police, who received an working in cahoots with the industry, are doing nothing about that and instead putting the activists in prison. amy: priya sawhney, we are watching you at that action. you were there confronting the 2018 as well, one of the cofounders of direct action everywhere. explain why these chickens mattered so much to you. you also then got arrested and face felony counts, years in prison?

>> yes, i am facing up to a decade in prison and seven felony charges. i was one of the 58 activists arrested in september in the same county for documenting animal cruelty of the largest organic holger producer in the nation. --poultry producer in the nation. people love animals and we know this to be true because most people have dogs at home and they will treat their dogs like children. when we show people what is happening to these chickens inside of farms, to pigs inside of farms, people are mortified. the reason for this is because people don't want to see animals being hurt. growing up as a child in india, i saw a lot of stray dogs, a lot of stray animals. i always knew these animals are helpless and we need to help them into whatever we can. so i carry that into my work as

an investigator for dxe. charges you face felony . this might be surprising to some because it is not clear at all what law they are saying you have broken upper dissipating in these protests. yeah, and when i was arrested in september for being at this facility, i was asked a just documenting what was happening. i was behind the camera watching and filming my friends and making sure someone is present in showing the world what is happening. so i was behind the camera and i don't know what i did wrong. quite frankly, i don't know what my friends did wrong because they were just helping animals. we were present with a letter from a legal professor stating we have the legal right to be there because we know from whistleblower footage that california law is being

violated. i know wayne mentioned this, but topite showing this officials and showing these letters to officials back in september, we also did the same on monday, we were repeatedly refused any conversations about this. what we see is instead of helping activists in the animals, the police turn their backs on both the animals who need help, but the activists who need help, and continue to arrest evil for documenting animal cruelty and helping animals. amy: in 2017, direct action everywhere went to smithfield's circleour fas in uta one the wlds laest pig rms, expose nditionst the facility vestigats reportinding glets feing on tir own mothe's bld, pregnt pigs held igestatiol cratesoo smalfor themo turn aund in, d sick a feverish glets le to die starvati or be tmpled. this is wae hsiung at smithfie's rcle far.

>> lerally srving to dth. she's abt halfhe size the piglets. onthird the pigts born ime. fms like ts heface is vered inlood and we havto take r out. amy: utah officials filed felony burglary and rioting charges against wayne hsiung and four directbers of e, actionverywher accusinthem removina pair opiglets, med lucynd ethel u go ttrial fothis in novemberwayne. if you c talk abt the signifancef smithfid, wh it iowned by, a what yo did with tse pigle and whyhey ttered smuch do u? >> sthfield ods is t largt pork pduction mpany in theorld. the sile large acquision of a.s. compy in inese

story. the chine governnt finan the al to bout t company thiss a compy that systatically ases the ghts workerscost theby menta vastatioto commuties of colornorth carina and ah anevenaught upn human traffiing scanls in ut and gagedn abu of millns o anals everyear. what is ppened or theast years amore andore expore has occurred over t indury, morend more tizens and consers are set and curiouabout thviolence agains animals and han being the're sing in ftory far. o oftenhat happs instea of rl changes they p up the aparance ochange. smithfld chang its motto. went in the sine larges facity in ut and fnd their continui to use gtational ates despi saying theyad stped usinthem. in sad of trng to adess e corpore fra and the cruelt the t govnment brought osecutio againstix acvists.

we are seeing this happen across the country. amy: we're going to do part two of this discussion to find out more about these actions with wayne hsiung and priya sawhney, cofounders of direct action everywhere. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or

hello and welcome to "nhk newsline." i'm keiko kitagawa in tokyo. officials at japan's meteorological agency are warning of mudslides and floods as heavy rain hits western japan. some local governments have issued an evacuation advisory, citing level