06/10/19 06/10/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we have signed our commitment to contributing to migrants not crossing through national territory to reach the united

states. we would never do this by violating the human rights travelers. and that starts with human rights. the right to live free from misery, the right to life. amy: mexico and the u.s. reach a deal to avert a trade war, canceling plans for the u.s. to impose a 5% tariff on all imported mexican goods that was due to take effect today, and increase to 25% by october. trump celebrated the deal over the weekend, but "the new york times" reports that mexico had promised to take many of the steps they agreed to months ago. we'll get the latest. we will speak with lori wallach. then longtime civil rights leader reverend barber was convicted thursday of trespassing for staging the 2017 protest against gerrymandering and attacks on health care at the north carolina legislature.

>> if you did not mean what was in the constitution, then you should not have written it. and saying america doesn't have enough resources. if you can find it to join dollar tax cut, you can find the resources for everybody. health care and have a living wage. amy: reverend william barr per joins us from raleigh, north carolina. all of that in more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the u.s. and mexico reached a deal friday to avert a 5% tariff on all imported mexican goods that was due to take effect today, and increase to 25% by october. the trump administration said the deal was based around mexico's commitment to deploy national guard forces throughout mexico, in particular to its southern border, in order to stem the flow of northbound migrants headed towards the u.s. under the deal, mexico also agreed to expand what is known

as remain in mexico policy, which allows the u.s. to send back central american asylum-seeking migrants to mexico while their cases make their way through u.s. immigration courts. however, on saturday, "the new york times" reported that the plan to send troops to the border had already been agreed to last march. trump lashed out at "the new york times" report sunday, tweeting -- "we have been trying to get some of these border actions for a long time, as have other administrations, but were not able to get them, or get them in full, until our signed agreement with mexico." he added in another tweet, "they are truly the enemy of the people!" referring to both "the new york times" and cnn. trump also said mexico agreed to start buying large quantities of agricultural goods from the u.s., though it's unclear if this in related to the immigration deal. at a rally in tijuana saturday, mexican president obrador celebrated the passing of the deal and said mexico would carry out the immigration plan while

respecting the rights of migrants, but many immigrant rights advocates and migrants said the plan would further harm asylum seekers. this is migrant activist luis garcia. beenis migrant policy has pushed through because of statements in the dispute between republicans and democrats and a paranoid man, a n, donaldill ma trump, pressuring folks so he can get those. the exacerbation of this crisis that he says will infect the united states is just in donald trump's head. amy: senator elizabeth warren in congress member pramila jayapal are demanding the company operating the country's largest shelter for migrant children explain its decision to add former white house chief of staff general john kelly to its board of directors. the democratic lawmakers also want caliburn international to disclose information on the operation of their prisons for unaccompanied migrant children.

job paul and 2020 presidential candidate senator warren wrote -- "general kelly was at the center of the inhumane and poorly planned immigration policies that put children in cages while separating thousands of families and that benefitted your company. it is outrageous that he now appears to be cashing in on those same policies." in related news, a homeland security inspector general report released thursday revealed ice failed to meet government standards for housing migrant prisoners at multiple facilities last year. they found multiple violations, including nooses in detainees cells rotten, food, and inadequate medical care at several facilities. chris murphy and todd young are introducing a bill today to force a vote on u.s. military support for saudi arabia as a bipartisan support to block president trump's emergency arms

sales to saudi arabia and other gulf states is mounting. on friday, "the new york times" reported that the contested arms deal -- secured after trump used an emergency declaration last month to push it through without congressional approval -- will allow for hi-tech u.s. bomb parts to be manufactured in saudi arabia. under the deal, raytheon would work directly with saudi arabia on precision-guided bomb technology, which has been used against civilians in the u.s.-backed war in yemen. the provision is part of an $8.1 billion arms package for saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, and jordan. both democratic and republican lawmakers, including staunch trump ally lindsey graham, have blasted the arms deal and senators have announced 22 resolutions against it -- one for each sale. senator chris murphy said in a statement -- "the process we are setting in motion will allow congress to weigh in on the totality of our security relationship with saudi

arabia, not just one arms sale, and restore congress's role in foreign policy-making." in april, trump vetoed a historic congressional war powers resolution ordering the u.s. to halt most military support for the war in yemen. yemen is the world's worst humanitarian disaster. in april, a new report by the u.n. found that the combined death toll from fighting, hunger and disease has reached nearly a quarter million since the start of the conflict. in related news, raytheon and aircraft manufacturer united technologies' announced sunday they are merging, creating a weapons and aeronautics giant that would rank as the second largest behind boeing. in hong kong, hundreds of thousands of protesters blanketed the streets sunday, calling out a proposed bill that would allow for the extradition of hong kong residents to face charges in mainland china.

protest organizers estimated more than 1 million people took to the streets while the police reported it was about a quarter of a demonstrators say the bill million. would infringe on hong kong's independence and their legal and human rights. >> the motherland once promised we would have one country, two systems. but not under the regime of xi jinping, those building on the future of the hong kong people, the freedom that hong kong people used to have, will no longer exist if this law is passed. amy: protestors clashed with police in the early hours of monday morning as riot police used batons, pepper spray, and water cannons against protesters in front of government buildings in hong kong. social media posts and reports about the protest were blocked by internet censors in mainland china.

pro-democracy and pro-beijing lawmakers broke out in skirmishes last month over the contested bill. hong kong's chief executive carrie lam has said she does not plan to withdraw the bill in the wake of the massive protests and lawmakers are scheduled to debate the legislation later this week. in haiti's capital port-au-prince, police reported two people were shot dead as thousands took to the streets across haiti sunday in an ongoing push for president jovenel moise to resign over accusations of government corruption and mismanagement of haiti's oil fund. >> a group that we voted in as misspent 4.2 billion dollars from a fund that should've been used to improve our lives. it was used to buy homes in foreign countries. as citizens who live here in the country, we take on this responsibility and act accordingly to demand justice to stop all of those who have

stolen from this fund. after return the money so children can go to school for hospitals, for families, to work and better their lives and for criminals to all go to jail. amy: "the washington post" is reporting that the white house barred a senior state department intelligence analyst from issuing a testimony describing climate change as possibly tastroph to thhouse intelligce commiee. the whithouse obcted to ferenceso the scnce arod n-made cmate change. rod sconover w permitt to appearefore thhouse pal, but s writtetestimonwas blockefrom bei enterednto ficial rord. his testimony read -- "absent extensive mitigating factors or events, we see few plausible future scenarios where significant, possibly catastrophic, harm does not arise from the compounded effects of climate change." one of those who objected was national security council official william happer, an architect of the trump administration's climate policy

and a known climate science denier who once compared the fight against climate change to the holocaust. he reportedly said that the report includes climate alarm propaganda and that the phrase "tipping points" is "a propaganda slogan for the scientifically illiterate." in new york, 27 year old transgender afro-latinx prisoner layleen polanco was found dead inside a cell at rikers island friday. the cause of death is unknown. transgender rights advocates and polanco's family are calling for a full investigation. a gathering in layleen polanco's memory is being held tonight in new york city. her death has also prompted renewed calls to shut down rikers jail. earlier this year, new york city mayor bill de blasio said he expects the jail to be shattered by 2026. meanwhile, reports emerged friday of the murder of 23 year old chanel scurlock, a black transgender woman in north carolina.

she was fatally shot last wednesday and her body was discovered by police in a field. friends told local media scurlock was on her way to meet someone over a disputed facebook post and that they feared the encounter could be dangerous. scurlock is the ninth known case of deadly violence against black transgender women in 2019. meanwhile, in detroit, police charged 18-year-old devon robinson with the murder of two gay men and a transgender woman. the triple-murder is believed to be a hate crime and took place last month, claiming the lives of alunte davis, timothy blancher, and paris cameron, a 20-year-old black transgender woman. as events and celebrations marking pride month take place around the country, u.s. embassies are defying a trump administration policy barring the hoisting of lgbtq rainbow flags outside of official buildings.

large rainbow flags draped across u.s. missions in seoul, korea, and chennai, india, while the new delhi embassy is lit with rainbow colored lights. requests to hoist the rainbow flag have been routinely approved over recent years, but secretary of state mike pompeo changed the rules, last year, requiring embassies to obtain top-level approval, which the state department has been rejecting. a diplomat referred to the move as a category one insurrection. the fallout continues for former new york city prosecutor linda fairstein as publisher dutton, a penguin random house imprint, announced friday it was dropping the successful crime novelist. linda fairstein has come under fire since the release of a netflix series about the infamous central park jogger case, which saw five harlem

teenagers, four african-american and one latino, wrongfully accused and convicted for a rape in 1989. at the time, fairstein was head of the sex crimes unit for the manhattan district attorney's office. a #cancellindafairstein campaign has also grown on social media. to see our hour-long interview with director ava duvernay on the series "when they see us," go to democracynow.org. in minneapolis, a judge sentenced mohamed noor, the former police officer who shot and killed a white woman while responding to her 911 call, to 12.5 years in prison. in april, noor was found guilty of third-degree murder and manslaughter for fatally shooting australian justine ruszczyk damond in 2017, after she reported a possible sexual assault happening behind her home. when the police came, she came downstairs and noor shot her.

and at last night's tony awards in new york city, actress ali stroker made history as the first wheelchair-user to win the prestigious tony award for best actress in her performance in the critically claimed revival of the musical "oklahoma." kidhis award is for every who is watching tonight who has a disability, who has a limitation, or a challenge, who has been waiting to see themselves represented in this arena. you are. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. facing an escalating showdown with mexico and an insurrection from his own party, the trump -- president trump said on friday the u.s. had reached a deal with mexico to avert a 5% tariff on all imported mexican goods that was due to take effect today and increase to 25%

by october. trump's announcement came after three days of mexico-u.s. negotiations in washington. it was basedd around mexico's commitment to deploy national guard forces throughout mexico, in particular to its southern border, in order to stem the migrants headed to the u.s. under the deal, they say mexico also agreed to expand what is known as remain in mexico policy, which allows the u.s. to send back central american asylum seeking migrants to mexico while their cases make their way through immigration courts in the united states. however, on saturday, "the new york times" reported sunday that had already been agreed on in march. trump lashed out on twitter by attacking "the new york times," writing -- "the failing @nytimes story on mexico and illegal immigration through our southern border has now been proven shockingly false and untrue, bad reporting, and

the paper is embarrassed by it. the only problem is that they knew it was fake news before it went out. corrupt media!" in a statement saturday, house speaker nancy pelosi said -- "president trump undermined america's preeminent leadership role in the world by recklessly threatening to impose tariffs on our close friend and neighbor to the south. threats and temper tantrums are no way to negotiate foreign policy." trump's plans drew resistance from some republican leaders, including mitch mcconnell, who threatened a congressional revolt. meanwhile, in mexico, president andres manuel lopez obrador hailed the agreement at a rally with thousands of supporters on saturday. he said migrant rights would be protected. >> we have signed our commitment to contributing to migrants not crossing through national territory to reach the united

states will stop we would never do this by violating the human rights of travelers. and that starts with human rights. the right to live free from misery, the right to life. it would be fair to try and punish mexico, to try and stop immigration. whilst there is a need for welfare and security in home countries for migrants and a surge for brotherhood among people. we celebrate yesterday's important agreement because things were becoming very difficult, very uncomfortable. amy: to talk more about the deal and its implications, we go now to washington, d.c., to talk to lori wallach, director of public citizen's global trade watch and author of "the rise and fall of fast track trade authority." welcome back to democracy now! what happened over these last weeks when president trump threatened mexico with

across-the-board 5% to be increased to 25% tariffs on all mexican goods? republicans, led by the senate majority leader mcconnell, said they would revolt. and then trump said -- essentially, he forced mexico to its knees. explain what happened. crisisp created a fake and has announced a fake solution that actually is affirming the u.s. and mexico had agreed months ago, plus he announced something that i think just can't happen, which is large agricultural sales to accept mexico's market economy, the government does not control what is sold. there are no tariffs. this don't like you can make a trade deal to increase agricultural sales. that part seems to be altogether made up. but if you read the actual summary of the agreement between the two countries were you look

at this weekend's tweets, the president is simultaneously saying, "and if i don't get my way, we can put the tariffs back up." he is basically, to quote nancy pelosi, having "a tariff tantrum" and threatening maybe the tariffs will come back. levelat is at the highest , an indication that his racist border immigrant obsession really trumps everything us because having this tariff tantrum over mexico really is not helpful to the renegotiation of nafta where the democrats actually have been working to deal improvements to the trump signed with the prospect hysteria has underminedtually that process. ,my: didn't he introduce this

the possibility, the threat of the tariffs right around the exact time that president obrador introduced the new nafta, what, the u.s., mexico, trade agreement into his legislature to be approved? peculiar set of circumstances. what is happening with the revised nafta. the deal that trump signed at the end of last year is not a transformational replacement of d tradeporate-rigge model we need, but they made improvements. for instance, they got rid of the outrageous corporate tribunals. what the democrats have been doing is try to work with the one same cabinet member, lighthizer, to take out a bad thing they added. some new monopoly rights that would lock in high medicine prices. that has to come out. and the democrats have been

working to try to get the labor and environment all standards --roved and there in force enforcement much strengthen, because that is necessary if they're going to stop the outsourcing of fallujah. there is some hope that maybe those improvements can be made in the agreement would be worth something. it is not perfect by a long shot. and it could stop some of the ongoing serious damage to workers and the environment in north america that nafta is causing. that is trucking along here. and all of a sudden, trump comes in with his racist border of session and basically derails the whole discussion. will he get back on track? maybe. but not if the threat of these tariffs are endlessly hanging over the head of the whole process. amy: i want to go to the acting secretary of the department of homeland security kevin mcaleenan, who was asked what part of trump's agreement with mexico is new.

he was speaking on fox news sunday. >> all of it is new. we've heard commitments before from mexico to do more on their southern border. the last time they deployed down there was about 400 to 500 officers. this is more than tenfold to increase the security where folks are entering from guatemala. the president foothold charge on this dialogue with tariff the threat and brought them to the table. this is the first time we've heard anything like this kind of number of law enforcement being deployed in mexico to address migration, not just at the southern border, but the transportation routes to the northern border and in coordinated patrols in key areas along our southwest border. amy: that is the acting head of homeland security because trump urged almost the entire leadership there that was originally appointed by him. that was kevin mcaleenan. your response? according to not just "the

new york times" reporting but numerous outlets, that exact agreement had been made months ago by the ousted previous secretary kristjen nielsen. in fact, anyone can google, there been a series of stories, actually, about how a lot of the border towns have become basically armed camps where the whereops in the hotels migrants first thing are now being raided. this is happening already at the moment. it seems like it is another instance of trump, perhaps as a distraction on the democrats making clear the nafta deal he signed as is would not stop job outsourcing, would lock in high medicine prices, maybe you wanted to change the subject so he creates a crisis. maybe it was because he is worried about fallout from the mullah report. he created a crisis, set an arbor terry deadline, claims he got a deal -- which was does -- which does not exist, and started leaving the crisis on

the silence for more chaos later. we think about the nafta replacement, that could be the only policy that might come out of this entire administration and the president basically clearly prioritizing, not delivering, on his promise to stop the outsourcing and replace nafta because he would rather create the chaos with his obsession over his racist order plans -- that says a lot that hopefully gets out to american voters. amy: trump tweeted saturday -- "mexico has agreed to immediately begin buying large quantities of agricultural product from our great patriot farmers!" this is mexico's ambassador to the united states responding to trump's statement on face the nation sunday. she was questioned repeatedly by host margaret brennan about whether the president's claim was accurate. >> was any kind of agreement from your government to buy agricultural products?

>> we're understanding without usmca, there will be increased rates both in agricultural products and manufacture products -- >> but agreed to as part of this negotiation? the president has been tweeting saying mexico agreed to buy all sorts of agricultural products. >> what i would say is even now we are the second buyer of the ..s. in grains and meat we have an integrated economy in the agricultural sector. >> but nothing -- >> what we are expecting without is an increase. yet to remember until last year, we were the third trade partner. we are now the first. >> but there is no transaction signed off on as part of this deal, is what i understand you are saying? you're just talking about trade. >> i'm talking about trade and i'm absolutely certain the trade in agricultural goods could increase dramatically in the next several months. amy: that is mexico's ambassador

to the u.s. exactlylach, explain her response and also what trump said about mexico promised to buy large amount of agricultural products from the united states. >> she is trying to be diplomatic because she knows the president has left the tariff threat out there hanging. but as a practical matter, it is a free market economy in mexico, so it is not, for instance in china, were the government can say, we will buy this many billions of dollars of whatever. what gets but for u.s. agricultural products in mexico tradingmined by companies, grocery retell her's, etc. it is not something -- it is not the kind of jelly government can say "we will by this." notionother hand, the that the ambassador has put out

that there will be more trade is a little silly because there are already zero tariffs. agricultural trade between the u.s. and mexico has been zero tariffs for 15 years. so even the notion that the trade will grow -- i suppose if the population grows, the economy grows, demand could grow, but it is that like there will suddenly be an increase. the real issue with what she called the u.s. mca, does not deserve a new name yet, nafta 2.0, is whether remaining business is going to get done of taking out the new monopolies, big pharma was able to break into the deal that trump signed, and adding in the stronger and terminal standards and stronger enforcement. the new mexico and product does president is more supportive of workers rights and wants to raise wages. he has passed a domestic worker law that would implement the best labor part of the existing nafta 2.0. if that were ever truly

implemented, that could be transformational. for the first time it would give mexican workers the right to have real unions, to have contract that they vote on not say contracts -- fake contracts that protect the company and lock-in low wages. at that legislation has to be implemented. there's a lot of fight back from elite industry in mexico but also after amlo is gone, the agreement has to have enforcement so it does not get rolled back. -- don't end up chopping up the whole process, which is speaker pelosi has been remarkably strong and the house democrats united to say to the trade representatives, if you get rid of the pharma giveaways and add the enforcement, this could be a deal that is worth having because it has that labor organizing mexico park, gets rid stufff, fixes some other -- not perfect, but a step in

the right direction. so here with the prospect of replacing nafta that trump said was his top priority to stop outsourcing -- what does he do? he blows it up with the tariff threat. amy: trump sent out a flurry of tweets on saturday about the deal. in he lashed out at house one speaker nancy pelosi, writing -- "nervous nancy pelosi and the democrat house are getting nothing done. perhaps they could lead the way with the usmca, the spectacular and very popular new trade deal that replaces nafta, the worst trade deal in the history of the usa. great for our farmers, manufacturers, and unions!" i want to go back to nancy pelosi earlier this year. >> the concerns that our members have are for workers rights, the environment, and issues that relate to pharmaceuticals. those are the issues. the overarching concern that we have is even if you have the best language in the world, if you don't have enforcement, you

ain't got nothing. you have to have strong enforcement provisions. one of the things that the mexican government has to do before we could even consider it is to pass legislation about workers rights in mexico. amy: and now i want to turn to then senator biden, before he was vice president, speaking in 1994 during the original debate on nafta. he said nafta was the positive thing to do despite workers having a legitimate reason to be concerned. becauseupporting nafta i think it is a positive thing to do, but not because i think it is going to cure the workers fears who have legitimate reason to be concerned. it will not exacerbate their concerns. it will not exacerbate their circumstance. but it will not help it very much in the short run. amy: so that was senator joe

biden in 1994 and before that pelosi. lori wallach, you have been deeply involved in the struggle against nafta. your response? >> first of all, unfortunately, senator biden -- vice president biden has said supportive things about nafta more recently, but also the reality is, the u.s. government has certified almost one million u.s. workers as having lost their jobs to nafta. so it didn't get much worse. the mexican government has documented that in real terms, mexican manufacturing wages are down since nafta so workers there also did not win. right now mexican manufacturing wages are 40% lower in real terms than chinese manufacturing wages. the same exact u.s. plant moved to mexico and turns of middle-class job into a sweatshop job, from $25 an hour

for instance, a good year in the u.s. with the steelworkers representing the workers, to $1.58 in mexico without the safety guides and when the workers went on strike because of the conditions and low wages, they were fired because they had broken their fake contract that locked in the wages. that is the reality of nafta. that is why the agreement has to be replaced. that is why the democrats are fighting for those changes the speaker talked about because the deal trump signed as is would not stop that race to the bottom in wages and outsourcing. and it would lock-in high medicine prices with these new monopoly rights added for big pharma. but if the monopoly rights for pharma can come out and the labor and environmental standards much struggle enforcement can go in, it would be worth having a deal like that that also takes out the investors take corporate tribunals because the damage of nafta continues every week. every week a new union is being busted in mexico. every week jobs are being

outsourced from the middle-class to sweatshops come the same hard-working folks, the only difference is two countries, one agreement. the rules have to change. ist of case is still being filed. every week we have to replace nafta. the question is whether trump will end up basically derailing this process. that despite him come his trade representative in the house democrats have been working on to try to infix and improve the agreement he signed to get into a point where it would be worth having at least to try and stop some of that ongoing damage even if it would not be perfect. amy: finally, lori wallach, the message that has been and over everything that has taken place until now when president trump announces that they will not be imposing the 5% to 25% tariffs across the board in mexico, what this means for other countries around the world? does what basically

this arbitrary threat of the use of tariffs over a racist immigration policy is indicating is that this president is going to basically misuse tariffs and trade policy. tariffs are legitimate tool if you watch mainstream television or read "the new york times congo you think of tariffs is a deadly disease. when we talk about trade sanctions for labor violations, for instance, or environmental violations, a tariff is a policy tool that actually is part of how you regulate trade in the global economy. however, what you use tariffs as a tool to achieve, this president has just blown up with basically, taking it off of trade, taking it off of even commerce, and putting it on, effectively trying to build his border wall by tariffs bricks. amy: lori wallach, thank you for

being with us director of public , citizen's global trade watch and author of "the rise and fall of fast track trade authority." when we come back, we go to raleigh, north carolina, dispute with reverend william barber. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "everybody's got a right to leave," performed by pete seeger & the reverand fred kirkpatrick. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. to longtime civil rights leader reverend barber who was convicted thursday of trespassing for staging a 2017 protest protest at the north carolina general assembly.

>> we the jury by unanimous verdict from the defendant william barber ii to be guilty of second-degree trespass. amy: barber was convicted of a misdemeanor charge by a wake county jury for not leaving the general assembly as ordered, saying he had organized the sit-in at the legislative building after republican leaders refused to meet with him about concerns with voter id requirements and redistricting plans that would weaken the power of the black vote. reverend barber said he took the case to a jury because he and others have a right to protest in the building. similar arrests took place almost weekly from 2013 until last year during the moral monday demonstrations that protested actions by the republican-controlled north carolina legislature. hundreds were arrested, but many of the charges were later dropped. this comes as charges were

dropped for a second protest in georgia against georgia democratic senator nikema williams and 14 others who were arrested last november during a protest at the georgia state capitol after a closely contested gubernatorial election. their cases were dismissed thursday in georgia. for more, we go to north carolina, where we are joined by reverend barber, the former president of the north carolina naacp and is a leader of the national poor people's campaign: a national call for moral revival. this wednesday he will join faith leaders and religious groups and washington, d.c., for a march to the white house to protest the trump administration's attacks on the nation's most vulnerable communities. reverend barber, it is great to have you with us. talk about what happened to you on thursday. talk about this verdict and why you are protesting back in 2017, though you had many protests since. >> thank you so much, amy.

even as i'mp early continuing to exercise we can keep doing the work we are called to do. two years ago, 35 -- about 50 mothers withrs, cancer, mothers who had children who died from the lack of health insurance, preachers and veterans went in to deliver letters to the speaker of the house and senate pro tem leader who had refused consistently to even meet with us for years. constitution, article one section 12, says we are to instruct our legislators at the general assembly. we went there and when they would not let us in the offices, they blocked the offices and said they were locked, we then 10nted scripture like isaiah and quoted statistics about the 500,000 people in our state , weg denied health care

talked about the number of people who were dying, and we read the constitution. they have some building rules that say if someone is annoyed by what you're doing, then they have the right to call the police and they can remove you from the building. we said we had a right to be there must of the constitution gave us a right to instruct our legislators. the first amendment gave us the right to free speech. we stayed. we went to court the other day. we were not allowed to argue the constitution. our lawyers were not allowed to do that, so we put on the record -- i went on the stand exactly why we were there. after the conviction, we immediately filed for appeal and we're going to take this to an appeal because we have open up the southern legislators and we toe to stop, amy, this work literally chill protests.

it was not just me. it was 35 people -- white, post, old, straight, gay of people who had sickness in their bodies while they were there protesting. one lady whose child died because of the lack of health insurance and for that, they criminalized democracy. that is why we cannot stop. we have to continue and we appeal the case already. amy: i want to ask about the connection you make between gerrymandering and health care. not obvious on the face of it. >> it is not. we must start connecting systemic voter, suppression and gerrymandering, poverty, the lack of health care environmental devastation and the war economy. in our state, we just found out the other day that our legislators, while i was being convicted, it came out that they actually lied to a federal court

about the racist redistricting plans and said they could not fix them because the state had already rolled one court that our legislature is unconstitutionally constituted because of racist voter gerrymandering. so they are in office not because they won, but because they cheated. now what they do is they use the power that they have obtained through racist gerrymandering to deny health care to 500 thousand people, to deny living wages, to attack women, to attack the gay community. they would not have the power to do with their doing without racist voter suppression and racist gerrymandering. in reality now, people are saying they are the real trespassers because they lied to federal court, used racist voter gerrymandering to get an office, and one juror already said it was surgical -- the fourth

circuit said it was surgical racism and another judge has said it was -- there unconstitutionally constituted body that has been passing policies that is hurting all poor, black,ially brown, latino, asian people. that is what we can no longer fight in our silos, we have to fight together. amy: i want to go to north carolina judge stephan futrell speaking last week as he sentenced you for trespassing at the state general assembly . -- a reason to punish in this case. i'm not inclined to do so. i think ms. patel would agree this is not that kind of case. but in order to be consistent, i of $200 --st a fine

court costs, a minimum sentence two to be/maximum suspended, depending on isupervised probation -- uh, there an option for community service? because he would do that in his sleep. >> i don't think he knows how to do anything but community service. >> i don't mean to make light of it. i have pondered that. isn't his life an example of service -- community service? >> that is the judge. this is reverend barber when he volumestioned about the of his voice at the protest in 2017, for which he was arrested for trespassing.

>> is it your testimony you're not yelling in that video? >> i would never characterize calling response, preaching, reading scripture as yelling. yelling insinuates or another type of state of mind that you are somehow angry or whatnot. i was in a situation where i was using the voice i have been given and i was reciting and calling response to constitution , passages of scripture, and statistics about people that are hurting in the state because of denial of health care. >> but your voice is louder than it is right now, wasn't it? >> i'm not reciting the constitution. >> on that day it was latter than it is right now, correct? >> sure. >> but it is your testimony that you are not yelling? >> i would not characterize it as yelling. >> perhaps you can make your voice even louder than that? >> i don't know how you -- i am

a preacher. and in the african-american tradition of preaching and the pentecostal tradition of preaching, there are ebbs and flows in our voice. that is all i can share with you. amy: so that is reverend barber in court being questioned. ,everend barber, would you like pardon me pun, amplify what you're saying and also talk about what time the legislature went into session that day? that is interesting because the legislature did not even go into session until five hours after we were there. we came in in the morning. we had a right to be there. the constitution says we have a right to instruct our legislators as a general simile. constitution says provisions of the poor, the will of the orphaned and unfortunate is the first duty of a civilized and christian state. our legislature is in violation of all of that. when we got there, they close

the doors and told us the offices were not open. there were no one in the offices when we were outside the offices, according to them. and we ask them, what decibel level is free speech? you cannot regulate the level of free speech. we won cases years ago -- they used to tell us we could not even come in the building. outsided we had to stay on the side. we win in the building and the was aruled, no, no, it supreme court case that question, you can tell people they can't be in the building and the rotunda, so the concern here is not even how loud the voice was. what they were arguing was it anyone complaints -- listen. this is where we are. if anyone complains and says it bothered them, then they call the police and the police can remove you. and they can complain

anonymously. that is dangerous, not only for people that were there with me, but it could be summit he there for a whole other reason. free speech has to be free speech. the right to instruct her legislature at the place where they work will stop they also said, you can meet with them by intter and he now or go out the community. that is not what the constitution says. case.s is a very serious we are going to have to push these things across -- i understand southern legislators were there making it a felony to be inside the state capital. we're going to have to open of the state capitals because so much is hurting the poor and vulnerable and immigrant and women and children that is happening in these closed state capitals, particularly in the south. amy: when we come back from break, i want to ask about the events you have planned for this week in the poor people's campaign next week. and how you're going to be involved in presidential

election politics. reverend dr. william barber is co-chair of the poor people's campaign and president of repairers of the breach. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we continued our conversation with the reverend dr. william barber, coach of the poor people's campaign president of , repairers of the breach. about newlyk you surfaced documents that reveal a senior republican strategist who specialized in gerrymandering was secretly behind the trump administration's efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. when the strategist, thomas hofeller, died in august, he left behind a computer hard

drive full of his notes and records. his estranged daughter found the documents, among them 2015 study , a that concluded adding the citizenship question to the census "would be advantageous to republicans and non-hispanic whites and would clearly be a disadvantage to the democrats." can you talk about thomas hofeller's history in your state, north carolina, dr. reverend barber? >> i can. let me talk about this from a southern perspective. to speak to why this is so important for the whole nation for progressive politics. it was hofeller and then trump also try to appoint a lawyer from here who in fact was also involved in racist voter suppression and gerrymandering.

and actually, the republicans and washington, d.c., blocked three black women from even getting hearing in order to try to promote somebody who was known to be engaged in white supremacy policy and voter suppression. when we look at the south, particularly, what has happened is the demographic have shifted. 40% people of color, black people in the south now. if you connect that to progressive whites, latinos, asians, that is a total new voting bloc that can dismantle the solid south and the what southern strategy. that day is not coming, it is already here. it has to be organized. it has to be politicized. it has to be mobilized, which is a lot of the work we're doing and the poor people's campaign to be a power among the poor. one third of all the poor people in this country live in the south. it is almost evenly split between black and white. are afraid.emists

they know they cannot win if the people vote. they cannot win if we have their districts. so they are trying to do everything they can to cheat. the census would scare people away, would lower the population, would undermine how many representatives we have in congress would actually hurt in terms of the resources that states would receive. but they have such a lust for power thatll-gotten is rooted in white supremacy that they would be willing to do that. questioning- census would create a false population of this country. the 14th amendment says anyone that is here on this soil has a right to equal protection under the law. any person of the trump administration that disagrees politiciansstrument

have long agreed with that, we have to buy do because there is a connection between adding a census question, voter suppression, but it is all centered around this deep fear because they know the south can transform this nation of politics and the demographics are already there to do so if we have movements like the one we are leading and the one we're working on to engage the people and politicize and to register the vote and to be of power. amy: reverend dr. william barber, if you could talk about what you're doing this week in washington on wins the and the next week, the presidential forum, and how the poor people's campaign will be involved in presidential politics and our candidates going to show up to your forum next week, presidential candidates." >> first on moral wednesday's, we are joining with other communities were clergy are coming to washington, d.c. to register a prophetic indictment

and a moral impeachment based on how the trump administration, not just him, the administration and his supporters in congress come have violated our deepest values.f our deepest each which call us to justice and the concern for all people. we walmart straight down pennsylvania avenue in full best man. we have had over 5000 people of faith and religious leaders to sign on to this letter of indictment and impeachment. we are following scripture, jeremiah 22 that says when things are this, go down to the royal palace and tell the leaders to stop hurting the poor, stop hurting the women, stop hurting the immigrant, and stopmurdering -- i.e., passing policies that create death. we have to be conspicuous. we can no longer allow the so-called religious right,

religious nationalism to have the state to themselves, especially when they are in gauging and so much moral and theological malpractice, and a mini cases, heresy, with a do not even talk about the issues like the poverty, the sick, the immigrants, but only talk about prayer in school, abortion, and guns and tax cuts. that is so far from our deepest covenant. we have to have this witness. we believe our witness will help other people stand up. we're not democrat or republican. we're not left or right. we are standing in the moral center of our deepest constitutional and religious traditions. the following week, dr. reverend liz liz theoharis and hundreds of people from across the nation, 41 state that engaged in the poor people's campaign, coming to d.c. for the first national moral -- excuse me, poor people's moral action

congress. monday we will be releasing a moral justice budget. we're going to challenge the lie there is scarcity. we have plenty of we use it right when it comes to addressing the problems for 140 million poor people. secondly, we are one of her presidential candidate. 10 presidential candidates are coming not just to talk but to take questions from poor people, impacted people, coal miners from kentucky and poor people from alabama and veterans to take direct questions from them. in the following days, we are having a holding of training as we are building power for registering people for the movement -- amy: when and where is the presidential for maurice a tin of the candidates -- >> on the 17. at trinity. amy: will biden be there? >> biden will be there, warren, booker, harris -- i don't have

all of the names. amy: will sanders be there? >> yes, he will. we are saying they cannot just talk about the middle class and the wealthy. there are 140 million people that are poor. we have to deal with systemic racism and poverty. amy: we have to leave it there but we thank you, reverend dr. william barber, for joining us, coach of the poor people's campaign and president of

♪ hello. a very warm welcome to nhk "newsline." it's 9:00 a.m. on tuesday in tokyo. i'm miki yamamoto. we begin with the latest developments in the tense u.s./iran relationship. the head of the united nations atomic watchdog confirms that