06/25/19 06/25/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. trump: i will be signing an executive order imposing hard-hitting sanctions on the supreme leader of iran and the also -- office of the supreme leader of iran and many others. amy: iran says the move will permanently close the passage of diplomacy between the two countries. this comes as the u.s. carries out cyber attacks against iran. we will get the latest. then to oregon where the state government is in a standoff after 11 republican lawmakers fled the capital thursday, some fled the state, to avoid voting on landmark climate change legislation. threats of violence from right-wing militias supporting the rope gop legislators then led the remaining lawmakers to shut down the state capital in salem. >> they could -- today could have been in a store day for organ.

house bill 2020 was poised to come to the senate floor. virtually, senate republicans failed to show up and failed to do their jobs. amy: we will go to portland, oregon for the latest. and we look at the growing controversy over joe biden's refusal to apologize for his recent praise of segregationist senators. bone in is not a racist my body. i have been involved in civil rights my whole career, period. period, period, period. amy: we will speak to longtime author and education activist jonathan kozol about his recent piece "when joe biden collaborated with segregationists." all of that in more, coming up. democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump imposed news sanctions against iran monday targeting the supreme leader

ayatollah ali khomeini, and announced forthcoming sanctions on iran's top diplomat, foreign minister javad zarif. iranian president hassan rouhani derided the announcement, saying -- "you sanction the foreign minister simultaneously with a request for talks?" while zarif tweeted -- "donald trump is 100% right that the u.s. military has no business in the persian gulf. removal of its forces is fully in line with interests of u.s. and the world. but it's now clear that the b team is not concerned with u.s. interests -- they despise diplomacy, and thirst for war." the "b team" is thought to refer to john bolton, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, and saudi crown prince mohamed bin salman. the sanctions came after an aborted u.s. attack on iranian targets last week following the downing of a u.s. navy surveillance drone by iran earlier this month, which the u.s. says happened over international waters, while iran maintains the vessel had entered

-- the drone had entered its territory. iranian officials have since released imagery which they say confirms this. a top-level meeting in jerusalem between the u.s., israel, and russia, top russian official contradicted the u.s. narrative saying it had in fact entered iranian territory. iran also said monday it had blocked cyber attacks by the united states. meanwhile, the with secretary of state mike pompeo has traveled to saudi arabia and the united arab emirates in an attempt to build with the trump administration is describing as a global coalition against iran. the iranian abbasid or to the united nations told reporters he had been shut out of a u.s.-led closed-door meeting of the u.n. security council. this is iran's ambassador to the united nations responding to the new sanctions. >> the u.s. decision today to impose more sanctions against iran is yet another indication of continued u.s. hostility for

the iranian people and their leaders. and the u.s. has no respect for ,nternational law and order overwhelming majority of the international community. in the broaderns gulf region, the u.s. must stop military -- amy: we will have more on the u.s.-iran story after headlines. the department of homeland security said monday they transferred approximately 300 children out of a border patrol station in clint, texas, following a shocking associated press report last week that sparked widespread outrage. lawyers who visited the facility found children of all ages locked up without adequate food, water, sanitation, or medical care, with older children having to care for the younger ones. clara long of human rights watch, who interviewed children at the facility, recounted a distraught child wearing a bracelet with the words "u.s.

parent" and a phone number but found when calling the phone number, her parents had no idea where she was or the conditions she was being held in. some of the children were reportedly moved into a shelter overseen by the office of refugee resettlement, while others are now being held in a tent facility in el paso. around 30 children remain at the border patrol station in clint according to the office of el paso congressmember veronica escobar. the station is not designed to hold children for more than a few days, but many of the kids have been there now for nearly a month. you can see our recent interview with warren binford, a lawyer who interviewed children at the clint, texas, prison at democracynow.org [captioning made possible by democracy now!] meanwhile, the fbi is investigating the deaths of unidentified people, including four one toddler and two infants, who were found by border patrol agents along the rio grande in texas' rio grande valley near the u.s.-mexico

border. the bodies were discovered sunday, but their condition indicated they could have died days before that. investigators say the three young children and a woman in her early 20's, appear to be migrants who died from dehydration and heat exposure, though official autopsy results have yet to be released. separately, the bodies of a salvadoran migrant and his two-year-old daughter were found, also on sunday, on the mexican side of the southern border near brownsville, texas, according to mexican and salvadoran news reports. president trump responded to the firestorm surrounding e. jean carroll's allegation that he raped her in the 1990's, by telling reporters he would not have assaulted her because "she's not my type." an excerpt from the noted advice columnist's upcoming book accuses trump of forcibly kissing, then raping her in the dressing room of bergdorf

goodman department store in new york. over the weekend, trump said he did not know and had never met carroll, despite a photo which is accompanied the book excerpt -- accompanied the piece in an excerpt in the new york magazine showing them together at a party in the 1980's. at least 22 women have accused trump of assault or sexual misconduct. in related news, "the new york times" executive editor dean baquet admitted that the times was overly cautious in their in its coverage of carroll's allegations after readers took the paper to task for downplaying the story. "the new york times" initially posted the excerpt in its online books section friday and did not promote it on its homepage until late on saturday or run a print story until sunday. officials and business leaders from the u.s., israel, and several arab nations are meeting in bahrain today and tomorrow in what is being billed as an economic workshop designed by

trump's son-in-law and adviser jared kushner. palestinian leadership has rejected the $50 billion u.s.-led initiative, the first phase of kushner's middle east peace plan, which focuses on generating investments in the region, while sidelining politics, the israeli occupation, and palestinian voices. palestinian prime minister mohammad shtayyeh said ahead of the gathering -- "this workshop is simply a political laundry for settlements and a legitimization of occupation." palestinians rallied in the occupied west bank and gaza strip monday to protest the event. this is miriam abu dakka of the popular front for the liberation of palestine. >> if they give us all of the billions of the world, we will not sell our land. it is not for sale. it is a shameful deal.

amy: an unprecedented heat wave is gripping central europe this week with temperatures in france, spain, italy, switzerland, and germany expected to hit 100 degrees and above, though experts say humidity will make it feel like 116 degrees and higher. the highs will surge to 36 degrees higher than average for this time of year, setting records across french cities where experts say heat waves are on the rise in recent years due to the accelerating climate crisis. the french national forecasting service has warned that record-breaking heat waves would continue to intensify and double in frequency by 2050 if global emissions are not drastically reduced. in more climate news, india's sixth-largest city has nearly run out of water. the four reservoirs that supply the 5 million residents of chennai have nearly run dry, forcing many to use well water, which is not considered safe to

drink, and water delivered into the city for those who can afford it. 21 indian cities, including the capital new delhi, will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 million people according to some forecasts. part of the water shortage is -- the water shortage is linked to the climate crisis which has weakened the monsoon season and decreased rainfall in the region over recent years, worsening drought conditions. on monday, the supreme court made it more difficult to access commercial information under the freedom of information act. the case involves a south dakota newspaper, w which was refused documents by the u.s. agriculture department, related to grocery stores participating in the food stamp program. the publication, the argus leader, was investigating fraud in the federally funded program. the justices ruled 6-3 against the newspaper, with justices ginsburg, sotomayor, and breyer dissenting. the committee to protect journalists said of the ruling -- "in order to hold institutions to account, journalists often

need to petition the government to make documents public. today's ruling will undermine the ability of reporters to access the information they need to do their jobs and is a blow to the transparency of the united states government." in oregon, state lawmakers are entering day six of a standoff after 11 republican senators fled the state capitol last week to avoid voting on a landmark climate change bill. some of the legislators are believed to be hiding out in idaho. in an unbelievable turn of events, threats of violence from right-wing militias supporting the rogue republican legislators then led the remaining lawmakers to shut down the state capitol in salem over the weekend. oregon democratic governor kate brown sent out the state police to track down the senators last week. she said monday she will not negotiate with the lawmakers

until they return to oregon's capital. the climate bill aims to decrease emissions by implementing a statewide cap and trade model. without at least two of the rogue republican senators present, oregon democrats -- who control the state senate and house of representatives -- don't have the necessary quorum to vote on the legislation. we will go to portland, oregon, for more on this story with oregon democratic state representative and co-sponsor of the bill karin power. in reproductive rights news, a judge ruled monday that missouri's sole abortion clinic can continue providing the service through ththe end of ths week, as planned parenthood continues its fight to keep its doors open. last friday, missouri health officials refused to renew the clinic's license to perform abortions. reproductive rights defenders say the health officials' decision is politically-motivated and reflects missouri's move to restrict constitutionally-guaranteed abortion rights. the case will now go before an administrative panel designed to

resolve disputes between state agencies and businesses. providers at the planned parenthood clinic warned that abortion access in missouri could be lost by friday if the panel fails to act or favors the health department. 9/11 first responders are meeting with senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to urge him to back an extension to federal funding for the september 11 victim compensation fund. the fund serves those who became sick as a result of their work following the 2001 terror attack. funding is set to expire next year. earlier this month, the former host of "the daily show" jon stewart offered an emotional testimony before a house panel, in which he blasted lawmakers for their inaction. former pennsylvania congressmember joe sestak entered the crowded race to become to 2020 democratic presidential nominee sday. sestak is also a former navy

admiral, and highlighted his military career in his announceme. his campgn videotates hi prioriti as tackng climate change and restoring the u.s. global leadership. he said he wants to "put an end to an illiberal world order's injustices, from china's control of the 5g network to russian interference in democratic elections." sestak entered the race too late to qualify for the first democratic debates, which are taking place later this week in florida. the treasury department's internal watchdog said they will look into why a previously agreed-to redesign of the $20 bill featuring abolitionist leader harriet tubman will not be unveiled next year. treasury secretary steven mnuchin came under fire after announcing last month he was delaying plans to replace andrew jackson's portrait on the $20 bill with harriet tubman. under a 2016 obama initiative, tubman was originally scheduled to replace slaveholder andrew

jackson by 2020, the 100th anniversary of women being there -- granted the right to vote. harriet time in would be the first woman in over a century in the first african-american to appear on the front of a u.s. bank note. and the u.s. women's soccer team and the u.s. soccer federation have agreed to mediation over a gender-based pay discrimination lawsuit filed by the 28 players in march. the suit also alleges the organization denies the women's team equal playing, training and travel conditions, and does not promote their matches as much as the men's soccer team. figures from the u.s. soccer federation's own financial records show that in the three years following the team's victory at the 2015 world cup, ticket sales for women's games generated more total revenue than men's games, a key argument in the lawsuit. the cocaptain of the women's

team is also making headlines during the world cup for refusing to sing the u.s. national anthem and put her hand on her heart at ahead of the games. in the past, she is taken a need androtest police violence racism. she is also an outspoken advocate for lgbtq writes, being a gay american she said "i know it it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties." the u.s. team is headed to the world cup quarterfinals this week were they will face off against france. the men's team did not qualify. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the trump administration has imposed a new round of sanctions on iran targeting several prominent iranians, including supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei and iran's top diplomat foreign minister mohammad javad zarif. president trump announced the

sanctions monday. pres. trump: these measures represent a strong and proportionate response to iran's increasingly provocative actions . we will continue to increase pressure on tehran into the regime abandons its dangerous activities in its aspirations, including the pursuit of nuclear weapons from increased enrichment of uranium, development of ballistic missiles, engagement and support for terrorism, fueling of foreign conflicts, and belligerent acts directed against the united states and its allies. amy: iran said the move "permanently closed the path to diplomacy" between iran and the united states. earlier today iranian president , hassan rouhani dismissed the sanctions as "outrageous and idiotic" and called the white house "mentally retarded." the latest tension comes after the downing of a u.s. drone by iran on thursday. iran maintains the spy drone had

entered its airspace, while the u.s. claims the drone was in international waters. the u.s. military prepared to directly attack iran in retaliation thursday night, but trump reportedly called off the bombing at the last minute. u.s. cyber command did respond by conducting online attacks against an iranian intelligence group with ties to the iranian revolutionary guard. this comes as national security advisor john bolton is in jerusalem meeting with national security advisor's from russia and israel. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo has traveled to saudi arabia and the united arab emirates in an attempt to build what the trump administration is describing as a global coalition against iran. tension between the u.s. and iran has been growing ever since president trump unilaterally pulled out of the iran nuclear deal last year. since then, the united states has repeatedly imposed increasingly harsh sanctions on iran, even though iran has remained in compliance with the

fact. -- with the pact. joining us now is the iranian-american author and analyst trita parsi. he is the former president of the national iranian american council, a group he founded. his most recent book is titled "losing an enemy: obama, iran, and the triumph of diplomacy." his latest piece for new republic is headlined "could obama's iran playbook save trump from war?" welcome back to democracy now! respond to the newly imposed sanctions on iran? well, if the trump administration or president trump himself actually wants diplomacy, then it is for he difficult to see how this latest measure makes any sense whatsoever. this is not adding any particular pressure on iran. of iran's% to 90% economy is under sanctions from the united states, so there's not that much left to sanction. i think what is happening is

donald trump has been conned. he has adopted a policy of maximum pressure, which i think he may have thought was a good negotiating strategy -- somewhat somewhat to what he did with north korea. but the people who have been pushing this policy onto trump do not have diplomacy in mind. in fact, they know very well this strategy makes diplomacy very unlikely -- in fact, design to make diplomacy unlikely -- while making war with iran extremely likely. i think we saw good piece of evidence of that last thursday. when push came to shove, and pompeo and bolton had to choose between counseling restraint and counseling war, they counseled war. trump's problem is while he has shown some indication of not wanting to go to war, he has not connected the dots realizing the reason why he is constantly on the verge of war with iran is

precisely because of this maximum pressure strategy that he has adopted and is now taking to new levels by actually sanctioning the diplomats he is supposed to be negotiating. amy: hours after president trump imposed a new wave of sanctions monday, the iranian foreign minister mohammad javad zarif tweeted -- "donald trump is 100% right that the u.s. military has no business in the persian gulf. removal of its forces is fully in line with interests of u.s. and the world. but it's now clear that the b team is not concerned with u.s. interests -- they despise diplomacy, and thirst for war." trita parsi. if you can talk about who the b team is. it is happening with pompeo, the secretary of state headed to saudi arabia and the uae, and bolton right now in israel with russia and israel. >> the b team is something that of monthsed a couple

ago. the individuals he has included in that concept is benjamin netanyahu, the crown prince of the uae, mbs from saudi arabia, and bolton. what he's referring to is that from the israeli side, from the saudi side, from the uae side, there is been a push to get the united states to confront a rent or go to war with iran for more than 10 to 15 years. we saw from the wikileaks documents that mbz have been wanting to bomb for quite some time. the king of saudi arabia was telling the u.s. to cut off the head of this make. we saw the former secretary of defense was meeting with his french counterpart and said the saudis want to fight the americans to the last -- sir, fight the iranians to the last american. we have the same situation where we believe if the u.s. were to go to war, he would restore the

balance of power that existed in the middle east prior to 2003 and that is what they're looking for. they want to live under the american protectorate and have usb a strong military hegemon. what is fascinating is trump himself seems to strongly disagree with that notion, yet he goes along with their recommendations. the tweet he shot off yesterday pointed out the united states is not buying oil from the persian gulf, yet paying all of the cost of protecting the ceiling. they should be sharing the burden of the cost of that protection with other countries. this is what the israelis were referring to in a said trump does not have an interest in remaining with such a presence. the problem.rux of not only is the trump administration in conflict with itself, trump himself does not seem to have an ability to hold of opinion for long period

time. he constantly contradicts himself and it makes it very difficult for any side to figure out how do you negotiate with the trump administration if negotiations even are an option? trumphis is president speaking to nbc's chuck todd after todd asked trump whether he felt he was being pushed into military action by his advisers. pres. trump: i have some doves and hawks. john bolton is a hawk. if it were up to him, he would take on the whole world at one time. but that doesn't matter because i want outside. amy: can you respond to this, trita parsi? >> i do not know who the doves are. he certainly has hawks, but who are the dubs? if he's interested in diplomacy, who are the advisers on his seen that in any point in their lives have supported diplomacy, who have advocated for diplomacy, and who have any experience and how to conduct diplomacy with a country like iran?

he has surrounded himself with people that made a career out of making diplomacy particularly with iran in a possibility, and at every turn have advocated for military action. the idea that he has two sides and his administration seems rather strange because who are the dubs? -- doves? amy: can you talk about what happened thursday night, the significance of this? you have iran shooting a spy drone out of the sky. said they have the images to prove it was in iranian airspace from u.s. says it was in her national space. then you have trump apparently moving forward within saying when he understood that 150 iranians would die at least in this attack and the spy tron was unmanned, he called off the attack -- spy drone was unmanned, he had called off the

attack. although there was a u.s. cyberattack against iran. can you explain this and if you think the u.s. is still poised to attack iran? >> i think it goes back to what the strategy of maximum pressure is designed by some of these individuals to corner trump and force them to take military action will step that is what they tried to do this past thursday and the last minute trump changed his mind. he is publicly stated it was because he felt the response was disproportionate, one spy plane and then killing 150 people on the other side. i think the more likely scenario is he realized that he was not going to be up to control the escalation that would happen afterwards. in fact, the u.s. has been close to taking military action against iran on numerous occasions the last 25 years. i must every time the reason why the president did not choose to go forward with that was because

of a very clear reality afterwards. they would not be able to control what would ensue and they would not be able to have escalation control. very quickly this whole thing could develop into a full skill war. i think that is something that donald trump realizes would be very problematic for him politically. this is the advice yes of got from tucker carlson on fox news that an attack on iran would be the end of his presidency. haveat this point you france, britain, germany warning iranian officials about the serious consequences around faces if it renee's on the 2015 nuclear pact, that the u.s. already pulled out of. can you talk about what this means and the position iran is in now and what you feel needs to happen on both sides with apparently the iranian people also blaming their own government, as well as trump, for the sanctions since they are

crippling the population on the ground there? >> so i think from the european perspective, trump has clearly threatened iran. he has crushed much of their economy good he has truly humiliated the europeans. europeans have proven to be of no consequence in this drama once trump trust to go down the path of maximum pressure because they were supposed to be providing the iranians with the economic benefit that the deal was promising them. they have failed to do so. they objected dissensions of trump, yet they abide by them. they're not in full compliance with the nuclear deal because they provided by trump's sanctions, which violates the deal. now they're threatening iran if iran pulls out of the deal, iran will face severe consequences. wouldear what those is be. mindful of the factors for the trade left between europe and iran since europeans are ready

have abided by the american sections. i don't think the arena sick of threats from the europeans particularly seriously but the make its made -- serious this will be a conflict unless they do far more than they have done so far to make gets the iran economic benefits it was promised. it is likely than the iranians will pull back and stay within the deal. that will not be an easy decision because each rub administration will continue to try to provoke the iranians to walk out of the deal. to understand what trump is doing right now, his a administration, take a look at the paper that bolton published about six months before he joined the administration. they have really followed that strategy to the t. one thing he makes clear is while the u.s. should not be pursuing diplomacy, should keep the rhetorical option of diplomacy open. the wordhoice of

"rhetorical" makes it very clear it is all about talking about diplomacy but never actually engaging in it. amy: trita parsi, thank you for being with us president of the , national iranian american council, a group he founded. his most recent book is titled "losing an enemy: obama, iran, and the triumph of diplomacy." we will link to your piece in the new republic on our website at democracynow.org. atn we come back, we look the growing controversy over presidential candidate joe brian's refusal to apologize for his recent praise a segregationist senators. we will speak with longtime author and activist jonathan kozol. stay with us. ♪ ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. democratic presidential candidates are preparing for the opening debates of the 2020 presidential race this week with 20 candidates slated to face off in a tonight form starting

wednesday. former vice president joe biden will participate in the thursday night debate and will likely face questions over his recent praise of segregationists. he will be debating among others , senator sanders and kamala harris. last week biden made headlines when he fondly reminisced about his "civil" relationship in the 1970's and 1980's with segregationist senators, james eastland of mississippi and herman talmadge of georgia. biden reportedly said -- "i was in a caucus with james o. eastland. he never called me boy, he called me son." biden was widely criticized by his democratic rivals including new jersey senator cory booker who said -- "vice president biden's relationships with proud segregationists are not the model for how we make america a safer and more inclusive place for black people, and for everyone. frankly, i'm disappointed that he hasn't issued an immediate apology for the pain his words are dredging up for many americans. he should." biden has refused to apologize for his remarks. >> are you going to apologize?

>> apologize for what? cory booker should apologize. he knows better. there's not a racist bone in my body. i have been involved with civil rights my whole career. period. period, period, period. amy: he demanded that cory booker apologize to joe biden. while biden's recent comments made the news, far less attention has been paid to the former vice president's actual record. in the 1970's, then senator biden was a fierce critic of delaware's attempts to bus students in an effort to integrate its schools. in a recently unearthed interview from biden said -- 1975, "we've lost our bearings since the 1954 brown v. school board desegregation case. to 'desegregate' is different than to 'integrate'." he went on to say -- "the real problem with busing is

that you take white people who aren't racist, people who are good citizens, who believe in equal education and opportunity, and you stunt their children's intellectual growth by busing them to an inferior school." cnn recently revealed that in biden wrote a letter to the 1977, segregationist senator james eastland thanking him for supporting his anti-busing legislation. we're joined now by the national book award-winning author jonathan kozol, whose recent article for the nation is titled "when joe biden collaborated with segregationists." he wrote this week's before the test he wrote this week's before the latest biden controversy. kozol is the author of many booksm including "death at an early age," "savage inequalitiesm" "the shame of the nation," and other books on race and education. he taught fifth grade for two years in boston's suburban inter-district program, the longest-lasting voluntary

integration effort in the nation. jonathan kozol, welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. so you write this piece about the now presidential candidate in the former vice president joe biden's record with segregationists, and in this whole story blows up with vice president biden speaking at a fundraiser in new york is presidential campaign, where he praised eastland and tell mitch, the segregationist senators, and talked about the stability of the old days and said that eastland did not call him boy, he calls him son lost up to the shock of many, especially african-american senator cory booker, who talked about what it meant for african-american men to be called "boy." joe biden, not an african-american. response tool, your

this and what you feel the media has missed with senator, vice president, no presidential candidate joe biden's extensive record over the decades? >> amy, the most troubling point from my point of view -- and this is a point most of the mainstream media has completely missed -- is joe biden did not consensus,h out in some kind of stability, to these southern, racist senators. it wasn't hard frame to reach out because he shared their views in the first place. he did not just support legislation introduced by james eastland, jesse helms. he thanked them for supporting his legislation.

his own anti-busing legislation. he called busing asinine. at onese than that, point he even came to the point of saying, i want to get his words exact, saying "i've gone to the point where i think our only recourse to eliminate busing is a constitutional amendment." just stunning words. last week you said he has -- last week he says he has no apologies. , has quoted him repeatedly saying, i've been involved with civil rights my whole career. i don't know how to were this politely, but this is simply not the truth.

to the extent he is been involved in civil rights, it has not been an advocate. it has been as an opponent. careful senators, biden threads the needle on the subject of diversity by saying that he favors it in principle. he simply opposes the only way in which to make it possible. residentialin which segregation and redlining on the part of banks and mortgage lending institutions remain absolutely unaffected, biden knows absolutely well -- he has to know -- that by opposing the use of transportation, he is integrationl

virtually impossible. i would go on just briefly for a moment about his antipathy to bus. it is remarkably selective antipathy. single day we see the good all yellow school bus stopping by the road to pick up kids in front of their homes and take and around 3:00 in the afternoon you see the bus again. some of those buses, not enough, but some of them are transporting inner-city children from virtual apartheid school well-funded,very beautiful schools in affluent

suburban communities. now, i have very close to this very closese -- i am to this issue because way back in the 1960's, i first taught for a year in inner-city boston in a nightmarish school, classic separate and unequal school for the year or two after that, i was hired to teach in the first integration,cted which involves today about 30 suburbs close to boston. friend inry close that struggle, one of the activists in boston, african-american woman named julia walker, who is now 86 years old.

kids and her grandkids, and now she is a few great grandkids come on the bus in that program to some really ofvelous schools where 95% the black kids who ride the buys , more than 95% of the black and latino kids who ride the bus, a four year high school graduation rate. compared to the classic segregated urban school where it is more like 60%. an overwhelming majority of kids go on to college, go on to four-year colleges. i know a number of the first students in that program who went on to become teachers. and now the first black teachers

in suburban public schools. they can serve as role models for the next generation of kids. biden stand up and say, "busing is a terrible just breaks my heart. i mean, these are not perfect programs, but the program in boston, for example, has long had a waiting list of 15,000 children. it, as long as african-american and latino parents who still believe in the dream of dr. king are lining up to get their children into these programs, i don't want to see

a democratic nominee who was going to slam the gate in their face and lock them out. and he has said nothing to indicate change. amy: i want to go back to some of the things he said that you also have pointed out to specifically address them. 1975, u.s. news & world report published a special feature on busing featuring political leaders with opposing views on the issue. joe biden was against it. when asked whether busing caused more harm than good, biden replied "absolutely. it implies that blacks have no reason to be proud of their inheritance and their own culture." in 1975,nt interview biden wrote -- "we've lost our bearings since the 1954 brown v. school board desegregation case. to 'desegregate' is different than to 'integrate'." he went on to say -- "the real problem with busing is that you take people who aren't racist, people who are good

citizens, who believe in equal education and opportunity, and you stunt their children's intellectual growth by busing them to an inferior school." "those are the words of joe biden. notion that a school in which black and white children -- or children of multiple ethnicities sit together in a class is doomed to be an inferior school, is what i find most offensive. and ignorant. it is simply not so. his concern for the stunting of selective.ren is the stunting of black children in badly underfunded, often physically decrepit, disgusting, separate/not equal schools, does not seem to elicit the same

sense of alarm. you know? i am 82 years old. i have been at the since i was 28. unbearable tost candidate whoatic has been willing through the legacyo trample on the of thurgood marshall, those who went down to mississippi in 1964 to try to break the back of apartheid and gave their lives for their beliefs. you know, he is

reagan it waffling depending on what audience he is in front of. the talk he gave last week about developing an ethical -- amicable relationship with the southern racists, gave a talk in front of a very group -- a group of very wealthy donors at a ,ancy party, fundraising party i think at the hotel carlyle in new york. i wonder if he dare to give that same speech in front of an audience of young black and hispanic voters? amy: interestingly, he gave that talk last tuesday night. wednesday was juneteenth, the , enslavedn-americans african-americans in texas learned of the emancipation .roclamation and were freed

that day, juneteenth, there were two historic hearings on capitol hill. one was around poverty and extreme racism in this country that was led by the reverend barber. hearing, the a first in 12 years come on reparations. the leadoff speaker was ta-nehisi coates. the next morning we spoke to him come the critically acclaimed writer, about joe biden's comments. >> joe biden says that he is been involved in civil rights is intact career. joe biden opposed busing and bragged about it. in the 1970's, joe biden is on the record as being to the right inactually the new democrat the 1990's on the issue of mass incarceration. wanted more people sentenced to the death penalty, wanted more jails.

so i am not surprised. this is who joe biden is. there's a saying, somebody shows you who they are, believe them. this is who joe biden's. amy: ta-nehisi coates when on to say joe biden should not be president. "the new york times" says wall segregation was most in the composer seek him in 2016 it was for liberal states that black children were most likely to attend intensely segregated schools, latinos were most likely to attend intense the segregated schools in california, new york, texas, new jersey. new york, california, maryland, and illinois, the most severe school segregation in 2016, jonathan kozol. >> there are three points about that. one is biden did not just agree with southern segregationists, he in a way helped elect

northern senators who might have reasonable on this issue -- he helped to steer them away , helped to give them a convenient rationale for not supporting integration in their schools. north it by saying in the -- sorry, de facto segregation was not intentional. justify court not order integration. in others -- in other words, just demographic happenstance that people have been to live on the opposite sides of town. and on the subject of reparations, he was very clear. he said "i do not buy the

concept that we have suppressed the black man for 300 years." no reference to black women. and he went on -- and as a result, that is my paraphrase, we have to give the black man a head start. -- activelyerred stated would owe the white man back. these are absolutely unspeakable positions. if he had the kurds to stand up today -- courage to stand up today and not waffle about it but say openly, i was totally might bergive me, that reassuring. although, because he changes his tune so frequently, one cannot be sure. amy: jonathan kozol, we have to

go to break, but i ask that you stay sitting there in the studio in boston. we would like to do part two after the show and post it under web exclusives at democracynow.org. karin power is the nationalan kozol book award-winning author of "death at an early age," "savage inequalities," "the shame of the nation," among other books on race and education. we will link to your piece in the nation "when joe biden collaborated with segregationists." when we come back, we go to oregon, where the state government is in a standoff after 11 republican lawmakers supported by right-wing militias ,ave fled the capital of salem salem, oregon, to avoid voting on landmark climate change legislation. apparently, some have fled to idaho. we will speak with a democratic lawmaker in portland. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. we turn now to oregon, where the state government is in a standoff after 11 republican lawmakers fled the capitol last thursday to avoid voting on a landmark climate change bill. some are believed to be hiding out in idaho. in an unbelievable turn of events, threats of violence from right-wing militias supporting the rogue republican legislators then led the remaining lawmakers in the capital to shut down the state capitol building in salem. it's now been nearly a week since all of oregon's republican senators went into hiding to prevent a vote on the climate change bill, which aims to decrease emissions by implementing a statewide cap and trade model. without at least two of the rogue republican senators present, oregon democrats -- who control the state senate and house of representatives -- don't have the necessary quorum to vote on the legislation. oregon democratic governor kate brown sent out the state police to track down the senators last week, but theare not rern to thcapital. is is oreg republica senator ian boquis one of e lawmakers who fled the capitol, speaking last week

before the standoff began. >> seeing the thread out, like we're going to have special session or i will send the state police post up well, i'm quotable. this is what i said, "send them in the heavily armed." amy: that was oregon republican senator brian boquist saying, "send bachelors and come heavily armed." oregon governor kate brown said monday she won't negotiate with the lawmakers until they return to the state. for more, we go to portland, oregon, where we are joined by oregon democratic state representative karin power. she is co-chair of the state's joint committee on carbon reduction and co-sponsor of the cap and trade bill. welcome to democracy now! what is going on in your state? republican legislators, currently some have fled to idaho, and you have the far right militias threatening the state capital so it would -- was shut down this weekend?

>> yes. i democratic leadership in the house and senate issued a statement last week condemning any threats of violence toward our state police and comments that would make our state capital unsafe -- the senate republican leadership has said out to the media that they are not welcoming help from the militia, that their senators are out of state but they have not condemned it as strongly as i myself i think others would have liked, but they have distanced themselves from those militia comments as well. amy: but explain what is going on. so they are in idaho. how did far right militias threaten the state biden -- state capital? earlier in session, the senate republicans walked out on their job to halt progress in passing a really significant landmark

education funding bill as well. we have underfunded our schools in oregon for about 20 years. when they walk out, our governor and the senate democratic leadership negotiated to bills that did not move forward in the session in exchange for the return to business for the rest of session. they have walked out again just a few weeks later. i think the clip you played earlier from the senator boquist perhaps led to some of these militia groups stepping in to presumably defend our senators. i think at least one other senator left late last night, said publicly that any threat of violence toward us as members, toward the public, is unacceptable. amy: explain what this is all over. talk about the climate change legislation you are pushing for. >> this is all over a climate bill.

we have been working to study carbon pricing for the last almost a decade. over the last couple of years, we have been working intensely on a cap and trade bill to align with california to that formally material along the western climate initiative. for the last eight months i've been helping to lead a terrific committee of republicans and democrats as we have traveled the state to hear from citizens. it is coalesced into a final version of the bill that was going to be voted on by the senate last thursday when the republicans walked out, denying a quorum. amy: explain the cap and trade bill. >> we are seeking to regulate the largest carbon and carbon equivalent polluters in the state. and pricing carbon a little bit to start with the way california has started, but oregon would be the second state in the nation to price all sectors, a production, transportation, and energy and utilities.

it has been a tremendous amount of work to get this far. we have a number of groups in support. it is incredibly disappointing that with the climate crisis before us, we were unable to take this last step and get it to the governor's desk. amy: so what happens now? or and have tweeted out a wanted poster for the missing republicans last week. >> we -- our session ins senate. amy: we will continue to post it online at democracynow