07/16/19 07/16/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! > mr.r. president, does it concern you that manany people w ththat tweetet as racist and tht white nationalist groups are findnding common cause with youn that point? pres. trump: it does not concern me because many people agree with me. all i'm saying, if they want to leave, they can leave. amy: president trump doubles down on his racist attacks against congressmembers ayanna pressley, alexandria ocasio-cortez,

rashida tlaib, and ilhan omar. on monday, the respondent. >> this is a president who is ultimately violated the very value our country aspires to up hold. equality under the law, religious liberty, equal protection, and protection from persecution. and to distract from that, he is launching a blatantly racist elected members of the united states of house of representatives, all of whom are women of color. amy: the house is set to vote today on a resolution condemning trump's attack. then we will speak with julian castro, the presidential cacandidate who says president trump is acting like a white supremacist and calling for the breakup of ice. >> let me be clear. the reason they're separating these lilittle children from thr families is there using section

1325 of that act, which analyzes coming across the border, to andrcerate the parents separate them. some of us on the stage have called to end it. amy: julian castro will join us from iowa. all of that in more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace reportrt. i'i'm amy goodman. the trump administration announced it would would block nearly all migrants from seeking asylum at the u.s.-mexico border monday in a new rule that violates both domestic and international law. the aclu has already vowed to challenge the rule in court. it would deny asylum to any migrant who failed to apply for protection in another country they passed through on the way to the u.s. border, including children traveling alone. if enacted, it would effectively block people from honduras, el salvador, guatemala, and other countries from seeking refuge in

the united states. trump announced the plan without guatemala and mexico's agreement. president trump doubled down monday on his attacks against four progressive congresswomenen of color, saying, "if you're not happy here, you can leave." he was widely condemned for a tweet sunday that told the congressmembers to "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came." the tweets were aimed at congressmembers ayanna pressley, alexandria ocasio-cortez, rashida tlaib, and ilhan omar -- all of whom are u.s. citizens. the four congresswomen spoke out at a news conference on this is monday. ayanna pressley of massachusetts. >> despite the octave but of the white house attempts to marginalize us and to silence us, please don't we are more than four people. we ran on a mandate to advocate for represent those ignored and left out and left behind. our sqsquad is big.

our squad includes any person committed to building a more equitable and just world, and that is the work we want to get back to. amy: the house off reprpresentatives is v voting ty on a resolution condemnining trtrump's attacks. we'll have more on this story and from yesterday's news conference after headlines. calls are mounting for puerto ririco's governrnor ricardo roso to resesign following a leak of nearly 900 pages of tetext messages by the puererto rico centerer for investigatitive journalism. the messages reveal sexist, homophobic and violent contentnt exchanged between rossello and gogovernment officiaials.. in one exchange, the governor jokes about shooting san juan mayor carmenen yulin cruz and cacaed former r new york c city council speaker melissa mark-viverito, who is s an allyf yulin cruz, a whore.e. rossello also took aim at the federally appointed financial oversisight board chararged with managing the island's debt crisis, writing -- "deaear oversisight board, go f- yourself" and made jokes about victimims of hurricane maria. twtwo top officials resigned as

the scandal broke but rossello, who is up for reelection next year, is resesisting calls to sp down. on monday, denis m marquez of te puerto rican independence party introduced formal complaints against the governor and called for his impeachment. thousands of protesters have been taking to the streets in puerto rico. >> it is time for puerto rico to wake up. we want to force the resignation of rose low --rosello. even if the legislature does not care about the people, they are there because of us and we are amy: on monday, lilice isan n ju teargrgsed monstrtrors and made multiple arres.s. puerto ricans also gatrered in new yo a and oer c cits in pport t the isld. mo protests are plned for today. in e e salvador, a a rape survir who was jailed and later freed after she of the stillbirth is

being retry for a cremated homicide. in 2017, she was sentencnced to0 years in prison for suspecteded abortion after h her stillbirtr. in december r last year, the -year-old's conviviction was an old. el salvador is one of six countries in latin america with a total abortion ban. venezuelan president nicolas maduro is rejecting the findings of a u.n. report in which human rights chief michelle bachelet accuse the special forces of carrying out thousands of extradition killings that -- nearly 7000 people were killed over 2018 2019 according to the report. some say that number may be conservative. witnesses say special action forces regularly target political opponents and critics often staging the scene them after they killed them to in fafabricated drug crimes. special portions agents s have alalso been accused of sexually assaulting women. back in the u.s., activists around the country took to the

streets monday to protest amazon, coinciding with prime day, one of the retail giant's biggest sales days of the year. activists in seattle delivered a petition with over 270,000 signatures to amazon headquarters calling for them to stop collaborating with immigration and customs enforcement, and calling out its exploitation of workers and anti-union record. in new york, activists delivered the petition to the home of amazon ceo jeff bezos. in minnesota, workers at an amazon warehouse -- many of whom are immigrants from east african nations -- walked out for a six-hour strike and demanded the company implement better w workg conditions and corporate responsibility policicies. in europe, workers in germany, britain, spain, and poland are also taking part in protests this week calling for fair wages and working conditions. a man was fatally shot saturdrdy afafter apparently attttemptingo set t deportation bubuses on f e outsidide the northwest t deteno cecenter in n tacoma, washingtg.

69-year-old willem van spronsen had protested before against the mistreatment of immigrants at the facility run by private company geo group. journalist and activist shaun king called van spronsen the first martyr in the fight against immigrant detention. immigrgrant rights group said - "actions sadly reflect the level of desperation people e across this country feel about the government's outrageous violence against immigrants, which includes the use of detention centers to cage migrants both currently living in the u.s. and those seeking asylum. this death results from the federal government's unresponsiveness to the anger and despair people feel at the horrors unfolding both at the border and in the interior, and from the inability of officers to de-escalate rather than shooting to kill." tributes are pouring in for sadie roberts-joseph, a prominent african-american historian and civil rights activist whose body was discovered in the trunk of her

car in baton rouge, louisiana, on friday. authorities said monday the cause of the death was homicide by asphyxiation, though few other details are known. roberts-joseph founded the odell s. williams now and then african american museum and hosted baton rouge's annual celebration of juneteenth, which she fought to have recognized as a louisiana state and national holiday. she also founded a local non-profit combating drugs and violence. the naacp of baton rouge wrote in a facebook tribute -- "we lost a cultural legend yesterday! #rip sadie roberts joseph." "from reviving juneteenth, to the culture preserved at her museum, she was a trendsetter and icon in this city." two of jeffery epstein's accusers gave testimony at a hearing monday, urging the judge not to grant him bail. courtney wild, who says epstein started sexually abusing her at the age of 14 told the c court, "he's a scary person to have walkining the strereets." meanwhile, prosecutors revealed investigators s scovered p piles of cash, stashes of diamonds,

and an expired passport under another name and with a saudi address when they raided epstein's manhattan mansion last week. on friday, they accuse the child sex abuser of possible witness tampering, saying he made payments totaling $350,000 to two people he feared could testify against him in court. and in hawi,i, huneds s ofand fenderer are protesting the constructionf f the nteseste thirty met t telespe o on p of una keke which is considerer a saeded nate sisite acacvists say the constructi of t t telespe w waspproveve withoucoconsulng t theocal native cmumunity mondayororningprototesrs chaid d themlveses athe baba of t m mountn'road.. imaiininchesr, w whoook papa in t a actio tolold r thatat theyopope tonfororm ople o o the "desecraonon of r laland the ililure thehe ste andndts ageneses to opererlyanagee someining th is s imrtant.t. the lulu of waiiii iwarninin enforcement ththorits mumust respecect thrights oprprotesrs

and has thatatenedo susue souncannons e deploy. moreirect acons are anned todaand this wk. this idemocracnow!, decracynowrg, the r and peace port. i'm amy goman. ju: and i'm juanonzalez. lcome toll of oulisteners and views from aund the countrand arou the wor. esident tmp doublg down after heas widelcondemne for s racistttack onour progresse congrewomen of color a series tweets at began sunday and told them to "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came." the tweets were aimed at congressmembers ayanna pressley, alexandria ocasio-cortez, rashida tlaib, and ilhan omar, who are known as "the squad." all four are u.s. citizens, and three of the four were born in the united states. ilhan omar was born in somalia before coming to the u.s. as a refugee at age 12. on monday, trump added a new

insult, saying omar was an al qaeda sympathizer -- a false claim she said she would not dignify with an answer. during a made in america showcase at the white house, he refused to back down when repoporters s asked him about te contntroversy.y. >> does it concernrn you that my people s saw that tweet t as rat and that white nationalist groups are finding common cause with you on that point? pres. . trump: it does not concn meme because been people agree with me. all i'm saying, if they want to leave, they kelly. amy: that was president trump standing outside the white house. his twitter tirade also named house speaker pelosi and comes on the heels of her public feud with the four congressmembers following last month's passage of the contested border funding bill, which they opposed. pelosi said that house would votete as early at tuesdsday ona resolution that "strongly condemns president donald trump's racist comments" and says they have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new

americans and people of color. this morning, trump pushed back against the resolution, tweeting that the congresswomen "have been spewing some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the house or senate, & yet they get a free pass and a big embrace from the democrat party." he added -- "why isn't the house voting to rebuke the filthy and hate laced things they have said? because they are the radical left, and the democrats are afraid to take them on." well, on monday, the squad appeared together for a news conference in response to trump's assaults. here now are their full comments, starting with congressmember ayanna pressley of massachusetts. >> i want to send a message of grgratitude and thanks to the solidarity that we have received from every cororner of our couny , from our colleagues to our forhbors, we're grateful your solidararity, your encouragement, and your support in the face of the most recent xexenophobia can, bigototed rems

from the occupant of our white house. i will always refer to him as the occupant as he is only occupying space. he doeoes not embody the grace, the input the, the compassion, the integrity that that office requires and that the american .eople deserve that beieing said, i encourage e american people and all l of usn this r room and beyond to not te the bait. this is a disruptive, distraction from the issue off care, concern, and consequence to the american people. that we were sent here with a decisive mandate from our constituents to work on. everything from reducing the cost of prescription drugs to addressing affordable housing crisis, to ensuring the american

people have more than health insurance, but health care. more recently, thanks to the partnership of chairman elijah cummings and the advocacy ofof myself and a c coalition of advocates that i have worked with for decades, we held the first hearing on childhood trauauma. and in sitting in that hearing is heard about the many benefits nations of childhood trauma -- manifestations of childhood trauma in the wake of the epidemicic that has gone violent come in the wake of ptsd, in the wake of thohose battling substae abuse disorder and a host of other things, it was impossible not to think of the trauma that is being inflicted upon children every day at our border. at the end of the day, if we improve the conditions of children in a cage, they are still in a cage. and we are viscerally, vigorously, and fundamentally

opposed to the criminalizing, the vilifying, the mass detention and deportation of migrant famililies who are simpy legal, human there right -- and that is to seek asylum. in the tradition of who we say we are as a country, a beacon of ,ight and hope and of refuge this is simply a disruption and the c callous,rom chaoaotic, and corrupt culture f this administration all the way down. we want to get back to the business of the american people and why we were sent here, reducing the cost of prescription drugs, addressing the public health crisis in epidemic that is gun violence, the wealth gap and yes, making .ure families stay together i also would like to just underscore the fact that despite

the occupant of the white house attempt to marginalize us and to silence us, please know that we are more than four people. we ran on a mandate to advocate for and represent those igngnor, left out, and left behind. ouour squad is big. our squauad includes any person committed d to building a more equitable and jusust world. and that is the w work we want o get back to. and given the size of this squad and this great nation, we cannot, we will not, be silenced. and now i will invite representative omar to offer a few words as well. onthis s country wawas founded the radidical idea that we are created equal and endowed by our inalienable rights. yes, we have a long way before we fully live up to those

values. preciseselyis reason that we have to take actioion wn a president is openly violating the oath he took to the constitution of the united states and the core values we aspire to. as martha -- or luther king said, always say to america is, be true to what you say on paper . i believe this is a pivotal moment in our country. the eyes of history is watching us. right now ththe president is carrying out mass deportation raids across this country in each one of our districts. right now the president is committing human rights abuses at the border, keeping children in cages and having human beings drinking out of toilets. this president, who has been

credibly accused of committing multiple crimes including colluding with foreign government to interfere with our election, this is a president who has overseen the most corrupt administration in our history and pursusued an agendao allow millions of americans to die from a lack of health care while he transfers millions of dollars in tax cuts to corporations. this is a president who has said grab women by the pussy. this is a presidenent who is called black athletes sons of [bleep] he is called black people who come from black and brown es.ntries [bleep hol this is a president who has equated neo-nazis with those who protest against them.. this is a president who has openly violated the very value

our country aspires to uphold. equality under the law, religious liberty, equal protection, and protection from persecution. and to distract from that, he is launching a blatantly racist attack on four elected members of the united states of house of representatives, all of whom are women of color. this is the agenda of white nationalists. whether it is happening in chat rooms or it is happening on national tv, and now it has reached the white house garden. more thanove nothing to divide our country based on race, religion, gender, orientation, or immigration status because this is the only way he knows he can prevent the

solidarity of us working together across all of our differences. the only way to prevent us confronting the problems our countrtry is facing, whether its health care, climate change, student debt, or our endless wars, this is his plan topit us against one another. this is how he continues to enrich his friends and distract us from the detrimental policies that his administration is pupushing for. so we can either continue to enable this president and report garbage thatf comes out of his mouth, or we can hold him accountable to his crimes. we can continue to turn a blind eye of the multiple crimes he is accused of, we can s stand while he v violates people's basic hun the responsibility

that his administration has for the deaths of children on our border, or r we can take action. i have not made impeachment central to my election, but since i have been elected, i said to people, it is not if you will be impeached, but when. for us to stop allowing this president to make a mockery out of our constitution. it is time for us to impeach this president. havew we're going to alexandria ocasio-cortez. i will try to keep things as brief as i can post up who knows, when i get on a roll.

girl, mys a little father took me to the reflecting pool here. we were on a road tripp from new york to florida to visit family. i have told the story befefore, but it was my firsrst time ever visiting washington, d.c. it was my only time visiting washington, d.c., for years, if not decades. he rested me on the side of the reflecting pooool and had my tos dip in the water and haveve a lk at the washington monument, had me looook at the capital, had me the at thee entirety of cacapital of our g great countn. she looked at everything and he pointed to all of it and said, "this belongs to all of us. this belonongs to you and it belongs to me." so the first note i want t to tl children a across this country s

thatat no matter what the president says, this country belongs to you. and it belongs to everyone. and today, that notion, that veryry notion was challenged. this weekend, the very notion was challenged. so i am not surprised when the president says that four sitting members of congress should "go back to their own country" when he has authorized raids without wawarrants on thousands of families across this country. i am not surprised he uses the rhetoric he does when he violates international human rights and takes thousands of children away from their families. i am not surprised that he has turned our public education system under the leadership of betsy devos into a cash cow to enrich himself and his friends. i am not surprised when he corrupts via the secretary of

transportation. i am not surprised at what he is doing. but i also know we are focused on making it better because we don't leave thehe things that we love. and when we love this country, what that means is we propose the solutionons to fix it. we love all people in this country, and that is what we believe health care is a human right. we love all children in this country. and because we do, that is why we fight for education for all children through college. and so we will stay focused on our agenda. and we won't -- all of this is a distraction. it is a distraction from w whats most important and our core values as american citizens. with that, i'll hand it over to rashida tlaib. >> thank you to my sister's in service and thank you all so much for being here.

as we all know the recent words from the president are simply a continuation of his rest is -- racist and xenophobic playbook. we cannot allow these hateful actions to o distract us from te criticalal work to hold this administration accountable to the inhumane conditions s at the border that are separating children from theieir loved ones and caging them up in illegal, horrific conditions. i represent the third poorest congressional district in this country, made up of people who have been targeted by this administration whose actions are hurting them today. i was elected to fight for the 13th congressional district. they sent me here to congress to fight back against the corporate assault and the corruption in our countrtry. this means supporting an impeachment inquiry of this president and his actions by the administration and his appointees. sasadly, this is not the first, nor will it be the last, the time we hear disgsgusting, bigod

language from the president. we know this is who he is and he and d his administratition are consnstantly engngaged in actios that harm residents and american people in our country. many members of congress have called for his impeachment because of his utter disregard anand disresespect of the united states constitutioion. and despite this and other many attempts to distract us, i remain focused -- we remain focused on holding him accountable to the laws of this land and accountable to the american people. i urge house leadership, many of my colleagues, to take action to impeach this lawless president today. amy: congress members are suited to lead, ayanna pressley, alexandria ocasio-cortez, and ilhan omar responding to trump's racist attacks. when we come back, we will speak with julian castro, the democratic presidential candidate who says trump is acting like a white supremacist. julian c castro has also called for the breaking up of ice. stay with us.

♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we continue to look at president trump's racist attack on progressive women of color in congress as the house of representatives prepares to vote on a resolution condemning trump's tweets telling representatives ilhan omar, rashida tlaib, ayanna pressley and alexandria ocasio-cortez to go back to where to came from. all congresswomen are american four citizens. trump's racist words have been cocondemned by virtually all of the 2020 demococratic presidentl contenders who are calling his hateful, un-american, xenophobic, and cowardly. amy: to talk about this and other issues, we're going too davenport, iowa, where we're joined by a 2020 presidential

candidate who is calling trump out for acting like a white supremacist. julian castro was the youngest member of obama's cabinet, where he served as secretary of housing and urban development. prior to joining the obama administration, castro was mayor of san antonio, texas, from 2009 to 2014. he is also the identical twin of the head of the hispanic congressional caucus joaquin castro, who just let a delegation to the border detention centers and child jails. secretary castro, welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. let's start off by talking about this vote that is about to happen in the house right now condemning trump's racism as he singles out these four women of color and tells them to go back to where they came from. can you respond? manyam glad to see that so regression representatives are

stepping up today and condemning president trump's racist language. this is nothing new for this president. we know he launched his campaign by inciting racial division. this is called racial priming. we have not seen a politician and a long time who has built his career on hate and bigotry and trying to divide people along racial and ethnic lines as this president has, whether it was failing to immediately neo-nazis and charlottesville -- in charlottesville early in his tenure or talking about the inability of a judge to do his job because he "is mexican" or the way he started off his campaign by saying that mexico runners and rapists andnd maybybsome of ththem were e good peopople. this i is his strategy.

this is his politics.. thisis is how he thihinks he woe 2016 election with a narrow electoral college victory. i don't think it is a coincidence he kicked off his 2020 campaign just a couple of weeks ago and already he is at it again. juan: the president's attacks on the four congresswomen come as his administration announced it would block nearly all migrants from seeking asylum in the u.s. in a new role that violates both domestic and international law. the role which the aclu has vowed to challenge in court would deny asylum to any migrant who fail to apply for protection in another country they pass through on the way to the u.s. border, including children traveling alone. if it is enacted, it would effectively block people from honduras, el salvador and guatemala from seeking refuge in the united states. i'm wondering your sense of this proposal of the administration? >> it is unconstitutional.

i believe this is going to be overturned in the courts. obviously, have it is he the continued great work the aclu and others are doing on this. this is a president that promised he was going to do something about this "immigration problem" and he has irrationally and a bigoted way, andlieve, continued to try stoke at that base with his muslim travel ban, with his latest action. but at the same time, he has failed on this issue. what we should have done -- what he should have done from day one of his administration, is actually work with honduras, guatemala, and el salvador in a positive and productive way as much as we can so people can find safety and opportunity at home instead of having to come to the southern border of the united states. with those who make it to the southern border of the united states should absolutely be able

to make their asylum claim. if i were president, i would immediately end this remain in mexico policy, the meteor and policy, which is basically jusut metering policy, which is basically playing games. we need a policy that looks forward and honors asylum claims and sticks to our tradition in the united states of honoring those claims instead of this erratic, haphazard and i believe bigoted approach that the president is taking. amy: you call this past weekend at the conference in philadelphia, you called for the breakup of ice rather than a breakup of families. explain exactly how you would go about doing this as president. i don't have to tell you or any of the folks watching that ice has had massive problems as a division of the federal government. let's begin by acknowledging this is not a long-established agency. ,t was established post-9/11

2002-2003. about a year and a half ago, 19 people who work for ice, employees, wrote a letter that said ice is not functioning the way it should, that it is failing. i would actually break apart ice . i would separate what is now home and s security investigatis from the enforcement aspect of ice because i believe we need a total culture change in a totalllly different approach on enenforcement. i would put that back within the department of justice, the enforcement actions, and change the way we do enforcement. i don't believe we should have folks going on greyhound buses of to 100 miles awaway from the border. people that are profiling, waiting outside airline flightss as they get into an airport. we need to do o this differentl. we also dodon't needed to terroe famililies, immigrant families,

through t threatening ice raiai, which is what this president is doing. i would separate that function. there would no longer be an ice as we know it. there would be a more effective, more humane and compassionate enforcement than we have now. juan: secretary castro, i would like to talk a little bit about decide to runo for president and some of your own history, which maybe be a lot of people who are watching or listening do not know that history. your mother was a major activist in the mexican-american community. she was a member of the mexican american youth organization, one of the .ofounders some say she is much more radical than her two sons that have become more liberal or progressive democrats, but not necessarily in their mothers mold. and wondering if you could talk about your mother's influence on your politics and your

involvement and how she is regarding your race. you're right. when my mother was young, she was a hell raiser. she grew up in a time with my grandmother who raised her as a single parent when she saw tremendous amount t of discrimination against the mexican-american community in south texas. she was growing up in san antonio. her way of dealing with that was to get politically active. she got active first in the young democrcrats and then in a number of organizations, including a third party at the time that said, hey, look, neither the democrats nor republicans are ensuring that this mexican-american community is able to do basic things like have a decent quality of life, get a good education, pursue decent job opportutunities. i am proudud of my mother's activismsm because i know it isn

part because of her activism and the activism of so many other folks that we have made some progress in this country. but i also understand we still have a lot of progress to make the step in fact, when my mom was 23, she ran for city council .ith this slate i still have their poster. it is the first thing i put in my office when i became mayor at city hall and when i became secretary of in the obama industry show. their slogan is "get government back to the american people." it reminds us that more things change, the more they stay the same. there are some things that folks were fighting for back then that we still need to publish today, whether it is injuring people cann get a good education, ensuring our criminal justice system -- just because you are poor or a person of color, that you can get good representation and you can get justice, and making sure we arere able to puh

back against politicians like donald trump that clearly use racial division to profit politically. justiceven that social ranch, you're one of the few presidential contenders among the democrats that raised the issue of homomelessness in amera . could you talk about why you feel that is important to debate and what you would do as president to essentially deal with an epidemic of homelessness that is occurring across the country? >> i see housing is a human right. i don't believe there is any reason, just like there's no reason in the wealthiest nation on earth that anybody should ever go without health care in this country, there is no reason anybody should go without a basic, safe, decent place to live in our country. i saw how we can make progress on homelessness. during the obama administration, the administration set a goal of

ending better and homelessness. between 2010-2016, it was reduced by 47%. we almost cut it in half in six years. my plan calls for we can and homelessness, family homelessness, chronic homelessness, by 2028 if all of us were together to make the right investment in driviving dn those numbers. it is important to me because where i come at this is we need a basic respect for all human beings, whether it is through their health care or housing. that is what is missing in this administration. you can see that when we look at these images of men kept basically in cages and children not given to spread his or her -- i given toothbrushes or basic needs. we need to return to the basic respect and compassion for people that is sorerely missing right now.

amy: secretary castro, what made you decide to run out resident as opposed to, for example, running for senator from texas perhaps again? >> a couple of things. first, my experience is originally as mayor of san antonio and local government and a secretary of housing and urban development is a federal executive. i see my experiences directly related is a federal executive to the office of the president, which is what you are from a federal executive. on top of that, like a lot of americans, i see that we need a complete change in leadership in the oval office. and i believe the people are ready for a generation of leadership, that this is the right opportunity and i also feel very blessed with the opportunity i have had in this country. and during my whole time and public service, the thing i have

been focused on is making sure that no matter who you are in this country, that you could have the same kind of opportunities my brother and i were able to have so that you can reach your dreams. when i get out there and talk to people throughout the united states, whether here in iowa or my home state of texas -- wherever they are, whoever they are, i was talked about keeping my eye on the ball to make sure that no matter how much money they have or don't have or their background, that i'm going to work hard for them so they can achieve their american dream, too. i believe if we pursue the right kind of investments, if we pursue basic respect and compassion for people, and the social and racial justice that we need to continue pursuing, that we can achieve that. amy: we're talking with democratic presidential candidate julio castro. we will talk of out the mcdonald's workers protesting this week as well as his positions on amazon and continue to talk about immigration and is

being hailed as the kind of breakout star perhaps along with elizabeth warren in that first debate of the democratic presidential primaries that just took place. this is democracy now! we will continue witith julian castro in davenport, iowa, in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we spend the rest of the hour with julian castro, the 2020 democratic presidential candidate, hailed as the breakout front runner in the debate, when of the first debate, along with elizabeth warren, of, what, 20 people e wo debated over the two days. we are going to turn to a clip right now from the very first debate last month when julian castro and former texas congressmember beto o'rourke clashed over immigration. this begins with moderator jose diaz-balart of telemundo, who

raised the issue of undocumented children held in detention and the image of oscar alberto martinez ramirez and his daughter valeria, who died attempting to cross the rio grande after fleeing el salvador. diaz-balart directs the question to you. -- to julian castro. >> let''s be very clear. the rereason that they're separating these little children from their families is they're using section 1325 of that act, which criminalizes coming across the border to incarcerate the parents and separate them. some of us on this stage have toled to into that section, terminate it. some, like congressman or work, have not. i want to challenge all the candidates to do that. i think it is a mistake. i think if you truly want to change the system, we have to review let section. if not, then it might as well be the same policy. >> let me respond briefly. as a member of congress, helped

introduce legislation that would ensure we don't criminalize those who are seeking asylum and refuge. >> i'm talking about everybody else. i'm still talking but everybody else. >> you are looking at one small part. i'm talking about a conference every right of immigration laws. >> that is not true. >> i'm talking about laws -- a lot of folks coming are not seeking asylum. a lot of them are undocumented immigrants. you said recently that the reason you did not want to repeal section 1325 was because you're concerned about human trafficking and drug trafficking. 18 of the u.s. code, title 21 and title 22, already cover -- >> [indiscernible] >> if you did your homework -- juan: that was the exchange of

secretary castro and beto o'rourke in the first of my credit presidential debate. julian castro, can you summarize what the differences were between you and beto o'rourke and can you talk about the fact -- as a member of the obama administration, president obama himself took criticism for being called, but many of the latino civil rights groups, as the deporter-in-chief because of the massive deportation that occurred under his administration? yes, so we were having a discussion on that first debate about whether section 1325 of the immigration and nationality act should be repealed. i believe it should be repealed. this act essentially is what says it is a misdemeanor crime to cross the border. 1929.ct was passed in between 1929 and about 2004, it was rarely enforced.

border crossing was rarely enforced as a crime. instead, he was treated as a civil violation and people who crossed were subject to deportation, but that is a civil process. weaponize to ae much greater extent by the trump administration. that section was weaponized to charge migrant parents with a crime and then use that to separate them from their little children. my point has been, look, we can go back to the way we used to treat these inks as a civil violation and get rid of this law that allows this administration and would allow some futurure administrationon perhaps to weaponize it and to separate migrant parents from their children. i've saiaid i want a guarantee e never see this kind of family separation come this cruel family separation again. the only way to help guaranteeee that is to repeal l that sectio.

congressmann o'rourke has refusd to say he would do that. he says -- he had said there were other things we can do, you know, senator warren, a number of other peoeople whwho were rug -- in fact, i think eight out of 10 people the next that were asked, would you repeal section 1325. eight out of 10 0 of the people standing on that stage said, yes, they would. i am glad about half of the democrats that are running in 2020 recogognize we have to do that. i was part of the obama administration.. befofore i was p part of the oba administration, as m mayorf f sn antoninio, i r recognize some oe shortcomings of the administration w when it cacameo this issue o of immigration. i was critical of the administration for some of the things it was doing. vialieve in some ways, administration to get better as time went by. you think about daca and dapa and the protections they try to

offer to those young people and also their parents. but look, republicans and democrats, it's true, hahave not done what neneeds to be donene n this issue. i have put forward what i call people first immigration plan, that would do this 21st entry marshall plan with central allica that would put undocumented immigrants, dreamers and their parents, not only them, all undocumented immigrants who have not committed a serious crime, which is a vast majority are law abiding folks here in the u.s., i would put them on a pathway to citizenship. i would also bring back thousands of veterans who have been deported who served our country honorably, and create an independent judiciary so that we have enough judges and support staff to actually get through these asylum claims and these cases in a more timely way.

and finally, i would approve a legal immigration system that we have by making family reunification or possible. there are 4.4 million family members out there of people who are in the united states who we should reach out to and allow to apply for citizenship, and do that in a more timely manner. and we don't take in the number of refugees on a naval bases that even congress has allowed for the country to take in. they said that at 110,000 refugees annuaually in the late 1970's or early 1980's. right now it is between 30000 and 40,000. i believe we should at least go up to that cap of 110,000. amy: secretary castro come on monday, amazon workers walked out on the first of the two days of prime this, known as one of the biggest shopping days of the year. workers in minnesota protested

dangerous working conditions, wage practices, lack of job security. you tweeted in support of the workers writing -- "a company worth $1 trillion can absolutely afford to provide reasonable conditions for its employees. my campaign is proud to stand with amazon warehouse workers as prime day and will continue fighting for an economy that works for r all americans." we also understand you're going out today in davenport, iowa, where you are, to stand with mcdonald's workers. they protested yesterday in des moines, calling for higher wages, expected to strike through wednesday. is it true you're going to be walking with the mcdonald's workers to discuss a boost too fast food wages? amazon and mcdonald's and that how that fits into a bigger economic picture if you were president? >> i am proud to do it. about a month that another half ago i was in drum, north carolina, and joined the strike

with mcdonald's workers on better working conditions and the ability to more effectively organize. couple of weeks before that, i stood with workers at the san francisco.orth carolin last year, as many folks watching know, mcdonald's may more t than $11 billioion in pr. but paid no federal tax. in fact, they got $129 million tax rebate. and yet they can't pay their workers decent wages or allow them to take something as simple as a bathroom break that is of sufficient amount of time for folks to become trouble most of these are the kind of working conditions that they have in some of these warehouses. i am absolutely proud to join amazon workers who are on strike

. my campaign is happy to highlight that. how this fits into what i see for us in the years ahead is my vision for the united states is we be the most prosperous nation on earth in the 21st century, but that prosperity has to mean prosperity for everybody. that means we need to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour so people can make a decent living -- at least enough to provide for their family and pay the rent. because right now there is not a single county in the united states where if you're working full-time, minimum-wage, that you can afford a two-bedroom apartment, the rent on a two-bedroom apartment. areeed to ensure people able to organize themselves into labor unions more effectively because we know throughout our history, the strength of unions has helped to ensure that people have better working conditions and they have better wages. we know in the united states

that even over the last four decades as productivity -- worker productivity has gone up tremendously by united states workers, their wages have not kept pace at all. even as things like rent have gone through the roof, so to speak. so it is time for us to go in a different direction from this reagan-air approach where we think if we just treat everybody at the top and wealthy corporations very well, that is going to trickle down to the workers. we heeen that faileled. we have the evidence ofof thaand rkrkers o arare rugglili to be able to pay th r rent,eoplple haviving to uble up, people sleepingn n thei cars, more people who are sleepinonon the w are not fos abableo achievtheir drms in is count. i believwe need g in that better direction where everybody gets paid a decent wage, and that is what i'm trying to champion in this campaign. juan: i want to ask you about another exchange that happened.

yoyou are asked about what you consider to be in the first presidential debate the greatest geopolitical threats to the united states. you said they were climate change and china. why do you see chinana as a gegeopoliticical threat to t th? well, i see china as a country that we have to be smart don't forgeat if we the right alliances around the world, can present a growing threat to the united states. it is estimated by 2030, china is going to eclipse the u.s. in terms of it economic strength. it will be the biggest economy in the world. it is growing and military strength. it is also true that china has a very different ideology and perspective from the united states. i believe the united states should continue to champion

things like freedom and democracy for people and opportunity for people, but not do it in a way we sometimes have done, whether it is propping up dictators in central america or getting into needless wars in but still, iraq, there is a difference in approach. wepoint at the debate was need to forge alliances now more than ever before in latin america, africa, repair our european alliances to ensure that this push toward more freedom or openness continues in the years to come and that we don't go in the other direction that i think in many ways china represents. amy: you are one of many democratic presidential candidates to skip the aipac meaning, not to address it, the american israel political action group.

why? well, first of all, i think when it came to aipac, i got a request -- i did not get a formal request, but an inquiry, maybe two weeks before the event. is packed rightht now. i wawas unable to go.. i also have expressed reservations -- my reservations about the netanyahu willingness tos make the moves that i believe israel ought to make to ensure that we have a two state solution in the future and that the basic human rights of palestinians are respected. i believe -- i sesee israel as a strong ally of the united states . we need to maintain that strong relationship. i also believe that this

administration has gone too far in one direction and the united states needs to hold our friends accountable. amy: we have to leave it there, julian castro, thank you for being

♪ s ♪ ♪ thank you for joining us on "nhk newsline." i'm keiko tashiro in tokyo. iran's supreme leader. isolate la ali cham anne has warned it will continue to reduce commitments union the nuclear deal. he spoke about the deal for the first time since iran starting lifting the limit on the urine yun