07/23/19 07/23/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracnonow! i'm here wh h the herr governor an so the puerto rico regngns. we d do't t nt him here anyme. we canut him in power, also take him down. we are tired of the abuse and we are tired of the corruption. amy: an estimated 500,000 puerto ricans took to the streets of san juan in a massive protest demanding the resignation of governor ricardo rossello.

police responded last night by firing tear gas and rubber bullets as demonstrators gathered outside the governor's mansion. we will go to san juan for report from the streets and to speak with carla minet, executive director for the investigative journalism in puerto rico. the recent protests began after the center published nearly 900 violent, misogynistic, and homophobic text messages between the governor and other government officials. then we look at the song " sharpening the knives" which has become an anthem for the roaches movement. ♪ amy: we will speak to puerto rican position and activist ile of calle 13 about her new song and the historic protest. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. -million people poured into the streets of san juan, puerto rico, monday, shutting down traffic and major sections of the city in the largest demomonstration yet since the tt messssage scandal l involving governor ricardo rossello broke just over a week and a half ago. a massive leak of messages showed rossello exchanging sexist, homophobic and profane text messages with government officials, calling former new york city council speaker melissa mark-viverito a whore, mocking victims of hurricane maria and joking about shooting san juan mayor carmen yulin cruz. rossello said sunday he will not seek reelection next year and was resigning as head of the ruling new progressive party, but he is refusing to step down as governor. this is a protester speaking from puerto rico yesterday. to be withded to come

the people because we are tired. it has been disrespectful to the people. the governor and his cabinet has made fun of the gay community, women, handicapped people, the of theion -- we are sick corruption. the people are tired. it has been years and years of people have awoken. amy: we'll have the latest from puerto rico after headlines with carla minet of puerto rico's center for investigative journalism, which published the 900-pages of rossello's messages with his colleagues, triggering the popular uprising. boris johnson was named at the next british prime minister. the election, which pitted him against the conservative party's foreign minister jeremy hunt, was the first time that a party's membership directly chose the prime minister. the membership of the conservative party represents just 0.13% of the british population. it is whiter, older, and obviously more conservative.

johnson thanked his predecessor as he took to the stage after his win was announced. >> to see the passion and determination that she brought to the many causes that are her legacy, from people pay for men and women to taxing the problems of until health and racial discrimination in the criminalal justicice system. thank you, teresa. amy: boris johnson vowed to bring a "new spirit of can-do" to his party and promised to defeat labour leader jeremy corbyn. jeremy corbyn tweeted -- "boris johnson has won the support of fewer than 100,000 unrepresentative conservative party members by promising tax cuts for the richest, presenting himself as the bankers' friend, and pushing for a damaging no deal brexit." president trump, meanwhile, congratulated johnson and said he will be great as the prime minister. the u.k. is facing mounting tensions with iran.

announced -- what britain has called an active state piracy. iranian state tv aired footage of the crew captured on board the ship monday. that capture was done in retaliation for brbritain capturing an iranian oil tanker and holding it in gibraltar. the department of homeland security plans to expand "expedited removal" proceedings for immigrants, potentially denying due process to hundreds of thousands of undocumented people living in the u.s. the process would allow for removals without a h hearing before an immimigration dge e ad would be used d against immigras who have entered the country within the past two years. in addition, the individuals targeted could be asked to prove they have been in the u.s. continuously for more than two years to avoid deportation. the process has previously been reserved for immigrants who had only been in the u.s. for two weeks or less and who had been

apprehended within 100 miles of the border legal experts and d immigrant rightsts advocated wararn expedd removal is already a flawed practice that is regularly abused, putting people with strong asylum claims in danger. the migration policy institute esestimates neararly 300,000 pee could be sububject to o expeditd removal under the new policy, whicicis set to go into effefect immedielely. the aclu and the american immigration council have said they will sue. omar jadwat of the aclu's immigrants' rights project said -- "under this unlawful plan, immigrants who have lived here for years would be deported with less due process than people get in traffic court." in more immigration news, immigration and customs enforcement, ice, said monday it has started using dna testing at seven locations around the boboer. officials say y the stining is designed to identify migigrants posing as families to gain entry to the united states. the testing is voluntary but documents released earlier this

year about t the dna program suggesest famimilies are more ly to be e temporarily separated if ththey do not submit. as lawmakers gear up for former special counsel robert mueller's testimonies before the house judiciary and intelligence committees wednesday, the justice department warned mueller in a letter to "remain within the boundaries" of the public version of the report. the letter also said that mueller coululd not "discuss the conducuct of uncharged third parties," which includes president trump, his family, and his close associates. the mueller report concluded the trump campaign did not collude with russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, but refrained from coming to any conclusions about obstruction of justice. meanwhile, fbi director christopher wray is testifying before the senate judiciary committee today on the origins of the russia investigation.

pakistan's prime minister imran khan met with president trump in the white house as both men monday appeared to try to ease tensions following trump's cutting off of over $1 billion in security assistance to pakistan last year. trump told reporters indian primime minister narendra modidi asked him to act as a mediator between pakistan and india on the issue of kashmir, a claim that was quickly denied by indian officials. trump and khan also spoke about the ongoing war in afghanistan, with trump saying pakistan would help the u.s. . extricate itself from the conflict. trump also said he could win the war in afghanistan and wipe the country off the face of the earth in 10 days but that he doesesn't want to kill 10 millin people. pres. trump: we're been there for 19 years and we have acted as policeman, not soldiers. again, if wewe wanted to be soldiersrsit would b be over in0 days. one week to 10 days if we wanted to. but i have not chosen that.

why would we kill millions of people? amy: cry minister -- prime minister khan meanwhile said the afghan war must be solved politically and that "this is the closesest we have been to a peace deal." deadly attacks have continued to plague afghanistan amid the ongoing peace talks. at least 10 civilians were killed friday in air attacks by afghan security forces in the western badghis province, while at least 10 others were killed and 30 injured after a car bombb went off near kabul university. in the philippines, president rodrigo duterte called for lawmakers to bring back the death penalty for drug offenders during his state of the unionn address monday. earlier this month, the u.n. voted to investigate abuses committed by duterte's forces in his war on drugs, which human rights groups say has claimed tens of thousands of lives. butch olano of amnesty international said -- "extrajudicial killings remain rife in the philippines. talk of bringing back the death penalty for drug-related crimes is abhorrent, and risks aggravating the current climate of impunity."

tens of thousands took to the streets to protest against duterte during his address. protesters also objected to duterte's refusal to confront china over its sinking of a filipino fishing boat last month and territorial disputes in the south china sea. this is a member of the opposition movement new patriotic alliance. >> the people are quite fed up now with ththe excuses, with the killings, with the repeated subserviencece to china. we just want those incidences and cases to stop. -- if hehen duterte cannot uphold the constitution and defend our sovereign rights. amy: in more news from the philippines, the libel trial for maria ressa, the award-winning editor and founder of independent news site rappler, opened today. ressa has been a vocal critic of president duterte and his drug war and has been systematically targeted for her reporting.

to see our interviews with her, go to democracynow.org. in syria, rstrikesesy government and russianororces killed at least 50 peoe e and woununded dozens o of others ata crowowded marketplplace and in residential neighborhoodinin idlib monday. a separate attack in theegegion kikilled 12 civivilians accordro local l reports. ththe attacks cacame after moron 30 p people were killed by government air raids sdaday arnd idlib, according toto the u.k.k.-based syriaian observatoy for r human rightsts and rescues from the syria civil defsese. idlilib province is s the last r rebel ststronghold in n syria. the u.n.n. warns that t it has become one of the most danrorous places for both civilians an aid workers.s. over 300,0,000 peoplhahave fled the area or the pasthree mont accordi to thenited nations. more ne about sia, th coittee torotect jrnalists isalling osyrian ahorities tommediate accountor all deined joualists, cluding the who ha died whe behind bars. th followsews of t death ofndepende photojonalist al nayef akhader akhalidi,

whwhe familyays he was torted and kled in a mitary prin. e familyearned ohis deat rlier th month b do not ha any furer detai, inuding wh he died had beeimprison since 2016 al-khali reporteon the syrianar and wked withn orgazation tt documeed cilian casuaies. e trump adnistrati and congssional aders ha reacd an agrment on budget that would raise the debt ceiling and include increases for military and domestic programs. some deficit hawks within the republican party have criticized the deal that congress must now pass. the two-year deal also includes provisioions aimed at preventing another government shutdown. the trump administration is seeking to tighten restrictions a moved stamps in that could cut over 3 million people from the program. the department of agriculture wants to require some recipients of food stamps to pass a review of their income and assets to determine their eligibility. currently, families who already receive federal assistance through the temporary assistance for needy families program

automatically qualify for food support. food stamps benefit some 40 million americans, or about 12% of the total population. experts say the new rule would overwhelmingly affect working families, or americans, and people with disabilities. democratic senator debbie stabenow, the ranking member of the agriculture committee, said -- "this proposal is yet another attempt by this administration to circumvent congress would take food away from families, prevent children from getting school meals, and make it harder for states to administer food assistance." celebrated new orleans funk musician art neville died monday at the age of 81. he was a founding member of the meters and went on to form the group the neville brothers with three of his brothers. and paul krassner, writer comedian, and figure of the "yippie" counterculture movement died over the weekend at his home in california. he was 87. he was the founder and editor of the underground satirical publication "the real list."

the term "yippie" emerged out of the youth internatioional party, which he co-founded. the group famously staged performance-based protests at the 1968 democratic national convention at the height of the and now more after they advanced pigasus, a 145-pound pig, as a presidential nominee. he also said of her referral service for people who needed abortions at a time when the procedure was still illegal. he created the service when women started calling him for help in response to an interview he did with an abortion doctor. krassner was once described by an fbi agent as "a raving, unconfined nut," a phrase that krassner ended up borrowing for the title of his memoir. comedian george carlin later said -- "the fbi was right. this man is dangerous and funny, and necessary." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world.

we begin today's show in puerto rico. ♪ juan: an estimated 500,000 puerto ricans took to the streets of san juan monday in a historic protest demanding the resignation of governor ricardo rossello. this was the largest demonstration yet since the massive leak of nearly 900 obscene text messages between rossello and some of his closest advisers broke 11 days ago. protesters blocked a major puerto rican highway for hours, chanting "ricky renuncia!" ricky resign! banging on drums and waving puerto rican flags. several businesses and banks closed in solidarity of the national mobilization, including one of the largest retail malls and latin america. many took the day off work to attend the protest. at around 11:00 p.m., police began firing tear gas and rubber

bullets at protesters who gathered outside the governor's mansion. amy: the protest came a day after governor rossello addressed the puerto rican people via facebook live, announcing he would not seek reelection next year and that he would step down from his leadership role as head of the ruling new progressive party. democracy now! correspondent juan carlos davila was in the stres of san juan on monday and led d th reporor >> omomondaythouousas of erto r rans joined the general stri to contueue demdingng t reregnation of governor ricaoo sselello groupsf people assembl i in routes. transited activists, which havbebeen demamandg an a ait of puerto rico'ss debt and repeal of the controversial pro-mesa l c come alalso joined the activitities.

>> this strule is noononly t reve ricardo rsello. rossello is thdecoration. need to remove e e grouof .orrect -- corru thieves making fun of people sfefering toto eoy themselves. th c couldot b be rgivenen afternoon, rain pour o over e protesters. however,hahat dinot t st themm from continuing. many of th took cover under a bridge and continued their actitities. >> my name is vian hernandez and i'm hereitith thotheher puerertoicans s so thathe goveor of puto rico resigns. we do not want him here anymore. as wpuput him in power, we ca alsoakake hidownwn. we are tired of the abuse and we

arare tid ofof the corruption. of.ndhis is louise w >> i'm here proteining agnstt the gogornor who has betrayed us. i was for his party, but not ananymor i ve himimy vote and he porch -- betrayed us. with the government did nnnnot be d donto theheeople. there will be stroerer nseqequees. protesters and mobileded to e gornoror's mamaion in old san have beenrotests tangng pla foror aost twtw weeks. many artists havjojoinedhe preststs. artist for dissipating unless tt't' protest while wearing a black puerto rican peasant hat. hathe black peasant presents our peantnt roo. representack, we

our didignatn. were i in urningng i think we're aa crucia mome in puerto rico and we feel like that. we feel deceived. itit repsentnts all of the negatiss that are happening. ththe sa timime is is s lping us to develop a unity never seen befo. th is s hioric.. it is a goal. these union already represents a rerdrd fors, a and feel l ry proud as a puerto rican with everytngng thais h hapning.. it has been a success to cocommunate a meage e thway wewe are doing it. you can feel the indignation. but has also been done thth ch r resct undnd the circumstances. i think we're tatining ssellolo veryelell. thisis is- >> oncagain, ptests end wi vlence whe the ste poce used cessive rce to reprpress the activists who are demanding ricardo rossello's resignation. amy: that report from the streets of san juan puerto rico

by democracy now! correspondent juan carlos davila. when we come back, we will speak .ith carla minet the protests began after the center publish nearly 900 violent misogynistic and homophobic text messages between the governor and other puerto rican governrnment officials. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: ileana mercedes cabra joglar will be joining us later on the broadcast. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. mondays historic protest in puerto rico came in week and a half after the center for investigative journalism on the island published 889 pages of violently misogynistic and homophobic online chats between governor ricardo rossello and other government officials. as well as advisers of his.

the leaked documents revealed rossello had mocked victims of hurricane maria and joked about shooting san juan mayor carmen yulin cruz. it also exposed rampant corruption within the puerto rican government. amy: governor rossello and the 11 others implicated in the message scandal have been issued summonses by the island's justice department. two top officials have resigned since the scandal brokoke, including former secretary of state luis rivera marin, but rossssello is resistining callso step down, saying the messages were " "done on people's personl time" and a result of working long, stressful days. we go now to san juan where we are joined by carla minet, executive director of the center for investigative journalism in puerto rico. welcome to democracy now! why don't you lay out what happened, how you got these 900 pages, the significance of this, and what it has led to.

>> hi, everyone. a few days ago, nine days ago, the 889he document of pages. we revised it and we thought we had to publish it entirely, the document. since then, you know, it has week in very chaotic protests andith political turmoil every single day. the country has not had a day without protest. , we also published published a story -- a very important investigation that shows many of the people

especially this, three of the governor's most clclosest advisers, were involvd in corruption with the government's knowledge. juan: carlo, one of the interesting things about this chat group that it was not just government officials as you say, but people who were in effect contractors or advisers, outside people, who had this extraordinary regular access to the governor and his other officials. can you talk about who some of these people were and their importance? >> yes, of course. wererepeople -- they officials who are not contracted by the governor r to do any kind of assessment in terms of public policy, but even then they y wee part of the chat receiving confididential information and privileged information that they used to benefit their private clients. some of these people were one of

the closest or the closestgovernor's f friend andd advisor. he was not under any kind of contract to do this job, so he was doing it voluntarily. also a publicist who had the mayor's contract for relationsand a public strategist. he controlled almost all government agencies. and how they treated and gave information to the press in a very centralized way, which he was not contracted to do. juan: and one of the most shocking stuff aside from the

comments that were made to some obviously opposition folks to the governor, was the way the governor and his people theculed and talked about leaders of their own party as well. could you talk about that? >> yeah. and thepart of the rage heartfelt protest that we have becausethe past days is all puerto ricans are protesting, not only puerto ricans who are part of the opposition or people who are not politically involved in terms of a political party, but also the people from the governor's political party. he insulted them. he mocked them in many different ways. and since the chat was revealed, he hasn't even been honest about

-- that only recognizing that he making amends truly to the people who were insulted in the chat. amy: so you have the secretary meanste resigning, which that is a position that if the governor resigned would become the next governor. on monday, the puerto rican governor rossello appeared on fox news in a contetentious interview with shepard smith. >> i've seen the protest. i've heard the people talk. i've had a process off introspection. and i did. i made a decision. i'm not going to run. i'm not going to secret election. that way i can focus on the job at hand. >> there are 100 thousand people on the streets. the president of the uniteted states. they are all saying that you need to go, that this is enough.

you said no. why not? >> thehere is an important component abouout rule of law ad demomocracy, andnd i respectct t process.s. we will have and we will propope certain mechanisms so within the future, that process can go forward. my contention is i need to work beyond politics so t that we can addresess some of the long-standing problblems of corruption here in puerto rico and fix that problem. >> govovernor, whoho has come fo support you in the middle of ththis chaos? > there are folks thahat have suppororted me. > who specifically is supportingng you? >> there are people. >> c could you give e me one na? >> well, it is -- >> just one name, governor. >> a a lot of people f from the administration -- >> governor, you're not able e o give me one n name, is that correct? >> i can.

the mayor supported this e effot -- >> w whose name is? >> hobby or for minutes -- javier jimenez. amy: shortly after the interview aired, the mayor of san sebastian,n, javier jimenenez, d seseveral media a outlets, inclg cbs nenews and puerto ririco's l nuevo dia, t that he does not support rossello. if you can talk about the significance of this, carla minet, but also talk about the text that were in the telegram chat, a company with telegram, have sort ofht on, lit a fire under so many people. for example, talking about shooting carmen yulin cruz, the mayor of san juan. >> sure. pages have a lot of

be -- have rage about because there are not only misogynistic, but there are also mockings of mananpublic officials of his own administration, people from his own party -- not only politicians, but also activists. for example, a feminist group in puerto rico. and ricky martin. you know, people that -- i don't know, they just expressed their point of view and it is obviously not according to the govevernor's own..

and then because of that, he mocks them and tells very horrible jokes, despicable jokes about them. groups, civicy groups, have felt they are aggrgravated by this chat. and that is why protests have been for 11 days now and nonstop. juan: in terms of the comment that were made, probably the ones that undoubtedly stung the most of the puerto rico people, worthy jokes about the dead from hurricane maria. could you talk about that asas well? >> yes, of course. as you know, we covered the ,tory about the death toll which was the worst mistake this administration has made until the past weeks.

you know, that was very hard -- heartfelt. it was a very deep feeling for the people that its government did not take into account and in ant address this issue effective and sensitive way. so seeing these jokes about the hurricane note being handled correctly and hearing that he was making jokes about that and his advisers were making jokes about that and he , was truly anything an insult to many people. not only were aggravated in the first place because of their loloved oneses were not buried

correctly after the hurricane, but now hearing this on top of that? i think people will not forget that. juan: what about the whole issue of the legislature possibly moving toward impeachment? they were supposed to receive a report from a legal group about what the potential grounds of an impeachment process would be. course, asat and, of mentioned earlier, this resignation of the secretary of state creates a problem in terms of even if the governor were impeached or he resigned, who would replace him? >> yeah, i think it seems like what is happening now is thatt the gogovernor knows he has to o and he has t taken the decision already. that is a gut feeling. i have no sources on that. of other officials from his administration have been

resigning in the past days also, so he is mostly alone in there. so i think what is happening, the delay has to do with the political calculations that his own party is making right now in terms of who will stay. thise hearing about impeachment process or resignation, etc., but what really is happening is that his the game howng will this play for the next election in the year or so. so i think the delay is not coming from the governor. and that is my perception. it is coming [indiscernible] also, if i can ask you

, ricardo rossello was relatively inexperienced when he was elected governor, but he is the son of a former governor, pedro rossello. i'm wondering if you have any indication what his father has been advising his son in this crisis he is facing? >> nobody has been able to interview pedro rossello, but he a phone videop in in which a protester inquired him about what was happening. and he was just defending his son ricardo rossello, saying he hadn't done anything wrwrong. and yesterday, he resigned to in a political party, the new progressive party. he said he was resigning to all

-- any role that he had formerly within the party because of how the party has treated his son. so i think he is still supporting him, basically. juan: i want to ask about the control board because the governor was attempting to stand he did, but hes was able to stand up against some of the worst excesses of the control board. what do feel the control board statuses as this crisis unwinds? will it feel itself more power to force us 30 measures on puerto rico were -- austerity measures on puerto rico or will it end up being part of the target of the protesters as well? >> well, the thing is i think ricardo rossello has given the board and the federal government, trump himself, many

what to, you know, claim they were saying abobout puerto officialsg corrupt and not doing his job right was true. it is terrible to be at this crossroads because puerto rico -- puerto ricans are really wanting and needing a quick recovery process, and this has not happened in the past three years so now it is going to be probably more delayed. important a very concern, i think, for puerto ricans. board mayat, yes, the use this moment to try and claim that thehey should b be -- havee powers over puerto r rican

thernrnment, not only because transition process, but because of a all of the e corruption tht has cocome out from many, y you know, governments and agencieie. i think it is a very difficult becausen that sense probably federal governmenent ad the board itself will try to ue this moment for their benefit. and as you say, austerity measures will only worsen the situation. and as we know, this governor, ricardo rossello, hahas been working with the board, cooperating with the board of austerity measures in most cases. only a very few measures he had

retained hisis position. but in most of the public policy that has been implemented in the past three years has been in accordance between the board and the governor. i think the people are not only protesting for the chat. i think people are also protesting because of in whiched issues notle feel that they have been part of decisions and also because all of the decisions that are mostly fiscal or economic decisions but are not taken into account how the people feel or what they need or the services that they need. amy: carla, i want to push this question to you as well as to juan, do you think this will have an effect?

running, whether rossello resigns or impeachment --ceedings happen, will have how will it play out? he represents the party. the statehood party to step you have carmen yulin cruz who says she will run for governor and she represents commonwealth. the new have those who believe in the independence of peru -- puerto rico. it is probably the feeling of many more than the polls indicate. will this have an effect, do you feel ,juan? juan: i think one thing that is clearly is going to happen is the governor was seeking to move forward toward another referendum on statehood and i think that is certainly not gogoing to be in the cards now. the statehood party is in disarray. exact as carla has said, what will happen in the future, even who its leader will be, is up for grabs and upper question. the reality is, there still is

whole issue of where is the congressss? what is congress going to try to do? u.s. congress, one where doeser, to what degree it have the stomach to do with the status issue or even the willingness? carla, what do you think? >> i think this is not going to be a good moment because any move on the status will be seen from any pointc of view. i think puerto ricans may resent thatatecause we e are goining through the worst crisis in n or history, in our modern history. i think anyone who tries to take advantage politically and in terms of status of the situation as, yeah,ybe seen

opportunistic. amy: i want to finally ask you about your organization. the award-winning center for investigative reporting in puerto rico that has led to these mass protests. lin manuel miranda and his father have been tweeting, support the center. the case to be made for the power of independent journalism right now in bringing down a corrupt government. what has a meant for all of you and you, the executive director, the head of this whole, what they calall it, ricky leaks project? know, we have gone through a very difficult weeks, very stressful. there is a lot of pressure and expectations on our work. we have been doing this for 11 years now. we have a small team, but it is and a passionate

compromised group of journalists. this leak is a t turning point, but all of the work we have done in the past years exposing corruption, exposing how the control board operates, how they relate to political how then w washington government, the puerto rico government and the federal government have not acted cocorrectly in the rececovery processs after the hurricane --i think all things together put us in a place to be the ones to break this leak. amy: did you want to tell us who gave you the documents? >> i can't. that is a source we have to protect. amy: to let me end by getting

your comments on president trump's comment. he spoke about puerto rico on monday. thingtrump: i'm the best that ever happened of puerto rico because we did a great job in puerto rico. we did a great job. i have many puerto rican friends. understanding of puerto rico. i've had jobs in puerto rico. i think i had the most successful -- i own the miss universe contest and pageants and we had them in puerto rico twice. i will tell you, we had tremendous successes. amy: "tremendous success" the president saying is the best thing that ever happened to puerto rico. carla minet, your response? >> i think president trump has been one of the worst presidents in the way he has treated puerto ricans with disdain. [indiscernible] latinos in general and human -- is issues in which

think it is not true what he is saying. i think the federal government has not treated puerto rico in a just way. money is barely coming in. and because of a process in which they are experimenting with us in this recovery process, having a very specific way of bureaucracy to deal with money, the federal money for recovery, is very unfair. be theturned out to worst way in which they have process.h a recovery so i think trump's expressions are just false. amy: carla minet, thank you for being with us executive director , of the award-winning center for investigative journalism in ofrto ricico and the co-author

ricky leaks. when we come back, we will speak with ile. her new song "sharpening the knives" has become the anthem for the puererto rican protest movement. ♪ [music break]

amy: "sharpening the knives" released monday in protest of porter can governor ricardo rossello and his the administration. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we're continue to look at melissa stork protest where half a million people took to the streets in san juan. some of the island's most famous performers, many of whom were targeted in the leaked text messages that have been leading voiceses in the grgrowing protet movement, demanding ricardo rossello step down. singers ricky martin and bad bunny were in the streets of san juan monday, along with grammy-winning artists residente and ile of the band calle 13. last week, residente, ile, and bad bunny released the song, "afilando los cuchillos" or "sharpening the knives," in protest of governor rossello and his administration.

this is part of the song. [singing in spanish] amy: that is ile. and joining us now is one of the co-authors of that song, grammy-award winning puertrto rirican artistst and member r oe 13, ile. welcome to democracy now! you're in washington, d.c., right now but you are on the streets of san juan yesterday. describe the scene for us. me, i think i've been waiting all my life for a moment like this. it has been amazing to see so many people in the streets for onee samame cause with the enery that we have as puerto ricans,

one that is very intense, very loud, but very firm and very present. and i have been waiting so much for us to show our true selves. and i think this is happening right now in puerto rico and it is a very fist sort moment for us. juan: why do you think these leaks in the governor's response have created such an outpouring, not only of people who opposed him previously, but also many people who supported his own party and his election -- what -- is this the last drop in terms of what puerto ricans can stand anymore? >> i think we have been seeking for change unconsciously. but at the same time, we are afraidid to c change. so i thinknk that is why most of the people keep voting for the knowpeople that they they're not as much as we should

have. but at the same time, they keep telling these stories that people believe in. i don't know how, but they trust in these people. that for me, they seem not trustworthy at all. for me, i can see in their promises -- i can see they are not true and i can see there is not a real honest interest or love for the island, but rather an interest in taking advantage of our money, of our fun and that is wh is happening right now. i think we he e been so huliated and we ha r receid souchh abuse througho the year t that havave d enouou. we had maybe -- i it hato be this extreme fors s to realize how disgusting is everything and how these people reallththink ababou us and how they underestimatour capabilities

as a count.. and now we arehowing tm m that they arerong. for me, at is imrtant pa. y: can y tell usbout your song "sharpening the knives"? >> it was an initiative of my brother and bad bunny and they invited me to be part of the song. we as puerto ricans are very angry as well and we are just expressing her anger through music. for us, it is important also for us to tell the story, expressisg it in our own different ways but telling the story about the moment we are leading right n.. d i i thk thatats for impopoant to do. music is our tool to express ouelelves. of us, it is likeurur way feeling everything as whole, like, together. amy: tell us the words of "sharpening the knives." >> my brother may speak more directly toward the governor rossello.

is speaking to the governor. as well he is including his team. my course is just a way to include the people. it is just a way to say -- to sharpen our knives as a symbolic way of reaction and take action to protect our country. the textall of messages that you read that were released, what were the remarks by the governor that most shocked you and most ananred you? >> i think it is a combination of so many things. yououcks me in a way that can see it with your own eyes, but at the same time, it does not surprise me as much as i can see that was always his way of thinking. so i think the majorority of people who voted for himim are more shocked than i am.m.

but the e thing i probably never expected to read was the part about the cadavers of hurricane maria. i think that is one of the strongest things that they wrote in the chat. and how they made fun of people that died, about the struggle we went through. hurricane maria was one of the biggest struggles we have had. i think it is something that -- i don't know, it is like a burn you feel inside you that you need to get out somehow. and i think this day needed to happen. that awakening that puerto ricans as a whole made a stand to respect themselves. fofor me, there's a cocombinatif thinings. i alalso think thehe strategiesf corruptition are also disgusting as well.l. and it is something we should be very aware of because there are a lot of people that can take advantage of our island.

and i think we should do something about it. but we're working it out little by little. right now the main goal is to make the governor ricardo rossello resign. amy: i want to turn to your brother, also known as residente , who addressed a crowd last week in old san juan >> we have to defend ourselves. the only ideal that is psesent toninigh is the distrust and tht we wt t to brespspecd as a a country. this government needs to binin spececti the c cntry. and this country has never b ben respected. this is historic. we're ming g hiory. tonight we're makg g histy. puertoto rico does not stand up because we have always been standing. which is is residente, the youngest member. -- that is residente.

member. youngest >> it seems natural because likely a come from a family that taught me well to love my country and to the present in society. for me, music has been my life and it is my life. of working myself out in this world, , of expressg my perceptions in life and society has a lot to do with it. -- it is not like a responsibility, it is like something that i need to do to understand my own feelings and expressing them to the people. but obviously, from my perspective. i think puerto rico is a country that deserves to be heard. we have been silent for so many years. for me, through the songs come it is my best way to express my

restoration and my indignation and my pain about society that i feel. it is something that i do naturally. juan: and alslso, the remarks in some of these messages of the governor, the extreme homophobia of his circle, attacking not only ricky martin, but other , andalists in puerto rico constantly resorting to homophobic remarks. what impression did that leave you with? -- it shocks me that w we are still living in a homophobic world and we are still unconsciously maybe promoting hatred and violence towardrd people that seeeem different for society instead of

finding waysys to understand one anotother. i think what is mosost beautiful about this is we are all different and diverse and we can learn from that thank you growing and keep fighthting our own ways to be happy. i think we are all seeking happiness and to be loved in this world. and i don't understand howow tht can be so complicated for us. it s should not be. but at the same timeme, i understand. i know t there are a lot of peoe ththat cannot channel their own pain and fears, and that is why people like trump and people like rossello are like that. i ththink they are a child t tht needs to worork the psychologicl part that they never could when they were kids. i don't know why. i don't know so much about their background. but they y have beeeen treated y be in a way that they did not learn how to be loved enough to love the other. amy: ile, lets inin with h the s

of president trump and get your comment.t. these were his commements yeststerday. pres. trtrump: i'm the best thig that ever happened to puerto rico because we did a great job in puerto rico. they don't like to give me the credit, but we did a great job. i'm an important conference. amy: there is president trump saying i'm the best thing that ever happened to puerto rico. ile, your response?e? >> i really think in a way the only good thing abouout trump is that he has shown as his carelessness about the country. and i think in a way, i don't to sound cold, but i think that is somethining that we needed. we needed to receive a clear mistreatment that we could interpret cleararly. and i think t trump has showed that since the beginning. that gives us more strength as a country and less depependency, i hope. amy: thank you so much for being with us, ile. we will do part two and post it online democracynow.org at.

ile, puerto rican grammy award-winning artist and a member of the grammy award-winning band calle 13. ile, residente, and bad bunny co-wrote and performed the new song "sharpening the knives," an anthem for the puerto rican resistance and demanding rossello to resign. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

♪ hello and a very warm welcome to "nhk newsline" it's 9:00 a.m. on wednesday in tokyo. i'm mikko i don't mean moot. the countdown is on the wednesday marks a year until the 2020 tokyo olympics. for more than two weeks thousands of athletes will compete in 339 events