09/03/19 09/03/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this iss democracy now! , three ofle injured them law enforcement. sadly, seven people have been killed. seven of our citizens. those seven victims have ranged in ages from 1515 years to 57. amy: for the second time in

month, texas has been the scene of a mass shooting but state lawmakers are continuing to loosen gun laws in texas. just a day after the latest mass sacre, new laws went into effect making it is easier to carry guns in texas churches, schools and apartment buildings. we will go to texas for the lalatest. then to hurricane dorian. >> we're in the midst of a historic tragedy and parts of the northehern bahamas. amy: h hurricane dorian is continuing to wreak havoc in the bahamas, where massive storms and flooding killed at least five people and left many more stranded. the death toll is expected to rise. and we will go to hong kong as mass protests against china enter their 13th week. we will speak toto the man considered the father of democracy in hong kong, martin lee. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

a gunman killed seven people and injured 22 others on saturday in the city of odessa in western texas. the injured included a 17-month-old girl. police have identified the gunman as 36-year-old seth ator and say he went on the rampage just hours after he was fired from his trucking job. police say the massacre began after it an officer pulled him over for failing to use a turn signal. he then reportedly opened fire using an ar-15 style weapon before speeding away. soon after, he began shooting at random residents and motorists, at one point, ditching his car to hijack a postal truck. he killed a woman driving the truck. he died in a shootout with police outside a movie theater in odessa. a neighbor of the alleged gunman said she reported him to police after he threatened her with a rifle, but police apparently never visited his house because they could not

find the property on gps maps. the shooting came less than a month after 22 people were shot dead in a walmart in el paso. less than one day after the odessa mass shooting, a series of new laws weakening firearm regulations went into effect in texas. among other things, the new bills will make it easier to carry guns at schools, places of worship, and in disaster zones. the nra hailed the bills, saying the latest legislative session was "highly successful." texas republican governor greg abbott has repeatedly backed measures expanding gun ownership. in 2015, he tweeted -- "i'm embarrassed: texas #2 in nation for new gun purchases, behind california. let's pick up the pace texans. @nra." including 2020 candidates and congressional leaders, called again for legislative action on gun control. many calling for an assault

weapons ban. we'll have more on this story after headlines. in more news about gun violence, a federal court ruled that survivors and the relatives of victims of 2015's massacre at mother emanuel ame church in charleston, south carolina, can sue the u.s. government for its failure in the firearms background check system. nine black worshippers were killed in the mass shooting. dylann roof purchased a semiautomatic pistol from a licensed gun seller, but the agent who was charged with verifying his background failed to obtain a police report of a past drug-related infraction, which would have barred him from legally acquiring the weapon. following the shooting, then-fbi director james comey admittetede should not have been permitted to purchase the gun. dylann roof was found guilty on 33 counts of federal hate crimes and sentenced to death in 2017. hurricane dorian is continuing to devastate the bahamas were deadly winds and floodining kild

five people and left many more stranded on the grand bahama and abaco islands over the weekend. atat one pointnt, the storm wawe secocond-most popowerf hurricace ever recorded in the atlanantic ocean. it pummeled the bahamas with winds up to 180 miles power before stalling over the region. this is prime minister of the bahamas hubert minnis. >> we'rere in ththe midst of an historic tragedy in n parts of northern bahamas. our missioioand focuss now is search, rescue, and recoverery. i ask foror your prayers for the in affected areas and for our first responders. amy: hurricane dorian made landfall as a category 5 storm, but president trump claimed over the weekend that he had never heard of category 5. the u.s. has in fact been threatened by four category 5 storms during trump's

presidency alone. trump also denied knowing what a category 5 storm was in 2017 when hurricane irma struck texas -- struck florida and in 2018 when hurricane michael hit florida. trump also caused confusion sunday by falsely suggesting alabama would be hit by hurricane dorian. his tweet -- one of at least 122 he posted this weekend -- was quickly denied by the national weather servrvice. trump spent t the long weeeekend golfing at his club in virginia despite the hurricane and the mass shooting in west texas. dorian is expected to continue its destructive path toward florida, georgia, and south -- and the carolinas. we'll have more on hurricane dorian later in the broadcast. in afghanistan, a bomb blast shook kabul monday as the u.s. presented a draft deal to draw down its military presence. monday's blast, which killed at least 16 people and wounded over 100 others, rattled a compound used by international organizations. the taliban has claimed

responsibility for the b bombin, which followed attacacks in rect daysys on two major cities inn northern afgfghanistan. the news came as speci u u.s. envovoy to afghanistan, zalmay khalilzad, said d the taliban nd the e u.s. have rereached an agreement in principle t withdraw over 5000 troopwiwithin five mons of the deal being finalized. the u.s. envnvoy presented the deal to o afghan presidedent asf ghani, b but the afghan governmt has not paparticipated in the peace talks between the talibann and the ununited states. meanwhile, senior white house advisers are seeking to expand the cia's presence in afghanistan as troops start to withdraw according to a report in "the new york times." the cia presence would include the creation of new counterterrorism militia forces, but cia director gina haspel reportedly has raised concerns about ththe idea. ththe taliban n has said the cia must also leave e the country along with the military. in india, nearly 2 million people in the state of assam are at risk of being rendered stateless after the government

published its national register of cititizens list s saturday. the highly contested register was first created in 1951 and lists people who are able to prove they came to the state by march 24, 1971, one day before neighboring bangladesh declared inindependence from pakistanan. the indidian government saysys e list helps identify bangladeshi migrants who are not legal citizens -- residents. critics say it is an attempt to deport millions of muslims. residents s suspected of being foforeigners can be rounded d ud sent to prprison camps. assam residentnts who dodo not apappear on the list h have 120s to appeal their exclusion before so-called foreigner tribunals. this is lawmaker asaduddin owaisi. >> i haveve spoken to many peoe inassam.m. they tell me their fathers name is included, but the children stems since are e not included. so i i hope they will act in a more judicious way becauause iff

the parents name is there and the children's names are not there and pretty muchh sure because 120 days time has been given, people will definitely appeal. amy: in hong kong, as mass protests entered their thirteenth week, an editorial by china's xinhua state news agency warned sunday "the end is coming for those attempting to disrupt hong kong and d tagonize china." on surday, c cnese state television broroadcast footagegf pararamilitary pololice conductg drdrills in the e border city yf shenen with h caption that readad, "able to a attack at any time!" the ominous warnings came as students took to the streets monday, cutting classes on the firsday of the new term. the student demonstration followed another weekend of clashes between protesters and police forces, with dozens of reported arrests. meanwhile hong kong's chief , executive carrie lam said today she has never attempted to resign from her position after a leaked audio recording revealed she told business leaders last -- she would quit if she could. we'll have more on hong kong later in the broadcast with

martinin lee, the founding chairman of the democratic party of hong kong. in britain, as the battle over brexit heats up, prime minister boris johnson has warned rebel members of parliament they will face a snap election in october, just two weeks before britain is scheduled to exit the european union. the ultimatum came as lawmakers prepare to vote on a bill that would d require johnson to exted the brexit deadline to the 31st ofof january unless parliamentnt either comes to an agreementnt n a dealal or approves a ao-deal scenario. meanwhile, legal proceedings are under way in scotland, attemptiting to overtuturn the planned suspspension of parliamt announced by johns last weekek. tens of thousands s have ten t o the streets across t the u.k. fr stop the coup demonstrations. in germany, regional elections saw the far-right paparty alternative for deutschland make its largest gains ever, coming in second place behind the germany's main centrist parties, including chancellor angela merkel's center-right christian democratic party. the elections were held on the

80th anniversary of the nazi invasion of poland. german president f frank-walter steinmeier on sunday asked polandnd for f forgiveness foroe nazi invasion inin 1939. u.n. investigator says the u.s., britain, and others may be guilty of war criris after bombing campaign in yemen. as aid workers say over 100 people were likely killed sunday when air raids launched by the u.s.-backed, saudi-i-led coalitioion leveleda prison in n the southwesestern y of dhamar. thisis is assem momohamed, a prisoner w who survived sunday's attack. >> the first strike came with the plane. i was other window. i then went under the window as the walls come tumbling down my back. it were eight people in the room and a total of 100. after the airstrikes, after half

an houour to an hour, they can o rescue people. i was yelling from underneath the rubble. 2020 presidential hopeful bernie sanders, who spearheaded the senate's passage of a war powers resolution that would end u.s. involvement in the yemen war, tweeted -- "u.s. bombs, logistical support, and intelligence for the saudi dictatorship's airstrikes make us complicit in this nightmare. congress has declared this war unconstitutional. we must now stand up to trump and defund all u.s. involvement in these horrors." tensions between israel and has below are mounting as s both parties exchange fire across the lebanese border sunday. -- tensions between israel and hezbollah are mounting as both parties exchanged fire across the lebanese border sunday. the israeli military said it fired into southern lebanon after hezbollah missiles were launched at an armrmy basese ner the e border. whwhile hezbollah said it was responding to a drone attack by israeli forces. hezbollah leader sayyed hassan nasrallah h said monday that the exchanange of fire hadad launcha "new phase" in the conflict wiwh israel, and that the new focus would be on tatargetining israei drones that breach lebanesese ar space.

in colombia, right-wing -- duque takei said said friday that nine former farc rebels, including a commander, were killed in a bombining raid. lalast week, a group of foformer farc rebels announced they were taking up arar again, accusing the colombian government of fafailing to live e up to the 26 pepeace accord that ended 5050 s of fighthting. in more news from colombia, a mayoral candidatatfor the totown ofof suarez in the cauca region, was killed along with at least 4 others while campaigning sunday. karina garcia is the fifth candidate to be killed ahead of municipal elections next month. garcia would have been the first female mayor of suarez. she was recently threatened by armed men but refused to back down, publicly denouncing the attacks on her campaign. back in the united states, the u.s. c coast guauard has recoved 2525 bodies, whilele another n e are still missing after a commercial diving boat caught fire in the early y hours of monday morning off the coast of santa cruz in southern california. five crew members were able to escape after the blaze started. authorities have yet to

determine the cause of the fire. and a 17-year-old palestinian student who was denied entry into the united states last month will start classes with his fellow harvard freshmen today after he returned to the united states over the weekend. ismail ajjawi was turned away at boston's logan airport just under two weeks ago after being interrogated by immigration officials about his religion and social media posts by friends that were critical of u.s. policy. he was then forced to return home to lebanon, but his case provoked outrage on the harvard campus and among some palestinian rights and academic freedom groups. theodore kattouf, the president of amideast, the educational nonprofit that granted a scholarship to ajjawi, said in a statement -- "we are pleased that ismail's harvard dream will come true after all. ismail is a bright young man whose hard work, intelligence and drive enabled him to overcome the challenges that palestinian refugee youth

continue to face in order to earn a scholarship." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show in west texas, where a gunman killed seven people and injured 22 others on saturday. the injured included a 17-month-old girl. the shooting came less than a month after 22 people were shot dead in a walmart in el paso. police have identified the gunman in saturday's shooting as 36-year-old seth ator. the gunman went on the rampage just hours after he was fired from his trucking job. the deadly string of events began when a midland police officer pulled over ator for failing to use his signal. police say ator then opened fire using an ar-15 style weapon before speeding away. he then began shooting at random residents and motorists. at one point, the gunman ditched

his car and hijacked a postal truck while continuing to shoot random victims. the rampage ended 20 miles away when the gunman died in a shootout with police outside a move theater in the city of odessa. amy: speaking to local tv station news west 9, survivor shauna saxton described barely escaping the mass shooter. >> the gun was coming up and it was coming at me and it was looking at his gun and he was looking at me and the gun came up like this and i mean, i freaked out. hehe's got a gun! in that moment, i knew it was for r me. i knew. i knew he was trying -- hehe was going to try to kikill me. my thoughts wewe immediatetely o my grandson. i just thought, no way. i just started s swerving and changing and shifting and honking g i crazy. i thouought, oh, my gogosh, whaf

he shoots throrough the door and mymy grandson is i in the back ? he was right there. i i don't know howow he did nott me. people thatw seven didn't -- they did not have the same outcome. and that is -- i have no words. sad for the family. amy: it is unclear how the gunman obtained the ar-15 style weapon. authorities say he failed a background check but did not elaborate as to whwhy. a neighbor of the gunman told cnn that she reported the gunman to police just last month after he threatened her r with a rifle but police apparently never visited his house because they couldn't find it. it did not show up on gps. according to police, the gunman called 911 and the fbi national tip line shortly before the

shooting rampage but did not make any threats of violence. while texas is grappling with the fallout from another mass shooting, eight new laws easing gun restrictions went into effect in texas on sunday just . it is now easier to carry guns in texas churches, schools, , ad apartmtment buildings. we go now to austin, texas, where we're joined by ed scruggs, the president of the board of directors and spokespeperson for texas gunun sense. ed scruggs, welcome to democracy now! our condolences to your whole state and our country. again, the second massacre within a month. what should we know about what took place andnd what you beliee needs to happen? state is ruling from this latest incident. i was really moved by the quotes in your video piece right before barely got woman who

away. i think many people in this state feel the same e way. it is becoming a crisis. there are people not willing to go out in public, not williningo go to outdoor events, or afraid to go to the movie theater. there is really a sense here angert borders between and helplessness. people don't really believe we can stop this. it has people very unsettled. the odessa incident is terrifying because of its random nature, but also its mobility through two cities for more than an hour. i have a really good friend, her mother was on lock down a short distance from where this happened. people believed there were two shootersrs for some time. it was truly terrifying. just when you think you could not get worse than el paso. here.a big problem

we have to do something. juan: ed scruggs, considering these latest incidents and the public concern about shootings of this type, how do you explain these new laws which would include such things as now you can carry a gun into a church or synagogue or mosque unless there's a sign that specifically prohibits you from doing that, that allows landlords are no inger permitted to ban guns their apartment buildings that they rent to others, or that foster families can now store their guns and ammunition together -- where is previously, together -- where is previously, they were required legally to keep them separate, store them separately? >> i would say welcome to the texas legislature because ththee .awsws passed earlieier in the r our legislative session ended in

june. this came on the heels of the santa fe high school shooting last year that we were supposed to get together and do some things to prevent gun violence. instead, the nra and the legislative majority just expanded gun rights -- this basically happens every session. i would describe the nra and their forces in the legislature as almost a flesh eating bacteria in that they try to get any little piece they can. we don't hear about a lot of those duringng the session becae it is not always big issueses ty go after. the goal is toto expose more elements of society to firearms. they want to make a more available and available everywhere at all times. in this is how they do it, by ththese little laws. it really came home to roost after el p paso and now odessa because people see that the state government really i is not committed to reducing g gun violencece. they refuse to admit that guns

play a role in gun violence. and we see this as an example now. convened avernor has few roundtables. you did after santa fe. you didid after el paso -- whici took part in those. i believe truly yes an interest violence.to cut gun but from a policy perspective, the legislative majority in the state just is not there. they cannot get their act together. they don't have any room to move. we're hoping out after odessa, we might get something, but it will take a special legislative session -- which he doeses not want to call. we will see. there were some tweets overnight that werere somewhwhat cryptic. we h have to figure out tododaye the governor said he would like to see swift implementation of the death penalty for mass shooters. i don't really know how that is going to help anything, but we need to look at her. amy: on monday, republican governor greg abbott of texas seemed to dismiss calls for universal background checks.

he tweeted -- "not only did the odessa gunman have a criminal history. he also previously failed a gun purchase background check in texas. and he didn't go thru a background check for the gun he used in odessa. we must keep guns out of criminals' hands." also in governor greg abbott of 2015, texas tweeted -- "i'm embarrassed: texas #2 in nation for new gun purchases, behind california. let's pick up the pace, texans. @nra" , talk about governor abbott. i presume you have met with him. he said he is meeting with all sides. talk about these comments. >> i think what it does is illustrate the juxtaposition between the appealing to the a rationalen having policy discussion. the tweet was an appeal to the base, very red meat, grand appeal on guns. the comments about background

checks is a little disconcerting to me. i don't really understand that because if he failed a background check but yet we wanted t to keep the gun o out f his hands, how do we do that? i know from meeting with the governor two weeks ago onn the round table there wawas a lot of discussion abobout the tremendos background checkk sysystem. amy:y: that was after the el pao massacre. the el pasor massacre. that we e had extensive discussions about how fafaulty e backgroundnd check system is, hw it, whahatthere are in we can do to plug some of those holes. they did not go as far as expressing the desire for universal background checks, but there was a discussion of the need to plug the gun show loophole, the e internet loopho, something so that nature to stop what they call stranger to stranger sales. the governor even said if you're going to sell a gun like that, how do you know you're not sellining a gun to a tererrorisr

crimininal? well, exactly. let's plug t the holes and at least make it more difficult. we are under no obligation to make it easier or someone like ththe odessa shohooter to buy a fireararm. they feel that fifirst backgroud check. they're not giving us all of the details yet, which makes me suspicious. there so many ways in texas to get around the bacackground chk law that are legal still. and we need d to know how he did that a and they need to tell us right away because we cannnnot x this problem unless we know the factss and the people are demanding that we e do something now. so we need to know what really happened. juan: i want to ask about the tweet of another top texas official. i'm talking about said under ted cruz. the far right news website breitbararrecently r ran an ararticle headlined "at least 25 people were shot, seven fatally, during the first half of labor day weekend in democrat-controlled chicago."

on monday, republican senator ted cruz of texas tweeted the article and said -- "gun control doesn't work. look at chicago. disarming law-abiding citizens isn't the answer. stopping violent criminals -- prosecuting and getting them off the street -- before they commit more violent crimes is the most effective way to reduce murder rates. let's protect our citizens." i'm wondering about your reaction to that and also this whole issue that there are many, many more people being killed by guns in american streets one by one, to a time, not necessarily in these mass shootings, and efforts to control guns, how it might t responded that issue? trope, iihe chicago guess you would call i it, thats just the flexion -- the flexion. denying the fact that chicago is right next indiana with very lacks gun laws, that there is illegal a railroad of

guns flowing up to chicago from other states. they just never want to talk about thatat, of course. and to say that gun control doesn't work, well, how would they know? we h have this patchworkrk of ls arouound the country that make t so easy to o get arounund things because spoke like senator cruz will not take the top vote on federal l legislatioion. maybe he should think about that. the issue of violence in the streets and violence in urban arareas, of course, it i is a mr problem. and people do need to realize that far more people die in incident such as that, as well as incidents involving the mystic violence and especially suicides, than they do in masass shootings. but that is ththe proroblem that amererica has in dealing with gn violence. onecannot look at it as type of gun violence here and another type over there. it is a comprehensisive solution that is needed to address the

ovoverwhelming availability of firearms in every corner of this nation, and how easy it is to get around our laws. a gun for every person. you needd comprehensive regulation and reform in order to tackle that problem. amy: yet the poll that just came out come universal background wants 93% of americans them. requiring a license to purchase the gun, 80 2%. red flag laws, 80%. a ban on assault weapopons, more than half the population, 60% of americans want an assault weapons ban. and at the same time, yet the nra imploding, being investigated for corruption. one board member after another leaving. he had forced out and yet when locked here continues to streak -- speak directly to thehe president of the united states. >> that says a lot about our political system and the

corruption within it and so forth. look, the american people i think the average american, they've decided how they want to see this problem dealt with. but in reality, our government that full menu of options it could choose from to try to tackle this problem. after the last how many years now, we are does not even looking at the menu. we are trying everything but those options -- usually involving increasing the availability of firearms -- and it has not worked. so the american people are saying, hey, why arere you at least trying some of these things -- why aren't you at least trying some of these things? you mention 93% approval, red flag or protective order laws, very high apapproval as welell. if they werere going to do anything, start there because they form a foundadation o of tg to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. but then, even n though there is

overwhelming support, the way that congress works, the way legislators work, they are more beholden in many cases to the donors and the coalitions that brought them into power so they will not allow that. they will l come up with excuses susuch as, well, i don't wanto ask the government's permission to exercise my constitutional rights. what does that mean? it doesn't mean anything. so you get all of this conflation to get everyone blaming mental illness -- i mean, they just talk aroround te problem. now they're talking about the death penalty. anything they can do to not talk about the gun. it is old. peoplele see through that. but our avavenues to do anything about it are limited. amy: then you have the alleged gunman's neighbor who said he would shoot offense at night, when time came to her door with a rifle. in some any mass shootings, we find the alleged gunman has a history of terrorizing women -- in this case, she even called

police. the police said they could not -- where heghbor lived d on gps maps, so they l . you want to talk about her red flag, that is multiple red flags right there. what i find interesting is after the el paso massacre, we had the governor, state officials, federal offificials saying, wel, a red flag well would not have done anything to stop that. so now we have the odedessa shooting wherere clearly a a red flag law might have enabled -- have enable just of that. you see this deflect, deflect, deflect. i knowow rational people see through that. but what about our leaders yet go the a was leadoff accountable enough to us to admit the truth. amamy: and we will see what happens as congress comes back of people mobilize all over the country. thank you for being with us,

president of the board of directors and spokesperson for texas gun sense. when we come back, hurricane dorian leaves five dead in the bahamas at least. the destruction is enormous. at one point, the storm, the second-most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the atlantic ocean. we will speak with the man from the bahamas as well as a citizen inthe united states, born the virgin islands, the u.s. territory. stay with us. ♪ [mumusic break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: hurricane dorian is continuing to wreak havoc in the bahamas, w where massive s stors and flooding killed five people and leftanany more strtranded on the grand bahama and aco islands over the weekend.

the storm pummeled the islands throughout monday after making my pulse sunday as a category 5 storm. sustained winds up to and 185 miles per hour. the hurricane, which has now downgraded to a category 3, continued to be stalled in the region tuesday. this is prime minister of the bahamas hubert minnis speaking at a news conference. >> on one account,t, we haveve received catastrophihic -- it is not safe to go outdoors. power lines are down. trees are across the streets. it is very dangerous. amy: hurricane dorian is one of the second strongest storm ever measured in the atlantic and have for the most powerful ever to make landfall. it is expected to continue a destructive path toward florida and then on to georgia and south carolina. it made landfall as a category 5 storm, but president trump claimed over the weekend that he

had never heard of c category 5. pres. trump: w we don't even knw what is coming. all we know is it is possibly the biggest -- i and not sure i've ever even heard of a category 5. i knew it existed and i've seen some category 4. you don't even see them that much, but category 5 is somemething that i don't know ie even heard the term. but it is there and that is what we have, and porch light. amy: the u.s. has been threatened by four category 5 storms during trump's presidency. he also denied knowing what a category 5 storm was in 2017 when hurricane irma struck florida and in 2018 when hurricane michael hit florida. this is the fourth year in a row with a category 5 storm in the atlantic, and climate studies suggest this trend will only worsen over time with the climate crisis. trump also caused confusion sunday by falsely suggesting hurricane dorian.

he repeated this. his tweet ----ne of 122 he posted this weekend -- w was quickly refuted by the national weather service. trump spent the long weekend golfing at his club in virginia despite the hurricane and the massssacre in west tex. that f first cliwe heaeard with ththe foreign minister for the bahamas, thiss the prprime minister o of the bahamas hubert minnis. >> we're in the midst of the historic tragedy in parts of northern bahamas. our mission and focus now is such -- search, rescue, and recovery. i ask for your prayers for those in affected areas and for our first responders. amy: for more, we're joined by two guests. in chicago, we're joined by christian campbell, a bahamian poet, scholar and essayist. his family lives in nassau and he was born in grand bahama. he is a visiting artist at the art institute of chicago and the author of a poetry collection

called "running the dusk." and in atlanta, we're joined by tiphanie yanique, an award-winning poet and novelist from the u.s. virgin island of st. thomas, which was hit by hurricane irma as a category 5 storm in 2017. she's an associate professor in the english department at emory university and the author of the poetry collection "wife" and the novel "land of love and drowning." christian campbell, you are born in and grew up in the bahamas. what if he heard about what is happening there right now? the hurricane almost stopping on top of the bahamas right now and devastating the islands of which there are hundreds. >> good morning, amy. thank you for having me on the program. constant touch with my family and many of my loved ones. as you know, the hurricane has

abaco and is now hoveriring over grand bahama whe i was boborn. manyis happening now are bahamians online are trying to contact t loved ones, reaching t through facebook and twitter because many phones are down and trying to identify loved ones and fi ways toto s support and evacuate. an unprecedented disaster. i also want to say first and foremost, deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost loved ones, including a child. juan: christian campbell, what about -- what do you know in terms of the haitian migrants? there are quite a number of haitian migrants in the bahamas. what about their condition right

now? these of the things natural and unnatural disasters those mostow vulnerable are disproportionately affected. and as i understand, in abaco in particular where there is a large population of haitian migrants that the community in which they live has been and many and engulfed of them have had to escape to shelters. by: we're also joined tiphanie yanique, who was born in the virgin islands, the virgin island of st. thomas. interestingly, u.s. virgin islands were bought from denmark 1917 forited states in

$25 million. that does not have -- i don't know if it has an impact on what we're seeing today, but thatssor, you have said the caribbean is ground zero for the climate crisis. i want to say in the nonstop coverage of the networks, and of course it should be nonstop coverage of what is happening with this hurricane, there is almost no mention of climate change. >> yes. well, good morning amy and juan. thank you for having me again. the truth is these storms that are hitting the caribbean with this intense magnitude are the stork, unprecedented, and these storms are man-made storms. when i was growing up p in the caribbean, we would get really dangerous storms once a decade. and now we're beginning to see them regularly.

the virgin islands was hit by two category 5 storms only two years ago while president trump indeed wasas our president. had a great 5 storms irma and maria in 202017. and to see now the courage --- sasaying things like dorian is going to hit t the united states later today is incredibly insultining and an ongoing insut to the people of the united states virgin islands because dorian hit the u.s. virgin islands on august 28 when it hit st. thomas and st. john. as dr. campbell said, it is quite ironic and saddening that the people who are most vulnerable to these man-made storms are the ones who in all cases are not the contribute in factors to the carbon omissions that are causing these storms.

these storms are being caused in huge part because of capital, , andnorth american capital places like the virgin islands and the bahamas are the ones that are m most vulnerable to these things. juan: i wanted to ask you in potential impact because we're at the beginning of hurricane season for the caribbean, what the caribbean is facing -- clearly, we're talking about one of the most powerful storms recorded in atlantic history, but the actual recording of hurricane speeds did not begin until the 1960's so we really don't know comparison to what happened and the early 20th century, late 19th century, how the storms compare. but there is no doubt there is than increasing numbers of ever more powerful storms. your sense as the caribbean and braces for another hurricane season what folks are thinking? is, those from the

, we aren such as myself writing about the importance of us paying attention to these ,torms and how the caribbean all of our islands, are incredibly vulnerable. we are looking at a category 1 storm hitting the u.s. virgin islands august 28.. hurricane season goes until november 30. in september is our most dangerous month and september has only just begun. .he waters are incredibly warm climate change is real and it is impacting places that are low-lying like small islands in the caribbean with incredible, incredible pain and suffering. right now people in the virgin islands are experiencing i was a form of ptsd when we were told the storms were going to hit the virgin islands, we were told the storm dorian was going to be really not much, maybe would not

even make it to a category one storm. and it hit the virgin islands as a direct hit, as a category 1. we were not prepared. nobody was boarding up their windows. i was on the phone with friends and family at the time and people were saying, the storm is fine, but by the end of the conversation, maybe just 20 minutes into our conversation, people were saying, well, the leaves are off the trees now. have to go and board of my house. we were not prepared. we are still suffering from the storms that hit in 2017. so to say we are not prepareds hugely in part because fema's i is n not yet completed. so the fact thatat we now n need fema to come back k and reassess inin the wake of hurricacane don is just compoununding the probl. people are afrfraid. we are scared. i would say the emotional health

of individuals and the virgin islands is something that femaa needs to be paying attenention o as well. we're so suffering from two years ago. to be f facing hurricane season that is still three momonths let distressing.edibly amy: the bahamas, dr. campbell, are an independent commonwealth, one of the richest countries in the americas after the united states and canada thanks to tourism, offshore finance. 90% of the population is african bahamian, descendents of enslaved people. of course, -- and people who fled slavery in the united states to go to the bahamas. can you describe your country and what you think needs to happen right now? >> i think the thing that i want to begin with given international media

misinformation is that the bahamas is not a sort of single touristtereotypical paradise. it is one of t the most complex and unique geographical spaces in the semester. in fact, there's nothing like it. chain,n archipelago, our of over 700 islands and keys within the larger coppell ago of of caribbean -- archipelago the caribbean. just to add one thing that the professor said, even though it was completely were almost completely erased an international media, the bahamas was also hit by hurricane irma. a very small island near cuba was devastated by hurricane irma. it had to be completely evacuated. it is still in the process of

being rebuilt. we are still dealing with that trauma and that physical and also cultural displacement. fromahamas is -- it ranges near to haiti and cuba in the south 10 near to florida and the north. in terms of the geography where my family is, for instance in nassau, we are extremely fortunate they were spared. they were not hit. bahamabaco and grand which are in the northern part of the bahamas. and just to continue with points you made, amy, absolutely, you take what you say about the bahamas as onene of te .ichest countries in the region

the tourism industry, which is the main source -- economic source is extremely fragile and extremely precarious industry. and also the bahamas like the rest of the caribbean is extremely vulnerable also due to the ongoing legacy of colonialism, the legacy of slavery that sort of manifested in system global exploitation and local corruption as well. amy: we have to leave it there now but we will continue to follow this. we want to thank you, dr. christian campbell, bahamian poet, scholar and essayist. his family lives in nassau and he was born in grand bahama. visiting artist at the art institute of chicago. tiphanie yanique is an award-winning poet and novelist from the u.s. virgin island of st. thomas, which was hit by hurricane irma as a category-5 storm in 2017. when we come back, we go to hong kong as the mass protests against china enter their fourth month.

stay witith us. ♪ [music breaeak] amy:y: this is democracy n now!, i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: "the end is coming for those attempting to disrupt hong kong and antagonize china." that was the message in an editorial in china's state news

agency on sunday following another weekend of mass protests in hong kong. for 13 weeks, protesters have been calling for greater political freedom and the scrapping of a controversial extradition bill with china. for the past two days, thousands of students have boycotted the beginning of classes. on sunday, protesters returned to hong kong's airport where they barricaded roads in a an attempt to shut down the airport again. amy: on saturday, police fired tear gas and water cannons duduring a chaotic nigight of st demonstrations. some masked prprotesters were sn throwing molotov cocktaiails at the police. whilile the protests intensifie, chinese state telelevision has brbroadcast footage of pararalitary police conducting drills in the border city shenzhenen with a captption that read, "able e to attack atat any time!" we go now to hong kong where we're joined by martin lee. he is the founding chair of the democratic party of hong kong and has been nicknamed the "father of democracy" in hong kong.

welcome to democracy now! can you explain what is happening and the significance as the protests into the fourth month? how have they changed and are you concerned about chinese police and authorities coming over from the mainland? well, we are also facing havoc of great proportions of different kinds, the political hurricane that has been hitting us for months. it can be stopped by the hong kong government, but they're not doing anything. the hong kong government is dysfunctional. -- they're damaging government property. but the police really have used excessive force, so they're committing violence of another kind. violence to the person.

in the government t has been shouting at the demonstrators to they saidt nothing from the violence coming from their own police force. we're still waiting and seeing when the government decides to do something about it.t. it could cerertainly stotop the whole thing by doing something sisimple and reasonablble -- by exceeding to some of the reasonable request of thee demonstrators. scrapping this bill, which clearly should not have been brought up at all, by -- and by appointing an independent commission of inquiry chaired by a judge, for example. and these things can be done, but the government is not doing anything about it. lee, carrie lam, the ministry at her, did suspend the extradition law. what are the key demands of the protesters?

you are saying there are basically two demands, the total --igation of this law and could you talk about with the key demands are? amy: and what the law is? keyhese a are the two demands. there are three others, but these two have the support of a huge percentage of the people of hong kong, incncluding the norol supporters of beijing. we have 8% of these resembled a man's -- 80% of thehese reasonae demand. carrie lam said the bill is as good as dead. if it is dead, why don''t you bury a? and the other isis a pot of an independent commission of , itiry and she says, no will be investigated by police body. that is not independent. the british government has been ruling hong kong for more than 100 years.

and whenever there is a big thing like that, the answer is always to appoint an independent commission of inquiryry, not the one which is in fact conservative police only. amy: i wanted to ask what the ultimate goal of the demonstrations are? and this would alalso go to what i is the extradition bill that people object to so much? ultimately, is the goal more autonomy for hong kong? a protest against authoritarianism of china? or is it ultimately protest for independence? think that today in hong kong there is not much support at all for independence because we know itit is not possible. but there is a lot of people, young people, who are very angry

about the government because their democracy has been promised a hong kong as well as a high degree of autonomy. namely apart from defending foreign affairs, which are reserved for the central government, under this british agreement with china, which also promised that hong kong people would be masters of their own house so there would be basicacy and under the law, we were promised that we could have genuine universal suffrage 10 years after the handover. but this is already the 23rd year and we don't t even have a date now before us as to when we can achieve this ultimate aim. so hong kong people now want more than anything else high degree of autonomy and democracy -- both of which have been promised. we're not asking for anything more than what has already been promised. juan: martin lee, what do you

make of some reports that carrie lam had indicated she would like to quit but feels she can't yet the is there any conflict from your sense between the hong kong authorities and the chinese communist party and the chinese thisnment's authorities at point? this point? >> i don't know what exactly happened. only she can tell. but she is been saying one thing and then denying it later. now, it is certainly not inconceivable at all. i think it is very likely that a person with her background -- she was a civil servant trained by the british -- to actually offer resignation when it is obvious to her that she can't do anything about this stalemate. but of course, knowing beijing, as some of us do, observing the records, the beijing government will not permit her to do so. the beijing government wants her before, up the mess

perhaps, than it would let her go, and appoint another cheap executive to succeed her with a clean slate. so it is not surprising at all that even if she tendered a resignation, which you now denies having done, beijing would not accept it. amy: your message, martin lee, to those in mainland china who see the hong kong protests as a kind of western coup challenging china's control of the territory -- you came to the united states in may. you met wiwi secretaryry of stae mike pompeo. what was your message and also your response to those who see is behind whatt is happening with his protests in hong kong? agreement ishe ,etween britain and china registered with the united

nations, when it was first announced in september 1984, both governments a actually wand the international community to support the agreement by lobbying for support from the u.s. government and a lot of other governments so that the immigration tide from hong kong would cease. these governments did give public support and the immigration ties stopped at the time. so it is certainly open to these foreign governments to raise it with the chinese government and say, look, you wanted us to support your one country, two systems policy. we did and we still supporort i, but now you're not honoring at. you're not honoring what you promised, the promises you made to the people. we raised these matters with your congress and also with mike pompeo and said, look, things are not going right for hong kong and you owe the hong kong

people at least a model obligation to speak up for us. amy: we have to leave it there but we will do part two and posted online at democracynow.org. i am amy goodman with juan