09/20/19 09/20/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracacy now! >> they don't have decision-making power in n fossl use,investments or r plastic but what the youth can do is talk about the problem and make noise about it and demand it from the people who can create a change. amy: today is global climate strike, inspired by 16-year-old swedish activist greta thunberg.

in africa,e underway asia, europe, and australia were organizers say more than 300,000 marched the largest demonstration since the invasion of iraq in 2003. hundreds of thousands of students and their allies are set to march in the united states, including here in new york city at of next week's u.n. climate action summit. we will host a roundtable discussion with youth organizers of the strike, including isra hirsi executive director and co-founder of the u.s. youth climate strike, who is also the daughter of congressmember ilhan omar, and kelsey juliana, lead plaintiff in the landmark youth climate lawsuit against the u.s. government. >> we are e talking about our lives. individualsg those who seem to be putting guns to the four heads of all youth to

not only not pull the trigger, but remove your weapon. amy: and we will break the sound barrier with a student from afghanistan who is invited to participate in the first-ever u.n. youth climate summit to take place saturday, but the u.s. rejected his visa. he will speak to us from thailand. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. students across the world are walking out of class today in a global climate strike. some of the first strikes occurred in australia where an estimated 300,000 people took part in rallies across the country. participants include gina hale a student in brisbane. >> in school i am learning about the effects of climate change and i'm learning that we need to do something yet i'm seeing

people in charge and the people running our country are not doing anytything. to me thihis is confusising. so i'm here to ststep up and say no more. amy: in thailaland, hundredsds f young g people stageged a die-it the environmental ministry, demanding government action on climate change. here in new york, the 16-year-old swedish climate activist greta thunberg, who inspired the movement, will take part in a massive march this afternoon. meanwhile, workers at amazon, microsoft, and other large firms have also pledged to take part in today's strike. on thursday, facing pressure from his own staff, amazon ceo jeff bezos vowed to make the world's largest retailer carbon neutral by 2040 and to purchase 100,000 0 electric delivery van. in other climate news, at least two people have died in texas after tropical depression imelda dumped more than 40 inches of rain on the houston area over three days. it's being described as one of

the worst fresh-water floods in u.s. history. more than 1000 people had to be rescued on thursday from the fast-rising waters. the storm also forced exxon to shut down its massive oil refinery in beaumont in some . areas, the flood waters rose higher than during hurricane harvey two years ago. meanwhile, the red cross has shed new light on the escalating climate crisis. the red cross says an average of 2 million people need humanitarian aid every week due to storms, droughts,s, and floo, and the figure is expected to double in coming decades if governments fail to cut emissions. a shocking new study has found the united states and canada have lost nearly 3 billion birds since 1970, a 29% population drop. researchers blamed numerous factors, including widespread habitat loss and the use of agricultural chemicals.

peter marra of georgetown university co-authored the report. >> the quintessential ecosystem indicators, they are the canaries in the coal mine. when something is going wrong with birds, something is going wrong with the envirironment. it is just not healthy.. in this study, because we have seen so many declines across 70 didifferent types of birds from sparrows,o even house these non-native species in urban areas are declining. that is not a good sign. that is an indication that something is really wrong with the environment.t. amy: in news from the middle east, israel's former army chief benny gantz has declared victory over is really prime minister benjamin netanyahu. counted,of the vote gantz's blue and white party has two more parliamentary seats than netanyahu's likud party. gantz has vowed to form what he called "a broad liberal, unity government" and has rejected

netanyahu's call for a a power-sharing agreement. canadian prime minister justin trudeau has apologized again for wearing black and brownface. over the past 48 hours, two photos and one video emerged of wearing racist makeup as recently as 2001 when he was a teacher. the scandal is breaking just days after trudeau launched his reelection bid ahead of next month's election. on thursday, trudeau said he could not rule out more photos coming to light. >> the fact is, i did not understand how hurtful this is for people who live with discrimination every single day. i have always acknowledged i come from a place of privilege,, but i now need to acknowledge that comes with a massive lines but. amy: canadian new democratic leader jagmeet singh responded to the growing scandal.

>> i can tell you that i am deeply troubled but -- about what this means to canada. young kids are going to see not just one or two, but multiple images of the prime minister mocking rerealty. this is to so many canadians. amy: in afghanistan, funeral services were held thursday after a u.s. drorone strike kild at least 30 civilians. many of the dead werere farmers who were resting in the fields after harvesting pine nuts. at least 40 civilians were also injured in thehe drone strike. local afghan residents questioned why the u.s. would target innocent farmers. >> these people have gone into the fields to work k in their wages are very l low. don't the americans see these people are working and gathering pinenuts? why do they attack workers? a pair of kashmiri citizens have amy: filed a lawsuit in the united states against indian

prprime ministerer narendra momr carrying out extrajudicial killings and other crimes in occupied kashmir. the lawsuit wawas filed just das before modi is scheduled to speak at a major rally called "howdy, modi!" in houston, texas, where he will be joined by president trump. in other news on india, as many as 10 mass detention centers are being built in the northeast state of assam. this comes just weeks after india stripped nearly 2 million residents of assam of their citizenship. go to democracynow.org for more information. more details are coming to light about a whistleblower complaint filed against president trump by a u.s. intelligence official. "the washington post" reports the complaint centered on a conversation trump had with the ukrainepresident of july 25. trump's interaction with him reportedly included a promise that was regarded as so troubling that it prompted the unnamed official to file a

complaint. the acting director of national intelligence has refused to provide the contents of the whistleblower comomplaint to the house intelligence committee, despite being subpoenaed to do so. this comes as democrats have launched an investigation to determine if trump had urged ukraine to reopen a probe of a ukrainian company with ties to joe biden's son, hunter. on thursday night, trump's personal attorney rudy giuliani acknowowledged on cnn that h hed asked top ukrainian officials to investigate joe biden. the gun maker colt has announced it is suspending the manufacturing of sporting rifles, including the ar-15, for the consumer market. pressure has been growing on the connecticut-based company for years as ar-15 style guns have been used in numerous mass shootings including newtown, connecticut, orlando, florida, and parkland, florida. meanwhile on capitol hill,

senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has said he is awaiting guidance from president trump as to what he thinks he is comfortable signing regarding new gun control before he puts legislation on the floor. a prominent white supremacist from florida has been arrested for making racist and violent threats to the co-founder of black lives matter in charlottesville, virginia, who was considering a run for charlottesville city council. the threats forced the activist don gathers to drop out of the race. the white supremacist daniel mcmahon has a long record of threatening violence against antiracists and antifascists. he once dubbed himself the antifa hunter. several of his online posts were shared by the man who attacked the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh, killing 11 jewish worshipers. amnesty international, human rights w watch, and dozens of other groups are urging the u.s.

senate to reject the nomination of marshall billingslea to a top state department post overseeing u.s. human rights policy. billingslea openly supported the use of torture and harsh interrogation methods while working in the pentagon during georgege w. bush''s administrar. the trump administration is threatening to cut federal funding to a middle east studies program run jointly by duke university and the university of north carolina chapel hill. the u.s. education department recently wrote to the schools claiming its classes are unfairly promoting "the positive ," but not islam christianity or judaism. that's ordered a probe into the middle east studies department after north carolina republican congress member george holding accused the program of having an "severe anti-israeli bias and ananti-semitic rhetoric." academic freedom advocates have criticized the trump administration's actions. the united states has expelled

two cuban diplomats and placed tighter restrictions on everyone working at cuba's united nations mission. the state department a accused e diplomats of conducting "activities harmful to u.s. national security" but provided no details on what they did. cuba's foreign minister bruno rodriguez said the move was categorically unjustified. meanwhile, a severe fuel shortage in cuba has entered its second week. the cuban government says the crisis is a result of u.s. sanctions against cuba and venezuela. former tunisian dictator zine el-abidine ben ali has died at the age of 83. he ruled tunisia for 23 years before being ousted in 2011 during the protests that sparked the arab spring. i new york mayor bill de blasio has dropped out of the 2020 presidential race. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

young climate activists around the world are taking to the streets today for a global youth climate strike, inspired by 16-year-old swedish climate activist greta thunberg and her weekly school strike for the climate. faced with an uncertain future, last year greta started skipping school every friday to stand outside the swedish parliament demanding climate action. her weekly act of protest quickly went viral and the movement has since gone global. as part of today's global strike, tens of thousands have already marched in more than 100 towns and cities across australia, where organizers estimate more than 300,000 protesters took to australian streets alone in what would be the country's biggest demonstrations since the u.s.-led invasion of iraq in 2003. protests were also held in africa, asia, and europe. more than 500 cities are planned

in germany alone, where today chancellor angela merkel is set to announce a package of measures to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions. here are voices from sydney, thailand, and nairobi. >> we have not seen any governmental action being taken since the last strike, and that means we are going to keep fighting for the sustainability we deserve and we need an economic stability we also want for our world. the idea that renewable energy can be the alternative, that it is the only option. issue. is a human tois horrific -- terrific see these everyday normal workers, students, moms, dads, kids, babies here supporting the strike. >> a lot of youth can't vote. theyey don't have decision-n-mag powewer in fosl fufuel investmts or plastic use.

but t what the yououth can do is talk about the problem and make noise about it and demand it from the people who can create a change. >> climate change is real and coming for us. it doesn't matter who you are. whether you are rich or poor, it is real. it does not isolate. amy: voices from some of the hundreds of actions happening around the world as part of today's global youth climate strike. more than 800 protest are planned in the united states, including in new york city where young people and environmental activists are gathering for a massive march just days ahead of monday's united nations climate action summit taking place here as part of its general assembly meeting. greta thunberg is expected t to speak at summit on monday, but today she will address what is expected to be a massive protest in n new york cityty where publc schohool students will be allowd to attend d as long as thehey ha permission slip.

democracy now! will be out on the streets with them. but right now, we're joined by a roundtable of youth climate activists to talk about today's actions and the youth-led movement to fight the climate crisis. we are going to start here in new york. we have two guest, xiye bastida is a climate justice activist originally from mexico. an organizer with fridays for future new york. she is a student at beacon high school. and katie eder is founder of the future coalition where she is currently the executive director. katie, talk about the plan for the global strike today, where it came from, what you expect to see. thank you for coming and before you go out on the streets. >> today, young peoplple and adults around the world will be joining together to strike from school and work to demand climate action. this is the third international strike that we are having, and young people have had enough.

we are in to sit around and watch our futures be destroyed before our eyes. amy: why did you get involved with this? >> our future is being threatened. ipcc report says we have until 2030 to change our directory for we seek irreversible effects of the climate crisis. adults are not taking action. our elected officials and world leaders do not seem to be taking -- they don't seem to be trading this like the emergency that it is. we have to show them, tell them we have to do something. amy: where are y you from? >> milwaukee, wisconsin. in wisconsin today, there are young people all across the state who are striking. they are calling on our governor to take action. amy: xiye bastida, i bumped into you when greta thunberg was taking a zero emissions

high-speed sailboat on that to be journey from europe to the united states. as she came into new york harbor, you are to greet her and address the thousand of people who are in the new york harbor waiting for her. you are from beacon high school. why did you get involved with us? >> my story goes way back. we did not know we were climate activists and till someone else called a step. personally, i have always cared about the environment and always done my best but it was not labeled until recently. ir me, it was the power that felt an individual voice had that was inspired by greta thunberg's memessage. mexico,as 13 years old in my town we suffered from heavy rainfall and that also caused our river to overflow, which had heavy contamination

because of the factories near there. that was the first time i saw the climate crisis firsthand. it didn't really hit me this was such a global issue until i came to new york city and i saw the fx here that hurricane sandy had on long island. that is when i realized the climate crisis not only can follow you everywhere, but is happening everywhere and communitiesw income and kennedys of color the most. i became the leader in my school. i started taking kids out to albany and city hall to listen to hearings and lobby elected officials. when we heard about the climate strike, that is when i thought, this is what we need to do to tackle this crisis as the emergency it is. and for the first global strike, i got 600 of my peers to walk out. amy: what do you hear right now about activists in mexico where you come from? >> i am very happy to see the

activism going on in mexico. in mexico city, there's a large presence of friday for futures mexico. one of the activists there was the lead organizers and now he is marching with us. he is updating us about what is going on in mexico, which is part of a global movement. amy: and as an indigenous young woman, talk about the indigenous leadership of the global climate movement, even though you said you didn't really think of it as climate activism but just as being an activist for the sustainability of the planet. >> yeah, for indigenous people, taking care of the earth is not a movement. it is a culture. that is what i want to see out of these strikes and our pressure. this should not be a movement. it should not be something that has momentum. it should be something that we live with every day. indigenous peoples believe you take care of the earth because the earth takes care of you.

you need to give back. right now i am seeing a lot of indigenous voices being lifted up, including at today's global strike. and we are saying all that knowledge of taking care of the earth for thousands of years is so important because the environmentall movement did not start 60 years ago. it has always been here. amy: today before the massive gathering at foley square, which will then had to battery park where the major talks will be, first indigenous young people will be speaking out and then international students. >> yes, we're going to have a land acknowledgment to open the strike. bet of the global youth will including indigegenous people fm brazil who have come to talk about what is going on in brazil. amy: will you be a part of that? >> yes. amy: we're going to break. when we come back, we're going to washington and minneapolis and we will break the sound barrier with a student who applied for a visa to come to

the united states, fully paid by the united nations, 7000 people applied and he was chosen was to is from afghanistan, though he is studying and high school in thailand. he had to fly from thailand to even apply for his visa and he was just denied. but he will speak to us as well. our guests are xiye bastida, organizer with fridays for the future, katie eder, founder of the fufuture coalition. she is currently set of director. and you will be meeting so many others. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "climate strike" by the indie australian band when our turn comes. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. on monday night, amnesty international presented its 2019 ambassador of conscience award to 16-year-olld swedisish climae activist greta thunberg and the fridays for future m movement. this is greta speaking. >> right now i think there is an awakening going on, even though it is slow, the pace is picking up and the debate is shifting. this is thanks to a lot of different reasons, but it is a lot because of countless of activists and especially young activists. works.m

[applause] so what i am telling you to do because no one is too small to make a difference. i am urging all of you to take part in the global climate strikes on september 20 and 27. [applause] and just one last thing, see you on the streets. amy: that was greta thunberg speaking monday night, "see you on the streets." and those streets are filling up all over the world today. that's right, young climate activists are taking to the streets for the global climate strike inspired by greta and her

weekly school strike for the climate. protests are already underway in australia and asia. we are hosting a roundtable discussion with some of the organizers. here in new york, we are joined by xiye bastida, organizer with fridays for future new york and a student at beacon high school . katie eder is a 19-year-old climate justice activist. she founded the future coalition where she is currently the second of director. joining us from minneapolis, isra hirsi, a high school junior and executive director of the u.s. youth climate strike. she is the daughter of democratic representative ilhan omar. is thenneapolis, co-state lead for the minnesota youth climate strike. isra hirsi, talk about what is happening in minneapolis. >> so here in minneapolis, we are having the strike start at a park where we will be marching

to our state capital in st. paul. we are starting at 11:30 and we will be having speaker starting at 12:30 with speakers from environment organizations in minnesota as well as students and then we are expecting to an escalatednd action after the speakers are done. amy: how did you get involved with this whole movement? how did you become exec of director of u.s. youth climate strike as a high school junior? time, i was a high school sophomore. in late january of this past -- of this year, i was contacted through instagram to organize for the climate strike for march 15 because nobody was organizing nationwide. and so from there i decided to help organize and help cofound this group with two other individuals. and from there, i ended up being

able to become the executive director of this group. amy: if you could also talk about what activism means. certainly come from a legendary line of activists. your mother's compass member ilhan omar. did her activism inspire you? >> yeah. at a really young age, my mother my father took me to protest starting in the first grade. they got me involved with campaigns and we continue to go to protests as a family. activism has always been a part of my life. i would not necessarily say i have been entirely inspired, she would probably say i have inspired her, but being in a family where activism is really valued has definitely helped shape where i am today. you are co-stately for the minnesota youth climate strike. explain how you got involved,

why the climate, why sustainability is so important to you. >> i recently got involved in environment activism in the climate justice movement this past year after witnessing the effects of climate change on my own community. i currently live in a predominately african-american and low income community where we are right next to intersecting highways and also pollution by fossil fuel factories in minneapolis. and a lot of that has affected the health of the people in my community and affected myself and my family directly. and being able to witness these affects has got me inspired to get or people involved and to get more people to understand the effects of climate change and how they have disproportionately affected people of color and how we need to change the narrative, focucusing on p people of colord continuing building this movement. amy: you are both small he have in americans. talk about the effect of --

somali-americans. talk about the effect of global warming on somalia. in the past few years, somali has had extreme amounts of drought. drought.xtreme e severe die r e these happen constantly in somalia and those impacts have impacted both of our communities and our families that live there and these are continuously happening because of the climate crisis. amy: and -- >> i would like to add. >> go ahead. >> i would like to add especially like me being from north minneapolis, i've seen the effects of both somalia and also in my community at home. i've seen the way in which air pollution has affected my health but also the ways in which these droughts and food shohortages affect our family back home. what do you jama,

say to the president of the united states? you were born in somalia. you came here to the united states as a refugee. you are deeply involved with the climate movement right now. president trump is a crowd climate -- proud, change denier. >> i was born in united states, but my parents were immigrants from somalia. i would say especially talking about the climate justice movement and climate change that our president really needs to act for us and act for the people being affected. we need presidents and lawmakers that are interested in really making change for people that are directly affected, and notot doing money laundering for people in power. amy: and your messagege to the as one of thecome most powerful people on earth, occupying the presidency of the united states, has called climate change a chinese hoax? trump,, so president

your actions are actually harming people stop millions of people across this country are being impacted by the inaction you are not taking. and as young people are not going to stand down and allow this inaction to continue. we will continue to be on the streets until we see some change from your office. and from there, we are going to be voting you out because we need a leader that is actually going to take action on this incrediblele crisis. amamy: we're also joined in washington, d.c., by two more youth climate organizers. jerome foster ii is the white house,'s strike organizer, executive director of one million of us. also in d.c., kelsey juliana. she is the lead plaintiff in giuliana versus the united states, the landmark youth climate lawsuit against the u.s. government. kelsey, let's begin with you and

washington, d.c. explain this lawsuit you have been a part of her a number of years. you are the named plaintiff. amy.ank you for having us, this lawsuit is a constitutional climate change case against the u.s. federal government filed by 21 courageous young individuals in 2015. at the time, the youngest was eight and the oldest, myself, was 19. this case looks at the actions of the federal government for the past several decades, helping to perpetuate the climate crisis by continuing to find the fossil fuel economy. endangering the lives of all citizens, but especially disproportionally harming the lives of young citizens and future generations. we are looking at the ways the federal government has knowingly and willfully funded this climate crisis and the way they are continuing to stall and delay our climate case shows you exactly their priorities. their priorities of their owown self interest and continuing this greedy fossil fuel economy

rather than ensuring the constitutional rights of life, liberty, property to all citizens, especially young. amy: use oaken front of the supreme court -- you spoke in front of the supreme court. what did you say? >> in front of the supreme court, the message that i felt was actually a message of morning. and 23 years old and i've been calling myself a climate activist since i was 10 years old. over half my lifetime i feel like i have been trying to make an impact. it is incredible that right now we're in this moment where 300,000 people in one nation alone have marched for climate action. they are followed by the world over who are really taking to the streets and saying this is our time and our rights in our lives matter. butt on wednesday, it is a perid of morning we are having to do this. we are asking children to literally beg for their lives, to have to fight for the

security of a future is a huge shame on all political leaders, present and past. it is unfortunate that young people and children are having to be in this position. but it is exciting that we are fueling the fire and that leaders -- the school board of new york and others are allowing young children to champion their lives. amy: i want to go to 17-year-old youth climate activist, cofounder of the climate justice nonprofit zero hour, one of the group of youth who sued the state of washington and gov. jay inslee over greenhouse gas emissions. cooks on college applications, i keep getting asked, what you want to be when you grow up? ie whole world tells me that am going to have something to look forward to that we don't. you're are promising me lies. everyone who will walk up to me

after this thing i'm such a bright future ahead of me will be lying to my facace. it doesn't matter how talented we are. it doesn't matter how much work we put in, how many dreams we have. the reality is my generation has been committed to a planet that is collapsing. the fact you are staring at a panel of young people testifying before you today, pleading for a livable earth, should not f fill you with p pride. it should fill you with shame. youth climate activism should not have to exist. amy: that is the 17-year-old climate activist jamie margolin. she is based in seattle. interestingly, she sued the state of washington as well as jay inslee, the governor who ran for president, has dropped out now, but he is the one who thatdnded a climate debate the democratic national committee refused to commit to. in fact, tom perez said anyone

who participated in a non-sanctioned debate would be prevented from participating in any presidential debates. howey juliana, talk about her lawsuit fits in with yours and in your lawsuit against the united states, what you're demanding. i am also suing the state of oregon and i have been on that case since i was 14 years old. it is nine years old. we have young people taking legal actions against their states as well as young people here in united states but all around the world who are taking action against theirir governmes because the time for talking is over. we are not willing to wait around for s someone else's timeliline to dictatate the trajectory of our lives. what we are asking for is courage. courage from our political leaders and from these judges because we are asking for an end to the system as usual.

as young people aree l leaving their classrooms, we are askskig for a break away from the system as usual that is harmiming young people and the planet. so from m this federal lawsuit,e are asking for a court order climate recovery plan, phase off of fossil fuel, and reinvest in carbon sequestration. and also a constitutional right to a stable climate system capable of sustaining human life. amy: i want to bring jerome the conversation. when greta thunberg arrived in new york, soon afterward she went down to washington. she did not lead the strike in front of the white house, she joined the strike in front of the white e house. , you are founder and executive director of one million of us. talk about this project you have in the corporate media, we rarely see these protests, but what have you been doing there and what high school do you

attend? >> i attend school based out of washington centersschool that itself around the future in preparing students for their future. it really at any school at any titime in thee world, , we are g that education is really not prioriritizing our f future bece we are a actively destroyingng r future. ththat is the work i've been trying to call attention upon world leaders to take climate action seriously. anand the three demands i've ben having is a call for moral clarity and fofor people to have politicall courage for them to have intergovernmental unity. that is the shirt i'm wearing now. it is only in crack subdivision that corruption can seep in and pollution can spew out. i first mobilized earlier this year around 400 people to come and show the power of young

people and show world leaders what real action looks like. my work at one million of us is to mobilize young people and have a generational unity across the u.s. to educate young people around the issues of climate change, gun violence, immigration reform, gender equality, and racial inequality. we are workingng with march for our lives in black lives matter and other movements to mobilize young people run educating them to v vote and making sure politicians don'tt just see us s young children who don't have an impact onn our political system, but as a strong united political force as a part of the growing movement to have chapters on colleges, high school campuses, and also in community centers to educate them around the importance of their votote and y they should vote. amy: so you were involved with the d.c. clean energy act. you helped to pass it. explain what it is. >> the clean energy d.c. act was really when i first started being a climate activist, really

being involved, which was about a year ago in february. through that, i heard about the clean energy d.c. act. reinvented dz's energy usage and made sure it prioritizes rerenewable energy through having 100 percent electric buses, making sure we phase out all forms of carbon dioxide and create rebates for people who buy solar panels or an electric car. it is been the most aggressive climate bill in the nation ever since it launched in 2018. it was really because of the testimonies of myself and many other young people that work immomobilized from the whihite e climate strikes. shortly after those trucks, it was the third week, we would to testify in front of the d.c. council and make sure they understand the impact it has on so many kids in the d.c. area that really don't understand the skills, scope, or speed of the climate crisis and d don't understand how we can make an impact.

that really showed us we do have the power to chahange our political system and there is a way for young people to affect changege. that is where it started and motivated us to continue to mobilizeze and continue to strie every single friday. amy: jerome, you hold these protests outside the white house every friday. you are yards from the president of the united states. he disagrees with well over 95% of the world scientists and says climate change is a hoax. what message do you have for him and why does it matter to you what president trump says and thinks? him, tossage to president trump, would be that there is no more time to continueue to acceptpt money frm ththe fossil fuel industry. no more time to continue to blot off and papaid for. thesese are our lives we arere fightingng for. we are fighting for our sisters and brothers, people drowning. around the world, for example,

in "human flow" they talked about how minds of people are being displaced from the communities. i want president trump to understand this is not just happening in thehe united state. the w work do here affects everyone on the planet. we must act as one ununited famy and take action and not ignore the people who are dying around the world and people burning and drowning and going through massive amount of suffering for us to have the luxuries s that e have in the u.s. and europe. we must act as one people and be accountable to the people we are allowing to die on her hands just for our luxuries. amy: you are also, jerome, were also the fouounder and editor-in-chief of the climate reporter. the youth led climate change journalism organization, which has writers from all over the world. explain what it is and why you think media is important here. >> yes. i started the climate reporter

midwdway through my 10th grade year in high school. it was really out of the fact that no one was covering climate news and no one was talking about the climate crisis. this wasas aboutut eight monthss before gretata thunberg started her climate e strikes. i didn't really know anany othes in the movement so i wanted to reach out to them and create a platform for us to be able to talk a about these issues we are facing that no one is tatalking about. i started it with my english teacher. she helped me write articles about the importance of young people being united in this movement and being at ththe forerefront of it. i wrote about 100 67 articles in the span o of a year. after writing my 32nd article, i reached out to people in auststralia anand asia and afria and front line community is to make sure they're at the forefront of this movement. the climate reporter was an outlet for communities around the world to be able to share what is happening to them and for us to not just have a person ththat goes into a community tes their story, but givingg them te power to tell their own story.

a a narrative of not suffering, but resilience, and being empopowered by the fact even though we are suffering through all of this, we are still trying to survive and we are still trying to innovate. i ininterviewewed people in the council who were invited to the cocop 24 but were not allowed to sit at the negotiation table, even though they have thousands of years of experience. i went to the lower ninth ward and interviewed peoplple that we there that never hadad their hos rebuilt. while community surrounding them that were primarily white header homes rebuilt. amy: new orleans. >> we'e're centering those voics and making sure they have a voicice at ththe table. amy: jerome foster, we're going to go to break and bring someone else to the table for all of you to speak to because he is not here because the u.s. denied him a visa, despite the fact that thousands and thousands of students applied from around world to be part of the u.n. climate summit on saturday

before the climate action summit at the u.n. on monday. he was chosen, but he did not make it because the u.s. denied him a visa. we will break the sound barrier with his voice. stayed withh us -- stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. strike, global climate inspired by 16-year-old swedish climate activist greta thunberg. on tuesday, youth climate leaders visited capitol hill to lend their support to the green new deal cosponsored a massachusetts senator ed markey and your congress member alexandria ocasio-cortez. brazilous activist from traveled to the u.s. from brazil for today's climate strike actions. cooks my territory in brazil is in the dryer highlands post of

even the young can see this highland disappearing in our native plants are dying due to lack of water. if it goes on like this, 20 years from now my homeland will become a desert, my people will be at risk of becoming history. right now the amazon is burning. we continue our roundtable discussion with youth climate activists. we're joined by xiye bastida with fridays for future here new york and katie eder founded the future coalition , where she is currently the executive director. and juwaria hirsi jama. we also have kelsey juliana, lead plaintiff in the landmark youth climate lawsuit against the united states government. and jerome foster ii. on wednesday afternoon, greta thunberg tweeted in support t of youth climate activist who were still attempting to get into the united states.

she tweeted -- "i hear from different sources that many youth climate activists traveling to the u.n. youth climate summit have not been given u.s. visas in time for their travel. if you could start to interact under this tweet, maybe journalists and others can help you speed up the process." that is what greta thunberg tweeted. well, breaking the sound barrier today, we are joined by democracy nonow! video streaming by a climate youth activist from afghanistan who was invited to participate in saturday's first-ever u.n. youth climate summit, but the u.s. just rejected his visa. he is a 12 grade student at the united world colleges tylan international school where he is the leader of local sustainability programs. he is from afghanistan. he just learned this happened. welcome to democracy now! itit is great to have you with .

tetell us what happened. onthank you for having me democracy now! d degusust 28, that was the i got my invitation letter f frm the united nations that i was invited to participate in the united nations youth climate summit on october 21. i applied for a visa on september 9. i had my interview and u.s. ambassador in bangkok -- amy: you had to fly to bangkgkok from two cat, tylan, just to apply?y? >> yes, i flew to bangkok with u.s. citizen teacher from my school. he accompanied me to bangkok to apply for the visa, interview appointment was 7:00 a.m., prpretty e early, so in order tt there, we spent the night there in a hotel. interview, a police

officer in embassy asked m me my questions about what i'm doing here and where my family lives and what they are doing, what i'm going to do o in the future. then we made a very quick lookk at my documents, which was s sur ququick and told me i do not qualify for the visa. were -- how manyny stududents a applied to be partf the u.n. youthth climate summit? >> the information i had from the united nationsns, the organizingng team of the climate summit, i d don't really know about the exacact number, but ty said over 7000 applicants had applied to participate. amy: and y you were the one who was chosen. looks yes. under 18 applicant, yes. amy: tell us about your home country of afghanistan and why you're are so concerned about it right now.

what has made e you a climate activist? activism started inn -- not last year,r, but 2019, the floods hititestern afghanistan and more than hundreds of families were evacuated.. and momost of those familieies e nomadic peoplele of afghanistan who heavily rely on livesestock. all t their livestock were lost. 35 lives were lost. that may be concerned. -- t that made me concerned. one of my subjects was a another factor that tells me not just to understand how thehe climatete s and how sustainability works, but it may me e even more insnsd about this issue happening t tht

is hitting my country and the poor people there are badly affected in n a situation they o not really have much carbon emission. without having scientifific too, -- whehere the but evenny 0.78, lower. whereas in other countntries, se countries haveore than 14. the united statetes is having me than eight. it is hitting mostly poor people that they do not reaeally contribute to the problem. to actct asi s started an actctivist. when i got the invitation, i was

really hapappy that finanally i found an opportunity where my voice could be heardrd but the people who are really respsponsible. it was more than an oppoportuni. it was an opportunity y to go wh other r climate activists. was going tou.n. pay for your trip here and also your stay here. the visa denial you got was not even -- i was listening to a report in thailand about the denial and they said somewhere 2014at dedenial was the date ---- not signed, and a d de from years ago. honestly, i d did not think i get the visa because f filed -- because i knew of the financial issue. the unitited nations at thisis t ---- the school was having financial - -- [indiscernibible]

by the school and the united nations was pviding acaccommodation. i did n not have financial issus atat all. i have all of the supporting documements that totally and completely supported -- amy: i want to give you a chance to talk to some of the students, though you cannot do it here will stop katie eder is with us in new york about one of the lead organizers of this massive clinic protest today. katie, if you would like to directly address nasratullah elham. >> is so great to meet you. i think the so great we are part of the same fight even though we are on totally separate sides of the world. i'm so sorry we will not be able to meet in person but glad we can connect this way. i'm curious to know, one of the things we talked about in the u.s. is so much of the narrative around climate change is what we are fighting against and often not what we're fighting for. i am curious, what a are you fightingng for and whahat is yor vivision for the future? climate change iss

mostly a future problem, but i don't reallyly see it as a more future problbl then a currentnt problem. i see it as a problem that currently some parts of the world are more affected by the impactss come as an example, my country. on the future, i'm the eaearly optimistic the situation will get better because -- i'm not really optimistic that situation will get better becauau you look at the previous protocols, the idea o of cap and trade w was proposed was not fulully imimplemented. theyey just kept doing what they were doing. goesnk if the situation likekehat, i donon't really feel like optimistic. the impacts arere going to get wider post amy: we're going to end with greta thunberg. she just tweeted the comet strike demo passing the house of nobility stock, earlier today. i wawant to turn to her clip frm being on democracy now!

i asked her message to young people. >> my message to the young people of the world is that right now we are facing in existential crisis. the climate and ecological crisis. and it will have massive impact on our lives in the future, but also now, especially in vulnerable communities. and i think we should wake up and we should also try to wake the adults up because they are the ones who their generation is the ones who are mostly responsible for this crisis. and we need to hold them accountable. we need to hold the people and power accountable for what they have been doing to us and future generations. and other living species on earth.

and we need to get angry and understand what is at stake. and then we need to transform that anger into action and to just together, united, and never give up. amy: that is 16-year-old greta thunberg, who will be here in new york as one of the leaders of the climate strike here as we also talk to leaders all over the country. that does it for our roundtable. certainly not our coverage. eder,astida, katie , jerome foster ii. all of you will be at the u.n. youth summit. i want to thank kelsey juliana ,j, and nasratullah elham. we broke the sound barrier with your voice from phuket, thailand, denied a visa to come to the summit.

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> this is a al jazeera. ♪ hello, i'm marion. welcome to the newshour live from london. coming up, yemen to see rebels say they will cease attacks on saudi arabia and territories. united states announces new sanctions on iran, including measures that target the iranian central bank. student protests that took over the world. millions of people from europe to africa and asia go on strike to demand action to save the