11/04/19 11/04/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! there are so much destruction happening. amy: an indidigenous forest prprotector hahas been shot dean the brazilian amazon by illegal loggers. it's part of a wave of violence targeting indigenous activist

since the election of brazil's far-right president jair bolsonaro last year. we will go to brazil for the latest. then we look at the homeless crisis in san francisco. absolutely a national responsibility. first and foremost, federal responsibility to make sure our basics tove the thrive, not only survive. homeless people are victimized are poor decisions at multiple levels in the government. amy: then people gather in greensboro, north carolina, this week and to mark the 40th anniversary of the greensboro massacre, when ku klux klan's attackedric and nazis, a group of antiracist protesters in broad daylight in 191979, killing fifive people e and injg 10. > i wish that mike and jim ad caesar hads sandy and

in 1979 s sacrificed because of their intense believe wage ande and a livining dignity. amy: the greensboro massacre 40 years later. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in news from washington, all four white house officials who were scheduled to testify to lawmakers today in the house's ongoing impeachment hearings have refused to testify. the officials refusing to testify are john eisenberg, deputy counsel to the president for national security affairs and legal adviser to the national security council, robert blair, assistant to the president and senior adviser to

the acting chief of staff, michael ellis, senior associate counsel to the president and deputy legal adviser to the national security council, and brian mccormack, associate director for natural resources, energy, and science at the office of management and budget. the impeachment inquiry is investigating whether president trump withheld military aid to ukraine in order to pressure the ukrainian president to investigatate trump's political rival joe biden and his son . the lawyer for the whistleblower who went public about trump's july 25 phone call with the ukrainian president says he will answer written questions from republicans, who are demanding the whistleblower testify in person. trump has previously compared the whistleblower to a treasonous spy who deserveved te death penalty, raising concerns about the officials' safety. in northern syria, turkish-backed forces fighting dish accused of committing war crimes against syrian kurdish troops. in one graphic cell phone video, turkish backed troops are shown

stomping on a dead woman's body, calling her a whore. the woman was a member of ypj, no woman unit that played a significant role in the battle against isis. her unit and other syrian kurdish units were supported by the united states until president trump abruptly withdrew u.s. soldiers from the region, clearing the way for turkrkey's invasion. u.s. officials say some of the actions depicted in the v videos likely c constitute warr crimes. in turkey, hundrededs of p peope have been arreststed for exprpressing oppositioion to the turkrkish militatary offensivevn syria. the pentagon has l left some u . troops in syria. they say it is to secure control of the oilil fieields. on sununday, u.s. soldiers came under fire from a turkish artillery attack, forcing the u.s. troops to temporarily vacate their post. them a credit presidential candidate elizabeth warren

released details of her medicare for all plan friday. the plans say she would raise investment gains, taxes on the top 1% of american households in order to help pay for the program, which calls for $20.5 billion in federal spending over a decade. she would also levy a 6% annual tax on network above $1 million and collect about $9 trillion from employers. in response, presidential candidate senator bernie sanders called his plan to fund medicare for all more progressive saying he is worried that warren's plan could have a negative impact on job creation. president trump has announced plans to nominate dr. stephen hahn to be the next commissioner of the food and drug administration. hahn is a top executive at the university of texas's md anderson cancer center, which is considered to be one of the nation's best cancer centers. an oncologist specializing in lung cancer and sarcoma, hahn does not have significant policy experience.

the environmental protection agency is slated to roll back key obama-era regulations to protect waterways near coal-f-fired power p plants from being flooded with toxic coal ash today. coal ashsh contains mercury, arsenic, and other toxic chemicals. food and water watch has vowed to sue the trump administration over the rollback of the rules, which it says would "lead directly to more water contamination, more birth defects, more childhood cancer and more pain and suffering for american families -- all for the sake of a dirty industry's last grasp at profits." in more environmental news, a group of automakers, including general motors, toyota, and fiat chrysler, are siding with the trump administration in the ongoing fight between washington and california over the car fuel-efficiency standards. california has sued the trump administration after it revoked california's right to set pollution limits on cars.

a slew of other auto manufactcturers, includiding fo, honda, and volkswagen, have sided with california in this battle. the ongoing dispute has left auto giants grappling with which fuel efficiency standards to follow over the coming decade. "the new york times" is reporting the united states and russia may be left without a single nuclear arms-limitation treaty, which would allow the two countries to expand their nuclear arsenals without limits. president trump pulled the united states out of the inf agreement, that is the intermediate nuclear forces agreement. now a russian arms official says there may not be enough time to renegotiate and replace another more important nuclear agreement, the new start treaty, before it expires in early 2021. in northern mali, over 50 soldiers were killed in an attack on a military post friday in one of the deadliest attacks on mali's military in recent years. the army called it a terrorist attack. isis has claimed responsibility. in a separate attack, a french soldier deployed to mali was

killed in a roadside bomb blast saturday, which was also claimed by isis. anti-government protests continue to sweep parts of the arab world. in iraq, protesters blockaded parts of the capital, baghdad, sunday. iraqi protesters also stormed the iranian consulate in the shia holy city of karbala, hanging iraqi flags and spray painting "karbala is freree, irn out,t, out!" security forces killed at least three iraqi protesters, bringing the tototal death totoll to over 250. in lebanon, mamass protestss against the government there continued over the weekend, with tens of thousands of protesters filling the streets of beirut, tripoli, and other cities to demand the ouster of lebanon's political elite. and in algeria, tens of thousands filled the streets of the capital algiers friday to mark the 65th anniversary of the war of independence from france,

and to demand a "new revolution" rather than an upcoming election they say will be rigged. second, -- we are against the elections of the current government. we do not want traitors anymore. we do not want algeriaike that one up today anymore. amy: in brazil, indigenous leader paulo paulino guajajara was shot dead saturday in the amazon in the northeastern state of maranhao state. illegal loggers reportedly ambushed and then opened fire on land protectors with the group guardians of the forest. another guardian was injured in the ambush, but escaped. attacks against indigenous people have increased since brazil's far-right president jair bolsonaro took office and opened the amazon up to increased logggging, mining, and agribusiness companies. we'll have more on brazil after headlines. in nepal, the united states' "global gag rule," banning u.s. funding to foreign ngo's that provide any information about abortion, has silenced nepal's

most popular late-night radio host. shikha sharmrma is nepal''s goo person f for womenen across thee country seseeking information about sasafe sexex and reproduce health. but after president trump signed an executive order reactivating the global gag rule in one of his first acts in office, sharma was told she couldn't even utter the word "abortion," which is legal in nepal, for the two days a week that her program was funded by u.s. aid. indian authorities are warning delhi has turned into a gas chamber with toxic smog blanketing one of the world's most populated cities. officials have declared a public health emergency and are distributing over five million gas masks to residents, who are worried about the physical andnd psycholological impact of the pollution. >> pollution is pressurizing as psychologically. that is what is happening now. it is not winter, so it is definitely not fog. we are walking around with mask.

amy: german officials in the eastern city of dresden have declared a "nazi emergency" as the far-right movements continue to gain power. dresden is the birthplace of germany's islamophobic movement. in recent elections, more than a quarter of dresden voters supported the anti-immigrant far-r-right afd party. meanwhile, in norway, officials arrested american white supremacist greg johnson hours before he was slated to give a speech at a far-right conference in oslo saturday, saying johnson's hate speech posed a threat. johnson has expressed support for anders breivik, a norwegian right-wing terrorist who killed 77 people, mainly children, in 2011 in the deadliest attack in norway since world war ii. in milwaukee, wisconsin, a man was arrested after allegedly throwing acid in the face of a peruvian man and calling him "illegal," telling him to get out of this country. mahud villalaz i is a u.s. citizen.

milwaukee says they are investigated the attack as a hate crime. saudi arabia's state-owned oil company saudi aramco is going public in what could be the world's biggest initial public offering. saudi aramco is planning to list on the riyadh stock exchange. the company is estimated to be worth over $1 trillion. the philadelphia city council unanimously voted to pass a domestic workers bill of rights. the new legislation would require employers to provide nannies, housekeepers, and home health aides with a written contract detailing hourly wages, overtime benefits, meal breaks, weekly schedules, and paid time off. the bill would affect more than 16,000 workers in philadelphia. it must now be passed by mayor jim kenney. -- approved by the mayor in new york city, over a thousand people flooded the streets of downtown brooklyn friday to protest police brutality against residents accused of evading the subway fare. a recent viral video showed police officers tackling and arresting at gunpoint a subway

rider for allegedly not paying the $2.75 entrance fee. this is tiffany ramos at friday's protest. >> there are a lot of people who cannot make ends meet. they are about to build four new jails. how does the city have new money to build more jails, to put more police out there? why can't we have more money and resources being devoted to education or to solve the homeless crisis -- to fix our trains? this is not right. we are here to hold police accountable for their actions and we are here to make sure that no person of color gets criminalizeded for jumping the turnstiles again. amy: and and sports news, members of baseball world series champions the washington nationals are slated to visit president trump in the white house today, but picture sean doolittle says he is boycotting the visit.

he has been an outspoken spokesman. doolittle, who has a brother-in-law who is autistic, said he was boycotting the visit over trump's mocking of a disabled reporter as well as his anti-lgbtq policies and his attacks on refugees. doolittle told "the washington post" "there's a lot of anxiety agree with, but at the end of the day, it is more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country. at the end of the day, as much as i wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, i can't do it." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show in brazil, where an indigenous forest protector named paulo paulino guajajara was shot dead in the amazon by illegal loggers on saturday. it is the latest attack in a wave of violence targeting indigenous land protectors since the election of brazil's

far-right president jair bolsonaro last year. guajajara was killed when he and another forest protector was ambushed by a group of illegal loggers inside the arariboia reservation in the northeastern state of maranhao. he was part of a group called guardians of the forest. he spoke to reututers in septemr about hihis efforts to save the amazon. >> we're are protecting our land and a life on it, the animamals, the birdrds come even the tribe here, too. there's so much destruction of nature happening.. good trees with wood as hard as steel being cut down and taken away. i am scared sometimes but we have to lift up our heads. we are here fightingng. amy: attacks a against i indiges peoplele in the amazon have spid since e bolsonaro o came to o o. his administration has worked to open the amazon even further to logging, mining, and agribusiness companies while violating the land rights of indigenous peoples.

earlier this yeaear, eight formr environment ministers warned bolsonaro's administration was systematically destroying brazil's environmental policies, with one former minister saying brazil is becoming an "exterminator of the future." to find out more about the situation in the amazon and the murder, we speak to two guests. joao coimbra sousa is a field coordinator and legal advisor for amazon watch. he is joining us from sao luis in the northeastern state of maranhao, the state where paulo paulino guajajara was murdered. and in san francisco, christian poirier is program d director at amazon watch. we welcome you both to democracy now! with go to brazil to speak our first guest joao coimbra sousa. can you explain what took place in the amazon? happened tonderstand this g guardian of t the amazon?

morning..f all, gooood thank you, amy, for having me. situation that we face todays the struggle for survival in the protections of the way of living. the indigenous people, the have l ltle protection from the state government, from the federal government, and as you said, amy, the rhetoric c from also nanarrow's --bolsonaro's speechs for entitled landodowners for toogging andnd illegal minors invade f furthermore indigenous lands. plightstruggle -- the that indigenous people have is to protect the f forest, to

intect their way of living the old life. so w what happened to paulo paulino guajajara, he went hunting with his cousin. ambushed by five gunmen. luckily enougugh, he was shot in thee armrm so he couldld hide. unfortunately, paulo paulino shot ina was fatally the head and d died right away. his cousin ran 10 kilometers by --wounded to a close

whwhich is out indigenous villas are called here in brazil. his fellow helped by guajajara and taken to o the hospital. in this is why we know all of this i in such great detail. amy: i want to go to a clip right now of the guardians of the forest that was produced by survival international. paulo paulino guajajara appears in the clip as the guardianans coordinator wararns of ththe ris to theirir lives. in the indigenous terrrritory. we arerehe guardiaians of the forest. loggers are paying gunmen to kill some of the guardians. we are all worried abobout these threats. gunshots havave been part ofof e

of the g guardians -- - have ben fired at some of the guardians houses. we don't want war, we want to resist. here there are two indigenous peoples, the most vulnerable people in the world. we w wt the brazilian auauthorities to help protececte liveves of the guardrdians whose lives are threatened. amy: i would like to bring in christianlino -- poirier as well. if you could talk about the community you've worked with as well, the guajajara, one of the largest indigenous groups in brazil. talk about who the guardians are and what they are fighting fits into the whole fight for sustainability on the planet and to save the lungs of the planet, the amazon rain forest. >> thank you, amy. , like othera

indigenous groups, have been abandoned by the state, defending their territory with volunteer groups -- basically, leasing massive territories. 1600 square miles, larger than rhode island. they're doing this without any federal support. what they're doing to defend these territories, someme of the last fororests left in t the st, state that straddles both the amazon, incredibly important area, areefef in this doing this on behalf of all community because they're protecting the criritically important amazonon forest that sustain our climate, protect our fuel the power or rainfall all over brazil, but also here in this country, in the state of california rainfall is slackening due to the fact the amazon is been decimated today.

the guguardians s of the foreste doing this work, therefore, on behalf of all of us, but without the support they deservrve. their rights are enshrined in brazil's constitution. there rightsts to territory ando their way of life. yet they have been systematically deprived of these rirights. what w we witnessed today o or o days ago with the murder of paulo paulino is an example of that. amy: i want to turn to another leader of the guardians. democracy now! spoke to indigenous leader sonia guajajara of the brazilian indigenous peoples' articulation. >> i am here today to participate in the climate march bringing the voices of the indigenous peoples of brazil to denounce all of the destruction of the environment, destruction of the amazon, and the legalization of the genocide against indigenous people.

for 519 years, indigenous people in brazil have been resisting by fighting against the political and economic powers under the name of development and in the name of progress or authorizing more more expectation of our natural resources. exploiting mines, rivers, and it is directly affecting our way of life. the amazon is burning at this exact moment. lots of territories are on fire. we attribute the increase in the fires to the rhetoric of the bolsonaro.ernment of jair

the practices of the bolsonaro government are consolidating this government is the biggest enemy of indigenous people and the environment. amy: over the summer, as fires the amazon, sonia guajajara said in a statement -- "we're putting our bodies and our lives on the line to try to save our territories. we've been warning for decades about the violations we have suffered across brazil. the predatory behavior of loggers, miners and ranchers has been getting much worse under the anti-indigenous government of bolsonaro, who normalizes, incites and empowers violence against the environment and against us." as we began to wrap up, joao are -- howsa, how are peoeople protecting themselves, particularly indigenous community, and whwho are these loggers? who is believed killed paulo paulino?o? historically is a

place of a lot of land conflict. more -- mostly of those conflicts began with the colonization of brazil. so we have l large landowners. there are going forward with the exexpansion of their triritorie. protetected how well the indigegenous lanand are, you understand economicalllly why ty want to invade such territories. so the kililling of paulo paulio guajajara in the attack that also suffered his cousin,n, it s that idea ofed to

eternal expansion of the agribusiness -- which is something that we understand that it is impossible. however, the presence of the guardians of the forest, it represents heavy losses on the illegal business of logging and the selling of woods. see all those and their economic power, it always translates to political popower asas well fore -- that takesented the, that is part of conflict here in maranhao. connected in is that sense of the poliliticall

rhetetoric of bolsonaro and the thetion of those land and power of the large landowners. amy:y: christian poioirier, in r last comment, you're here in the united states with amazon watch. president trump is close to jair bolsonaro -- in fact, bolsonaro 's call the trump off the amazo. what are you calling f for here? >> we are calling for a rigorous inindependent investigatition io the murder of paulo paulino guajajara, which is part of a growing trend of violence against indigenous peoples in brazil. 135 indigenous peoples were murdered in 2018 according to brazil. that was 23% increase over the previous year. this year we are expecting to see enormous spike in this kind of violence. and the impunity that comes with it. so we need to see rigorous governance installed in these territories that are falling

victim in the communities are falling victim to violence, to impunity, to destruction, to the reckless expansion of the agribusiness sector of logging mafias. we need to see the state stepped in where it has been soberly absent to address this crisis, which is a human rights crisis, crisis for humanity because of the implications of the destruction of the amazon and its peoples that are fighting to defendant. the guajajara are one of the great hopes of the amazon come as our indigenous peoples in general. we need to support them. we cannot have regimes likee the jair bolsonanaro regime, which s a mirror image in some ways to the trump regime here in this country. we absolutely need to fight these testbeds on many levels, including the international level. there are markets that are sustaining these actors. these logging mafias, the worst actors in the agribusiness sector that are supporting

commodities to the north. we are buying these products, we are complicit in is happening today. our financial instititutions s e j.p.p. morgan chase and blackro, paribas,re f feeng is crisis with their moneyey to the worst actors in the soy, beef, the timber indusustries, r example, t that are e estimatine today. is peoples we have a responsibility to the north. the indidigenous organizizationm brazil that sonny represents is currently traveling in europe across 12 countries to denounce this mounting crisis to the rights of indigegenous peoples,o the future of the forest, and to ouour collective future. they are touring europe to bring a message to the world, indigenous blood and n not anotr drop. whatat we witnessed two days ago was the spilling of this blood. we can n no longer tolerate what

longer tolerarate what is takaking place totoday. we must all act to end this crisis. christian poirier, thank you for being with us from san francisco, and joao coimbra sousa from sao luis in the northeastern state of maranhao. when we come back, we go to san francisco to speak with the un-housed as we deal with the growing crisis of homelessness. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to part two of our special coverage of the homelessness crisis in california. amid skyrocketing housing prices and rising inequality, the number of unhoused people across america's richest state is booming. homelessness in san francisco has spiked at least 30% sincee 2017 according to "the san francisco chronicle." in oakland, it's grown by nearly 50%. as more people have been forced onto the streeeets, encampments have popped up from los angeles to the bay area and in other city centers across the state. but while advocates push for more affordable housing solutions, they say city governments have been cracking

down on unhoused people instead with increasingly punitive measures that criminalize homelessness. in san francisco, advocates say police sweeps of their belongings happen nearly every day. well, we recently returned from democracy now! -- democracy now! recently traveled to san francisco to speak with unhoused people and their advocates about conditions there. we first met kelley cutler, a volunteer with the coalition on homelessness, under the freeway just outside of downtown san francisco where a number of unhoused people had set up tents and makeke-shift shelters. >> i name is kelley cutler. we are down on division. this is an area where a couple of years ago we had a bunch of encampments come over 300, within a few block radius. amy: can you talk about who lives under the freeway here? tell us the story of neil. >> there was a gentleman,

70-year-old disabled veteran named neil taylor. i used to come down and see him every time i would go out on outreach. he had been out here for a few years. he said with his wife dying, he could no longer live in the house where she was. his tentp dying in right under the freeway over there. he was a veteran and working on getting into housing, but it did not come soon enough. there was one time he was in the emergency room and the city wass coming through and doing a sweep. i try to stop them. i said this is neil's step. at least bag and tag. they said no and through all of his belongings from his music that he wrote to his walker into a crusher truck and demolished it. amy: how typical is this? >> this happens every day. if you walk around -- it is not

one person here or there that will share this kind of experience. it is everyone. amy: describe what happens, what gets taken. >> the number one thing the city tends to target our tents because they focus on tents and visible homelessness. the mayor put out a press release earlier this year saying -- since she became man, the tent numbers have decreased, think 34%. we said, well, does that mean there are that many more resources that were available? like what happened? what the reality is, they're going through and taking peoples the rest of well as their belongings. they will give them a misdemeanor for illegal lodging and take their tent as evidence and leave them there. amy: and then what happens when they are scattered, when the and camas are broken down by the authorities? where do they go? folks there isn't really anywhere to go so people

oftentimes go to the next block or if they're pushed out even further, they will just scatter to wherever they can be wherever they are not going to be harassed. people experiencing homelessness are often the victims of violence and targeted. it is a regular occurrence that we hear about. andreaking up community samert, it would be the for housed people. if you are breaking up , peopleon and safety are going to get hurt. amy: we have come under the highway and come up to a kind of .akeshift cardboard shelter a man has emerged from it. we're going to talk to him right now. this is your cardboard shelter? >> yes. amy: how long have you been here?

>> in this particular spot? maybe a month or two stop -- eddie a month or two. amy: and you build this? >> yes. this is not the first one have built. i have built four or five of them. amy: can you talk about living under the freeway, why you're here? folks i found myself year or two unfortunate situation and ended up on the street. of flocked to this group of people and found a little bit of safety has here with them because it is really the only way to live out here in any kind of security. day.been going day by extremely difficult living on the streets, being homeless -- i don't know if it is different elsewhere, but here it is. at the moment, trying to get things together to get off the

streets. amy: where were you born? >> i was born here. very odd to being homeless in the city were born in. amy: how long have you been homeless? >> at about two years. amy: do you see yourself getting out of the situation? what could help you? >> i do see myself getting out of the situation. once you get into the sisituati, it is extremely difficult to get out. it is kind of like a pit drop. they will wake you up a 4:30 every morning -- telling amy: who is "they"? >> the police. people who work for the city. they will wake you up every morning at 4:30 in the morning. if you don't move fast enough, they will take your things and you have to get them all over again. amy: can you get them back? >> no. you can. they say you can, but you can. all of my friends out here have tried to get the things back and never ever have i seen anybody

successful. amy: what can of services are provided to help you get out of the situation? >> supposedly they have navigation out here, but -- that can take you -- last time they offered me a seven day stay, which doesn't help me at all. amy: shelter? >> at a shelter. because then i'm just back out here on the street. you are called a peoples medic. you are disabled firefighter. talk about the conditions in the medical condition of people on the street. >> there are a lot of issues out here with a lot of injuries due to just being out on the streets in general as well as fights and things like that. the basic all in all is when the cops do these sweeps, people get stressed out. you have to get your stuff moved in an hour or less. people end up hurting

themselves, breaking fingers, arms, just trying to get their stuff moved quickly so they don't get arrested. the stress that these sweeps because injuries like this, but also we don't have running water so people that do use and inject clean needles the majority of them, but bacteria is a killer of many. there is a lot of abscesses due to bacteria and things. people can't keep their hands clean. restaurants or places won't let homeless into use the restroom, even to wash their hands. issues because people can't be clean. when they are not clean, infections and things past person-to-person. comeseeing a lot of that abscesses as well as a lot of broken bones, due to having to move within minutes or less than a half hour or so. it has increased in the last

year and a half, i've noticed more injuries like that. amy: will people go to emergency rooms? >> they usually won't because they are looked down on by hospital staff, treated differently. they don't want to deal with being looked at like that. one thing i hear constantly on the street, i wish people would stop looking at me like that, treating me like that. i am a person. i have feelings. people -- we have a tough skin out here, we have to. when we ask for help, we are in dire need of help. when someone goes to the hospital and get treated poorly, they're more likely not to return again. sheriff's, they reside there pretty much. they learn people's names. they want to know why you have an injury, why he got stabbed or whatever. if you have a warrant or something, they will arrest you. that will keep them away from health all in all.

i was dubbed the street medic my people out here and people come get me all hours of the night, whatever. i grab my medical back and go to wherever they are because i am glad they're asking for my help because i give it to them whenever they needed. amy: are used to living on the streets? close yeah. amy: do for see a time when you want to be on the streets? >> i would love to be inside. -- it is beening a long time since i have been inside. to be outmy choice here. it is hard to be out here. it takes a lot out on you being here, having to watch her back constantly. i am very well respected, so i don't have a problem. i'm getting kind of tired. i'm sick of being cold and wet and wondering at my house is going to be there when i get home. i want to be able to live a normal life again and hopefully soon. amy: what would help you get there?

>> housing. i live on a small disability check. i can't save up enough to get first and last positive. iwould love to have a place could vacuum the floor or do dishes. i took those things for granted before. i would give anything for that. i hate dishes. i would give anything to put my hands in warm water and do dishes. i miss it. amy: thank you. amy: that was shanna couper a runner. a communitys center that is also home to the coalition on homelessness. home to theadvocates there coalition on homelessness. we spoke to advocates there about the origins of homelessness in san francisco. but first i asked couper how she had ended up living in the streets. >> my ex-wife is a civil litigation law firm in san francisco who lived here for 10 years. when we divorced, i lost

everythingng. i had nowhere to go. i depleted my savings, my everything. i stayed on friends couches. hotels are expensive. i had nowhere left to go. san francisco streets, here i come. without having a home. i can pay rent, it is just hard to come up with the $3000 for first and last deposit so it makes it very hard to save u up that money when you're buying your food. you're trying to stay in hotels, trying to stay safe on the streets. you waste a lot of money by trying to survive. amy: how dangerous is it for a woman on the streets? >> it is pretty dangerous. you really have to have your wits about you. a lot of women, they camped together so they can keep each other safe. constantlyopositioned for anything you can imagine under the sun. knowin re not --

amy: is the problem of homelessness worse than it has ever been? >> the ability for folks to get off the streets is harder because the rent is so high in san francisco. people are on the streets for longer and much more visible because there health care e is a deteriorated, the addiction disorders sometimes are a lot more visible than they have been because long-term homelessness really causes some problems. amy: the tech companies coming into san francisco. hohow do they affect what is happening? the whole issue of two different occasion? >> there is a couple of levels. for homeless people, the housing prices skyrocketing, but also there is another piece of it and thatat is all renters in san francisco are insecure. for us, we have seen a shift in some of the attitudes of folks because renters are seeing themselves in the eyes of other homeless people because they

themselves feel like they are at risk. our movement has gathered a lot of strength over the last few years. we have had a lot of people who have come out of the woodwork really thrown down because they see this potentially affecting them. amy: i see posters around president reagan going way back from reagan to bush, 25 years, the spirit of abandon. the trump agenda, privatization, the walling off america. going back to reagan and the deinstitutionalization of people from mental institutions, how does that affect what is happening on the streets today? >> that was a movement from mental health consumers who were being locked up and really mistreated inside institutions. unless somebody is harming someone or harming someone -- they can't take care of themselves, they should be housed in community. what failed in that process is we never ended up doing the community care that was supposed to take place instead of the institutions. the other thing that ronald reagan did doo i is he cut

everybody off social security when he was the president. what that menace people had to reapply to get back on social security. the folks who fellow for those with mental illnesses who could not navigate that system. those were the folks using the social security checks to pay for their board and care beds. that is why we sell this huge number of mentally ill people on the streets back in the early 1980's. we never took corrective action, and we have made a lot of decisions that i made the situation worse. amy: what is happening under trtrump? we have an action, massing cuts to the housing vouchers, him putting in charge ben carson who physically believes hud has no responsibility around him was miss. when it is in fact the defining of that same agency that created homelessness in the first place. we're talking about a massive tragedy under trump. >> joe wilson, hospitality house.

amy: what you think is the solution to homelessness in san francisco? loucks aa home. we have to build the kind of housing that is affordable for very low income people. homelessness and poverty are economic problems that have economic solutions. these are not due to behavioral pathologies, and we have to encourage each other to see the economic solutions that are actually within our grasp. we are spending now more than $1 trillion on weaponons of m mass destruction everery single yeye. every hour in this country we are spending upwards of $200 million, right? on weapons of mass destruction. that can go a long way toward solving the homelessness crisis, the poverty crisis in our cities across the countntry. it wouould do well for all of us to invest inin better elective leadership so we can make better decisions about what our people really need. it is absolutely a national

responsibility. first and foremost, federal responsibility to make sure all of our people have the basic needs that allow them to thrive, not merely survive, and to evade that responsibility, to shift it to someone else, is not leadershsh. that is escapism and that is cowardice. and personally for us, homeless people are victims -- victimized by poor decisions at multiple levels and our government. amy: joe wilson from hospitality house in san francisco. he himself was once homeless. just be our special report on california's criminalization on growing homeless encampments in oakland, go to democracynow.org. when we come back, hundreds gather this weekend to remember the 40th anniversary of the greensboro massacre were ku klux klan's men and amerirican nazis attacked a group of antiracist protesters and broad daylight, killing five people. stay with us.

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amy: eight hours of sleep against me. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. hundreds gather this week and to mark 40th anniversary of the greensboro massacre, when ku 40 klux klansmen and american nazis opened fire on an anti-klan demonstration in greensboro, north carolina. over the span of 88 seconds, the klan and nazis shot deadad five anti-racist activists. 10 others were injured. no one was convicted in the massacre but a jury did find the greensboro police liable for cooperating with the kkk and a wrongful death. this is a clip from the documentary "the guns of november 3rd" by jim waters, a news cameraperson who was on the scene and filmed that day. a warning to our television viewerers, some ofof this is graphic. >> we can take our ununtry back frfrom t comommost parar. weweake it bk frfromhe niggs.s. it is time for us to bend totogeth if weweave to get in th stres and find blood

attorneys, by god, it is time to geget ready tfight. givehehem what theyant. ve for their couryry. -- fight for their couryry. >> nanteand the state go togeerer and play in this. the ste protected the klan. they came through andhehey openened fire.e. ey openefire on . we fired back to protect ourselves. river was started shooting in the direction of the thickest concentration of people. they seem to be aiming at

particular people. there were several police in the area who did nothing until after these murderers left. >> police came in enemy lee started arresting people who are trying to help those who have fallen. johnson was taken into custody and kicked in the head by police. he was bleeding from the arm as he was trying to help. the police did directly or indirectly. they set it up. the images and sounds of 1979 greensboro massacre from the jim waters documentatary "te guns of november 3rd." local pastors in greensboro are now calling on the city council to issue a apology for the enents tt leled he 1979 murders. well, for more, we're joined by dr. marty nathan, the widow of dr. mike nathan who was one of the five people killed in the 1979 massacre. she and other survivors successfully sued klansmen,

nazis, and the greensboro police. we welcome you to democracy now! ,. can you describe what happened 40 years ago? the horror. >> i want to thank you, so much, amy, for having me on democracy now! and focusing on this historical incident. what happened 40 years ago was , a very diverse group of people who are planning a conference in greensboro and preceding it by a march that was to have gotten started in the black community and then got across town. they were preparing for that march. they were singing and chanting. and into the middle of it, drove nine carloads of ku klux klan's

men and american nazis who yelled out racial slurs. people chanted "death to the klan" and a shot was fired from the front of the caravan. people began to run toward the back of the caravan in fear of the shots. poured out klansmen of those cars and started beating people, slashing people with knives. and then from the end of the caravan, which is where the people were running towards, the men with the long guns, the high-priority rifles -- the -powered rifles, took their guns out and deliberately without any seeming fear or worry about being caught for murder, began shooting people down.

five people were murdered, anduding my husband mike, 10 people were injured. the police were nowhere to be found. the 10thgh actually karnak caravan of klansmen and nazis was an unmarked police car oft contained the controller she leader of the klan and nazi who himself was an apartment f r ththe greensboro police and had been an informant and was communicating with the fbi. carpoliceman i in the last did nothing except his partner took pictures. and the murders were accomplished. and some people who were working on central america at the time

and then a little bit later in the 1980's would see the similarities between this action and the north american death squad. amy: what happened -- who was put on trial and what were the results of the trials? smen and nazis --i wanted to say, as you saw the video to come in fact, all of this, this was not a mystery. it was al qaeda by four tv cameras on videotape. so the six known shooters were put on trial for murder. jury acquitted them in a tririal where the prosecutn who were supposed to become as we know, representing the was very openly anti-communist and antiunion.

these people were all union organizers and leaders, both at duke university hospital and .lso at the cone most textiles the prosecution said terrible things about us and that was reflected in the media itself. and then in all white racist jury was chosen. -- prosecution never wrecked even alluded to the fact the greensboro police informant had this caravan led of klansmen and nazis whoo murdered people, never alluded to the fact that man ed dawson had received the parade permit from the police and was being paid by the police and never alluded to the fact that pretty much everybody in the police department all the way up to the

chief of police and to the mayor knew that some violence wawas going toto happen to these peope who were gathering in an anti-klan march. amy: we only have 30 seconds.. there were two trials in both cases? all-white jury's? and no perpetrators were acquitted? we did were. afterwards the greensboro civil rights suits in which we proved all the things i just said plus the fact alcohol, tobacco, and firearms agent was in the nazis as well. amy: and finally, faith leaders are now calling for the city to issue a full apology for what took place 40 years ago? >> as are we, the victims of the massacre. they have issued a very hollow

apology "sorry for your loss." we need and i would ask people to write to the city of greensboro to demand a full in-depth apology for the criminal action on their part. amy: ♪ [music break] dr. marty nathan