12/02/19 12/02/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! ifthey would be delusional they think they can use him as a scapegoat and that the people will what role from the streets after he resigned. the people will continue until we change the system. amy: after two months of protests, iraq's prime minister has resigned but iraqis are vowing to stay in the streets despite a bloody crackdown that has killed more than 400 people

and injured 15,000. we will go to baghdad for the latest. then as president trump heads to london for a nato summit, we speak to tariq ali about the upcoming british electioions. >> the british conservative party has effectively been taken over by the extreme right wing inside that party. and they are waging a very ,ight-wing campaign on brexit their own position as changed from when they work thrusting a no deal brexit to now accepting compromise with the european union. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the united nations climate change conference, known as cop 25, is opening in madrid, spain, today. house speaker nancy pelosi and 14 otherer lawmakers are p parta delegation to the conference.

it was supposed to be held in santiago, chile, but the chilean government canceled the conference amid massive protests against economic inequality and austerity. ahead of the conference's opening, scientists released a number of reports warning that only drastic and unprecedented reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. the head of 350.org said the reports show "the science is screaming." this is u.n. secretary general antonio guteterres speaking ahed of the summits opening. >> what isis still lacking is political will. political will to put a price on carbon. political will to stop subsidies on fossil fuels. political will to stop building coal power plants. from shifting income to carbon.

taxing p pollution instead of people. we simply haveve to stop digging and drilllling and take a advane of the vast possibilities offered by renewable energy and nature-based solutions. amy: on friday, hundreds of thousands of students walked out of schools across the world and took to the streets to demand urgent action to address the climate crisis. on saturday, thousands of activists also protested at three coal mines in eastern germany. and in pakistan, amnesty international has issued an unprecedented urgent action, saying lahore's ten million residents are at risk of having their health and human rights violated by hazardous smog that is engulfing pakistan's second largest city. democracy now! will be broadcasting live from cop 25 in madrid, spain, starting on friday for a week. on capitol hill, the house judiciary committee will hold its first inquiry in the

impeachment hearings on wednesday, december 4. the hearing will feature legal experts testifying about the nature of impeachment and the constitutional standard d for hi crimes and misdemeanors. the impeachment hearings center on whether president trump withheld military aid from ukraine in order to pressure the ukrainian president to investigate trump's political rival joe biden and his son hunter. neithere house has president trump nor his lawyer will attend wednesday's judiciary committee hearing. the white house also tried to slander the impeachment process as unfair even of the democrats at inviting trump or his lawyers to put his affect was an attempt to afford trump due process. the house intelligence committee will also release its report this week summarizing the house investigation. three women have accused u.s. ambassador to the european union gordon sondland of forcibly kissing them or exposing himself to them and then retaliating against them professionally after they rejected his unwanted and nonconsensual sexual advances.

all three accounts are from before sondland, a wealthy oregon hotel magnate, was named ambassador, a post he received after donating $1 million to trump's inauguration. trump himself has been accused of rape, sexual assault, or sexual harassment by more than 20 women. antigovernment protests are continuing in a rack day after the iraqi parliament voted to accept the resignation of the prime minister abdul mahdi, showing two months of protests against corruption, lack of jobs, and basic services, and a radiant influence on iraq. at least 400 people have been killed in the governments bloody crackdown against the ongoing protest. iraq has ordered eight television broadcasters and four radio stations to close for allegedly violating media licensing rules. last week, security forces raided the baghdad office of a tv station. we will have more on the protest in iraq after headlines.

in malta, prime minister joseph muscat has announced he will resign in mid-january, amid the investigation into the murder of prominent investigative journalist daphne caruana galizia, who was killed by a car bomb in 2017. >> i will write to the president of the labour party so the process for a new leader is that for the 12th of january, 2020. the day i will resign as leader of the labour party and days after i will resign as prime minister. amy: malta's richest man, yorgen fenech, has been charged with complicity in the journalist's murder. he has been arrested in a separate money laundering case. the gambling tycoon is linked to prime minister muscat's former chief of staff. daphne's murder has rocked malta where thousands have taken to the streets to demand justice and accountability. she was one of malta's most prominent journalist who investigated corruption at the

highest levels. she also reported on the panama papers before her death. one of the companies was listed in the panama papers and daphne reported on this company, 17 black, before her murder. meanwhile, in egypt, security forces have arrested three more journalists -- solafa sallam, hossam el-sayyad, and mohamed salah. their arrests come after security forces raided the cairo offices of egypt's only independent media outlet, mada masr, and arrested its staff members, who have since been released. and in saudi arabia, authorities arrested at least seven journalists, bloggers, and columnists last month. in london, residents and officials gathered for a vigil today to mourn the deaths of two former cambridge university students who were killed in a stabbingng on london bridge friy in what is being called a terror attack. the two vivictims were 23-year-d saskia jones and 25-year-old jack merritt. both had worked at the prison-based education project

learning together. they had gathered to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the program at fishmongers' hall when the attack began. this is london mayor sadiq khan speaking at a memorial service today. >> the first way to defefeat ths by turning on one another, but it is by focusing on the values that bind us, to take hope from the heroism of ordinary londoners and our emergency services who ran toward danger, risking their lives to help people they did not even know. and it is also by drawing inspiration from the lives of ia, who from an early age, chose to dedicate themselves to helping others. amy: the attacker, usman khan, was convicted on

terrorism-related charges in 2012 and had been released from prison last year. he was shot and killed by police after a polish chef fought the attacker, despite being repeatedly stabbed himself, in order to allow other civilians time to escape. the attack has immediately become a m major issue in the british elections set for december 1 12 -- 10 days from m. prime miminister bororis johnsos called f for longeger prison sentences and isis tryining to e the labour party for laws that allowed khan to be released from prison. but family members of the attack's victims say they do not want their deaths politicized. jack merritt's father wrote on twitter -- "my son, jack, who was killed in this attack, would not wish his death to be used as the pre for -- pretext for more draconian sentences or for detaining people unnecessarily." earlier this year, jack merritt spoke to the bbc about his work to help prisoners study law inside the warren hill prison in suffolk. >> imprisoned often have a very

first-hand from a very real but also very nuanced idea of how the law works. they also have a very good sense of where there is a lack in information, where there is a lack in knowledge, and they really do know which areas of located -- law could do with clever occasion. to do research that will help people. amy: president trump made an unexpected thanksgiving visit to afghanistan where he announced he was reopening peace talks with the taliban after he had abruptly called off the talks in september. in his comments thursday, trump also claimed the u.s. was now demanding a ceasefire from the taliban, a shift in the negotiating position that threw the u.s. strategy into turmoil. trump's visit to afghanistan came as afghan officials say a u.s. drone strike kikilled five people after it struck a car ththat was rushing a mother r te hospital after she e experienced complications from a home birth.

the strike killed the 25-year-old mother, malana, three of her relatives, and the car's driver in southeastern afghanistan. the united states says it's investigating the reports of civilian casualties. the pentagon previously claimed a strike in khost province killed members of the taliban. the supreme court is slated to hear its first major gun case in nearly a decade. the justices will hear arguments today in a case over a new york city law that prohibited handgun owners from carrying their weapons anywhere other than seven firing ranges inside the city limits. the law has since been changed, and justices will first have to consnsider whether thehe case is moot and should be t thrown out, because e the restririctions h e already been reversed. twitter has permanently suspended the account of a potential challenger to minnesota democratic congress member ilhan omar after she called for omar to be tried for treason and hanged in a now-deleted tweet. republican candidate danielle stella has been suspended for

repeated violations of twitter's rules. congress member ilhan omar has repeatedly received death threats, especially since president trump tweeted about her last sprpring. 22020 presidential candidates have dropped out of the race. steve bullock.d their departure leaves 16 candidates still vying to be democratic nominees for the 2020 presidential race. in new york city, dozens of members of the environmental group extinction rebellion were arrested on black friday after hundreds of activists peacefully blocked an intersection in herald square in midtown manhattan, protesting black friday's consumerism. the action was part of multiple protests taking place around the globe against the climate crisis and capitalism. in france, dozens of activists protested outside amazon's headquarters in paris, while others formed a blockade at a shopping mall in paris' business district. another protest against amazon also erupted in germany.

the protests came as pope francis condemned the "virus" of consumerism. >> dear brothers and sisters, consumerism is a virus that affects the faith at its roots. because it makes you believe that life depends only on what .ou have when you live for things, things are never enough. greed grows and other people become obstacles in the race. and so when ends up feeling threatened and always dissatisfied and angry. the level of hatred rises. amy: and in montgomery, alabama, civil rights leader rosa parks was honored this weekend with a new statute in downtown montgomery. 64 years ago on december 1, 1955, parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man and move to the back of the bus. sunday also marked the second annual rosa parks day in alabama. the alabama state legislature approved the holiday last year.

and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. anti-government protests are continuing in iraq one day after the iraqi parliament voted to accept the resignation of prime minister adel abdul mahdi following two months of protests against corruption, lack of jobs and basic services and iranian influence on iraq. on friday, fireworks were set off in baghdad's tahrir square when abdul mahdi announced his resignation, but protesters vowed to stay in the streets. >> we want to send a message that abdul mahdi's resignation does not solve the entire problem. he is only a broken piece in the chess game. the problem is about the system that brought us abdul mahdi. they would be delusional if they think they can use him as a scapegoat and the people will withdraw from the streets after he resigns. the people will continue our peaceful protest until we change

the system that brought abdul mahdi. amy: iraqi prime minister abdul mahdi resigned two days after iraqi security forces killed at least 44 people in the southern cities of nasiriya and najaf after the iranian consulate was burned down on wednesday night. following the bloody crackdown, iraq's shi'ite spiritual leader grand ayatollah ali al-sistani urged the iraqi parliament to withdraw its support of the prime minister. sistani warned the escalating violence could lead to a civil war in iraq. more than 400 iraqi protesters have been killed and 15,000 injured since the anti-government demonstrations began in october. while abdul mahdi has officially resigned, he will keep serving in a caretaker government until a new one is formed. we go right now to iraqi journalist ghaith abdul-ahad who joins us from baghdad. he is correspondent for the guardian newspaper. and here in new york is sinan antoon, poet, novelist, translator, and scholar born and raised in baghdad.

now an associate professor at new york university. his most recent book "the book , of collateral damage." let's begin in baghdad. describe what has happened over these few days. were you surprised the prime minister has now resigned? well, amy, i could not agree more than with the demonstrator you just interviewed. this is exactly the sentiment in this tree. abdul mahdi is nothing more than a figurehead or come as the demonstrator said, a piece of aa chessboard. i was in the square earlier today and there were demonstrators. not that much of the clashes between demonstrators and the force, but, yes, they are willing to stay in the square and continue these demonstrations until a total change of this whole political system that they describe as a

rotten, corrupt political system. amy: describe the extent of the mass protests. moment it at this majority -- ige don't mean only the youth that went to the square early on and they kind of push against security forces, i mean you have , you havemiddle-class a large section of society. what is most amazing about these demonstrations is it is the majority -- in sectarian terms, is the majority she a that spearheaded these demonstrations. every opposition to this government of baghdad in the last decadade and a half havaven spearheaded, let's say, by people who rejected the political system. let's say the sunnis or whatever. at this moment, , this is a popular m movement, call it socl

democracy. this is why neither the political system nor the militias or the prorating in isis or allabel qaeda, as these two before, because this is the backbone of ththe regime. those kids, many of them did fight for this government against isis, volunteers on the front. but when the threat of isis was over, when they came back to their villages and towns and neighborhoods, and they reaealid this political system,m, those militia commanders, the partytyo corrupupt in building thesee massive wealth, and that is what created this path for this revolution. it is the injustice of this current political system. amy: can you describe what has taken place in both places?

area -- i waser there a few weeks ago and i have seen the situation on the ground. unlike in baghdad where it is demonstration against the initical regime, let's say, it is small najaf, towns. they know who benefited, who became very wealthy since joining the parliament or joining a militia. so it is more personal. the violence is also very personal because in the south you have a certain militia dominating a certain security force. the secret hef forces was very brutal. 48 people i think were killed both in nasiriya and najaf. in return, the demonstrators can or the symbolsuses

of this corruption. in a small town where i was a few weeks ago, they burned the houses of mps b because that t s the symbol of corruption. areajaf, demonstrations tataking place against the consulate, huge setback for the iranian influence and a rack. second, against the shrine of a very revered, again, she a cleric -- shiite cleric who is part of this establishment that is dead. in these places, it is more personal and thehe reaction is r more violent than a baghdad. amy: we're going to gotta break and come back to this discussion. ghaith abdul-ahad , we will also be joined b by sinan antoon. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. we continue to look at what is happening in iraq. more than 400 protesters killed. the prime minister has acquiesced and said he is resigning. i want to turn right now to representative of iraq's top speaking friday. >> we confirm again that attacks against peaceful protesters are further bidden, as well as being prevented from having a right to demand reforms. we confirm attacking private and property should not be attacked by infiltrators and their allies. amy: we're joined by sinan antoon, translator, novelist, author, now a professor at new york university, baghdad-born iraqi raised. and ghaith abdul-ahad, correspondent for the guardian

newspaper speaking to us from baghdad. we just had you in last week when hundreds of protesters have been killed but you're also talking about the significance of this mass protest. now one of their demands, the resignation of the prime minister, has been met. >> about sistan eight, he is a revealed figure all over the world. the problem is with al-sistani's representatives who are speaking who themselves are, for many of the protesters, part of this and implicatedm in the corruption. statements have been read as being responding to the pressure from the protesters themselves because many of the protesters in previous weeks have demanded that he issued an edict declaring it is unlawful to kill the protesters. resignation does not mean

a lot to the protesters themselves. one of thehe signs i saw this morning said, basically, we told them the car is broken down and they changed the driver. are against the entire political system, against the political culture that has rated since 2003, against the political class and the demands from most of the protesters that the new prime minister be someone from outside of this cast they are tired of, that it be someone who has never been a minister or been a member of this elite. areoursrse, parliamentary scrambling to select a representative, but they are also movement among the protesters themselves to perhaps suggest names. so t this is what is taking plae on the ground right now. amy: if you could talk about what this means for the u.s. -- he a trump going to afghahanistn

on thanksgiving day. and you have afghanistan, the u.s. invaded in 2001. bush invades iraq and 2003. ofyou see a total rejection what has happened since u.s. invaded iraq, what this means? extent of iranian influence. the intercept released hundreds and hundreds of papers of iranian documents, the first time ever received from the arabian permits point of view -- iranian government's point of view, the level of all aspects of iran. this coming after the 2003 invasion. of course, under saddam hussein, iran and iraq were at war for years. >> these protests, while the anti-iranian sentiment, which is completely understandable given the iranian influence inside

iraq, but these protests are about reclaiming iraqi sovereignty as well. so while in the mainstream media and the west there is so much focus on iran, the voices of the protesters have been very clear. they are against turkish interference, against u.s. interference, against any interference from neighboring gulf states, and iran because of its power within the political elite. but it is a total rejection of the system that has prevailed since 2003. now, whenever there is a vacuum or whenever there is a formation of a new government in the back channels, there is always iranian and u.s. interference, of course, because both countries are interested in pushing a candidate that is more answerable to their interests. levelon the popular this is a rejection of the entire political system, should be no surprise that the united states and iran are trying to

push a candidate who would be favored by their own geopolitical interests. amy: and the youth of the protesters? we spoke about this last week. many -- i mean, a number of the protesters were not even born in 2003. >> yes. this is also what i said last week. but it bears repeating in that most of these protesters are unencumbered and are not concerned with some of these old binary and old questions that oftentimimes -- or these o old stokingons and fears fires of fear from the return of or isis.h as my friend mentioned, a lot of these youth have credibility because they themselves fought to defend the country and to liberate parts of the a rack from isis. credibility and they have come to the realization now and it has been

accumulating for many years, that this political system is incapable of producing anything. the political machine only corruption,lence, and unable also to protect its own citizens. and there is this rampant influence by these malicious, these masked man who are going around and shooting innocent protesters. so the protesters know this is one chance that comes in a generation, that staying in the streets and remaining peaceful is the only way to put more prprsure to chchange the entire political system -- not just one figure replaced by another similar figure -- having a new election law and having a new constitution that is -- does not leave the country beholden to the power of its sectarian parties and the patronage system. amy: ghaith abdul-ahad, if you can talk about what you see happening next? and also, who is held

accountable for the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of protesters who have been killed -- well over 400 it looks like at this point? yes, but before that, if i can just say one thing regarding whatsinan was saying. it is true. if you see the demonstrations, see the cold of the streets, it is rejecting both american and iranian influence. both countries are held responsible in the streets of iraq. they are seen as responsible for establishing and empowering this corrupt political system. the iranians are rejected because their backing these malicious, while all of these politicians you've ruled and the parties came with the americans invasion. that is the first thing. what you see on the ground -- you see two powers now facing each other. power one, which is the people in the streets. the people in the streets are

willing -- are notot going to accept just amy: change. they want a whole change to the political process. and the demands have been very logical. they want a new, independent prime minister. they want a new election law, committee, and elections to lead to a rejoining of the constitution. these are very basic. but then you have on the other hand all of the members of parliament, the political parties, and all of their militias. they have been siphoning billions of dollars out of a rack in the last 1515 yearsrs. are they willing to give up all of this wealth, all of these sources of income, and the powers of the militias,s, the weapons? are they going to give up all of these things easily? nono. what we're saying now, the people are feeling victorious bebecause theyey have achieved p one, toppling the prime minister. but the confrontation n is going

to go for weeks of not months to come. , you are aantoon translator, author, a poeoet. if you can talk about the poem you chose to share with us today? >> the poem is about martyrs, which i wrote three years ago during the syrian uprising in the aftermath. one of the protesters who were killed in the early days happen to be a friend of mine, who is now one of the icons of this. and we corresponded for many years and i met him in my lastt trip to baghdad. he is an exemplary figure of what types of protesters are. iraqioung, talented artist and poet from a working-class backgrouound who studied engineering but could not find a job. he was always at the forefront of all of these protesters. he was killed on thehe 28th with onone of these canisters come

these were great canisters. this is an excerpt from a poem that is called "psalm." "martyrs do not go to paradise they leave to the heavenly book each in their own way cloud,rd, star, or a they appear as every day and cry for us we who are still in this hell try to extinguish with their blood." i wanted to read it because of the countless young men and women who have been killed only for prototestingng peacefully. in the attttempts of t the regie and d of its agents, frankly, to disfigure the memory of some of these activists nowadays on social media. amy: we want to thank you for being with us. sinan antoon, poet, novelist

translator, and scholar born and , raised in baghdad. he's an associate professor at new york university. his most recent novel is titled "the book of collateral damage." ghaith abdul-ahad, correspondent for the guardian newspaper, speaking just from baghdad. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodmaman. as president trump heads to london for a nato summit, we turn now to look at the upcoming british elections. the december 12 election pits right-wing prime minister boris johnson against the socialist labour party leader jeremy corbyn. corbyn recently unveiled an ambitious election manifesto promising to transform britain and resuscitate its public sector. the plan proposed a $100 billion tax increase on the wealthy to fund investment in infrastructure, as well as increased spending on education and health care. this is corbyn speaking in the central english city of birmingham last month. >> the latest manifesto is i manifesto -- is a manifesto for

hope. i manifesto that will bring real change. a manifesto that is full of popular policies. that is the political establishment has blocked for generation. but you can't have it. that is with the most powerful people in britain and their supporters want you to believe. amy: last month, labor leader corbyn and prime minister johnson sparred onon brexit durg a lilive television debate. this clip begins with johnson. >> mr. corbyn is trying to concnceal the void at the heaeaf his brexit policy and refusing to answer the question of which side -- which side he would take. cooked thank you, mr. corbyn. very briefly -- >> we will have a referendum and

we will abide by that result -- >> the union is the most important thing. the union -- chaotic coalition -- >> let's allow him to respond. >> nine years of chaos alreaead. amy: that was british labor leader jeremy corbyn and prime minister boris johnson debating last month.. well, i recently spoke with tariq ali in london. the noted historian, activist, filmmaker, author, and an editor of the new left review. him to by asking elaborate on what is happening in this snap election. >> the first thing you have to understand is the british conservative party has effectively been taken over by the extreme right wing inside that party. and they are waging a very right-wing campaign on brexit, their own position has changed from when they were threatening

a no-deal brexit to now, excepting a compromise with the european union. and boboris johnson has decidedo center the election on brexit because he thinks he can convince people that every other politician in the land, especially jeremy corbyn, will never push it through. the line corbyn has taken is achievesever deal he with european union will be put to the people and they will be given a choice again. now, this is unpopular with some of his own supporters but that is the deal. however, what corbyn has been arguing is he refuses to fight the election on brexit or no brexit. he says this elelection has to e fought on real social and economic issues. and this is why he unleashed this radical program at

birmingham not so long ago, which is the most radical program labor has had for a very long time, indeed. for many, many decades. re-nationalizing the railway industry, taking back control of water so it is no longer in the hands of the privatize others, making sure that the national health service is properly funded and that the privatization measures, which were infiltrated into this health service by both tony blair and david cameron, will come to an end, free higher education for all, cetera, cetera, cetera it is our radical reforming manifesto. this is what the debate is going to be about. and interestingly enough, amongst the undecided people, corbyn scored a victory with the television debate, which you just showed an excerpt from.

not one of the great confrontations in brbritish political history, but in any with an scored well attached voters -- unattached voters. he is is at his best when campaigning, when he is talking to ordinary people. he hates mainstream television and how it distorts politics and how it manipulates. who can blame him? he is at his best when he is talking to people on the streets or big meetings or answering questions from real people. become the he will largest party in parliament's cup if not something more than that. now, after ais couple of weeks, beginning to pick up. to juliant spoke assange and i said to him, "do you see any hope at all,

julian?" a corbynonly hope is government." he said "i can't depend on the english judiciary." civil, many levels, liberties, women's rights, racism, i thihink this is the campaign that we are going to see. whether it infuses a net people, who knows? amy: i want to play for you boris johnson's response to the labour party's election manifesto that the labor leader jeremy corbyn just unveiled. he was speaking, prime minister jojohnson was speaking during a campaign visit to a building site in bedford, england. >> none of it has any credibility whatever. the whole of the heart of labors manifesto -- this is the moment lights, camera, action, corbyn come centerstage, drumroll, and he completely misseses his.

what we want to know is what is his plan to deliver brexit and what is the deal he wants to do in which side would you vote on that deal? we still don't know. thosewe get an answer to questions and brexit done, none of this carries any economic credibility whatever. amy: thahat is boris johnson. tariq ali, your response? >> it is not surprising. jeremy predicted this would be his response. the answer to boris johnson is this -- even the long yearars britain has been in the european union, these policies have slowly been developing. if britain is or isn't in the european union from this point of view it doesn't matterer. these are labors policies and they're going to push them through regardless of what happens in relation to brexit. the money is there. the rich are there. the billionaires to be taxed.

this is something on which corbyn is not going to retreat. and quite honestly, corbyn's election manifesto is a common sense manifesto unless you are orpletely on the right whatever. i think it is going -- it is not going to be for boris to totally demolish this case. that is the big thing, which labor is banking on. amy: talk about brexit and talk about boris johnson's view and jeremy corbyn's view. and what people will be basing their decision not in the snap election. boris' view is as follows -- there was a referendum agreed to by all the political parties. in this referendum, the pro european union parties lost and

a majority of the british public, the highest number of people to vote for anything in this country ever come over 17 million people, over 50% voted to quit the european union. and governments have been prevaricating. the point is this. this is true, by the way, not false. this referendum was pushed through by the conservative deal -- david cameron thought it was one way of getting rid of oris and his gang because he was convinced the british people would vote to remain in the european union. theresa may, who succeeded cameron, is also pro-eu and she wasted a lot of time in getting a deal agreed. campaign for conservative voters is very simple. the people voted. the politicians obstructed. it is the people versus

parliament issue. it is not spelled out in these terms yet, but that is what lies behind the thing. corbyn's position is this -- three years now, people are fed up of this business. we should settle it once and for all. so we should have a new referendum to see if people still believe in what they voted for three years ago. and in this refererendum, they will be offered two choices -- labors brexit deal or a choice, if they have changed their minds, to remain in the european union. now, many people, including labour supporters, feel corbyn should be defending -- and they voted for brexit, especially working-class voters in the north of england -- that corbyn should just implement it. his view is, time has passed and we should have a new referendum. foughth the campaign is

will determine what people think , amy. and so far, labour has made his position clear on brexit, which obviously johnson doesn't like. it is now fighting the campaign on issues central to the everyday lives, the working people, and ordinary people in this country. the latest film shows how zero r's and what neoliberalism has done to the lives of young people. everyone knows this. this is the experience of people in most parts of the country. so if this message can be gotta cross over the next few weeks, i am moderately optimistic. i think corbyn could win. the liberal party, the liberal democrats are waging such a right wing anti-corbyn campaign that now they have said they will join a coaoalition with the conservatives, boris johnson, if

boris just agrees to another referendum, which is very unlikely. leader joe democrat swenson, though i have nicknamed her jo strangelove, attacks corbyn for not saying in public that it prime minister he would press the nuclear button. saying he is a pacifist, he is this and that, making a nuclear war one of the minor issues in this campaign. i think k she will lose votes fr saying that and i think she might even lose her own seat in scotland -- which is very hostile to new their weapons. it is a crazy campaign. amy: i also want to ask about something us that came up in the debate between johnson and corbin. that is the whole issue of prince andrew. prince andrew singh wednesday he will withdraw from public duties amidst mounting public anger over his longtime friendship with the now deceased serial

sexualal predator jeffrey epste. in a bbc interview that aired sunday, prince andrerew denied accusations by virginia roberts who said she was sexually trafficked by epstein and forced to have sex with the prince when she was 17 years old. a photo released by her shows prince andrew standing beside her with his hand around her bare stomach with epstein's longtime confidante in the background. i want to go to prince andrew in bbc when he was asked if he was sorry for hisis longtime relationshipip with epsteiein. >> do you r regret the whwhole friendndship wit epstein? -- still notot come up fofor the reas being the people, and the opportutunities that i s either byby him or because of him were actually

very useful. amy: this was an astounding response that buckingham palace is trying to take back now, given the allegations against jeffrey epstein as a serial sexual predator and sex trafficker. ofanted to turn to a part the live tv debate between prime minister boris johnson and his rival jeremy corbyn. the moderator asked if the monarchy is fit for purpose. this is cocorbyn's response followed by johnson's. >> if the monarchy for the purpose? >> it needs a bit of improvement. [applause] >> mr. johnson? >> the institutition of the monanarchy is beyond repeproach. >> before we discuss prince andrew, i think we should discuss the victims that are there because of what epstein was doing. very, verery are serious questionsns that mumuste answered and nobody should be above the law. >> all of our some of these

should always be sleepy with the --tims of jeffrey epstein should always be with the victims of jeffrey y epstein. amy: boris johnson and jeremy corbyn responding to this question with jeremy corbyn talking about the victims of jeffrey epstein and prince andrew's response that he could not be sorry for his longtime relationship with jeffrey epstein because he had learned so much from him. tariq ali? >> i wonder what prince andrew actually learned from epstein, amy? i heard this interview. it is puzzling. did you learn the benefits of pedophilia? diddy learn what it is to assault young women who have been brought in to serve these people? i mean, what that interview is like is that andrew many other rich people -- stupid , wanting more money, more greed

, thinking they are entitled to do what they want with young women or young men or whoever. i mean, they feel no one can touch them. they are untouchables. and when they are exposed, then they squirm. but while others involved have apologized or tried to, this fellow did not even attempt anything like that. he did not know what to say. i am sure he was told what to do. there were divisions within buckingham palace as to whether he should do the interview at all. one of his people resigned because she said you should not be doioing this interview. and then he comes up -- why do you want to bother? quite honestly, the monarchy is long past its sell by date. i think after her majesty the queen passes away, there will be a debate on whether to continue this farce or not. a touristcally

attraction so a lot of people can come from the united states and watch them, you know, guards dressed in red marching up and down. that can be organized as her virtual thing. you don't need a living monarchy to do that. amy: what is jeremy corbyn's view of the monarchy? does he think it should be abolished? >> severalal years ago, jeremy's mentor tony been proposed a bill in parliament to democratize britain, which was cosigned by jeremy. the first item on the bill was parliament should abolish the , the monarchy. it should democratize the judiciary. it should abolish the house of lords. jeremy is assigned that member to the democratic campaign and i think they have not had time to deal with this yet but it is a bit sad that tony bennett is no longer with us because he would have pushed this democratic

agenda through. monarchyart, lies the and the house of lords. it is high time they were abolish. they will be sooner or later, but it has taken a long time. amy: tariq ali. when we come back, t talks about uprisingngs around the globe. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: the writer of the song died at the age of 95 on friday in brooklyn. this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman. we continue our conversation with tariq ali, historian, activist, filmmaker, author, and editor of the new left review. i asked him about the significance of thehe uprisings happening around the world frorm chile to lebanon to iraq and beyond. >> well, i think it is extremely significant because what it reveals is a new generation completely alienated from the political structures of their societies, in most cases stop it

is the case in chile where the socialist president for two terms did nothing to transform, reform, and get rid of pinochet's structures and that country -- talent amy: although, michelle bachelet was a victim of pinochet, her and her mother and father. >> she was. of course she was, which is why she should have acted on this. it is a real tragedy. so the protesters are not involved with any political party in chile because they don't like what michelle bachelet did when she wasted two terms are not doing anything and basically following the u.s. lead in foreign policy. the u.s. which was socially involved and the chilean coup d'etat, as you know better than most. in lebanon, it is the same thing. it is heartening to see that lebanese demonstrations in beirut stop young people,

christians, she of muslims, sunni muslims, people of all different denominations marching together and saying we want to get rid of all of them. in the all of them they are talking about is corrupt politicians, their oligarchies, their crookedness, what they're doing to the country. so they want change, too. and in iraq, people are just fed up. nothing much has happened for them since the occupation. they live in dire conditions. and many of their parents and grandparents remind them of what iraq used to be -- just by saddam hussein's atrocities, they say life was better under him. this is very common now in iraq and in libya, amy. , youngeffect has here people are saying it is the corbyn campaign.

if jeremy corbyn does not win, i think you will see trouble. you have seen it in france with the yellow best where the repression was horrendous. we now have the figures, 10,000 arrests, people shot with gas in the eye, the head of the french health service recently blocked, pleading with the government, please stop firing and young people's eyes. we've had to remove one i completely and many, many people are now suffering. it is not simply that it is happening elsewhere, it is andening in europe as well in your country, of these huge gatherings. 26,000 people gathering in brooklyn to hear bernie sanders. that sort of thing does not happen every day in an election campaign. so i think underneath the surface and above it, there is a lot of rumbling. amy: in your country, i mean, in britain you have thousands of

people taking to the streets, particularly around the climate crisis -- not only when president trump made that state visit to london, but you have extinction rebellion. >> yes, that is been huge. very well organized, unpredictable attempts to delegitimize it have failed because the courts have ruled the police have no right to ban these demonstrations. which is one of the few legal victories a movement has one in this country. in recent years. that is happening here and that with let's hope it ties in the election campaign. i think the figures are that over one million people register between the ages of 18 and 34. hey have registered so i

hope that helps. if corbyn wins and begins to implement the program, it will have a big effect globally. if you can be done in britain, why can't it be done in france? in the united states? or z?ntryxo or y it shows it is possible to reverse all of the damage inflicted by the neoliberal system, its economic policies, it's wars, cetera. corbyn would be the first prime minister of this country who has been antiwar activist and president of stop the war campaign for sign years. so that is one reason the right is so upset and the establishment has been trying to destabilize him in this absurd, absurd accusation of him being anti-semitic has been thrown in the ring by right-wing and liberal zion thiss, which and partly has had an impact. but you know people are fighting back, including large numbers of

jewish activists from jewish voices for labor. but they havave held e every possible chart you can imagine at him. he is a terrorist, and testament, communist, going to be like stalin. you cannot imagine it outside this country what they have thrown at him. and he has come back fighting. this is probably his last fight politically to win this election . let's hope he succeeds. america tariq ali, noted historian, activist and author speaking to us from london. he is coeditor of the book "in defense of julian assange." to see our full interview, g goo democracynow.org. we will be broadcasting from stockholm, sweden, tuesday, wednesday, thursday. then we go to madrid, spspain, r the u.n. climate summit on

friday and continuing all next week. that does it for the show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]