08/27/20 08/27/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from democracy now!, this is breaking with convention. vice pres. pence: our truth is, you won't be safe in joe biden's america. , weunder president trump will always stand with those who stand on the thin blue line and we're not going to defund the police stop not now, not ever. amy: as vice president mike pence vows at the republican nanational convention to install

law and order, protests are continuing over the police shooting of jacob blake in kenosha, wisconsin, and the killing of two protesters shot dead by a 17-year-old aligned with a white armed militia. we will hear excepts of pence's acceptance address, go to wisconsin for the latest, and look at how professional basketball, baseball, and soccer games came to an unprecedented halt after milwaukee bucks players refused to take the court in support of the black lives matter movement. plus, we will speak to president ririchard nixon's former white house counsel john d dean, autur of the new book k "authoritarian nightmare: trurump and hisis followers." >> like it orr not, authoritarianism is on the ballot this november. and to defeat it, we must understand. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcomome to dememocracy now!,

democracynow.o.org. we're breaking with convention. i'm amy goodman.n. in louisianana, hurricicane laua roareded ashore early this morog as an extremelely dangerous category 4 storm, bringing storm surges up to 20 feet and sustained winds of 150 miles per hour. it is the strongest storm to hit louisiana in over an century. the stm m made ldfalall soh of the city of f ke charles, wha high titide, brbrging meteorologists called an survrvivab wall l ofater ass highghs a two-ststory building. hundreds of thousands evacuated ahead of the storm, but emergency workers say 150 residents of cameron parish refused to l leave their homes. their fate remains unknown. as the storm bore down on the gulf, the oil and gas industry scrambled to secure refineries and shut about 300 offshore drilling platforms, taking a million-and-a-half barrels of

oil per day off the market and raising fears over new oil spspills. the storm arrived almost exactly 15 years after hurricane katrina struck southeastern louisiana, leaving 80% of new orleans under water. it's the seventh named storm to make landfall in the united states so far this year, a record pace for late august. vice president mike pence headlined the third night of the republican national convention. formally accepting his party's nomination for a second term. speaking at fort mchenry in baltimore, pence vowed to install law and order across the country. vice pres. pence: president trump and i will always support the right of americans to peaceful protest. but rioting and looting is not peaceful protest. tearing down statues is not free speech. and those who do so will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.. amy: v vice preresident pence me no mention of police brutality

or the recent police shootings that have sparked protests across the couountry -- from jab blake in kenosha, wisconsin to breonna taylor in louisville, kentucky, to george floyd in minneapolis. pence condemned the killing of federal security officer david patrick underwood in oakland in may, butut failed to mention n t ununderwood was killed b by an r force staff f sergeant with ties to the far-right "boogaloo" movevement. in other n news fromom the republican national convention, "the wall street journal" has revealed that the two of the women who became u.s. citizens during an unprecedented televised naturalization ceremony during the convention did not know the ceremony would be aired as part of a political event. in wisisconsinin, the u.s. juste department said wednesday it will launch an independentnt investigatation into the police shooting of jacob blake, whose shooter was identified wednesday for the first time as white kenosha police officer rusten

sheskey. sheskey shot jacob blake -- an unarmed black father -- in the back seven times as he was getting into his car on sunday, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. sheskey has been placed on paid administrative leave and has not been charged with a crime. the shooting has sparked massive protests across the country. overnight, protesters in kenosha defied a 9:00 p.m. curfew and marched for a fourth straight night. while in minnesota, governor tim walz called out the national guard to minneapolis as protesters took to the streets, breaking windows and removing merchandise from downtown stores. meanwhile, police have arrested the whitite teenager who openend fire on blblack lives matter protesters in n kenosha on tuesday,y, killing two peoplpled injuring a third. 17 year-old kyle rittenhouse, a self-declared militia member and avid trump supporter who was spotted front row at one of the president's rallies in january, was apprehended in antioch,

illinois, wednesday, and charged with murder. on social media, kyle rittenhouse posted frequently in support of the pro-police "blue lives matter" movement, posed with guns, and appeared in a photo when he was just 15 years old wearing a police uniform as part of a "public safety cadet program." eyewitness videos of rittenhouse's rampage show a shooter with a long gun falling to the ground and shooting into a crowowd as protesters attempto disarm him. later videos show that police then allowed rittenhouse to leave the scene even as people attempted to identify him as the shooter. at a news conference wednesday, kenosha police chief daniel miskinis blamed protesters for the deadly assault. this all comes as damning video from earlier in the night show kenosha polilice offering armed vigilantes water. >> w we have to sasave a couplet we wilill give you a couple.e.

we apprereciate e you guys. we really do. amy: after t the headlines, we will go to wisconsin for the latest. meanwhile, p professional basketball, , baseball,, and sor games came to an unprecedented halt after milwaukee bucks wednesday players refused to take the court for a playoff game against the orlando magic to protest the police shooting of jacob black. the nba then canceled all three of wednesday's playoff games. on tnt, former basketball star and commentator kenny smith walked off the set of "inside the nba" in solidarity with protesters. >> as a black man come as a former player, i thihink it is best for me to support the players and just not be here tonight. and figure out what happens after that. >> i respect that.

amy: the wnba also canceled three games wednesday after members of the washingngton mystics arrived wearing t-shirts -- each with seven bullet holes in the back, with the fronts of the shirts spelling out the name jacob blake. this is mystics guard ariel atkins. >> this isn't just about basketball. we are not just basketball players. and just because we are basketball players -- we need to when we go home, we are black. amy: three major league baseball games were posostponed after -- as well as soccer games. tennis also suspended matches after tennis superstar naomi osaka -- whose father is haitian -- withdrew to protest against racicial injustitice. the uniteded states confirmemed nearly 45,000 new cases of coronavirus on wednesday, as the

official u.s. death toll rapidly approaches 180,000. on wednesday, the white house defended a decision by the centnters for disease e controld prprevtition to commmmend ainstt coronavirurus testing fofopeople who are a asymptomatic, even if they have bebeen exposedo o an infected person. the e cdc also quietetly dropp s recocommendation people ququarae for 14 days after treleling fr anan arewith a a hh rate of ininfection. public health experts say the moves willll undermine e efforto control l the spread of f the disease. "the new york times" cited two federal health officials who said the changes were ordered by higher-ups at the depament of health and human services and the white house. the decision was reportedly made at an meeting of the white house august 20 coronavirus task force while top public health expert dr. anthony fauci was not present because he was undergoing throat surgery. the changes were backed by the

task force's newest member, dr. scott atlas, a fox news contributor and radiologist with no expertise in infectious diseases. globobally, over 24 4 million ne been diagnososed with covivid-1, with the known death toll topping 820,000. burma has expanded a lockdown in rakhine state after reporting its largest one-day spike in coronavirus cases. in south korea, the health minister ordered doctors to return to work or face prison sentences as they began a three-day nationwide strike to protest a medical workforce reform plan. south korea recorded 441 new coronavirus cases on wednesday, its highest total since march, raising the prospect of new lockdowns. in nicaragua, at least 46 educators have died of covid-19 after the government refefused o close schools to slow community spread. president daniel ortega has celebrated his administration's decision to keep schools open

throughout the pandemic, while a teachers' union is demanding a halt to in-person classes. in economic news, just two states have begun n distributina $300-per-week federal supplelemt to weekly unemployment benefits, even though treasury secretary steven mnuchin promised on august 10 that most states would have the program up and d runnig within two weeks. president trump set up the makeshift $44 billion program by executive order after republican lawmakers allowed enhanced unemployment benefits to expire one month ago. meanwhile, a federal moratorium on evictions expired monday ahead of september 1, when rent and mortgage payments come due for 30 million americans left unemployed during g the pandemi. princeton university's eviction lab estimates up t to 40 million people are now at risk of eviction i in the coming monont. meanwhile, a newew national sury finds one in five small business

owners expect to close if economic conditions don't improve in the next six months. and a study by the economic policy institute finds some 12 million americans have lost their employer-based health insurance since the start of the pandemic.. in i indiana, the only native american on federaral death row was declared dead at 6:29 p.m. in the federal prison in terre haute wednesday after prison officials injected him with a lethal dose pentobarbital. mitchell's execution came over the objections of the navajo nation, which opposes capital punishment. death penalty abolitionist sister helenen prejean tweeted - "mitchell's case was tainted from the very beginning with government misconduct and racism. this execution had nothing to do with justice." it was the fourth federal execution carried out this year after the trump administration ended a 16-year moratorium on the death penalty. and in new zealand, a coururt hs sesentenced a self-professed whe

nationalist gunman to life in prison without the possibility of parole after convicting him on 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, and engaging in a a terrorist act. in march of last year, 29-year-old australian brenton tatarrant emaid ouout a racicist manifesto minutes before he opened fire with an assault rifle at two mosques in the city of christchurch, live-streaming his massacre on facebook. prime minister jacinda ardern welcomed the sentencing. >> the trauma of march 15 is not easily healeled. lastoday i hope it is the where we have any cause to hear or under thehe name of the terrorist behind it. his deserves to be a a lifetimef come the and utter silence. amy: and those are some of the headadlines. this is dedemocracy now!, democracynow.org. we are raking wiwith conveventi.

i'i'm amy goodman. we beginin today''s show withh kenosha, wisconsin. the justice department announced it is launching an independent investigation into the police shooting of jacob blake, whose shooter was identified wednesday for the first time as white kenosha police officer rusten sheskey. sheskey shot blake in the back seven times at point-blank range as he was getting into his car on sunday with his three --ldren -- aged 3, 5, and 6 in the car. he has been left paralyzed from the waist down. sheskey has been placed on paid administrative leave and has not been charged with a crime. the shooting has sparked massive protests across the country and in kenosha, where a white teenager opened fire o on black lives matter protesters tuesday, killing two people. 17 year-old kyle rittenhouse, a self-declared militia member and avid trump supporter who was

spotted front row at one of the president's rallies in january, was apprehended in antioch, illinois, wednesday after fleeing the state. he has been charged with murder. on social media, kyle rittenhouse posted frequently in support of the pro-police "blue lives matter" movement, posed with guns, and appeared in a photo when he was just 15 years old wearing a police uniform as part of a "public safety cadet program." the shooting victims have been named as 26 year-old anthony huber and 36-year-old joseph rosenbaum. eyewitness videos of rittenhouse's tuesday night rampage show a shooter with a long gun falling t to the ground and shootingng into a crowd as protesters attempt to disarm him. later videos show that police then allowed rittenhouse to leave the scene even as people attempted to identify him as the shooter. this is independent videographer

brendan gutenschwager. >> got up and proceeded to walk toward the lineup police that were there in the bearcat and a couple of vehicles. he basically walked up to them with the gun still out in front spoke with them for a few seconds. i could not make out what he said. i know for a few seconds, he was literally right outside of the cup car stores. prior to that for the past two hours leading up to that, anybody that got that post was getting fired at with tear gas or pepper bullets or something like that. andasically talked to them they told him to step away from the e vehicle. heontinued w walking. took off, babasically. this all comes as s damning vido from earlierer in the night show kenosha policece offering armed vigigilantes water.

as well as supportive words. >> i've g got to save a a c cou, but t we will giveve you a coupl we appreciate u guys. wewe really do.. "we appreciate you u guys. we really dodo," the police tha. at a n news cononference wednes, kenosha police chief daniel miskinis blamed protesters for the deadly shooting. >> thehe curfews in place to -- perhaps a situation would not have happened. night 17-year-old individual from antioch, illinois, was involved in the resolveirearms to whatever conflict was in place. the result was twowo peoplple ae dead. this is not a police action. this is not the action of those who set out to do protests, it is the persons who are involved

after the legal time involved in illegal activity thahat broughgt violence to this community. amy: this all comes as the republican national convention wrapped its third night with vice president mike pence calling for law and order in the streets of american cities. president trump tweeted wednesday he was sending the national guauardo the strereetsf kenosha. well, fofor more, we go to milwaukekee, wisconsin, where we''re joined by s state representative david bowen. he was in kenosha for the protests. representative bowen, wewelcomeo democracy now! can youu start off by tetellings what you saw in the streets of kenosha tuesday nigight, , the t the killings took place? >> thank you for having me on. i literally witnessed firsthand a massive amount of organized driving routeemacists inin pickup trucks, targeting protestersrs. try tore there e not too defend businesses, as they make it seem.

they were not there to attempt to get a point across. they were there to hurt people. they were armed. there using chemical irritants. they were harassing protesters. and even from the video, it looks like they were in coronation with a kenosha law inorcement that was there -- coordination with kenosha law enforcement that was there. we are at the point in the state where we are witnessing the unfolding of the unraveling of the point of what we're trying to do in transforming the situation of transforming the way that we institute public safety. and this is exhibit a and exhibit b of why we need to transform law enforcement and public safety in wisconsin and this country, for sure. people are not in this position of advocating for changing the system only to be harassed and

surveillancece and tgegeted. ththey are in n this position because ththey're tirired of witnessingng that we will end up with a a future that is the stas quo, and law enforcement have show theyy are more tied t to defendining the status q quo rar ththancceptiti changnge. lawmakerers that i'm trying to work with in the state capital are refusing to heaear the pleas for change from people. they w would rather trtry to ble and point the fingeger at why these things a are happening afr the fact. people are focused on real institute of change right now. amy: i want to play free v vice presidident pence in his acceptance speech bebeing renominated ass vice presideneny the republican party, speaking at fort mchenry in baltimore. vice pres. pence: last week joe biden did not say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country. so let me be clear.

the violence must stop. whether in minneapolis, or kenosha, two many heroes have died defending our freedom to see americans strike each other down. we will have law and order on the streets of this country forr every american of every race, creed,d, and color. amy: what was amazing from this clip, vice president pence made no mention of police brutality or the recent police shootings that h have taken place or the murders in kenosha. what he did do is talk about the security guard, this horrific murderer in oakland, califoforn, of the federal security officer david patrick underwood, and he introduced his relative in thehe audience. but faililed to mention that underwood was killed by an air force staff sergeant with tieses

to the far rightoogaloo movement. do you see a connection, david that, between not saying when he talked about oakland and then kenosha, not talking about kyle rittenhouse, the man who has been charged with first-degree murder -- a 1717-year-old, part of thehe whe militia movemenent who was in te strereets tutuesday ninight. > this is exactly what we are saying here in wisconsin. you're not wililling to call out police with h state sanctioned violence. toou're using your s silence cosign a and give a ssssage ththese white supreremacists tht they can goo around attatackingg peopople. and you're not about law, vivice president mike and's. you're welcoming that viviolenc. you'rere cosigning thahat viole. thannilence is s much louder the claimims that you t try to e

now after the fact. we're really fofocused rit nonow on transforming the system. i know he talked about not defunding the police b but we clearly can see e what good isiw enforcemenent? they are not keeping track of these groups. this identified shooter came acrossss from this active shootr situation -- a mass shooting. he came across a border to come here. no law enforcement were intotigating, were looking the whereabouts and the plans of these groups when they know they are violent, when they know they have a history of targeting people. what good is law enforcement if it is not doing what it is supposed to o do? amy: i w wanted to play y for y, represesentative bowen,, tucker carlsen during widespread condemnation after he appeared to j justify the actions of the kenosha shooter.

>> how sharp our way that 17-year-old with rifles decidedd they had to maintain order when no one else would? amy: meanwhile, on twitter, far-right media pundit and culture said -- "i want him as s my president." she e is talkingbobout t shooter. representative b bowen?? >> unforortunately, , it is clcy owing thatat jacob blalake actually was a part of p providg public safety that day.. he e was then turned into the target as a problem whilele pole showeded up to try to o make ana problem. but he was f focused on seservig and protecting his community. hehe was shot in the back seven times and you may not walklk again. ---- and he may not walk again. if this i is the direioion of te extreme, i was i, farar-right wt

to move to, upholding vioiolence by thesegeting citizens white supremacist groups, clearly -- this is exactly where we are as a country and it is very unfortunate that talking heads on the right are depending his action because literally there cosigning the death and removal of people that are advocating for black lives. this is where we are. i am not surprised, but i must say people that stand against that must be louder. they must be more involved. they must be more e engaged.d. we cannonot accept that. we must get out and make that changege. in every aspect of t the spectrm ofof change, whether that is voting or being involved onon te strereets, whetherer that is fightiting back, w we cannot alw them -- - we must be able to mae sure we aree transforming thee

system that they love, t that ty benefit from. they w want to ensure that thins stay thehe same.e. theyey want the status quo to totinue, , to be allowed remove blalack bodies fromom sps where they feel t they don't belong. that is a system that we are tearing down a and we are rebuililding with a a new system ththat will be accountntable to black and brown people, that will be accountable to the communities that they serve.. amy: i want t to turn to the shooter, kyle rittenhouse, speaking inn kenosha durining te protest right before the shooting in a video that was posted onn t twier as he h holds this long gun. he says he and other militia members s don't have nonlethal weapons and are there to o defed property. he is speaking to thfafar-rit mea outlet "theaily calr.r." sayeded bgot peer

fifit of, crowd. >> nonlethal, but yodid not respond? >> we don't veve nonlethal. >> so you are full on ready to defend the property. > y yes, sir. am that is kylee rittenhouse.. yourur response, representative bowen? >> first off, whenever you h hae a situation where aa 17-yearar-d is c crossing statee lines, it s illegal for a 17 euroro to even have a an assaulult weaeapon, an assault rifle. to that degree, liverer problem. i think the bibiggest ing thahai cacan sense right now is for ths false claim that theree was a defefense of property. you u don't walklk around shooog people away y from the propertyy that you supposedly were there to defend. that has ties to thisis white supremacist moveme. but itit is very clear that they were onn a hunting spree. this was not the defense of

property. we should be very clear about that. i remember when i first got involved in social change, i inld to a kkk rally here milwaukee at the age of about 14 years old. we were part of the opposition to the kkk to making sure they knew that they could not come to this rally, could not come to the city and try to spread their hateful views and would not find the opposition there. i remember seeing children with ,olks that came with the kkk and thinking how they would take their views and grow up with them. this is exactly what i'm saying right now. he is 17 years old. he believes in these white supremacist views and he is using it lethally -- using it to hurt other people, and he is not even being held accountable for it. he is being given the dylann roof treatment, you get treated well, you get acclimated after

you literally take people's lives. this is a horrible direction for our country to move into. the leaders in the silence by those on the right to be able to cosign this is very dangerous and it shows we need to hold them accountable even more to stop his fascism that we're seeing inn our country.. amy: of, dylann roooof, the murdererer o of nine parishiones in c charleston was picked up by police and taken to burger king for lunch. if you could talk about what is going to happen to the police officer? it has been quite astounding that day after day we heard nothing from wisconsin authorities or the local police talalking about what had happened, identifying the

white police officer sheskey who shot seven times point blank range into the back of jacob blake. by the way, for people to know in reading various instagram, facebook entries, it looks like jacob blake's grandfather is the minister, the pastor come the civil rights leader from chicago by the same name jacob blake, who led a movement around desegregating housing at ththe time of dr. king being shot in chicago. i believe this is his grandson. but the fact that jacob blake lies in a hospital paralyzed from the waist down, undergoing one operation after another -- we first heard officer sheskey's name yesterday in the news conference the attorney genel,l, the sheriff held, and we there are twot

ininvestigations going on. a parent, the department t of justicice has open one and the wisconsin attorney general -- because that is the law now after a previous police murder of a young man. it it is has get in kenosha a police officicer kills someone,t must be independently investigated. within the kenosha county da said he will be the one to decide once the investigation is done if there is enough evidence there to bring charges. is that right? for the attorney generalal -- ds he then prosecute the case? >> that is correct. that is why state law needs to be changed so there can be special prosecutors selected to handle thiss, for the kenosha da to be able to then handlee chararges afterer an independent bodody doeoes the invesestigati, there should be anan independent prososutor. unfortunately, that law is not

been passed yeyet. it is one of the laws ththat has bebeen proposed in the past. i'm sure youou will see more of that i in the future.. but it is very c clear the kenoa da does s get a chancnce to make decisision on p prosecuting t te way y we have seen o other case, bubut we have seen toooo many ts where the p prosecutor does nott stepep up to reaeally hold lawaw enfoforcement officiaials accountable, especially when they work closely with them. amy: your response -- we're about to talk about this thatrecedented sports action is taking place in prorofessionl sports all over r the country. you are from milwaukee, representative david bowen. b bucks and the brerewers. talk about the significance of them refusing to play. >> activism hahas been the lifeblood ofof milwaukee. it comes in our history.

we have e the longest march in historory at 200 dayays. that was during the civil ghts movemement and fairr housing. the fact that we havave amazing athletes that ayay for ourur lol teams that are willing to really stand u up and fight for our commmmunity and fight r changng, literally shows you the difference in how wewe are all tieded together. whether r you make millions of dodollars and you are an athlete or your working-class person here in the cityty of milwaukee, we are all tied together. fansoso proud to be a a bucks and so proud to bebe able to std with individuals, even in the athletic and sports world that are saying "we need change and we are going to use our platform could use our jobs, our livelihoods to fight for it." that is exactly what we need to

see. if we don't get it, we will shut it down. that i is exactly what they did and i'i'm proud of them. amy: david bowen, next up, look --how professional athletes basketball, baseball, soccer games -- came to an unprecedented halt wednesday after the milwaukee bucks players refused to take the cocourt in suppo of f black lils mamatter and against t the killg of j jacob blake. thisis i is democracy now! back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: "he ain't heavy, he's my brother" by jimmy and david ruffin. thehould the pictures of two men murdered in kenosha as they marched in the black lives matter march and also showed images of jacob blake e line paralyzed and hospspital bed. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. professional baskeketball, baseball, and soccer games came to an unprecededented halt wednesday after milwaukee bucks players refused to take the court for a playoff game against the orlando magic in support of

the black lives matter movement. the nba then canceled all three of wednesday's playoff games. on tnt, former basketball star and sports commentator kenny smith walklked off the set of "inside the nba" in solidarity with protesters. >> as a black man, as a former player, i think it is best for me to support the players and just not be here tonight. out what happens after that. >> i respect that. amy: you can't hear him much because he has taken off his microphone, and he walks off the tv set. the wnba also canceled three games after members of the wednesday washington mystics arrived wearing t-shirts -- each with seven bullet holes in the back, with the fronts of the shirts spelling out the name jacob blake. each woman wearing a t-shirt

with one of the letters of jacob blake's name. this is mystics guard ariel atkins. >> this isn't just about basketball. we are not just basketball players. just because we are best about players doesn't mean that is our only platform. we neeeed understand when most f us go home, we are e still blac. amy: three major league baseball games were postponed after players on thehe milwaukee brewewers, seattle mariners, and other teams joined protests. mets slugger dom smith kneeled for the national anthem ahead of wednesday night's game against the florida marlinsns and broke down in n tears at a post-gameme press conference. most of wednesday's major league soccer games were postponed, and the western & southern open tennis tournament suspended matches after tennis superstar naomi osaka -- whose father is haitian -- withdrew to protest against racial injustice. well, for more, we're joined by dave zirin, sports editor for the nation magazine and host of the edge of sports podcast.

welcome to democracy now!! this is an amazing moment in this country's history, especially as, interestingly, yesterday, though vice president pence -- it was talked about he would condemn athletes for taking the need. forget taking the knee at this point, athletes are not taken to the courts. they're not going out on the field. they are boycotting, dave. >> i it is great to be o on witu and talk about what i think is best described as a sports strike wave for racial justice. it is more than a boycott, it has been withdrawing their labor and taking money out of the system and sing the games s will not go on. it is not just an example for racial justice protesters, i think itit is a challenge to the labor movement as a whole essay if this country y is in fact nonfunctioning at the moment -- many believe this is not a functioning country -- then labor has to assert itself in this battle and stand u up. that is exactly y what the athletes arere doing with this

sports strike wave. amy: nbc is reporting a group of athletes led by lelebron james e rolling out a multimillion dollar program and in the next few weeks to recruit coworkers and heavily black electoral the streets for november elections. a person from a were the plans as, did lebron walk out of the bubble with others and thehey're going to washington to protest? >> the braun is a big part of the story right now because yesterday all of the nba players had d a meeting after the games were canceled inside this bubble, this bubble down in orlando, florida, and the los angeles lakers and the los angeles uppers -- lebron is on the lakers -- they broke with the restst of the players and sd we don't want the playoffs to continue. this could be a negotiating tactic b because they're meeting with the nba bosses today, franchise owners. they will be speaking with him about what nbnba owners c can do put their billions of dollars for the cause of racial justice. nbahere still might be

playoffs. right now lebron is leading a very radical break on the players as a whole to rest more reforms out of the nbaba. amy: as we wrap up, just the significance from thewnba to the nba, to the much whiter baseball teams all being in solidarity, what you think this means in for president trump, who has made it a point and honest most every speech to condemn anyone who takes a knee? >> for years, the world of sports has been a site of reresistance to the racism of ts administration, stararting witih colin kaepernick almost exactly four years ago to the date players made this decision. this is just another chapter in that story about how the world of arts has been a site of resistance, and valuable of resistance against the depravities of this administration. amy: thank you for being with us. the milwaukee bucks read a team statement explaining their decision too boycott their

playoff game against the orlando magic. we will play of short clip. >> despite the overwhelming clipper change, there's been no action commits our focus today cannot be on basketball. >> when we take the court and represent the state, we are expected to play at high level, hold each other accountable. we hold ourselves to that standard and in this moment, we are demanding the same from lawmakers and law enforcement. we are calling for justice for jacob blake and d demand offices be held accountatable. amamy: dave zirin, your final comment? thererling brown spoke has his own lawsuit against the milwaukee police department from when he was tased in 2018. so the players are not bystanders to this process. the players are looking at this world and saying what giancarlo said in 1968 before the olympics, which is s why shoulde run in mexico city only to crawl home?

amy: dave zirin, a sports editor for the natition magazine, and host of the e edge of sports podcast, thank youou so muchch. back, vicee president pence's acceptance speeeech at the republican national conventn. ♪ [music break] amymy: "power doeoesn't rurun n nothing" by the thermals.

vice president mike pence nominationnepted the . he fococused largely on law and order and attacking joe biden. vice pres. pence: we will always support the right of americans to peaceful protest. the rioting and looting is not peaceful protest. tearing down statues is not free speech. and those who do so will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. last week, joe biden didn't say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country. so let me be clear. the violence must stop -- whether in minneapolis, portland, or kenosha. too many heroes have died defending our freedoms to see

americans strike each other down. we will have law and order on the streets of america. for every american of every race and creed and color. president trump and i know the men and women that put on the uniform of law enforcement are the best of us. every day when they walk out that door, they consider our lives more important than their own. dave patrick underwood, an officer of the department of homeland security's federal protective service, who was shot and killed

during the riots in oakland, california. dave's heroism is emblematic of the heroes that serve in blue every day and we are privileged tonight to be joined by his sister angela. y you we grieveo with y your family and americaca will never forget or fail to honor officerer dave patricick underwood. amy: while vice presidentt pence focused on t the killing of dadd patrick underwood, he e left oua kekey p part of his order. the man n charged d with under's dedeath was not a blacack lives matter protetester, butut an air force staff sergeant with ties to the far-right "boogogaloo" movevement which hasas used pros againsnst police brurutality a s cover to carry out violelence. cassssie miller of the southeren

poverty law center recently spoke with democracy now! about staff sergeant steven carrillo, who was charged d with undnder's murder. >> we we know h he is a staff sergeant in the military and this was one of one violent plot ththat we have seen n from the boogaloo movement. carillo went to a federal courthouse and opened fire on two security officers, killing one ofof them. then w when law enforcement trat a van useded in that attack to s residence, the ambushed those law w enforcement officers and killlled anonother.. what we know is he is connected to the boogalaloo movement t frm his onlinine footprint and d frm things thahat were f found at te crime scene like a boogaloo patctch that was found in his s. ththe boogaloo is a term used to describe an upcomingng civil wa. more a and more extreme c circl, it is used to erase w war. the boogaloo movement does not

have really a singular ideology. it kinda runs the gamamut of the fafar-right. the people who associate with it are ranging from libertarians to people who are overtly racist. what we know is all of them are united in that the united states is tyrannical and it needs to be overthrown in a second civil war. and that is something that they are actively preparing for and that many believe are inevitable. and we have seen people like carrillo who are going out and trying to commit acts of violence alongside these protests to try to increase civil unrest with the goaoal of pupuing toward the sececond civl war.r. amy: that is casassie miller off thee southern poverty law cente. as presisident t trump is set to acceptpt the republican n part's formal nomination for presidentt totonight amidid ongoing scandas anand multipiple crises, we'e're joined by john dean who served as the white house counsel for

president richard nixon from 1970-1973. his testimony during the watergate scandal helped bring down nixon. john dean has a new book written with bob altemeyer titled "authoritarian nightmare: trump and his followers." john dean, welcome back to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. if you can respond to what pence talked about last night and what he didn'n't. ofof course, the sigignificancef the trump presidency. >> it is quite clear what they're d doing is not new. you can n go back to the repepog of hunter thompson who described this kind ofof convention as fer and loathing. i think hunter had his finger right on it. this is what we're seeing again, amy. they are trying to europe their support by first of all crating fear and creating uncertainty. this drives their other. followers into the ranks and a little loathing for those prejudiced people who are also so much part of these followers.

amy: why did you call your book "authoritarian nighthtmare was quote? folks as we were finishing the book, yet already titled it authoritarian nightmare and we thought we had a pretty horrid list of things that occurred during this presidency. then came covid-19 and the racial unrest in the great conversation we're having now on that issue. so it really is a nightmaree because trump's followers tolerate his norm busting, his undemocratic behavior. to us that is a nightmare. amy: very interesting. tonight he will be on the south lawn. they are saying more than 1000 people will be there. last i the lack of masks. here you had president pence who is head of the coronavirus task force but his audience and trump coming in at the end to shake people's hands, to greet people,

as well as pence. i would enter turn to a phone interview president trump did with "fox and fririends" in may after the department of justice dropped charges against his former national security adviser michael flynn, even though flynn twice pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about his commmmunicatis with the russian ambassador. trump said he learned a lot from richard nixon during the federal investigation of his 2016 campaign's ties to russia. prpres. t trump: i l learned frm ririchard ninixon, donon't t fie people. i studieied history.y. - -- iiring o of everybobody shshould have e in what t way,'' glglad i dididn'tt becauause lot it they're allll a bunchch of croos anththey gotot caught.t. otother knonow a lot t by watchg richarard nixon.n. ththere was o one big dififfere. nunumber onene, you m may have n guiltyty was thahat number t twt takekes all ovover the place. i wasn't guilty. i did not do anything wrong. there were no tapes. amy: john dean, were the man whose white house - -- whose watergate testimony helped lead

to the downfall of richard nixon. you talk about what it is like work for a vindictive presesident. itit used to even nixon doesn't have the raw lust for power that donald trump has. talk about what he has done in the comparisons you u see betwen richard nixon then and president trump now. >> amy, i woworked foror the l t authoritarian president we had,n. what ied a lot watching was doing right then and there. we had very few authoritarian presidents. the e opinion on exactly howow u define t them, but genenerally social -- science looks at these people. andrew jackson, wowoodrow wilso, richard nixon, now donald trump. there's a very unique governing style in these people. that is they do't really want to hear anythi f from their aides other than obedience.

we are seeing that at this time. the lesson he learned from nixon is "don't get caught." nixon was because we said, welcome of course, he was guilty. so that is differerent than me. nixon did not think he was guilty but nixon when cornered was willing to follow the rule of law. what concerns me about trump -- i don't t thintrumump ll do wtt xon did. he certainly would not concede during the impeachment proceeding that he had done anything. richard nixon did not take the country through an impeachment proceeding. so trump is of a different cut than nixon. i think he is going to make nixon look like a choir boyoy bebefore it is all l over. amamy: you said trump should hae bebeen impeached on the first t. whwhy? all,ll, because first of his behavior during the camampan where he reached outut a and obviously colluded with russia. we now have it by the senate intelligence comommittee where non-republicans join in in the

report and showed very clear collusion. this is just unprecedented. so this president needs to go. the only way to force him to go style people in a tsunami election to remove him. amy: we just talked about lebron james coming up to washington, leaving the bubble of the basketball court to protest president trump. can you talk about how nixon dealt wiwith protests, how he cared about protests, and donald trump, what he does? then talk about the republicans who have come out one by one supporting joe biden. >> nixon pretended not to be phased by demonstrationons, get exactly the opposite was true. one of my jobs was to monitor demonstrations.. during the height of demonsnstrations, , he wanted hy reports s as to what was happeng ththat we would d get from laww enforcemement. soso they did make a a big impa.

the demonstrations totoday are t focused on the white h hse, so trump is using them as a law and ororder issueue to t try to says fedederal authority to g go into places likike portltland or kena and bring peace. that isn't his r responsibilityr his obobligation or should hee really b bdoing thatat. we have a federalized law enforcement. it is a state function. i think what trump is s doing is he i is really pushshing this because it is a campaign issue. his followers, the people we deal with and we think it is essential l that americans understand i in our book,k, they want to bebe felt -- they want o feel comfortable. they want to feel a strorong leader.. so that t is what he is playayig too.o. it i is not that he k knows this body of sciencnce we reporort ot is intuitively knows what to do. and that is to give them the impression that daddy is taking care of everything. amy: you wrote this book with

bob altemeyer, psychology specialist inis a authoritarianism. to see wiped trump's spaces so faithful to him no matter what he does. do asked the question, why evangelical christian support him, for example, despite his well-documented sexual privations and now jerry falwell has had to step down as head of liberty university because of a sexual scandal as well. he was an early supporter of presesent trump when he was running for president, extremely significant in terms success. you talk about why so many working-class support him just by the way he works against their interest. talk more about your pspsychological approach to trup and whahat you think k has to be done right now. >> i have e been on this subject for some years come ovever a decade agogo i did a book calle" conservatives without

conscience." above all minor was very helpful when i w was trying to understad the religious right and how they haveve become fairly dominant in the republican rananks. i discovered that is where the auththoritarian personalities, both leaders and followers, have taken over the conservative movement. all paul meyer was as stunned as i was -- bob ault meyer was s-10 as i was that no one was reportrting on the primaryry ran the 2016 campaign when trump was running, who his supupporters we and how much the science was available studying these very kinds of people and why they do what they do. it is more than soundbites. to understand them, realize they are frame people and there e are .ays to deal with them the way they are proceeding now is he is just baiting them and the demonstrations in the street are playing into this campaign.

he gives me concern that ending this could help him to victory e enough pepeople think he gonna solve the problem of demonstrations. i have been on this issue a long time. altemeyer has spent his lifetime .- it is a career of science amy, what was most exciting about this project, as we started it, we did not how it would play out fully in the united states. most of the experiments wewere done in canada in small university t tns with ststudents and parents. national surveyhe fromom a base of about 230 thousand people, we got a good sasampling of about just t under 1000 people. amy: the coming scalele? >> the con man scale. we gave people all the key tese, personalityy test. wewe found that authoritarianism is right and readydy and certaiy in play.

it explains trump space. amy: letet me go to president trump speaking to delegates at the rnc on monday. pres. trump: the only way they can take this election away from a riggedthis is election. we are going to win this election. what they're doing is using covid to steal an election. they are using covid to defraud the american people -- all of our people -- of a fair and free election. we can't do that. amy: j john dean, your finanal comment?t? >> we foundnd in the poll thahat about 24% to 29% of his followerers will toleratate him ignoring the constitution if he loses the election. that is troubling. amy: john dean, thank you for being with us, serve as white house counsel for president richard nixon from 1970-1973. his testimony during t the watetergate scandal helped brirg down president nixon. that does it for our show. the book is called "authoritarian nightmare: trump and his followers."

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♪ thanknk you for joining us. from your studio in tokyo, this is nhk "newsline." we begin in japan where the prime minister will soon provide an update on efforts to fight a resurgence of the coronavirus. abe shinzo is also expected to shed light on the reason for two recent hospital trips. friday