09/30/20 09/30/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. trump: give me a name. boys? stand back and stand by. amy: "stand back and stand by," president trump refuses to condemn violent white supremacists during a chaotic first debate against joe biden. the president repeatedly heckled and interrupted and insulted the former vice president as they sparred on the pandemic,

right-wing violence, climate change, voting by mail, the supreme court, taxes, and more. mr. biden: people out there need help. [cross talk] pres. trump: you were -- mr. biden: you are the worst president americans ever had. pres. trump: i have done more in 47 months then you've done in 47 years, joe. amy: we will air excerpts of the debate and get response from -- all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goododman. president trump and former vice presesident joe e biden met t in cleveland, ohio, tuesday for the of thrhree scheduled presidentil first debates. it was a night filled with chaos

and insults as trump repeatedly interrupted biden who responded by calling trump a clown and the worst president the nation has ever had. during one exchange, trump refused to condemn white supremacists after being questioned by debate moderator chris wallace of fox news. pres. trump: what do you want to call them? give me a name. proud boys? stand back and stand by. but i will tell you what, somebody has got to do something about antifa and the left because this is not a right wing problem. this is a -- this is a left wing problem. amy: soon after trump said these words, the proud boys posted a new version of its logo with trump's quote "stand back and stand by." the southern poverty law c centr descscribes the e proud boysys a hate g grouphosese lders relalarly out t whe nationalist memes anmamainta affiliationsitith knn extremists. during tsdsday's s dete,

presidt t trumrefufuseto telel his supportersotot to gagege i violcece aft thehe ection,n, and also madade false or misleading statements about climate change, corona change, just coronavirus, prescription drug prices, manufacturing jobs, trump's political endorsements, and more. after the headlines, we will air excerptsts of the dedebate and t reresponse f from arouound the country.y. the united states recordrded 43,000 new coronavirus cases and over 900 deaths tuesday, as public health experts warned a recent uptick in cases nationwide could be the start of a third wave of infections. in florida, officials in miami-dade county say they won't fully comply with republican governor ron desantis' order allowing bars, restaurants, and other businesses to reopen at unmited capacity. the nfl said tsdsday iwillll suspd in-pern practis for the tennessetititansnd miesota vikikings after three titans players and five staff members tested positive for coronavirus.

here in new york, city officials said tuesday they'll begin fining people who refuse to wear masks in public after new york's coronavirus test positivity rate climbed above 3% for the first time in months. a new study by the united hospital fund finds about 4200 children in new york lost at least one parerent to o covid-19 this year -- more new yorkers than died in the september 11 attacks. meanwhile, the american academy of pediatrics warned tuesday that coronavirus cases among children have soared since schools around the country reopened to in-person classes this fall. children of all ages now comprise 10% of all u.s. coronavirus cases, compared to just 2% last april. india reported more than 80,000 new coronavirus cases tuesday, with the official death toll rapidly approaching 100,000. india's lead pandemic agency

said tuesday an antibody study suggests more than 60 million people nationwide have been infected, 10 times the official count, but still a small fraction of india's population of 1.3 billion. india is second to the united states as the country with the most reported cases of covid-19. this comes as the world bank warned the pandemic has led to a rise in poverty in east t asian and pacific nations for the first time in two decades, with as many as 38 million additional people set to fall below the poverty line this year. on capitol hill, house democrats have introduced a slimmed-down coronavirus stimulus bill in a last-ditch effort to get senate republicans to agree to another round of relief ahead of the november election. the $2.2 trillion aid package would restore $600-a-week enhanced unemployment benefits and send another round of $1,200 stimulus checks to most u.s.

taxpayers. it would also provide funding for small business loans, housing subsidies, election protection, aid to school districts, and the u.s. postal service, and money for coronavirus testing and trtraci. senanate republican majority leader mitch mcconnell has repeatedly refused to take up the $3.4 trillion heroes act passed by house democrats more than four months ago. a warning to ourur audieience, e followining story contains grapc images of police violence. in texas, a county sheriff and local prosecutor have been indicted on felony charges of evidence tampering related to the police killing of javier ambler, an african american man who was tasered to death during a traffic stop in march of 2019 as he told officers "i have congestive heart failure" and "i can't breathe." amer's death warecordedy the formereaealityv show "ve pd," but the foota w was ner

puicly releaeased. monday, williamn county grand jury indicted sheriff robert chody and former county attorney jason nassour on charges they intentionally destroyed or concealed the recordings. both men face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. in kentucky, republican attorney general l daniel cameron said tuesday he never asked a grand jury to consider homicide charges for the three police officers who shot into the home of 26-year-old african american louisville resident breonna taylor last march, killing her. cameron was speaking with a louisville tv station about the three white plainclothes officers who burst into taylor's home as they served a no-knock warrant in march -- myles cosgrove, jonathan mattingly, and bretett hankison. >> basically, your question is about whether we recommended any murder charges against cosgrove and mattingly. and the answer is no.

ultimately, our judgment is that the charge that we could p prove at trial beyond a reasonable doubt was for wanton endangerment against mr. hankinson. amy: kentucky attorney general cameron is due to release recordings from grand jury proceedings in breonna taylor's killing today following a judge's order they be made public. in immigration news, "the washington post" reports the trump administration is planning mass raids in pro-immigrant sanctuary cities across the u.s. immigration and customs enforcement could begin the operation in california as soon as this week and expand to other cities, including denver and philadelelphia. trumump has repeatedly threatend to cut off federal funding to sanctuary cities if they do not comply with his immigration policies. in more immimigration news, first-hand accounts continue to emerge of women who were seen by dr. mahendra amin, the physician accused of performing forced sterilizations at the privately-run irwin detention center in georgia.

"the new york times" interviewed 16 women who say they were treated by amin, including women who had undergone invasive gynecological surgeries that were likely medically unnecessary. "the times" reports amin consistently overstated the risk of cysts or masses on a patient's reproductive organs and lied about the symptoms women experienced to justify aggressive surgeries. at least one attorney had complained to erwin's warden as far back as 2018 after woman came for the about recent guidance logical care -- analogical care she received. in related news, buzzfeed reports the trump administration has dropped its years-long fight to block pregnant, undocumented teenagers in government custody from obtaining abortions. in the democratic republic of congo, over 50 women are accusing workers with the world health organization and other international aid groups of sexual exploitation and abuse during efforts to fight ebola between 2018 and 2020. in a new report by the new

humanitarian and the thomson reuters foundation, the women detail multiple incidents of sexual violence including allegedly being forced into having sex with aid workers in exchange for jobs. u.n. secretary-general antonio guterres has called for an investigation. in india, amnesty internationanl has been forced to shutter operations and lay off all staff after the indian government froze its bank accounts following two reports published by amnesty this month critical of the country's human rights violations. amnesty staff say there is an incessant witchhunt of human rights groups by prime minister narendra modi's hindu nationalist government. this is david griffiths, director of the office of the secretary general at amnesty inteternatnal.l. >> seeking to silence those who criticize ththem, thosee who c d out t human righ a abuses in t e country. we have seen a steadily intensifying series of attacks

for yeyears. that i is certain. amy: and in mexico, authorities are bringing criminal charges against military soldiers for the first time in the ongoing investigation into the 2014 disappearance and likely massacre of 43 students from a teachers' college in ayotzinapa, guerrero. mexican authorities announced tuesday they have issued at least 25 arrest warrants against suspects believed to be the "material and intellectual authors of the disappearance," including a former head of the federal police. families of the disappeared students have long maintained the military was involved in the mass abduction. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine rereport. i am amy goodman in new york,, joined by my cohost juan gonzalez in new jersrsey. jujuan: welcome t to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: president trump and former vice president joe biden met in cleveland tuesday for the first of three scheduled preresidentil debates. it was a night filled with chaos

and insults as trump repeatedly mocked and interrupted biden who responded by calling trump a clown and the worst president the nation has ever had. trump refused to condemn white supremacists after being questioned by debate moderator chris wallace of fox news. >> are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities as we saw in kenosha and as we've seen in portland? trump: i would say almost everything i see is from the left wing, not from the right wing. i'm willing to do anything -- i want to see peace. mr. biden: then say it. pres. trump: what you want to call them? give me a name. ?roud boys stand back and stand by. but i tell you what, somebody

has got to do something about antifa and the left because this is not a right wing problem. this is a left wing -- this is a left-wing problem. [cross talk] mr. biden: antifa is an idea, not an organization. chris: settlement, we are done. amy: soon after trump said these , the proud boys posted a new version of its logo with trump's quote "stand back and stand by." the southern poverty law center describes the proud boys as a hate group whose leaders regularly's out what nationalist memes. after the debate, joe biggs wrote "president trump told the proud boys to standby because somebody needs to do it antifa most of well, sir, we are ready." one recent study found right women extremist have killed --

right wing extremimists haveve killed 329 people in the united states in ththe past 25 yearars. we begin today''s show with two guests. christian picciolini, a former neo nazi who leads the free radicals project, a global extremism prevention and disengagement network. book.cent you're also joined by marc lamontnt hill, a professor of media studies and urban education at temple university. we will start with chchristian picciolini. stand back and stand by. can you talk about president trump's message to the proud boys and what exactly it means? you as a former white supremacist skinheaead? it is crystal clear to me what president trump was calling for last night, and i think it is crystal clear to the proud boys what he was asking for. and that was for continued pressure, continued violence against what he is calling the threat of the left. in reality, there is no threat

from the left because if we look historically, over the last 25 years and the n number you quot, far-right extremists are responsible for nearly 100% of the violence, 100% of the deaths, and 100% of the fear and rhetoric and propagaganda that s inducing this typepe of violenc. so he was completely wrong, but it was a clear-cut call to a violent white supremacist group that they must stay vigilant. if i were a proud boy, which essentially is version 2.0 of the neo-nazi skinhead, i wouldld see that as a called arms, specifically against anti-fascist groups and protesters like antifa and black lives matter. , in: test marc lamont hill light of the almost not only chaotic but p preview of what kd

beauthoritarianism it will in future debateses and politicl debates between candidates that the presidt t set here, do youu thinink the progressive movement inin america is underestimated - estimating how quick we are careening toward fafascism and authoritarianism in this country? years,r the last threree 3.5 years, we shohould not be underestimating it. the evidence is there, whether it is publblic policy, the presidident statetements, whetht is hisis commimitment to makinge both sides argrgument when it comes to white supremacy -- even corporate media in the last 24 hours streamed the debatete as both sides were uncivil, both sides were disrespectful. it is once i doing this type of violence and the other side is responding to it. when it t comes to t the presi's refuful to denounce white supremacy, we should not be surprised.

beeeen otherwise a premises presidents and politicicians moe broadly have a attempted to clok their white supremacy. trump had the opportunity to say "i denounce white supremacy" and continued to do the projects he has been doing. he would not do it. these were prepared remarks. this was not trump on the cover. this is one of the things he was prepared to say. he went into the debate understanding that kind of rhetoric and that kind of week is an extraordinary amount of political workers base. trump is trying to create the chaos you mention. he wants chaos in the streets, violence and industries, chaos at the polls because he wants americans to feel unsafe. it is a kind of diplomatic terrorism. amy: christian picciolini, what should we understand about the white supremacist movement? we cannot underestimate what happened last night. it was chris wallace of fox news whwho said "will you condemn whe supremacists?"

president trump refused. what does this mean? what does it mean to you, to come is a former white , what this skinhead means not only the proud boys and who they are, but the white supremacist movementnt in this country? >> having been somebodody who is there many, many years ago and knows how they are taking this, they are saying this at a -- as a vote of confidence, a call of action. a clear-cut call to action. they are feeling as though their guy is in the white house and they can't do any wrong. they have become emboldened and empowered to take to the streets, to carry weapons, to intimidate people, to really ramp up the rhetoric and their violence. last night was not a week and a nod, it was a clear bullhorn. a clear bullhorn to white supremacist they have space to act. i think what was even more

disturbing or equally disturbing was the fact he called for vigilantisatat the polls ce he asd for poll watchers to kpp eyeye o people o were ting. me, that was a ca f for wte supremacist anmilitia members and boogaloo bs s anyby else who fas s unde this white supremactt umbrella to reay start toct out what they'veve en t talng abobo and to be violent againin the lefand to intimidatehem to nothow up and vote -- which is exactly what we need to do is show up and vote. and this is t the the kind of americican president we want -- unless this is the kind of america in president we want. juanan: you mentitioned calling people to i in essence agile 80's at the polls. i recall clearly back in 1993 and a mayoral elelection in new york city when rudy giuliani was attetempting to unseat david dinkins, the first african-amamericanan mayor in te cicity, and therere were literay

hundreds of off-duty police officers and off-duty corrrrectn ofofficers who giuliani mobilild to go intoto the black and latio neighborhoods in york too intitimidate voters. i remembmber the night of f the electionon asksking the campaian , , billofof david dinkins lynch, said, bill, why aren't yoyou protesting this? we are gettingng all tse reports. it was a close electioion, but lynch basisicallacaccepted the result even though they knew there was s massive intitimidatn occurring. i'm wondedering, as s we move cr to the election, i see this potential being in essence publicicly encouraged by the president to have this on a nationwide scale. >> absolutely. that is exactly what the president was calling for. i urge people not to be intimidated, to vote by mail, to vote early if they can because we don't know what type of

trouble we are going to be seen on election day.y. despite that, we still need to vote, unless this is the kind of america we want to live in for the next auto years and potentially see our democracy completely destroyed. again, we can't be intimidated. this is not what -- this is not part of our american dna is to be intimidated by terrorists, to be intimidated by white supremacist. we are progressives. we move past this. we have to come together and we can't be intimidated by these people. amy: christian picciolini, thank you for being with us of free radicals project. this news, fred. hahas announced, british brand, that it will stop selling one of his iconic polo shirts come the black and yellow polo shirt, to canada and north americaca after it was adopted as the unofficial uniform of proud boys. christian picciolini, thank you for being with us. marc lamont hill, we would like to ask you to stay with us of

temple university as we continue to talk about issues of race, the c climate crisis,s, and vot. stay witith us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "i am woman," the 1970's feminist anthem by helen reddy, who died tuesday at the age of 78. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. during last nights first presidential debate, fox moderator chris wallace asked both candidates by voters should trust them to deal with the race issues facing this country over the next four years. this is what they answer. mr. biden: the reason i got in the race is just close your eyes, remember what those people look like coming out caring torches. their veins bulging, spewing anti-semitic bile and accompanied by the ku klux klan. a young woman got killed and

they asked the president what he thought. he said, "there were very fine people on both sides." no president has ever said anything like that. the second point i'd make to you, is that when floyd was mr. floyd was killed, there was a peaceful protest in front of the white house. what did he do? he came out of his bunker, had the military use tear gas on them so he could walk across to a church and hold up a bible. and then what happened after that? the bishop of that very church said that it was a disgrace. the general who was with him said all he ever wants to do is divide people, not unite people at all. this is a president who has used everything as a dog whistle, to try to generate racists hatred, racist division. this is a man who, in fact, you talk about helping african-americans, one in 1000 african americans has been killed because of the coronavirus. and if he doesn't do something quickly, by the end of the year,

one in 500 will have been killed. one in 500 african americans. this man is a savior of african-americans? this man cares at all? this man's done virtually nothing. look, the fact is that you have to look at what he talks about. you have to look at what he did. and what he did has been disastrous for the african-american community. pres. trump: so -- chris: president trump, you have two minutes. why should americans trust you over your opponent to deal race issues? pres. trump: you did a crime bill, 1994, where you call them super predators. african-americans are super predators and they've never forgotten it. they've never forgotten it. mr. biden: i never said -- chris no, no, sir. : it's his two minutes. pres. trump: so you did that and they call you a super predator and i'm letting people out of jail now -- that you have treated the african-american population community, you have treated the black community about as bad as anybody in this country. and because that is president trump and joe biden spying last

night in cleveland. perhaps the calmest moment of the new wood president trump was not interrupting almost everything joeoe biden said. fact checkers have noted trump light whenen he accused him of super predators. it was hiller clinton. still with us, marc lamont hill and kristen clarke joins us, president and executive director of the national lawyers committee for civil rights under law. let's begin with you, kristin. let's start off with your reaction to what they said here. we were just discussing president trump refusing to condemn white supremacists when pushed on it several times and on what he is saying here. >> it was a deeply disturbing moment last night. in many respects, that question "will you condemnmn was a a pree was a softball. it would have been very easy for president trump to disavow white

supremacy in crystal-clear terms. you think about the tragedies the american nation has lived through in recent timemes. the murder of nine peaceful worshihipers at the baptist chuh in charleston, south carolina, worshipers atof 111 the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh, the murders of over 20 people in el paso, texas, the murder of heatatr heyer in charlottesville, virginia. these horrendous incidents all fueled by white the premises violence -- white supremacist violence are easy for any reasonable-minded american to condemn, much less the leader of our country. and we know the fbi director has identified white supremacy as one of the greatest threats that we face inin our nation today. i'm deeply disturbed.

i i ink about t how history will reflect on this momenent. yestererday was a dark day for r country. i think about 191915 whehen woow wilson screamed "birth o of a nation" ininside the white hous. over a centuryry later, that isa moment that stands out for any ordinary americann as i whitee housuse that embraced unnecessarily white supremacist rhetoric. essentially, that is what we saw yesterday. we know the proud boys are rejoicing today. we know they have taken this moment to breathe life into their movement. they are boasting about how last night has helped to energize eir base and helththem t recruit n new membe. so thiis a moment that poses a real and grave threa to blac and brown pelele in rticicul ininur country who are often the victims of racial violcece.

, thiskristenlarke repeated emphasis s of the presiden thrououghout t debate last night and obviously, statements previously about the dangers of the left t and antifa and he kept referring to portlandnd -- at one point, claiming, completely erroneouously, a complplete lie, that the sheriff of portland had that day endororsed him.. but t mike reese, the sheriff oo the county, which porortland is, immediately tweeted out, i've never supportedodonald trumpmp d never r will. yet he brazenly claims he had the support of the sheriff of portland. distancnce from the factcts that often h happens wih the president and yet goes almost unchahallenged. i'm wondering your sense of some ofof those claims that he has made? ,, it is incredibly problematic the misstatatements, the lies.

the americans deserve truthth. i want to talk a little about the situation on the g ground in many cities across our country as communities continue to engage in protests and demonstrations against racial violence, against white supremacy, against police violence. these are iues that we did not hear president trump speak to last nightht, speak to a solutin or cure for issues that are really tearing apart the fabric of our nation and issues that are front and center for the black lives matter movement and for many people -- multiracial and multigenerational, who are calling for healing in our country right now. something else this president has done, he is promoted militarization of the police and really emboldened federal law enforcement to be used as a weapon against peaceful demonstrators. it is created this toxic situation that we are seeing in

many cities across the country right now. i think about lafayette square just outside the shadow of the white house where president trump, alongside attorney general barr and other federal officials, ordered federal law enforcement to use violence at the hands of peaceful demonstrators who were assembled to make the statement about racial and police violence in our country. the e ensuing chaos s and brutal attack that was perpetrated resulteded in h harm to many pee who we have brought a lawsuit on behalf of. that case black lives matter d.c. versus trump is now pending in federal court. but i fear unless we see change or intervention soon, that we into araling downward sea o of further racialized violence in rr countnt. and for my organizatation, the

lawyers cocommittee for civil rights under law, we work closely with the victims of racial hate crimes. we work closely with the families of emmett till. we work closely with the families of james byrd and the mother of heather heyer. they are reminders to us every day about the clear and p prent danger presented by ongoing white susupremacin our cntry righght now. and all that president trump did yesterday was fan the flames of hatred in ways that really present a risk to our lives. and because there's so much to talk about in last night's debate. had covid. hill, you i want to turn to the issue of health care and the pandemic. on tuesday night, joe biden rejected accusations he supported medicare for all and acknowledged many people would not even be covered under his plan to create a government sponsored public option. but as he tried to explain his plan, the debate descended into

chaos. by good the vast majority of the american people would still not be in that option. number one. pres. trump: joe, agree with bernie sanders, far-left on the manifesto -- socialized medicine. you think he did not agree? mr. biden: i beat bernie sanders -- pres. trump: not by much. pocahontas would have left two days earlier, would have lost every primary. you got very lucky. mr. biden: i got very lucky. i'm going to get very lucky tonight as well. pres. trump: with what? mr. biden: and tonight i'm going to make sure. mr. biden: because here's the deal, here's the deal. the fact is that everything he's saying so far is simply a lie. i'm not here to call out his lies. everybody knows he's a liar. pres. trump: but you agree. joe, you're the liar. you graduated last in your class not first in your class. mr. biden: god, i want to make sure -- chris: mr. president, can you let him finish, sir? mr. biden: no, he doesn't know how to do that. pres. trump: you'd be surprised. go ahead, joe. mr. biden: the wrong guy, the

wrong night, at the wrong time. pres. trump: listen, you agreed with bernie sanders and the manifesto. mr. biden: there is no manifesto, number one. chris: please let him speak, mr. president. pres. trump: he just lost the left. mr. biden: number two. pres. trump: you just lost the left. you agreed with bernie sanders on a plan that you absolutely agreed to and under that plan, they call it socialized medicine. chris: mr. president. mr. biden: i'll tell you what, he is not for any help for people needing healthcare. pres. trump: who is, bernie? mr. biden: because he, in fact, already has cost 10 million people their healthcare that they had from their employers because of his recession. number one. number two, there are 20 million people getting healthcare through obamacare now that he wants to take it away. he won't ever look you in the eye and say that's what he wants to do. amamy: during the dedebatejojoe bideden criticized president trp over his handling of the covivid-19 pandemic that has killed over 200-5000 people in

the united states, by far the highest death toll in the world. mr. biden: look, you folks at home, how many of you got up this morning and had an empty chair at the kitchen table because somebody died of covid? how many of you were in a situation where you lost your mom or dad and could not even speak to them, yet have a nurse holding a phone up so you could in fact say goodbye? pres. trump: we would have lost far more people, far more people. you would have been months late. you're months behind me, joe. mr. biden: his own cdc director says we could lose as many as another 200,000 people between now and the end of the year. and he said, if we just wear a mask, we can save half those numbers. just a mask. chris: president trump, have begun to increasingly question the effectiveness of masks as a disease preventer in effect recently you cited the issue of waiters touching their masks and touching plates. are you questioning the efficacy of masks?

pres. trump: no, i think masks are ok. you have to understand, if you look -- i mean, i have a mask right here. i put a mask on when i think i need it. tonight, as an example, everybody's had a test and you've had social distancing and all of the things that you have to, but i wear masks -- mr. biden: just like your rally. pres. trump: when needed. when needed, i wear masks. chris: ok. let me ask -- pres. trump: i don't wear a mask like him. every time you see him, he's got a mask. he could be speaking 200 feet away from him and he shows up with the biggest mask i've everr seen. amy: president trump mocking joe biden for wearing a mask. still with us, temple university professor marc lamont hill, author of the forthcoming book "we still here: pandemic, policing, protest, and possibility." marc, you had covid. respond to this discussion and what we have seen as we -- if you can talk about presidentnt trump and what joeoe biden is recommending. >> it is a fascinating thing to watch the president of the united states mocking someone for wewearing a masask too much. it was is like a hihigh schooll bully. it was very bizarre.

the idea of public representing the importance of a a mask is aa good idea, even if one were to overuse it. if that is even possible. on the idea of not erring the side of caution is representative o of the entire trumpet t administraration's handndling of the covid-19 cris. trump did not defefend himself alally ainstst the fact t that 200,0,000 people h have died. instead he argued more would have dieied under joe biden. he did not addddress this was entirely preventable. he pats hihimself on the back fr saying he was a able to stop people from comi in from china, largegely playing on xenophobia. but ignores the fact he did not blocock any sort of f travel frm europe was the only look at a a place like n new york city, thte bulklk of the people who h had d wherere am right now, the strais they found were from europe and other parts of north america. he smuggles in his racism and xenophobobia into his handngng f a publblic health crisis.

the issue araround masks isn't jujust about trump's wearing of the mask, it is about the level of direction that came ouout of the e white house regarding what we should do in a public health crisis. fauci was in we should not wear masks when he was speaking to the scarcity of masks. the scarcity emerges because donald trump did not follow the pandemic playbook that obama left that suggested we need d ts of millions of masks not in storage, but in reserve. trump ignore that along with every other dimension. trump could have aggressively stop this but once we found out the vulnerable people, economicallyly viable people, pr people, and the elderly were the most vulnerable and the largest demographic of peoeople dying fm covid-19, suddenly they were rendered disposable and the trump administration did very littttle. asas far as the public h health- the e health care ---- this is intereststing. trump spends the entire debate painting joe biden is a

neoliberal come as a radical socialist. the same debate whereby ms. depending police and saying he does not want to -- doesn't support medicare for all andnd green new deal, he e is still being painted as socialist. watch trumpating to use language. the truth is trump has not engaged in any kind of practice that will allow morore americans to be cocovered that will allow more americans to be saved. he sighed and executive order to get a cheapaper insulin, thahat addresses 2% of the population of people who need insulin. it is not t coming intnto ameria lilike water. his attttempts to address pre-existing conditions through an executitive order d do not address what the aca did. he is e essentiallyly underminig any chance at universal health care, any chchance at protecting the american publilic, especialy the most vulnererable. biden's plan is not greatat, but it i is considerably betteter tn trump's. that is whatt we have to deal

with right now at this moment, the reality trump has consigned us to death if we continue to follow his plan. amy: the affordable care act goes before the supreme court on november 10, remains to be seen whether there will be a ninth justice, amy coney barrett, who has criticized the affordable care a act. i want too turn to president trump and joe biden also spying over mail-in voting during last night's debate. mr. biden: they're going to be leads a people because of covid that will be voting by mail-i a day ballots. like he does. number two, we will make sure those people who want to vote in person are able to vote because they are not poll watchers -- they're not poll watchers to make sure they can socially distance, open on time, stay open until the votes are counted. this is all about trying to dissuade people from voting because he is trying to scare people into thinking that it is not going to be legitimate.

show up and vote. you will determine the outcome in this election. vote, vote, vote. if you can vote early, vote early. if you can vote in person, vote in person. vote whatever way is the best way for you, because you will -- he cannot stop you from being able to determine the outcome of this election. and in terms of whether or not -- when the votes are counted and they're all counted, that will be accepted. if i win, that will be accepted. if i lose, that'll be accepted. but by the way, if in fact he says, he's not sure what he's going to accept. well, let me tell you something, it doesn't matter, because if we get the votes, it's going to be all over. he's going to go. he can't stay in power. it won't happen. it won't happen, so vote. just make sure you understand you have it in your control to determine what this country is going to look like the next four years. is it going to change, or are you going to get four more years of these lies? pres. trump: this is going to be a fraud like you've never seen. 3, you're on november

watching and you see who won the election -- and i think we're going to do well because people are really happy with the job we have done. you know what? we might not know for months because these ballots are going to be all over. take a look at what happened in manhattan. take a look at what happened in new jersey. take a look at what happened in virginia and other places. they're not losing 2%, 1%, which by the way is too much. an election could be won or lost with that. they're losing 30% and 40%. it is a fraud and it is a shame. and can you imagine where they say, "you have to have your ballot in by november 10." that's seven days after the november 10. election, in theory, should have been announced. we have major states -- chris: sir. two minutes is two minutes. you've beenump -- charging for months that mail-in balloting is going to be a disaster. you say it's rigged, that it's going to lead to fraud. but in 2018, in the last midterm

election, 31 million people voted mail-in voting. that was more than a quarter of all the voters that year, cast their ballots by mail. now that millions of mail-in ballots have gone out, what are you going to do about it? and are you counting on the supreme court, including a justice barrett, to settle any dispute? pres. trump: yeah, i think i'm counting on them to look at the ballots, definitely. i hope we don't need them, in terms of the election itself. but for the ballots, i think so, clarke, this whole issue of the mail-in ballots and also o of the presidents c callg on his off orders to watch the polls, you tweeted this is an attempt to promote terminanation and voter supprpression that is also unlawful. he said we will go to court to block any atattempt to deny, discourage, deteter people from freely casting their ballots.

talk about your sense of the presidents attempt to intimidate voters. and familiaran old tactic. we sawaw the same thing from the president in 2018 when he tweeted ominously the night before the election that there will be people out watching and they're ready to prosecute. thinly veiled efforts to intimidate voters. it is all about intimidating black and brown voters in particular. there is no mistake as to why he referred to philadelphia in particular last night. there are a few things. one, these repeated claims that mail voting is fraudulent or baseless and unsubstantiated. that is backed by his own fbi director who said there is no evidence of any vote by mail fraud scheme in our country. number two, we have challenges with the u.s. postal service. a new postmaster general

installed on his watch that is worked to than noel to slow down -- work to daniel to slow dowown mail.. number threeee, there is a ragig pandemic. there are some people who have no options. they cannot compromise their health for their safety to go out and vote in person this season was up so vote by mail is all they can do. number four, vote by mail is not new. there are five statates, bipartisan fashion, that have almost exclusively although by mail s systems that have been in place for years. there are over a dozen and have states where more than 50% of voteters voted by mail in n thet presesidential e election. and ththere is supupport for voy mail from both republicans and democrats. my organization, the lawyersrs committee for cicivil rirights r law, iss working to and nail to make sure every eligible american can exercise their

voice and our democracy. and we will not allow our efforts to be dederailed by fale claimsms of fraudulent voting or intimidation tactics that are aimed at the most vulnerable voters in our countryry. amy:y: kristen clarke, we wanted to -- juan: there is a danger, isn't there, of not so much in terms ofof voter fraud, but in balalls being a highgher percentage of ballots cast being rejecected because of f technical l issuesd howw thehe voter fililled ououte mail-in ballot? how e you going g to deal l wi ththe situation, which really reququires peoplple -- enenoughl watctchers from bothth parartiee atat every place where mail-in ballots are being counted after the election, doesn't it? >> and there is work happening before the election as w well. right now we a are suing state theyey're using signature matchg verification roles, for example,

as a pretext to reject ballots cast by eligible voters. we are mobilizing an army of over 20,000 lawyersrs in anticipation of some of the fifight that m may lie on n thes of november 3. and no doubt, there are well-funded groups that are all about suppressing the vote that are bebent on finding ways to disqualify mail-in ballots, but we are working hard to empower voters to makake sure they fofow the steps necessary to cast a successful ballotsts. and wewe will do everything we n to beat back thosese who wananto disenfnfranchise and silence voters who literally have no option in the middle of the pandemic but to vote by mail. amy: we're going to head with a clipip from the debate, joe bidn processing truck for nominating amy coney barrett to the supreme court at a time when early voting has alreaeady begun in te presidential election. moderator chris wallace asked

biden what action he would take if elected. chris: my question to you is, you have refused and the pastor talked about it, are you willing to tell the american people tonight whether or not you will support either ending the filibuster for packing -- mr. biden: whatever position i take, that will be the issue. the american people should speak stuff you should go out and vote. vote and let your senators know how you feel. vote no. chris: -- are you going -- mr. biden: let people know your senators. i'm not going to answer the question. the question is -- will you shut up, man? pres. trump: who is on your list. chris: gentlemen -- [cross talk] we have ended the segment. mr. biden: that was a really productive segment, wasn't it? pres. trump: the people understand.

47 years you have done nothing. up, man" t-shirts are already being printed. i want to thank kristen clarke and marc lamont hill. at climate.look stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. we end today's show looking at the candidates' exchange about the climate crisis. climate change was not on the six topics fox news moderator chris wallace released before the debate, but he added the issue after massive outcry from activists and young voteters. this is wallace questioning president trump and joe biden. chris: the forest fires in the west are raging now. they burned millions of acres. they have displaced hundreds of thousands of people. when state officials there climatehe fires on change, mr. president, you said "i don't think the science knows."

over your four years, you have pulled the u.s. out of the paris climate accord. you have rolled back a number of obama by mental records. what do you believe about the science of climate change and what will you do in the next four years to confront it? pres. trump: i want crystal clean water and air. i want beautiful clean air. we have now the lowest carbon -- if you look at our numbers right now, we are doing phenomenally. but i haven't destroyed our businesses. our businesses aren't put out of commission. if you look at the paris accord, it was a disaster from our standpoint. and people are actually very happy about what's going on because our businesses are doing well. as far as the fires are concerned? you need forest management. in addition to everything else, the forest floors are loaded up with trees, dead trees that are years old and they're like tinder and leaves and everything else. you drop a cigarette in there and the whole forest burns down. you've got to have forest management. chris what do you believe about : the science of climate change, sir?

pres. trump: i believe that we have to do everything we can to have immaculate air, immaculate water, and do whatever else we can that's good. we're planting a billion trees, the billion tree project and it's very exciting for a lot of people. chris: do you believe that human pollution, gas, greenhouse gas emissions contributes to the global warming of this planet? pres. trump: i think a lot of things do, but i think to an extent, yes. mr. biden: look at the hurricanes. he has an answer for hurricanes. he says, maybe should drop a nuclear weapon. pres. trump: i did not. you made it up. mr. biden: we are going to be in a position where we can create hard, hard, good jobs by making sure the environment is clean and we are all in better shape. we spend billions of dollars now, billions of dollars, on floods, hurricanes, rising seas. we're in real trouble. look what's happened just in the midwest with these storms that come through and wipe out entire sections and counties in iowa.

they didn't happen before. they're because of global warming. the green new deal will pay for itself as we move forward. you're not going to build plants that in fact are great polluting plants. aris: are you going to build green new deal? do you support it? mr. biden: i don't. pres. trump: oh, you don't? oh, well, that's a big statement. mr. biden: i s support t the bin plan that i puput forward. amy: that is thehe first presesidentialal debate e last . for momore, we''re j joined by e aronoff, staff writer at "the new republic." she is the co-author of "a planet to win: why we need a green new deal." here is trump trying to talk about biden as a socialist throughout the@@ night, , and tn there is biden saying that he does notot support the green new deal and wallace pressing trump on whether humans cause, chchane and whetheher this is a crisisi.

kate, your overall response? >> i was pleasantly surprised stephen have climate change, last night. it was not supposed to. ii think it is a credit to peope who rightfully raised a stink about that. i also wasn't surprised at all about what those candidates said. we have known for years that donald trump denies the e sciene ofof climate change, he thinks that i is a hoaxax, that he is l to people in the fossil fuelel industry, executives in the fossil fuel i industry in particular. and wewe know joe biden is n not supporteted green new deal. i think what is also n not surprisising i is there e was ar choice between the two candidatates. we can't haveve another donald trump administration and hope to tackle the climate crisis on the speeeed and skill we need to coe and we know joe biden will be maybe pupushed into tackling the climate crisis on the scale we need. i did nonot learn a whole e lott night. i am glad it camame out, but

there's a lot of work to do regardless of who is elected. inope joe biden is electeted november. i agrgree with you it was great fofor chris llace to raise climate chanange issues in the debate. one thing t that did happen as a result of ththat because he questioned donald trump for five times straight at one pointnt on the climate is that it didid not allolow time e for closing argrs byby either canandidate.. this being perhahaps maybe the bibiggest debate audience e -- o knows, we haven't seseen the fil chance ththat, , the both candidates, bididen and trump,p, lost to be able to maka closing argument. do you think something was lost in thahat? judging by the hour and half of the debate, i'm not sure we woululd have gotten too muchch f that -- out of that t either wa. it was a mess. toto put it really charitatably.

what happenened last time. aboutink it is good to talk thee greatatest exisistential lt humanity has everr faced when you're looking at potentntial leaders in the free woworld. amy: kate araronoff, 20 secondsn bidens renew deal or what he is saying is the e biden deal? >> it is the most progressive climate policy in the -- a democratic presidential candidate has ever run on. it is not enough. we know in january when he is hopefully eleleed, it neeeeds to be pushed aggressively in order to make anany of it a reality. so it is a good starting place and it is just that most of america thank you for being with us, kate aronoff, staff writer at "the new republic." this is supposedly the first of three presidential debates. next week is vice presidential debate. we had with chris wallace

questioning president trump about tax returns. chris: mr. president, there's a new report that in 2016, the year you were elected president and 2017, your first year as president, you paid $750 a year in federal income tax each of those years. i know that you pay a lot of other taxes, but i'm asking you this specific question. is it true that you paid $750 in federal income taxes each of those two years? pres. trump: i paid millions of dollars in taxes, millions of dollars of income tax. and let me just tell you, there was a story in one of the papers that paid -- mr. biden: show us your tax returns. pres. trump: i paid $38 million one year, i paid $27 million one year. mr. biden: show us your tax returns. pres. trump: you'll see it as soon as it's finished, you'll see it. chris: do you want to respond? mr. biden: the tax code that put them in a position that he pays less taxes than a schoolteacher

on the money a school teacher mixed is because of him -- he says he is smart because he can take advantage of the tax code. and he does take advantage of the tax code. that's why i'm going to eliminate the trump tax cuts. and i'm going to eliminate those tax cuts. pres. trump: that's ok. mr. biden: and make sure that we invest in the people who in fact need the help. people out there need help. pres. trump: but why didn't you do it over the last 25 years? mr. biden: because you weren't president -- pres. trump: why didn't you do it over the last 25 years? mr. biden: you're the worst president america has ever had. come on. pres. trump: hey, joe, let me just tell you, joe. in 47 months, i've done more than you've done in 47 years, joe. mimiko katee arnott, your final response? >> like mostst of the 1%, , dond trump lives by different set of rules. mostst working p people pay for taxes t that donald trump is pad in the past 15 years. we need to get him out of officece. that's it. we need to tax the rich much

more than they are now. amy: kate are now of "the new republic." if you like to see the whole debate, 90 minutes of the free-for-all, you can go to democracynow.org. i'm amy goodman with juan salas.