10/12/20 10/12/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracacy now! president trump returns to the campaign trough for the first time after his covid-19 hospitalization, despite doctors has had ao confirm he negative test. we will look at how his defined actions over the past week after i the health of the white house residencnce s staff, a majorityf whom are olderer people of colo.

three housekeepers and one other memberer of the stafaff were recently infected.d. we willl speak to charles allen. his late father served as a butler for eight presidents and lee danieiels from "thehe butle" >> i said, dadad, y you have tot out. i would telell that to hihim ano my own -- amy: plus, we will speak to a -- we wiwill look at the dangers domestic workers face across the countrtry. we will speak to longtime domestic workers advocate aien poo. then as we mark indigenous pepeople day, we will look at th ongoing to just let against presidident trump's border w wln soututhern arizozona. >> i indigenous s peoples day ys every day, , and we arere here o celebrate ouour heritage. we are still here despite e not being rerecognized as s still he

and ourr t traditional homeland ststill exists.. beyond the walall and wewe will be here to figighe borderer wall and its ongoing encroachment against between our people. amy: we will speak to nellie jo david, an o'odham water and land defender. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynynow.org, the quararae report. i'm amy gogoodman. president trtrump has resumemed public events, less than one week after he leftft walter reed hospspital wherere he was treatd for covid-19. trumump has repeatatedly declard himself f immune to o covid-19 n recent days and has also said he can't spspread the disease, with no evidence. pres. trump: i beatyt horrible china virus. it also gives you immunity. itit does gi you immunity.

the people that just cannot accept anything, i mean, they just don't want to accept anything. i passed the highest test. amy: tru'm's doctors are refusingo di tsclose whehen w--hether he is now covid-negative for when he last tested negative for the coronavirus before he was hospitalized. on saturday, trump held a small campaign rallyththsouth line of the white house whehere hee spoke, unmasked,d, from the balclcony to a group of f hundr, which included many black and latinx supporters.s. abc news repororts conservative activist candace owens paid travel and lodging costs for the members of her so-called "blexit" groroup to attend saturdrd's ralllly. trump p is scheduled to apappeat a rarally at the o orlando sanfd international airprport in flola today, and his campaign is planning large rallies in pennsylvania and iowa a latein the week. this comes as minnesota's department of health identified nine cases of covid-19 stemming

from trump's rally in bemidji in minnesota last month, including one person who was hospitalized in an intensive care unit. "the new york times" reports the president proposed an idea to his aides for a stunt. trump would walk past photographers appearing frail and weak only to rip open his button-down shirt, revealing a superman t-shirt underneath. on friday, house speaker nancy pelosi introduced a bill that would create a congressional panel to judge the president's capacity to carry out the job, invoking the 25th amendment which lays out the line of presidential succession. meanwhe,e, top u.s. infectus disease scientisdrdr. anonyy fauci disavowg a trum campaign commercl l thate saysys took his wdsds outf f contt.t. the ad features these remass selectivy y edit frorom interview fauci gagave back in march.

>> i can't imagine that anybo coulbe doingore. y: dr. fci hasever endors a polital candite inore than5 years of publi serve. in a statement, he responded -- "the use of my name and my words by the gop campaign was done without my permission, and the actual words themselves were taken out of context, based on something that i said months ago regarding the entire effort of the task force." u.s. coronavirus c cases and hospitalizations continunue to rise, as the overall caseload has now topped with a death toll 7.7 million of over 212,000. new cases hit a two-month daily high friday, with 10 states reporting record single-day rises according to reuters. in 31 states, new cases have gone up compared to the week before. "the new york times" reports the white house last month blocked an order from the centers for disease control and prevention

requiring face masks on all forms of public and commercial transportation across the united states. meanwhile, kentucky governor andy beshear and his family will quarantine after a member of his security teaeam tested positive for covid-19. on c capitol hill, stimulus tals remain stalleded after both demomocrats and republicans rejected a white house proposal for a $1.8 trillion stimulus . last week, trump said he was ending stimulus negotiations until after election day. only to reverse that announcement later in the day. democrats say the latest white house offer is insufficient and shortfalls on state and local aid, unemployment benefits, and child care. republicans say the bill is too costly and object to its expansion n of the affordable ce acact. confirmation hearings fofor supreme cocourt nominee amy cony barrett begin in the senate today. in her pre-released opening statement, judge barrett pledges

to "apply the law as written." however, more evidence has emerged that barrett has publicly advocated against abortion rights, including supporting a reversal of roe v. wade. on friday, barrett amended her senate questionnaire to include information about talks she gave in 2013 while she was a law professor at the university of notre dame. the talks were hosted by anti-abortion student groups. she also disclosed she signed a newspaper advertisement t in 206 that calleled for "an end to the barbaric legacy of roeoe vs wad" the second presidential debate, whicich had been scheduled for this thursday, has been canceled after trump refused to take part in a virtual debate, despite his recent covid-19 diagnosis. joe biden will instead participate in an abc news town hall on that date. the next and final presidential debate is scheduled for next thursday, october 22. meanwhile, in south carolina,

the planned debate between senator lindsey graham and democratic challenger jaime harrison was replaced friday by separate, individual interviews after harrison insisted graham take a coronavirus test before a debate but graham refused. graham chairs the senate judiciary committee, which is opening confirmation hearings for judge amy coney barrett today. this is s ime harrison speaking about healalthcare in n south carolina at friday's candidatee forum. >> i remember hearing about the coronavirus and cringing because i knewew the impact it would hae here in south carolina, particularly on the most notable communities. we live in a state almost 250,000 people don't have access to health care because we are one of 12 states that have refused to extend medicaid. 38 other states have had expanded medicaid under the affordable care act. south carolina has failed to do so. as a, four of our rural

hospitals have closed. amy:y: in other election news, n pennsylvania, a fedederal judge hahas rejected a trump campaign lawsuit that sought to remove ballot drop boxes in the state, saying there was no evidence the drop boxes would lead to voter fraud. the court also rejected several other voter suppression attempts by the trump campaign, including an effort to require signature matching for mail-in ballots. meanwhile, in texas, the fate of a directive by governor greg abbott limiting ballot drop boxes to o one per countnty rems unknown after a court stayed a ruling by a judge friday blocking abbott's move. voting rights advocates say limiting ballot drop boxes will not only decrease voting, it also puts people at increased risk during the pandemic. inin interernational news, azerbaijan has launched fresh air raids on the capital of the disputed territory of nagorno-karabakh, as a russia-backed ceasefire between

azeri and armenian forces broke down less than a day after it was implemented friday. armenia accused azerbaijan of deliberately targeting a historic cathedral. meanwhile, azerbaijan accused armenia of shelling a residential area in its second-largest city, ganja. at least 300 people have been killed since fighting in the territory erupted two weeks ago. in nigeriaia, a controversial police uninit has been abolished in response to mass prprotests calling for an end to the special anti-robbery squad, or sars. recent videos posted on social media show sars officers, who are usually unidentified and in plain clothes, brutalizing people, including in some cases apparently killing them. activists warn simply reassigning violent officers will not solve the issue of police brutality. in iraq, armed groups backed by iran havave agreed to a condititional ceasefire on attas on u.s. targets provided the iraqi government present a timetable for u.s. troop withdrawal. last month, the trump

administration threatened to shut down the u.s. embassy in baghdad after a series of attacks on u.s.-linked targets. in the united states, and investigation by "the new york times" suggest trump may have used part of a $30 million loan from city national bank in los angeles to prop up his dwindling campaign funding in the weeks before the 2016 election. trump's s tax records show over $21 million in unusual payments from a las vegas hotel he co-owned that flowed through other trump companies, which trump may have then used to self-finance his campaign. such funds would likely constitute illegal campaign contributions. additionally, it would be illegal for trump to claim a tax deduction on p payments that wee not actual business expenses. in related news, new york attorney general letitia james is investigating whether the trump organization inflated the value of a westchester county

property in order to reap a $21 million tax break as part of a conservation easement after trump agreed to preserve 150 acres of woodlands on the estate. a federal appeals court ruled frfriday president t trump's usf emergency powers in 2019 to divert billilions of dollars frm mililiry construruction funds to build the u.s.-mexico border wall is illegal. we'll have more on trump's border wall later in the broadcast as we head to arizona to speak with o'odham water and land defender, nellie jo david, on indigenous peoples day, which scoreses of cities and states ae observing todaafafter jectctin the celebration ofololumbuday.y. in immigraon news,wo cameroian asylum seekers who fear thewere unkwingly subjecteto forced sterilizatio at irwi dention ceer in georgia are scduled toe deport torrow, tuday. e women e curreny imprison at montmery pressing cter in croe, xas. vocates e demandg immigrion and stoms enfoement rease themn humanirian gunds.

huicane delta has killed a let one rson, t power forr hundreds of thsands, a left towns unr water it pummed lolouisiana a just six weeks afr hurricane laura ripped through the same region. delta is the 10th atlantic storm to hit the mainland this season. and rapper and activist killer mike announced he is launching a black-owned digital l bank, greenwood, along with bounce tv founder ryan glover and former atlantnta mayor andrew young. the online bank will provide financial services to black and latinx customers and is named after the former greenwood neighbhborhood of tulsa, oklaho, known as black wall street, which was burned to the ground by a w white m mob in 1921. killer mike says greenwood bank, which will open in january, rereceived t tens of t thousandf account requests within one day of its announcement. this is andrew young speaking with kililler mike about wealth inequality. a we have got to put capital the bottom the pyramids so

that whoerer els has brilliant ideas that will make life better fo everybody can devel those ideas. y:y:nd thosere s somof the adlinene thiss s demoacacy no,, decracynyn.org, , e quarantine rert. i'm amy goodma ow m manof your staff ar sick do y thinknkou mighte aa supersprear, mr. president those were the questions a reporter shouted at president trump as he left walter reed hospital last week after being hospititalized for t three nighs with covid-19. trump ignored the question and then flew to the white house where he marched up to the balcony. in a reality-style wave, he saluted, took office e mass, i peered out of breath, thenen wet inside. unmasked. trump's defiant mask removal threatatened the household s st, a majority of whom are older people of color. little attttention has been paid in the media to how the covid-19

pandemic h h impacted d the heah of domestic workers across the worlrld. "t"the new york titimes" reports three white house housekeepers and one otheher member of the resisidence staff wewere recenty infected. "the times" reports the workers were told to use "discretion" in discussing their infection. public health experts have expressed alarm as trump has repeatedly teaeatenethe e heth of staff around him ov t the pa week -- from leining th hospital wlele sti beieing medicateto returning to the oval office whe still fefected to hding a rly on thwhite housgrounds saturday. at was n socialldistance later the proam, we wl be joined by chles allen. hifather eene alaln was portrad in "ledaniels' the butl" for hiwork serng eight esidentsrom harr trumano ronald rgan. buwe firstwe speako ai-jen po senior visor toare in tion, whh is dedated to

ghting f dignitynd faness forhe millis of mestic wkers in e united ates. is the 1(c)orearmf the natial domesc worker allice. -jen poowelcome ck to decracy no its great to have y with this. as we watch that define active president trump, where he took off his mask, turned around, and walked into the white house, we know that scores of residence staff are older latinx-americans and workers. can you talk about your response and what it signifies to you? >> take you for having me. i think we and domesticic workes all over t the countntry were watctching witith horror as we w the recklklessness with which te president wawas t treating his householold staff. these are essential workersrs wo haveve been keeping g him and hs them, safe and caring for and he showed a complete and utter r disregard r r their hehh

and safety inn this contexex it is ininany ways t the tip of the s spear to how he has beeeen treating e essential workers at largrge. here w we are seven months into this pandemic and still no social workers bill of rights, still no hazard pay. and here are in his house, domestic work is all about -- it really is a question of power here. when your workplace is someone else's home, there is an incredible imbalance of power. a tremendous amount of fear that domestic workers have in asserting their rights and advocating for themselves out of fear of losing their jobs and their livelihood. there could be no other house in this country where the imbalance of power is more severe than that between the president of the united states and its housekeeping staff. i ththink he has been abusing tt power. amy: how do we find out who has been infected? we know about three dozen of his professional staff have been

infected. they are high-profile people like the press secretary -- almost the whole white house media staff has been, and a number of journalists who are covering the white house have been infected -- at least four or five. we know his top senior advisor stephen miller. but right before the white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany herself said she tested positive -- i believe that was last monday. on sunday she told reporters at the white house she would no longer be revealing the number or names of people at the white house who tested positive. now, it is even harder to find out about those on the residence staff.f. >> absolutely. there are 90 housekekeeping staf as far as s we know in the white house who are charged every d dy with maintaining thehe order in the sananity and the safetety oe whwhite house i itself forr the

people who live there. this entntire industry is really defined by visisibility -- invisibility. people are working behind closed doors. ththeir work is not evenen seens real work. it is still referred to as "help " after so many genenerations fr we understand ththis work isis essential. itit is work ththat is disproportionally done by women and peoeople of color, women of color, black and brown women in particular. so all of those factorss contribute to the invisibility and the dehumanization of this workforce, which is why it is so important we are vigilant about finding o out about the health d safety and the well-b-being of those workers in t this time. we need transpsparency. and even more than that, we need protections for these workers. amy: we're going t to go to bre. when we come back, we will alslo be joined by the son of a man who o worked in the white house

for over -- for eight presidents. he was the subject of lee daniels film "the butler." ai-jenen pooai-jen poo we'rere speaking to, senior advisor to care in action. she stays with us as well. ♪ [music break]

amy:y: this is democraracy now!, democracynow.org, ththe quarante report. i'm amy goodman. ai-jen poo, senior advisor to care in action which is dedicated to fighting for dignity and fairness for the millionsns of domemestic workern the united states. if you can talk a little more nationally about the kind of dangers that people face who arr in the most intimate jobs, many of them essential workers, but who are on the front lines in

many cases caring for people with covid? and the kind of protections they have? for example, domestic workers goes of rights and how far we have c come on these around the country, ai-jen poo? >> absbsolutely. this pandemic has hit domestic workers incredibly hard because domestic workersrs camee into te pandemic w with a tremendous amount of insecurity. 82% of d domestic workers did nt have a single paid day coming into this pandemic. what we saw veryry early on in e first week of the shutdown was dramatic losses in jobs and income, so much so that in march, w we were holding callsls with domestic workers wherere ty were showing us on t their zoom screreens literally one cent let in their bank account. no ability to put food on their table for their children. and here we are seven months in

to this pandemic, and when you have a situationon where you had no job security, no access to a safety net, and much o of the pandemic relief has not reached you, it is a veryry dire situation.n. it is a full-blown depression fofor domestic workers who are vacillating out between 38%8% ad % unemployoyment among mystic workers. then you have the workerers who continue to work through this crisis, lilike the whihite house housecleaners, or providing an essential lifeline to some of the people are most vulnenerable to the virusus itself, like oldr pepeople, people with didisabilities, people w with chronic illnesses, bringnging tm food, , bringing thehem medicat, provididing essential serervices that are n necessaryry for daily liviving for these populations f people. anand they'rere doing so withoht acaccess to ppe, without health care, without hazard pay.

so they're having to pay out-of-pocket for ppe and covid testing. and the burden of safety in this time of an unprecedented pandemic is falling on their shoulders, on ththe shoulders of the peoplple who have ththe leat amount of power and resources to navigate it alall. amy:y: what rights do workers he to demand that they be even able to wear protectctive gegear in situatation where they are told not to? and d what are employers' responsibililities? >> that is thehe challenge in ts industry. one, t there's beenen a long hiy of systematic exclusion from basic rights and protections, including manyny health and safy protections, which is what an essential workers bill of rights is so important. but also when you are isolated in a workplace and youou have no job security and everyrything tt

you ask for youou put yourself t ri of losing your j job and your lilivelihood a at a time when yu simply cannot afford it. so the vulnerability and insecurity cannot be overstated. it is incredibly difficultlt rit now. amy: are the white house resisidence staffff unionized? >> i believeve they are govememt employees, w which means they should be represented by a government union, bubut i don't know for sure. amy: you youourself,f, ai-jen p, lost her grandmother during the pandemic -- though, not of covid. can you talk about your experience of actually beining ablele to see her and what that meant to you? >> my heart goes out to so many peoplele w who have been separad from loved onenes who are ill ad dying. i was able to go and visit my grandmother who passed away at 94 on mother's day of natural causes.

i was told by my family that if i wanted to say goodbye, i needed to come even in the midst of the pandemic. a andsked up and quarantined wewent and sawaw herer. and i we to hold her hand every single day for 1 10 days in ordeder tos goodbye. and to begin the process o grieviving. and d i cannot imagine -- it really meant the worldld to me o have somebody who cared for me from my childhood, whole life be able to holdld her hand and say goodbye and tell her how much h loved her. i just can imagine what it has --n like for the 250,000 215,000 families who have lost their granddaughters, their grandmothers, theieir best fries , to not be able to appropriately grieve in this

time of incredible crisis. ijujust can't imagine when think about what my family has been through. amy: our condolences to you and your family. finally, the idea that a second stimulus package has not been passed, the consequences of this on the most vulnerable. the national domestic workers alliance provided funding to domestic worker organizations around the country. pointonic that at this you have smaller organizations providing food and funding and yet the most able to afford and the larger employers not doing this. what this means and the pressure onon groups like yours and whatt means for people not to get more money right n now as so many tes of millions lose their jobs? >> what we saw was realllly eary on in ththe crisis, incredible devastation.

you had people who were working paycheck-to-paycheck, so there was no money, no savings to stock up on grgroceries or supplies. the levell of fofood insecurityd housingg insececurity is just unfathomablele. it is like nothing i ever c coud have imagined in my 2525 years f doing this wowork. so our coronavavirus care fufuns been providingng emergencycy cah assistancece to domestic workers in needecause we knew we could not waver government too act. seven months laterer, he still hasn't post of governmentnt funding ststill is not reached e majority of government -- domeststic workers in this country. what they're using the funds for is groceries, to pay cell phone bills so that their children can stay connected to online learning opportunities. literally the basic fundamental human needs of survival are at stake right now. the impact on children anand fafamilies is jujust devasastatn

this time. so the senate - -- shame on the senate for not movining on actul relief that can reach every americican, every family,, includining immigrant families, dedeserves relelief and safety d this time b because they will ba part of our recovery as s a country. so i calall upon the senate. i cacall upopon the white houseo momove on relief soso that we cn start moving toward recovery and this time. amy: ai-jen poo, thank you for being with us. again, our condolences to your family on the loss of your grandmother. ai-jen poo is the seninior advir to care e in action. which is dedicated to fighting for dignity and d fairness for e millions of domestic workers in the united states. it is the e 501(c)4 ararm of the national domestic workers alliance. as we continue to look at how president trump's reckless actions have threatened the health of f domestic staff at te white house, we are joined by charles allen. his father eugene allen worked as a butler at the white house

serving eight presidents from harry truman to ronald reagan. eugene allen died in 2010 but his life story became the basis of lee daniels' film "the butler." >> we have no tolerce of politicst the whe house. >> i'm the new butler. you hr nothing. you e e nothg. henlnly seed.. you know he got that job himself. thwhwhite use e caed him. >> they swore him to some kind of secret code. and so proud of you. >> what do your dadaddy do? >> is a butler. >> everything you are and everything you have. the trailer of "the butler" based on the life story of eugene allen.

that was oprah winfrey and forest whitataker playing eugene allenn and his wife. their son charlrles allen joinss now. we welcome you to democracy y n! it i is great toto have you wit, charles.s. >> thank y y for having me. amy: so as he watched president mean,on the balcony -- i so much was going on on social media as people started to talk about him as benito trumponlini. there, , does a military salute, gives a thumbs-up, then dramatically takes off his mask, turns around, and walks into the white house. talk about who works under the white house, charles allen. >> well, i was l listening to te lady on earlier and she was talking about thehe status of te white house workers.

the white house workers are government employees, but they -- thet civil servants residencstep. meansns is anytime ththey wawant to tell you that they y't eded your services anymorere, tn you might comeme to work andnd r stuff wiwill bat the ge in a cardboard b box. but it i is made up primarily yf the butl step like durining dad'd's time,e, it was primimarl made up of afrfrican-americann workers and i think this has been trurue since t the rooseve administstration. s, and the maids, primimary african-amamerican. as my dad d used to sayay, theye the litt people thatat made it ssiblele for the big pplple to do what they didid.

amy: again, if your father was woworking there today -- and can you talk about how you think president trump compares as an employer, though he does not employ them, is ththat rigight?y are e federal employees. > they aree federal e employs anand they go fromom administran to admdministratioion. a lot of thehe staff have been ththerere j just likeke my fathd been there ovever 30 years. the ficklin family have been in the white house for over 50 years. a lot of these jobs i think it is let's say it like being a gondola in venice. it is passed down from fatathero son and daughghters. it goes on down ththe line. lineage doingamily ththat job. amy:y: many of the staffff, the

majority of the staff, are african-american, are latinx workers, older. this is a very population that during this pandemic is the hardest hit, 2.5 to three times hardrder and if hospitalized, ad ofof dying. if you can talk about this and why the first family, their actions in the white housese so matter and maybe use some examples from history with your dad from amazingly right after world war ii, president trumann right through to presesident reagan. a lot of ththe relationships during my father's time, anyway, aftfter 1986 sokak much, but the relationships between the butlers and the families, afirst lot of times they were close

bonds that developed. close, familial bonds, if you will. there are six or seven full-time butlers and they come in contact with the family everyday. face to face, meeting with them every day. and they're very dedicated people. my father -- i don't guess it was the exception, my father never missed a day of work. he prided himself on that. he was dedicated. and the other employees as well. very dedicated to those first families. very dedicated. father,d to ask my which was his favorite president. he said that he liked them all. and he was telling the truth. i can vouch for him. he found something in each one of those presidents and their

families that he liked. he felt like all of them brought somemething to the table. amy: i don't know if it was true , based on truth the first time he walalks into o the oval offie it isng coffee and tea, president eisisenhower -- i i m, he did first s serve president truman. but he is calling in the national guard, state troopers to integrate little e rock, arkansas, the hihigh school. >> r right. my dad -- it is i interesting yu bring that up becauause that is ie of the things he said that can relelate to abobout presidet eisenhower.. he said, whahatevever presidentt eisesenhower'ss f feelings mighe been, deep down inside, he e sad inin regard toto that situationn little rock, h he said he didd s job. he did h h job. sometimes thatat is alal you wat

peopleo o do. justst do your jobob. what ds that say i is a presidenent that you're supsedd to do? then do th.. protect all of the people. all of the peoplple. admiredink he ha thatat about president eisenhow. amy: president eisenhower got sick in the white house. it is the beginning of the 25th amendment. he had written a letter to his vice president, who he had excluded from decision-making when he was sick stuff yet a kind of teamam of f few advisors around him, definitelyly not the vice p president richardrd nixo. but ultimately, when he got really sick, hee wrote a letter to him to say you will take ovover. but this led to the e 25th amendment. p presidentr talk about eisenhow g getting sick and what thatat meant in the white house? m, not realllly. when president eisenhower r t sick, he w w not in the whitee

house. he was somewewhere- i foforget exacactly where e he was. he w was somewhere enjnjoying te holiday,y, you know, playiying . hehe wasas stricken. i t think by the e time he gogok to the white house, he had m moe or less s convalesced anand he s in pretty goodod shape. around mr.nk he was eisenhower that much when he was bedridden. let me put it that way. amy: w what rights did your fatr have and others? and do you speak with people today who have worked in the white house? example, if the first family is not careful, a president trump, for example, outright lying about he is immune. they wonon't reveal that he has taken a test that m makes him negative. as he dramatically takes off his mask. what rights to the workers who soso intimelely see a a presidet

haveve? thehey have all thehe r rightsd in the w world. you have to understand, they have to be vevery careful. one e of the reasons they ve too be espspecially carereful is bee they are a accepted woworkers. whicich means theyy can say, " e don't need your services here any loer." so t they have to b be very c c. they have to keep s stuff to themselves. at anna a -- i don''t know. ththe little people. they havave toe veryry cefulul. dedicated people. amy: what you think and be done to support and protect them more as, for example, you have the reports in "the new york times" that workers who get sick and we are only learning about these one by one, that may be larger, for example, than four people right now i knew w what is calld when it i isce s staff,

that we e won't be revealing who isis therere and how many are s? >> right. to t take the truru, i realally don'n't know.. now as we're speaking thehe administration we livive under now, i don't know what can be done to protecect them. amy: doesn''t make you angngry t you're seeing now a and it whit housuse? >> i feel for r them, yes. i feel for them very much. because it is a very y closed mouthh -- it is very c closed mh oup of peoplple. they donon't come out. they don't talk aboutut tngs. it i is kindf f like in the move "the butleler," where e they are tting aroundnd playing carards d i i think it was l lenny kraravz says someone has been running his mouth and d stop. they did not talk a lolot a abot stuff thatat went on i in thato.

amy: : charles allen, i want t o thank you so much for being with us. son of the former white house butler eugene allen, whose story was the inspiration for the feature film "the butler." next up as we mark indigenous peoples day, we look at the ongoing indigenous leled protest against presidenent trump order wall in s southern arizona. stay with us. ♪ [music brk]k]

amy: "cumbia a algarrobera." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, , the quarante report. i'm m amy goodman. 14 states and more than 130 cities a across the united stats are celebrating indidigenous peoples day today in place of or in addition to c columbus day, s the mymyth of columbus as beneficent discoverer is debunked. as he is talked about an

oppressive colonizer. the holiday comes amid a growing call to remove monuments to columbus, along g with confedere generarals. it also ofoffers a chance to recognize the critical role of indigenous people in protecting the plananet. so we spend the rest of the hour in arizona, looking at the -- how o'odham land and water dedefenders are leading a campan agnst the construction oththe u.u.-mexico rdrder wl nenear sasaed spring inside the org pipe n national momonument. the federal government has blocked road access to the sacred spring, where contractors have been pumping millions of gallons of groundwater to make cement for the wall. in august, activists temporarily blocked access to a tete whe 30-fooststeel rrieiersere being sesemblefor r usinin the ll.. >> no border, no wall! >> no borders, no wall! amy: this campaign of

non-violent protests comes as a federal appeals court issued an ordeder friday to ha t the bderr wall conruructioin a arina, along with texasnew w meco,, ancacalifoiaia. in response to l lawsu fililed byhe sierra club, onong wi multiple states and other groups, the 9th u.s. circuit court of appeals said the trump administration violated the constitution when it tried to pay for the construction using $3.6 billion that congress had authorized for t the military.y. for more, we go to t tucson, arizona, where we'rere joineby nellie jo dadavid, a a o'haham r and nd defender who was arrested last t moh h on hia ced o'haham tradionanal homeland when pteststing nearar the construction site of the u.s.-mexico border wall in organ pipe cactus national monument. welcome to democracy now! can you explain what is happening and the significance of this court decision? > t thank you, amamy. prettyit is been a

tutumultuous road. our r lands s have beeunder militazation by border patrol,l, by occupying entities, preretty much my entitire life.e. episois just another in which we have been der militarization from these entntities. and now w it is including these companies that are puttingng in arizonasraham from an and for ththem to be constructcg duringng this s time of cocovids espepecially troublingng for u . we're dealing with their own problems otop of the ft that their desecrating our sacred of momonument area a areas,beyond and many

wildlife refuge and d the goldwater bombing range. i'll of ese areas are o occupied and our ancestral indigenous territory andd soso we have been engaged sincnce constructction - while constructction started in august i in trying to o stop the border wall. under -- it, it came came to a plplace where we could no longerr -- could watcththis whoutut dng mething drastic. in our case, in front of bulldozezers, and it upsettitina in theucket of b bullder,, and ende up -- sitting in the buck of a bulldozer andnd it up gettining arsted. amy:hen was th? >> on september 9. amy: explain w who the o'odham are, who you are and the

indigenous people who live i in this arerea and where the land stretches. >> i wld love to. it is a pretty large l landscap. hereservation is roulyly shape ofononnectut, but at isot -- th does not confine th area where we are originally from. originally, our traditnanal landscape extends as far north to what is now kwn as the hilla river ansasalt river reservations in scottsdale, phoenix ararea. alall the way west towarard yumd all the way south toward -- areain mexico. and all thway e east to the san pedroiver, where i am currently located in tucson. this ia pretty l large landscapape. heritee and r

doesn't really no borders. it doesn't no borders. have family in mexico. so with these orders that are crossising our territorial homeland, it h impacted us in pretty much evy way th it could pact us. amy: can you talk about what happened when you are rested? how are you treated? >> oh, man. very dficult experirience. we werere out there eararly in e morning. we had not intended to dodo what we did thahat day but felt compelled to given thehe desecration that wasas hapning. so we were out there in the at for a good two o hours s holdinf -- hololding offhehe constructin from happening until theyy

arrested u us. once we wererrested, we re hahandcuffed and takenen to lukevilllle where we were fingererprinted and processed. from there, we did not know atat s gogoin to happen to us thougught we werere goingo be taken to a local jail about minutes fromom lukeveville, whis at thehe port ofntry. thats where we thoht we were gog,g, but they y ended up takg this p pastor f a few me hours drive d we ended up going all facility,lorence alsonown as recivic. from tre iwas a rely confing and sry momenfor spent two days -- we days there. -- fromhe moment we got there, we were t treated asf

wewe were dangererous individua. we werere chained and handcuffed to our waist and aroround r feet. it remininded me of all of the eration ststreamli proceedings that we witnessed here in tucson. ththey hpen n evy single da chahained. we were not told what was happenining. we aed for lawyeyers. were not allowed to speak to one e until the nenext day. we asked for phohone calls. we were not given a phone call. timime for t them to a the processss us. going fromom that extreme h hean the arizona desert to the extreme colold of the core for - corecivic facility, we were n n feeling g too gre at that point. it got to be pretty latete into

the night until we were actctuay processed. amy: did t they ask you for citizenship status? did.d don't think ththat they knownk they migight havave thate were not -- that we hahad citizenship. amy: can you talk about whaha this wall has meant and the effect on n e environment as well? democracy now! was out there covering this area. we saw and h have since seen n e of the destruction. and what it means for ceremonies and fofor the environment. >> the destruction has been devastating. since auaugust a year r ago or r a yearar ago, we have seen this these cactus -- in

our o'odham, we viview them as people. to watchhehe be uprooted from the locations where t they are t andhen pretetty much lt theree to dieie -- many of them -- the boborder patrol or constructionr whoever'ss entity as a spokesespeople were climbing tht they were not killining this cactus but killing very many of them. weought them carelessly towown on t the s side, whi they were lar r pick up.p. there was all kinds of wilderness that ju had to o be removedd or just the access roads. 30 foooot acssoad. killeandfhat was violated, that wasas onef the rsrst viations. and en weeaw monumenent hill being blown up in a big show of

mighght while the tohono o'haham chairman was in washington, d.c. the are so manyites that ha b been pacted. it is a ve large setch of nd. and then the spri, the most recent onehat has been desecrateded. it is a ry v vital source water inin the middldle of a vey dry desert. this is a corridor where prevention to deteterrence is ud to targeget migrants that arere coming through because it is knowown by autrities that waterr such a precis s resoce that folks coming throughif they don't have tt w water, anals coming through -- all pre-much wildlife, if they don't t have the endatater, thateans of t lifecycle.

hat this brings memeans toto us. it is the source of life, the sour of so much for pple, r plans, for deststs, fauna, putting much allifife surrrrouing thth. as t the bordewall constructio began, drille have come and prty much set up all around the area and have been d drillig roads and as the well -- in addition m mixin concrete to ld the steel barriers pretty much all your we veve pring anhow thehe s water sources have been depleteded. the flow comesch from -- it comes from a mountain. it comes out of a mountain and w where tan-built oasis

wateisis kep its aatural spring. that natural flow has been vy mu impmpted by allf that drilling. in addition to these he lights in the area, w with so of the mo beautiful views of the stararound. those brightights are also affecting all of the animals. there is bd migration -- it iss a very important animal and bird migratory habitat. just last year we saw many footprintsts from what w we knos mexico comining into the area ad because there is a border wall barrier, all of these animals were coming on foot, evenn animals or birds that have low-flying powerer, cannot acces ththe spriring. and -- we fear and d we worry

ththat the border wall will caue extitition for many of these -- if itincluding loses its water source the ararea, the is the soran maternal, the pup fifish. wethere is alall of this life are watching before our eyes as it is all harmed. it has been a very scary and devastating thing for us. it i is also our herititage. we had ancestotors that lived at the spring.g. a woman who was arrested with me is a direct descscendent of peoe sprpring.ed at the so surrounding the entiree arer, we had v villages, allll of thee connections -- a nearby border -- john amy: nellie jo david, as

we c come to the e endf thisis discussion on indigenous people say, can you talalk about the solidarity of us indigenous -- against and the b border w l the border wall? >> we e are in sololidarity of and apache and all border indigenous peoplples whoe lives haveve been so severely impacted by not only this border wall b the complete militarizationon of our homelans due to t this irrationonal fearf folklks on thether side,hich are our relatives. so othther tribes, other indigenous people along the border, feel that pain of being disconnected, of having g a borr crossing us. stand intely solidarity.. many o of us who have been tatag actions against the construction

have gone to other pces suchch areas in texas and the kuyaay lands now occupying california. amy: and will this ruling stop the building of the wall witith federal courts saying no toto diveverting military funds io the southern border ll? >> i certaininly hopope so. and it shohould. very y -- i am veryry eptical of things lilike that. have 20e -- o on amy: we seconds. >> last year we wereold that wewe had time and then the supre court t issued a stay anand it s lifted a we no longnger have that. soso i hope so. in the meantime, actioions arere still going to take place in which we will fight t the border wallll. wewe will fight militarization.

we will fight the desecration of our homelands. amy: nellie jo david, thank you for being with us, tohono o'odham water and land defender, part of the ongoing nonviolent land protests.

. in a volley field in bulk of a life in northern new south wales beta my lot you starting. for the next problem by spraying killing chemical