11/25/20 11/25/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! my coren: they embody beliefs that america is strongest when it works with its allies. amy: president-elect joe biden has introduced key members of his national security team with a vow to re-embrace multilateral approach in a clear rejection of trump's america first foreign policy.

>> my fellow public servants around the world, i want to say to you america is back. multilateralism is back. diplomacy is back. amy: we will look at biden's cabinet picks with codepink's medea benjamin, professor barbara ransby, and former bernie sanders speechwriter david sirota. then we look at the indigenous-led fight against the enbridge line 3 pipeline in northern minnesota. the u.s. army corps of engineers has just granted a key permit but protests continue. we will speak to indigenous lawyer and activist tara houska. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the united states repoed over 170,000 new covid-19 cases and

2100 deaths in tuesday alone, the deadliest day in more than six months. hospitalizations are at an all-time high at nearly 90,000. the s. deatholl is now approaching 26000. in california, covid-19 hospitalizations have gone up over 80% in the past two weeks, with icu hospitalizations increasing by over 50%. much of california imposed a curfew over the weekend in hopes of slowing a surge that health officials fear will only get worse due to thanksgiving travel and gatherings. 11 states, many in the midwest, have recorded more deaths in the past week than in any other week since the pandemic began. the white house coronavirus task force said tuesday 6.4 million doses of pfizer's vaccine wi be dtribut across the country by mid-december with frontline healthcareorkers receiving the first doses. the vaccine wafound to be 95%

effective inrials, though it mu still undergo a final authorizion before widespread usage. an international news come the french president emmanuel macron announced the country's second wave had passed and he would start to ease lockdown measures, though bars and restaurants will remain closed for at least another two months. france has registered the fourth highest number of infections since the pandemic started, behind brazil, india and the u.s. meanwhile, in neighboring italy, officials reported over 850 deaths tuesday, the highest daily toll since the height of the first wave of the pandemic in march. spain also recorded its highest death toll since the start of its second wave with over 530 deaths. in medical news, russia says its sputnik vaccine isver 95% effective in trials. countries including saudi arabia, the philippines, brazil, and india have expressed

interest in acquiring the vaccine, though some health experts warn more extensive testing is needed. president-elect joe biden has formally introduced part of his national security team. on tuesday, biden spoke in wilmington, delaware, alongside secretary of state nominee tony blinken, national intelligence director nominee avril hines, homeland security secretary nominee alejandro mayorkas, national security advisor nominee jake sullivan, and u.n. ambassador nominee linda thomas-greenfield who vowed to embrace all to lie realism. >> my fellow career diplomats and public service around the world, i want to say to you america is back. multilateralism is back. diplomacy is back. amy: biden's special envoy for climate, john kerry, also spoke. to end this crisis, the whole

world must come together. to join paris sunday one, and to recognize that paris alone is not enough. amy: biden has yet to decide on several key posts in his national security team, including defense secretary and cia director. we will have more on biden's cabinet picks after headlines. while the formal transition has begun, president trump is still refusing to concede the election. on tuesday, trump gave a roughly one minute news briefing at the white house where he boasted about the dow jones industrial average topping 30,000, but he took no questions and made no reference to the election. while trump took credit for the dow, many economists say stock prices spiked due to reports that biden would tap former federal reserve chair janet yellen to be treasury secretary.

in the latest blow to trump's effort to overturn the election, the state of pennsylvania, nevada, and minnesota certified biden's victory tuesday. trump and his attorney rudy giuliani are expected to travel to gettysburg, pennsylvania, today to meet with republican state lawmakers who are holding an unofficial hearing about allegations of voter fraud at a hotel. gettysburgcivil war, was the site of a major confederate defeat that marked a turning point in the fall of the confederacy. in afghanistan, at least 14 people were killed and scores injured in twin explosions in the city of bamiyan in central afghanistan. children were among the victims. nearly 6000 afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the first nine months of 2020, according to the united nations. this latest deadly attack came as a major u.n. donor meeting was held in geneva, where up to $12 billion in civilian aid to

-- over the next four years was pledged, though much of it is conditional on the success of ongoing peace talks. u.n. secretary general antonio guterres decried the ongoing violence in afghanistan and called for an immediate ceasefire. people he suffered for tar -- far too ng. i urge the redoubling efforts of e cease-fire in order to save lives and prevent the further spread of covid 19. this will create a environment for the afghanistan peace negotiations. amy: ethiopia's prime minister abiy ahmed, who won the nobel peace prize, is rejecting international calls to a halt a planned attack on the northern ethiopian city of mekelle, the capital of the semi-autonomous region of tigray. ahmed has threatened to launch the attack today if the tigray people's liberation front did not agree to surrender. meanwhe, the government-backed ethiopian human rights mmission iaccusing aouth

group inigray ofilling at least 600 civilians near the sudanese border earlier this month. the report has not been dependently verified. in paris, crowds gathered tuesday evening to protest the violent clearing of a refugee camp at the place de la république monday. images of police forcing people out of tents, throwing them to the ground, teargassing and chasing them in the street have rocked france, with paris mayor anne halgo calling it a "denial of france's humanitarian duty," and triggering an official probe by the public prosecutor. journalists also say they were attacked. the shocking scenes come as france is debating passage of a new law that would increase police powers and criminalize the publication of images of on-duty police. the law recently passed a vote in the national assembly and will go before the senate next month. at least four asylum seekers were killed when their boat

capsized tuesday off the coast of lanzarote in the canary islands. 28 survivors were rescued. it's the latest tragedy to occur on the perilous route from west africa to the canary islands, which have become a flashpoint in the ongoing refugee crisis as the number of people arriving to the spanish archipelago by sea has increased more than tenfold over last year. last month, 140 people drowned off the coast of senegal after their boat caught fire en route to the canary islands. spain said last week it would help set up temporary camps for 7000 asylum seekers. back in the united states, president trump is reportedly planning to pardon his former national security advisor michael flynn and others before he leaves office. flynn has twice pleaded guilty in court to lying to the fbi about his communications with the russian ambassador to the u.s. in 2016. talk of the pardons came after president trump made one of his rare public appearances after

the election when he pardoned a turkey for thanksgiving. california senator dianne feinstein is stepping down as the top democrat on the senate judiciary committee. feinstein faced intense backlash last month over her weak performance during the confirmation proceedings for justice amy coney barrett. she has also drawn ire among climate activists after a widely circulated video in which she disparaged young children asking her to support the green new deal. the sunrise movement said in response to the news that feinstein should not just step down but resign to make way for progressive california lawmakers who support the green new deal. an immigration news, the u.s. government has agreed to temporary stall the deportation of immigrant women who say they may have undergone invasive, gynecological procedures -- cluding forced sterilizations -- wle imprisoned at irwin detention center in georgia. a letter by over 100 democratic lawmakers issued earlier this

month says at least six survivors have reportedly been deported. several others faced imminent deportation as dozens of wom were complaining about what took place. to watch our interview with jaromy floriano navarro, a survor who was deported to mexico, go to democracynow.org. in related news, immigration advocates are condemning hudson county, new jersey, officials for approving a new 10-year jail contract with immigration and customs enforcement. more than 75 people spoke out against the contract renewal at a 10-hour public meeting tuesday. despite overwhelming opposition, the all-democratic board still approved the deal. in montana, two u.s. citizens who were apprehended by customs and border protection for speaking spanish while grocery shopping have reached a settlement in their racial profiling lawsuit against the trump administration. ana suda and martha hernandez

were standing in line at the store, when a cbp agent asked them where they were born and demanded to see identification after hearing them speak spanish. the two women, who were born in texas and california, showed their valid montana driver's licenses but were taken into custody anyway. in more immigration news, buzzfeed reports the trump administration deported 33 unaccompanied children to guatemala just minutes after a judge last week blocked a policy that allowed immigration officials to quickly expel refugee children and asylum seekers without due process by citing the coronavirus pandemic. since ice violated the judge's ruling, the agency could be forced to bring the 33 children back. some 13,000 unaccompanied refugee children have been deported since march under this policy. meanwhile, a new federal court filing shows cbp held over 60 children, including infants under the age of one, at facilities at the u.s.-mexico

border for over three days in the past two months, a violation of the flores agreement. purdue pharma, the maker of oxycontin, pleaded guilty to three criminal charges, admitting responsibility for its role in fueling the devastating opioid epidemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. the charges included offering illegal kickbacks to doctors in exchange for them writing more prescriptions. purdue reached a plea deal with the justice department for over $8 billion last month but will likely pay out just a fraction of that as the company is in bankruptcy proceedings. members of the billionaire sackler family, who own purdue, have not been criminally charged. and scotland has become the first country in the world to make menstrual products free and easy to access. lawmakers approved the landmark bill tuesday, which aims to end "period poverty" by ensuring tampons and pads be available for free in schools and other public buildings. this is monica lennon, the lawmaker who introduced the

bill, speaking ahead of the vote. havingthought of anyone to go for a central period products remains an acceptable and we have huge work to do to address inequalities in our society. the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic on public health and incomes -- even stronger. stop foron't pandemics. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: president-elect joe biden has introduced key members of his national security team with a vow to re-embrace the world in a clear rejection of trump's america first foreign policy.

me biden: this team behind embody body my core beliefs that america is strongest when it works with its allies. amy: the president-elect spoke wednesday in wilmington, delaware, alongside several members of his future cabinet, including secretary of state nominee tony blinken, national intelligence director nominee avril hines, national security advisor nominee jake sullivan, secretary of homeland security nominee alejandro mayorkas, and u.n. ambassador nominee linda thomas-greenfield. we'll hear more about them in our next segment. but first we turn to look at a member of biden's national security team who has not yet been announced. we do not know who his pick for secretary of defense will be. several media outlets have reported biden planned to nominate michele flournoy, but progressives, including some lawmakers, are speaking out in opposition.

if nominated and confirmed, flournoy would become the first woman in the post. she served as undersecretary of defense for policy in the obama administration from 2009 to 2012. after she left, she founded the consultancy firm westexec advisors with tony blinken, a secretive consulting firm with the motto "bringing the situation room to the board room" that has many former obama administration officials on staff, including former cia deputy director avril haines, who helped design obama's drone program and is now biden's pick for director of national intelligence. california congressman ro khanna tweeted -- "flournoy supported the war in iraq and libya, criticized obama on syria, and helped craft the surge in afghanistan. i want to support the president's picks. but will flournoy now commit to a full withdrawal from afghanistan and a ban on arms sales to the saudis to end the yemen war?"

meanwhile, code pink's medea benjamin tweeted -- "if biden puts her name forward, anti-war activists should quickly launch an all-out effort to block senate confirmation. #feminismnotmilitarism" well, medea benjamin joins us right now. she is co-founder of codepink and author of several books, including "kingdom of the unjust: behind the u.s.-saudi connection." her latest book, "inside iran: the real history and politics of the islamic republic of iran." welcome back to democracy now! in a moment we're going to talk about president-elect biden's picks. this is a person who has not yet extremely come important position, the secretary of defense. can you talk about your concerns and what is going on behind the scenes, both in the grassroots community and among progressive lawmakers? flournoy -- it shows there is

some division within biden's people on this right now. she represents the epitome of what is worst about the blood, that the revolving door, her whole history has been one of point in and out of the pentagon first under president clinton and then under obama, where she supported every war that the u.s. engaged in and supported increases in the military budget. and used her contacts in government in these kind of hawkish think tanks she the jot or helped create a she sits on the board of corporations that works with defense contractors. she herself has made a lot of money by parlaying these insider contacts into positioning companies to be able to get these very plush could take on contracts. she also sees china as an enemy

that has to be confronted with higher tech weapons which justifies increased pentagon spending and puts us on a dangerous path of an increased cold war with china. these are just some of the reasons we think she would be a disastrous pic as secretary of defense. worked in theonly defense department under obama, she also worked under bill clinton and was rumored to be hillary clinton's first choice as secretary of defense had inlary won the election 2016. so she definitely, as you say, is art of this establishment of the military-industrial complex going way back. ecn you talk about this westex advisors shield create? we already have two people from that consultancy strategic advisor consultancy named by biden, she would be the third if

she was chosen. thishas been the role of barely known group outside of washington? >> that's right. that is why it is so important westexect this advisors. first of all, to understd it is a secret organization, revealed who its clients are but we do know it has been working with israeli companies. it seems they work with the united arab emirates. and their job is to get contracts for the pentagon from companies, including companies from silicon valley. this is the worst of washington. yes, he has alrey picked antony blinken, the cofounder with michele flournoy, bad enough -- bad enough is april haynes who is part of -- avril haines. the kind ofresents

washington insider revolving door commit make sure that easy in intoe an the pentagon and using these insiders from both the bill clinton years and the obama years. and especially the obama years, to grease the wheels for those companies. unfortunately, we would like to know more about westexec advisors, but as they say, it is a company that won't reveal who its clients are. from an article, the website for westexec advisors includes a map affecting the secure road on the white house grounds between the west wing and the eisenhower executive office building as a way to show what the consulting firm can do for its clients. quite literally, the road to the situation room and the road

everyone associated with west tech exam risers -- medea, your piece is headlined "will michele flournoy be the angel of death the american empire?" what do you mean? >> i feel we can go one of two ways. we continue on this route of trying to pretend the u.s. has the right and t ability to ctate wi the world should look like, which is michele flournoy's worldview, or biden to go the other way, undersnd the u.s. is aempire in crisis, needs to take care of its problems here at home like wois pandemic, and h decrea thenormoumilita budgethat is eating ove half a discretnary funds if you pks michele floury, i thk we wilcontinuen that y of the deining emre,

ich wille terble pss in the united state because it will mn it will ntinue tse iraq, s.hanistan inlvement syria, t also the sam time, tryo pivot china --hich we nnot ssiblyeep th empire goin andry tdeal witall t crises we ve here home. juan: you also write about michelle flournoy's involvement with the center on new american security, the thing take that she helped to create. could you talk about what that has produced and what she did there? >> that is seen as one of the most hawkish think tanks. it is one of the most well-funded by precisely government and military contractors, as well as oil companies. it is an example she started herself of leaving the

administration from the pentagon, creating using her rolodex to create this think tank, and get it funded by the very companies that she dealt with when she was inside the pentagon. amy: we're going to go to break. we want to thank you, medea benjamin, cofounder of the peace organization codepink, author of many books, including "kingdom of the unjust: behind the u.s.-saudi connection." we will be joined by david and professor barbara ransby to look at who was on the stage in wilmington, delaware. the choices that president-elect biden has made so far. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "faster than the truth" by neneh cherry. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to look at the cash at how progressive

movements are responding to the cabinet president-elect joe biden is assembling as he names a number of establishment figures to key posts. he named longtime adviser tony blinken as incoming secretary of state. blinken previously served as deputy secretary of state for president obama. he spoke tuesday after his nomination was announced. they wersocial a distanced from each of the other nominees. telling the story of how his father was the only one of 900 children at his school in poland to survive the holocaust at the end of the war. >> at the end of the work, he made a break from a death march into the woods. from his hiding place, he heard a deep rumbling sound. it was a tank. but instead of the iron cross, he saw painted on its side a five pointed white star. he ran to the tank.

the hatch open. an african-american g.i. looked down at him. he got down on his knees and said the only three words he knew in english that his mother taught him before the war, "god bless america." amy: tony blinken grew up in new york and paris with his mother and stepfather. he speaks fluent french. that was biden's pick for secretary of state. the president-elect has also named linda thomas-greenfield, a 35-year veteran of the foreign service, as the new u.s. ambassador. -- thomas-greenfield was an ambassador to liberia and assistant secretary of state for african affairs under obama. she was fired days into the trump administration. thomas-greenfield's last job was with albright stonebridge group, which was founded by madeleine albright.

>> on this day i'm thinking about the american people. my fellow career diplomats and public servants around the world, i want to say to you america is back. multilateralism is back. diplomacy is back. i've oftennt-elect, heard you say how all politics is personal and that is how you build relationships of trust enbridge disagreements and find common ground. in my 30 years in the foreign service across four continents, i put a cajun spin on it. i called it gumbo diplomacy. wherever i was posted around the world, i would invite people of different backgrounds and roux andell me make a homemade gumbo. starting to see each other on a

human level. amy: that was linda thomas-greenfield, president-elect biden's pick to be the u.s. ambassador to the united nations. she was born in louisiana as she talked about gumbo rather than gunboat diplomacy. as biden'swill serve special climate envoy. he also spoke in delaware yesterday. >> mr. president-elect, you put forward a bold, transformative climate plan but you have also underscored that no country alone can solve this challenge. even the united states, for all of our industrial-strength, is responsible for only 13% of global emissions. to end this crisis, the whole world must come together. on are right to rejoin paris day one. and you are right to recognize

that paris alone is not enough. kerry when served on the national security council as the newly created position of climate envoy. for more on president-elect biden's new team, we're joined by professor barbara ransby, historian, author, and activist advisor to the movement for black lives. professor of african american studies, gender and women's studies, and history at the university of illinois, chicago. she is joining us from chicago. in denver, colorado, david sirota is with us, an investigative journalist and founder of the news website the daily poster. he served as an advisor and speechwriter for senator bernie sanders during his presidential campaign. we welcome you both to democracy now! professor ransby, you had that scene yesterday in wilmington delaware, all of the nominees came out on the stage with president-elect biden and vice

president-elect kamala harris. all were wearing masks and stood six feet from each other. after each person spoke, same -- someone came out and wiped down the podium. barbara ransby, the substance of who has been chosen, the beginning of the cabinet -- particularly on national security and foreign policy -- your thoughts? >> thank you again for having me, amy, and for the good work you do every day. yeah, i saw that press conference, too, and i'm certainly glad they are following the cdc protocols for social distancing. but as you say, it is the substance of those appointments that should concern as. i think listening to medea benjamin a few minutes ago talk about this, westexec advisors that blinken and haines are part of war were a part of, to look at the absence of some prominent progressives who could have

filled some of these positions, people like let's say sara nelson from the flight attendants unit, strong advote for labor and working people, people who have been international solidarity activists could have filled the position of ambassador to the united nations. so it is a concern. i think it is an extenon of what we ha been heing from some of this interest democrats about the left as being divisive, the need to reach across the aisle. look, progressives, black people help to put joe biden in office. his stellarsn't record as a candidate or his eloquence or anything else. so that has to be taken into consideration. look, we need people who have coidence, have compassion, accountability to the most vulnerable, who pledge to defend the planet, people have a clear understanding and commitment to fighting white supremacy and police violence.

and war. so i don't see that in this group, and it concerns me. i will say this, what also concerns me is the presentation of this is a cabinet of firsts. jake sullivan is the youngest. averill haines is the first woman inhe position she is appointed to, etc. i don't necessarily want people that looked like me, i want people who are going to make a difference and who are accountable to the communities that i am committed to, that i come from, that progressive organizers have been working to empower. we have seen diversity. diversity is fine, it is necessary to stop by shortly do not want to see an all-white male cabinet, but it is woefully insufficient. we see a time and again. we start with barack obama's administration. obama 2.0 in some respects.

clarence thomas and the supreme court and the whole list and let me of public officials who offered cosmetic change but not substance change. we are in a deep and disturbing set of crises and we need peopl who are gog to act to curb the greeof billiaires and provide relief to working people, but we also need people were going to speak out and stand up against racism and the resurgence of white nationalism. i am not confident biden is heading in that direction, which is what we need to continue to build a movement. juan: barbara ransby, i would ask about one person who has not yet been named but could be, someone who's record you know well as a chicagoan, that is rahm emanuel, the former mayor of chicago, who is being talked about, mention is the possible secretary of transportation. i'm wondering your thoughts on that and whether that would be a further mistake by president-elect and also that

rahm emanuel, since he left office, has gone back into the corporate world in terms of advising companies on mergers and acquisitions. >> i think you probably know my answer to that. chicagoans come the chicago be under thed street of rahm emanuel was nominated to a cabinet position. inexcusable, the cover-up of the laquan mcdonald berger, the young black men murdered by police and rahm emanuel, by all indications, participating in the cover-up of schools and closing black and brown neighborhoods, closing mental health interest, having a date year. we would not support that. that would be a slap in the face to progressives not just in chicago, but around this country. another chicagoan who would be

quite an alternative to rahm emanuel is julie garcia, who comes out of our movement, has a progressive record. his name has been floated the transportation post and certainly that would be a a rahm diversions from emanuel-type appointment. amy: david sirota, if you can weigh in on those who have been have all i mean, you hundred mayorkas, the first latinx had or secretary of the department of homeland security. he talked about his family that she put it as flaying communism, fleeing cuba, coming to this country. , as professor ransby just talked about, among those averill haynes and the climate envoy john kerry, a new position that clearly president-elect

biden has chosen to stay climate change will be front and center. >> the nominees as a whole i atnk represent an effort restoration. the idea being we have to bring back familiar faces, washington careerists to restore the pretrial washington status quo. typically these are people with various corporate ties, tied to the establishment, ties to corporate power. john kerry is a good example. it is not to pick him out and say he is particularly bad or awful, but here is a guy who was in government, when he was in government was very supportive of fossil fuel development, fracking in particular. he left office. he then got a top position at bank of america, which is one of the largest financiers of fossil

fuel development in the world. then he comes back into leastment as bidens at first -- it is not to say john kerry will be terrible on climate, but it is to say, as one example of many, we need to understand where these people come from. joe biden in t campaign on climate policy come his campaign early on said it was seeking a "middle ground" on the climate policy. i think what you see in all of these nominees, you go through all of them, it is an attempt to restore the old washington. -- ideologically, these are middle ground picks. what that says to me is it is going to be more important than ever for movements, activists, people all of this country to demand the kinds of policies that joe biden at least

rhetorically promised on the campaign. the personnel that joe biden has appointed so far are not people who are going to necessarily do the right thing on their own. they are not necessarily people who are going to offer a different kind of path, one that corporatepease interest. they're not going to do that on their own unless they are pushed and pressured and that is going to be -- deligh speechwritere a for bernie sanders. bernie sanders and elizabeth warren represented to some degree the more progressive wing of the democratic party. there is still talk of bernie sanders as possible liver sec.. clearly, elizabeth warren is not going to get any kind of interposition it appears at this point in the biden administration. your sense of how they might still be able to influence these choices and also the argument

that biden may be trying to figure out who he can name that will get confirmation from the senate that could be in republican hands but certainly will be very divided? >> i think we need to remember that lawmakers themselves can be independent power centers. there was a time in this country when the so-called giants at the senate. i think people like bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, in the sense they are well-known in the country. they have large followings among them. ofge grassroots -- set grassroots supporters. they can choose to use that power in the senate on legislation and on nomination. the other way to look at nominations, if we're just talking about cabinet nominations, is the progressives in the senate are also -- also could be a voting block.

if the republicans are going to ''s nominee, itn means the senate vote can be the difference between confirmation and not confirmation. and those progressive senators have the potential power to candidategressive appointees. we have seen this happen at certain points. in the second term, obama second opposing potential nominees that they were too close to nominees and they were not confirmed ultimately because of that position. we have seen a new poll that came out that says about 68% of americans coming from demand progress that just came out yesterday, 68% of americans say a biden puts corporate executives to top positions, 60% of americans with the senate to vote those nominees down. i would they that's

progressives, bernie sanders and others in the senate, have serious leverage but the question is, will they actually use that leverage? not to pick on them. but will the progressive movement and progressive legislators in the congress use the leverage they have? that is the open question. members of what is known as the squad, the first sitting members of congress to sign a petition launched by the justice democrats against a potential nomination of joe biden's former chief of staff bruce reed as head of the office of management and budget. reed is considered a "deficit hawk" and has previously supported cuts to social security and medicare. the petition calls for omb to "be staffed with people who will prioritize working people, not wall street deficit scaremongers." let me put this question to professor ransby.

in the midst ofhis serious pandemic-field recession, is it possible to build back better with wall street-from the austerity politics and what about these congress members speaking out and taking a stand, drawing a line in the sand on reed? >> i think that is a welcome and refreshing move by elected officials. receded to leap is pretty -- rashida tlaib is pretty and compromising. i'm not surprised she is one of opposing read. we have to be attentive to people being put in positions of power withegard to the economy. on the one hand, this is not surprising. on the other hand, we have to be vigilant. somebody like derek campbellton met people who have old ideas that was served economic interest of the majority of people, working people, rather than people who have consultant

for corporations, and paid by corporations and financial institutions and wall street and so forth. aviously, we have to oppose reed nomination. i want to go back to something david sirota said about the importance of movements continue to organize. we have been so obsessed with this election, so fearful this would havedictator retained power for four more years that i don't want us to lose sight of the importance of pressure from the street. we had literally tens of millions of people in the street after the murder of george floyd , and it wasn't just about his murder. it w about allhe george floyds who struggle in an economy that is not in their interest, who struggle to make ends meet, who are vulnerable to police harassment on the street partly because of their race and class vnerabiliti. we have to fight for people in these positions of power who are

going to respond to our demands, but also organize and make those demands as loudly as persistently as possible. the group the frontline, a coalition to defeat trump, has called for action on inauguration day in washington to do exactly that, to push for progressive agenda. we need to be supporting movements like that as well. we can get a less bad appointment out of joe biden and some of these cabinet positions, and that is important. i am all about increasing the margin of possibility in that arena. but also about the importance of building a movement in this period and not forgetting the neoliberal politics of a joe biden. joe biden who took us into the war in iraq and supported the crime bill at all of these things that help put us in the position we're in now. so there's a lot of work for

movement organizers to do. being attentive to these cabinet posts is one of them, but certainly not the only. juan: david sirota, i want to ask you about the speculati on the department of justice that biden could possibly name the former u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. before that, staff member chuck schumer come as possible head of doj or the securities and exchange commission. what are your thoughts about that? >> he got a reputation as big supposedly tough on crime because he prosecuted some insider trading. thatvestigated part of cuomo administration in new york. we have to remember the big thing about pre-borrower, the of the southern district of new york. in that time, there were nose project fusions -- there were no

prosecutions in relation to the financial crisis. the idea of putting someone in power at the top of the justice department who played an active sure active role in making that wall street executives were not prosecuted after the financial crisis would be a complete abomination. it would be a disturbing promotion of the idea of a lack of accountability. the last thing i will say about all of this, we are seeing in a lot of ways in this whole debate, an effort to pretend the past crises that we face, the iraq war, the financial crisis, and the like, did not happen or if they did happen, the people who helped lead us into that, there will not be accountability for them. there will not even be career accountability or job accountability in terms of getting promoted later. the point about pre-tomorrow, if he is put in the there, the

applications for what we're are saying about whether wall street will ever be held accountable, whether the financial crisis in the past or crises in the future, they would be deeply disturbing. amy: david sirota, thank you for being with us, award-winning investigative journalist and founder of the news website the daily poster. colonist -- columnist for the guardian and editor at large for jacobin. served as speechwriter for presidential campaign bernie sanders. barbara ransby, historian, author and activist advisor to the movement for black lives. she is a professor of african american studies, gender and women's studies, and history at the university of illinois, chicago. her latest book, "making all black lives matter: reimagining freedom in the twenty-first century." this is democracy now! next up, we look at the indigenous-led fight against the enbridge line 3 pipeline in northern minnesota. u.s. army corps of engineers has just granted a key permit, but

protest continue. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "missing" by rahim alhaj. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to minnesota, where a massive fight against the enbridge line 3 pipeline is brewing after the u.s. army corps of engineers approved a permit for the project this week. pipeline construction is that to begin by then of the month despite years of concerns of indigenous communities, who say it would violate tribal sovereignty and contaminate the land and water. construction could also bring thousands of temporary workers to minnesota even as covid-19 cases are spiking in the state. the controversial proposed pipeline would carry tar sands oil from alberta, canada, to a terminal in superior, wisconsin, cutting through indigenous territory in minnesota and

running under more than streams. 200 as native and climate activists prepare to resist the pipeline's construction, they say they fear militarized tactics like those seen at standing rock at the mass protests against the dakota access pipeline in 2016. in response to these concerns, the minnesota public utilities commission has forbidden enbridge from "engaging in counterinsurgency tactics or misinformation campaigns designed to interfere with the public's legal exercise of constitutional rights." but advocates say they have already faced counterinsurgency tactics by the police and private security. for more, we go to sioux city, iowa, where we're joined by tara houska, indigenous lawyer and activist. founder of the giniw collective. she is ojibwe from couchiching first nation. welcome back to democracy now! talk about what is happening this week, your concerns about enbridge and what the protest are all about. trumps week we saw the

administration do what we thought they would do, which is approved the last final major hurdle to begin construction of line 3. it has been a long seven year fight against this particular project and revelatory process and legal processes and we thought maybe minnesota with its democratic leadership would do something different. but it turns out they are apparently not as brave as governor whitman in michigan and willing to put our children's futures on the line to allow through a canadian corporation to do as it wishes and to suppress the rights of citizens, including surveillance, militarization of law enforcement, direct payments to law enforcement. i mean, that is what is happening on the ground. aboutcould you talk enbridge, the canadian company -- for those of our viewers and listeners who don't know about it? >> sure. pipelineis the largest

infrastructure company in north america. it is a massive company that is directly tied to the continuation and perpetuation of the tar sands industry. tar sands is the dirtiest fossil fuel in the world. it is one of three projects i'm working on, the line 3 project is also tied to keystone xl and the trans am pipeline. those are the last three major lines propose. all the others had been canceled . ofridge has a long history spills. it is responsible for the largest inland spill in u.s. history. they have a long history of causing pretty serious, destructive damage to the environment. juan: and besides the environmental threat, said there also the threat of having hundreds of temporary workers om across the united states in in construction

during the pandemic, especially given the enormous told the pandemic has taken on indigenous communities? >> yeah, we're talking numbers in minnesota that are one in 10. that is how many people are sick in this area. north dakota, one in 1000 people have passed away from covid-19. we are already seeing out-of-state plates all over in rural minnesota. we didn't notice when people are not from the area. it is a all, remote place. the communities along the line. we're talking some counties with maybe one or two or no icu beds. it is a situation where you're just throwing a match into an existing pandemic -- we are talking about thanksgiving. cegiving, depeing on your understanding of it.

the governor says not together with your family, yet they're bringing in thousands of temporary workers to build the pipeline. so where is the actual concern for public health? about the counterinsurgency issues that have been raised? >> i'm not exactly sure what the public utility commission thinks counterinsurgency is, because we have already been heavily surveilled. we are being surveilled. there have been reports now at customs border patrol drones we have seen over private land. we knew that was happening. there are people that are surveilling and targeting individual citizens, including myself and others that have been leaders in this particular fight. there is militarization of law enforcement all along the line. militarized force. i can only presume they have to do with the line 3 struggle. the sheriff of harford county

where our encampment is located about 200 yards off the light openly accepted a bunch of equipment like bolt cutters and chains and all that stuff from enbridge directly. a truckload pulled up to the sheriff's station and admitted to that. of course, we did, it is free. that is where we are at. juan: just last week, understand two water protectors locked 3emlves to enbridge land excavators, blocking active construction of pump stations. could you talk about the ongoing actions of resistance that have been occurring and you expect will occur? >> yeah. as soon as they started building line 3 around the state of minnesota, there was an eight and cam it was formed in 2018 when the line was initially approved by the public utility commission to minnesota. there is been a series of ongoing actions against transmission line pump stations,

all of the preconstruction that is the same kind of destructive damage to these protective places that is now only up ticking. there are hundreds of excavators -- scattered across the area. hundreds of people have been training and preparing and building community together, recognizing our freedom and our bodies are something that will be needed in this long fight against the fossil fuel industry and the destruction of our only home. amy: your final thoughts on this day before thanksgiving that you would like to share with people? and also the push for deb haaland, the congress member from new mexico, to be the first native american secretary of the interior? thinkis a moment where i a lot of folks are maybe starting to wake up to the idea the pilgrims at indian stories really are not all we were taught in school.

that they are a series of massacres and broken promises that have occurred with the onset of colonization that is not quite so rosy as our children are led to believe. to comehat we are able together with our families -- if we are able to be with our families -- review together through virtual means or whatever it happens to be, and tell the truth about what the real story is and how we learn from that and move forward together. that includes something like appointing deb haaland to the secretary of the interior position overseeing native affairs. imagine having native person actually overseeing the native affairs for the first time in history. tara houska, thank you for being with us, indigenous lawyer and activist. founder of the giniw collective. she is ojibwe from couchiching first nation. tune in tomorrow for our holiday special with jodi archambault of

standing rock, allie young, bree newsom, and eddie glide as well as juan gonzalez and latino results. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.ai>úog