12/14/20 12/14/20 amy: from new york, this is democracy now! the list,read through you realize that cmate a ecological crisis nnot be solved without system change. it is no longer an opinion. that is a fact. amy: five years after the landmark paris climate accord, we hear from 17-year-old swedish climate activist greta thunberg on why more drastic action is needed to prevent a climate

catastrophe. then as the first shipments of a federally apovedovid-19 vaccine arrived today across the united states, we speak to longtime doctor and anti-racism activist dr. camara phyllis jones on why communities of color with high covid 19-death rates should be given priority access to the vaccine. exposing u.s. racism in stark new way. because the black and brown bodies are piling up so fast that they can't -- the deaths can't be normalized or ignored. amy: plus, we will look at why the u.s. army has fired or suspended 14 officers and soldiers stationed at fort hood, texas. this comes following an investigation into sexual assaults and murders at fort hood, including the bludgeoning to death of 20-year-old soldier vanessa guillén, whose remains

were found in july. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the first shipments of the pfizer-biontech covid-19 vaccine are arriving in all 50 states today after the food and drug administration issued an emergency use authorization late friday. the vaccine is being deployed as the u.s. tops 300,000 recorded deaths from covid-19 today, with confirmed cases topping 16.2 million -- by far the highest numbers in the world. the first shipment will cover some 3 million people. healthcare workers will receive the first doses this week, followed by nursing home residents and staff. fda commissioner stephen hahn said sunday he hoped the first doses would be administered today. he also denied reports he was

threatened by president trump friday to approve the vaccine quickly, saying the authorization was based on "a thorough review of the science and data." meanwhile, the coronavirus vaccine developed by modernas likely to be approved by the end of the week according to operation warp speed chief viser moncef slaoui. the u.s. government purchased another 100 million doses of the moderna vaccine last week, which the trump administration said would ensure continuous vaccine delivery through the end of june 2021. in other coronavirus news, president trump gned a one-week governmenfunding extension friday as lawmakers continue to butt heads over a new stimulus bill and appropriations package. without any legislative action, some 12 million people are set to lose unemployment benefits on the day after christmas and millions of americans are facing evtions when a national moratorium expires at the end of

this month. in texas, prisoners in harris county will now be allowed to attend virtual funerals for loved ones during the pandemic. the agreement was reached after rapper trae tha truth pushed for the arrangement with the county's sheriff. covid-19 deaths around the world have topped 1.6 million, with 72 million confirmed cases, as many countries scramble to curb new waves of infections. germany is going into what's being called a hard national lockdown that will continue through the holiday period after acknowledging existing coronavirus restrictions are not stringent enough to stem a surge in cases. germany recorded over 20,000 new cases sunday, a 10% jump over the previous week. east asian countries have reported record numbers in recent days, with japan topping 3000 daily cases for the first time ever. south korea recorded over 1000

new infections saturday as president moon jae-in called for action to counter the country's wave of cases. andt is a very serious emergency situation. there is no where to back down. it is a desperate time to devote all efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus focusing all quarantine capabilities and administrative power. amy: in other international news, demonstrators in albania held their fifth straight day of protests sunday over the fatal shooting of a man by police who were enforcing a coronavirus curfew. members of the electoral college in the united states are gathering in state capitals today to cast their votes for president under the latest up formalizing joe binds electric -- joe binds election victory. over the weekend, courts across the country handed trump more defeats in his attempts to overturn his loss. the supreme court on friday rejected 9-0 a texas-led effort, backed by a majority of

republican house members, to throw out millions of votes in four battleground states biden won. on saturday, a federal judge rejected a trump campaign lawsuit in wisconsin seeking to toss over 200,000 ballots, and the georgia supreme court rejected the latest appeal by trump's lawyers to overturn the state's election results. despite all this, trump told fox news sunday his efforts to challenge election results are not over. meanwhile, early voting in the two senate run-offs in georgia begins today. democrats reverend raphael warnock and jon ossoff are challenging republican incumbents kelly loeffler and david perdue, respectively. democrats need to win both races in order to control the senate. in washington, d.c., at least four people were stabbedac saturday as thousands of maskless trump supporters rallied on the national mall, demanding the reversal of joe biden's election victory.

police cordoned off parts of downtown whington and used pepper spray and batons on counterprotesters he really in opposition to the trump supporters. at least 33 people were arrested. the stabbings occurred just minutes after members of the boys group tore a black lives matter banner from one of the oldest african american churches in washington and burned it in the street. another historically black church was similarly vandalized. in an october debate with joe biden, president trump name-checked the proud boys and told them to "stand back and stand by." black lives matter d.c. organizer anthony larissa green addressed the violence at a news conference. -- and a please department allowed white supremacist to tear down property on a black church.

muriel bowser does not keep us safe. amy: in washington state, police arrested a far-right trump supporters saturday after he allegedly shot an anti-fascist counter-protester at competing demonstrations in the state capital olympia. and wanting to our viewers, this -- a warning to our viewers, this headline contains graphic images of violence. in new jersey, police arrested nine people saturday at a demonstration outside the bergen county jail in support of prisoners who've gone on hunger strike to protest their treatment by immigration and customs enforcement. police used smoke grenades and pepper sprayo clear e solidaty ral. tivistare demaing the relee of all prisone during thcovid-19andemic. here in new york, protesters held a march in support of the hunger strikers on friday. at least six people were injured -- some of them with broken bones -- after a woman rammed her car into a crowd of protesters. she was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment.

in india, farmers arholding a one-day hunger strike today as part of their ongoing mass protest against agricultural reforms. they are calling on prime minister narendra modi's government to withdraw the legislation, which deregulates agricultural markets, giving corporations the power to set crop prices far below current rates and thus devastating the livelihoods of farmers. solidarity protests with the farmers have sprung up around the world. in northern nigeria, authorities are searching for more than 300 schoolchildren after gunmen on motorcycles raided their boarding school late friday, opening fire on security forces before abducting them. hundreds of nigerian stents from the all-boys secondary school in katsina state avoided capture by fleeing into a nearby forest. the attackers did not make any demands and their motive remains unknown. fighting between azeri and armenian forces continued sunday in the disputed region of nagorno-karabakh in breach of a

november ceasefire. both parties blamed the other side for violating the ceasefire that put an end to the bloody six-week conflict, which has led to thousands of deaths. russia has deployed around 2000 peacekeepers to the region. israel and the south asian country of bhutan announced they are establishing full diplomatic relations. the agreement does not appear to be related to recent u.s.-brokered normalization deals between israel and four arab nations -- the uae, bahrain, sudan, and just last week, morocco. to see our coverage of the israel have a deal, go to democracynow.org. meanwhile, the u.s. has adopted a new official map of morocco, which now includes the disputed territory of western sahara, following its recognition last week of morocco's sovereignty over occupied western sahara -- what many consider to be africa's last colony -- and which was part of the normalization deal between morocco and israel. to see our documentary on western sahara, go to

democracynow.org. the european union and the united kingdom agreed to extend brexit negotiations beyond sunday's deadline as the two parties struggle to make an agreement thatould avoidhe no-deal divorce at the end of this month. but both sides say a deal is unlikely. this is british prime minister boris johnson. >> there are some serious and very difficult issues that currently separate the u.k. from the e.u. the best thing to do now for everybody is to follow up all the work that has been done over the last 4.5 years, colossal amount of preparation at our ports come everywhere across u.k., get ready to trade on wto. amy: the u.s. government has executed another man. 56-year-old alfred bourgeois, a louisiana truck driver, was put

to death by lethal injection friday, one day after the execution of another black man, brandon bernard. bourgeois had an intellectual disability, which should have prohibited his execution. but an application to the supreme court for a stay was denied earlier friday. he was sentenced over the 2004 abuse and murder of his two-year-old daughter. bourgeois is the 10th federal death row prisoner to be executed since trump revived the practice in july. there are three more executions planned for january before trump leaves office. in related news, the american institute of architects said it is instituting new ethics rules that will bar members from designing spaces for executions or torture, including long-term solitary confinement. in oklahoma, protesters are calling for justice following the police killing of bennie edwards, a black man who struggled with mental health

-- mental illness. edwards' family said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. in a video taken by a witness, three officers surround edwards and fire at him as he appears to run towards one. but the officers kept shooting even after he started running away from them and don't appear to make an effort to de-escalate the situation. the officers have been put on paid administrative leave. in louisville, kentucky, another prominent figure in the protests demanding justice for breonna taylor was shot dead. 42-year-old business owner and activist kris smith was killed friday, just weeks after 21-year-old hamza "travis" nagdy was fatally shot. like nagdy, kris smith was inside a car at the time of the shooting. loved ones and community members held a vigil for kris smith on saturday. on sunday, trump renewed his threat to veto the national defense authorization act, which the senate overwhelmingly approved friday after the house passed the $741 billion package earlier in the week.

both chambers passed the bill with veto-proof majorities. in the senate, bernie sanders was one of the 13 lawmakers who voted against the bill, and said -- "we need to get our priorities right. at a time when we have enormous unmet needs in our country we should not be spending $740 billion on the military -- more than the next 10 nations combined." the trump administration said foreign hackers broke into sunday government networks, including email servers for the commerce and treasury departments, in what's being described as the biggest breach of u.s. government data in years. administration officials acknowledged the hackers were likely from russia's intelligence agency. they said a software flaw likely gave the hackers access to federal government networks for months. in sports news, the cleveland indians will change their name after years of protests from native american advocates and fans. tara houska, indigenous ojibwe

activist and co-founder of the organization not your mascots, responded to the news by tweeting -- "finally. literal generations of native advocates rejoice! dehumanization of our people at the national sports level takes another hit." president trump criticized the decision. and the world-renowned british novelist john le carré has died at the age of 89. le carré established himself as a master writer of spy novels in a career that spanned more than half a century. he worked in the british secret services from the late 1950's until the early 1960's at the height of the cold war, which was the topic of his novels. his later works focused on the inequities of globalization, unchecked multinational corporate power, and the role national spy services play in protecting corporate interests. le carré was also a fierce critic of the u.s. response to the 9/11 attacks and the bush

administration's invasion of iraq. in january 2003, he published a widely read essay called "the united states of america has gone mad." in 2010, he read excerpts of that essay on democracy now! >> how bush sent his junta succeeded in deflecting america's anger from bin laden to saddam hussein is one of the great public relations tricks of history. a recent poll tells us that when into americans now believes saddam was responsible for the attack on the world trade center. but the american public is not merely being misled, it is being browbeaten and kept in a state of ignorance and fear. amy: to see our full hour interview with john le carré only saw him in london, you can visit democracynow.org. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the united nations secretary-general antonio guterres has urged world leaders to declare a state of emergency overhe climate crisis. his call came on saturday during a virtual climate summit to mark the fifth anniversary of the 2015 paris climate accord. n going ithell right direction. omise to limit temperature rise to is close to 1.5 degrees as posble. at the commitments made in paris were far from enough to get there and even those cmitments are not being met. carbonxide levels are at record highs. today we are at 1.2 deees higher than the industrial revolution. we don't change course, we may be headed for a catcher -- catastrophic rise of three degrs. can anyby still deny we're facing an emergen? it is why today i call on all leaders worldwide to disclaim -- to clear estate of emergency in

their countries. some such countries have done so. i urge all to follow. amy: the you and secretary-general u.n. -- the u.n. secretary-general antonio guterres has urged world leaders to declare a state of emergency over the climate crisis. prior to the summit, the 17-year-old swedish climate activist greta thunberg released a video saying much more needs to be done to combat the climate crisis. >> my name igreta thunberg. i am inviting you to be a part of the solution. five yrs ago, wod leaders sied the pis agreement and they promised to keep the global average temperature rise 12 low two deees celsiuand pursue 1.5 degrees to safeguard future ling conditions. since then, a lot has happened. stilltion needed is

nowhere in sight. the gap between what we neeto do and what is actually being ne is widening by theinute.

amy: climate activist greta thunberg speaking in video she released ahead of saturday's virtual claimant assignment to mark the fifth anniversary of the 2015 paris climate accord. turns 18 on january 3. when we come back, who gets the vaccine as the first shipments of the federally approved covid-19 vaccine arrived today across united states, we will speak with dr. camara phyllis jones about why communities of given priority

access to the vaccine. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the first shipments of a federally approved covid-19 vaccine are arriving today at 145 locations across all 50 states. this comes as the u.s. death toll hits 300,000 -- by far the highest in the world. on friday night, the food and drug administration issued emergency use authorization for the pfizer-biontech covid-19 vaccine. the first shipment of the vaccine will cover nearly 3 million people. healthcare workers will receive the first doses -- some, possibly, as soon as today. residents of nursing homes will be next in line. another coronavirus vaccine, one developed by moderna, could be approved as soon as the end of

the week. as the government races to distribute the vaccine, many qutions over who shod get the first shots and what steps the government can take to build trust in the vaccine. we are joined now by dr. camara phyllis jones, the past president of the american public health association. family physician, epidemiologist and longtime anti-racism activist. she joins us from atlanta where she teaches at emory rollins school of public health and the morehouse school of medicine. it is great to have you back, doctor. you are joining us on the first day of early voting in the senate runoff races that could determine the balance of the senate. but we're here to talk to you about who should get this vaccine. can you talk about how it is being rolled out and how that decision is made? >> yes. thank you for having me back.

the advisory committee on immunization practices, which advises the cdc, met a few weeks ago and proposed that health care workers and people who live in long-term care facilities receive the vaccine first. i agree tse who are more exposed through their work or to the living situations should get the vaccine first, but i think that the paddle actually neglecte to recognize that not only are health-care workers more exposed to their work but other essential workers are inosed through -- those transportation sectors, those in the food chain and warehouses and the like. and those essential workers tend to be less protected in their increased exposure, so i think those essential workers should be included in the first rollout. and also the advisy committee

recognized that the residents of long-term care facilities are more eosed becse of their living situaons, so they talked about nsing homes and assisted living facilities. but they did not talk about those who are in long-term care jailsties in prisons and and detention centers. i think those people as well should be offered a first chance to get the vaccine. after thosegroups -- and i would have to say one more group, which is at high risk because of their living situations, are people livg in segregatedommunities- black and brownnd indigenous, like in nation cmunities, where we have seen a very high prevalence of the virus in higher deh rates. those ople should also be given priorities, access to th vaine. after that, others of us who

have so-called pre-existing conditions, ositycancer diagnoses, kidney disease and the like, as well as those who are 65 and older should be in the next wave. i think the cdc got it right partially in terms of those overexposed because of their work or living conditions, for they did not include our brothers and sisters in prisons, jails, detention centers and did not include those of us who are more exposed and less protected in our work. amy: i want to go to the issue of prisoners who are in prisons around the country that have clearly become hotspots for covid-19. can you talk about the case for vaccinating prisoners early? you have people like the governor of colorado, for example, who said, no, they should not be injected early --

given the vaccine early. you are otherwise >> i do argue otherwise. then't even fathom devaluation of the lives of prisoners that must be going to the mind of that governor. if you're looking at the science and can hotspots, looking at conditions where there is going to be a lot of concentrated toead -- people are unable physically distance, do not have otective equipment. these are the lives we need to value and say. i would say there are three principles that i have aboutlated for being health equity, racial equity, social equity. and the first of those is valuing all individual populaons equally. when you value somebody, protect them. you invite their input.

you celebrate them. you invest in them. but certainly, we need to recognize these are our brothers and sisters. they have been put in danger. we need to do cars or to is much as possible, continue to get them out of danger. for those who remain incarcerated, we need to offer the protection 90. amy: detention centers as well where immigrants are in prisons all over the country and along the border. again, hotspots -- particularly when it comes to the issue of -- skyrocketed with more than 4000 active infections among prisoners of the highest number since the pandemic began. altogether, after 22,000 prisoners tested positive for covid-19 in california and at , prisonersve died

that same quit authorities are preparing to transfer people to other prisons despite the covid-19 levels being at an all-time high. this is a journalist who spoke to democracy now! from san quentin. >> the problem with the transfers, all california ,risons are enclosed unventilated. our leaders are telling us, don't mingle with people you , wear a mask inside. oncan't be operating alternative facts when it comes to enclosed, unventilated buildings. we can't cap one set of rules -- cap have one set of rules for restaurants, gyms, no slides, etc., and another for prisons.

amy: speaking from inside san quentin. y's be transferred as early as today. the responsibility of authorities when it comes to the people theincarcerate, with the responsibity and cang for them? >> i'm sorry? amy: if you can discuss the responsibility of federal authorities or state authorities when it comes to who they incarcerate and caring for them when they are inside? >> they do have a responsibili. theyave a responsibility of care and protection. but even if they did not care about those people, the people ey have often dehumanized, e people over policed in the communities and over sentenced and the like, we have to also recognize what happens inside the prisons gets into the communitin a number of voice. ofre's so much turn in terms

lack and bravo speak in and out of prisons, people who work in the prisons. of course we need to diet equally, but even if people did not, the self-interested terms nothe super spreader events being constricted or maintained inside the prisons by getting into the communities, should also motivate -- clearly, we -- these people are people. these are our brothers and sisters. as bryan stevenson says, we should not be judged by the worst things we've done in my. we're so much bigger than the life.thing we've done in amy: and bars do not prevent the transmission of coronavirus and this applies to bars as well. youcamara phyllis jones, have called for a sec. of equity. explain. thees, well, i believe biden-here's the administrion

already recognizes the importance of infusing attention to equit throughout allf the administration and all of our efforts. when i talked about a sec. of equity, it would be a role that would acknowledge these three principles for achieving health equity, valuing all individuals and populations equally, recognizing and rectifying historical injustices. and then providing resrces according to need, not equally but according to need -- ours developing a metric of need and then having a political spine to distribute resources based on that. the secretary of equity would interdigitated with other departments. so helping the transportation department figure out how to revalue individuals and populations equally. how do we recognize and rectify this struggle injustices? how do we provide resources

acrding to need? immigration, education, housing, labor, all of these departments with the same guiding principles and then making those operationalizing those principles within their wheelhouse, within the realm? i think this is very important. in order to get to racial justice, economic justice, as helpjustice as well justice, we need to be about equity in all of our work. it can't be something -- one more thing about this, with the secretary of equity, should be that equity is all that another departments are free to go to my right? this would be something acrosswould say perhaps the department and the biden-centers unity task force has been making similar calls.

so i am hopeful that something like that will be established. amy: at an event hosted by the national urban league tuesday, dr. anthony fauci credited african-american scientist dr. kizzmekia corbett, an african back inside just. this is dr. corbett, senior research fellow working with the vaccine research center speaking in a report by abc news. >> what i what people understand is that the safety and the development of these vaccines is not any dierent than what has been happening before the requirements from this fda are actually more robust than they have been before. i also understand there are issues of lack of trustworthiness. i say it in that way because understating the onus of gaining the public's trust lies in the hands of people like me from the

vaccine developed a standpoint and the institution where i am employed, for example, to earn trust that has been stripped from people over the course of centuries. i wanted to make it clear the work we have been doing for so it., i personally stand by with essentially all of my being. amy: that is dr. corbett of the national institutes of health who helped to develop the vaccines. cancamara phyllis jones, you talk about her significance? an amazing, she is scientist. i had an opportunity to be on a panel with her sponsor by the congressional black caucus foundation if people are interested, september 16 event. it is important she is en leading the science. i would say i agree tt our

evaluation has been done by scientists and not by the politicians. i will say the first vaccine that has received emergency use authorization has shown amazing ability stop symptomatic disease. we have early safety da which reassures us -- but there remain many questions. part of being trustworthy is not trying to convie or cajole anybody into taking a vaccine, it is to hear people's questions and then answer the questions truthfully and clearly. worse about the answers right now maybe "we don't know." we actually don't know because the typical amount of time that somebody has been followed aer their second dose is two months. so we don't know about six months or one year complicatis. ey followed 40,000 people.

we don't know about rare complication that might occur in 100,000. it all said and done, i know i would rather live with the uncertainty of having taken the vaccine as opposed to the premature death associated with covid-19. so when my turn comes in line to get the vaccine, i am going to accept it. but we have toontinue strong safety monitoring as we rollout the vaccine so that we can answer se of the actions that remain unanswered so far. people,talk about why particularly african-americans and flattening and native american people, are concerned about this vaccine looking at the history of extreme meditation. i went to turn to dr. leon mcdougle, the president of the national medical association, which represents african-american physicians and their patients. the nma launched a covid-19

taskforce this summer in hopes of providing one central place for reliable coronavirus information for the black community. he spoke to pbs newshour. close wanted to be that trusted source and have an independent nonpartisan lens looking at the data to form a bridge of clarity people to understand but in fact is true and what in fact is fiction. this is part of what i do every day. doctor needs to teach. it is not a dictatorship. we negotiate. 's concern about a particular side effect. discussion,ed informed consent. that is what we do as health care professionals. amy: that is dr. leona dougal.

in new york today, the vaccine coordination center goes into effect as a massive public education campaign goes out in new york city, for example, as is happening all over the country. but this distressed he was just talking about, informed consent, something african-americans did not have when it came to, for example, the tuskegee experiments that led to the deaths of 70 african-american men thinking they were being treated for syphilis when they were left to die. >> that's right. the distrust is not just based on historil. there amid many hisrical -- there have been many historical abuses with the enslaved women consent forgotten gotgical experiments -- illogical experiments, the sterilization forced without

consent iluding also in puerto rico and many places. history such a long of abuse of black and brown and indigenous bodies in our society by the mical profession. but these are not just in the distant past. they continue today. just months ago, we were hearing about in one of the detention centers people getting hysterectomies without their knowledge. trustworthine is a very important thing that is not on the part of people to trust, but others to evidence the trustworthiness which has to go beyond the vaccine. it has to be supported people to this pandemic by providing a living wage or a universalasic income for those of us o haven't -- who have lost their jobs. we have to have eviction moratoria and foreclosure moratoria. we have to provide attractive

equipment to all of our essential workers and all of our workplaces. we have to have the occupational health and safety administration promulgate workplace safety standards in the context of covid-19, and then regulate people a ensure the standards are met. we should not be protecting employers from suits in case people in their employ get sick or die. we had this just trustworthiness not just an isolated singlin trustworthiness in terms of the vaccine, if we're going to demonstrate we value all of our lives, then we have to value all aspects of our lives and not just try to say you have to do this for the good of the whole when the good of the whole has not been trying to protect each of us. amy: dr. camara phyllis jones, thank you for joining us, family physician, epidemiologist, and past president of the american public health association. teachers at the emory school of

public health and the morehouse school of medicine. speaking to us from atlanta, georgia. when we'd come back, the army's five forces been a general and soldiers stationed at fort hood where 20-year-old soldier vanessa guillén was sexually harassed before she was bludgeoned to death earlier this year. her family says they are still pushing for justice and there is a built in congress. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the u.s. army has fired or suspended 14 officers and including a general, stationed at fort hood, texas, after an investigation into sexual assaults and murders at the army's largest base found they are "directly related to leadership failures." congress launched the probe in part due to pressure from the family of 20-year-old soldier vanessa guillén, who was sexually harassed at the base

before she was bludgeoned to death. vanessa went missing in april and her remains were only found in a july when her family traveled to talk to congress. her sister mayra guillén responded to news ofhe firings last week. >> we're going to keep pushing. we're going to keep asking for the legislation to be passed in order to be able to help others who need our help. we don't need this to happen again. i guess you could say we are satisfied with the investigation today. there was an individual, we asked for them to be removed and they have been removed. on it is for us to keep asking for justice to find those who are responsible and keep the investigation going to see who has to be held accountable. amy: a panel of five independent investigators spent several weeks at fort hood and found a widespread pattern of violence,

including murder, sexual assault and harassment. they also collected more than 31,000 responses to a survey on sexual assault and harassment and found many women were afraid to report abuse because previous cases went unpunished. this is panel member carrie ricci speaking to reporters last tuesday. >> i just want to add one of the things the soldiers at fort hood, many of them needed, was to be believed. and that is what we did. we listened. so if any of them see this, i want them to know, we believe you. that was a really important take away was to believe. amy: a proposed bill before congress called the i am vanessa guillén act would transform misconduct inquiries. this comes as veterans groups joining calls to fire the veterans affairs secretary robert wilkie after an inspector general's report found he try to steer a woman who filed a complaint of sexual assault at a va hospital. for more, we're joined by pam

campos-palma, the senior political strategist and head of the vets for the people project at the working families party. she is an air force veteran. welcome back to democracy now! explain what happened last week. who are these 14 people who have been firedr suspended? >> thank you f having me back. we don't ally know. fort hood, lasteek waan explosive moment where really what was exposed in the report is what many advocates, veterans, callous and let your members have been saying r years, frankly. fort hood has been known as a less than desirable duty station because of theseajor problems of viole crime. it is clear the base continues to be a clear danger to anyone that serves, works, lives on or off that post. importantly, when they say 14 leaders were fired or suspended, they havenly released a few names. it is important we continue to

push for transparency because this could be an opportunity to tell the world come if you have more rake, mr responsibility. or this could be another part of the course scapegoating junior officers and enlisted. importantly, what is fired even mean? are they fired from fort hood? are they fired from the army? does this mean a court-martial? do they get to retire with military benefits at the right while the report is a good first step, like the guillén has said, there is much more to be seen. amy: for people who are not familiar with the case of vanessa guillén, even how her body was found, what happened to her, complaints before she died, can you take us through that, pam? >> of course. i vividly remember when vanessa guillén was missing. really important is to not forget the recent any tion was

really taken, in my view, is because oria guillén, her mother, rking-class latina who does not speak english, took the army on when her daughter was missing. in the report, it should be noted thereas a section on the fact there really isn't strong protocols around awol soldiers. but missing.uillén she had told her mother she was being sexually harassed by superior ranking person. the army negated that. they undermined the guillés in saying there was proof her daughter -- theidaughter, their sister vessa guillén was in fact being sexually harassed, which is the >> of the report, which is why you hear this ms. ricci said people just want to be believed. they are not believe. and then her body was found. base waswas found of

really important, vanessa guillén was murdered on fort hood. her property, her keys, her cell phone were found on the base. the biggest question per month has been, where is the army's accountability, the department of defense accountability for keeping our soldiers safe? vanessa guillén is one of many. there have been around 30 fromers who have deaths noncombat injuries at fort hood, which is why there's been a nationwide movement of public pressure to make sure there is accountability. importantly, what i think is often lost, it took men -- women, military members, and veterans early on segment would ycott enstment a demanded a shutdown at the base. partularly latina who e the hight growing population enstment -- enlistment

population. it has been months of pressure, asking where is congress, where is army leadership accounting for these systemic failures that have happened decades? amy: can you talk about the imv vanessa guillén bill in congress, that calls for, who is fighting against it? >> the i am vanessa guillén bill is a compilation of many ' pleas fordvocates years. this is not new. it is not new tcongressr dod. the i am vanessa guillén bill, most important, is demanding the military cant investigate itself. thbill most certainly says you must take this out of the hands of the dod. ere must be an independent means for investigating these

kinds of criminality -- ese kinds of crimes. additionally, the i am vanessa guillén bill seeks to codify what is assault, what is harassment. the ugly truth is that rape culture is the luke perry culture. military training for many years in the traditional institution has hearkened on training that invokes racism and sexism, and that culture is not unique to fort hood. the i am vanessa guillén bill seeks strong structural transformation and reform that make this an operational imperative and natnal security imperative. ahead. >> the people who are fighting a better question is, who has been silt? who doesn't want to take on this fight? >am who? >> for me, onef the most

glaring parts of the report not to be glossed over is threport says the oy community ties that fort hood had wasith political and business leaders. my question is, where are the representatives at represent fort hood? that have represented fort hood not just in 202013? roger williams came into office in 2013. john carter has represented that part of fort hood for over 20 years. these are politicians tha hav whd in officat a time ere fort hood had skycketing sexu assaults, suicides, even human trafficking incidents. and a mass shooting. really, the question is, where are the people that we the people elected to serve us who have turned a blind eye to criminality and corruption on

one of the largest bases in the world that lands in their district? another person i have my eyes on is general mark milley. our current chairman of th joint iefs of aff was the base commander of fort hood in 2012-2014. again, at a te when fort hood was at an all-time high for sexual assaults and irease in suicides. there are several military and polical leaders who have failed us and have reay done a disservice because vanessa guillén's dea and murder was preventable. she should be with us now. it was this kind of criminal negligence that allowed for abuse and the abuse of other soldiers. tweetedr sistermayra after was announced 14 people including a general would be suspended or fired that that is not enough, that she nts people brought up on charges and even when they were looking at

just looking for vanessa guillén 's body,hey found remains of other soldie. >> absolutely. these are institutional failures at scale. by t armies own admission and in the report come this is not unique to fo hood. mediary members on social have even after reing the report said come this sounds like sometng -- this reminds me of fort benning, fort bragg, thes oth military bases under the army's purview where there sexualn a vast systemic assault. and these are crimes. too often we talk about sexual traumaas an occupational hazard. withhe milary is dealing large scale corruption and crime and shou be treated as suc if you are a high-ranking general, you do not get to get off the hook and retire and go teach at the war college.

this is an incredible opportunity for the department of defense curb rational leaders -- for congressional leaders to do right not only by the family, but the military and community at large. calls for fort hood to be closed. i want to ask you as you were talking about, do you support that today? i mean, something like 30 people have died in the last year and a connected to fort hood, including by homicide, suicide, accident, illness. also, should fort hood's name be changed? yep trump saying he was commerce just -- congress to strip out of this bill the provision that allows renaming the military bases, including fort benning and fort hood after confederate leaders. to be closed? should it be renamed? >> we are livingn a moment. looking at the bigger picture,

we are looking at a moment where police, ice, military would report to stann one order and claim credibility -- accountability only when it suits them. so renaming fort hood, which i named after one of the most reckless confederate generals, a lot of his people were killed, renaming fort hoodo harriet tubman, let's say, while women and soldiers continueo be raped and abused, is not progress. isot what we need. i don't believe that just renaming -- i actually think campaigns, marketing campaigns that say we are taking care of our troops, tha lk real struural changes, are harmful. absolutely, this report only confirms that fort hood is an egregious failure in dang and on of 800 base, for me, must b

shut down. and ut down means halt all operations on that base at one. you cannot tell your troops and eir soldiers we are fixg the problem, we're going to try to take care of you, but also we are going to continue as business as normal. yes,eal leadership and accountabilityeets halting all operations, shut down fort hood. it is not irredeemable inallation. this is a moment for actual, concrete change. especially if you claim to support the troops. amy: pam campos-palma, thank you for being with us, senior political strategist and head of the vets for the people project at the working families party. she is an air force veteran. and that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] xxxxxxdñooooooooooooooo

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