02/24/21 02/24/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> confirmed, i would be the first native american to serve as cabinet secretary. the historic nature of my confirmation is not lost on me but i will say it is not about me most of rather, i hope this nomination would be an inspiration for americans moving forward together as one nation and creating opportunities for

all of us. amy: interior secretary nominee deb haaland testifies before the senate in her bid to become the first native american cabinet secretary in u.s. history. but she faced harsh questioning from senators over her past criticism of fossil fuel projects. we will speak to native american journalist julian brave noisecat . then we go to a refugee camp on the u.s. border in matamoros, mexico, where asylum seekers have had to brave freezing weather while living in tents as -- and we will also look at the biden adnistration's reversal of trump's remain in mexico policy. >> we remember when we arrived to the immigration office in mexico. they did not give us a place to sleep or anything to eat. we slept on the floor that night. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. top u.s. capitol security officials blamed intelligence failures and each other for the deadly january 6 insurrection as they were questioned tuesday by lawmakers. this is former capitol police chief steven sund. >> no entity, including the fbi, provided intelligence regarding january 6. you should be noted the secretary of homeland security did not issue an elevated or eminent alert in reference to the events at the united states capitol on january 6. we properly planned from estimates ration with possible violence. what we got was a military style coordinated assault. amy: sund resigned after the january 6 attack, as did house sergeant-at-arms paul irving and senate sergeant-at-arms michael stenger, who all said tuesday they did not see a warning sent by the fbi on january 5 that

violent extremists were calling for war against congress. the report quoted an online thread that read "be ready to fight." "congress needs to hear glass breaking, endorsement been kicked in, and blood from their blm and slave soldiers being spilled. get violent. stop calling this a march or rally or a protest. go there ready for war. we get our president or we die." the capitol police however issued its own intelligence report warning of a possible attack three days before january 6. meanwhile, robert contee, acting head of the washington police department, said the defense department was to blame for the slow deployment of national guard members. >> there was not an immediate yes the national guard is on the way.

the response was more focused on in addition to the plan of the optics, how this looks, boots on the ground, on the capitol. my response to that was, simply, i was stunned. i have officers out there literally fighting for their lives. amy: in other news from washington, d.c., the senate confirmed linda thomas-greenfield to be the ambassador to the united nations and tom vilsack as agriculture secretary tuesday. environmental and labor activists say they will pressure vilsack to enact better policies than in his previous tenure at the usda. food & water watch said -- "this administration needs to drastically shift course by supporting sustainable, independent farming, halting the toxic expansion of polluting factory farms, and ultimately prioritizing consumer health and worker safety." meanwhile, interior secretary nominee deb haaland faced harsh

questioning from republin senators tuesday, who questioned her about her opposition to fracking, pipelines, and fossil fuel development. this is congressmember haaland. >> there is no question that fossil energy does and will continue to play a major role in america for years to come. i know how important oil and gas revenues are to critical services, that we must also recognize the energy industry is innovating and our climate challenge must baddressed. amy: if confirmed, deb haaland will be the first native american to serve in a cabinet position. we'll have more on her hearing after headlines with native american journalist julian brave noisecat. in other cabinet news, health and human services secretary nominee xavier becerra faced questis from republicans over his support of reproductive rights. he responded to a question by indiana senator mike braun on

whether he would use taxpayer money to fund abortion services. >> while we probably will not agree all of the issues, i can say we will definitely follow the law when it comes to the use of federal resources. i can make the commitment we will follow the law. amy: he was also questioned about his support of the affordable care act and former attorney general of california. the house will vote friday to pass the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. the bill's inclusion of a $15-an-hour minimum wage increase remains at risk in the senate though as moderates joe manchin of west virginia and arizona's kyrsten sinema oppose the move. manchin instead proposed an increase to just $11 an hour. consumer advocacy group public citizen is calling on the u.s. to agree to a temporary waiver on intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines. the u.s. is blocking an

international move to waive wto rules, which require countries guarantee drug companies' monopoly control -- monopoly control and contributes to vaccine nationalism. as of last week, 130 countries had not yet received a single vaccine dose. in lebanon, scandal has erupted and the world bank threatened to suspend financing for the country's vaccination program after a group of lawmakers received shots inside the parliament building, ahead of people who were registered on priority lists. over 200 members of the rabbinical human rights organization truah are calling on the israeli government to distribute coronavirus vaccines to palestinians, citing the moral and legal imperative to vaccinate all residents of the occupied territories. a warning to our audience, the next three headlines contain descriptions of violence.

in new york, a grand jury has decided not to file charges against the rochester police officers involved in the death of daniel prude. prude died last march from asphyxiation after officers handcuff him while he was naked, put a hood over his head, then pushed his face into the freezing cold ground for two minutes while kneeling on his back. new york attorney general letitia james, whose office led the investigation, denounced the decision saying her office had presented "the most comprehensive case possible." in a statement, james said tuesday -- "daniel prude was in the throes of a mental health crisis and what he needed was compassion, care, and help from trained professionals. tragically, he received none of those things." in georgia, the mother of ahmaud arbery, the 25-year-old black

man who was chased down and shot to death while out for a jog, has filed a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit against the white men who killed her son. the lawsuit also accuses law enforcement officials and local prosecutors of attempting to cover up evidence during the investigation. the suit was filed on the first anniversary of ahmaud arbery's killing as people around the country marked his memory by going on a run and using the hashtag #runwithmaud. in california, a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of angelo quinto -- a 30-year-old navy veteran who died in december after police officers kneeled on his neck -- has revealed gruesome details about his death. quinto was reportedly suffering a mental health crisis when his family called 911 for help. antioch police officers who arrived at the scene restrained quinto by the legs and kneeled

on the back of his neck for nearly five minutes while he was handcuffed. his mother said he pleaded, "please don't kill me. please don't kill me." quinto lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital where he died three days later. the antioch police department revealed few details of quinto's death for weeks, but his family launched their own investigation. in india, a court has granted bail to 22-year-old climate activist disha ravi. she was arrested last weekend and accused of sedition for sharing a document tweeted by swedish climate activist greta thunberg with information on how to support the ongoing farmworkers' protest. the judge said the case against ravi had "scanty and sketchy evidence." in niger, mohamed bazoum was declared the winner of the presidential election. the former interior minister beat out ex-president mahamane ousmane, who alleged fra but

did not provide any evidence. at least eight election officials were killed since polling day, sunday, from explosive devices. bazoum's presidency will mark the first-ever transfer of power between two democratically elected governments in niger. in malta, a man has pleaded guilty in the 2017 car bomb assassination of anti-corruption reporter daphne caruana galizia and will receive a 15-year prison sentence. vincent muscat is one of three men charged with planning and executing her murder. malta police arrested three other men this week suspected of supplying the bomb that killed caruana galizia. in algeria, thousands took to the streets monday despite heavy police presence to mark the second anniversary of mass demonstrations which led to the resignation of president abdelaziz bouteflika in 2019.

>> we stopped protesting due to the coronavirus pandemic, but we have returned february 22 protest and continue until our goals are achieved, god willing. the students will not stop and will return to the streets. long live algeria. amy: a group of democratic senators has introduced legislation proposing sanctions for honduran president juan orlando hernández and blocking financial aid and ammunition sales to honduran law enforcement over human rights violations and corruption. hernández has been linked to drug trafficking in at least three major u.s. cases. he is a key u.s. ally. immigrant justice advocates are denouncing the biden adminiration's decion to re-on a texadetentio -- jl founaccompied grant chdren tt was iefly us in 2019nder ump. the rst grouof teensrriv tohe tt facity on nday. officis say the camis neede to avo overcroing and oer ciliti duringhe pdemic.

the cilitys locatein the ty of carupringsnd has dely beeondemng by vocates er its conditis and la of tranarency a how operate fi out-of-state members of texas's power grid operator ercot have resigned in the wake of last week's widespread power outages that plunged millions into darkness in freezing temperatures after deadly winter storms engulfed the state. meanwhile texas electricity company griddy has been hit with a $1 billion class-action lawsuiover price gouging during the storm. president joe biden says he plans to travel to houston on friday. and legendary beat generation poet, artist, and publisher lawrence ferlinghetti has died at the age of 101. ferlinghetti co-created the country's first all-paperback bookstore in 1953, the iconic city lights books in san

francisco. his 1958 collection "a coney island of the mind" remains one of the most popular poetry books in the united states. democracy now! spent the hour with ferlinghetti in 2007. he read an excerpt from his book "poetry as insurgent art." >> be subversive, constantly questioning reality and the status quo. strive to change the world in such a way that there's no further need to be a dissident. read between the lives, and write between the lines. be committed to something outside yourself. be passionate about it. but don't destroy the world, unless you have something better to replace it. amy: to see our full interview,

go to democracynow.org. lawrence ferlinghetti has died at the age of 101. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. when we come back, we go to the confirmation hearing of congressmember deb haaland. if she is confirmed to be interior secretary, she will be the first native american cabinet member in u.s. history. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: 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: we begin today's show on capitohill. president biden's pick to head the interior department, new mexico congressmember deb haaland, is returning today for a second day of confirmation hearings before the senate committee on energy and natural resources. if confirmed, she would become the first native american to serve as the cabinet secretary in u.s. history. at tuesday's hearing, republican senators grilled her about past comments opposing fracking, the keystone xl oil pipeline, and other fossil fuel projects. but she did have some republican support. republican congressman don young of alaska introduced haaland before the committee and urged republican senators to back her confirmation.

>> the oldest member of both bodies, served with 10 presidents and 15 secretaries of interior. there's not much i don't and have not seen. i have a theory because i am a mariner that the captain of the ship has a rig to choose who he has as his crew. i'm not always agreeing but i will say it is responsibility of the president. president biden has chosen deb and she is accepted and i would say spectral you will find out that she will listen to you. she may not change. we do not agree on carbon fuels, you know that. we have said this before. but it is my job to try to venture she is not all right in her job to convince me i'm not all right. that is the important part of the secretary. also keep in mind know the reason i'm supporting her, she is an american indian. i'm quite proud of that fact.

amy: republican congressman don young of alaska introducing new mexico congresswoman deb haaland, president biden's pick to hear the interior department. haaland began her opening statement by speaking in keres, her pueblo language. >> chairman manchin, ranking member barrasso, members of the committee, thank you so much for having me here today. i wouldn't be here without the love and support of my child, somáh, my partner, skip, who is with me this morning sitting behind me, my mom mary toya, who's watching from isleta pueblo, my extended family, and generations of ancestors who have sacrificed so much so i could be here today. i acknowledge that we are on the ancestral homelands of the nacotchtank, anacostan, and piatscaway people. as many of you know, my story is unique. although today i serve as a member of congress and was the

vice chair of the house natural resources committee, if confirmed, i would be the first native american to serve as cabinet secretary. this historic nature of my confirmation is not lost on me, but i will say it's not about me. rather, i hope this nomination would be an inspiration for americans moving forward together as one nation and creating opportunities for all of us. as the daughter of a pueblo woman, i was taught to value hard work. my mother is a navy veteran, was a civil servant at the bureau of indian education for 25 years, and she raised four kids as a military wife. my dad, the grandson of immigrants, was a 30-year career marine who served in vietnam. he received the silver star and is buried at arlington national cemetery. i spent summers in mesita, our small village on laguna pueblo, the location of my grandparents' traditional home. it was there that i learned

about my culture from my grandmother, by watching her cook and by participating in traditional feast days and ceremonies. it was in the corn fields with my grandfather where i learned the importance of water and protecting our resources where i gained a deep respect for the rth. i not a stranger to the am struggles many families across america face today. i have lived most of my adult life paycheck to paycheck. i pieced together healthcare for me and my child as a single mom, and at times relied on food stamps to put food on the table. it is because of these struggles that i fully undstand the role interior must play in the president's plan to build back better, to responsibly mane our natural resources to protect themor future generations so that we can continue to wo, live, hunt, fish, and pray among them. if confirmed, i will work my heart out for everyone. the family stuff also feel workerwho help build our

country, raters and farmers to care deeply for their lan communities with legacies of toxic pollution, people of color whose stories deserve to be heard, and those who want jobs of the future. i vow to lead the interior department ethically and with honor and integrity. i will listen to and work with members of congress on both sides of the aisle. i will suppo intrterior's public servants and be a careful steward of taxpayer dollars. i will ensure that the interior department's decisions are based on science. i will honor the sovereignty of tribal nations and recognize their part in america's story, and i'll be a fierce advocate for our public lands. amy: interior secretary nominee deb haaland speaking at her confirmation hearing tuesday. democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia chairs the senate energy and natural resources committee that is holding the hearing. he reportedly has not yet decided whether he will back deb

haaland's confirmation. he questioned her tuesday. >> any opening statement, you noted fossil energy does and will continue to play aole in macro for years tomoe. do you believe it is our best interest to maintain our energy independence? what do you see fossil energy playing in that? >> thank you, chairmanfor that queson. course we absolutely need energy independence. i believe president biden agrees with that statement as well. i know we want to move forward with some clean energy. we want to get to net zero. as the chairwoman of the subcommittee on national parks and public lands, yes, 25% of our carbon comes om public lands. i think as we move forward with the technogy that you and i spoke abouwhen we had our conversation, we want to move forward with innovations and all of this for our energy needs.

so that it's not going to happen overnight. we will absolutely rely on the fossil energy that you and the ranking members spoke about in your opening statements, but at the same time, i think we can move forward wh t technoly and innovation as well. >> i think you much know my position on that. i am totally committed to innovation. amy: we're joined now by julian brave noisecat, indigenous journalist and vice president of policy & strategy at the think tank data for progress. his latest piece for politico is "native americans finally have a cabinet nominee. will an adopted tlingit take her down?" thank you so much for coming back to democracy now! can you give us your takeaways from yesterday's hearing? deb haaland will continue today in her confirmation hearing, to make history, become the first

native american cabinet member. >> first, thank you for having me on, amy. it is always a pleasure. i have a few takeaways from yesterday's meeting, yesterday's hearing, excuse me. the first would be that republicans on the committee were trying really hard to get the sort of charge exchange that plays well to their base and their audience on hannity and tucker carlsen. i don't think they got that kind of an exchange. i had fox news oin the background last night while i was doing some writing. there was not a peep about the hearing. the first thing i would say is conservatives like republican danes of montana, ranking member of the committee john barrasso of wyoming, all signaled there were going to make this a fight and then took a number of swings

at secretary haaland. i think they will be fishing for sub essentially -- essentially some content for their viewers in today's hearing. i will be keenly watching to see if they end up landing those punches. the second thing i would point out is congresswoman haaland i think was very thoughtful in her responses and incredibly measured i heard her say something to the effect of after being grilled by these republican senators, saying i look foard to working with you and thank you for your question and things like that. she must have said that nearly a dozen times in the hearing. but i think she came with a presence that made me very proud to be native. she introduced herself in her language.

she acknowledged the territory of the people on the lands the hearing was taking place. when you juxtapose her presence in the hearing with the history of interior, a department that was once led by man named alexander stewart who described the interior department's role in the united states policy as needing to be one of civilingiz or exterminating native people -- that is a quote he ed. i think it w a very, very powerful and important sort of moment for the country. native people tuned in from across the country to watch that hearing in the middle of the day. lastly, i would say there were some moments where i think some of the exchanges really went well for congresswoman haaland. there is one in particular where

senator steve daines, the leader of the charge against haaland, asked her why she supported a bill that would protect grizzly bears in perpetuity, to which the secretary designate respondent, "i believe i was caring for the bears." which is a wonderful, very simple response. immediately, with the folks following on the internet, people started tweeting about that. people were using deb for interior, which was treing. the people staed using #debfo rbears on twitter to play on this hilarious thing where voting for protections for grizzlies is supposed to be a big conservative -- i think in that, there is a way in which native people are incredibly well practiced in the art of

poking fun at the antagonists. we have had to do this for hundreds of years. i kind of liked how the tables got turned back around on republicans in terms of the narrative. i thought it was a good day and i will be watching closely today. juan: some o the critics of her nomination have pointed to her relative lack of experience and also to her participation -- her presence at standing rock dan her support for the water protectors fighting the dakota access pipeline. but there was an op-ed piece by two former u.s. editors, mark udall and m udall, former senators of colorado and -- who also said that ryan zinke, president trump's nominee, only had one term in congress when he was named to the department of

interior and there was no big raising of criticism about his lack of experience then. i am wondering how you feel these things affect the vote in the senate? >> i thought the util senators, former senators, made good points in the op-ed. zinke got 68 votes in the senate. i don't think anyone anticipates haaland getting anywhere near that amount of votes. i think something the udall's identified, as soon as we get the first ever native cabinet secretary nominated, conservatives act like we're going to take away their land

and their way of life and things like that. they literally have used things like "way of life" in some other quotes criticizing haaland. listening to a number of western politicians talk about how perhaps native people are going to turn around and take away things from them strikes me as deeply ironic, perps even haa freudian expression of the conservative bid, if you will. of course, none of that actually matches reality. yes, social -- secretary designate haaland comes with more experience than any prior interior secretary, the fact she is a representative of the first peoples come the fact she went to the camps" for the water protectors. those are experiences that no other interior secretary can say

they have on the resume. she also has a very strong track record as a red -- legislator. in 2016 they had to goodyear in an otherwise venue for democrats. and lastly, what is really troubling to me the way conservatives are coming at the secretary designate is if you look at her track record in congress, of all house freshmen, she introduced the most bills with bipartisan supportn i the 116th congre. on paper, she is one of the best just leaders at reaching across the aisle. yet republicans in the media are trying to paint her as some sort of divisive partisan when she is never been that. listen to what congressman young had to say about her. amy: i would like to turn to john barroso from wyoming

questioning congressmember haaland. >> is a general matter, should the federal government continue to permeate oil and gas wells in this country? >> yes, and i believe that is happening. >> should the federal government continue to permeate coal mines in this country? >> yes. ranking member, if i could say i know colema''s were not a part of president biden's executive order. >> is a gener matte should the federal government continue to permit lithium another hard rock mines in this country? >> senator, i believe if we do these things in a responsible manner and protect the health and safety of workers, i see us moving forward. the eah isrt here to provide for us. that is my belief. >> to the federal governmen continue to permit natural gas pelines and it is country? >> senator, as i mentioned in my opening statement, i believe this will go on for quite some time. i know that president biden has

put a pause on new leases, not existing ones. >> the question was on pipelines. for the federal government continue to permit oil pipelines in the country? >> senator, with respect to the department of interior, wherever pipelines fall under the authory of the department of interior, of course. amy: so that is the interior secretary nominee deb haaland respondingre to senator john barroso, who is a doctor, who also criticized haaland for once tweeting "republicans don't believe in science." he asked her about her tweet and she responded, "if you're a doctor, i would assume you believe in science." she asked if he was believe this. julian brave noisecat, if you can respond what congressmember haaland is saying, what her record is, and what you think

needs to happen going foard?rw >> firstly, i would say ranking member barrasso's history of comments on climate change is quite notable for a doctor who believes in science. as recently as 2014, for example, he said science on climate change was not settled. so i thought that was interesting line of questioning for someone whose statements of record are googleable. nonetheless, that is the direction he chose to go. i think of course the interior department throughout its history, essentially under the surface, a real economic interest at stake. if you look at the campaign contributions to the republican members of the senate energy and natural resource committee, you would find among all of these senators, they are taking a lot

of money from oil and gas interests, mining interests. if you total it all out, it would be in the millions of dollars type of figure for all of it put together. of course, on the one hand i think it is reasonable to ask about impacts to industries that are significant in a state, but on another level, i think it is reasonable to ask what the influence on all that money might be in the way these senators legislate. i think coming into an institution, both the senate and interior, which has for years essentially been selling off permits to lease and drill for oil and gas on public lands for pennies on theollar, these are institutions that are very stuck in their ways, that are very wedded to the fossil fuel industry and economy as existed in this country, which has been through a large amount of

subsidany d access to public lands for many, many years. and to come in and change that, it is obvious i think that secretary designate haaland is on the side of significant change. she did go to the camps as standing rock. i think she has to work with elected officials and the ions that she has -- which, in this instance, means getting through the senate committee on energy and natural resources, getting the votes for her confirmation, then working with the permitting and leasing processes as necessary. juan: i wanted to ask you about president biden's proposed civilian climate corps, which was raised several times in the hearing, and your sense of how secretary designate haaland would deal with that climate

core and its impact possibly on her votes? >> so the civilian climate core i think is a very interesting idea. it is one of the ideas that you can tie directly to the green new deal event. it echoes the new deal before it. in the new deal, there was the civilian conservation corps, which was public works project where we got for unemployed people back to work building parks, protecting and cleaning up parks, prectiotng the environment. there is now a similar idea that has been percolating in circles getting young americans back to work through a new program called -- which would be called civilian climate conservation corps. i think this is a very exciting idea. i personally come if i was just coming out of high school or college, i might have look at someinthg like that getting some

sort of job in in it. obviously, interior has the parks under it. about 1/5 of the nation's plants. a lot of that program will ultimately run through, hopefully, secretary haaland's executive authority. amy: we just have 30 seconds, but clearly, senator manchin is a kingmaker right now in the senate, conservative democrat determining whether nra tanden gets confirmed, questions whether he will support deb haaland, comes from st virgin -- iabig coal senator. your thoughts on his significance and the significance of the republican murkowski? this all rests on them. clubs yes. so senator murkowski is an adopted member of the tlingit and won historically through

write-in. i think there's a decent chance she goes to confirm haaland similarly, mentioned does not have that many native voters into ste but i think he understands the importance of the historic moment. while i think you can ask some tough qutions of haaland, i am hopeful he will also do the right thing. amy: julian brave noisecat, thank you for being with us, journalist and vice president of policy & strategy at the think tank data for progress. we will link to your piece in politico, "native americans finally have a cabinet nominee. will an adopted tlingit take her down?" next, refugee camp on the u.s.-texas border in matamoros, mexico, where asylum-seekers have had to brave freezing weather while living in tents. and we will look at the biden reversal of trump's remain in mexico policy. how is it working out?

stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] @a

this is democracy now!no, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. we look now at how the biden administration has suspended one of the most controversial

trump policies, the so called "remain in mexico" program, officially called the migrant protection ptocols, or mpp. starting in 2019, the policy forced tens of thousands of in the united states to wait ine dangerous conditions, in crowded and squalid refugee camps along the border in mexico while their cases make their way through u.s. courts. biden has put a hold on adding any new migrants to the program and says about 25,000 of the people who are currently in it will be allowed into the united states while the cases are processed if they meet certain criteria. this is asylum seeker marlen, speaking to the advocacy group people without borders about facing homelessness in mexico with her family after they asked the u.s. for protection. >> we vividly remember we arrived to the immigration office in mexico.

they did not give is a place to sleep or anything to eat. our children slept on the floor that night. amy: well, on friday, the first 25 migrants who had been under the mpp program crd osseprfrom tijuana, mexico, into san diego, california. homeland security secryetar alejandro mayorkas said about 300 asylum-seekers per day could soon be processed. but problems have been reported with the government's new online portal and the rollback of mpp has yet to start at the other major border crossing -- in brownsville, texas. the matamoros refugee camp on the other side of the border is the largest one of its kind. it holds hundreds of men, women, and children seeking asylum, most of them fleeing extreme violence and poverty in guatemala, el salvador, and honduras. some have been waiting since july 2019 when mpp first began. -- was expanded to the texas water. now they have endured freezing

temperatures during the winter storm last week. to learn more about the conditions in the camp and when people will allowed into the united states, we are joined by three guests. in texas, valerie gonzalez is with us, an investigative reporter covering the rio grande valley for the monitor, valley morning star and the brownsville herald. from the refugee camp dison, , asylum seeker from honduras who fled his country in march 2019 and arrived at the matamoros refugee mpcare last february he is using his first name order in order to protect his safety and is a member of the board at solidarity engineering, which is working to improve conditions at the camp. we also have chloe rastatter, a field engineer for solidarity engineering. valerie, we could not reach you earlier. you go back and forth between matamoros and texas. talk about the conditions on the ground and what is happening with mpp.

are ylum-seekers going to be allowed through? ? valerie, re-able to hear? i question to you, talk about the conditions on the ground in the matamoros in these refugee camps and how the mpp program is now movingwa reversing trump's policy. >> i for problems hearing this question. the conditions have shifted over the time as mpp started with people just sleeping close to the bridge tsidoue of the n office in the beginning. there were a couple of women that were pregnant and they were sleeping under a desk that was outside. they were sleeping under a roof

that was kind of open and you could see it as you're going through the bridge. that shifted -- right before you cross the border. people were sleeping outdoors in tents. it was pretty disorganized. then it became a little more formal when people started just bringing more tents and there's a lot of nonprofits, organizaons whwoo uld help on the u.s. side and also on the mexico side. that slowly became a larger camp. on another side, there is a sin -- fence that divides. they started pushing them that way. so the public could use the --

that area is where they have been living at. there been many who ve left. as some point, the camp was in the thousands, about 2000 i believe. the census taken about a week ago, 350 families come about 750 people. they were living -- they are living in tents. you could see different kinds of materials that are strung together to try and protect them from the weatherea. it was particularly difficult last week with the cold temperatures. i was out there with them ovfoernight r one night and it was challenging to see how they kept warm and how they got going again in the morning. the water was hard to use. if you wash your hands, it would feel like it was burning her hands because it was so cold.

the people are very resilient. they have been adapting to all the kinds of challenges that they face. aside from the weather, one of the most difficult challenges his safety. there are women living alone. sometimes they have children, sometimes on their own. that has presented a lot of challenges such as trying to keep themselves safe at night. some of the women will try and find someone else to go with because it is unsafe. there have been incidents they would tell me about where men will enter their tents and harm them or just -- you know, i think they fear what might happen to the personal safety. thankfully, the woman i spoke to

has not been assaulted in any way but she had -- there had been an attempt. a man tried to enter her tent. she made a lot of noise. she was able to find safety. but that is something that is a daily challenge. juan: i woulde lik wto bring in dison. if you could, you are an asylum seeker from honduras. licould you talk about how the mexican government and the government officials have been dealing with the asylum-seekers as they wait in the camps? >> this has enbe fairly challenging. the government -- not much help to us.

[indiscernible] we were looking for help. >> we also -- amy: i want to say our guests are wearing masks so everyone should listen clely. when each of you sak screen i te easier to hear you as you sit side-by-side. >> as dison was saying, we have gotten little government support on the ground with this transition. there is extreme cold in the camp the past week. the power outage has highly

affected -- the website and acumen occasion between [indiscernible] there's been a lot of questions. people were supposed to start crossing on monday from the cap. that has not happened. we're not sure when it is going to happen. they say mpp is over, but there is a camp of over 1000 people here and 6500 have been affected by the policies. juan: in terms of the many people who are no longer in the camps, who oginally applied for alum but peaps are no longer waiting in the camps, it's are going be any attempt to try to relocate them either by groups, civil society groups or by the government itself as far as you can tell? >> so therere a -- it is quite

complicated because people have been living in these conditions for two years. a lot of people have opted to go home, crossed into the u.s., disappeared and nobody knows where they're going. on top of that, although mpp is over, title 42 is still being enacted. we are sing eeeffects of large migrations specifically in the haitian population,on but also people fcerom opntral america. they're coming to our border and getting stuck at the water in really dangerous condireons. -- stuck at the border in really dangerous conditions, causing a humanitarianrisis. it cannot be addressed by who we have on the ground now. organizations have been working under mpp for two years. people living in absolutely terrible conditions and dangerous places. a huge influx of deportees coming in at a huge influx of

new migrants are trying to come and cross but are being denied because of title 42. amy: just to understand, said a huge number of deportees coming in. you mean people being deported from the united states, although the biden administration says there are longer doing that? >> yes, exactly. the deportations that ware seeing right now at the mexico bord is creating -- perpetuating the cycle of violence at the border. a lot of the deportees are people that came to seek asylum and ended up being stuck at the border for so long in conditions that they could n [inaudible] crossing to the u.s. and get deported. once someone gets deported, they lose access to services. juan: i wanted to ask valerie gonzalez, you've been reporting on both sides of the border. could you talk about community

opinion on the u.s. side of the border about the continuing problems in terms of asylum-seekers seeking to come in? obviously, there's been a lot of attention since the last election. there was a rise in trump voters along the counties in the rio grande valley. i was wondering if you could talk about public opinion on the u.s. side, even though -- it is a largely mexican-american community on the u.s. side. >> yes, that was something that i think caught a lot of people off guard was the amount of support the previous president had along the border. it is obviously still there. at the reasons are different that what many have suspected. for example, immigration is an issue that i think a lot of politicians believe mexican american voters are concerned

with. and they are, the some extent. but largely, the people that were voting for president trump were people who were concerned about their jobs, concerned about the oil fields. that is what they were telling the republican chair and a stark county where they voted with the greatest margin, difference from the previous presidential election to this one. they were very close. the assad significant gains in another county, the most popular ty along the rio grande valley border. people are concerned about tirhe jobs, concerned just making sure they have enough money to bring food home and sustain families. immigration was important in the border wall was any issue that a lot of people along the border are affected by but are not

equally concerned -- there are some people who are ardently opposed to it and tome ranch owners who work with the government and cooperate but the perception of those on the other side -- i think those sympathize a lot with people who are stuck in matamoros because we all know how dangerous it is to cross mexico. it is particularly more unsafe if you are suspected to be there and are not from the community because you are preyed upon. i think we all understand along the border, it is different on the mexican side. t when mpp started, i talked to the city manager for brownsville and asked him what he thought about what he

expected it to be along the border. when we have asylum-seekers who are coming in -- amy: 10 seconds. >> we have a large number of people coming to the border, they will cross border cities and the city manager then said it would at least give them some financial reprieve, which they have seen. amy: dison, we want to give you the last word. you have been there for two years. what gives you hope? >> i am a christian. i preach the gospel of jesus christ. i'm trying to support [indiscernible] tell we can make it. we pray a lot that he can be changed.

no have the joe biden administration -- amy: we have to leave it there but we will continue to cover this story. dison, asylum seeker, as well as valerie gonzalez, thank?8/

i'm really excited to be in medellín. it's well-known for all the wrong reasons through the 80's and 90's because of the drug wars, peaking with the world's highest murder rate. now, medellín is known for the transformation of the city and the things that have been happening not least since early 2000. i want to find out who is behind this. i want to meet them and i want to hear if what i've heard about medellín is real.