03/24/21 03/24/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: less than a week after the horrific murders of eight people and the assault on the aapi community in georgia, while the flag was still flying at half staff of the tragedy, other megan cities scarred by gun violence and result in trauma. amy: 10 dead in boulder , colorado.

eight get in atlanta, georgia. two mass shootings in a span of a week. >> this cannot be our new normal. we should be able to feel safe in our grocery stores. we should be able to feel safe in our schools and movie theaters and in our communities. we need to see a change because we have lost far too many lives. amy: as the nation mourns, will lawmakers finally take on the gun lobby and pass gun control? we will go to colorado to speak state representative tom sullivan, who entered politics after his son alex was shot dead with 11 others at a movie theater in aurora, colorado, in 2012. alex had been celebrating his 27th birthday. plus, we will speak to longtime investigative journalist frank smyth, author of "the nra: the unauthorized history." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. calls are mounting to rapidly enact meaningful gun control reform after the second tragic mass shooting in under a week. the 10 victims of the massacre in boulder at a king soopers grocery store have now been identified as denny stong, neven stanisic, rikki olds, tralona bartkowiak, suzanne fountain, teri leiker, kevin mahoney, lynn murray, jody waters, and officer eric talley, who was one of the police officers who responded to the shooting. the suspect, 21-year-old ahmad al aliwi alissa, has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and one charge of attempted murder. police say he purchased an ar-556 pistol less than a week before monday's massacre. family members say they believe alissa suffered from mental

illness, including severe paranoia. president biden called on congress tuesday to pass new restrictions on gun laws. pres. biden: i don't need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take commonsense steps that will save lives and at a future and to urge my colleagues in the house and senate to act. we can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again. amy: the white house also said executive action on guns was being considered. meanwhile, the senate judiciary committee held a hearing on reducing gun violence. this is connecticut democrat senator richard blumenthal. >> and action has made this horror completely predictable. an action by this country makes us complicit. now is the time for action to honor these victims.

amy: the mass shootings in atlanta and boulder are also prompting even louder calls for democrats to end the filibuster as republicans are expected to block passage of any significant gun control reform. we'll have more on all this after headlines. the world health organization is warning most regions of the world are seeing an increase in covid-19 infections. southeast asia has the highest proportion of new cases, which shot up by nearly 50% over the la week. the philippines registered a record high of over 8000 daily covid-19 cases this week as some hospits near capity. the current surge has led to increased restrictions in the sprawling metro manila region. much of the philippines has been under the longest d strictest lockdown in the world as many struggle with hunger and loss of income. righ groups also warn authoritarian presidenrodrigo duterte is using coronavirus

restrictions to further consolidate power. in brazil, covid-19 deaths continue to soar, topping a record 3200 fataties tuesd. brazil is second only to the united states in total deaths and infections. in israel, early but kelly's show prime minister benjamin who -- early polls show prime minister benjamin i know who leads in the polls. if netanyahu or others fail to do so, israel could be headed towards a fifth election to determine the country's next leader. in burma, a seven-year-old girl was fatally shot by security forces, becoming the youngest known victim of the deadly crackdown on protests since the february 1 military coup. her father was reportedly the target of a raid and the young child was killed at home, sitting in his lap.

save the children says over 20 children have been killed in the crackdown. protesters launched a silent strike today in an effort to shut down towns and cities across burma. on monday, the european union and the u.s. imposed sanctions on individuals and groups tied to the coup. some rights groups say the sanctions don't go far enough and should target all of the military junta's economic interests. in ethiopia, prime minister abiy ahmed has acknowledged for the first time eritrean soldiers crossed into the northern tigray region and were involved in the bloody conflict that erupted in november. harrowing witness accounts have emerged of eritrean soldiers killing tigrayan men and boys, and committing acts of sexual violence, including against displaced people. the u.n. has said multiple parties may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity since the start of the conflict.

in mozambique, the united nation's warns up to one million peop could be displaced by june amid the escalating violence in the northern cabo dug out of province. fighters allied with the islamic state group began an anti-government insurgency in 2017. this month the biden administration declared the insurgents a foreign terrorist organization and sent u.s. green berets to mozambique to train soldiers in counter-insurgency. amnesty international said in a new report published this month that all sides in the conflict have committed war crimes, including the insurgents and government forces. in yemen, a new study by save the children has found that children made up at least a quarr of civilian deaths killed in the u.s.-backed, saudi-led war between 2018 and 2020. the group says at least 2300 children were killed during that time, though the true death toll is likely much higher.

earlier this month, the world food programme warned yemen is headed toward the biggest famine in modern history, projecting around 400,000 yemeni children under the age of five could die from acute malnutrition this year as the saudi war and blockade continues. in australia, at least two people are dead and over 40,000 have been evacuated from sidney and other parts of new south wales after the region was battered by record rains, which triggered historic flooding. scientists warn such extreme, deadly weather patterns are becoming australia's new normal as global heating worsens. in honduras, another indigenous lenca environmental activist has been assassinated. 41-year-old juan carlos cerros eslante, who was fighting against a hydroelectric dam in northwestern honduras, was reportedly shot to death in front of his children. at least 12 environmental

activists and land and water defenders were killed in hundreds -- hundred/year. violence has skyrocketed in the country since the u.s.-backed 2009 coup. in texas, two indigenous leaders -- who were forced to flee guatemala in 2019 -- are denouncing the ongoing violence against indigenous land and water defenders, and demanding justice for indigenous political prisoners and assassinated leaders. gaspar cobo and francisco chávez are w seeking asylum in the united states. they were stuck in the border city of juarez for over a year under trump's remain in mexico policy and were ultimately allowed to enter the u.s. after receiving death threats from a local drug cartel. the two were recently released from an ice prison in el paso and held a virtual press conference. >> we are not in the united

states because we are urging fo a better living opportunity. we are hereby force. the best opportunities should be in our communities and these do exist in guatemala but sadly, are unable to livehere because guatemala is a failed state. amy: chávez is a survivor of a 1982 massacre orchestrated by u.s.-backed guatemalan army officials and was a key eyewitness in the genocide case against dictator efraín ríos montt. cobo has long advocated for survivors of the genocide. in minneapolis, a jury has been selected for officer derek chauvin, accused of killing uid. one black woman, three black men, three white men, six white women, and two women who identify as multiracial. opening statements are set for

next monday. here in new york, over 3000 research and teaching assistants at columbia university are on day 10 of their strike demanding fair wages, improvements to healthcare, and childcare provisions. workers are also asking for third-party arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination. democracy now! spoke to some of the strikers. >> colombia i think let's people to have the impression that every course is taught and happened by a tenure professor who has been working here for 40 years and wears a tweet jacket. in reality, this university does not work with graduate students. acknowledging our union is acknowledging that. >> president of this institution is getting paid $4.6 million in salary. the majority of us who make the work of this university possible, enable th mission, are not able to afford rent. think of the u.s. senate has --

amy: the u.s. senate has confirmed vivek murthy to be surgeon general, reprising a role he filled under president obama. murthy was a coronavirus adviser to biden during his campaign and transition. the senate also confirmed shalanda young as deputy director of the office of management and budget. young, who was the democratic staff director for the house appropriations committee, is favored by many powerful democrats to lead the omb after neera tanden withdrew her nomination early this month. in other cabinet news, democratic senators tammy duckworth of illinois and mazie hirono of hawaii stepped back from their threat to block upcoming votes on biden's nominees who are not people of color in protest over the lack of asian americans named to top positions. the senators said they received assurances from the white house late tuesday, which vowed to add a senior level asian american pacific islander liaison. advocates are calling for the release of standing rock water protector steve martinez, who has been behind bars for over

three weeks on contempt charges. martinez refused to give testimony before a federal grand jury about injuries to sophia wilansky, a water protector whose arm was severely wounded during a police crackdown on anti-pipeline protests in 2016. martinez says prosecutors are trying to shift the blame for wilansky's injuries from law enforcement to water protectors. and in illinois, the evanston city council has agreed to pay black residents reparations for historic housing discrimination, making it the first u.s. city to adopt such a measure. the city will distribute some $400,000 to up to 16 families to be used towards housing-related costs. the money comes moly from $10 million fund of marijuana tax revenues. this is delois robinson, whose family was subject to the racist practice of redlining in evanston. >> you know, it kind of deals

with your self-esteem. so it is a thing of, am i good enough to be able to stand on my own and say, no, i what property here or i what to cross the redlining? amy: in related news, earlier this month, catholic jesuit priests vowed to raise $100 million in reparations for descendants of people it forced into slavery. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. when we come back, as the nation mourns the massacres in boulder and atlanta, will lawmakers finally take on the gun lby and pass gun control? we will go to colorado to speak with state representative tom sullivan, who entered politics after his son alex was shot dead with 11 others at the movie theater in aurora, colorado, in 2012.

alex was celebrating his 27th birthday that day. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. mourners have been gathering in boulder, colorado, at a makeshift memorial outside the king soopers supermarket where a gunman using an ar-15 style semi-automatic pistol shot dead 10 people the victims included a monday. poli officer and three grocery store workers. the mass shooting came less than a week after a gunman in the atlanta area killed eight people when he attacked three asian-owned spas. the twin massacres have led to growing calls for new gun control legislation.

on tuesday, president biden called on congress to reinstate an assault weapons ban. mr. biden: i don't need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take commonsense steps that will save lives in the future and to urge my colleagues and senate to act. we can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again. amy: in boulder, the suspected gunman ahmad al aliwi alissa has been charged with 10 counts of murder. alissa is a 21-year-old former high school wrestler. his family says he suffers from delusions. police have not determined a motive. alissa bought the gun onarch 16. the shooting came just a week after a colorado state judge blocked a city law in boulder barring assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, ruling

in favor of the national rifle association's colorado affiliate. on tuesday, democratic congressman joe neguse, who represents boulder, said mass shootings cannot become the new normal. >> there is a lot that we don't know, a lot still unfolding from yesterday's events. but let me simply say this. this cannot be our new normal. we should be able to feel safe in our grocery stores. we should be able to feel safe in our schools, our movie theaters, and in our communities. we need toee a change because we have lost far too many lives. amy: hours after the shooting in boulder, republican congresswoman lauren boebert of colorado sent out a fundraising emailed to supporters, urging them to say "hell no: to gun

control. she was known for owning a restaurant and a, colorado, called shooters real were she encouraged her status openly carry their guns all working. for many residents of colorado, the massacre in boulder brought back painful memories. in 1999, 2 high school students shot dead 12 students and a teacher at columbine high school. in 2012, a gunman shot dead 12 people and injured 70 others when he opened fire at a movie theater in aurora colorado. in 2015, a gunman attacked a planned parenthood clinic in colorado springs, killing three people. we go to colorado, where we are joined by state representative tom sullivan. he entered politics after his son alex was killed in the aurora movie theater shooting on july 20, 2012. alex had gone to the movies to celebrate his 27th birthday. tom sullivan joins us from his home in centennial, colorado.

representative sullivan, welcome to democracy now! condolences on what happened on monday and on the loss of your son. >> thankli you so much. amy: we so appreciate you taking this time. can you talk about where you were about 2:30 on monday when you got the news about what was unfolding and your reaction? >> i was with a friend of mine. we were smoking cigars, watching ncaa basketball, watching the pack 12 win again. was really watching my phone or anything. wasn'until the game was over and we got in the car and all of the sudden i started seeing stuff and by the time i got home, it was, ok, they are having a press conference, get ready. then it was, ok, here we go again. it took me back the date it all

happened to us. i get kind of frozen to the point to watch all of that because i know a lot of those people who have been impacted today are watching everything that was happening to my family and alex's friends and all of that. that is what i was doing as i was watching and seeing how things progressed, knowing the timeline of what is ahead for everybody. amy: let's go back in time. let's go back to your son's 27th birthday when he went to the late-night showing movie at the aurora the header -- theater. you are not a politician then. if you can talk about what unfolded afterwards, your calls for gun control and what brought you into state politics. you ran, lost, ran.

ultimately, you won against a very strong gun advocate. >> that's right. right afterwards -- well compactor the aurora theater massacre that less than six months later we had the sandy hook massacre and that is when -- that was the last time they had a big vote on try to get background checks so we are watching that unfold on tv. i was watching those parents and seeing what they were doing, going to congress, handing out pictures of their children, talking about their children's lives, the brothers and sisters of the teachers who were murdered that day as well passing out pictures and stuff. here in colorado in 2013, we actually passed five, since gun violence prevention bills. we passed a background check

till. we passed a limiting high-capacity magazines. we passed making people pay for background checks, doing things about domestic violence, things about making people show up in front of somebody to get a concealed carry permit. we had a trial that finally got finished and all during that time i would show up anywhere i thought i could my voice be heard. i had to go do to our state capital and fight each year while they tried to repeal the common sense laws that we passed. when the trial was all over, there was kind of a lull of time and i remember it was over thanksgiving weekend, my daughter was headed overseas for a holiday and i told her to give it some thought. i said, i think we do come back i'm going to run for office. i said, this is too much.

i almost went down to the democratic party's door and knocked on the door and said, ok, i'm going to run. which one of these dry run, the senate or house? is there something i need to sign because i'm ready to get started? that is what we did. started putting things together and worked our tails off, learned a lot. people saw the message we're talking about can actually win elections. this is a very republican district. my wife and i have lived here for 29 years. a democrat has never won the seat here before. there were times democrats did not even run. there are statues at the state capital for former republican legislators from this district. we are not going to move because this is our home, this is where alex and megan grew up and that is where we are going to stay. we just did the work, did the

outreach. amy: you lost thfirst time? >> yes, yes. we ran for the senate which is twice as big as our house districts. we have 35 senators. we have 65 state representatives. but we got our name out and we were able to raise money. we got more votes than a democrat has ever gotten for the seat before. this is a district that likes to vote. so these people are engaged in the process. the republicans had just been over $1 milliongainst me just to get josh -- just to make sure the person one. they've never had to do that before. i know our running helped other races because they had to divert resources to try and defend what has already -- always been a republican see. amy: you ran for

the assembly and you want and they tried to recall you and then you one again. >> exactly. in the 2018 race, collectively, we knocked over 65,000 -- i was seen second-best doorknocker in the country of anybody running for state representative. i lost 25 pounds walking up and down these streets knocking and talking to people. what i would tell them, i would introduce myself and tell them who i was and who my son was when they would ask -- because there were be a point, these people had been waiting 5, to eight years to offer their condolences because they are in the community. they know what happed to my son alex. i don't know a lot of other politicians get people crying at the doorstep or who then come

after them down the street when they realized who that was that they just talked to and -- th was pre-covid ty when you could hug people. amy: representative sullivan, you ran on a very clear gun control platform. and this goes to national politics. you had governor hickenlooper at the time who is now a senator, who was pro-gun, but after aurora, after sandy hook, who then actually changed and supported gun-control legislation which in a very red -- although he is a democrat -- a conservative state, ultimately won and shows across the country what is so shocking is that something like 90% of people support gun control. something like 70% of nra members support gun control. so it is overwhelmingly both

republican and democratic position at the grassroots level . and now hickenlooper is in the senate. i want to go what happened in boulder. you have this 21-year-old young man, just like the one in georgia who was also 21 years old, who buys this weapon six days before he goes out and murders 10 people. but in the friday before, just last friday, the boulder city council which had passed in automatic weapons ban, that ban was overturned by a judge. can you talk about the significance of this? he bought his gun like a few days before. >> right. again, he could have gone -- he lived in nevada, which is in boulder co.. if you bought it in a gun store

down the street from his house that was fine. he can transported into boulder. all of that was doing was making sure you could not do it within the county or the city limits of boulder. that is the problem. that is a problem we are having. we have background checks gh-capacit magazine limits under the state of colorado, but if you want to drive 20 minutes and go into wyoming, can buy whatever you what and come back down. that is why it is imperative that we get the federal government to partner with us on these types of things. like you said, 90% of americans are in favor of background checks yet the last time we had a vote on it we could only get 56% of the sitting senators to vote on it. just like i did, if you don't like the people you got elected, then run against them. get them out of there. i used to going talk to mike

coffman every year we went to washgton, d.c., and he would not get on board and i told him, i said, i'm going to do everything i can to see you don't have this seat anymore. i will work for people to make sure you lose this seat. sure enough, we worked and we got jason crow and mike coffman is gone. amy: colorado has a high number of people who are survivors of gun violence, like yourself. i want to read to you from "the denver post" at 2019 analysis found colorado had more mass shootings per capital than all but four states. the census designated statistical area had more school shootings per capita since 1999 that any of the country's four other largest metro areas. why do you think this is the case? ultimately, colorado is not alone as we just read from one

mass shooting to another all over the country that has gone on for years. the united states is alone, exceptional in the world, for this level of mass shootings. >> it is hard to explain why that is. i have been thinking the last couple of days, maybe we get the coverage because of the affluence of the areas that these happened in. littleton, colorado, is a beautiful town with beautiful homes and schools and businesses. boulder, colorado, it is most camelot-like that people want to go to. all the shots they are showing on the broadcast show the mountains and we have snow and that is where people want to be. there is an influx of people from all over the country. a lot of people -- i grew up in

upate new york. my wife is from rochester, new york. this was the place to be. this is where there was opportunities. this is where there was nice weather. this is -- we came here as young kids and this is where we wanted to grow up and wanted to raise a family. amy: representative sullivan, i want to go to democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut. connecticut is where sandy hook was also speaking on tuesday at a previously scheduled senate judiciary committee hearing on gun control. >> in action has made this horror completely predictable. an action by this congress makes is complicit. now is the time for action to honor these victims with action, real action, not fig leaves or the shadows that have been

offered on the others, along with popes and thoughts and -- hopes and thoughts and prayers. thoughts and prayers are not enough. and yet thoughts and prayers is all we have heard from my colleagues on the other side. thoughts and prayers must lead to action. there maybe some question about what the motives were for the killer in boulder, but there's no mystery about what needs to be done. connecticut has shown by some of the strongest gun laws in the country that they work, but connecticut, with those strong gun laws, is at the mercy of states with the weakest laws because guns do not respect state boundaries. amy: so that was democratic senater richard blumenthal of connecticut. this is republican senator john kennedy of louisiana.

close what is happened the last few days, the last years is tragic. i am n trying to perfectly equate these two but we have a lot of drunk drivers in america that killed a lot of people. we ought to try to combat that, too. but i think what many folks on my side of the isle are saying is that the answer is not to get rid of all sober drivers. the answer is to concentrate on the problem. amy: comparing the situation to drunk drivers. your response, state representative tom sullivan? and what you want to see right now? and if you could respond to what might have surprised a number of people, president biden calling for an assault weapons ban?

>> first off, to senator kennedy,hat is beyond absurd. if we would look at the advances that we have made in automobile safety since the first ones were built, i mean, d you know they did not have buffers on cards? we did not have seatbelts. we did not have their backs. we have made it safer to be in that and the car industry is doing just fine. that is the same types of things we ask for the gun industry to do, make it safer to do types of things. they will still be profitable and we can save lives. there was a big push against drunk driving. now i bartender cannot give you a beer if he thinks you are intoxicated. boy, if you look erratic and you look lik you're not thinking straight and you go into a gun

shop, as long as that credit card works, they're going to hand across the counter to you whatever it is you want, ok? there's some between the two of those. -- there is no comparison between the two of those. as far as what president biden said, we nd help on the national level. again, having the ability -- sought rifles, all that does is clip the mass into shootings. that is the one that allows them to kill more people quicker. two summers ago in ohio, the guy had a 100 round drum hooked up to this firearm. in 32 seconds, he killed 35 people. and the police were right there. they were there within 40 seconds and it wasn't time enough to stop something like that.

amy: what are you con for in the colorado legislature where you are a state representative? >> yesterday afternoon, we passed out of committee in the house a lost and stolen to make sure people who have their firearms lost or stolen report them so law-enforcement nose the eas th these are happy -- knows the areas these are happening at so when they recover them, they can get them back to people, that kind of stuff. 60% of people already do it but the opponents who were there talking about it, right away they started with the fear mongering that they are notorious for and were comparing us to nazis, saying this was the beginning of a gun registration. 60% of them are already doing that of their own wish and and none of their firearms are getting -- their own volition

and none of their firearms are getting confiscated. 60% is not enough. we need 70%, 80% of the people to notify law enforcement when they have the firearms lost or stolen. better yet, they need to be more responsible with their firearms. we are also working on a safe storage, making sure you lock up your firearms when they're in the presence of kids when their kids in the house because we just have those accidents happening way too often. whatever people die every day from gun violence. 22 are veterans. four dying by suicide. over 200 people are injured by accidental shootings. a lot of those are children. amy: i want to thank you so much for joining us, tom sullivan. he began running for office after his son alex was killed in the aurora movie theater

mass shooting. it was his 27th birthday. before we move into the next segment on the history of the nra, the democracy now! family would like to send our condolences to the family of kevin mahoney, who died in the boulder shooting. kevin's daughter erika interned at democracy now! in 2010. she is now the news director at kazu public radio in california. on tuesday, she posted a message on twitter that went viral. it read -- "i am heartbroken to announce that my dad, my hero, kevin mahoney, was killed in the king soopers shooting in my hometown of boulder, colorado. my dad represents all things love. i'm so thankful he could walk me down the aisle last summer." she went on write -- "i am now pregnant. i know he wants me to be strong for his granddaughter."

kevin mahoney was 61 years old. next up, whispered to longtime investigative journalist frank smyth. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

w amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. less than a week after a gunman in the atlanta area killed eight people when he attacked three asian-owned spas, news broke monday of another mass shooting. this time, 10 people were killed in a boulder, colorado, grocery store. the powerful gun rights lobby group the national rifle association responded by tweeting out the text of the second amendment. the massacre in boulder came just after a colorado judge ruled in favor of the nra's challenge to boulder's ban on

assault weapons, which was passed in 2018 after this type of weapon was used in the mass shooting in parkland, florida. the nra celebrated the judge's ruling, saying it was written in a way that will "make it even harder to overturn, should the city appeal it" and that "the principles behind thruling will apply to other localities who are considering passing any similar counterproductive ordinances." none of this is new. despite increasingly regular mass shootings, the nra has pushed for gun rights since the 1970's and insisted that more guns, not fewer, would prevent gun deaths. the nra organized a rally in 1999 in denver after the columbine shooting. after the 2012 sandy hook massacre in connecticut, the nra called for schools to arm themselves. this comes as the nra is now actually in a deeply weakened state. it filed for bankruptcy last year after new york state

attorney general letitia james sued them for fraud, saying the nra's chief executive officer, wayne lapierre, and other top officials broke state and federal laws to enrich themselves and their families. laerre and the nra were major supporters of president trump. now president biden is calling on congress to pass new gun restrictions. in fact, calling on congress to pass an assault weapons ban. for more on the role of the nra and how we got here and what could happen next, we are joined by longtime investigative journalist frank smyth, author of the book "the nra: the unauthorized history." former arms-trafficking investigator for human rights watch and has reported on the group for decades. welcome back to democracy now! frank, it is great to have you with us again. give us a history of the nra and how it is possible now after these two mass shootings in a week that the congress, at least

at this point, the senate has made clear that they are not for gun contr. >> yeah, the nra is a history they don't want anyone to know about because for over 100 years, they were focused on improving marksmanship among military forces and later expanding that throughout the gun owning community of the united states. competitive target shooters and that also hunters. in 1977, they underwent something they don't like to talk about but is known in their own floors, this cincinnati relt. nce th, the nra has put forth an etiology which says you can have a little gun control without srificingll of your guns and a little gun control,

even background checks, c precipitate slippers like to disarmament and all the way to genocide. and to support this theory, they distorted the history of the holocaust, falsely claiming gun control was a significant factor in enabling the holocaust and the or recently falsely claimed the early nra help defend freed slaves during reconstruction against the ku klux klan. these go beyond historical revisions and our fabulous inventions, but they allowed them to claim gun control is self is racist, not them, and gun control is not only racist but actually genocidal. the problem is this is ridiculous and no holocaust scholar support this theory or reconstructionist story, there story about prelaves. the problem is the modern nra, even as it is waning, even as it looks like it is going to dissolve as we know it and

reincorporate in texas, even as it is being pummeled by thnew york attorney general lawsuit where the evidence originated from within the nra with oliver north, despite this, their ideology is something they have convinced the overwhelming jority of elected officials in the gop, especially on the national level come to believe, along with any if not most of the 74 million people who voted for trump's reelection. and that is the problem. they have convinced a great many people that even background checks which will appear supported back in 1999, by t way, but they convinced even background checks post existentia threat to the freedom and ultimately their lives and this is the obstacle the democrats in the biden administration and other gun reformers space going forward. amy: and yet the nra is at its weakest point ever. it declared bankruptcy last year.

and you couple that with the overwhelming support -- republican, democrat -- at the grassroots level, even of the nra membership for gun control. >> the nra filed for banuptcy but this is the weight tried to escape the lawsuit by the new york attorney general. the nra is weaker than it is never been in the modern era. the financial problems in prior centuries, but the gun rights movement and the nra is really the modern father of -- they gave rise to the gun rights movement is stronger than ever most of part of the evidencfor this is theact we are now undergoi in the ited states something that is unprecedented. that is what the nra because the great ammo shortage. since last summer, since the black lives matter protests, people went out and not only about weapons, ammunition to the point that stores come online

vendors, and retail stores, over source rain out of a munition starting lt summer. the ammo shortage continued through 20 and now the nra expects that shortage the last through most of 2021. there are a great many people with a great gillette includes the republican party who believe their ideology. even though it is weaker, the gun rights movement is stronger than ever. the gun reform movement because of the parkland students is stronger than ever. setting the stage i think for in epic nala --battle. amy: can you explain joe manchin 's position? he is not representing the overall feeling of the people of west virginia yet he has already stated he will not support two bells the house just passed

aroundun control. >> joe manchin is trying to walk a very fine line as a blue dog democrat from west virginia. supported -- she was the co-author, the sponsor of the background checks bill that was proposed in013 after the sandy hook shooting. he supported that on the condition he included language that would make it doubly illegal for any federal official to compile new gun registries or lists of gun owners and gun transactions. that is someing that is a redline for the nra, for other people in the gun rights movement. so he backed the background checks bill th but now it is different environment, dealing with a trump led gop. manchin is worried like others in congress that if he supports either of these background check

bills now, he will get voted out of office. and that is a very serious concern on his part. and the problem is even though there is more support for gun reform now than ever before, the gun rights movement is invigorated and they see the combination of the pandemic as well as the black lives matter protests -- which i think put a great deal of irrational fear into the minds of many americans -- has led to a state where now the nra has gotten what it has always wanted, which is like an opposition from a great many people in congress to a and the most the night and symbolic steps forward for gun reform. amy: i went to georgia senator rev. raphael warnock who was speaking on nbc's "meet the press" sunday after the shooting in the atlanta area that killed eight people, including six asian-american women. >> this shooter was able to kill all of these folks the same day he purchased a firearm but right

now what is our legislature doing? they're busy here in georgia under the goal don't try to prevent people from being able to vote this i've they register. i think that suggests a distortion of values when you can buy a gun and create this much carnage and violence on the same day but if you would exercise your right to vote as an american citizen, the same legislature should be focused on this is busy erecting barriers to that constitutional right. amy: that is rev. warnock, who is one of two new senators from georgia. if you can comment on this and also, we surprised are president biden saying he supports an assault weapons ban? biden, who was the point person's vice president for president obama come after the sandy hook massacre, the killing of all of these six-year-olds, to come up with legislation that

would pass and the uimately were not able to accomplish any of that back in 2012, 2013. >> i don't think this is going to go well for biden for people in favor of gun reform the way this is going forward. in terms of the notion that you can buy a gun -- easier to buy a gun and you can buy one faster thanegistere about in georgia as well as other states, this reflects the notn that nothing should impede the ability of citizens to be able to buy arms, whatev arms they want, is easily as i possibly can merely by showing a drivers license and being able to establish residency and that they are an adult, 18 o21. that is what the gun rights movement once. they want no impediments to build a by firearms. going back to representative sullivan, the reason they with this firepower is they want to build a fight rebels as well as armed mobs.

scenes from 1992 are still looming large for people under the gun rights community. they want to be able to fight government forces, including law enforcement. they want to have the same level of firepower as police do. that is why they won ar-15's. and they do not care. it is the price of freedom as far as they're concerned if kids get killed, first-graders get killed in connecticut are women and others get shot in atlanta or people get killed in a supermarket in boulder. that does not matter as long as they have access. most americans don't buy this but that is -- go ahead. sorry. amy: i want to go to rebecca peters. she led the movement in australia to change gun laws after a gunman killed 35 people in tasmania in april 28, 1996. this is so significant. you have a gun loving nation but

the laws effectively ended mass shootings in australia. i spoke to her a few years ago. >> we had had in those days the series of massacres. get a massacre about once a year. each time there was an outcry, there was a lot of grief and anger and discussion about what should happen in pressure on the politicians but each time the politicians had said, well, this -- everyone agreed should not be a party political issue but neither of the major parties was prepared to move first. i suppose the thing that happened was electoral makeup of the government favored as at the time. we had just had a new government elected. it was a conservative government. in a sense, it is easier for a conservative government to change the gun laws because the

conservative party was seen more as the natural ally of the gun lobby. really, people die the same whatever party they vote for. we thought it was particularly courageous of the conservative prime minister to say "i'm going." ." to do this once and for all amy: explain over the two weeks and then the year what exactly the rules were that got past the people of australia and this massively traumatic -- well, i mean, numeral massacres in australia. >> the principal change was that the ban on semiautomatic weapons , rifles and shotguns, assault weapons, and that was accompanied by a huge buyback. the initial buyback of those weapons, almost 700,000 guns were collected and destroyed. there were several iterations over the years and now over a million guns have been collected and destroyed in australia.

also the thing is, sometimes countries will make a little tweak in their laws but you have to take a comprehensive approach. if you just ban one type of weapon or one category a person come if you don't do something about the overall supply, that basically, it is unlikely your gun laws will succeed. amy: where does the u.s. stand when it comes to gun massacres in the industrialized world? >> the u.s. has the highest rate of gun deaths under the industrialized world. the rates of gun deaths in the u.s. are about 11 times higher than in australia and 15 times 20 times higher than in other developed countries. in terms of massacres, the u.s. has a larger number massacres even then countries in the developing world or countries in conflict. the number of mass shootings that occur in the u.s. outstrips any other country under the

world. amy: that is rebecca peters who spearheaded the move in a matter of weeks, gun loving nation completely turns around and they end gun massacres in australia. frank smyth, if you can comment on this and if you can see that possibility and maybe we then, the issue of the filibuster, is that what we need, the end of the filibuster in the u.s. senate? >> i think what needs to happen here is the democrats and gun reformers need to start thinking strategically about this issue. i don't think we had had an honest conversation about guns and gun policy in the united states for more than 50 years since president johnson raised the issue of gun registration. biden is put assault weapons ban an issue of registry exisng assat weapons for those who want to keep them as part of his plan. but he is not discuss details.

he has not expired to the american people how this would work, how this would not be afra to people's freedom ely to tear any genocide. the problem is the democrats have been trying to see what they can get past as opposed to taking a long-term strategic approach to challenge the propaganda that iseen put out by the nra for four years. the difference between the u.s. and new zealand and australia is the facwe have the nra and even as the nra is going down, its their eology that remains. in that has not been -- anthat has not been challenge the entire leadership of the gop has bought into this ideology. i don't think in assault weapons ban is going to happen under thisdministration, not unless the democrats do extremely well under the midterms. yes, removing the fibuster would eliminate a barrier with republicans cod come up with other ways to impede legislation. the problem is the democrats have finally got to the point where they put will gun reform

-- still years away from getting it. amy: frank smyth, thank you for being with us, longtime investigative journalist and author of "the nra: the unauthorized history." democracy now! is lookin

[mikael colville-andersen] is everything i've heard about this place really true? is it a little architectural wonderland? is it a throbbing, pulsing miami of the mediterranean? can it really be one of the world's great lgbt capitals, here in a region plagued by violence and living under a constant threat of war? i'm in tel aviv. but i'm also in a city that i've heard will surprise me. for more than 70 years at least, the news coming out of this region has been overwhelmingly negative. i'm going to look past the propaganda and the fancy city branding, and i'm going to meet passnate locals who will explain to me, in no uncertain terms, their urban reality.