06/25/21 06/25/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the humanitarian situation is dire. looting of aid supplies, estimated 350,000 people are threatened by famine. amy: as ethiopia faces the world's worst famine and a decade, the ethiopian military bombs a marketplace in tigray,

killing at least 64 people. we will speak to leading ethiopian journalist. then afghan president ashraf ghani is meeting at the white house as taliban attacks surge ahead of the u.s. military pullout. plus, we will look at how a former president of the nra was tricked into giving a graduation speech in front of 3000 empty white chairs -- one chair for each high school student who could not graduate this year because they were killed by gun violence. >> there a some whwill coinue to ght to g t send amendnt, bui would wiing to bet many ofou will be amohose w stand out and prevent them from succeeding. amy: we will go to parkland, florida, to speak to manuel oliver, co-founder of change the ref about how he pulled off the stunt. his son joaquin was shot dead in the 2018 massacre at marjory

stoneman douglas high school. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. president biden says he's reached a deal with senators on a bipartisan infrastructure plan that would significantly roll back the white house's original $2.2 trillion american jobs plan. biden's announcement capped bipartisan talks led by arizona democratic senator kyrsten sinema and republican rob portman of ohio. pres. biden: i clearly did not get all i wanted. they gave more than i think they plan to give an the first place but this reminds me of the days we used to get an awful lot done in the united states congress. we had bipartisan deals, which means compromise. amy: the white house says the

emerging bill does not include any new taxes, and would see the u.s. been in new infrastructure $579 billion spending over five years, with some $300 billion going to transportation and $100 billion earmarked for roads, bridges, and other major projects. it does not include funding for major programs championed by progressives, including investments in green energy jobs and funds to combat the climate crisis. top democrats, including president biden and house speaker nancy pelosi, say they will not support a compromise infrastructure bill unless senators first has a reconciliation bill containing democratic priorities. the biden administration is backing the trump administration's approval of the and ridgeline 3 pipeline. on wedneay, the stice departme argueany illel filinghat anrmy corpof enneers peitting pcess folled its lal obligions considethe pipeline' environmtal impas. ifompleted, li 3 wouldarry

more tn 750,000 baels of nadian t sands o a day acss indenous la and fragile osystems anisnaabe acvist wina ladukeespond in a statement -- "this is a racist pipeline project forced down the throats of our people, an ecological time bomb and a giveaway to a canadian multinational oil interest. if the president is genuine in his pledge to take climate justice and tribal rights seriously, his administration must stop defending the trump administration's decision and undertake a genuine analysis of line 3's environmental and human impacts." see ournterview with nona lake, you n goo decracynowrg. mewhile,rotests d direct acons agait line 3ontinue in norern minnota. thiseek, wat protects locked tmselves a horizoal drill enbridge is usinto bore der the raight rive e wateprotectobarricad themlves inse the drl erating hicle.y

an unprecedented heat wave fueled by the climate crisis is set to bring dangerously high record temperatures to the pacific northwest. seattle will be hotter than miami this weekend with forecasters predicting it could reach 106 degrees fahrenheit on monday. portland, oregon, could see a record-shattering 113 degrees. in canada, vancouver island is expected to break all-time record highs that, in turn, were broken last monday. the national interagency fire center warns surging demand for firefighters and equipment could soon outstrip fire crews' ability to battle blazes as an unprecedented drought worsens in the western united states. the federal fire agency says nearly 9000 firefighters are currently battling 47 large conflagrions. there have been over 29,000 wildfires across the u.s. so far this year, about 4000 more than

would be expected at this point in an average year. the european parliament has voted in favor of a landmark climate law that commits the european union to reaching climate neutrality by 2050 and reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. this is swedish lawmaker jytte guteland. >> today is a historic day. today we will enshrine into law that e.u., which started as a: still union more than 70 years ago, will become the first carbon neutral continent by 2050 at the latest. amy: but climate activists say the law doesn't go nearly far enough. a statement from a parliamentary group representing green party lawmakers said -- "it is simply not enough to limit global temperature rise to

2°c, let alone the 1.5°c that climate scientists say we need to achieve. what is on the table now are half measures and broken promises." in madagascar, the u.n.'s world food program warns the climate crisis has pushed over one million people "to the very edge of starvation" as the country has seen a series of severe droughts. head of the world food program david beasley noted madagascar has not contributed to the global climate disaster, yet is suffering some of its most devastating effects. this is a tamaria, describing how her family has been surviving the drought. >> in the morning, i prepare and clean them up as best i can given the near total absence of water. it has been eight months that my children and i have been eating this plant exclusively because we have nothing else to eat.

amy: in canada, at least 751 unmarked graves have been found at a former boarding school for first naon children in saskatchewan. the graves were found near the site of the now-demolished marieval indian residential school. this is cowessess first nation chief cadmus delorme speaking at a news conference thursday. >> we almost put down our ignoranc and accidental racism. not addressing the truth that this country has with indigenous people. we are not asking for pity, but we are asking for understanding. we did not remove these headstones. removing headstones is a crime in this country. and we are treating this like a crime scene at the moment. amy: the graves were found just weeks after the bodies of 215 indigenous children on the grounds of the kamloops residential school in british columbia were discovered.

some 150,000 indigenous children attended canadian government-funded boarding schools, which were established in the 19th century and run by the catholic church. many children were ripped from their families and sent to the schools, which were found to be rife with abuse and neglect. canada's 2015 truth and reconciliation commission said the schools were committing cultural genocide. public pressure is now mounting to hold the catholic church accountable for its atrocities and to remove monuments to canadian leaders involved in the genocide of first nations people. the u.s. is banning the import of solar panel materials that are manufactured in xinjiang, china, which the u.s. says is made by forced labor of the muslim uyghur minority. the u.s. added five companies to its import and export blacklist over the human rights concerns. china is the largest global provider of parts for solar power. cotton and tomato products from xinjiang are also prohibited following bans issued during the trump administration.

in florida, at least four people are dead and 99 others remain unaccounted for after a 12-story condominium near miami beach suddenly collapsed early thursday morning. rescue crews used dogs and earth-moving equipment to sift through the building's wreckage, freeing dozens of trapped survivors. the high-rise apartment in the town of surfside was built in 1981 and was undergoing a required 40-year recertification process. it was due to undergo repairs for rusted steel and damaged concrete. it is not known if saltwater corrosion or neglect played a role in its sudden collapse just after 1:00 thursday. a.m. house speaker nancy pelosi will create a select committee to investigate the january 6 assault on the u.s. capitol by a pro-trump mob incited by the former president.

nancy pelosi moved to create the panel four weeks after senate republics led by minority leader mitch mcconnell blocked a bill to create an independent bipartisan commission on the capitol insurrection. >> january 6, one of the darkest days in our nations history. its impaired if we establish the truth of that day and ensure an attack of that kind cannot happen and that we root out the causes of it all. amy: in michigan, a republican-led state senate committee has published a report systematically debunking claims of voter fraud made by former president trump and his allies in the republican party. the 55-page document concludes there was "no evidence of widespread or systematic fraud" in the 2020 election and discredits conspiracy theories advanced by trump's lawyer rudy giuliani that hundreds of dead people voted, that voting machines were hacked, or that

hundreds of thousands illegal votes were cast. however, the michigan senate committee's republicans used the report to promote voting changes that would make it harder for people to vote by absentee ballot. a new york state court has temporarily suspended rudy giuliani's law license, citing his lies about the 2020 election. the court found there is "uncontroverted evidence that giuliani communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers, and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former president donald j. trump and the trump campaign." giuliani railed against the court's ruling on thursday. >> i mean, i might as well be in iran or east germany. this is a one-sided decision.

amy: in minneapolis, a judge is delivering the sentence today for former police officer and convicted murderer derek chauvin. prosecutors are seeking a 30-year prison sentence. chauvin was convicted in april of murdering george floyd on may 25, 2020. floyd's death sparked a national and global uprising against police violence and racism. the u.n. warns the pandemic has increased the vulnerability of children in conflict zones who are at heightened risk of abduction, recruitment to fight, and sexual violence. in 2020, at least 8400 children were killed or harmed in wars. save the children said the u.n. report left out many perpetrators of grave violations against children, including ethiopia, israel, and the u.s.-backed saudi-led coalition waging war on yemen, which killed 200 children last year. and in the occupied west bank, protesters decried the apparent killing of activist nizar banat after he was arrested and beaten by palestinian authority forces.

banat was an outspoken critic of the palestinian authority and its president mahmoud abbas. this is his widow, jihan banat. >> what are you killing us for? they will not kill all the palestinians. palestinians are not afraid of is really authority soldiers. -- not afraid of israeli soldiers. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin today's show in ethiopia, a country being torn apart by war and famine. on tuesday, the ethiopian military bombed a marketplace in tigray region, killing at least 64 people in one of the deadliest attacks since government forces invaded the region last november. the ethiopian military has claimed all of the victims were combatants, a claim disputed by witnesses on the ground.

the bombing came just a day after ethiopians voted in national and regional elections, but polls could not open in some regions due to ongoing fighting. the country is still waiting for results which will determine if the ruling coalition, led by the ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed, stays in power. the conflict in tigray has killed thousands of civilians, displaced more than 2 million people, and led to massive food shortages with aid groups warning 350,000 people are on the brink of famine. the united nations is urging the ethiopian government to allow more humanitarian aid into tigray. we are joined now by the ethiopian journalist tsedale lemma. she is the founder of the "addis standard," an english-language monthly magazine based in ethiopia. she has a new opinion piece in "the new york times" headlined "he promised peace. then he tore his country apart." it's about ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed, who won the

2019 nobel peace prize. so the latest news out of tigray is that -- two issues, the famine it faces and this latest ethiopian bombing of a marketplace that killed over 60 people. can you talk about what you understand happened? >> good morning, amy. thank you for having me. both the famine and the bombing are not separate things from what has been happening in tigray. the war began in november, november 4, prime minister ahmed to every members of what he called the criminal clicks of the left, which is the party administering in the tigray

region. this operation, low enforcement operation as it was called initially, has morphed into a civil war which has gone into now this horrific, horrific outcome of war that displaced as you said more than jian, thousands are dead. we do not know the death toll yet. the work is not ending. there is no end in sight for that. 350,000 civilians in famine zone according to the u.n.. the bombing came on top of that on tuesday. the military is thing that targets are combatants, but all information coming from the region, including reports that we filed, indicate this was a market -- airstrike on a market and the victims are civilians, including women and children. there are reports the target was

combatants. there is no explanation as to why pictures of civilians are emerging if we go by the army's interpretation of things. this is the cumulative effect of the war that has been going on in tigray for eight months. amy: so can you talk about this bombing in particular and the fact ethiopian military has admitted that it engaged in the bombing and what is the cause of the ethiopian attack on tigray and the use of her tray and soldiers -- -- eritrean soldiers, sometimes disguised as hiopian soldiers? >> from what we get, the last few days, there has been a renewed fighting between the

tigray defense forces. these are military army people [indiscernible] and federal forces backed by the eritrean defense forces. there is renewed conflict now and officials from the tigray regional state government are saying they have regrouped now and are attacking what they called in to meet -- enemy post. they said on november 20 the operation was over already but -- there is a renewed conflict. we don't know if this bombing of

a marketplace has to do with the loss the defense forces are facing, that is why the tigray government officials, the ones ousted by the federal government, are saying the federal army is sustaining losses. so what triggered it is yet to be investigated. we don't know. and how a marketplace is targeted were civilians are the obvious casualties. so this is the background to the bombing. but the background -- general background to the war is inherently political difference morphed into political violence and military violence. the precursor to that is an election that the tigray regional state has unilaterally conducted in september after the federal government decided to postpone the general election that took place this week because of covid.

the original state to find that and they said they would like to have the unilateral election. so they had that election in september 9 of last year. relations between the two, between the federal government and the regional state in tigray deteriorated badly after that election took place. in october, house federation, the speaker has come up with an idea that he said the is a constitutional means, that we are exploring to also -- elected by the tigray people in september and have ailitary division, police intervention. relations after that, were between the two was a matter of when and not if. preparations were intensified after that. that culminated into the war

that began on the first of november. the government state was taken by surprise. it was responding to an attack from the north, a military command force in tigray regional states. it's response to its military -- it's litary response was to e attack against t command post located in the capital of the tigray regional states. but all evidence indicates preparations for the war was already underway, including involvement of the eritrean government. in the first of november, the eritrean president declared -- released a statement, what looks like a declaration of war against the tigray regional states. tigray regional state happens to be the common enemy between the federal government led by abiy

ahmed and the eritrean dictor. so here is where we are eight months down the line, tigray destroyed, women gang rape, sexual assault is being used as a weapon of war, a lot of other sorts of work crimes been committed in tigray regional states as we speak. so the initial cause is the disagreement between the federal government and the tigray regional states. amy: you right in your "new york times" op-ed piece, " "he promised peace. then he tore his country apart." saying the war in tigray, though exceptional in brutality, is not an isolated case. can you give us the history of prime minister abiy ahmed, who amazingly, won the nobel peace prize just two years ago in 2019? your response at the time that

you talk about this not being isolated, and what that means for today in the midst of this election? close so prime minister abiy ahmed was a largely unknown figure three years ago. he came to the home after the previous regime, which is a coalition of four major parties and five other smaller parties -- almost collapsed under the weight of a protest by minority groups in the south region. after four and half years of protest against the previous regime, decided it was about time to change leadership, about time it reformed itself and saves itself from the tide of

the public protest. so prime minister abiy ahmed came on the back of that protest, particularly where the protests had first started in 2014. it went on until 2018 when he came. so he came to power by the decision of the ruling party, which he then quickly dismantled after he came to power. so this is the background of prime minister abiy ahmed. he was a key part of the party that he dismantled. the party that was dominated by the left, with army of the federal government. so when he embarked upon changing or reforming that party that was collapsing under the weight of popular protest, what he did was to implement those

directions put in place. one of those directions were creating -- normalizing relations with eritrea, the neighboring state, with which they did not have -- they wanted to normalize the relationship. instead what he did was normalize lesions between himself and the eritrean dictator. the relationship between ethiopia and eritrea did not take any form khamenei institutionalized form. in fact, parliament did not even approve what kind of peace pact the prime minister has signed with the dictator in saudi arabia. so we don't know what is included in this peaceact. so two years down the line, eritrea finds itself deeply involv within thwar agait

the tigray government in the rth. the nobel peace prize was given to prime minister abiy ahmed barely a year after he initiated this normalization a relationship about which we don't know nothing and the rest of the world also don't know anything about it, but there was a lot of static moments in this normalation of relations but deep insid it is now looking like it was a packed against the tigrayan government. eritrea is a long-standing -- at the helm of the regime that prime minister abiy ahmed dismantled. during that time, ethiopia had this to your work, 1998-2000, in which eritrea was defeated and peace agreements do not hold because eriea -- disputed land was decided to eritrea by

international arbiters. there is a bitter relationship. it was payback time to go and engage the leadership who had humiliated his forces in the war in 1998-2000. this pact between the two -- targeting a common enemy, that is the background of the coming into power of abiy ahmed which has now morphed into him being another nobel peace prize winner, presiding over one of the most devastating civil wars in ethiopia. amy: on monday, u.n. human rights chief michelle bachelet said she was "deeply disturbed" by continued reports of human rights violations in tigray, ethiopia. >> the humanitarian situation is dire with reports of denial of access to some localities,

looting of aid supplies by soldiers. estimated 350,000 people are threatened by famine. amy: speaking to the bbc, ethiopia's prime minister denied there was famine in tigray. >> there is no hunger in tigray. amy: "there is no hunger in tigray." let's talk about that situation and the accusation by so many that aid is being blocked from getting to those in need and the extent of the famine. >> well, you know, most reports from the ground, reports from humanitarian agencies largely under the united nations, a test to the devastating situation of the humanitarian crisis there. and -- i mean, there are people dying as we speak of hunger.

in fact, the first report of people dying of lack of food came out in january, as far back as january by local authority which was instituted by the federal government will stop there is an agency -- an official of this interim government is already said 13 people have died of lack of food. that is in january. so things have already deteriorated since january. nothing has improved. the u.n. estimates this much number are now -- the prime minister clearly says there is no hunger in tigray, and that is the crux of it, to deny it. the lack of humility in recognizing people are dying as we speak because they cannot eat. and this lack of admitting to

the role of the eritrean forces there, u.n. clearly identified as culprits, forces deliberately denying people access to food. they were also denying farmers from plowing because tigray is home to peasants. it is farming season now. if they do not farm their lands now, there will be an extended payment in the region. amy: in the last 30 seconds, what can be done? >> tigray is not the only problem ethiopia is facing today. the prime minister has massively mismanaged a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. there's another region that is experiencing a revolutionary movement. they are all under some form of

government crackdown and have traced back to differences to political difference. what we need now is to try to look into this politically and try to find a way out of it. you cannot do it by killing your opponent and bombing your critics. you can only do this by having the political solution. the prime minister thinks he may have a mdate, but what he is going to do after that is going to define his term in office. whether he will return back and have a democratic process in motion or whether he was to continue jailing his critics, killing, and bombing the regio that refused to submit to his rule. the only way out of this is a political solution. amy: tsedale lemma, tnk you for being with us, journalist and the founder of the "addis standard,"n english-language monthly magazine based in ethiopia.

we will link to her peace in "the new york times" about the ethiopian prime minister headlined "he promised peace. then he tore his country apart." coming up, the afghan president is visiting the white house today as taliban attacks surge during the u.s. military pullout. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. president biden is meeting with ashraf ghani at the white house today in the midst of the was military pullout set to end on september 11. buying has pledged to withdraw those troops, just under 20 years after the u.s. invaded afghanistan. the telegram or orderly now hold twice as much of afghanistan as it did two months ago. on tuesday, the taliban captured afghanistan's main border crossing. "the wall street journal" reporting u.s. intelligence community has concluded that government of afghanistan could collapse within six months of the u.s. withdrawal. the associated press is reporting the u.s. is planning to keep 650 troops in afghanistan after the september

11 deadline to provide diplomatic security and to assist turkish troops to protect the couple airport. the was is also looking for nearby military airports which could be used carry out future aerial bombings and her operations. meanwhile thursday, the white house confirmed of plans to evacuate 18,000 translators and others who work for u.s. forces. to talk more about the crisis in afghanistan, we're joined by afghan american professor zaher wahab, born in afghanistan recently taught at the american university of afghanistan in kabul. can you talk about the meeting today, what you expect ashraf ghani once from this meeting, the president of afghanistan, and this news report that his government will collapse within six months of the u.s. withdrawal? >> yes. good morning, amy. thank you fohaving me. president ashraf ghani and his

entourage of 10 people, which includes his wife, apparently, met with senator mitch mcconnell yesterday, urging them to ask the white house to extend its withdrawal and keep his commitment to preserving the afghan government. from what i understand, president ashraf ghani is behaving more and more like a king and assuming more and more power, therefore, it seems like he is terribly isolated, out of touch, and without much support. the delegation he has with him are the usual people -- four women, including his wife, and six or seven men from his

administration. in afghanistan, there is already talk about not representative nature of the delegation. apparently, ashraf ghani was trying for months to meet with president biden alone, but president biden was telling him, no, i will not be alone. you have to come with a broad-based presented of, inclusive delegation. yes, this delegation is not brd-base and not very inclusive and it is the usual people that he tried to use. so i think, as you pointed out, the situation in afghanistan seems to be unraveling rather fast. there is fighting going on i knew most of the provinces. the taliban have captured almost one fourth of the 400 districts in the country, circling many of

the major cities, even kabul. e speculation is the taliban are gettingeady for assaulting the major cities. and so i think president ghani is going to be asking the white house stronger, deeper, more extendedommitment because the afghan, national defense forces are unable to even protect their own bases. there iscution that in many cases, the afghan troops are either deserting or giving up and giving their weapons and so for, all of the american supplied weapons to the taliban or even joining the taliban in

some cases. so the other thing happening in afghanistan is that in many parts of the country, because there really has not been an effective government, a government that can provide peace -- amy: we are going to reconnect and go to the u.n. refugee chief who said last week that the united nations is preparing for a likely further displacement of civilianin afghanistan after u.s. and international troops leave the country. >> with the withdrawal of the international troops, this is possibly or likely going to become worse and therefore we are doing contingency planning inside the country for further displacement and in neighboring countries in keys people might -- in case people that borders. amy: a reporter questioned president biden about whether

the u.s. would protect afghan interpreters who aided american troops. >> you know of any reports -- who helped during the war? pres. biden: we have already gun the process. those who helped us are not going to be left behind. >> you know what country they will move to first? pres. biden: i don't know that. i am meeting with ghani tomorrow. that will be a discussion. but they are welcome here just like anyone else who risked their lives to help us. amy: pentagon spokesperson john kirby said tuesday that the schedule for pulling out remaining troops in afghanistan may change, though the september 11 deadline remains. >> mr. secretary has said, the withdrawal is on pace. it is a dynamic situation. we said that from the beginning. which means he and the chairman

are constantly looking at the pace we are going at the capabilities we have in the capabilities we're going to need to complete the withdrawal. as we said from the very beginning, while there is a schedule, we are mindful that schedule could fluctuate and change as conditions change, to. amy: we will go to break and the return to the afghan professor and then a remarkable moment in the gun control movement, when the former head of the nra is tricked into giving a speech to 3000 empty white chairs to signify -- well, he did not know it at the time -- the more than 3000 high school children who won't graduate this year because they died in gun violence. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. we return to zaher wahab, the

afghan-america professor speaking to us from portland, oregon, as ashraf ghani is preparing to meet with president biden at the white house. finally on this issue you were talking about of the afghan government possibly collapsing in six months, there is a large coalition in the united states from republican to democrat to the pentagon that did not want the u.s. to pull out. it is hard to separate propaganda put out by them the country, afghanistan, will collapse of the u.s. pulls out from the actual fact of the matter. your response to this is an afghan living in the united states, professor? >> i think it is not just the intelligence committee and it u.s. giving the afghan government just between six to 12 months, but if you talk to the afghans on the ground, real government, effective government

in afghanistan for some time now. if you talk about peace, safety, security, food, electricity, drinking water, schools, law and order, etc., none of these really exist and the afghans have been desperately crying for peace and stability and normalcy and yet with the american forces and the afghan government forces , there has been no peace and stability and security. and now there is talk about perhaps leaving troops behind to protect the kabul but also flying these 15,000 plus afghans who work with the americans to guam and them process their visas. just think about what this indicates. what it indicates is most washington and the afghan government have realized en

though it is a critical point -- afghanistan is really on their break -- it could fall apart. and so the hope is the idea that these few troops and maybe turks will save the day. at the same time, we know the peace talks have collapsed and there is not even a mention of the conference that was supposed to take place between the different factions in his temple. -- his temple. i think afghanistan is on the brink. quickly install a u.n. peacekeeping force and then worry about these other things. right now 600 more troops or 6000, they're not going to save the country. amy: professor zaher wahab speaking to us. we will see what happens between the meeting of president ghani

and president biden and we will report on it next week. zaher wahab joining us from portland, oregon. as we ended today show looking at how the parents of a student killed in the 2018 massacre at marjory stoneman douglas high school and a florida tricked a former president of the national rifle association into giving a high school graduation speech defending gun rights in front of 3044 empty white chairs -- one chair for each student who could not graduate this year because they were killed by gun violence. david keene, who still serves on the nra board, thought he was giving a rehearsal speech for graduating students at the james madison academy at las vegas -- but no such school exists. the stunt was organizeby the group change the ref, which was

founded by manuel and patricia oliver, whose son joaquin "guac" was shot dead in the parkland, florida, massacre in 2018. this week, the group released this video of david keene's remarks in front of thousands of empty chairs. a warning to our audience, his words are interspersed with the sounds of 911 calls of students trapped at schools with active shooters. >> david king was the two time president of the national rifle association. he continues to be a staunch defender of your second minute right to keep and bear arms. therefore, it is my prilegto introduce to you david keene. >> let me begin by telling you wh an hor it is to be here to help lebrate ur aduation cture for a ment theoung jasadis for whothis scol is nad. is yr you cused onne of the mostmportantf madis's

amdments,he secd endment. ere are me who wl contin to fht to g the sond amendmt. but would beilling t b that my ofou stand uand event thefromsuccding. >> numbeone, whais your emerncy? defenngt is challen and ty that ericans keou -- >> a soting my clsroom. >> who understd what hade the envyf the world. >>nyone inred? pleashelp. and orwhelminnumber o you wi go to clege whi othe may detmine a dfere routto success. do you know homany peoe are inred? >> my vice to you is sple enough, llow you drea and make ia realit >> my son -textin mshe is

at stonen dougla >> ner for minute ubt that you can hieve th dam. thanyou. amy: that video produced by the gun reform group change the ref, which tricked the former president of the nra into giving a graduation speech in front of 3044 empty white chairs -- one chair for each student who could -- would have been high school senior this year who will not graduate because they were killed by gun violence. the group also tricked john lott jr., the author of "more guns, less crime," to give a similar speech. we are joined now by manuel oliver, co-founder of change the ref. his son joaquin was one of 17 people killed in the 2018 mass

shooting at marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida. thank you so much for being with us. what you have portrayed in this -- i don't even want to call it a stunt, this incredible action, this demonstration of what nonviolence means in this country, unique under the world. talk about what you did. >> thank you, amy, for having me. well, this is the latest. you know what we have been doing for the last three years. we did something different this time. we actually confronted the leaders, the members of the nra representing the gun industry for decades.

we are very pleased with the results. you have no idea how many emails and text messages of support come by computer per minute. it is incredible. i think we need to do this more often because it shows the nra, the gun industry and the gun lobby, are not as powerful as they say. on the other hand, it also represents the amount of power that parents of victims can show they have. i'm pretty sure enjoyed that moment when we were able to show the truth without any editing. there was no need for that. these guys are repeating their own words. this is what they believe. this is what they have been

repeating for decades. i don't know how many acts like this one with actual kids sitting down. amy: as part of this action that you engaged in -- it is truly amazing. for those listening on radio, the shot from above of the thousands of empty chairs is really astounding. you also invited john lott, jr., who accepted the invitation, to speak at the fake graduation ceremony. i want to play that clip. >> aeconomis educato schola hasffered -author veral oks including "mo gunsless cri." its mrivilegeo introde you drjohn lot conatulatio. y'vell made a new stage

li. yourchool isamed aft james madison. he prosed what becamhe cond amement to e nstituti, that tre is an indivial right peoplto be ableo keep gs for protecti. can u name me one placin the rld, a placen the wld, at hasanned l gunsr ndgunsnd seen rder rat go dn? ian't find aingle ple like that. >>11, what is urmergen? >> ias worng in e departme of justice democrats willight youooth d nail. they wt to go d say we topped.5 milon dangeus peop. >> anyetter iured? >>lease he. look ats we sto.5 million w-abidincitizensho waed to geaun. where a you in e school?

>> first floor. ooting imy classom. >> cgratulions on an amazing acmplishme. 'sure allf you wi have a very bght fute ahea ank yovery muc amy: that was john lott, jr. who wrote, consider the bible of the gun rights movement, speaking at the fake gun ceremony in las vegas where there was another massacre that took place a few years ago that killed scores of people. either the way, buzzfeed contacted mr. lott. he said, were telling me the whole thing is a set up? he said, no, i did not know that. manuel, where were you and your wife patricia when this happened? >> we were right there. you have to understand this guy

cut his best accomplishment is he wrote a book that is called "more guns, less crime." that's the kind of person that is trying after all this happened, trying to protect himself behind the fact that we played with his words or whatever. we were right there. we were not allowed to be seen because i probably someone could recognize our faces. so we were inside a trailer next to the stage watching everything and making sure that everything -- with a huge team that helped us here. making sure that every single detail came out the way we planned it. amy: one of the spokespeople for your group change the ref said ironically, had the men conducted a proper background

check on the school, they would've seen the school is fake. talk about calling james madison high school. >> well, we needed to bring the reality behind the gun big picture. let's put everything together. to make it very legit. e fact that these guys were invited to become speakers in james madison school, who is the guy that wrote the second amendment, that will be a reason to be there. and it worked. again, more than how we did this and bragging about the way we were able to bring these two influencers from the guy -- amy: you made a website. >> yeah, we made a website.

amy: of the fake school. >> yes. and they went to the website. if you go deep into the website, will see that school was only working since april, so there is a red flag. but the egos of these people is beyond that. they just wanted, let's go to vegas, the weekend -- everything ties together just like we planned it. amy: we just have one minute and of course it is graduation season all over the country. you have shown no more than 3000 shares of kids who want graduate from high school because of gun violence. president biden just gave a major speech on gun violence. do you think the biden administration is doing enough? we are having a little trouble hearing you. your sound is dropping out. we are talking to manuel oliver,

cofounder of the gun reform group change the ref. he is the father of joaquin, one -- his son joaquin one of 17 people killed in the 2018 mass shooting at marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida. if you want to see the full images of this event he organized in las vegas to demonstrate the loss, the pain, the horror of gun violence, can go to democracynow.org. manny, 15 seconds on your final comment on enough done. >> dferent things. not only what president biden is trying to do, what some leaders are trying to go, it is what we are trying to do, with the youth are trying to do. we are having a conversation with no need of a mass shooting. and that is advancing in the

fight against gun violence. amy: we thank you so much and our best to you and patricia. manuel oliver, thank you. stay safe. a special thanks to our whole team here at democracy now! [captioning made possible by