11/05/21 11/05/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the children cannot live on empty promises. they are waiting for you to act. please, open your hearts. amy: youth activists are taking to the streets of glasgow today to demand world leaders do more to avert a climate catastrophe. we will get the latest and hear a moving address by a youth

climate activist from kenya. but first, we speak to civil rights attorney ben crump. >> when you look at the video, it harkens back to yesteryears, things we thought we had overcome in america. this looks like a lynch m chasing a young black man, and when they kill him, there is no accountability. they go home and sleep in their beds at night. amy: we will look at the murder trial of three white men, one a former officer, who hunted down and killed black jogger ahmaud arbery in georgia, as well as the trial of kyle rittenhouse, the white teenager who fatally shot two protesters at anti-police brutality protests in kenosha, wisconsin. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. presentatives of over 40 nations have pledged to end these of coal power. the deal announced in glasgow did not include china and india, which account for two thirds of worldwide coal consumption, nor did it include australia, one of the world's two biggest exporters. the biden administration also refused to sign the pledge to stop burning coal in an apparent concession to democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia whose resist -- who has resisted biden's push for u.s. investment in green energy. youth activists are taking to the streets today to demand world leaders do more to avert the climate catastrophe. the protest is organized by

friday's future, which grew out of greta thunberg's strike outside the swedish parliament. we will go to the cop26 climate summit inside and out later in the broadcast. on capitol hill, house speaker nancy pelosi has scheduled votes today on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the democrats' build back better act. the votes comes after months of negotiations and delays as democrats whittled down their expansive social safety and climate package following myriad objections from conservative democrats, many of these coming from senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema. those negotiations continued into thursday as president biden reportedly made calls to a number of democratic lawmakers and as questions remained over several key issues, including immigration and the plan's budget. youth climate activists confronted senator joe manchin thursday, demanding he back the build back better act and its provisions to combat the climate

crisis. >> we want to live! we want to live! amy: activists confronted manchin multiple times thursday, including blocking his maserati, as they demanded to know whether their futures were worth the profits he makes and chanting "we want to live!" he slowly tried to drive through the crowd. the protests were led by five young people who earlier this week ended a two-week hunger strike demanding real action on the climate crisis from congress. you can see our interview with one of the hunger strikers at democracynow.org. the white house has announced covid-19 vaccine mandates covering more than 100 million workers. beginning on january 4, workers at private-sector companies that employ at least 100 people will have to be vaccinated against

covid or be tested weekly. unvaccinated workers will also be required to wear face coverings on the job and may have to pay for their own tests. a separate rule will require some 17 million u.s. health care workers to be vaccinated by january 4, with no testing option. the biden administration has cut ties with vaccine-maker emergent biosolutions after it ruined millions of doses of johnson & johnson covid-19 vaccine at its factory in baltimore, maryland. the company will forgo $180 miion its $62million ntract tproduce ccines f e federagovernme. moderna said trsday will deliver 0 milliofewer dos of itsighly efctive cod vacce this yr than itially ojected. ev so, modna on thsday reported3.3 billn in thd-quarteprofits.

in cambridge, massachusetts, protesters rallied outside moderna's corporate headquarters thursday, carting in wheelbarrows full of fake money covered in blood while demanding moderna share its vaccine recipe with producers in the global south. this is dr. joia mukherjee, professor of global health at harvard medical school. >> we delivered this blood money to the steps of the moderna headquarters and we have stood for five minutes in silence. one minute per million people who have died, a large majority of them without access to the vaccine. we must force moderna to work with a long list of manufacturers around the world who are ready, who could actually scale up this vaccine. amy: anti-war advocates are condemning the biden administration for proposing a

new $650 million missile sale to saudi arabia, warning the move will only trigger more death and suffering in yemen. if approved by congress, this would be the first major military sale to saudi arabia since president biden took office and vowed the u.s. would end support for offensive operations. in response, codepink tweeted -- "meanwhile, one yemeni child continues to die every 10 minutes as a result of the humanitarian crisis caused by the saudi-led war on yemen." in chile, security forces shot dead two indigenous mapuche leaders during clashes wednesday in the province of arauco. the southern coastal region has been under a state of emergency since last month with the chilean government attempts to suppress the mapuche community and the fight to recover their ancestral lands. the u.s. congress has approved a new bipartisan sanctions bill

targeting the nicaraguan government ahead of the country's presidential election sunday and in response to president daniel ortega's crackdown on his opposition. ortega is seeking a fourth term. about 40 opposition figures, including seven presidential candidates, have been arrested since june. it seeks to monitor and address human rights abuses and the obstruction of free elections by the ortega government. opponents say more u.s. sanctions will continue to harm the nicaraguan people and are demanding the u.s. government stop its catastrophic intervention in nicaragua. in the hague, three leading press freedom groups this week launched an unprecedented tribunal charged with holding governments accountable for the rising violence against journalists. the people's tribunal on the murder of journalists is being spearheaded by the free press unlimited, the committee to protect journalists, and reporters without borders. for the next six months, the tribunal will hold hearings on charges against the governments of sri lanka, mexico, and syria,

accused of failing to protect journalists and allowing their killers to act with impunity. this comes as unesco has released a new report that documents an 87% impunity rate in cases of murdered journalists between 2006 and 2020. the justice department is suing texas over its recently passed voter suppression law, which -- saying it violates voting rights laws by targeting texans of color, voters who don't speak english, and voters with disabilities. in related news, the republican-controlled north carolina legislature on thursday approved an extreme gerrymandered redistricting map which gives republicans increased seats. the governor of north carolina, does not have veto power over redistricting plans so any challenges to the new maps would likely go through the courts. in other news from north

carolina, dozens of state democrats staged a walkout earlier this week after the house swore in its newest lawmaker, republican donnie loftis, who admitted he was present during the january 6 capitol insurrection. bloomberg reports that manhattan prosecutors have convened a second grand jury to continue probing the financial practices of donald trump's real estate empire and to weigh possible criminal charges. a previous grand jury convened by manhattan district attorney cy vance indicted the trump organization and its former cfo allen weisselberg. in kenosha, wisconsin, the judge overseeing the trial of teenage gunman kyle rittenhouse has removed a juror who was overheard joking about the shooting of jacob blake, an african-american man left paralyzed last year after he was shot by kenosha police. judge bruce schroeder agreed with prosecutors that the juror's comments were disqualifying. >> it is clear the appearance of

bias is present, and it was seriously undermine the outcome of the case. i think the best under the circumstances is am going to dismiss you from the jury, sir. amy: meanwhile, in georgia, opening arguments begin today in the murder trial for the three white men who hunted down and killed black jogger ahmaud arbery last year. only a single black juror was chosen. the 11 others are white. after headlines, we'll speak with ben crump, attorney for ahmaud arbery's family. oklahoma's pardon and parole board has recommended clemency for julius jones, an african american man sentenced to die for a 1999 murder he says he did not commit. calls are mounting for oklahoma governor kevin stitt to halt jones' execution, scheduled for november 18. meanwhile judge has denied a , a request to grant a new murder trial to rodney reed, an african-american prisoner

sentenced to death by an all-white jury in 1998 for a crime he has always denied committing. lawyers say there's compelling evidence that another man may be responsible for the 1996 murder of stacey stites, a 19-year-old white woman. you can see our coverage of both death penalty cases at democracynow.org. on wet'suwet'en territory, the gidimt'en clan is marking over 40 days since they set up new blockades preventing coastal gaslink from drilling on indigenous land to build their pipeline. the occupation started in september and halted the company's efforts to build a key portion of the over-400-mile pipeline that would transport natural gas from dawson creek in northeastern british columbia to the province's north coastal region of kitimat. this is sleydo, also known as molly wickham, a land defender and matriarch of the gidimt'en clan of wet'suwet'en nation. >> there is now a clan cabin on

the drill head site with a plan to drill. in 2010, there were 13 proposed pipeline projects to go through our territory. investors were forced up a lot of these mega destructive projects to our territory and al gaslight high flight the only one left. from an bridge, pacific trails, and several others. amy: to see our interview with sleydo please go to democracynow.org. and in labor news, striking alabama coal miners returned to new york city this week to bring their protest in front of the offices of hedge fund blackrock, the largest shareholder of warrior met coal. six rally-goers were arrested during a peaceful sit-in protest. 1000 members of the united mine workers of america have been on strike for over seven months. this is union leader brian sanson. >> the same executives ran the

company in bankruptcy, in the ground. misled investors. cut and if it's debt benefits for 20 500 retirees. she did the pension plane out of $1 billion. cut workers wages i six dollars an hour. eliminated future health care, future pensions for these workers, all while asking and getting notices from the bankruptcy court. -- bonuses from the bankruptcy court. amy: meanwhile, 34,000 kaiser permanente health workers on the west coast have authorized a strike starting november 15 unless their demands for fair pay and staffing are met. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when we come back, we go to the two trials in kenosha, wisconsin, and in georgia, around the killing of the black

jogger ahmaud arbery. we will speak with ben crump. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. before we go to glasgow for the u.n. climate summit, we're going to stay here in the united states. the murder trial begins today of three white men accused of killing ahmaud arbery, the unarmed 25-year-old black man who they chased down and shot to death while he was out for a jog last year in the suburbs of brunswick, georgia. many have compared his death to a modern-day lynching. a warning to our viewers and listeners, this segment contains graphic descriptions of violence. on february 23, 2020, gregory mcmichael and his son travis mcmichael saw arbery jogging, grabbed guns, and pursued him in a pickup truck.

their neighbor, william "roddie" bryan, joined the pursuit in his own truck, recording the video on a cellphone. the mcmichaels claim they were attempting a citizen's arrest of ahmaud. travis mcmichael fired two shots, killing ahmaud. the elder mcmichael was a former glynn county police officer and investigator for the brunswick judicial circuit prosecutor jackie johnson, who was indicted for directing police not to arrest travis mcmichael and then steering the case to a sympathetic prosecutor. it was a third prosecutor who ultimately filed the murder charges in the case after the video evidence became public, sparking widespread outcry. more than a quarter of glynn county is black, but after a long and grueling process, just one single black man was chosen to serve on the jury in the case along with 11 white people.

judge timothy walmsley declined to change the jury's racial makeup after prosecutors asked him to reinstate eight black potential jurors, arguing defense lawyers struck them because of their race, which is unconstitutional. >> the court has found there appears to be intentional discrimination in the panel. that is a prima facie case. before i get into this, one of the challenges that i think counsel recognized in that case is the racial overtones in the case. quite a few african-american jurors were excused through print three strikes exercised by the defense, but that does not mean that the court has the authority to reseat. amy: so that is judge walmsley who said he believed there was intentional discrimination in

the choosing of the jury but went ahead with the racial composition of the jury, ultimately, 11 white people and one african-american. arbery's family has said they are concerned about getting a guilty verdict. this is this is arbery's mother, wanda cooper-jones, and the family's attorney lee merritt speaking to reporters thursday outside the courthousen brunswick, georgia. >> it is unreal. i'm very shocked we only had one black, african-american man. >> for a family who just wants to hear -- they just want a fair day in court without racial bias, but it is inherently built into our system. weneed to coinue to change loss and improve our system so it doesn't continue, but it is there. amy: this comes as judge walmsley ruled thursday the jury will not see a toxicology report showing arbery had a small amount of thc, the psychoactive compound in marijuana, in his

blood. this is the judge's exchange with one of the defense attorneys. >> brought up a small amount of t8 the means. close your going to prevent us from going to toxicology prevent us from talking about corroboration of thc unless perhaps we can come back and educate the court on thc causing confrontational behavior outside of a mental health diagnosis. amy: this comes as lawyers for travis mcmichael, who shot arbery with a shotgun, have tried to limit evidence that suggests race was a motivating factor, including photos of his vanity license plate with a confederate flag on it. on the front of his pickup truck. for more, we're joined in chicago by civil rights attorney ben crump, who is one of the lawyers for arbery's family.

ben crump, welcome back to democracy now! in a moment, we going to talk about the murder case -- or than accorded of the county is -- more than a quarter of the county is black and there's only one juror. >> it is very disappointing, not only for ahmaud's mother and father, for everybody who has been following this case most of the fact that you seem to have a jury that has more of the perspective, more of the commonalities of the killers up ahmaud arbery then the perspective of ahmaud arbery,

this young black man who literally was killed for jogging while black. it is troubling because the court, when they granted 24 prude three strikes from the beginning, that was troubling because they said they can systemically try to just strike black people 24 times. that is too many strik. everyone who has been looking at this case and saying not only from day one when the police came out and tried to give cover for the killers of ahmaud arbery for jogging whelack, it seems our criminal justice system gives them ver, too en they are being fought in the tribunal of justice. amy: talk about judge walmsley.

it wasn't the prosecutor, defense, or activist who used this term "intentional discrimination," it was the judge himself seemed furious that he could not do something. he admitted there was intentional discrimination her. this involves the challenge. >> it is a supreme court based on case law that says you cannot dismiss people based on their race, ethnicity, or their gender. you ve to have race-neutral reasons of why you're dismissing people from the jury panel. i think the judge is being very honest and truthful when he said it appears it was intentional discrimination. i don't know how you c conclude anything else. however, the family would have

liked for him to have dismissed his panel so we could have a panel that was a jury of ahmaud arbery's peers who would sit in judgment whether the killers would ever be held accountable. so it is very troubling, amy, again, that you only have one african-american juror who is going to hear this case. amy: i want to bring in the other case and then we will talk about both. this is the wisconsin case. opening arguments have just begun in the trial of kyle rittenhouse, the white teenager who faces seven charges, including homicide, for fatally shooting two men and wounding a third amid anti-police brutality protests ikenosha last year. there is only one person of color on that jury. the judge overseeing the trial has ruled the three protesters

that rittenhouse shot, killing two, wounding the third, cannot be labeled "victims" during the trial but can be called "rioters," "looters," or "arsonists" if the defense can provide evidence to justify such terms. this week the judge removed a juror who was overheard joking about the shooting of jacob blake, the african-american man left paralyzed last year after he was shot by kenosha police. according to cnn correspondent omar gimenez the juror approached a deputy and asked, "why did it take seven shots to shoot jacob blake?" then he answered himself, "because they ran out of bullets." judge bruce schroeder dismissed him, citing the need for public confidence in a fair trial. >> it is clear the appearance of bias is present, and was fiercely undermine the outcome

of the case. i think the best thing under the circumstances is i'm going to dismiss you from the jury, sir. amy: so he has been kicked off the jury, but he was chosen to be on the jury. can you talk about the composition of this jury and what is at stake in the new video that has been released showing rittenhouse opening fire? >> you know, the similarities in the two cases are quite shocking when you think about the video shows both of the killers in these cases actively pursuing people who are unarmed. and that has to say something about our system of justice, where we are in america today. you cannot allow people to hunt

down individuals with shotguns and assault rifles, and then there be no accountability. and there seems to ba suggestion that the criminal justice system will protect certain people but condemn hers who had no weapon. when you think about all of these minorities, especially black men, in the criminal justice system in the prison industrial complex where there was no video evidence, it was based on just innuendo, circumstantial evidence, but we can always find a way to convict them stop however, when it is wightman shooting unarmed people, it seems it is such a challenge to convict them. it talks about the need for us to finally confront the original issue in america, and that is

racism and discrimination. amy: i went as one more question about judge bruce schroeder in the rittenhouse case. addressing the jury, he evoked the bible to explain that hearsay rule. >> this is referred to in the bible. st. paul when he was put on trial in -- i think it is -- well, it was in palestine, in israel. he was accused of some activity and he was a roman citizen, which was not common but he happened to have been a roman citizen. so he had rights that we share now as americans. a make of the judge also used his position on the bench to slam media coverage of the

rittenhouse trial. here he is criticizing cnn for questioning his edict to attorneys not to refer to any of those shot by rittenhouse as "vtims." >> it s been on cnn, the comment was ma the ruling was inmprehensible. th obviously are not filiar with this rule. that is our law. amy: the significance of this, ben crump, invoking the bible and this whole issue of not being able to refer to the men who were killed as victims but possibly as looters or arsonists? >> it is very questionable. you think about the fact the defense should be able to do everything they can to zealously

defend their client, but also for the prosecutors have to be able to zealously prosecute the case, so you can't put shackles on one party and let the other party have an unfair advantage. so what we are trying to get, amy, is a system that would allow to process for everybody involved. and that is why i continue to say we can't have two justice systems in america -- one for black americans and another for white america. we have to have equal justice for every citizen in the united states of america. in august the, my heart breaks as i sit here and think about thjuror telling the joke about our client jacob blake, jr. and why it took seven bullets to stop him and his response was,

"because we ran out of bullets." how do you think that makes jacob blake feel as he sits paralyzed today wating coverage about three people shot who were protesting for him to get a chance at justice -- which he was denied because no charges were brought? there are two justice systems in america, and we have to continue to fight to say that we all need one justice system, not when white to people they are treated differently. black men are accused of shooting people, the book is thrown at them. that is what we fight so hard, amy. amy: ben crump, thank you for being with us, civil-rights attorney representing the family of ahmaud arbery as well as jacob blake. next up, youth activists are

demanding world leaders do more to avert a climate catastrophe. we will get the latest and hear a moving address by a youth climate activist from kenya. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. youth activists are taking to the streets of glasgow today outside the u.n. climate summit, demanding world leaders do more to avert a climate catastrophe. the protest is organized by fridays for future, which grew out of attitude burke's -- greta thunberg's strike outside in

swedish. now she's 18 years old and in the streets of glasgow. she was speaking earlier this week. >> they're just politicians of people in power pretending to take our future seriously. to pretend to take the people seriously who are being affected already by the climate crisis. change is not going to come from inside there. this is leadership. amy: youth climate activists have also been given a prominent role inside the u.n. climate summit this year. let's turn to one of the highlights of the opening ceremony monday. >> my name is elizabeth wathuti. i need to tell you what is happening in my home country. right now as i sit comfortably here in this conference center in glasgow, over to lien of my fellow kenyans are facing --

over chilean of my fellow kenyans are facing climate starvation. in this past year, both of our rainy seasons have failed. in scientist say it may be another 12 months before the waters returned again. meanwhile, our rivers are running dry. a harvests are failing. our storehouses stand empty. our animals and people are dying. i have seen with my own eyes three young children crying decide the dried up river -- at the site of a dried up river after walking 12 miles th her moer to find water. please open your hearts.

this is not only happening in kenya. over the past few months, there had been deadly fires and devastating floods. and there is more still to come. by 2025, in just four years time, half of the world's population will be facing water scarcity. and by the time i am 50, the climate crisis will have displaced 86 million people in sub-saharan africa alone. please, open your hearts. if you allow yourself to feel it , the injustice is hard tbear.

sub-saharan africans are responsible for just have a percent of historical emissions. the children are responsible f none. but they are bearing the brunt. we are the adults and it is our responsibility to ensure the children have food and water. i have been doing what i can, inspired by the great professor, i founded the green generation initiative. it enhances food security for young kenyans. so far we have grown fruit trees to maturity, providing nutrition for thousands of children. every day we see when we look

after the trees, they look after us. but these trees and the life-saving fruit they bear will not survive on a 2.7 degrees celsius warmer planet. the divisions you -- decisions you make your will help determine whether the rains will return to our land. the decisions you make your will help determine whether the fruit trees we plant will live or perish. the decisions you make your will help determine whether the children will have food and water. i believe in a human capacity to care deeply and act collectively. i believe in o ability to do what is right if we let ourselves feel it in our hearts.

so for these next two weeks, let us feel it in our hearts. the children cannot live on empty promises. they are waiting for you to act. please, open your hearts and en act. thank you. [applause] amy: that is wet'suwet'en of kenya speaking at the opening ceremony at the you and climate summit on monday. as we broadcast right now, thousands of youth are in the streets in glasgow, protesting the -- for climate justice. as we continue on the u.n. climate summit, representatives of over 40 nations have placed to end the use of coal. the deal did not include many of the largest coal producers, including china, india,

australia, and the united states will have to talk more about the state of the climate summit, we are joined by meena raman, head of programs at third world network. usually based in penang, malaysia, but now joining us from glasgow. behind her, the rotating globe that is suspended over the u.n. climate assembly. meena raman wet'suwet'en, talk about the significance of these 40 countries ending the use of coal but the major users from the united states to china refusing to participate in this. >> amy, i think what we need to recognize is that always sideline pledges or announcements actually need to be reflected in the real commitment, which are under the convention and the paris agreement. a lot of these announcements are outside of the process.

of course -- i don't think you can put u.s. on the same level as china and india because the u.s. is a much bigger historical emitter than china or india. and china and india, and i said previously before, they do have huge challenges because of large emissions coming because of large populations. so in terms of per capita, the u.s. is still much higher than china and india. the point i'm making is you cannot say put them on the same platform together. the second point i would like to make also is what is critical is to recognize the energy poverty that many of the third developing countries face. so we do need to face -- phaseout from fossil fuels, but what is fundamental is it has to be on the basis of what is called justice transition. so the people you are energy

poor, the more they have access to renewable energy, the more they are not the victims of climate solutions. having said that, i think all countries need to do much more, not just on coal, fossil fuels as a whole, but the developing world does require large amounts of financing, large amount of technology transfer for the kind of transformation that needs to happen. the rich world has not been able to phase out fossil fuels, which also have done by today, yet continues to expand the use of fossil fuels. it is dubious to preach to the developing world that they have to get out of fossil fuels. the leaders -- and this is recognized by the treaty itself, the convention and the paris agreement -- those with the greatest responsibility come

historical emissions, they have a huge responsibility for environmental warming and this has been pointed out by the intergovernmental panel on climate change in relation to the large amount of co2 which has been emitted, which are causing much of the impact that we face today. amy: can you explain the one point a degree celsius -- one point a degree celsius that is now being put out as the goal? >> it is 1.5, not 1.8. if you recall in paris, the agreement in the paris basically says countries will ensure that the global temperature goal will be limited to well below two degrees centigrade from preindustrial levels and they will pursue toward 1.5 degrees

centigrade. now, we all know with climate groups, the 1.5 is a much safer, but the issue here is particularly the rich world talks about we need to achieve the 1.5 degrees limit, the devil is in the detail of how to get there. when you about 1.5 degrees, -- compared to 2.5 degrees limit, the amount of carbon space or atmospheric space is much smaller than under a two degree limit. so the issue really is, as the ipcc has pointed out, if you add all the emissions from the historical and eutectic you much of into account, we only have something like 500 gigatons of carbon space left. this means at the current

emission trend, we will exhaust this carbon budget for limiting temperature rise to 1.5 with a 50% chance. and that itself is a problem. amy: let me clarify something. the number has always been 1.5 degrees celsius, which is 2.7 degrees fahrenheit. scientists have set of global warming must be kept to this, about preindustrial levels. but i thought what had come out now is the international energy agency reported thursday that warming could be limited to 1.8 degrees celsius about preindustrial levels by 2100. >> they were referring to the methane and other initiatives and cooling and so on and have come to 1.8. i have not seen the details of the report, but i think what

need to recognize, amy, is the fact that whether it is 1.8 or 1.5 or even 2 degrees, with the push for net zero by 2050 by all countries -- and this is being pushed by the u.n. top level down to the u.k. presidency -- we in civil society and climate justice movement are critical of that because it is -- if you look at the u.s. saying that zero by 2050 and other developed countries saying ned's by 2050 and if you look at the content of that, it is too little, too late. ms. zero will exhaust -- there is no time for 2015. you need to get to real zero today. it should have been done yesterday by the rich world in particular. we need to recognize the fact are not going to be able to limit temperature rise. either to 1.8 or 1.5 or even

tubing degrees if we allow the rich nations to keep zero by 2050. this is too little, too late. net zero, what it means, you don't decarbonize. sites does not work that one. -- science does not work that way. it is an illusion. it is a complete solution. we are very worried there's a lot of greenwashing happening here, a lot of it is -- if you look at the targets, talk about carbon credits, offsetting. it is not about decarbonizing. decarbonize means you remove emissions and you plant trees. what is happening here is net zero through carbon offsets, which means the developing world will have to do much more of the

heavy lifting again most of this does not work. the time for carbon offsets is over. amy: i want to get your comment on the first week of the talks. we will be with glasgow on the street. president biden was one of the openers of the u.n. climate summit but right before that he was at rome at the g20 summit and held a news conference when he was asked about his call for the world's largest oil producers to increase output. >> you met with energy consumers about supply. what steps are you considering taking if opec plus does not raise supply and you see any irony in pushing them to increase oil production at the same time you're going to cop26 george people to lower emissions? mr. biden: on the surface, seems like an already but the truth is, everyone knows the idea we're going to be able to move to renewable energy overnight and not have from this moment on not use oil or gas or not use

hydrogen, it is not rational. amy: meena raman, if you could respond to what bidenaid? >> well, his response is completely irrational. it really is about the hypocrisy of world leaders like him coming to the cop26 and saying we need to do more. now, if the rich world cannot get off the oil existence -- it is not just about renewable energy. more importantly, it is also about consumption and production. consumption, oil addicts or fossil fuel addicts. we do need to move -- biden has no excuse to say what he said. amy: thank you, meena raman, for joining us, head of programs at third world network. we end today's show with our betas prime minister who spoke

at the opening ceremony on monday. >> the pandemic has taught us national solutions to global problems to not work. we come to glasgow with global ambitions, to save our people, and to save our planet. we now find three gaps. on medication, climate pledges. without more, we will leave the world 7 degrees and -- [indiscernible] these commitments made by some are based on technologies yet to be developed. this is at best reckless. at worst, dangerous. on finance, we are $20 billion short of the $100 billion. this commitment them even then, it might only be met in 2023. on adaptation, meditation

finance remains only at 25%. not the 50/50 split that was promised were needed given the warming that has already taken place on this earth. climate finance, the front lines, developing states declined by 25% in 2019. failure to provide the critical finance and that of loss and damage is measured, my friends, in lives and livelihoods in our communities. this is immoral and unjust. if glasgow is to deliver on the promises of paris, it must close these three gaps. so i ask to you, what must we say to our people living on the front line in the caribbean, in africa, in latin america, in the pacific went ambitions,

regrettably, son of the needed basis at glasgow are not present? what excuse should we give her failure? in the words of eddie grant, will they mourn us on the front line? when will we as world leaders across the world aress issues that are truly causing our people angst and worry, whether it is climateo whether it is vaccines. simply put, when will leaders lead? our people are watching and our people are taking note. are we really going to leave scotland without the resolve and ambition that is sorely needed to save lives and to save our planet? how many more voices and how many more pictures of people must we see on these screens without being able to move, or

are we so blind and hard that we can no longer appreciate humidity? i've been saying for many years, many hands make light work. today, we need the correct mix of voices, ambitn, and action. to some leaders in this world believe they can survive and thrive on their own. had they not learn from the pandemic? can there be peace and prosperity of one third of the world literally prospers and gather two thirds of the world come under seizure and face clematis threat to our well-being? what our world needs now, my friends, is that which is within the gambitf less than 200 persons who are willing a prepared to lead. leaders must n fail those who elect them to lead.

i say to you, there is a source that can cut down this. it has been wielded before. central banks of the wealthiest countries engaged in $25 trillion of quantitative easing in the last 13 years. $25 trillion. of that, $9 trillion within the last18onths to fight the pandemic. had we use that 2520 and a list or purchase funds to finance the energy transition or the transition of how we eat or how we move ourselves in transport, we would now today be reaching that 1.5 degrees limit that is so vital to us. i say to you today in glasgow, an annual increase of $500 billion a year for 20 years put in trust to finance the

transition is a real gap, secretary general, that we need to close, not the $50 billion been proposed adaptation. and if $500 billion sounds big to you, guess what? it is just 2% of the $25 trillion. this is the sword we need to yield. can we went the voices find it within ourselveso get the result to bring glasgow back on track, or duly today believing it was a failure before it starts? our world, my friends, stands at a fork in the road. one no less significant than when the united nations was formed in 1945.

but then the majority of our countries here did not exist. we exist now. the difference is we want to exist 100 years from now. if our existence is to mean anything, then we must act in the interest of all of our people who are depending on us. and if we don't, we will allow the path of greed and selfishness to sow the seeds of coming destruction. the leaders of today must make this choice. it is in our hands. and our people and our planet needed more than ever -- need it more than ever. we can work with whoever is ready to go because the train is ready to leave. and those who are not yet ready, we need to continue to remind them their people, not our people, but their citizens need

them to get on board as soon as possible. code red. code red to that g7 countries. code red. code red to the g20. earth to cop. that is what it says, earth to cop. for those who have eyes to see, for the who have ears to listen, and for those who have a heart t feel, 1.5 is what we need to survive. 2 degrees is a death sentence for the people of the maldives, for the people of dominique. the people of kenya and mozambique. yes, for the people of samoa and barbados. we do not want that death sentence, but we have come here today to say "try harder"

because our people in the climate army, the world, the planet, needs our actions now, not next year. not in the next decade. thank you. amy: that is barbados' prime minister addressing the u.n. climate summit opening some money -- ceremony. to see the entire opening ceremony, we will link to it at democracynow.org. next week we will continue to bring our climate countdown, conference of coverage is what is happening at the u.n. summit as we have since copenhagen in 2009. featuring voices inside the cop. climate activists protesting outside. and advocates from the global south who could not travel to scotland during the pandemic. more than 100,000 people are expected to be in the streets of glasgow on saturday.

we will air highlights on monday. you can visit us at democracynow.org to see all of our coverage this week. that does it for our show. happy birthday, john hamilton! [captioning made possi