12/07/22 12/07/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> are you ready, georgia? [indiscernible] god bless you! keep the faith!

amy: income but senator raphael warnock has defeated republican herschel walker in georgia's closely watched run-off election, giving the democrats control of 51 seats in the next congress. we will go to georgia for the latest. then "death by policy: crisis in the arizona desert." >> the number of people who reach out asking for help to find their missing loved ones is often just overwhelming. amy: a new investigation by futuro media shows how u.s. border policies have created a deadly funnel forcing migrants seeing refuge into some of the deadliest terrain in the country, including the sonoran desert in southern arizona. and then usa versus garcia luna. mexico's former secretary of public security will soon become the highest ranking mexican official ever to face trial in the united states. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. georgia senator raphael warnock has won re-election, defeating republican herschel walker in georgia's closely watched run-off. >> it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words er spoken in a democracy, the people have spoken. [applause] amy: with over 95% of ballots counted, warnock received 51.4% of the vote to trump-backed walker's 48.6%. during his victory speech, senator warnock also warned voter suppression remains a major threat. raphael warnock becomes georgia's first black full-term senator and increases democrat'' senate majority to 51. after headlines, we'll go atlanta to speak with latosha brown, co-founder of the black voters matter fund.

the trump organization was found guilty on all 17 counts, including criminal tax fraud, conspiracy, and falsifying business records. the damning verdict comes after a three-year investigation by the manhattan district attorney's office. the convictions centered on trump org providing lavish perks to its executives -- including luxury apartments, cars, and cash bonuses -- without paying taxes on any of these over a 15-year period. former trump organization cfo allen weisselberg pleaded guilty in august to financial crimes and prosecutors say trump signed off on the tax fraud, though the former president was not charged in the case. trump and his children are still facing a separate civil fraud suit by new york attorney general letitia james. the house committee investigating the january 6 insurrection says it will make criminal referrals to the justice department. it's not known whether trump will be one of them. the committee is expected to release its final report by christmas.

in related news, lawmakers gathered in the capitol rotunda tuesday to award congressional gold medals to the capitol police and the d.c. metropolitan police for their actions on january 6. this is chief of the d.c. metropolitan police robert contee. >> many of us still carry the physical, mental, and emotional scars after that mob of thousands launched a viont assault in an attempt to ht the counting of electoral ballots. the sounds of metal polls and other objects striking the bodies, helmets, and shields may still ring loudly. and because during the ceremony, the family of deceased officer brian sicknick refused to shake hands with house minority leader kevin mccarthy or senate republican leader mitch

mcconnell. sicknick had two strokes and died one day after the january 6 attack. the special counsel investigating trump sent grand jury subpoenas to officials in arizona, michigan, pennsylvania, and wisconsin asking for any communications with the former president, his campaign, and his associates. special counsel jack smith was appointed last month by attorney general merrick garland to lead probes into donald trump's role in the capitol insurrection, as well as whether trump mishandled classified materials. the supreme court is hearing arguments today in moore v. harper, a pivotal election case which legal experts warn could upend the electoral process in the united states and threatened democracy. the case centers on the independent state legislature theory and seeks to hand state legislatures near total authority in voting issues, overriding courts, governors, and state constitutions. the case was brought by north

carolina republican lawmakers after state courts struck down their illegally gerrymandered congressional maps. a federal judge sentenced michael avenatti to 14 years in prison and ordered him to pay $11 million in restitution for stealing millions of dollars from his clients and obstructing the irs's efforts to collect taxes on his business. avenatti, best known for representing adult film star stormy daniels in her case against trump, is already serving a five-year sentence for two other convictions. prosecutors say avenatti stole from his clients to pay for personal luxuries, including a private jet. in international news, german law enforcement arrested 25 people earlier today suspected of plotting to overthrow the german government. the suspects are said to belong to a far-right domestic terror group called reich citizens that believes germany is controlled by a deep state. plans included attacking the reichstag, germany's parliament building.

china announced major changes to its covid-19 policy, easing some of its most stringent rules, including allowing mild or asymptomatic cases to isolate at home instead of a centralized quarantine site. it also rolls back testing requirements and the use of a contact-tracing qr system that people had to scan in order to enter most public places. the changes come after rare public protests against the government's zero-covid rules. in argentina, vice president cristina fernández de kirchner has been convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to six years in prison. rchner, who served two terms as president of argentina, was also given a lifetime ban from holding public office. kirchner has denied any wrongdoing and is expected to appeal. her supporters took to the streets to denounce tuesday's verdict. >> they changed the military for corrupt judges. the judges serve the concentrated powers of the economy.

today we are in the streets to free christina and end the law fair within our country. amy: indonesia's parliament passed a sweeping new criminal code that bans extramarital sex for anyone living in or even visiting indonesia. lgbtq people are especially at risk since same-sex marriage is illegal in indonesia. the criminal code also punishes anyone who insults the president or expresses opinions that diverge from the national ideology. on tuesday, protesters gathered in front of the parliament in jakarta. >> the government should focus on fulfilling people civil rights, economy, culture such as jobs come health care, etc. they should have passed laws related to that, instead of passing a law that controls our private life and not take care of public matters. it is a setback for our country which has fought for reform and now we are moving backwards. amy: back in the united states federal judge in washington, , a d.c., has dismissed a lawsuit against saudi arabian crown prince mohammed bin salman

filed by an advocacy group and the fiancée of journalist jamal khashoggi, who was murdered in 2018. the judge cited the biden administration's granting of sovereign immunity to bin salman in the lawsuit -- despite the crown prince, and now saudi prime minister, admitting the murder took place "under my watch." to see our interviews on the subject, go to democracynow.org. in colorado, prosecutors charged the suspect in last month's mass shooting at the lgbtq nightclub club q with 305 criminal counts, including hate crimes and murder. five people were killed in the massacre and 17 others injured. san francisco's board of supervisors voted tuesday to ban police from using "killer robots." the vote reverses a decision made by the board just last week to allow the explosives-laden robots to be deployed, which was met with outrage from residents and rights advocates. san francisco police will still be able to use the robots in some non-lethal situations.

washington, d.c., is set to become the most populous city in the country to offer free bus rides starting july 1 after the d.c. council voted for the measure tuesday. the bill also invests millions more in d.c.'s bus system and adds overnight service on 12 routes. a final vote on the measure will take place later this mont and in montreal, canada, the u.n. biodiversity conference cop15 kicked off this week with a stark warng from.n. secretary general antónio guterres. >> with our bottomless appetite for economic growth, hidity has become -- humanity has become a weapon of mass distinction. we are treating nature like a toilet. ultimately, we are committing suicide by proxy. because the laws of nature and biodiversity comes with a steep human cost, a cost we measure in lost jobs, hunger, diseases, and

death. amy: indigenous and environmental activis disrupted a speech by the canadian prime minister justin trudeau, holding up a banner that read, "indigenous genocide = ecocide. to save biodiversity, stop invading our lands." meanwhile, a new report by friends of the earth reveals corporate interests have steered the writing of the convention on biological diversity, an international conservation treaty. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now! co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: well, georgia senator raphael warnock has made history by defeating republican herschel walker in georgia's closely watched senate run-off. warnock's victory gives the

democrats control of 51 seats in the next senate. warnock also becomes the first black senator to be elected to a six-year term in georgia. he received 51.4% of the vote to walker's 48.6%. senator raphael warnock addressed supporters in atlanta last night. >> there are those who will look at the outcome of this race and say that -- you are right. we won. there are those who would look at the outcome of this race and say that there is no voter suppression in georgia. let me be clear. just because people endured long lines that wrapped around

buildings, some blocks long, just because they endured the rain and the cold and all kinds of tricks in order to vote, does not mean that voter suppression does not exist. it simply means that you people have decided that your voices will not be silenced. amy: senator raphael warnock speaking after defeating republican nfl star herschel walker in georgia's closely watched senate runoff. senator warnock was raised in public housing in savannah, georgia, the 11th of 12 children come the first in his family to go to college. he first rose to national prominence as a senior pastor at the ebenezer baptist church in atlanta, which was the spiritual home of dr. martin luther king jr.. when rev. warnock was first elected in 2021, he became the first black democrat ever to represent the southern state as

well as the first black senator from georgia and jesse 11th black senator in u.s. history. warnock's victory marked a major victory for former president trump who handpicd herschel walker, had no political experience. walker became the eighth trump-backed senate candidate to lose this year year in which the , a republicans had expected to regain control of the senate. herschel walker conceded to raphael warnock last night. >> i want you to believe in america and get aged of leave in the constitution and believe in our elected officials. continue to pray for them. i felt your prayers. amy: we go nowo atlanta, georgia, where we are joined by latosha brown, cofounder of the black voters matter fund. thank you so much for rejoining us on democracy now! if you can talk about the significance of senator raphael

warnock, reverend will fear warnock's victory last night -- reverend raphael warnock's victory last night, and the lessons learned. >> i am so excited and happy about the outcome. a number of things, one, it is historic. here is -- he has a full six-year term to serve in the senate, an african-american male from a state that we know historicallyhat blacmen and women have actually been killed just for trying to register to vote. a state that has been on the forefront ofiteral leading voter suppression, even intensifng that in the lt few years. historical significance ound the fight to vote. i also think it has significance because it has a national political implication that what we know is that the democrats have 51 seats, which now they have freedom -- far more freedom

and space in terms of the committee appointments to be able to actually get judges through, to be able to get a point is through, and even put pressure on folks like sinema and manchin who stood and the way of certain legislation, like voting legislation. that will have a significant impact on the national policy that goes forward that the democrats push. the third thing it does, i think it reaffirms a particular model of what we have been saying all the while. what we saw -- we saw voter suppression. i want people understand, yes, we saw a record turnout, we also saw long lines indicated that people were voting but the fact of the matter is people would stand in line for two hours and three hours. that should not be the case. that is the result of voter suppression. we look at what has happened from the 2021 election where senator warnock was first elected from the special election, what we know is

literally, we had almost nine weeks ofarly voting. that got truncated into four weeks. only four weeks of early voting. people had to make sure -- groups on the ground had to make sure people have the information. to add insult to injury, and the state of georgia, supposed to manage electoral process, spots ability to actually get information to voters to be able to engage in a process and literally encourage voters, citizens to participate in the political process, he actually sued -- try to literally not want to have a saturday voting opportunity for the voters in e state. inead of literally taking the job of expanding the opportunity and making sure that voters would participate, instead, he wanted us to observe a confederate holiday so that voters would not come out.

would not have the opportunity to vote. it was because of the warnock campaign and several other places that filed a lawsuit that the judge ruled in their favor that open up saturday voting. that we can on of the one of the largest voting turnout weakens in a runoff election in the history of georgia because there was a genuine need. those are some of the things i think that happened historically in this campaign that what you also see -- i think this is the most critical piece. part of what people should really recognize is warnoc was able to get the lg to -- pdq community, able to get independence, able to get the latino, african-americans, indigenous people. he had a broad-based coalition and in many ways a nuance message to each of those constituencies. that is the future of georgia. that is what america that we deserve. that is what america looks like.

i think it gives a message that in terms of going forward, the democratic party is going to have to literally, like, hunker down and be able to speak to those different constituency groups in a way we are moving forward with coalition litics juan: latosha brown, this was certainly a victory against voter suppression, but at the same time, it was also one of the mo expensive senate races in u.s. history. estimates that more than $380 million was spent between the campaigns and that warnock had a significant lead in the spending. as the message here also -- could you talk about the influence of money still in our local coral process -- electoral process and will all candidate seeking to be that voter suppression have to come up wi this kind of ney to bable t win? >> that is just not sustainable. the bottom line is in this

particular case, yes. warnock did have a large warchest. i think that has made a difference. early on in the campaign -- early on in the midterms, groups like mine and others, grassroots organizations also plate of tremendous part in the selection, or sing the resources were not on the ground. there needed to be a ground war. i think as we reflect and going forward as democrats reflect going forward, that israel consideration it ultimately, it is going to come up again -- bump up against some issues making sure different community are engaged. the second-tier point, it is unrealistic and unsustainable. it is obnoxious the amount of resources spent on these political campaigns. i think we need campaign reform so we can literally -- it should not be who has the most money

that wins, but who literally is engaging the most people, who has the heart and mind to shape policy and are going to be able to speak to the people. in this case, yes, he was able to have money and i certainly think the money helped. i think it helped to push him over the edge. i also say that ultimately in this particular case, he had the best of multiple worlds. he had positional kind of financial backing that you have as -- and more so than most democratic candidates had, and what he also had is he actually had this infrastructure that was literally outside his campaign that wanted to see him when badly and leveraged our resources, our time, and energy to make sure we actually pushed to get voters out so voters could make a choice without the choice would be clear, people knew exactly what to do and they knew the kind of leadership -- but this is a larger question.

as we go forward, the need for campaign financial support. an: herschel walker, his opponent was handpicked by donald trump and was really the candidate of the mag giving wing of the republican party. your sense of what this says about trump's power within the republican party and also what it may signal for his presidential run in 2024? >> i think it is good question, more complicated question. oh, we'd be trump, that is it. yes, we be trump, if he comes out again, we're going to do everything we can to beat him again. the fact that herschel walker, candidate who is one of the weakest candidates i've ever known in the history of doing these elections, who was handpicked -- picked out of

texas, placed in georgia. even had the audacity to file his taxes in the midst of the campaign where he said for the last 17 years he has been living in texas. he is a resident of texas. so-and-so disconnected from his own community and the plight of what african-americans are experiencing right now that he minimized racism -- he referred to himself as a negative racial slur used against african-americans for years in the deep south where he actually embraced -- he called a coon. here's someone with all of that baggage. someone who his own family came out at him and said he had not raised his children, that he had a domestic violence -- we can go on and on. the fact there was only 100,000 vote difference between these two candidates who were starkly different also speaks to something. i think it speaks to we cannot

take for granted this is a traditional election, that we will have traditional elections where democratic candidate and publican candidate -- we have to recognize we are still fighting the big live, live to recognize we are still fighting voter suppression, still fighting fascism and at the end of the day, when you can take a candidate out of nowhere that is the weakest candidate we see and be able to get over 7 million voters, that is up also be a red flag and we should not take it lightly or take for granted that trump will not be a factor in the upcoming presidential election. amy: latosha brown, interesting herschel walker despite all of his -- if you did -- conceded defeat immediately, which is something that trump would not to come and embraced the constitution -- saying the constitution should be thrown out. i wanted to ask you about this issue of voter suppression and

whether the republicans attempts to stop voting -- clearly, many people were disenfranchised. it is just a testament to the advocacy on the ground to get people out to vote. it made it all the more amazing -- whether republicans are now reconsidering two things. what is this kind of voter suppression because it actually galvanizes people. two, democrats had it hands down when it came to this record early voting, something republicans tend not to do. they vote on election day. aren't they ronsidering all of this? how your tactics change as well? >> i can't tell you what they're reconsidering because i think they made really critical mistakes as far as what they constantly he been doing. they have a tendency to believe

if they cheat, they put voter suppression tactics in place, that in some way you're just going -- we will get ejected from the process and not engage. the narrative that black and were not going to vote in this election, there were so upset with the democratic party. we actually saw the reverse happening in georgia. we saw that literally right behind black women were black men in support of the democratic ticket. whether they consider or not, i'm not sure for some the effect they have made major mistakes, they ran dr. oz, they ran herschel walker, the fact they are still a sizable part of the party still supports trump says there is some disconnect from the reality. i think in some ways they are blinded by raw power and decided by any means necessary that to cheat, still, whatever they have to do to undermine the process, they're willing to do that.

what we have seen over and over again is there is also a backlash that they constantly underestimate the power of voters, of new voters. there has been a shift. they are unwilling to accept the political landscape that they have been used to has forever changed. would you look in georgia, and at the last 10 years, 100% of the population growth in georgia has been communities of color. when you look at the average age , not only more diverse, but younger. your cigna democratic shipped across the country. -- you are seeing the democratic shift across the country. i think we are starting to see some of the fruits of that labor, and i don't see the republicans actually responding in any way that makes me think they're going -- even just have integrity to really take those things into consideration. amy: interestingly, the victory of raphael warnock, who becomes

the first black democrat to be elected to senate by a former state of the confederacy -- that happened last time but now is a full-term senator -- dethrone's what some call the other president joe, president joe manchin and washington, d.c., democratic senator joe manchin because now the democrats don't need all 50 votes now that it is 51 to 49 to pass all legislation. interesting effect that it is going to have inashington, d.c. >> absolutely. i think it is a game changer for a number of reasons. one of the most disappointing things that as i voting rights activist and advocate, for me, in this last election cycle, has been the failure of the democrats to pass voting rights legislation. that we need voting rights legislation.

what we saw in georgia -- the truth of the matter is, we still had to put an enormous a run of resources and people power to try to offset as much as possible the voter suppression. the truth of the matter is, while i am happy we won, i still maintain we cannot out organize voter suppression. it is unsustainable to continue to see the goalposts removed and we are responsible for that. we're going to have to have federal legislation. i think warnock has been a champion for voting rights. he has been consistently. we need him in the senate to push back on that. i think having that extra vote gives more leverage room the democrats to really take that up seriously. the second thing also around the committee assignments. because of this 51 vote, now democrats have more space to make committee assignments which means they can prioritize some of the things we want to see as progressives. we want to see in georgia a

increased minimum wage. we neea fair wage for people that when they're going to work, ey are ablto pay for and take care of the family. we want to see expansion of health care. health care access. i think having that one person, that extra vote, that extra leverage will give the opportunity for the democrats to have more leverage, prioritizing the things we want in terms of committee assignments, also to be able to get judges through and to really be able to have more room within their caucuses around but policies they will prioritize. amy: just to be clear what latosha brown talking about is not because it was 50/50, each committee was evenly divided. now democrats will have the majority of every committee in the u.s. senate. latosha brown, and you for being with us, cofounder of the black voters matter fund. when we come back, "death by policy: crisis in the arizona desert." a new investigation shows how

u.s. border policies forced migrants seeking refuge into some of the deadliest terrain in the southern states. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: "higher ground" by stevie

wonder. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to a new investigation by futuro media that shows how u.s. border policies have created a deadly final that forces migrants seeking refuge in some of the deadliest terrain and of the country, including the sonoran desert in southern arizona. the investigation aired friday on latino usa called "death by policy," hosted by the pulitzer-prize winning journalist maria hinojosa. this is how it begins. >> dear listener, a content warning. the next few minutes are of a 91 one call with the person in distress. at about 11:30 on a monday morning july 2021, a woman in southern arizona calls 911 from her cell phone.

she is in the sonoran desert. she is all by herself. and she is lost. >> the woman is put on hold. that is because she is a migrant crossing the border from mexico to the united states. then the dispatcher follows protocol and transfers her call from the local sheriff's office in pima county, arizona, to the u.s. border patrol. >> i've a mexican phone number. >> she is begging the dispatcher to send help. eventually, she is picked up by border patrol. calls like this happen all the time in southern arizona.

in some cases like this, the lucky outcome actually is the caller being located and entertained by border patrol and ultimately deported. but many other times, border crossers are never rescued by border patrol and they succumbed to the blistering heat in the sonoran desert. as of november 2021, humane borders, a local organization, nearly 4000 people whose remains have been recovered after dying trying to cross this vast stretch of land. many more have died and have yet to be found. amy: that is the opening to "death by policy: crisis in the arizona desert." the reporter also looks at the work of volunteer groups that go to the most dangerous areas to search for missing people as the

death toll at the border continues to rise. in this clip from "death by policy" we meet the blue armadillos, a volunteer search and rescue team along the u.s.-mexico border for those who have lost their way in the tucson sector. again, this is maria hinojosa speaking with a volunteer. >> the number of people who reach out asking for help to find their missing loved ones is often just overwhelming. >> gonzalo tells us groups like theirs are often the last and sometimes the only resort for desperate families who say they have called border patrol, they have called the mexican consulate, they have called the police, and they have gotten nowhere.

>> the reality is conditions on this setch of the border are so extreme that a person can die from heat exhaustion in just days or even hours. but gonzales says it is important to go out and do the search anyway, even if only to help get a missing persons remains home. amy: for more, we're joined by maria hinojosa, we just heard, just wo the pulitzer prizen, founder of futuro media, host of latino usa, including their new investigative units podcast "death by policy" and what we will talk about soon, a podcast series called usa versus garcia luna. she is also cohost of the podcast "in the thick." we are also joined by peniley

ramirez, emmyward-winning investigative journalist, executive producer of future investigates, and the co-host of their first podcast series usa versus garcia luna. we welcome you both to democracy now! maria, once again, congratulations on your remarkable series and your pulitzer prize. let's talk about this new production that you are doing. this investigative series, particularly "death by policy." >> amy, it is great to be back with you. juan, great to be with you, and my exec at a producer peniley ramirez. at the highest levels in journalism -- an, you know i love to say this to you, and juan, i am inspired by the both of you. you both have done this thing where we have taken control of the means of production, as it were, and said, we have voice,

we have power, we have agency. that is why futuro media was created in 2010, just going out on a limb, scary times. at this point now, we won the pullets are and the next kind of evolution and terms of being a journalist of conscience in the u.s. is to create an investigative unit, to take the power we have and hold those in power accountable. i make this joke like i am the captain now. i like to say i am "60 minutes now" because i learned how to do investigative journalism and was inspired to do it by "60 minutes," but it is a different media landscape now. we are able to do that same kind of work with our particular perspective. that is why it is so important this is the only investigative unit run by two latinas. why is the first report we decide to do about death on the

border? some people, even our colleagues said this is an old story, there's nothing to report. it is more intense than you even setting your promo. it is not so much the border patrol is just funneling people into dangerous parts of the desert, that is better now. but it is actually that everything will possibly -- policy they are enacting is leading to more deaths. they dispersed people now. they dispersed when groups are crossing the border, many of the groups are refugees. before the border patrol would round them up. that is their language. now they dispersed. they send helicopters, dogs, horses, etc. to disperse the group. that means now someone is alone in the desert, separated maybe with a sprained ankle. the chances of that person dying are higher. this is just one example of the policies they are creating -- by the way, both republicans and

democrats. a pox on both their houses. sadly, it is not going to be a surprise to you that border patrol, once they gave us a ride along but then after that they would not speak to us. the department of homeland security would not speak to us. president joe biden would not speak with us. we asked to speak to president obama, former president clinton, former president bush. they would not speak to us. for me, the big question is, if the united stateis creating policies that are leading to deaths, who holds united states accountable if they are not participants in the international court of tribunal human rights? this is where we are at. the world's greatest democracy, we have policies that lead to peoples deaths and they know that is the outcome they want. what does that mean for us as a society? juan: i would like to ask peni ramirez in terms of -- as part

of your series come you go to the devil's highway. could you talk about what the devil's highway is? also, it has been decades that the u.s. has been having policy of actually forcing migrants to go into the desert by putting up the main border wall construction, the major -- around the major cities and actually making it more and more difficult for people to cross so they are forced into the desert and end up -- so many of them en up perishing. amy: peni, i think you have to unmute yourself. maria, why don't we put that question to you while we fix peni's audio. >> the devil's ghway is one of

the most dangerous stretches of transportation in the united states. let me put this so that people understand because what you're going to hear on the mainstream media is,, there's a crèches -- oh, there is a crisis at the border. there is a crisis of humanity at the border. they're not tens of thousands of people tried to break down and break into the united states. that is not the crisis. the crisis is the over militarization of the border at large. part of that is the border wall. one, i don't know the last time you were down at the border wall, but it used to be that it is 15 feet high, these massive slabs of steel that have four inches in between so you could not put your head through. they just went down and increased the border wall to 30 feet high. what is crazy is the border wall is not a wall.

it is not continuous. so you have i think it is 19 miles but you have 21 openings in those 19 miles, precisely leading into the devil's highway. the thing is, juan, if people are in the desert hiking, there is a chance that you might perish. but the kinds of debts we are seeing now -- deaths we are seeing now are deaths that are entirely avoidable. they don't need to be happening. that is i think the most disheartening part of all of this is every single one of these deaths does not need to be happening. i used to say i was obsessed with the story because i have been crossing the border since i was born. i was born in mexico. i am no longer obsessed with this story, i am haunted. as i wrote in my essay, i want every single one of us to be haunted as well.

the way we are hunted in this country by so many deaths that we have seen their murders on camera commit may he rest in ace george floyd. but these deaths are happening and we never see them. and that is intentional. we could never see them. when have you seen the border patrol filmed? this is the reason why we chose this to make it our first investigative piece, to shed the light on the largest law enforcement agency in the united states of america that is majority latina latino that has very come if any oversight, and continues to have their budgets increased even though we are showing that those budget increases are not leading to saving lives the way they say they are. amy: this is a clip from "death by policy" when maria hinojosa

speaks with elena gonzalez. her mother maria left to come to the u.s. from veracruz, mexico. >> you lena waited and waited and waited for her mom's next phone call. as months passed and it became more and more desperate, she did not know to call or how to ask for someone to look for her mom. elena wondered, how could a mother disappear just like that? she began to lose hope that she would ever know what happened to her mother. amy: maria hinojosa, you said you did not get to speak with biden or bush or obama, they would not speak to you. did things change? when did you do this interview

come under president trump or under president biden? have things changed? also address the blue armadillos. >> we did this interview under president biden. have things changed? no, not really. not qualitatively. as far as i'm concerned -- and i've said this more than once to the biden administration -- the crisis of humanity on this border has given president biden more than one opportunity to say it stops here on my watch. i will no longer allow border patrol to exist where you are trained to be on horses with whips against black refugees, haitian refugees. i will no longer support and endorse border patrol that lies to refugees and says we're going to take you to miami and then you deport them to haiti. so multiple opportunities for this president actually to break

with the entire narrative of this crisis of being overrun by migrants and refugees at the border that is not happening. this is an opportunity for this president to say, we are shutting down of border patrol. we are going to redo this entire thing because this is the largest law enforcement agency in the united states of america. the number of abuses that we document -- by the way, the number of suicides of the border patrol, the number of officers who are charged with corruption. the border patrol, the whole entire policy behind it, is an opportunity for this administration to say ,no mas. you know what that would do, that would guarantee his reelection. he would absolutely guarantee his reelection because immigration has been the centerpiece of the political debate and he is done frankly

nothing new. your second question -- i can't remember it. amy: the blue armadillos. how important they are. >> so here's what happens, amy and juan. the border patrol has all of these -- this huge budget and atv's and helicopters and all of this but somehow, they can't seem to find people who are desperate. like, they did find the woman at the beginning of the show but the number of calls we scanned and decided not to run where the outcome is not the same is extraordinary. so you would think that the border patrol with all of these agents, with everything, they would be out combing the desert at all times. the desert is huge. they don't do that. you know, i have been to this border area alive. it is not like you see border patrol everywhere kind of like -- no, they are not.

so what does that mean? that means human beings who get lost on the border, human beings like you, me, juan, our families, their but for the grace of god go i in this desert, in this -- so you people at the blue armadillos. many of them who came in at the same way to the united states, most of them are based in california. they drive twice a month from california into arizonand they themselves go into the desert to look for people, to look for remains. they will get a phone call, get the coordinates of the last time this person was heard from, and they will go out to do this work. you know the money they need to do this -- because there are volunteers -- they raise it by selling tamales or by giving of their own salaries. they work in construction in southern california. you have that group and they're actually doing the humanitarian work, the of the border patrol

taking credit for that and saying there saving lives and they are out there going in and protecting lives. what we show in the peace is they have these beacons, these light deacons that they say is a major part of their lifesaving efforts on the border. if you have been to this part of the oregon national pipe, you know there is vast. these beacons are tiny little light you're supposed to see from miles away? and you get there and you push a red button and that is it? there's no water or know nothing there? the blue armadlos not putting beacons like they are in the middle of nowhere and saying, hey, come to us. they on their own volition and because of their humanity -- which is what i hope returns to this country -- they're the ones doing that work. amy: maria hinojosa, we want to

get your second series that is so astounding. you're talking to the pulitzer prize-winning journalist maria hinojosa, founder of futuro media, and we will peniley ramirez be joined by peniley ramirez, executive producer of this new unit futuro media investigates. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we speak with maria hinojosa, pilcher prize-winning journalist, founder of futuro media, cohost of the new investigative units five-part podcast series usa versus garcia luna, which is years in the making and begins this friday. also with us, peniley ramirez, emmy award-winning investigative journalist, executive producer of futuro investigates, and the co-host of their first podcast series usa vs. garcia luna. this is that clip from the first episode. >> what is really frightening about garcia luna, he came from a very practical background. he was able to rise to power very, very quickly. he is now in his 50's, born and

his -- when he was 21 years old, he entered the center for investigation on national security. which is the equivalent to the cia in mexico. he started as a security agent which means basically a low ranking but from there in just about a decade in the year 2000, the guy becomes the head of the federal investigative agency. so the equivalent to the director of the fbi. and just six years after that, he was appointed secretary of public security by then president calderon. this was the high-end pulled -- highest point of his career. that is peniley ramirez, cohost of this five-part podcast series. joining us with maria hinojosa. these two executive producers, one cuban-american and the other mexican-american, bringing us the series of investigations. peni, you been working on the

story for a decade. talk about the significance of this trial that is about to ta ace in the united stat. >> we decided to do this series because garcia luna was a close ally to the u.s. for a long period of time. as we just heard, he w part of the mexican government. he was a high-ranking official in the mexican government. at the same time, mexico was receiving a lot of money, $3 billion, from u.s. in aid to help the country to prevent drugs from coming to the u.s. during that time, according to the current herin nework, was helping to smuggle dgs, especially cocaine come into u.s., mostly chicago and new york. so this person was at the same time, according to the accusations, working for the mexican government, working for

the senate low cartel, and cooperating with u.s. agencies, especially the dea. juan: i wanted asked maria, we only have a few minutes left, i want to ask you about a current issue besides this case is that we are now -- we are now hearing that there is a possibility the lame-duck session of congress for bipartisan immigration reform bill. of course we have heard the story numerous times in the past 20 years or so, but senators kyrsten sinema and thom tillis have a draft framework of this bill that would include a path to citizenship for the 2 million people known as the dreamers. but also according to "the washington post" funds a big investment in removal of grins and also border security. i'm wondering what hearing about it and your reaction?

>> my first reaction is always going to be tied to the border security and as i just said, the problem at the border is the over militarization of the border. they do not need more money. we just showed you what is happening with all of the money -- the border patrol does not need more money. the border is secure. what is not secure our peoples's lives down there. the next thing, juan, we say in mexican spanish "until i see it, we won't believe it." i think so much about the mental health, the emotional health of our so-called dreamers who are no longer young, they are here waiting to buy homes and cars and send their own kids to college in this country and they're stuck in the situation. they -- we have all been -- with the expectation that something is going to happen, that something is going to happen and evy time there is this expectation and then the bubble is burst. immigrants and refugees in this

country have been thrown under the bus by republicans and democrats time and time again. why do we do the work we do? it is to center the humanity of these people. i hope the reform comes through. it should not be piecemeal. that is my problem. it should never have been piecemeal. there should be entire immigration reform people, families should all be given the path to citizenship and they should find a humane way to manage within -- hopefully, juan, hopefully. it while i am feeling a bit more optimistic about our democracy this morning, quite more optimistic, the history has shown that immigrants and refugees will again be toyed with, they will be used as political fodder, we become the threat of this country, and many

of us are just tired of it -- which is why will to change the narrative entirely. definite come after all of that, be sure to go and listen to usa vs. garcia luna. it is mind blowing. it is true crime needs telenovela. it is so crazy we had to bring out a bottle of tequila because there was no way to understand the story unless we were able to have a little tequila. amy: maria hinojosa thank you for being with us, as well as peniley ramirez. your series are amazing. we will link the new investigative podcast "death by policy" and usa vs. garcia luna. congratulations on your memoir. that does it for our show. juan, i can't wait for friday. juan gonzalez will be speaking at cuny school of labor & urban studies at 3:00 p.m. check our website for address. and monday at the cuny graduate

center. we want to thank you, juan, for these remarkable speeches. i knew spanish version of his book has just come out. check it out. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e- óróxór[r

(sophie fouron) it's 10 o'clock at night, but you can't tell. it's hard to tell the time here, because there's light day and night. it's the summer solstice, here in lofoten. we're in the polar circle in the north of norway. the lofoten islands are six main islands connected by tunnels and bridges. and surrounding those six islands are dozens of little islands. you can only access them by boat, and i think they like it that way. we can't talk about the lofoten islands without talking about stockfisch, their famous