12/13/22 12/13/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> working closely the u.s. will commit $55 billion to africa over the course of the next three years, across a wide range of sectors to tackle the core challenges of our time. these commitments built on the united states long-standing leadership in partnership and give element, economic growth,

health, and security in africa in the past three decades. amy: the biden administration is hosting leaders from 49 african nations for a three-day summit in washington organized in part to counter the growing influence of china and russia in africa. we will get the last. then to arizona where outgoing republican governor doug ducey is using shipping containers, and razor wire to build a makeshift border wall. >> follow the law, governor ducey. what you're doing is making a catastrophic mistake that i daresay will come could not bode very well for your legacy. amy: and we will look at the significance of arizona senator kyrsten sinema's decision to leave the democratic and register as an independent. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

leaders of the g7, including president joe biden come have agreed to set up a multiagency platform to coordinate aid ukraine. monday's agreement followed a virtual summit between g7 leaders and ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy who appeal for new shipments of tanks, artillery firepower, and long-range weapons. shipping natural gas amidst and blackouts caused by a wave of russian attacks in ukraine's electricity infrastructure. >> the terrorism against our power stations resulted in the necessity of using more gas than we had planned. that is why we need more support. especially this winter. we're talking about an additional 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas, the extranet we need to buy. amy: in moscow, russian president vladimir putin has

canceled his annual end-of-the-year press conference for the first time in a decade, amid rising domestic criticism over his handling of the war in meanwhile, viktor bout, the former soviet military officer who became known as the "merchant of death" for trafficking arms to dictators, also wked with united states, has joined the pro-kremlin ultranationalist ldpr party. bout w releasefrom a u.s. prison last week in exchange for wnba basketball star brittney griner. griner has not spoken publicly since her return, but her agent said she's doing well and was ab to pl baskeall on sunday for the first time in nearly 10 months. her first act on the court was reportedly a slam dunk. the disgraced founder of the cryptocurrency exchange ftx was arrested in the bahamas on monday after u.s. prosecutors filed criminal charges against him, including wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering.

the arrest of sam bankman-fried came a month after his company coapsed virtually overnight, revealing an $8 billion hole in the company's balance sheet. this morning the u.s. securities and exchange commission complaint accusing him of orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in ftx. the company's rapid collapse has been compared to the ponzi scheme overseen by disgraced financier bernie madoff. nkman-frd's rest camjust one y beforee was scduled toestify tthe hous nanciaservices cmittee a aftehe refus to acce another bpoena oering hito testy to theenate baing coittee. meanile, bloberg repts baruptcy lyers mayttempt claw ba at leas$73 miion of piticalonations tied to ftx. federal election commission data show bankman-fried was the second largest campaign contributor in the 2022 midterm elections, with nearly $40 million given to democratic campaigns and superpac's. human rights groups are warning

iran's government may be preparing to execute more protesters after authorities publicly executed 23-year-old majidreza rahnavard early monday morning. rahnavard was hanged from a metal crane with his hands and feet bound and a black bag over his head. he was convicted of killing two members of paramilitary forces in a secretive trial where he wasn't allowed to choose his own lawyer or challenge the evidence against him. when his mother visited him, she was reportedly not notified he'd be executed soon after. this comes as the european union has imposed new sanctions on iranian senior officials, religious leaders, and top state media employees over human rights abuses as the brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters intensifies and for supplying drones to russia to use in ukraine. in afghanistan, at least three people were killed and 18 others injured monday as gunmen attacked a hotel in the capital kabul. the multi-story kabul longan hotel is popular among chinese

nationals, although all of the dead and most of the wounded were afghan civilians. the islamic state affiliate known as isis-k took responsibility for the assault. meanwhile, human rights groups are condemning the taliban for bringing back public executions and floggings. last week, a man convicted of murder was fatally shot in front of a crowd at a soccer stadium in farah province by the victim's father. in recent days, taliban courts have also ordered dozens of men and women flogged in sports stadiums. in the occupied west bank, israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old girl monday during a raid on the city of jenin. witnesses say jana majdi zakarneh was standing on the roof of her home when she was struck by several bullets. this is her cousin yasser zakarneh. >> 13 shots we fired by the occupation forces. four hit her body, two in the

head and two in the head and two in the chest. she was killed by the occupation forces. the bullets are here. the ocpation army was 500 meters away from her most of all of the bullets shot or fired from the same building. amy: israel's military acknowledged that its troops killed a teenage girl, claiming soldiers hit her unintentionally after firing at palestinian gunmen in the area. according to united nations, this year has already seen the highest number of palestinians killed by israeli forces in the west bank since 2006. in brussels, authorities have raided the homes and offices of european parliament lawmakers, accusing them of accepting bribes from government officials in qatar. belgian police have so far arrested four people and recovered hundreds of thousands of euros in cash. among those arrested is european parliament vice-president eva kaili. in the lead-up to the world cup, kaili repeatedly defended qatar against critics who pointed to the monarchy's dismal record on

worker's rights and its persecution of lgbtq people. qatar has denied bribing european officials. katrarina barley, head of the socialists and democrats bloc, on monday called the scandal a major test of accountability for the european parliament. >> for us, this is the greatest possible disaster. we as the european parliament and especially we as a party in a parliamentarian group, have dedicated ourselves to the fight against corruption. when something like this happens in our own ranks, it is a serious crisis for us. amy: in tunisia, protesters took to the streets of tunis saturday to oppose upcoming parliamentary elections which are taking place under a new constitution, enacted under president kais saied, who critics say has orchestrated a coup. this is opposition politician jawher ben mbarek. >> every step said implementing

the coup roadmap, the more the countries crisis increases in the political suffocation closes in on the country. today's presented election in an attempt to let occupations for legislative coup starting. amy: in peru, protests have spread as anger mounts over the impeachment and jailing of leftist president pedro castillo. thousands of people took to the streets of lima, arequipa, and across northern andean towns demanding newly-appointed monday president dina boluarte hold new presidential elections early after she said they'll take place in april 2024. at least seven people have died in clashes with security forces. hundreds gathered outside peru's congress in lima and set up a barricade despite the threat of police violence. >> the police have cornered us from all sides. they have thrown tear gas bombs at us. we're protesting because the peruvian press is not recording this news. -- reporting this news.

amy: back in the united states, a federal jury in washington, d.c., heard opening arguments monday as the trial of four members of the far-right oath keepers militia group got underway. they're accused of joining a seditious conspiracy to stop the transfer of power from donald trump to joe biden. the trial follows the conviction last month of oath keepers leader stewart rhodes on charges he conspired to overthrow the u.s. government on january 6, 2021. this comes as the project on government oversight reports over 300 people listed on the oath keepers' membership roles have worked for the u.s. department of homeland security, taking up jobs with the coast guard, border patrol, ice, and secret service. in nevada, over a dozen people at the ely state prison remain on hunger strike protesting unsafe and inhumane conditions. the peaceful action began december 1 with at least 40 prisoners joining the hunger strike according to the aclu. among other demands, they're calling for an end to the extended use of solitary confinement, abuse from guards, due process violations, and for the prison to provide adequate

health care and address safety concerns. in cuba, three democratic u.s. congressmembers traveled to havana over the weekend to meet with cuban president miguel díaz-canel and other cuban officials in a rare visit to the island by u.s. lawmakers. after meeting with congressmembers james mcgovern, mark pocan, and troy carter, the cuban president repeated his call for an end of catastrophic u.s. economic sanctions on cuba, and expressed willingness from the two countries to improve bilateral relations. in virginia, the city of richmond removed its last confederate statue monday. the monument was of confederate general a.p. hill. richmond began removing its confederate statues amid the massive racial justice protests that erupted nationwide after the police killing of george floyd in may 2020. richmond was the capital of the confederacy for most of the civil war.

and new york city is naming a gate in central park honor of the five black and latinx and who as teenagers were wrongfully convicted of the 1989 eating and rape of a white woman. the words "gate of the exonerated" will be carved on the entrance of the northern end of central park in the neighborhood of harlem. the central park 5 were exonerated in 2002 after the perpetrator confessed and dna evidence linked him to the assault. by then, the group had already served prison terms of up to 13 years. they were between 14 and 16 years old at the time of their arrest. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. leaders from 49 african nations are in washington, d.c., this week for a three-day summit organized by the biden administration. the u.s.-africa leaders summit comes as the united states is trying to counter the growing inuence of china and russia in africa.

on monday, biden's national security advisor jake sullivan pledged $55 billion in economic, health, and security support for africa over the next three years. >> working closely with congress, the u.s. will commit $55 billion to africa over the course of the next three years. across a wide range of sectors to tackle the core challenges of our time. these commitments built on the united states long-standing leadership in partnership and development, economic growth, health, and security in africa over the past three decades. amy: during the summit, president biden is expected to express support for thafrican union to join the g20 and to push for the united nations security council to include a permanent member from africa. axios iseporting bid is planning his firstrip as president to sub-saharan africa next year. the washington summit comes as

africa faces numerous crises from the climate emergency to political instability. over the past two years, there have been coups in mali, sudan, burkina faso, and guinea. u.s.-trained officers have led several of the coups. the four nations were not invited to the washington summit. neither was eritrea or leaders from western sahara, which has been occupied by morocco since the 1970's. one prominent african leader who will not be attending this week's summit is south african president cyril ramaphosa who faces possible impeachment. over corruption allegations. the summit comes as the u.s. continues to expand its military presence in africa. president biden recently sent u.s. troops back into somalia reversing an order by donald trump to withdraw troops. we are joined now by two guests. lina benabdallah is an assistant professor of politics at wake forest university. she is the author of "shaping the future of power: knowledge production and network-building in china-africa relations."

and samar al-bulushi is an anthropologist at the university of california, irvine focusing on policing, militarism, and the so-called war on terror in east africa. she's also a contributing editor for the publication "africa is a country" and a fellow at the quincy institute. her forthcoming book is titled "war-making and world-making." they cowrote "biden administration needs to etch rhetoric with action on africa policy." we welcome you both to democracy now! talk about the significance of the summit, why the u.s. is holding it with 49 african leaders. who is there and who is it? >> it is great to be with you. the summit comes at a time when the u.s. and the biden administration specifically is hoping to demonstrate its commitment to africa and a time

when africa's geo's jute -- strategic is on the rise and when u.s. influence on the continent is on the decline. i think in the next few days we can expect the degree of performance and theater -- the u.s. will be attempting to demonstrate that it respects african leaders as equal partners, that it respects the sovereignty of african states. we can expect to hear a lot of talk about shared goals on issues ranging from peace and security to democracy, development, and climate change. and all and all, i think the u.s. is hoping to signal it is doing something new and different here when it comes to u.s.-africa policy in the since it is taking african state seriously as geostrategic players in their own rights. now when you look between the lines, you will see there are tensions that remain with --

tensions between the rhetoric and mainstream thinking and washington, d.c., and i'm thinking here especially of congress which continues to be dominated by cold war thinking that views africa almost entirely through the lens of security and through the lens of geopolitical rivals. i am thinking specifically of russia and china. we can take the example of a bill that was passed in the house earlier this year almost unanimously called countering malign russian activities in africa act. the title speaks for itself. the objective of this bill is to monitor and effectively police africa in the relations with russia in terms of the kinds of agreements and partnerships that it might enter into. and some have interpreted this bill as an explicit response to an -- in some ways, even a form of punishment of african states

-- for the way in which they voted at the u.n. general assembly earlier this year and at the wake of ukraine. you may recall a good nber of countries abstain in that vote must've african states represented aboutalf of those countries that abstained, roughly 17 of them. the u.s. was extremely upset and failed to take into account the extent to which african states were making tse decisions on their vote based on their own geopolitical interests. the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. linda thomas-greenfield went out of her way to talk to -- down to those states that abstained, to chastise them, to say they don't understand the seriousness of what has unfolded. we can see the kind of similar patronizing language in the text of the bill of this countering malign russian activities act in

this since he was presents itself as wanting to put "shield" african states from the "malign" activities of russia. at no point in the bill today define what constitutes malign but the u.s. envisions itself as morally superior and does well-placed to, you know, lecture african states in the relationship with other powers. we have also seen african leaders push back. a number of them have called out precisely this bill for the degree to which it is an insult to african sovereignty. i think we can expect in the coming days that even as many african leaders play along with the rhetoric of shared goals and the rhetoric of equal partnership, behind-the-scenes they are deeply aware of the unequal power dynamics that continue to shape the u.s.-africa relations. amy: i want to go back to monday's news briefing with the white house or national security advisor jake sullivan took questions about the africa

summit. >> increase influence on that continent. i'm curious, will the presidency to deliver a kind of message or word of warning to the leaders that beijing, whether it is through financing or economic or military aid, not in fact faithful ally or partner? >> this can be about what we can offer. it will be a positive proposition about the united states partnership with africa. it is not going to be about other countries. it is not going to be attempting to compare/contrast. it will be about the affirmative agenda the united states has to bring to bear. amy: professor lina benabdallah, if you can respond to this? you particularly look at africa when it comes to the relationship between china and africa and if you can include that in your response. >> thank you so much, amy, for having me.

it makes sense for u.s. government officials to say and distance themselves from framing this summit and framing u.s. foreign policy toward africa in the language of country and china, but this does not take away from the fact that china is definitely in the background. we know this summit is the second edition that the u.s. is hosting for african leaders. the first one was held in 2014. when the china-africa side, there has been additions of such summit and meetings. the first one was held in 2000. call the china africa forum. a form for china-africa cooperation, known -- the china africa forumas been held

systematically every three years and has been taken place every three years sin 2000. so there is more ability in that relationship -- diplomacy, as it were, for the u.s. we know the biden administration has been trying to see how the u.s. can come back to the scene of africa and to the scene of trying to show a partnership with african countries. the first thing that comes to mind is the summit diplomacy because it is precisely the theatrical elements of inviting these leaders, bringing them in, shaking hands, meeting, doing these press conferences and so on and so forth. can show visibility of sort of this reigniting u.s.-africa relations. but everybody knows in the back of their minds that there is definitely china, even if it is not spoken, the contrast and

compare what u.s. is doing in africa and what china is doing in africa is definitely present and african leaders minds as well. we have seen african leaders the extremely pragmatic and relations. they have been very vocal about telling the u.s. and other partners they are not interested in choosing sides in his relationships. as some's income african leaders see themselves as geopolitical of their own rights and this means they're interested in shaping the relations with these foreign powers on their own terms rather than being told or pressure or school did -- scolded in choosing or shaping the relations of policy here or there. african leaders meet with china. the latest summit took place in november 2021. this was between china and

senegal. they are excited to meet with partners from all over the place, so they responded to calls from the u.s. to meet and it will be interesting to see what the u.s. puts on the table in terms of concrete aspects of the relationship. this has been the issue with the u.s. and its foreign policy toward africa. there has been a lot of rhetoric so far. this rhetoric about partnership, about taking africans seriously, the rhetoric about shared goa that some are mentioned. but we need to see more than this rhetoric. there needs to be concrete initiatives and projects put on the table so that th relationship can move forward. insofar as comparisons of china, it makes sense for the u.s. to stop making those direct links because it is pretty difficult for the u.s. right now to catch up to what china has been doing in the continent.

it just makes sense for the u.s. to pretty much try to hone in its own advantage -- competitive advantage, even though we know and the back, china and russia is definitely a huge part of u.s. general and national security agenda. i want to also mention something very briefly. which is to say the timing of this summit is really interesting. we first heard u.s. was interested in hosting the second edition of u.s.-africa leader summit back in october. this was scheduled to take place in october at the tail end of the u.n. general assembly meeting in new york. but the biden administration shows two -- chose to push back this meeting to december and hold leaders from the pacific islands. there was a summit between the u.s. and the island nations in

october at the tail end of the united nations general assembly. this tells us a little about the priorities u.s. government actually gives to africa and practical sense and is urgency of a meeting. we all know when the solomon islands in china find particular packed, agreement, security agreement and a late summer/early fall, that basically -- probably one of the reasons why we see the u.s.-africa leaders summit shed to december when it was actually scheduled for octer. in reality, when you look at the u.s. national strategy policies and priorities, africa is not really at the top. rican leaders know these things. they arenterested in seeing at practical and concrete initiatives the u.s. government can put in front of them instead of these kind of performances and these kind of rhetoric-level

initiatives. amy: let me ask professor samar al-bulushi about biden supporting a move for an african seat on the u.n. security council and also announcing he wants the african union to join the g20 as a permanent member, the significance of this? >> i think what is significant about these statements from the biden administration is how late they are coming. in the sense that other leaders, other governments have been at the forefront of calling for precisely these things, right? having a permanent seat on the security council, having a permanent seat at the g20, and u.s. is effectively late to the table. and only making these proposals because it knows it has to, because it knows if it does not support more of a role for africa on the global stage, it will lose out to the other powers that are and have been making this case for many years

now. amy: finally, and i don't know which of you would like to take this on, we just came back from egypt where we covered the u.n. planet summit and also broadcast from cairo and we reported on the tens of thousands of political prisoners who are held in egypt, the most prominent of them the political prisoner ala abdel fatah. president sis as part of this african summit. the significance of this? him wanting to have a sit down meeting with president biden, president biden, the german chancellor, the british prime minister, the french president macron all calling for -- demanding to know what is happening in this case and in some cases calling for his release? >> go ahead. looksee go ahead, lina. >> i just want to mention

briefly what we all see from this administration, there is this willingness to treat africans and away that is more op,nclusive, more thinking about the language, the rhetoric and not speaking as african leaders -- sensitivity around the language that we are used to in terms of what leaders speaking to africans in terms of questions of human rights, democracy, so on and so forth. one of the things that lots of african leaders and analysts kind of crique u. about is precisely this point. they say for instance in relationship to china, they don't ever feel like they are being talked at. it is possible we are seeing the administration with this summit potentially staying away from

africans in terms of human rights issues. we are seeing lots of african leaders being invited from different regimes, different backgrounds, different government styles. it is possible this is also sorted in that spirit of cohesion with china to say we e also able to speak and kind of converse with africans on issues that are of common or shared interests rather than continuing that sort of tradition of western leaders lecturing -- amy: it is not just western leaders. i would like to ask this question, it is many egyptians are also deeply concerned, especially because so many tens of thousands are in prison. >> i think egyptians come africans as a whole are deeply aware of the double standards that the u.s. operates from. they are deeply aware of the

fact the u.s. engages in its own anti-democratic behavior both at home and abroad. africans will never forget the role the u.s. played in deposing and assassinating patrice luba in the congo in the 1960's. they have not forgotten the role the u.s. played in deposing muammar qaddafi in libya or recently. i think -- let's not forget there was a coup attempt in the united states last year. what is significant is the u.s. does not have the moral authority to be calling certain governments democratic or not democratic. in a context like egypt, it becomes very difficult for the u.s. to be the one to weigh in precisely because of its own antidemocratic behaviors. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us. samar al-bulushi, assistant professor of anthropology at university calvert, irvine, and

lina benabdallah, assistant professor of politics at wake forest university. next up, we go to arizona were the outgoing governor doug ducey is using shipping containers and razor wire to build a makeshift border wall. we will look at the fight to stop it. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "sowa" by fatoumata diawara. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to the u.s.-mexico border, the bagman has asked congress to greenlight more than $3 billion to further militarize the borders the trump your title 42 pandemic policy that expelled over julian migrants without due process is set to end a week from today. a record number of asylum-seekers have been apprehended along the southern border in recent months, including where than 2400 over the weekend in el paso, texas.

the three day daily average of migrants coming over the border is about 2400 per day. meanwhile in arizona, immigration and environmental activists are denouncing the illegal construction of a makeshift wall along the u.s.-mexico border built with hundreds of double-stacked shipping containers and razor wire. the project is led by outgoing republican governor doug ducey, who says he is trying to fill up the gaps left in former president trump's unfinished border wall. the shipping containers snake through part of the coronado national forest in southern arizona's cochise county. construction has continued despite an ongoing legal battle between governor ducey and the federal government, with crews continuing to stack more shipping containers, reportedly working at night to avoid protesters, even as some of those erected earlier have already fallen over.

now activists are increasing efforts to block the construction, which they say is destroying precious desert diversity and is forcing asylum seekers to seek even more dangerous routes along the border to come to the united states to for refuge. it is unclear what incoming democratic governor-elect katie hobbs will do with the container wall. for more, we go to arizona to speak with two guests. in tucson, myles traphagen is the borderlands program coordinator for wildlands network and has worked in the deserts, mountains, and grasslands of the u.s.-mexico borderlands for over 20 years. he is a tribal member of the chickasaw nation. with us in phoenix, arizona, is alejandra gomez, executive director of living united for change in arizona, or lucha arizona. we welcome you both to democracy now! myles, talk about what many describe as a monstrosity along the border.

two shipping containers hi going on for how far and what parts of the border and what is happening to the land around it and then we will talk about the migrants. >> thank you, amy. currently, 3.5 miles of shipping containers that began at coronado national memorial, which is a national park service and its property. they snake through the forest and this happens to be federal land owned by the federal government this is in critical habitat for the endangered jaguar. in addition to that, the endangered ocelot which the northernmost population lies just 30 miles to the south. the environmental consequences in regards to wildlife and wild of migration and conductivity could not be more severe and

this particular location, which has exceptionally high biodiversity and probably arguably some of the highest in the west as far as number of species and endangered species on the coronado national forest. amy: talk about what gives governor ducey the authority, where the money is coming from and what are people doing around this wall that are resisting it. >> well, governor ducey does not have the authority because this is on federal land. it is totally illegal what is happening. the department of emergency military affairs has provided the funding for this, which is $95 million contract that was given to ash britt, which typically does fema-type disaster relief projects. the coronado national forest was

established in 1902. five years later, the roosevelt reservation was established i president theodore roosevelt. this is a 60 foot wide strip that begins just west of el paso on the rio grande and goes all the way to the pacific ocean. this allows the federal government to have control over this area for border security and commerce purposes. the secretary of homeland security has the authority under their real id act of 2005 to waive all laws of the construction of border barriers. this is a very scary thing that americans should be very concerned about, this law. the arizona governor does not have this authority. the establishment of the coronado national forest and the roosevelt reservation predates the arizona statehood, which took place in 1912. so the department of justice has ordered the shipping containers

to be removed and the strip -- the construction to stop yet the governor continues to disregard those orders. amy: where to the shipping containers come from? >> well, it is hard to say where they come from. it is very ironic that most of these have chinese labels on them. they are just -- they have these scattered at various storage yards around southern arizona. they're are basically being trucked on flatbed pickup trucks and being stacked on the national forest. however, due to the terrain in this area, there's a lot of undulating topography and washes and drainages. it is a very incomplete and somewhat permeable barrier,

although, in many places, it is completely impermeable to why life such as whitetail deer, jaguar, ocelots, etc.. amy: where are the federal agents and authorities on this federal land trying to stop this? >> this is what we are all wondering. it is quite amazing that there simply has been no law enforcement response. where are the u.s. marshals? where is the secretary of interior on this? where is the secretary -- excuse me, agriculture secretary? same goes for interior secretary deb haaland? why aren't they mobilizing a federal law enforcement response when this is a blatant disregard of the law? amy: you have said this is a real threat to democracy myles, that it is a slippery slope toward fascism. why? >> that is totally true and i

don't turn that around lightly. let's begin with the real id act of 2005. this was cast in the wake of 9/11. you ask yourself, how can the secretary of homeland security, which is a politically appointed unelected official, have the ability to waive laws? dating back to 1890 and up to almost the present? these laws include the endangered species act, the clean air act, the clean water act, the native american graves protection act, etc., about 60 laws that have been waived with the construction of the border barriers. it is quite amazing that both houses of congress passed these laws and signed into law by whoever the sitting president was and then surviving a century of judicial review. i think americans need to be very concerned about this because this pertains to about 80% of the whole u.s. population would line the jurisdictional

zone of border security, which is 60 miles from the border. both on the canadian side and the mexico side. we need to be vigilant about protecting our democracy. amy: homeland security secretary is in el paso today. i wanted to bring alejandra gomez into this conversation with lucha arizona. can you talk about what this means for migrants coming over the border? >> we haveeen for our community is that there has been from governor ducey and also the arizona legislature over $300 million that were allocated in this past legislative session for extending the border wall,

for the criminalizing and targeting of migrants that are simply coming over in search of a better life for their families. and so we have been vigilant in this past electi cycle. we knocked on over $450,000 -- 450,000 doors. we are responding with aid. we have been saying that for the past year. our community's are also -- the border has always been tainted in the past governor and now ducey as a place where terrorism happening. we have found the quite opposite. we are trying to signal that

there needs to be federal solutions. the immigration, humanitarian aid, and community's that are seeking a better future. amy: we just reported in the headlines today that according to pogo, over 300 people listed on the oath keepers membership rolls come the far right white supremacist group that by stewart rhodes, who just got convicted of seditious conspiracy, over 300 people listed on their membership rolls have worked u.s. department of homeland security, taking up jobs with the coast guard, border patrol, ice, and the secret service. does this surprise you? >> it does not. arizona has had a long history of militias and it is concerning

because this is something that has been fueled by extremists republican for the past decade here in arizona. we need real attention to it. and the fueling of hate against migrants was something that unfortunately ducey continued under trump's bidding. amy: myles traphagen, you are a member of the chickasaw nation most of indigenous people responding and have indigenous people and nations, tribes been consulted on what is happening on the border on their land? >> this rarely happens.

there are two tribes that have land on the arizona border and that would be the thoma autumn and coco paul reservation. in the case of the coca paul, they were not consulted when governor ducey placed shipping containers near the dam in yuma. part of the shipping containers are on bureau of reclamation easements, on the reservation. so they were simply ignored in this case. everything that she is saying runs very deep here in arizona as far as a long history of militias and dating back also to unionbusting in 1980 -- 1850. there is a lot of -- i guess i would call it inherent racism and authoritarianism built into a lot of actions that occurred in the state for a long time now. this is of grave concern to me. amy: myles, not only ignored,

but in a number of cases, arrested. >> exactly. there was a case of two women who were protesting against the border wall several years ago and they were run through federal court quite severely. they did not even do anything to specifically damage property or injure anyone, they're simply exercising their right to defend their homeland. america in that case, people want to go to democracynow.org, you can see our interviews around those arrests. myles traphagen, the borderlands program coordinator for wildlands network. alejandra gomez will stay with us. will we come back, we will look at kyrsten sinema saying she is leaving the democratic party. ryan grim will also join us. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "sonora querida " by los cenzontles featuring david hidalgo of los lobos. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we end today's show looking at arizona senate kyrsten sinema leaving the democratic party. her announcement came days after democrats clinched a 51 seat majority in the senate with senator raphael warnock's runoff victory in georgia. she spoke to jake tapper thursday. >> you are here to make a significant announcement. >> i have registered as an arizona independent. i know some maybe surprised but

i think it makes a lot of sense. a growing number of arizonans and people like me just don't feel like we fit neatly into one party's box or the other. so like many across the state in the nation, i decided to leave that ptisan process and really just focus on the work that i think matters to arizona into our country, which is solving problems and getting things done. amy: on friday, chuck schumer confirmed senator sinema will be able to keep her committee assignment after she said she would not caucus with the republicans. still with us alejandra gomez, , executive director of living united for change in arizona, or lucha arizona. we're also joined by ryan grim, washington, d.c., bureau chief for the intercept. ryan, let's begin with you. this certainly was top news over the weekend since senator sinema made this response right after the democrats are certainly doing a victory lap. what, raphael warnock, winning reelection -- the first time in

90 years the democrats won every seat or running for in the senate. does this change what it means for a democratic majority in e senate? >> not at all. it does not matter she "caucuses" democrats. democrats meet on tuesday, they will meet today for caucus lunch. she won't be there. but that is nothing unusual. she very rarely showed up for these "caucus" meetings. what matters is how you count yourself when you're divvying up the coittee assignments. she is still going to count herself as a democrat for purposes of committee, which means nominees can move through the committees but based on a democratic majority but which means committees will have subpoena power. it reminds me back to an bernie sanders first came out, there were a lot of blue dog democrats who did not won a socialist to caucus with them but they also wanted him on the committee so he they said, ok, you can be on

our committee but you can't meet with us. sinema is doing the reverse. it has no practical effect. the only effect is on her, her primary or now i guess her lack of a primary challenger in the democratic -- amy: talk about what that means in arizona and -- yeah, overall. >> she was going to face a challenge from ruben gallego. he is not made any secret he was going to make this move. he is a popular congressman, combat marine, relatively progressive compared to sinema. all indications were he was going -- it would be inexpensive -- it was going to be expensive but he was going to win that primary. sinema is extremely popular with the democratic race. her problem is she also could not become a republican because obviously, -- a republican is glad to have kyrsten sinema

causing problems. it makes them happy. but which senator lake and sinema, republican voter is going to take the actual republican. what she is doing is during democrats to run a democrat in the general election saying i could be a spoiler in this three-way race so don't you dare throw a c2 or republican. but i think she under his to face the hostility toward her. i think democrats -- underestimates the hostility toward her. democrats will challenge her no matter what. amy: alejandra gomez, you are in arizona right now. you say senator sinema has betrayed voters will in what way? what are your demands as lucha arizona to the sitting senator? has she ever met with your group? >> thank you so much for having me. since her election, she has not

met with voters. she has not hosted one town hall most she is not had open meetings with her constituents. and time and time again, what we have seen -- it is interesting she sa she wants tget things done. we have not seen her do or even lead with issues that matter to voters. so for us, this comes as no surprise. i do agree that she gravely underestimates how unpopular she is amongst the democratic base. it is a betrayal to her voters that elected her in 2018 that turned out for her and had expectations. what we have seen now is that

she has sold her vote to the highest bidder, cozying up to special interests and big pharma. amy: i wanted to go to bernie sanders comments about sinema decision to leave the democratic party. prompted this exchange between senator sanders and cnn's "state of the union" host dana bash. >> does she have the guts to take on powerful special interest? >> no, she doesn't. she's a corporate democrat who has sabotaged enormously important legislation. amy: ryan grim, let's talk about what she has done and also this latest news of her brokering a deal with republican senator tillis for immigration reform, condemning both republican and democratic parties for not coming up with immigration policy. >> early in 2021, democrats made

clear they were going to push forward with a reconciliation package whic meant he did not need republican vote in order to pass what they were calling build back better, which had climate, affordable housing, child and family agenda, jobs agenda. you remember bernie sanders wanted $6 trillion in the senate constructing it as 3.5 try and dollars and eventually less than $2 trillion. what happened then, kyrsten sinema got together with a handful of republicans and said if we can do a much smaller infrastructure bill and we can get bipartisan support for it, that will take the popular things out of the build back your agenda and then that will kill the bill. the idea she was trying to get thingsone is a misnomer. what she was trying to do is stop a bigger thing from happening by delivering something much smaller that she and people like rob portman said

explicitly that the only reason they got together to do that was to try to take the energy out of build back better. it ended up not working because they passed the infrastructure bill and still the nearly $2 trillion inflation ruction act. that has been kind of her role in the senate is trying to work with republicans to do smaller things to prevent more progressive things from getting done. that is similar with what is going on but not exactly what the immigration here. she extracted a concession i think for about julian dollars dreamers to get some path of citizenship, draconian concession. republicans, notlear even with that, she will be able to get enough replicans tcome along. amy: alejandra gomez, your response to this deal that she is but -- supposedly is brokering? >> $25 million to beef up border

security, which there are numerous studies that demonstrate the border is secure. and so again, it is this challenge that we face with kyrsten sinema. her primary role being an obstructionist and bidding special interest rather than listening to her constituents. arizona passed one of the most important pieces of -- it was a ballot referral this year, which was prop 308. that gives dreamers in-state tuition. arizonans are ready. it was a top vote-getter.

arizonans are ready to see relief, real really. what we are saying is julian is not enough. 25 billion dollars to border security again is creating an issue for us what we are seeing as we actually need to see more investment in people rather than targeting and deporting our immigrant communities. amy: alejandra gomez, thank you for being with us, executive director of lucha arizona. i want to thank ryan grim, washington, d.c., bureau chief for the intercept. if you could stay with us, ryan, we will do a post-show interview and post it online at democracynow.org on the big pc just released, but what the real road fight was a product of eight years are militant rank-and-file organizing. railroad unions have not been known for putting up a fight since the 19th century but newly radicalized forces their way into the national conversation."

we will talk about that democracynow.org and folks can go to democracynow.org to see it. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

hello and welcome back to nhk newsline. i'm in new york. americans are watching their wallets even as they open them up to buy gifts for the holidays. they have seen inflation cut into their spending power throughout the year. encouraged by signs that it may be changing. officials with the labor department reported the fifth straight decline in the co