09/08/23 09/08/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we have now finished the meeting and they have not offered a minimum that compensates the recognition that our players deserve, therefore, there is no agreement and the strike is still on. amy: after winning the world cup, women's soccer theirs in spain have gone on strike over pay as calls grow for the head

of spain's soccer federation to resign after he's forcibly kissed soccer star jenni hermoso . we will look at what has become the #metoo moment for spanish sports. then we go to mexico where the supreme court has decriminalized abortion at the federal level. >> mexico is an incredibly misogynistic country that still has deeply rooted traditional ideals. abortion being legal and having a legal context that supports our decisions represents a big change. amy: and we will look at the dire conditions inside the fulton county jail in atlanta where donald trump and his 18 co-defendants were recently booked. 10 prisoners have now died in the jail's custody just this year -- the latest, on sunday. >> what keeps happening in fulton county just by entering the jail, some of our inmates are literally being convicted

and given a death sentence because of entering into their space. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president joe biden and leaders of other g20 nations are gathering in india's capital new delhi for a weekend summit that will focus on international debt, food security, and the climate crisis. biden is meeting today with indian prime minister narendra modi ahead of the summit. chinese president xi jinping is not attending and has instead sent china's premier to the gathering. ahead of the summit, the british charity oxfam accused g20 countries of failing by a wide margin to slash greenhouse gas emissions below levels needed to prevent a climate catastrophe. those fears were echoed by u.n. secretary-general antonio guterres earlier this week at the africa climate summit.

>> the g20 countries, responsible for 80% of emissions that will be emitting this week in delhi, assume your responsibilities. developed countries must commit as close as possible to 2040. amy: in china, remnants of typhoon haikui struck hong kong on thursday, bringing widespread flooding and triggering landslides. more than six inches of rain fell on hong kong in less than one hour, the fastest rate of precipitation since records began in 1884. in brazil, the death toll from a cyclone that brought flash flooding to southern states earlier this week is approaching 40. in the mediterranean, at least 18 are dead from unprecedented storms that dropped over a year's worth of rain in less than 24 hours over some areas. on thursday, helicopter crews were dispatched in parts of greece to rescue residents who were trapped on their rooftops.

in the atlantic, hurricane lee has rapidly intensified to become this year's first category 5 hurricane, with sustained winds of up to 165 miles-per-hour. forecasters say lee will remain north of the caribbean islands but could potentially strike the u.s., the canadian east coast, or bermuda late next week. in hawaii, residents of maui are marking one month since the devastating maui wildfire decimated the historic town of lahaina. the official death toll is still at 115, with 380 still missing as some families are reckoning with the reality that their remains may never be found or identified. in more climate news, a record-breaking post-labor day heatwave is continuing to bring extreme weather alerts to tens of millions of people. the record temperatures prompted many school districts to cancel outdoor activities like recess, or to switch to online classes for the start of the school year.

in washington, d.c., the high temperature at dulles international airport reached triple digits for the first time ever in the month of september. >> not normal. i have lived here for a long time and this is incredible. we are in september waiting for fall to come and it is suddenly 100 degrees outside. i think it has to be with global warming. amy: on thursday, secret service officers arrested three climate activists after they tied a banner to the white house fence, demanding president biden declare a climate emergency. the action came ahead of a march to end fossil fuels planned for new york city on september 17. here in new york, this week's heatwave was felt by fans and players at the u.s. open where temperatures reached the mid-90's, accompanied by intense humidity. russian player daniil medvedev issued a warning during his

wednesday quarterfinals match. >> you cannot imagine. one player is going to die and then we'll see. amy: "you cannot imagine. one player is going to die and then they will see," daniil medvedev said. on thursday, climate activists with extinction rebellion delayed a semifinal tennis match by 50 minutes between coco gauff and karolina muchova as they stood up in the crowd and called for an end to fossil fuels. one protester glued their bare feet to the ground. 19-year-old coco gauff eventually won the match, sending her to the finals. she is the first american teenager to get this far since serena williams in 1999. the african-american player was questioned about the protest following her win. >> i mean, i think throughout history, moments like this are definitely defining moments.

and i definitely -- i believe in climate change. hey, if that is what they felt they needed to do to get their voices heard, i can't really get upset about it. amy: in other news from the u.s. open, an audience member was thrown out of the stadium on monday after he chanted "deutschland über alles," a phrase associated with hitler and nazism, during a match with german player alexander zverev. he informed the chair umpire, which led to security ejecting the fan as the crowd applauded. zverev later said, "as a german, i'm not proud of that part of history and it's not ok to do that." hundreds of people in ukraine's eastern donetsk region have held funerals for the 16 people killed by a russian missile strike on a crowded marketplace wednesday. the funerals came as a russian attack on the city of kryvyi rih killed at least one person and

wounded several others. in brussels, nato chief jens stoltenberg said thursday ukrainian forces have been making gradual progress in their counteroffensive against entrenched russian forces on the southern and eastern fronts. >> and they are making progress. not perhaps as much as we hoped for, but they are gaining ground gradually. some hundred meters a day. amy: in august, "the new york times" reported the number of ukrainian and russian troops killed or wounded in action since russia's invasion is approaching a half a million. in more news about ukraine, elon musk, the billionaire ceo of internet satellite provider spacex, secretly ordered his company to deactivate its starlink satellites as they passed above russian-occupied crimea last year in order to disrupt a ukrainian sneak attack on the russian naval fleet. that's according to an excerpt of a soon-to-be-published biography of elon musk written

by walter isaacson, who reports musk's decision prevented ukrainian submarine drones from reaching their intended target, russia's black sea fleet. elon musk reportedly feared russia would respond to an attack on crimea with nuclear weapons. according to isaacson, musk said at the time -- "starlink was not meant to be involved in wars. it was so people can watch netflix and chill and get online for school and do good peaceful things, not drone strikes." north korea announced its first tactical nuclear-armed submarine as it continues to ramp up its nuclear capabilities. this comes after reports that kim jong-un is planning a trip to russia this month to discuss north korean military aid for putin's war on ukraine and where kim could seek technical help for his nuclear and missile programs. in the united states come a federal jury has found former president trump's trade adviser peter navarro guilty of contempt of congress for refusing to comply with the subpoena from the house committee investigating the january6

insurrection. he faces up to two years in prison and a $200,000 fine. he has promised to appeal all the way to the u.s. supreme court. in georgia, fulton county district attorney fani willis has asked a court to help protect members of the special grand jury that indicted donald trump and 18 co-conspirators for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election after a right website published their home addresses, phone numbers, and vehicle information. willis, who is african-american, also had her information doxed online alongside racist and derogatory comments. on thursday, she sent a letter to u.s. congress member jim jordan of ohio, the republican chair of the house judiciary committee come after he announced plans for congressional probe into her prosecution of trump and his allies. d.a. willis wrote --

in other news from georgia, the family of 24-year-old shawndre delmore is demanding justice for his death after being imprisoned at the fulton county jail. authorities say he died three days after being found unresponsive in his cell. he is the 10th person to die in custody of the notorious fulton jail this year. his mother spoke out a news conference thursday. >> i wasn't expecting to see my son in the condition he was in when i came out here. i thought i would be able to take my son with me back home. but that did not happen. i what answers. i want to know what happened to my son. amy: we'll have more on the segment later in the broadcast. in more news from georgia, at

least five protesters were arrested thursday after they chained themselves to construction equipment at the site of cop city, a massive $90 million police training complex in atlanta. the action came in response to the indictment earlier this week of 61 activists on racketeering charges over their involvement in the movement to stop cop city. five of them were also indicted on domestic terrorism and arson charges. this is ayeola omolara kaplan, an atlanta artist and one of the cop city protesters taken into custody thursday. >> we have to stand up and take our own future into our own hands through direct action like this. we need as many people as possible to join this fight, nonviolent direct action. the more of us that are willing to take the risk and come out here and put their bodies on the line to save the forest. amy: in los angeles, actor danny masterson has been sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women he met through

the church of scientology. he was convicted earlier this year, though the jury was hung on a third rape charge. the two women spoke at thursday's hearing before the sentence was handed down. one of them addressed masterson saying, "when you raped me, you stole from me. that's what rape is, a theft of the spirit." actor leah remini, who's been an outspoken critic of the church of scientology since breaking ties with it and was at masterson's trial supporting the survivors, said in a statement -- "i am relieved that this dangerous rapist will be off the streets and unable to violently assault and rape women with the help of scientology, a multi-billion-dollar criminal organization with tax-exempt status." masterson is best known for his role in the sitcom "that 70's show." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. spanish state prosecutors have just filed a complaint against

the head of spain's soccer federation luis rubiales after he forcibly kissed spanish soccer star jenni hermoso during the awards ceremony last month after the spanish soccer team won the women's world cup. earlier this week, jenni hermoso filed a sexual assault criminal complaint against rubiales who has been temporarily suspended by fifa. so far rubiales has rejected calls to reside. protesters across spain have taken to the streets to support hermoso. >> this is a crime. this is clearly sexual harassment under spanish law, but also under european la. p it is considered sexual abuse and is a crime. amy: on tuesday, the spanish

soccer federation appointed montse tomé to become the first woman to serve as coach of the women's national soccer team. the announcement was made shortly after the federation fired coach jorge vilda, who had long faced criticism for his coaching style. calls for vilda's resignation grew after he expressed support rubiales. spanish soccer player veronica boquete said this is becoming a #metoo moment for spanish ports. >> i think it is similar to the #metoo moment. i think it is going to help to be changed. because the changes already there. it was there before the world cup and this incident. we are in a moment of changing. i think this can push us a little further, a little faster. amy: and mid this growing

scandal, women soccer players in spain have gone on strike in a dispute over pay as calls grow for the head of spain's soccer federation to resign. again, this in the midst of the sexual assault scandal. the strike began after talks broke down between the spanish women soccer league and the players union over pay and working conditions. according to the union, the minimum pay for women soccer players in spain is about $17,000 a year compared to about $192,000 for male players. this is dafne fernandez of the players union. >> we have now finished the meeting and the league has not offered a minimum that compensates the recognition our players deserve. therefore, there is no agreement and the strike is still on. amy: we are joined by brenda elsey, cohost of the cord cast

-- "burn it all down." she's the co-author of "futbolera: women, sports, and sexuality in latin america" and editor of the book "football and the boundaries of history." she is also a professor at hofstra university. brenda, it is great to have you with us. let's start with the absolute top news that was raking as we went to air, that spanish state prosecutors have accused luis rubiales of sexual assault and coercion for kissing a player on the lips without her consent at the world cup victory ceremony. so he is now apparently going to be criminally charged after jenni hermoso filed a criminal complaint against him. the world saw what he did. can you talk about the significance of this moment in spain and around the world? clubs i can't think of a moment more significant really in my lifetime. this has been incredible and i am truly sorry this has happened

to such a wonderful player jenni hermoso, a pillar of the women's football community and game. however, i am also very heartened by how much attention this story just won't go away. that is because it is part of come as veronica said in the earlier part of your segment, it is part of a huge problem that people have known, that have been working on, and it is crystallized in this moment. as much as the spanish federation wants to say we did not see what we saw, we saw what we saw. amy: talk about the significance -- well, of everything. you have the first woman to coach the women soccer team. she had actually quit the team. she had been on the coaching staff but she quit among a group of other people on the women's soccer staff over coach vilda

and demanding a complete change in coaching and now she has been brought back to lead the team. >> it is incredibly significant and i think it shows two really important and exciting changes in progress and one is the organization of women athletes as workers. the labor union has been huge and key in continuing to press this issue with the federation. that has been incredibly important. the other aspect to this is that, look, the spanish federation was to make sure no structural changes really happen. this coaching is an important change. everyone knew it had to happen. they really need to have an institutional shakeup not only in the spanish federation but in fifa. we know this. it is important to remember it is not insignificant you change

a coach. it is very important, but at the same time they need an independent governing bodies within global football that can respond to these widespread harassment not only of women, but also of youth players. amy: spain's acting minister has shown support -- culture and sport miquel iceta has voiced his support for jenni hermoso' criminal complaint against luis rubiales. last week, iceta also backed calls for gender equity and more women leadership in spain's soccer federation saying the shift in culture would be enforced under a new sporting law in spain. >> it is over. no more discrimination for women. no more obstacles for women in sport. it is over. unfortunately, that happened because of an incident that should not have taken place. we are witnessing a real social and sporting backlash that will

make this a better country. amy: and this is spain's acting prime minister pedro sanchez. >> it is true there has been some behavior, in this case, luis rubiales, shows our country still has a long way to go in terms of equality, respect, and equal rights between women and men. amy: this is very interesting. even the prime minister cannot have him fired. this has been the issue. they fired the coach who supported rubiales, though he had so many other issues, but they could not get rid of ruby ellis. another fascinating aspect of this is that in spain, across the political spectrum, something like three quarters of the population is demanding his ouster. let me just say in the latest news of him being criminally charged, he faces something like one to four years in jail and a

fine? >> yeah, i mean, there are layers a bureaucracy in terms of where this football governance lies. i would say the idea the more confusing it is the less accountable people can be. it is going to take efforts by people outside of football to hold him accountable. that has happened also in places like argentina where they also into the ministry of gender and the criminal courts in colombia where the women's national team went to criminal court over a sexual assault within the federation. this has happened again and again. they have to go outside of the structures. rubiales cannot represent the spanish federation at this point. he is suspended by fifa. but it will need to take the course of the investigation according to fifa -- you can

shrug your shoulders, but if anyone paid attention since 2015, it is -- fifa has found a way to avoid responsibility in many cases, both of corruption, embezzlement, and also in terms of gender discrimination. things are tied together i think. amy: if you can talk about the federation first going after jenni hermoso, even threatening to sue her, accusing her of lying and defamation. now the federation attempting to distance itself as he is about to be criminally charged. >> it is just shocking. they are morally bankrupt. they have been for a long time. if they had listened to women for the last eight years of the players, this would not have had to happen but they refused to make any changes. this is what has happened.

the fact they have patterns of abuses and bullying, you know, there are such patterns of abuse that you can see whether it is she said/he said, whether it is you did not see what you thought you saw -- all of this defaming her character. this is classic behavior of predators beyond sport. we can see this all play out, and it happens every day to people and we don't see it. football gave us this window on how abusers behave. amy: if you can talk further about the level of abuse against women soccer players. even just talking about what we are seeing now. instead of them being in stadiums of tens of thousands being celebrated, the women soccer players have chosen not to play, to go on strike because

their minimum pay $17,000 a year compared to male soccer players in spain, minimum pay something like $192,000 a year. the women are the soccer stars. they just won the world cup. >> hate to tell you, but that is probably the highest paid salary of women's players in the world. if you look up the minimum, you will it quite shocking. it is a pervasive problem. the international players union came out with the report right before the world cup to document all of these salary disparities that have gone on in global football. it is quite shocking. a soccer star like marta was never able to play in her home country of brazil because they have been unwilling to establish a profitable, steady women's league. even though there is the

audience and the talent and the facilities and everything. it is abject sexism with the argument of the federation about markets and things like that. but we know they have engineered it to make sure that market does not thrive by doing things like not selling women's jerseys, by not really creating sound contracts where women soccer can be seen. that pay disparity is not surprising to me. again, it is part of this really wide spectrum of neglect. it ranges from neglect to abuse, women soccer. i bet there was not one civil federation at the women's world cup this year that would say they were truly happy with their federation and felt supported. amy: before we conclude, you mentioned in previous answer that there are problems particularly with young players being abused. explain, brenda elsey. >> there are not many

protections for minors. we saw with jenni hermoso, and incredibly established player, that there was no possibility for consent on that platform. the highest ranking official in her sport in her country was able to harm her that way. and we have used divisions in every single federation and they have complained about harassment, whether it is boys being housed in brazil that have unsafe conditions that lead to fires and sometimes even death like we saul in flamingo, or whether it is under age girls that have had sexual abuse like in the case of colombia. i see it as a really wide problem. i think these spanish women are tremendously courageous and i think will benefit all of this so long as we are keeping these men's feet to the fire.

amy: earlier this year you wrote about the crisis that has embroiled the colombian national soccer team with multiple reports of sexual harassment and violence against women and girl players. can you talk about this before we wrap? >> unfortunately i'm a despite how wonderful the colombian women's national team played, they have not been able to better their conditions. the head of the call limit federation and also vice president of fifa -- colombian federation and also vice president of fifa, he himself has been under investigation for financial improprieties and also convictions of coaches of the under 17 teams and yet this person has stayed in power. not only is he in power, but he is there to help people like rubiales.

the colombian federation has similar issues. what is exciting about the spanish case is we are seeing all kinds of solidarity movement throughout the world, really, for jenni hermoso. i hope it can translate into structural change now. amy: i want to thank you for being with us and we will continue to follow all of this. brenda elsey, cohost of the feminist sports podcast "burn it all down." co-author of "futbolera: women, sports, and sexuality in latin america" and editor of the book "football and the boundaries of history." also professor at hofstra university where she is co-director of the latin american and caribbean studies program. one last question about coco gauff, if you're following the u.s. open. protesters delaying her game by 50 minutes demanding an end to fossil fuel. coco gauff wins and becomes the youngest to go to the finals, an african-american tennis player, youngest in serena williams like 21 years ago.

and in her final comments, she actually supported the protesters. she said, even if it jeopardized her and made her lose her concentration, they were peaceful and she supports free speech. >> i was so thrilled. i can't tell you how wonderful it was to hear her support them. we can't expect that from athletes all the time, but when it happens it is thrilling. it was so interesting in the top of your show whether it is fightingnazi chants being said or anything else, we are seeing people using sports as a place to debate and protest and struggle and i love it. amy: i want to thank you so much for being with us, again, brenda of hofstra university, cohost of the feminist podcast "burn it all down." coming out, we go to mexico where the supreme court has to abortion at the federal level

and in the presidential race come the two top contenders are both women. so a woman will become the next president of mexico for the first time in history. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to mexico, where the country's supreme court has issued a historic ruling that decriminalizes abortion and the federal level. in a unanimous decision wednesday, the court stripped federal criminal penalties related to abortions. at a celebration after the ruling, student marlene moran welcomed the change. >> mexico is an incredibly misogynistic country that still has deep rooted traditional values. abortion being legal and having a legal context that supports our decisions represents a big change. i hope we will be able to see a change in mentality in the population so they stop harassing pregnant people who decide to stop their pregnancies.

amy: wednesday's ruling will not make abortions accessible throughout mexico because law banning the procedure are still in place in 20 of mexico's 32 states. pro-choice activists will now work to roll back those restrictions. for more, we are joined by two guests. in mexico city, rebeca ramos is the executive director of el -- reproductive rights group. and cristina rosero is a senior legal advisor for the center for reproductive rights who is based in bogota, colombia, where the center was part of the lawsuit that resulted in the decriminalization of abortion in colombia last february. we welcome you both to democracy now! rebeca ramos, let's begin with you. talk about the significance of what just took place in mexico. >> good morning. it is great to be here and thank you for having me. this is the first time the supreme court decided on abortion and it has an impact at the national level.

right now we can avoid very important obstacles to provide services for federal hospitals in the whole country. amy: cristina, if you can talk about the lawsuit your group has been involved with that has led to this, whether in colombia or right now in mexico? >> the one who brought the issue to light. [indiscernible] it was clear for us it was that enough. women and girls were not able to access abortion in reality. there were a lot of obstacles, criminalization, especially for young women who did not have access to information or to the health care system. it was clear the crime of

abortion -- [indiscernible] in the case of colombia, we managed to get at 24 weeks and after that, three exceptions -- this is what we're celebrating these in mexico because it shows a string in our region -- strength in our region which we understand the imports of not regulating abortion through criminal law and better regulated to public health and as an issue of human rights. [indiscernible] we are celebrating with our sisters. amy: rebeca ramos, if you can

explain how it works in mexico -- access to abortion, still considered unlawful in two thirds of mexican states but people in those states can still get abortions if they go to federal clinics? explain how accessible those are. what is the difference between a local clinic and a federal clinic? >> here in mexico, we are a federal state. the thing is, in terms of the regulation of abortion, we have the criminal topic at the local state and in the case at the public services of health, there are two levels. the federal and state level. at the state level, we already have -- 12 states have decriminalized abortion. whether it was parliament or for

judicial decisions. but also the federal hospitals bring services to the population. they cover almost 70% of people in the country. but before the decision, at the federal level we have the crime of abortion. the absolute criminalization of abortion. so that made impossible to the federal services of health to provide the services. that is why yesterday, sorry, wednesday, we celebrate so much the decision for the supreme court because with this decision, the federal services has to provide abortion services. amy: i mean, there is something very interesting happening also

between the united states and mexico. as women win this battle over decriminalization, although you have much further to go in all of these states, in the united states, reproductive rights are being severely curtailed. and now, i am looking at a piece by jonathan bruce, abc 13, new ordinances would ban driving through cities and counties on route to abortion care. and what this means on the border between texas and mexico that antiabortion groups in texas are getting more aggressive trying to stop women from getting the procedure out of state. and maybe even in an echo. that if they criminalize women making their way through a county or a city that makes it illegal to even travel to somewhere like mexico to get an

abortion. the focus in the united states is always people trying to get into the united states. the question now is people, cristina rosero, trying to leave the united states to get an abortion in mexico. >> yes, probably the roadblocks going on in the u.s. are susceptible. we are definitely really concerned about all the impacts the decision since last year. we know more than 14 states have banned abortion in different ways or creating it's too access to service. the most concerning thing with this type of man is women who are facing multiple ways of discrimination, for example, micro women are women who face poverty because they don't have access to the health care system. we are concerned for the

roadblocks. this milestone and mexico keeps building on that. women in the u.s. are facing this type of obstacles and we definitely call for a change in this type of protections because it is important for them to access abortion. we know from the evidence that banning abortion -- abortion is going to be a reality anyway. the thing is, abortion creates risk to women and pregnant people who need access to abortion because they're going to go for procedures that probably could be unsafe. it is important to legalize decriminalizing abortion because this is the only way to stop mortality regarding unsafe

procedures. but also because it is an important recognition of the autonomy of women and people who can get pregnant. latin america right now, there is an important conversation because countries such as mexico and colombia are making changes, going to a recognition of that autonomy. that we can have better regulations for women who face more inequalities, more difficult conditions for access to the health care system. amy: rebeca ramos, your group gire is behind the lawsuit that led to the supreme court decision. in the u.s., the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. i am wondering if you can talk about what led to this legal path that now has decriminalized

abortion in mexico? and what advice you have for people in united states? >> first of all, women working for years. we have been putting on truck some legal precedents, not only of the judiciary branch but also with the congress and executive branch. the work we have done with the court since 2000 when we started to have some resolutions, not so good as the ones wednesday, but there has been very important to work with the justice -- not only that justice of this every part in mexico, but the people who are writing the drafts and the resolutions. so that is part of our work.

i want to say i'm going to give advice to the u.s. organization, but i can share with them we in mexico, we have worked in terms of the judiciary branch and also executive and legislative branch but also and i think it is something that we share with the united states is the importance to work at the state level. not only at the federal level, most of all in situations now in the states with the supreme court that is very conservative, so i think in the states, there are more conservative congresses than others. but i think it has been very interesting how in mexico has work, the technical advice with

the state level of authority. amy: i wanted to ask about the political landscape now in mexico. you have the two presidential contenders, the top contenders are both women, which means in 2024, you will have a woman president most likely. an abortion is decriminalized. the significance of this and how mexico came to this point? close i think what is happening right now in the political landscape is it is very important must of all in terms of presentation and also political participation of women. it is the first time a woman would be president in our country. just before there has been some women candidates for the president, but none of them had a real chance to become

president. i think it is a great time in terms of political participation, but also true in a state level and municipal level, they still have a lot of political violence against women . i think in terms of representation, what is happening right now with the two women candidates for the president is a step forward for our political rights here in mexico. amy: just naming those two women, former mexico city mayor claudia sheinbaum is also a climate scientist. she is with amlo's party, the current president, and the opposition candidate galvez. i want to thank you both for

being with us. this has been a fascinating discussion and we will continue to follow reproductive rights development throughout latin america. rebeca ramos, executive director of the reproductive rights group gire. cristina rosero is a senior legal advisor for the center for reproductive rights. based in bogota, colombia. when we come back, we go to the data conditions inside the fulton county jail or donald trump and his 18 codefendants were recently booked. 10 prisoners have now died in the jail's custody this year -- the latest, last sunday. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman. we end today's show in atlanta with an update from the fulton county jail were donald trump in his 18 codefendants face rico charges were recently processed. the jail was in the spotlight before trump arrived after it came under federal investigation for the death of lashawn thompson, who was allegedly eaten alive by insects and bedbugs while living in filth imprisoned in his cell. his family reached a $4 million settlement with fulton county last month. now another person has died in fulton county custody, the tenth this year. 24-year-old shawndre delmore was found unresponsive in his cell august 31 after spending five months in the fulton county jail. preliminary findings show the otherwise healthy delmore died of cardiac arrest. sunday he was given a compassionate release bond the day after he was taken to the hospital. his family said by the time they were told delmore was in intensive care, there was no brain activity. this is his mother natasha

holoman. >> my son was so loving. he would not harm anybody. he did not deserve to die like this. he had his whole life ahead of him. i can't even understand getting a phone call saying he is in icu . i was not expecting to see my son in the condition he was in when i came out here. i thought i would be able to take my son with me back home. but that did not happen. i want answers. i want to know what happened to my son. i want to know why he had to die. amy: for more, we are joined by mawuli mel davis, attorney for the family of shawndre delmore. welcome to democracy now! thank you for joining us from atlanta. explain what you understand

happen. i was finding it hard to say the prison graded him compassionate release in light of what has taken place. >> good morning. this is, again, another tragedy in fulton county jail. what happened is a mystery to this family, to all of us. shawndre was by all accounts a healthy 24-year-old who they say has died as a result of cardiac arrest. right now as we speak, we are preparing for a second independent autopsy so we can try to get some answers this family so desperately deserves. this is systemic. this is not a one-off as you mentioned in the intro. this has been ongoing in the fulton county jail. our firm has three other families who have lost loved

ones in the fulton county jail over the last 18 months. amy: just understand what took place before last sunday. shawndre was 24 years old, found unresponsive in his cell. then what happened? >> it is our understanding that there was some delay in performing an attempt to resuscitate him, and then he was transported to grady hospital. at the time he was at grady hospital from all of the reports the family has received, he was already likely brain-dead. they arrived and there was no brain activity. they had no conversations with him. he was nonresponsive by the time they arrived and they flew in from louisiana the very next day that they heard the news. again, it is really inexplicable how this good happen to a healthy young man.

we have not received any answers. we are really asking for an extraordinary measure by the fulton county sheriff to release and open the jail up and allow us access to go in, view video for ourselves, as well as two interviews with the inmates who were present as well as the detention officers who were present. the reason this is unprecedented is in most incidences, they want you to wait until their investigation is over. at this stage with as many debts as they have had, it is our position we should have equal access and be performing our investigation at the same time they performing theirs because they have delivered no answers. again, there is not an end to this crises. amy: and shawndre delmore was healthy, has a healthy twin as well, who has just lost her

brother. can you explain what a compassionate release bond is? if he is granted this in the hospital, doesn't mean it does not count as a fulton county jail death? >> that issue is what we were very discerned with. was this an attempt to really try to have his death go under the radar? and release them so it would not, in fact, be part of this growing number of deaths inside the jail? again, the explanation given to the family was that he was given this compassionate release because they would be able to have greater access to him while he was in the hospital. again, it is unclear what the motivation was but we are very suspicious of the whole system right now is failing the inmates, failing that citizens of fulton county.

it is arguably the most dangerous jail in america right now. amy: you have called for the release of prisoners. i'm wondering if you can talk about this? last summer after an overcrowding crisis, officials outed more jail space. did this solve the issue? >> clearly, it did not. so the idea this country or even this county can lock its way out of what they believe is a crises , it is not working. the bottom line is, we have people like shawndre who have a nonviolent offense, sitting in jail for five months on a $5,000 bond who should have been released, period. that's it. what really needs to happen is they need to go through and look at all of the folks who are

currently incarcerated and begin to release people because it is too dangerous. they should not have a death sentence because they have been accused of a crime. that is what is happening right now in fulton county. essentially, if you are in fulton county, it is at your own risk of your life that you have been arrested. you could be a traffic stop for forgetting to pay a ticket and you end up in the jail and dead. it is absurd. that is the experience we have been suffering under here not just for this year -- 10 this year, 15 last year. amy: you mentioned traffic stop or dealing with the police in traffic. this is different from the jail. today in atlanta, the family of a 62-year-old church deacon killed during an atlanta police officer-involved incident last month will be viewing the body camera footage. he had called the police for help himself after a minor traffic accident was to his

daughter said she was on the phone with her dad when a struggle took place with the officers and said she heard him say "i can't breathe" and begged for help. what happened? you are representing his family? >> we are. what we have been able to watch, we had a meeting last week with the individual he had the collision with who fail -- filmed at least part of the encounter with deacon holloman and this police officer. we could hear him begging. we could hear him saying, "i can't breathe" and we could hear the aggression of this officer and the continued assault against this 62-year-old elder. today, the city of atlanta will provide the family access to see the video footage. unfortunately, it is not being released to the public. but at this point, the family has to have some answers because this was a minor traffic accident where he called the police and he ends up dead.

there's a lot going on here in atlanta and the state of georgia that the country should be watching. we should all be concerned about . young people yesterday staged a protest where they marched from the atlanta university center to the cnn center to try to bring about some national attention on the death of johnny holman, sr. amy: i want to get to one last thing, you are on the board for the southern center for human rights, which is organizing lawyers to help represent 61 people indicted in georgia on racketeering charges connected to the stop cop city movement. the attorney general bringing these charges, rico charges come almost as a kind of response to donald trump being indicted on rico charges. your comment on this and what the 61 people face? some also charged with domestic terrorism? >> this is fascism.

this is an attempt to silence people who are exercising their first amendment right. this is an attempt to have a chilling effect on people who are organizing against police violence, who are organizing to try to stop this ongoing assault on citizens. there has been no way and no indication that training center that is being proposed would have saved the life of johnny holman. no way. because it really does not center the people. it does not address the crises in the culture of atlanta policing and american policing, which is our lives really don't matter. so violence against us is absolutely acceptable at every level, at every aspect of the criminal justice system. amy: mawuli mel davis, thank you for being with us, attorney for the family of 24-year-old shawndre delmore, who died sunday after he was found unresponsive in his fulton

county jail cell after spending five months there. delmore is the 10th person to -- this your two died in custody of the fulton county sheriff's office. that does it for our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed