and congress member alan grayson is with us democrat of florida.ori wallach, we have been following fast-track and tpp. for those who are not familiar with it, perhaps that is why bills like this go the way they go. explain briefly why the transpacific partnership is so significant. >> the transpacific partnership would make it easier for corporations to offshore our jobs. it is based on the nafta, north american free trade agreement and the korea free trade agreement. it has the same provisions that give companies who offshore, who relocate their investment, special privileges and protections. they make it cheaper and safer to move our jobs to low-wage countries. tpp includes a lot of low-wage countries, which means our wages will get pushed down when americans are made to compete them a for instance, with workers in vietnam who are making less than $.60 an hour. in addition, tpp would open to 9000 more corporations the right to drag u.s. government into investor state corporate tribunals. those are the extrajudicial tribunals or panels of three c

just like alan grayson said, the fat cats are calling the shots. they are getting everything they want, and the voters know it. across the political spectrum, center, left, and right, they know this congress is not representing the people, and yes, it was worth risking my life, risking my freedom to get reform so that the congress works for the people. amy: you are a letter carrier, a postal carrier, and mailman. how many letters were you carrying to deliver to congress? doug: i believe the count was 535, but i never actually counted them. i handled a lot of them in the process of printing them signing them, stamping them. there were a lot of hours that went into getting the letters done. amy: were you planning to hand deliver them individually to each member of congress? doug: no. at no time did i expect that was going to happen. the plan was to get the letters there in such a way -- let me step back. congress knows what is going on. i was not telling congress anything they are not aware of. i was telling them something they do not want the people

to see our interview with lori wallach and congressmember alan grayson on the tpp, you can go to democracynow.org. iraqi security forces battled militants the self-proclaimed islamic state thursday inside iraq's largest oil refinery. the united states has been conducting airstrikes in the area around the refinery. meanwhile, a top iraqi military official told the associated press, iraqi forces have managed to take control of an area south of the refinery come a securing the towns nearby. the fierce fighting came as iraqi prime minister abadi was in washington to meet with vice president joe biden. lighten pledged to seek strategic partnership with iraq. >> mr. prime minister, we stand with you and your government ready to help and unite iraq but you are a sovereign nation, a sovereign government, and we are here to offer what you may want. it is for you to decide. what we have to offer, whether it is a value. amy: in yemen, al-qaeda fighters have seized an airport, military base and oil export terminal as , they continue to gain ground in the country's south. the militants appear to be taking adv