amy h.: he sent that letter. y d.: the only two options on the table were to leave the deal, or to stay in it and amy h.: he sent that letter. ratchet down what president obama committed to. that's not staying in and being ambitious with the deal, it's the lesser of two evils from a pro-climate perspective. amy h.: no matter how you slice it it's not good. amy d.: i would also add it's not great for the political discourse that the serious pro-paris argument being made within the white house, include -- including from people like ivanka trump and jared kushner was, why bother leaving, words don't mean anything anyway, you can say you're in paris but not keep your commitment, make it look good, do a little marketing but don't actually do. charlie: it's almost worse to me in term of political discourse. word doesn't mean anything. agreements don't mean anything just say you're supporting but , don't do anything to support. amy d.: the parameters are so constrained and degraded, it's a depressing moment. amy h.: the

h us. ♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.'m amy gogoodman. protests are continuing and london over lastst week's devastating apartment fire that killed 79 people. on wednesday, around 200 protesters, including survivors of the fire, march from west london to the british parliament to protest the government's handling of the fire. [chanting] >> the government should be doing more. they're not doing enough. they have failed because this is a national disaster. it is not just -- it is a national disaster. [chanting] amy: last weeks of fire occurred at 24-story grenfell tower apartment building is located in a rapidly gentrifying west london neighborhood. many residents are recent immigrants and look and workers. the company that recently renovated the building admitted over the weekend it used highly flammable, yet less expensive, cladding during construction. the cladding is banned from use in the u.s. and european union, but allowed in britain. the building's residents say the renovation was largely aimed at making aesthetic i

amy: after headlines, we will go to l london for momore on yestday's h historic u.k. election. on capitol hill, recently fired fbi director james comey told lawmakers thursday president trump tried to derail an investigation into national security adviser michael flynn's links to russia and accused trump of lying about why he was fired. the comments came during dramatic testimony before the senate intelligence committee. >> although the role required to reside at all to fire an fbi director, the administration then chose to defame me and more important, the fbi. by saying the organization was in disarray. that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. those were lies, plain and simple. amy: comey told senators he believed he was fired by trump because of his investigation into russia's meddling in november's presidential election and whether any top trump officials colluded with russian officials. comey detailed how trump repeatedly cornered him in one-on-one meetings, asking him to declare his loyalty to the president and pressuring him to back o

amy: richard seymour tweeted -- do you agree with h this, paul mason?n? >> it is not just that. two thirds of the e mbers parliament for labor had a complete imagination bypass and failure. they did not underststd this was possible. the only thought -- quite generally, left-wing politics meansns isolation -- wreckakage of your vote. we're proven it is not true. i'm in favor of letting b bygons bebe bygones and i want to actually try and engage t them n a cononstructive synthesis of wt they belelieve in n the way they wa too work in t the way that w, corbyn supporters in the moment to movement, want to work. for example, we sent teams of campaigners -- some of them trained by people from the sanders campaign -- send them to two voting areas. the party hq said could not be won. they try to turn them away. he said, go to these places we need to win, not the crazy places. in other words, we are able to inspire our colleagues on the center and right of the labor party. as i think the democrats -- the leftft of the democrats s are gg to h have to engage their centrt colleagues in acti

amy: trump applauded the supreme court's action as "a clear victory for our national security." hwrote "as president, i cannot allow people into our country who want to do was harm. i want people who can love the united states and all of its citizens, and who will be hard-working and productive." he "very grateful for the 9-0 decision from the supreme court. we must keep america safe.e." >> i am getting used to the trunk accolades that makes thing -- trump accolades that makes things up out of whole cloth. it is not clear this wawas a 9-0 decision. let's break down what he was talking about. everyone wants to keep people out of the country who want to do is harm. what we are arguing in these cases, though, is the gogovernmt has made no show that the people they are trying to keep out of the country has -- plan to do us harm. this decision almost makes it worse, that the only criteria we have now is the people who are not going to be allowed into the country are people who do not have a familial relationship, do not have an offer from a school, and do not have a job, but that keeps

h, nobody cares.s. the people do care. amy: i want to ask about an explosive new investigation that reveals how international private security firm tigers one targeted dakota access water protectors with military style counterterrorism measures. began as a contractor hired by energy transfer partners, the company behind the $3.8 billion dakota access pipeline. the investigation based on leaked internal documents which show how tigerswswan collaboratd with law enforcement agencies to surveillance the movement. in the documents, tigerswan calls the water protectors insurgents. and the movement and ideologically grew driven insurgency, even uses words like "jihadi." chairman dave archambault? >> it just goes to show who law enforcement is going to listen to. law enforcement listens to the political leaders. the political leaders are bought by corporations. in north dakota, we have a senator who has interest in the oil fields. we have -- amy: who is that? >> senator hogan. he is interest in wells. cramer postressman received some

amy... bananas for mom...wait, what's a jicama? iall h.ake a fresh look at giant's produce prices. >> breaking news. thfo stalemate between the school district of philadelphia and its teachers appears to be over tonight. the dphiladelphia federation of teachers announced they have a tentative deal. the new contract will that cover teaye 2020. we don't yet know details of the new contract but union members of course must first approve that deal. >> doctors say congressman steve scalise remains in critical condition aft baseballd wednesday morning. five people were hospitalized after a gunman attacked a gop congressional baseball practice. a bullet tour through scalise's hip and pelvis breaking bones and tearing organs in the process. today doctors said scalise will remain in the hospital time and will face additional operations. >> leaders around the world are mourning the loss of a prominent european politician helmut kohl. he has been battling health issues since 2008 when he suffered a stroke during a fall. this morning he died at his ho

amy: a massive outbreak of cholera is killing one person every hour in war-torn yemen as the death hll form ththe outk tops 859 people.

d d they can h have their doctos and plans. they can have everything. amythat was donald trump in 2015. dr. steffie woolhandler, you're one of the key advocates for medicare for all. where does that fit into this picture today? do you think this is a moment where the time for medicare for all can be pushed around the country in a very big way as people across the political spectrum are horrified by y the specter of among other things, tens of millions of people losing their health insurance? made some modest improvements of the health care system and the republicans would pulled us all back will stop at the affordable was never a very good bill. it left 28 million americans completely uninsured. intense millions more with these unaffordable gaps in coverage like copayments and deductibles and uncovered services. and that is why the affordable toe act has been vulnerable these attacks because people look at their own situations and obamacare come under the affordable care act, health care still not affordable to me. so the best way to fight the republican at

it is a point of political weakness for sisi because h he wrote in to on this message of being a nationalist savior. amy you think president trump's first foreign visit bingo saudi arabia -- i believe sisi was there when the various arab leaders were there when trump visited saudi arabia -- arabia assisi, saudi well, and all that is been happening in the gulf as well in the isolation of qatar and what is happening, the authoritarian ways of the leaeaders? cuttingw you have sisi off access to close to 100 websites, including one you were very involved with? >> i think that comes first state visit was to saudi arabia and the promise of one of her billion dollars in weapons from the saudis to americans has given a green light to the saudis. is thelation ofqatar most immediate example of what is going on. a key ququote when thinking abot israeli knesset said, the time is come for a right-wing peace. i think what we're going to see is this alignment on american allies from his welcome egypt, bahrain, yemen: sing under this idea of having a right-wing peace and that which is an authoritarian where your prime

amy: a massive outbreak of cholera is killing one person every hour in war-torn yemen as the death h toll form ththe outk tops 859 people. yemen's memedical system is in shambles, but the u.s. back saudi led war shows no sign of letting upup as the e trump administration moves ahead with a $110 billion arms dealal. we will go to yemen to speak with save the children. plus, we will go to the streets of new york where thousands took part in sunday's puerto rican day parade on the same day puerto rico held a controversial referendum on statehood. >> they're are being deeply impacted by migration, congressional inaction, and deathsally by all of the . lester, half a million people migrated inland. grading infrastructure. amy: and looking at to real estate investors advising president trump's residence described them as slumlords. two new exposes show how trump's son-in-law jared kushner and his close friend thomas barrack have profited mightily off f the bacs of low-income renters. all of that and more coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm

amy goodman. now to one of india's most famous writers arundhati , roy. 20 years after h debut nov "t god of sml thingsde her a literary sensation, she is theme a leading critic of rise of hindu nationalism. now she has returned to fiction, just released her second novel titled "the ministry of utmost happiness." last week, nermeen shaikh and i sat down with arundhati roy in our studio. i asked her how winning the booker prize, at the time she was the youngest writer ever to win it, affected her life as a writer. was thrilling to win the booker prize. it was something that i had .hought about after that, it became complicated because if you actually become very well known and then let's say you move to a place, london or new york, where lots of well-known international people live, then it's a different story. but if you want to carry on living where you lived and being with your old friends, you know, all of them have to deal with the booker prize and the fame, and it is really hard. but it's ok. but the thing that happened was that very soon after i won the booker prize, the bjp government came to po

h heavily armed he was? nobody else had a weapon, so he was just killingng everyone. amy: the gunman has been identified as a white 66-year-old man named james tommy hodgkinson. he was shot dead by capitol hill police. krystal griner and david bailey, who have been credited with saving all of the congress members lives. hodgkinson was a retired building inspector from belleville, illinois, who had been a vocal critic of donald trump online. in one recent facebook post he wrote -- "trump is a traitor. trump has destroyed our democracy. it's time to destroy trump & co." nermeen: hodgkinson had received a license to have a gun earlier this year, despite a history of violent behavior. in 2006, he was arrested for domestic battery and discharge of a firearm. soon after wednesday's shooting, virginia governor terry mcauliffe called for more gun control. >> i telell you this, i think we need to do more to protect all of our c citizens. i have long advocated, this is not what today's about, but there are too many guns on the street. downroundnd checks, shutting venture loopholes.

. >> but i h have a responsibility to thehe public commit is not jt about -- we all have responsibility. amy: that was formerly imprisoned army whistleblower chelsea manning, speaking with abc's juju chang. puerto rico held a controversial referendum on statehood 97% of sunday. those who cast ballots supported puerto rico becoming the 51st state. however, only 23% of eligible voters took part. many puerto rican opposition parties boycotted the vote. ththis is raulul torres, explaig why he didn't vote in sunday's referendum. i did not go to vote today. i have always voted in every election that i saw as legitimate, but i don't think today's elelection is valid at l because the united states congress is not going to validate this referendum. and itit is just something they are doing their, the party in power, to get a little closer to ststatehood. stay who is a form of government that i don't like, firirst of a, and second, this is just a waste of money. sunday's referendum came the same day tenens of thousands turned out sunday for the national puerto rican day parade here in new york city. m

amy: i want to go back to ivanka trump speaking in april. by gaylenterviewed king. >> you a are no longer running hay-y-to-day.. >> i've no involvement with any , like proximity to my father and the white hououse wih my husband taking such an influential role in the administration. i did not want to also be running a business. i put it into trtrust. i have independent trtrustees. i haveve no invovolvement in its managegement andnd strategic decision-making. >> but the trustees our family members, r right? >>>> they a are. but they're completelely indedependent. >> can youou see from the e pubc point of view, it is family memembers, thinking, is she reay not involved? do you really not get on the phone and say, what is g going ? a legal document very seriously, and i would not go through the pains of setting this up if i intended to violate it. amy: that is ivanka trump. your response, kevin slaten, talking about her company that is now run by her brother-in-law and sister-in-law? >> at the time, she was not responding to this, it would be extremely disingenuous if she uses that as protection -- per

amy: i want to bring antonia juhasz into the discussion, oil and energy journist speaking to us from california. your spiegel h remarkable cover, the german magazine. it said "america first, earth last." your response to donald trump's announcement? >> i think the announcement shows not the independence that donald trump is trying to put just butbut who he has who he is captured by and who he is been responsive to. so you have the domesticil industry and fossil fuel industry -- and just to be clear, donald trump says he loves coal miners by coal miners do not love him. he was not endorsed by the coal workers union, united mine workers of america. they have never liked him. donald trump is standing with coal companies and fossil feel companies who have been very successful in making his domestic agenda be one that would not adhere to our commitments in any case, limiting regulations, and opening up new areas to production so that we would increase our already high carbon emissions and pollution and health effects, etc. but also, let's recall this is coming quite shortly after trump's first foreign trip to saudi

which h had disastrous consnsequences for the poorr and marginalized people of india, many of them farmers, the lowest in society.caste there resisting thehese. .herere was a farmerer strikike amy: let''s go to teesta setalvd , a civil rights activist basasd in mumumbai, and a journalist. prachi patankarr jusust mentiond probably note are familiar with what she is referring to. you are very involved with this issue. can you talk about modi's history? >> it is a very important understand. [indiscernible] talking about the democratic will of the peoplele, having coe to power in a certain power. in adiffers from trump sense that modi's political grooming is in n [indiscernible] very been a lot of academic studies and issues down at the ground. [indiscernible] is a very popular leaeader today. he comes from the grooming of -- one the police program of 2002 was on modi's watch. it was poor governance at best. killed00 muslims lives in an uprising after a despicable burning. .t was allowed [indiscernible] the state was just looking on. modi has not even expressed regret for that massacre. amy: explain how many people. this was in 2002, modi as the kind of -- the equivalent of governo

h, minorities in the south of the country. all of these other smaller ethnic groups that minorities ie south of the country. are being chased from the country. amyu begin your piece "ghost nation" by writing -- "in his heart, simon knew he was digging his own grave." tell us who simon is and what his story is. >> i found simon, who is a resident of a, a village in the far south of south sudan, living under a tree -- a large mango tree in uganda. most of his village was chased down after a series of killings for the south sudanese government troops. they caught simon on his way out of town. they forced him to dig a grave, which simon believed would be his own grave. and they took steps to execute him. it was only through happenstance, poor aim, and a gun jammed, that saved his life. after an argument among soldiers, they allowed him to leave. simon left something in that site of his supposed execution. the main i found was completely shattered, traumatized. i don't think he knew what to do next or where he would go. it is like this for so many south sudanese. it is a country whose population has been traumatized. refugeesouth sudan, fleeing civil