Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20180205

Prizewinning organization, the International Campaign to abolish Nuclear Weapons. Speakers weekend, house paul ryan touted a story of a womans paycheck to increased by 1. 50 a week as a major benefit to workers. After ridicule and outrage, he was forced to delete his tweet. We will speak to economist Richard Wolff. And finally, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the new England Patriots in a superbowl upset sunday night, capping a historic nfl season, filled with Racial Justice protests both on and off the field. We going to be all right] the black business collective and like lives matter call for divestment of a president that harms black people and black families. Minneapolis go to to speak to an organizer am where 17 protesters were arrested at a protest before the super bowl sunday. If you watched the game last night, you might have noticed one of the players was knocked out on the field or maybe that is why you did not watch. We will speak with dr. Harry edwards about concussions and more. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The Trump Administration has unveiled its new Nuclear Weapons strategy, which involves spending at least 1. 2 trillion to upgrade the u. S. Nuclear arsenal, including developing a new nucleararmed, sealaunched cruise missile. The Nuclear Posture review calls for developing lowyield warheads, which critics say blur the lines between nuclear and nonNuclear Weapons, meaning they are more likely to be used. It also reportedly seeks to expand the number of scenarios under which the u. S. Might consider the use of Nuclear Weapons, including in response to a major cyberattack. Trumps Nuclear Policy has alarmed arms control experts around the globe and been openly criticized by iran, russia, and china. We will have more on this after headlines. House republicans are facing some backlash after releasing a controversial memo that reports to show the fbi and Justice Department abused its authority by placing Trump Campaign adviser carter page under surveillance in 2016 over his ties with russia. On saturday, President Trump tweeted the memo totally vindicates him, but the memo actually raises new questions about the actions of the Trump Campaign. Supporters of trump had claimed the fbi used a partisan research steele dossier, to obtain a surveillance warrant for page. But the memo actually reveals that the fbis probe of the Trump Campaign was triggered not by the steele dossier, but by the actions of another trump advisor, george papadopoulos, who reportedly bragged to an australian diplomat in 2016 that the russians had political dirt on hillary clinton. According to the New York Times, papadopoulos had been told moscow have thousands of emails that would embarrass clinton. He pleaded guilty last october to lying to federal agents. Tension is growing between the United States and venezuela. During a fivenation trip to south america, secretary of state Rex Tillerson said the u. S. Is considering imposing sanctions and possibly an oil embargo against the oilrich state. Late last week, tillerson suggested the u. S. Would support the Venezuelan Military toppling the elected government of nicholas maduro. A i think there will be change. We want it to be a peaceful change. In the history of venezuela and other latin american and south american countries, it is often the military that handles that. Things are so bad that the military leadership realizes that it cannot serve the citizens anymore, and they will manage a peaceful transition. Amy Venezuelan Defense minister vladimir padrio criticized tillerson for hinting at a possible military coup in venezuela. When you invite the armed forces to overthrow a government, you are disrespecting an institution that uses its principles, republican morality, historical traditions. We are deeply proud of being the heirs of our liberator. Amy the New York Times has revealed israeli drones, helicopters, and jets have secretly carried out 100 airstrikes inside egypt for the past two years against islamic militants in the northern sinai. The covert attacks were done with the approval of egyptian president general abdel fattah elsisi, despite decades of strained relations between the two nations that fought three wars against each other. Newton and con data shows the ta shows the da number of u. S. Airstrikes in yemen increased sixfold last year following the election of donald trump. U. S. Drones, ac130 gunships, and fighterbombers carried out 131 airstrikes in yemen in 2017, up from 21 airstrikes a year earlier. Late last year u. S. Central , command also confirmed u. S. Troops had conducted multiple ground operations in yemen in 2017. In south carolina, two people died and 116 were injured when an amtrak passenger train traveling on the wrong track slammed into a stationary freight train. Rail experts said the accident could have been prevented if technology known as positive train control had been installed on the tracks. The accident marks the third highprofile fatal amtrak train accident in the last two months. Two in the last week. There is a Major New Development in the scandal around usa Gymnastics Team doctor larry nassar, who has been accused by 265 women and girls of sexual abuse. According to the New York Times, at least 40 of the victims were abused after the fbi began its investigation of ar in july 2015. At the time the fbi was conducting probes in three cities no effort was apparently , made by usa gymnastics officials to warn other potential victims. Meanwhile on friday, chaos broke out inside the court room during a sentencing hearing for larry nassar. Randall margraves, a father of three daughters who were all molested by nassar, attempted to lunge at the doctor in the court room. As far as this sentencing, i ask you to grant me five minutes. Would you do that . No, sir, i cannot do that. Give me one minute. You know i cannot do that. Amy Randall Margraves was then handcuffed and removed from the court room, but he was later released without charge. In news from hollywood, uma thurman has accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assaulting her in a London Hotel Room after they worked together on the 1994 hit film pulp fiction. More than 70 women have now accused the former Film Producer of sexual misconduct, including rape. In an interview with the new thurman said,ma the complicated feeling i have about harvey is how bad i feel about all the women that were attacked after i was. I am one of the reasons that a young girl would walk into his room alone, the way i did. And france, a man church with rate after being accused i two women last year. He has been taken into custody and has denied the accusations. It has been another deadly weekend for migrants trying to reach the shores of europe. On the bodies of at least 20 saturday, african migrants were recovered off of melilla, a spanish enclave in northern africa. Meanwhile on friday, 90 migrants are feared to have died when their boat capsized off the coast of libya. This is Leonard Doyle of the spokesperson for the International Organization for migration, the iom. When we think as many as 90 pakistani migrants trying to reach a better life ended up, through the criminal act of smugglers, drowning. Amy meanwhile in italy, a suspected neo nazi shot six african migrants on saturday in a series of driveby shootings. The gunman has been identified as luca traini, an italian man who has a neo nazi tattoo above his eye. Last year, he ran for office as a member of the farright league party, which has been projected to make major gains in next months italian election. People wereis, 17 arrested sunday before the super bowl as they attended to block a light rail line carrying super bowl ticketholders to the stadium. The activists, which included members of black lives matter said in a statement that they , were using this moment to stand with athletes who have protested throughout the past two football seasons, and calling attention to the murder of black people by police. We will have more on the protests in minneapolis later in the broadcast. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and i am juan gonzalez. Welcome to our viewers. A treaty intended to limit the United States and russias longrange Nuclear Arsenals officially takes effect today. But the once promising treaty signed eight years ago by president obama is overshadowed by a new Nuclear Arms Race sparked by President Trump. On friday, the Trump Administration unveiled its new Nuclear Weapons strategy, which involves spending at least 1. 2 trillion to upgrade the United States Nuclear Arsenal, including developing some completely new Nuclear Weapons. The Nuclear Posture review calls for developing lowyield warheads, which critics say blur the lines between nuclear and nonNuclear Weapons, meaning they are more likely to be used. It also reportedly seeks to expand the number of scenarios under which the United States might consider the use of Nuclear Weapons, including in response to a major cyberattack. As the New York Times reports in a frontpage article today, the pentagon envisions a new age in which Nuclear Weapons are back in a big way. This is Deputy Defense secretary Patrick Shanahan speaking friday about the pentagons Nuclear Posture review, known as the npr. This review is consistent with u. S. Nuclear policies since the end of the cold war. It reaffirms that the fundamental role of u. S. Nuclear policy is to terrance and continues our clear commitment to nonplayer for a nation and nonproliferation and arms control. Since the end of the cold war, the u. S. Has worked to reduce the number of Nuclear Weapons, but the world looks different since the last npr in 2010. And dynamicing security environment requires steady action, strength, and to terrance. This npr responds to todays security needs with tailored Nuclear Deterrent strategy and flexible capabilities for effective deterrence. Amy prominent antinuclear advocates have denounced the pentagons plan as radical and extreme. World leaders have also criticized the plan. Russia said it risked provoking a renewed Nuclear Arms Race. China accused trump of engaging in a new cold war. Irans foreign minister said the plan brings the world closer to annihilation. This comes as the bulletin of the atomic scientists advanced the Doomsday Clock 30 seconds closer to midnight. The clock is a symbolic timekeeper that tracks the likelihood of nuclear war and other existential threats. It now stands closer to midnight than at any time since 1953. The scientists directly cited President Trumps Nuclear Policies as one of the reasons for advancing the clock. For more, we go now to geneva, switzerland where were joined , by beatrice fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to abolish Nuclear Weapons. It is the latest organization to win the Nobel Peace Prize, which december. First of all, congratulations on the Nobel Peace Prize. Talk about what is called the npr, the Nuclear Posture review, the Trump Administrations plans for Nuclear Weapons, what it means for world peace. It is a really dangerous new policy. We have already had a very dangerous status quo for many years, and this increases the risk of nuclear war. It develops new types of Nuclear Weapons that will be easier for President Trump to use. It is dangerous and puts us on the path toward nuclear war if we do not act now. Juan beatrice, what are the commitments of the u. S. In terms of reducing its Nuclear Arsenal . The United States has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation commits it to negotiating in good faith nuclear disarmament, but that has not taken place. States,ear arms including russia, china, france, and u. K. , they are upgrading, instead of reducing, their arsenals. Amy lets go to a clip of President Trump giving his state of the union last week. Theaid he would beef up u. S. Nuclear arsenal and dismiss global efforts to ban Nuclear Weapons. President trump as part of our defense, we must modernize and rebuild our Nuclear Arsenal, hopefully never having to use it but making it so strong and so powerful that it will deter any otherf aggression by any nation or anyone else. [applause] President Trump perhaps someday in the future, there will be a magical moment when the countries of the world will get together to eliminate their Nuclear Weapons. Unfortunately, we are not there yet, sadly. Amy during his state of the union, trump escalated his rhetoric against north korea once again, calling the north korean government depraved, warning it poses an nuclear risk to the United States. President trump north koreas reckless pursuit of Nuclear Missiles could very soon threaten our homeland. We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from ever happening. Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. I will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations that got us into this very dangerous position. We need only look at the depraved character of the north korean regime to understand the nature of the Nuclear Threat it america and to our allies. Amy so that is President Trump. Beatrice fihn in geneva, switzerland, can you respond to both, talking about north korea posing an increased risk to the United States and how you see that being resolved and new in what what is President Trump is proposing in his Nuclear Posture review . Is it any different from what theident obama proposed in 1 trillion renovation of the Nuclear Arsenal . The situation with north korea is obviously really dangerous, and the United States has one of the biggest Nuclear Arsenals in the world. It has not deterred north korea from going nuclear. Rather, it encouraged cliff ration. We see evidence that the terrorists in using weapons to protect themselves, it is not working and not creating stability and peace in the region. Rather, it fuels the crisis and leads us at risk for nuclear war. It is very urgent that we find a emblematic solution to this, instead of threatening with more bombs, bigger bombs. We need to move toward a diplomatic solution that does not involve threatening to indiscriminately slaughter civilians. This policy makes nuclear war more likely. It lowers the bar for using them. Doing this, if we keep having Nuclear Weapons and threatening to use them, they will be used one day. Juan you mentioned the other Nuclear Powers that are also working to modernize their arsenals. China has accused the Trump Administration of embarking on a new cold war. That you talk about response and what china is doing or is not doing . Each nuclear arms states right now, all nine, are involved in big programs of upgrading. We see this trend with the nuclear arms states, that they are increasing the role of Nuclear Weapons for security. It is growing in importance with these few states. But the rest of the world is going in the other direction. Over 120 countries negotiated a treaty, and we see these two parallel trends in the world where the outliers are clinging onto these weapons of mass destruction, while the rest of the world is moving towards a new type of Security Policy that does not involve threatening to indiscriminately murder civilians. 2016, we spoke to a survivor of the u. S. Bombing of 1945, antinuclear activists now, social worker for decades in toronto, canada, serving japanesespeaking immigrants. She recounted what happened that day, august 6, 1945. Student at the girls school, and i was mobilized by the army together with a group of about 30 schoolmates. We were trained to act as recording assistants. That very day, monday, we were to start the days work as fullfledged recording assistants. 00, we had morning assembly, and we were given a pep talk. We said we would do the best for the emperor. At that moment, i saw the bluish white flash in the windows. I was on the second floor of a building that was onemile or 1. 8 kilometers away from being ground zero. After seeing the flash, i had a sensation of floating in the air. All the buildings were flattened by the blast and falling. Obviously, the building i was in was falling and my body falling with it. That is the end of my recollection. Tsuko thurlowwas se speaking to democracy now , and she was with you a few months later receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, and you both give an acceptance speech. You also just returned from nagasaki. Can you tell us what you did and also, specifically, what you think has to be the approach of the United States and other nations in dealing with nuclear war . Yeah, i was just in nagasaki. It was incredibly moving to be at the place and visit hiroshima, to see with my own eyes the places were Nuclear Weapons have been used. It is very important to do if you are working on Nuclear Weapons. This is what were talking about. I watched the press conference on friday and was struck by how sterile and abstract the language is. Were talking about cities, of schools, hospitals, houses, civilians. That is what Nuclear Weapons do, wipeout entire civilities. Problems,olving these we know that if we keep Nuclear Weapons forever, they will be used again. When i was in nagasaki, it was exactly when the false alarm of the incoming missile came to hawaii. To be there and hear the stories from survivors of what happens after Nuclear Bombs are used, days after, weeks after, how people tried to rebuild their lives, and to know that in hawaii, mothers and fathers were hiding their kids, running for their lives, trying to figure out who to call those last minutes, it is an exit double that we have this threat it is unacceptable that we have this threat still and that we keep living under this problem. It. An solve states have to really start thinking about Nuclear Weapons as real weapons. These are not geopolitical tools. These are big arms waiting to be launched. A miscalculation, accident, intentional use, if we do, it will be a humanitarian disaster. There are huge human rights problems and will be environmental degradation. It is very important we do something about this before they are used again. Juan when you were in japan, au were designed denied meeting with Prime Minister shinzo abe. Your sense, what is the posture of the current government of japan compared to those in the past on Nuclear Weapons . The japanese government is a very Close Military ally to the United States and feels like it also needs to be protected by Nuclear Weapons. We look atproblem is Nuclear Weapons as some kind of safety blanket, something that keeps us safe, when it actually increases the threat and puts us at a higher risk than if we do not have Nuclear Weapons. If you look at the situation in north korea, people of south korea, people of japan, they do not feel particularly safe right now because the Nuclear Weapons. Having more does not make us more safer. I think there is a gap in japan between the people that want to honor the victims of hiroshima and nagasaki and the people in toyo that are close allies the United States military. But i think there are ways to do both. We just need to stop relying on weapons of mass destruction. Leave militaryto allies, but we need to stop think that indiscriminately killing civilians is a defense method these days. Amy beatrice fihn, thank you for being with us. The latest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. She accepted the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of her group. When we come back, we turn to the war at home. House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted a story of a woman whose paycheck increased by 1. 50 a week, talking about it as a major victory for middleclass workers as a result of the republican tax bill. We will speak with economist Richard Wolff. Stay with us. [music break] amy 99 red balloons by nena. I am amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan 1. 50 a week is that a pay hike with celebrating . Well, at least it is according to house speak paul ryan. On saturday, he wrote, a secretary at a Public High School in lancaster, pennsylvania, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up 1. 50 a week she said that will more than cover her costco membership for the year. After a deluge of ridicule, ryan deleted the tweet hours later. Amy in contrast to the reported increase, which comes to 78 a year, House Speaker ryan received a staggering 500,000 in Campaign Contribution from charles koch only days after ryan pushed through the tax overhaul. The legislation has massively benefited corporations and the richest americans, including President Trump and his family, and the koch brothers, who may save as much as 1. 4 billion on income taxes every year. Well, to talk more about the Trump Administrations economic agenda, were joined now by Richard Wolff, emeritus professor of economics at university of massachusetts, amherst, visiting professor at new school university. He is the founder of democracy at work and hosts a Weekly National television and Radio Program called economic update. Hes the author of several books including most recently , capitalisms crisis deepens essays on the Global Economic meltdown. So you have the House Speaker tweeting about this incredible victory, as he considered this woman getting 1. 50 raise a week, somebody dollars a year, but he is mocked and ridiculed so much that he has to delete the tweet. Your response, Richard Wolff . I take great comfort that there was this kind of response. Industry classic move of the Republican Party and President Trump is to give tiny benefits to the people to distract them from the grotesque inequality of the benefits going to the corporations and the biggest people. Exxon operation gloated over the weekend that they are going to save 6 million from this tax cut. So we can see that with this is doing is worsening, not improving, worsening the inequality of the United States in a dramatic way. For me as an economic historian, after 30 years, which is the truth of the last 30 years, of a growing gap between rich and poor tom at that everybody recognizes that to pass a tax cut that worsens it, rather than softens it, is kind of staggering. It is really not about economics anymore. It is about an outofcontrol economy in which the few are simply grabbing it all before it disappears. Juan richard m i am wondering what you think the impact might be, even of a small increase. People used to not having increases in their takehome pay, even a small increase, to llat degree that may lu americans into thinking that trump and republicans might not be so bad . That is it, you get a little bit and you will be so grateful and so happy that you will not pay attention. That here is where it will come back and bite you with this kind of a tax cut, massive reduction in the money that the federal government gets them these corporations, we know already, because mr. Ryan and others have told us, they will be cutting Government Programs using the excuse that they do not have the debt to it so the 1. 50 young lady will said, she will then lose more than that in the cutback in Government Programs upon which she and her family and the community will depend. This is bad for the mass of the American People. Amy we just had a segment on Nuclear Weapons, and president 1. 2 trillion dollars plan to increase the Nuclear Weapons of the United States, that we can afford. Talk about where the money goes and what you see as the alternative. I think that fundamentally the money is going where mr. Trump and the Republican Party want it to go p he is building his political support. He is not a popular president. We all know that. So he has to build. He gives the military, one way to build support it he gives the ag banks and corporations cut, another way to build support he makes symbolic gestures for the rest of the population in hopes of drawing the men. This is a program that is mindless about the economic realities about our society, the the suffering promises he made in his campaign is built on the notion he is going to build his support and to the Republican Party, and the rest of society will just live where the chips may fall. For me, this is a problem of a system. Problem,eyond this that problem, this reform, that law. You have a system that is out of control and you have so much wealth in the hands of so few that they are in a position to make Everything Else serve them. That is a classic sign of a decay and society. For me, tappen are the only way you are going to get out of this long series of horrible kinds of decisions, such as saying we cannot take care of the secretarys Economic Needs beyond 1. 50 a week in the doubling our defense expenditures. Juan in this tax bill recently passed, there was clearly Company Corporate tax and pass through companies and the inheritance tax what was it that most astounded you about the ability of the republicans and President Trump to get this through . All the ones you mentioned, but here is the one that really got me. For years, large corporations have evaded their share of taxes by using a loophole that their lobbyists got into the law years ago which says if you keep your wealth outside of the country, your profits, you do not have to pay the tax here in the United States, you only have to pay when you come back. Billions werer, unavailable to washington to serve our needs as a people because they did that. Instead of saying you abused the American Economy by this nonpayment, instead that bill that was passed in december gives them a preferential lower rate than they otherwise would have had to pay. One pup because of amnesty . Right, instead of punishing them for the damage they did, it rewards them saying that you now bring it back and you will pay less than you ever would have before. That is such an upside down notion of justice and economic logic in taxes. The last point i do as an economist, if you give government money to poor and middle income people, they go out and spend it, and it makes the economy hum. Richest,ve it to the those are the people who do not spend it all because they are already living high on the hog. They save it and hold it back and use it for things that are not the kinds of things that make the economy hum. In economic logic, it is much better to give to the middle or the bottom than it is to give even more to the top after 30 years having done that already. Juan what is your response to these corporations that have suddenly started to voluntarily give their workers a small increase in their base pay . Well, i did not want to make mistake, the name of the firm, willis towers watson, a Human Resources firm, it is the only scientific effort to understand what the companies are doing with the tax cut. They have done interviews and picked at random 333 companies with no less than 1000 workers each. They asked them, are you giving your workers at a benefit from the tax cut . If not, are you planning tover the next ar . If not, are you considering it . Here are the results. 3 have given. 4 arelanning to give. 13 are considering it. 80 of american corporations have not done it, are not planning on it, and are not even considering it. It is a hustle, an attempt to fool people but picking a few examples. There is one more i love, walmart is giving money, but it turns out the amount you get depends on how long you have worked at walmart. Walmart has a tremendous turnover because i do not pay much, so most people have not been there very long and will not get very much. Which, game in unfortunately, these companies are complicit with mr. Trump in the hype that this is not what it is. Juan unfortunately, the media is. They go with it. The deleted tweet from paul ryan saying this woman was surprised and she said it will more than cover her cost of a membership for a year. Jonformer obama staffer , favreau tweeted, as a thank you for passing a 1 trillion Corporate Tax cut, paul ryan received 500,000 in Campaign Contributions from the koch brothers, which would probably cover the cost of buying a costco. Stafferhat is the obama. But how different is what trump and his allies are doing than what the Obama Administration was doing . And what do you think needs to be done . Worse. , it is much i want to be fair, what trump and the gop are doing is much worse than obama. But you are right in your question. It is a difference in degree. Mr. Obama came in with great hopes, as everyone knows, that there would be changes and a redirection. Real was not, to be brutally honest, there really was not. That in the light of what mr. Trump does, it all kind of looks better here we have a history in america that with each president , the previous one looks a bit better than he did before. For me, the basic issue is what you said, what has to be done . For me, here is how it looks. The decisions we see of the decisions made by the people who run the businesses of america, the corporations, the boards of directors, the major shareholders who really do control this economy and have for a long time. If we are not happy with the outcome, which i assume we are not as we are discussing that, we have to go the problem. We have to be willing to change the system. For me, what i work on is to change the way corporations are run. Love the now , i slogan and the name, i want it in the workplace. I want democracy there for the first time. We do not have democracy in the workplace p we have a tiny group of people at the top, shareholders, boards of directors, and they make all of the decisions. What to produce, how, where, and what to do with the prophets anyone produces in an enterprise. Why do we allow such an un democratic system that everybody has to live with and there is no accountability. The mass of people who work in each enterprise cannot control. They have no role. They live with it but have no participation. That is the opposite of democracy. I do not think that if we put people in charge of our businesses, we make the economy run by the people on these and price, i think we would have an economy that serves people rather than asking all of us to serve an economy run by a tiny number of people. Juan i want to ask about the Trump Administrations regulatory direction. Clearly, after the financial crisis, there was an attempt, during the Obama Administration, to put more controls on the worst excesses of the financial and destroy. Now were seeing payday lenders and the old Student Loan Companies that work constantly peddling debt to americas young people all having a resurgence. The impact of the regulatory changes occurring . Probably the most profound right now. That is so much going on even the media cannot quite keep up. Underneath the visible is a change in the personnel in which, one after the other, lobbyists from every Industrial Group are being brought in to be regulators of what they used to work for. Es guardingis the foxs gua the chicken coop on a mass basis. I think you will slowly see a of the government looking the other way where each group is doing what they have been held back from for decades, and now it is open season. I suspect we will have more and more stories, and the most recent one is the one in which the fast Food Industry lobbyist has become the person hired to determine american dietary rules. What you aredinary seeing and how that will play out in the little moments of our lives. Amy talk about that, to Jerome Powell taking charge. We talk about being a private enterprise economy, but we all depend on the Federal Reserve a largely Governmental Agency that muchnormous power of how money there is in the economy, but the Interest Rates are, how they are shipped. Janet yellen, a classmate of mine when i was in the graduate school of economics, has left, replaced by mr. Powell, who is closer to the republicans and closer to the president than before. My guess is you will see a Federal Reserve accommodating, like everybody else, this directly tory shift wealth to the top mindset. Unfortunately, where ms. Janet yellen might have been a break, this is full speed ahead in a direction i think is theirs asterisk is disastrous. Amy how has trumped sold it to the American People, even if unsuccessfuln times. What is the note he has struck in, as you see it, a duping . It goes back to power. In fact, promises were made to the American People and the Obama Administration to bring hope, to bring change, and there was not much of any. I think it turned a large number of people off, and they were discontented and turning away from politics. And there is a kind of anger and rage against what is happening, and mr. Trump has tapped into that. And he keeps playing on it i am the not a boy, the different one, and i am going to do what others feared to do. It is the it appeared he has actually got in the opposite direction. But this in list tweeting and the endless crisis mongering is meant to distraction keep people away from understanding that what they hoped for with obama and were disappointing and is going to be an even bigger disappointment with mr. Trump. Amy thank you for being with us, Richard Wolff, fs or of economics at university of acid choose its amherst am a visiting. Irector of the new school this is democracy now when we come back, the super bowl happened last night, a huge upset in the sports world with the Philadelphia Eagles when in for the first time. If you were watching, did you notice a someone was taken off the field with a concussion . Or maybe that is why you were not watching last night. We will talk about what happened on the field and off at 17 people were arrested in Racial Justice protest outside. Stay with us. [music break] amy alright by kendrick lamar. In minneapolis saying his song on monday night as they blocked the light rail line carrying super bowl Ticket Holders to the stadium as a protest against Racial Justice. This is democracy now i am amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan the Philadelphia Eagles stunned the new England Patriots sunday night in minneapolis with a 4133 win in super bowl 52, the firstever title for the eagles. The game capped a historic season for the National Football league, in which African American players staged leaguewide protests against Racial Injustice and Police Brutality by taking the knee during the National Anthem before games. In minneapolis, just hours ahead of the super bowl, several dozen members of black lives matter and its supporters blocked a light rail station near the u. S. Bank stadium in frigid temperatures to protest against Racial Injustice. They all wore sweatshirts that read, you cant play with black lives. During the action, one protester read a list of demands. , the collective and the black lives matter global network, call for divestment of the systems of oppression that harm black people, fracture like families, and disrupt black futures. Cops. E we call for the Police Budget to be rolled back until our tax dollars no longer fund the harassment, brutalization, and murder of black people. Amy about 17 protesters were the action. If you watched the super bowl, you may have noticed that the patriots wide receiver, brandon cooks, was knocked out on the field and left the game with a concussion, or maybe that is why you did not watch. Or more on the protests and new research on concussions, were joined by two guests. Mel reeves is a longtime human rights activist and organizer of the take a knee conference in minneapolis. In palo alto, california, we speak with dr. Harry edwards, Professor Emeritus of sociology at the university of california, berkeley. He is the author of several books, including the revolt of the black athlete, reissued last year for its 50th anniversary edition. He was the architect of the 1968 olympic project for human rights. That was resulted in the most famous photograph from the olympics. 1968, mexico city, the black power salute. This is democracy now reeves in minneapolis, talk about why 17 people got arrested and why you were outside protesting. How are you . I am from taking the nation, and we organized a conference over the weekend where we had about 15 mothers that traveled from all over the country to tell their stories. They talked about Police Violence is just the start. We had young people who are taking a knee and around the country join us. There were three actions yesterday. I am sorry about the confusion. I actually not black lives matter. Take a knee nation has representatives from several places that were next to the stadium yesterday. We protested and called for an end to Police Violence at the end of our conference, which was saturday and sunday. People got a chance to hear from these families who lost children to Police Violence and also young people who have in taking a knee. We came up with a few demands, one that we demand that the police, anytime they mistreat a citizen, that they are punished and held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And we are demanding that all the cases be reopened. After the Civil Rights Movement was successful, they went back and looked at the cases in which black people had been mutilated and murdered and raped and no one was held accountable for, so after the Civil Rights Movement when everybody was in agreement that jim crow and segregation and the terrorism of black people was not accepted, it became acceptable to go back and look at those cases and convict for their wrongdoing. In this case, there are few justifiable killings of the police i anybody, not just black folks. Those were demands coming out of our conference. Viewers and our listeners around the country of the particular conditions in minneapolis in terms of police abuse and Police Killings over the past year or two. That is a good question it would seem like this is not a place where that occurs, but we have some great disparities. Recently, justine demond was killed under question will circumstances, and she is a white woman, actually. She called police to respond to what she thought was a domestic disturbance, hearing a woman screaming in an ally in a nicer neighborhood of minneapolis, and she ran out to direct the police or whatever and wild of dead. We still do not know why she was killed. And you are familiar with the case of the Lotto Casteel of philando castile. He told police he had a firearm, and the officer, we saw it on film, he just opened up on him. Clark, who, jamar was at a friends house playing cards with his girlfriend who hurt her ankle. The emts came and he came out to check on her, and they misunderstood what he was doing. They called the police, and they threw him on the ground and people were there around him, and they shot and killed him. Before that, terrence franklin. Before that, other cases. Minneapolis is as much america as any place else. I want to bring dr. Edwards into this conversation. As you listen about the protest at the super bowl, and if you were watching, you probably had little idea what was happening outside, but also what happened inside the stadium. I do not know how many people noticed, but another football slammed andis head was taken off the field with a concussion. Talk about your concerns right now in this year of nfl protests , with so many players taking a knee, although we cannot see that last night. The movementll, has dispersed to the point where it has no real center and no central management, no central set of goals, no central leadership. Who incited this movement are not the leaders of it, they are the icons of it. As the last guest said, there was confusion about what they were doing outside the stadium and around the city of minneapolis. It is going to continue to disperse and will eventually began to fade, just as the black Power Movement did and so forth. This is not to say that these issues will not continue to be important, which is what we have to focus on the issues and not the protest method. In the sportses political horizon that will come into play, one is the concussion situation. The concussion problem is going and aerate and nfl league collegiate Football Game that is overwhelmingly black. If you look of the last National Championship game at the collegiate level between clemson and alabama, it looked like ghana playing nigeria. Andually all black defenses all players on the field at a particular time were black. That is a trend that will make the concussion issue basically a racial issue at some point. You will have 80 fans in the stands who are white. Youre going to have an overwhelmingly white management and directorship at the collegiate and professional level where the overwhelming majority of owners are white. The commissioners of the conferences are white. Overwhelmingly white head coaches. But the people on the field taking the hits and getting concussions are going to be black. At some point, that will turn into a racial issue that will have to be resolved. All of these problems are already welldecided. Movement,ke a knee the movement and cited by eric read and Colin Kaepernick, that is going to begin to disperse. Not even giving Colin Kaepernick a job in the lead to help stem the dispersal of the movement at this point, anymore than giving rosa parks her seat back would have helped in the montgomery bus boycott movement. So were in a very interesting place at this time, and i think the trying to frame and to find leadership and specific goals will become difficult. In terms of the response of the National Football league to the protests, it has become increasingly desperate in its attempts to prevent motorists from becoming public. Do you agree that the nfl is creating some sort of social justice fund to convince athletes, as their response to the issues raised in the take a Knee Movement . Thate of the things happened during the course of this whole movement was that roger goodell, he and i have had ongoing conversations going back to his first weeks on the job about how you move this process and protest to progress. This is not some the governor originated in football. It came over the wall of the stadium into football, but now football has to deal with it. This the verybout first week he took the job that this was coming. And with the league now is trying to do is to develop a coalition, a collaborative relationship with players to see what they can do in terms of putting resources into that effort to move from protest progress. Some people say that is well and good, but the devil is in the details. That is one of the popular wisdom that is not true. You are not here today and gone tomorrow. You are here today and gone today. If youre gone tomorrow, you live forever. The same with this, the devil is not in the details. It is in the delivery. It will come down to what the league is actually able to deliver relative to this situation in terms of money and collaborating with players to put the programs together. But in the end, it is going to come down more to what they ofablish as the model dealing with other issues in the sports political horizon, including the concussion thing, more so than what they do in this particular problem. This will be resolved in the community with efforts like the first guest talked about. It will be resolved in the community when you bring together all the various stakeholders in that situation and get them around the table. The nfl is not going to solve the rubble of Police Community relations. They can contribute to the biggest thing to come out of this would be a model for them to work with players in terms of handling other issues. And miko i want to thank you both for being with us, dr. Harry edwards from the university of california berkeley, a consultant with the 49ers. And mel reeves with the take a knee nation in minneapolis. Part two pope will be online at democracynow. Org. 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