Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20171003

As investigators searched for clues about what drove 64yearold nevada resident Stephen Paddock to carry out the worst massacres in modern u. S. History by single shooter. His father, Patrick Benjamin paddock, was a violent bank list, on the fbi top 10 who the fbi said wasas psychopathic, arms, and very dangerouous. Since nevada i is a class three state,e, a person can legallylyn a. A. We w will go t to las vegas to k with Elizabeth Becker of moms demand action for gun sense. And Republican Leaders call for National Mourning and prayer, even as lawmakers advanced a bill to remove longstanding restrictions on silencers. Theres a commonplace for political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country. Theres currently an open and ongoing lawenforcement investigation. A motive is yet to be determined. It would be premature for us to discuss policy that we dont fully know a all of the e factsr what tookk plalace last ninight. Amy and w we will looook at ths government pushshing gun sales abroad. Then the puerto rico, where President Trump is set to visit for the first time nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In las vegas, the toll in sunday nights mass shooting rose to 59 dead and 527 wounded, as investigators searched for clues about what drove 64yearold nevada resident Stephen Paddock to carry out the worst massacre in modern u. S. History. Police say they found paddock dead of a selfinflicted gunshot wound shortly before midnight sunday after they used an explosive to break into his suite on the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay hotel, where he was holed up with an arsenal of guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Paddock lived in a Retirement Community in mesquite, nevada. He previously worked as an accountant, a property manager, and spent three years working at a Weapons Company that was later acquired by Lockheed Martin. Neighbors described paddock as a recluse who spent long hours playing video poker. Stephen paddocks father, Benjamin Hoskins paddock, was once on the fbis most wanted list after he escaped from a federal prison in the 1960s after a conviction on serial bank robbery charges. At the time, the fbi said benjamin paddock reportedly had suicidal tendencies should be considered armed and very dangerous. They said he was psychopathic. On monday, steven paddocks brother, eric paddock, told reporters monday the massacre was a complete surprise to the family. Just nothing. He did stuff. He would to college. He had a job. Owned some apartments. We sold some apartments. There is nothing. Amy police say his girlfriend, marilou danley, has been could of any involvement. Haddock reportedly used a hammer to smash a pair of windows and set up two highpowered drop goals with scopes on tripods overlooking route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival below where he fired into a crowd of 20,000 concertgoers. Haddock had at least 23 firearms in his hotel suite and 19 guns were later foundnd at his home, along with explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunitition. Paddock hahad no criminal record and was able to purchase his arsenal legally. Gun experts believe he m may hae used a trigger device available for purcrchase onlinie for as little as 40 that can turn a semiautomatic Assault Rifle into a fullyly automatic machine gun. N. At the white house, press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders said it was not the time to talk about gun control. There is a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country will stop there is currently an open and ongoing Law Enforcement investigation. A motive is yet to be determined and it would be premature for us to discuss policy when we dont fully know all of the facts orr what took place last night. Amy on twitter, journalist naomi klein responded dont talk about guns after a massacre. Or Climate Change after storms. Or austerity after firetrap buildings burn. Talk when no one listens. On capitol hill, Republican Leaders called the massacre a moment for National Mourning and prayer, even as lawmakers advanced a pair of bills that would liberalize gun laws. One measure that could pass the house as early as this week would remove longstanding restrictions on silencers. [gunfire] amy the bill to allow silencers comes despite the fact that concertgoers at sunday nights Music Festival were alerted to the massacre by the sound of gunfire emerging from the Highrise Hotel above them. Another bill expected to move through congress this fall would allow pepeople to lawfully carry concealed weapons across state lines into jurisdictions that dont allow them. Speaking for the senate floor, connecticut democratic senator chris murphy condemned congresss failure to tackle gun control after the sandy y hook school m massacre in 2012,2, in which a shooteter with a an asst rifle killlled 20 younung schoolchildrenen and six adultln newtown, connecticut. The hurt is deep. The scars are white and newtown, but they are made wider by the fact is body in 4. 5 years has done absolutely nothing to reduce the likelihood of another mass shooting. Indeed, because we have done nothing, the mass s shootings cocontinue. Amy after headldlines, well go to l las vegas for t the latestn sundayay nights ssacre. President trump travels to puerto rico today, some two weekeks after huhurricane mamara devavastated thehe island, destroying itsts electricacal gd and leaving than half of puerto riricos s 3. 5 millioion resides wiwith no accecess to cleaean w. Fofood and fuel continueue to bn short susupply, and the federarl commununications c commission ss nearly 90 of cell phone towers remain out of service. Trumps visit comes just two days after he called puerto rican leaders whove criticized his hurricane response portal grilli politically motivated ingrates and said Puerto Ricans want everything done for them. Later in the broadcast, well go to san juan for an update on a protest agagainst trumps visit and the latest on Hurricane Maria relief efforts. The Supreme Court opened a new term monday, hearing arguments in a case that could expand the rights of millions of workers to sue their employers. The case, nlrb v. Murphy oil, pits workers who want the right to join class action lawsuits against employersbacked by the Trump Administration who want to force workers to enter into binding arbitration agreements that prohibit collective litigation. The Economic Policy institute says more than half of all nonunion u. S. Workers are currently forced to work under mandatory arbitration rules. Politico is reporting that white house advisers Jared Kushner and ivanka trump sent hundreds of emails from a previously undisclosed private email account, including official white house business. Its the third such disclosure of a private email account linked to the kushner family, and it comes after cnn reported kushner failed to inform Senate Investigators about his use of private e email servers dudurina closededdoor inquiry last july with senatate Intelligence Committee staff. In y yemen, the International Committee of thehe red cross was a massive cholera epidemic shows no signs of stopping, and that the countrys tattered health and Sanitation Systems could pave the wayay for the spread df otother diseases. This is alalexandre faite,e, hef ththe icrc delegegation in yeme. The situation from a humanitarian standpoint is a catastrophe. We have something which is close to one million cases of suspected cholera, maybe by the end of the year. But this is, as i told you, is only d does an externanal illustration of something more serious. Amy the ongoing u. S. Backed, saudiled Bombing Campaign hasas destroyed yemens hehealth, watr and sanitationon systems, with e u. N. Warning less than half of yemens Health Facilities are opererational. In syryria, a pair of suicide bombers struck a Police Station in damascus monday, killing 11 people and wounding 20 others. There was no claim off respononsibilityty for the atta, whicich was the largrgest to rok the capital city since a car bomb attack killed 20 people in july. In kenyas capital nairobi, police fired tear gas monday to cash at protesters blockading roads and burning tires, as Opposition Leader raila odinga demanded the government fire electoral officials and bar the ruling party from changing voting laws. The protests come after kenyas Supreme Court invalidated augusts president ial ballot, citing irregularities in president uhuru kenyattas reelection victory. A new election is scheduled for october 26. In spains catalonia region, proindependence groups have called a general strike today after police raided polling stations and beat protesters and prospective voters sunday during an outlawed independence referendum. The violence injured more than 800 people and led to mass protests monday outside Police Stations across the region. Spain has called the referendum illegal and illegitimate. And on monday, the European Commission agreed, saying if catalonia does become independent, it will be outside the eueuropean union. Back in the u. S. , and new york city judge threw out charges monday against the black lives matter protester in a case federal are from defense lawyers after the District Attorneys Office handed the case over to the new York City Police Department Legal bureau for prosecution. This is christina windsor, the activist acquitted on charges of Disorderly Conduct and walking in a roadway. Of beencovered instead prosecuted by the da, i was going to be prosecuted by the nypd legal bureau. So to me, that is a real conflict of interest because it should be separate. The nypd should arrest people, not arrest and prosecute people. My fear is that it would make people more and more afraid to put themselves out there and express themselves in the streets. Know, would be moving closer to what we would call a police state. Amy and rock and roll halloffamer tom petty has died at the age of 66. Petty rose to fame in the 1970s as leader of the heartbreakers. He is best known for hit songs, including i wont back down, american girl, and refugee. Petty grew up in gainesville, florida, and later spoke out against racism in the south. In 2015, he told Rolling Stone magazine he deeply regretted using Confederate Flag imagery onstage as part of his southern accents tour in 1985, calling the flflag a symbol of hate. Petty alsoso condemnmned the rif forprofit prisons and voiced support for the black lilives matter movement, saying whats going on in society is unforgivable. As a country, we should be more concerned with why the police are getting away with targeting black men and killing them for no reason. Tom petty, dead at 66. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin todays show in las vegas, where the toll in sunday nights mass shooting rose to 59 dead and 527 wounded as police searched for clues about what drove 64yearold nevada resident Stephen Paddock to carry out the worst mass murder in modern u. S. History. Police say they found paddock dead of a selfinflicted gunshot shortly before midnight sunday after they used an explosive to break into his suite on the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay hotel, where he was holed up with an arsenal of guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Paddock previously worked as an accountant, a property manager, and worked for three years at a Weapons Company that was later acquired by Lockheed Martin. Neighbors described him as a recluse who spent long hours playing video poker. Stephen paddocks brother eric , paddock, told reporters monday the massacre was a complete surprisese to the family. We are trying understand what happened. We have no more ideal what happened now than i had an hour ago. We are still just and clearly befuddled. The last time i communicated with my brother was abobout when it would get power back at go five days after the storm. He texted me and said, how is mom . I textxted him back. It had nothing to do with any Political Organization, religious organization,n, no whe supremacist, nothing as far as i know. I have only known him foror 57 years. Y your father was a banknk robber . Thats correct. We are all proud. My father was s on a top 10 list for r a while. Is them is bitumen paddock. I did not know him. We did not know him. Jail is no he was in and broken out of jail. Did he have a history . Parkingesnt even have tickets. Yes no record of any affiliations. He has nothing. What about Mental Illness . Absolutely not. As far as i know. Nothing like that. He was a wealthy guy and he liked to play video poker. He went on cruises. He said his mother cookokies. I mean, huge crazy boxes of cookies and stuff. Amamy thats steven paddocks brother, eric paddock. As he noted, their father Patrick Benjamin paddock was a bank robber, and an escaped federal prisoner who made the fbis most wanted list. An fbi poster from 1969 notes that the elder paddock had been diagnosed as psychopathic, has carried firearms in commission of Bank Robberies and reportedly has suicidal tendencies and should be considered armed and very dangerous. That is the father. Las vegas police say steven paddock used a hammer sunday night to smash a pair of windows and set up two highpowered rifles with scopes on tripods overlooking the route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival below, where more than 20,000 people were attending. Paddock had at least 23 firearms in his hotel suite, and 19 guns were found at his home in mesquite, nevada, along with explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Paddock had no criminal record and was able to purchase his arsenal legally since nevada is a class three state, meaning an individual can legally own a machine gun. Nevada has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country and does not require firearms owners to have licenses or register their weapons and does not limit the numbeber of firearms one can possess. Gun experts say paddock k may he used a trigger device available for Purchase Online for as little as 40 that can turn a semiautomatic Assault Rifle into a fully automatic machine gun. At the white house, press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders said monday it was not the time to talk about gun control. There is a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country. There is currently an open and ongoing Law Enforcement investigation. To beve is yet determined. It would be premature to discuss policy will we dont fully know all of the facts or what took place last night. That was Sarah Huckabee sanders. On twitter, author naomi klein wrote dont talk about guns after a massacre. Or Climate Change after storms. Or austerity after firetrap buildings burn. Talk when no one listens. Meanwhile, a tweet by country guitarist lee tweeter, member of the josh abbott band, went viral after he tweeted his change of heart over gun control. His band performed at the route 91 Harvest Festival sunday afternoon, hours before the mass shooting around 10 p. M. Amy afterward, keeter posted a lengthy response to the attack, writing ive been a proponent of the 2nd amendment my entire life. Until the events of last night. I cannot express how wrong i was. We actually have members of our crew with, and legal firearms on the bus. They were useless. We couldnt touch them for fear police might think we were part of the massacre and shoot us. A small group where one man laid waste to a city with dedicated, fearless Police Officers desperately trying to help, because of access to an insane amount of fire power. Those were the words of caleb tweeter. For more, we go to las vegas where we are joined by elisabeth former head of the nevada chapter of moms demand action for gun sense in america. Our condolences for the four that has taken place in las vegas on the strip. Can you talk about your response and what you have been demand a . What the gun laws are in nevada . Tank you for having me. Ofe in nevada, we spent all 2016 getting a background check. Aw on every gun sale past the people voted for it. It a previously passed in our legislature. It was vetoed by the governor. It passed with the majority of votes in november 2016. A background check on every gun sale in a while i dont know in his particular case if that would have stopped this manan fm committing this wearable act, we do know that that would save lives. That is what the data says from all of the other states that have passed background checks. That is what we want to see in nevada to keep our people safe. Juan could you talk about what it means to have some of the least restrictive laws on guns in your state . Yes. As you know, we would be considered the wild, wild west in nevada. We do have open carry. People are allowed to openly rifles. 15 style as some of our events where we would have visuals for sandy hook, for instance, over 100 people showed up openly carrying weapons. We do have a licensing process for concealed carry. Other states around us like arizona do permit less carry. That is what weere also fightg against concealed carry across property laws that are currently being put in congress. I believe it is h4387. We are vehemently against these things. Someone islow allowed to carry in arizona a concealed handgun without having any training whatsoever, would be able to legally bring that to the strip and we think that makes people less safe. Amy i want to understand what youre saying, nevada passing the law you were previously talking about. In 2016, it passed a Ballot Initiative that would have added background checks for private gun purchases. Can you talk about the Nevada Attorney general blocking the enforcement of that law . What exactly is in place come all of these laws in nevada . We do require a background check on gun sales at a gun dealer. A licensed gun dealer does have to do a background check on every gun sale. In nevada, you can buy guns online from a private citizen, someone you have never met. They can legally transfer a weapon to you with cash. The background check law would have said if you wanted to purchase a gun online, you need to meet at a store and then you would have to do the background check there. Many other states have this law. I believe 25 other states. Their attorney generals and the governors i figured out a way to make this work. Sandoval l andsk black salt while they dont want to do this. The nra leadership has given both of them money and lacks all spoke at the inner a National Conference feel its a go. Use against the background check law before it was passed in as the attorney general, it should not matter what his personal opinion is on the law that was passed by y the people and youou know the people of nevada want transfer sale besides from family members, which in the law was written as an exemption, to have to undergo a background check. States with the background check see a decrease in the number of Police Killed by civilians, and domestic assaults. We had several high profile cases in the past couple of years where women have been murdered by a partner who would have been prohibited from purchasing a weapon but they purchased it online. Juan you mention your state having one of the highest Domestic Violence homicide rates in the country. What kinds of restrictions exist in nevada for people who have histories of Domestic Violence in terms of being able to purchase guns . People who are convicted of domestic abusers are legally prohibited from purchasing weapons. Also, there is some talk of trying to get laws passed that say if you have been accused in that timeframe before the case is adjudicated, the weapons could be taken away from you temporarily. We dont currently have that law. That is why the gun show loop all is so dangerous because if someone is our prohibited purchaser in nevada, they are very aware that they can go get weapons without a background check just like going through a private sale. Like i said, there are cases in nevada that have been in the news where this has happened and the people who have sold the weapons to those prohibited purchasers have expressed regret because i did not know they were selling to a prohibited purchaser. If the background check law were in place, though another person there were selling to was a prohibited purchaser because the background check which showed up. Amy Elizabeth Becker, why did you get involved with moms demand action for gun sense and america . Wrecks i have a five year old. Sandy hook happened when she was nine months old. A pretty ashamed to say i did not get involved at that time. Day afterfounded the sandy hook. I went to a house party in 2014 with a friend of mine that is active in a lot of different causes. She brought me into this cause. Ever since 2015, i have then pretty active in volunteering with hundreds of other people in the state. The more time we spend on thisis issue, the m more you realize tt it is really the people versus in ra leadership money. Most nra members support background checks on every gun sale. I think it is 75 support a background check. The more i learned, the more data that i saw, the more i was convinced that as a country, we are doing something wrong. We have the 2525th highest homicide sorry, 25 times higher homicide rate than other industrialized nations. Other industrialized nations do not deal with these Mass Shootings, and we dont have to use the term again in other countries when the have a mass shooting because it just doesnt occur like it does here. Amy this issue of an automatic weapon that you can purchase an automatic weapon in nevada, can you explain . I am not a policy expert on that. Too know that if you wanted purchase automatic weapon, you have to go through more than just a simple background check. I believe you have to be fingerprinted. From what i understand, this man did not purchase those weapons as automatic weapons. What has come out so far seems to is adjust you purchased them as regular Assault Rifles, like an ar15type rifle. And then he bought something amy an automatic weapon. Elizabeth becker, thank k you fr being with us. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said this isnt the time to talk about gun control. Republican Congress Members are calling for prayer. Your response to that . Prayers are not enough. While i appreciate the sentiment, the time to act is now. I would say the time to act is in the past. We have waited too long. I dont believe this is a political issue. This is a safety issue. Amy Elizabeth Becker, former head of the nevada chapter of moms demand action for gun sense in america. She is speaking to us from las vegas. Massexperienced the worst killing by a single gunman in u. S. History. At the moment come the latest number is 59 dead and 527 wounded. This is democracy now wewe will keep talking gun contl after the break. [music break] amy tom petty died last night of a heart attack at the age of 66. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan as details emerge about the massacre in las vegas, the deadliest mass shooting in modern u. S. History, Republican Leaders called for a moment for National Mourning and prayer, even as lalawmakers advanced a pair of bills that would liberalize gun laws. One measure that could pass the house as early as this week would remove longstanding restrictions on silencers. [gunfire] juan the bill to deregulate the sale of gun silencers comes despite the fact that concertgoers at sunday nights Music Festival were alerted to the massacre by the sound of gunfire emerging from the Highrise Hotel above them. It is known as the sportsmen heritage and recreational enhancement act or share act. Amy another bill expected to move through congress this fall would allow people to lawfully carry concealed weapons across state lines into jurisdictions that dont allow them. Speaking from the senate floor, connecticut democratic senator chris murphy condemned congresss failure to tackle gun control after the Sandy Hook School massacre in 2012, in which a shooter with an Assault Rifle killed 20 young schoolchildren and six adults in newtown, connecticut. The hurt is deep. The scars are wide in newtown, but they are made wider by the fact this body in 4. 5 years has done absolutely nothing to reduce the likelihood of another mass shooting. And indeed, because we have done nothing, the Mass Shootings continue. Amy for more, were joined in washington, d. C. , by kira lerner, political reporter at thinkprogress, where her new piece is headlined, house gop set to approve bill that could make Mass Shootings deadlier. Here in new york, we are also joined by lois beckett, a Senior Reporter at the guardian covering gun policy, criminal justice, and the far right in the United States. She was also the lead author of a guardian report published last year headlined americas gun problem is so much bigger than Mass Shootings. Welcome kira lerner and lois beckett to democracy now talk about the legislation in washington right now. Thank you for having me. The legislation moving forward in washington this year, as you mentioned, is called the share act. Congressman jeff duncan from South Carolina has been pushing this provision called the Hearing Protection act that he tucked into the share act this summer to put it into a more innocuous sounding bill. What it would do is deregulate the sale of gun silencers. Right now, gun silencers are regulated under the national whichms act of 1934 means in order to purchase a gun silencer, a buyer has to submit a background check, go through fingerprinting, register their purchase with the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. So there are pretty high firearms to purchase a now. The also the fit to hundred dollar tax. Sometimes because of bureaucratic backlog, this can take months. With the Hearing Protection act tucked away in a share act would do is deregulate silencers so that you would just have to submit instant background check or in some states that allow for a background check loophole, maybe not even that. The purchase of gun silencers would be far easier. The gun lobby and gun silencers have in pushing for this as a way to increase their sales in a year where gun cells have been slumping because of the trump presidency. A, donald trump jr. Has made this one of his pet projects . He is a hunter himself. Why is he supporting the need for silencers . He has. Donald trump, jr. Has teamed up with the largest gun silencer manufacturer in the country, which is called silencer co. During the campaign, he recorded a long interview with them, promising if this legislation were to move through congress, his father would sign it into law as president. He has aligned himself with a gun lobby, just as President Trump has. He has made this his pet project as a hunter. He and the gun lobby are doing everything in their power to make sure this passes while republicans are still in control of congress will some amy appeared in a promotional video for Silencer Company in september 2016, donald trump, jr. Did. I want t to ask lois beckett abt the weapons used in this biggest mass killing by single individual in u. S. History. Andeapons found in his home this hotel suite where he was staying. I think one of the hard things for people who dont own guns to realize is 42 guns, while it seems like a huge amount to us, is not necessarily that much for americans who are gun enthusiasts. A study last are found 3 of amererican adults own half the countrys guns, more than 100 million. They owned an average of 17 guns each. People who like than say it is like buying another pair of shoes. You want once for different occasions. When you hear 42 guns or thousands of rounds of ammunition, people who are not part of americas gun culture say, oh, my goodness. People are say, maybe 42 is a lot, but a couple of 100 rounds of ammunition, you go through that pretty y quickly at the range. Amy talk about these automatic, semiautomatic weapons that he had. Thell day im listening to sound of fire from the attack in las vegas. People were asking, was this s a fully automatic weapon . Muchare expensive and very tract. Or did he buy a perfectly ordinary semi automatic rifle, and use what is essentially a gimmick that was popular with youtube gun enthusiasts to turun ththat into something g close ta fully autotomatic weapon . Stocks. E called bump the Associated Press reported the gunman had at least two of them. Theyre basically used as toys before this. I spoke last night to a gun owner who said he was in delaware and cannot have a fully automatic weapon. He bought one of these things for about 100. He said it is really hard to use and tremendously inaccurate. This guy bought this thing for fun and admitted d their stuff admittednse purpose there is no selfdefense purpose. How ourn you talk about country reacts to these Mass Shootings compared to what happened in australia i think in 1996, tasmania, when 35 people were killed in a mass shooting . How Australian Society reacted to that one incident of a major mass shooting . What australia did was seek to banan and confiscate e huge numbers of huge proportions of the guns owned by people in their country. It seemed to be successful. Amy this is very important. Youre talking about a country of theodile dundees, one most seriously gun loving countries in the world, australia. This happened on most overnight, this change of heart . They had Political Leadership that was willing to do it. But i think it is really important for us to remember that every time one of these Mass Shootings happens, politicians say, why cant we be like australia . The answer is because americans are not going to agree to have their guns confiscated and destroyed by the government. You cant say austria did it and so did we that has a result in weapon that grandfathers those that allow to make copycat brands that work essentially the same way. After everyone of the shootings people say, we know what we can do. We can pass these laws and make a big difference. T is much will thinking that is magical thinking. That areo advance laws muchch more marginal, mumuch les likely to make a big difference, and try to sell them a as something thatat is the answer d it is not. Amy can you talk about the nras relationship to the Country Music industry . What happened at this festival, 20,000 people below just sitting ducks him of the four of this as he gunned them down from the 32nd floor of ththe mandalay bay casino resort. What is that relationship that the nra has cultivated with the Country Music industry . The nra is not just a gun rights organization. That is that their heart, but there also a conservative Political Organization that supports rural americans, americans with more e traditionl values against what they see as globalal and media elites who dont t understand the values of everyday americans. Music,prised at country wewe celebrate t the smalltown values, celebrates trucks and guns and loyalty would be part role culture. You might not expect going to the annual meeting of the nra, a lot of older white couples coming for a fun weekend. They go to seminars about guns, seminars about world war ii history. They listen to Country Music. A place of great family values and that is not the way it is always a trade. Juan what kind of gun control measures do you think would help the situation in ameririca and also be e feasible g given as yu mentioned, the climate or signgnificant portion ofof the population will resist any attempt to control gun ownership . I think it is important to recalibrate what we think americans want. Theyof americans will say support things like expanded background checks. And also that most americans say they think most people should be able to be able to own most guns most of the time in most places. There is a tension here that americas want to be safer, but dont want to make exec revises. Some of ththe most i interestins aree the oness f focused riley n bans ip assault weapon ban, but on how we make sure people at the most extreme moments of risk dont have access to weapons . It might be gun suicide, which claims 20,000 american lives each year stop Something Like an extreme Risk Protection orders. , your responser to Sarah Huckabee sanders saying this isnt thee timime to talk about gun control . Mean, if you look at republicans in congress, they are not wasting time when it comes to pushing forward progun lobby supported legislation will stop if you look at the timing of this gun silencer bill, theyre pushing for a hearing as soon as this week although, after this massacre, it might be delayed. But with these assaults coming on from the gun lobby and congress, it is important that right now it is as good a time of any us to bring up the need for gun safety legislation. Amy can you talk about the irony of last week, Steve Scalise finally making an appearance on the house floor after he was shot in that horrific shooting in arlington, virginia, on a baseball field, what his stance is as he returns to congress . It is interesting. This is not the first time this silencer legislation that i mentioned has run into quite tragic and horrific timing and congress. The hearing on this bill was scheduled for the same day in june when Steve Scalise was shot on the congressional baseball field in alexandria, virginia. Because of the shooting, the hearing had to be delayed until september. This is still a bill that scalise supports, despite the fact he just returned to the floor after spending months in the hospital. And once again, we see the timing of this legislation is caught up in another mass shooting, which is not that rare in a country where we see mass shootingngs more days than we dont. Amy lois beckett, your response on Steve Scalise returning . I think after everyone of these Mass Shootings, many of the left accuse those on the right of being bought by the an irate. We see republican lawmakers being themselves the target of a mess eating, watching the friends get shot, inc. Shut themselves and still not changing their position on guns than i think we have to question what is at the root of the standoff and a say it is just money, it is just political influence that are not the values of the voters here i think is a mistake. Abouti want to ask kira this other legislation that will come up in Congress Later this year, the concealed carry bill. What its impact would be, especially on the states that have more restrictive ownership laws . From momspresentative demand action in nevada mentioned earlier, this concealed carry reciprocity would allow someone who has a concealed carry permit in one state to then use that in a separate state, to use it across the state borders. So for some states like nevada that do have somewhat stricter gun regulations than a state like arizona, it would allow people to pass over those laws and to use their permits from one state in another. So states with stricter gun control laws worry that this is something that could really affect them. The states with the stricter background check laws and other guncontrol measures to see lower rates of gun violence. They worry that with concealed carry reciprocity, that could change. Amy luke holmes was one of the people who performed a at the concert on sunday. Detained by the Transportation Security Administration in march after he brought a handgun to Nashville International airport in a back. He said in 2015, i am so proud to be named in an irate entry artist. I love with a staffer, especially supporting our troops. A be there to do whatever i can that the minute women who serve this great nation. I am luke holmes and i am nra countntry. This interesting a lot of that to hear what caleb keeter, the country star said after this concert that he was in saying, enough is enough. Changing his position on guns. Kira lerner, thank you for being with us at thinkprogress, and lois beckett of the guardian. Thank you so much. We turn to International Efforts around guns. I am amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan we turn to efforts by president obama to use some restrictions on u. S. Weapons sales overseas, which has raised concerns about flooding the International Market with hightech weapons. According to press reports, the changes would include allowing the state department and pentagon to more actively advocate on behalf of american arms manufacturers, and are set to be included in an executive order or president ial memorandum that trump plans to issue this fall. Amy this comes as the u. S. Is already the Global Leader in weapons exports, accounting for more than half the worlds annual arms deals. Fofor more, were joined here in new york by bill hartung, the director of the arms and security project at the center for international policy. His latest book is prophets of war Lockheed Martin and the making of the militaryindustrial complex. William hartung, talk about what the u. S. Is doing a broad around guns. There are two things. One is their loosening gun exports. Theyre moving regulations from the state department, which at least executive and right, to the commerce department, which is supposed to promote products. Theyre treating guns like any other product. Hundreds of thousands of people get killed with small arms around the world. This is a huge consequence. As juan mentioned, there loosening restrictions on bombs and fighter planes, weapons being used by saudi arabia to kill civilians in yemen. Obama administration at a handful of restrictions, one of which was the suspension of bonds to saudi arabia. Trump lifted up. He lifted human rights restrictions to bahrain and on sales to nigeria. Is the nra and arms guy. He is out to prove it. I think members of congress did to stand up for that. Ththey have stood up to them on yemen. They voted against the trump bomb deal. I think im guncontrol and gun exports, we have a long way to go. Some members like senator leahy, senator cardin, senator finds dean have talked about this and export and said this is not what america should stand for. I think there is a little bit of a foothold in the congress, but they need to hear more from people and i think ultimately, this issue has to be part of the larger progressive movement. Juan what is the role of the an irate in this push for sales abroad . Supposedly, the nra is representative of the people of the United States holding on to their Second Amendment right, not necessasarily for exportingg guns everywherere else in the world, right . Going back decades, have concerned themselves with global exports. They think g guncontrol anywhee will eventually come back and in fact the United States. They say they care about the troops. A lot of these guns will be used against their troops. They will be with criminal gang members and terrorists and dictators and fall into the hands of the u. S. Adversarieies. Again,n, just as they claim more against it will protect p people a and that is ridiciculous ththey claim were guns overseas are somehow going to make for a safer world when in fact, they will kill tens of thousands of people. The nra and the gun manufacturers are behind this export loosening. Theyre probably the only ones, in my opinion, who will benefit. Amy are gun sales down in the u. S. . Is that why the u. S. Isis pushig them abroad . Domestically, they are down. People are not as worried that trump is going to take away their guns. These gugun manufactcturers are desperate e for more foreign sales. They dont care who the guns go to. I think that is really the problem. Other words as we wrap up of what you feel is important to understand as we are just talking in the aftermath of the worst massacre that weve seen in this country conductcted by e single gunman . Martin luther king jr. In a speech said i cant in good conscience fight violence at home if i dont stand up to my own government, which is the greatest purveyor ofof violence around the world. I think were still in that position. We need to do both and i think we can. Amy William Hartung is the director of the arms and security project at the center for international policy. This is democracy now president me back, trump is headed to puerto rico two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. Stay with us. Amy tom petty. Tom died last night at the age of 66 of a heart attack in santa monica, california. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. We and today show in puerto rico where President Trump travels today some two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, destroying its electrical grid and leaving more than half of porter this 3. 5 million residents with no access to clean water. Food and fuel continue to be in short supply in the federal Communications Commission says nearly 90 of cell phone towers remain out of service. Amy trumps visit comes two days after he called puerto rican leaders have criticized his hurricane response politically motivated ingrates and said Puerto Ricans want everything to be done for them. In a minute, we will go to san juan for live update from a protest against trumps visit today. First, we turn to a report from the interior of puerto rico filed by democracy now pressed vs juan carlos davila, our correspondent on the ground. He traveled to utuado to speak with residents have yet to get health other than a few bottles of water. Is the mattress. I tried it to dry it but i cant eat on it. Everything is damamaged. Everything got broken and water tilted i in. Everything from here to there. Is m my housese is damaged becaususe water got inse of it and part of the roof isis gone. I cant sleep here so i have to gogo to my neieighbors house. I havent seen a any help. We have not seen anything. It is like we dont exist. In utuado, we feel abandoned because no help has arrived. There are elderly people. E. Most of us cannot canan indicate wiwith our famamilies. We donont hahave medicine. Mymy houses dadamaged. I have asthma and many health problems. This is my daughters room. Wawater leaked througugh here. Ifif you look,k, you can s see evererything falling apartrt. Is a cancecer patieient. Yes leukemia. Everythihing got wet. Shshe lost her t tv, videogamese all of her things. Every time it rains, we lose more. Littlele by little, w we will le everytything whahat do you need . We need support a and compasassion alongng witevererye herere. Help witith the waterer, with te free disistribution, housingng r sick people. This hse i is t sasafe or as anymore. E. We need d fema to help us. Anything to get this out of here. I live in utuado. Everything was covered up during the storm. All of the water begegan running in and it got intnto the room ad contntinued down. Look how it isis. I was cleaning w water from m h. The e authoritiies in chararge f giving thehe help should speed p theirr effororts annd organizedy different sectors. Get organized d and give us the help we e need. C cannocontinin living g like this. An going to end up with infection n in my lungngs becaue they dont providede us with ms and d we dont have the money to buy them. Were going through a verery toh situatioion. This is an emergency,y, total emergency. Amy voices from residents of utuado in puerto rico. A special thanks to juan carlos davila, who is joining us now in san juan, joining us by telephone for an update on a protest that is currrrently underway against President Trumps visit to puerto rico today. Juan carlos, welcome to democracy now thank you for that report. Talk about this protest today. One of people demanding . Good morning, amy. The protesters are starting to get organized. People arrrriving fromom differt organizations, Different Community groups. The idea a of this prprotest iso trurumps coming to pupuerto rico o and a calllloutp ababout climate c change. Ththat is somemething veryry imt thatat one of ththe organizezerf emphasizing, that putoto rics s herere seeing the effects of Climate Change. And they w want to makake that t very clear and callout trump for Climate Change. There are also o organizers hear frfrom mothers against the war. They are denouncing the militant to rosacea and just militarization of puerto rica and d how much mililitary is s g and drivining around t the stre. And nonot n necessarilily provig the help that is needed for the people. Juan there are reports of the president during his visit will meet with the mayor of san juan, carmen yulin cruz, who has been so heavily criticized over the past weeks. Any sense of how that ms. Been reported on the island, if at all . What has been said is the president , the white house was in communication with the mayor of san juan and they agreed to meet, but without her giving any comments or without letting her give her her opinion. So it is like a meeting where she has no voice. That is basically what it seems like it is going to be like. So we are still awaiting to see if that meeting will take place, if the mayor is going to meet with President Trump are really attend a briefing where she cannot speak. Amy can you talk more about the president s plan for the day . He will be the for few hours . Yes, for a few hours he is scheduled to be back in d. C. In the Late Afternoon early evenining. So trump is scheduled to arrive here around 11 45. He is going to be landing next to the san juan International Airport at the base. That is usually the air force base where the president s, when they come and visit, go. Later he will meet the aircraft carrier. He will meet their with the governor puerto rico and the governor of the u. S. Virgin islands. He is going to fly into the base rico,en fly out of puerto off the island, junior craft carrier to meet with the governors of puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands. It is still unclear where he will head out around the island. He just said that he is going to visit and talk with First Responders them also that he is going to be talking with people and families that have been impacted were severely impacted by the hurricanes. It is still unclear at this time where he is heading. Earlier today, i heard the secretary of security here in the island, and even he doesnt have a clear idea where trump is going to be at if you place to go outside of the metropolitan area and where he is going to be at if you plans to go outside of the base and the aircraft carrier. Juan what about the situation right now on the ground . Ive heard reports that some Cell Phone Service especially in the metropolitan area, san juan metropolitan area, has come back. Obviously, the interior of the island is still in its general shape list of could you talk about what you have been able to see . For sure. , theis one of the issues complicatitions. I wawas talking g to one of f te orgaganizers. They are n not able toto commune others. The mothers against the war new about the protest when shshe was abable to callll her daughghterm new yorork, and she told her r e was a a truck prototest. Ththere is very limited the access to the internet is very, very bad here. Reception isphone a bit better here in san juan a bit better here in the convention center, obviously, but outside a certain key areas of the metropolitan area, people are not communicating. I visitedown utuado yesterday, people have no q medication there. People at this point have not heard from their relatives. Ththis also c creates a big prom is telllling peoplele to fill l out applilications for help onlnline for sosome peoplee cannot e even c call in certain placaces. Inin places likike the townwn of doesado, they arere still there are still roads that cannot be transitted. It is hard to get gasoline. Pepeople have a difficulty drivg through the roads. People have the vocal to getting online or getting a call. Fema is s asking them to fill ot an application on my so they can get help. Amy we only have 30 seconds, but how is your family . I know it was really tough for you to get there. My family is in the west side. Something very beautififul is tt town is two hours away from the city, always has been feeliling they a are not takaken care oofy good, soso they have a lot of Community Efforts of people are building a strtrong sense e of commununity. Helplp their has not arrivived,t people are taking matters into theieir n hand people areng helping them with their own resources. Amy thank you, juan carlos, and im so glad youre able to reach your sister as well ,juan. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who apprpreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by demo this weweek on global 3000,e focus on marine life. Sharks and rays s are falling sk of the adriatic coast. T. But w . Animimal rights activists want dolphinariums banned and theyre outlawawed in many countries. But not in spain. Whaling is banned worldwide. But only for larger species. We go to russia, where belugas are still being hunted. Belugas, or white whales, are extremely sociable marine