Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20160622

We speak to thomas frank author of listen, liberal or, what ever happened to the party of the people . He says the problem is not that they have been bribed by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and others, but they have been supplanted they have supplanted the gop as the party of wall street. Then we look at the white supremacist who killed jo cox, the british member of parliament. We speak with the former paid fbi informant who met the killer mair at a neonazi gathering the informant set up in 2000. Then to california where plans have been announced to shut down the states last Nuclear Power plant and replace it with greenhousegasfree Renewable Energy. We will speak with damon moglen of friends of the earth, the group who negotiated the historic agreement. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. A group of senators have unveiled a bipartisan measure to prevent people on the fbis terrorism watch list from purchasing guns. The move comes one day after the senate failed to pass four separate gun control measures in the wake of the massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in orlando, florida. None of the measures would have banned assaultstyle rifles like orlando ated in , Sandy Hook Elementary School in newtown, connecticut at the , Movie Theater in aurora, colorado, or in san bernardino, california. The measure led by maine republican senator Susan Collins would let the attorney general block gun purchases by people on the nofly list or a selectee list of people subjected to extra airport screening. The aclu has supported warned against crafting gun reform that relies on our nations errorprone and unfair watchlisting system. 20 people were arrested after tuesday staging a diein and blocking the drive to the National Rifle associations headquarters in virginia. About 100 people held an overnight vigil to mourn the orlando victims and call for a ban on military style assault weapons. Medea benjamin, head of the group code pink, denounced congress failure to pass gun control. Democracy is broken, just like our gun laws are broken, just like our hearts are broken, just like our lives are broken. If we had a real democracy, we would have had those laws passed yesterday. Amy three people have been arrested with a cache of weapons after police pulled them over for a cracked windshield near the holland tunnel in new york which connects new jersey and , new york city. Police recovered five pistols and ar15 Assault Rifle and a 12gauge shotgun. Authorities said the suspects are gun enthusiast with no known connection to terrorism. New york state has a ban on assault weapons which withstood a challenge at the Supreme Court on monday. Men who claims he was the lover of orlando shooter omar mateen has told univision he believes mateen committed the shooting for revenge, not terrorism. The man, who wore a disguise and called himself miguel, said mateen bore a grudge against puerto rican gay men, including one who revealed he was hivpositive following a sexual encounter with mateen. I believe and i really think he hate Puerto Ricans for all of the bad things they do to him. Will sound bad, and a lot of people are going to get a lot of pain for what im going thisy, but i believe crazy, horrible thing he did wasnt revenge. Amy attorney general Loretta Lynch says investigators may never identity a single motive in the orlando massacre, which she said was both an act of terror and hate. After meeting with relatives of the victims in orlando, lynch expressed solidarity with the lgbt community. Cox let me say to our lgbt friends and family, particularly to anyone who might view this tragedy as an indication that their identities, that theyre essential selves might somehow be better left unexpressed or in the shadows, this department of justice and your country stands with you in the light. Amy Hillary Clinton has attacked Donald Trumps economic policies and record of profiting off his companies bankruptcies. Speaking in columbus, ohio, clinton said trump would be dangerous to the u. S. Economy. Mrs. Clinton Ronald Reagan said it. He said, we have a wellearned reputation for reliability and credibility. Two things that set us apart from much of the world. Now, maybe donald feels different when because he made a fortune filing bankruptcies and stiffing his creditors. I will get to his Business Practices in a minute. But the United States of america does not do business trumps way. Amy donald trump meanwhile has said he will offset a fundraising deficit with clinton using his unlimited personal wealth. His remarks, amid reports Trumps Campaign had only 1. 3 million in cash on hand at the end of may, compared to clintons 42 million. Speaking to cbs news, trump accused clinton of raising blood money. Mr. Trump i do not want to devote the rest of my life from raising money from people. When she races this money, she is making deals. Saying, and i be the ambassador to this, could i do that, make sure my businesses taking care. Give me a break. All of the money she is raising, that is blood money. She is getting tremendous amounts of money from wall street. Shes getting tremendous amounts of money from lots of people. She is going to take care of all of those people. Amy donald trump has directed nearly 1 5 of his Campaign Cash to companies in his business empire. Trump said he will deliver a major address against clinton today. In california, two wildfires have burned about 5000 acres of terrain and are threatening to merge in the mountains outside los angeles. Firefighters said they are shortstaffed because people have been sent to fight other fires burning in different parts of california. U. S. Forest service fire chief Robert Garcia gave an update on the fish and reservoir fires, which have forced hundreds to evacuate. Both our continuing to burn and and Angeles National forest and the National Monument in steep, rugged terrain. All of the fuel beds, areas of the forest that have not burned in quite a number of years. Amy meanwhile in arizona, governor doug ducey has declared a state of emergency in Navajo County where firefighters are battling a blaze that has grown to more than 40,000 acres. The fires have been fueled by recordshattering heat, the latest sign of humancaused Climate Change. A former honduran soldier has said murdered environmentalist Berta Caceres appeared on a hit list distributed to u. S. Trained special forces in honduras months before she was assassinated. First Sergeant Rodrigo Cruz told the guardian he was 100 certain that Berta Caceres was killed by the army. Caceres was an indigenous lenca leader who won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her fight against the agua zarca dam. She was shot to death on march 3 at her home in la esperanza, honduras. Cruz said caceres name was on a list distributed to a military police unit in the interinstitutional security force, or fusina, which received training from 300 u. S. Marines and fbi agents last year. Five people have been arrested includings murder, hundred major. Last year was the deadliest on record for environmentalists. The Group Global Witness says killed last year, a 60 increase over the previous year. 50 of them were killed just in brazil alone where the summer , olympics are set to take place in august. The Israeli Military says its soldiers shot and killed a 15yearold palestinian boy and wounded four other people by mistake. Mahmoud rafat baderan was killed while he and his family were driving home from a swimming pool. The military said soldiers mistakenly believed he had been throwing stones in an earlier incident. Federal prosecutors say they will not charge three Police Officers in pasco, washington , for the Fatal Shooting of mexican farm worker antonio zambromontes. Police fired 17 shots at him accusing him of throwing stones , at them. Cell phone video appears to show zambranomontes running across an intersection, turning to face police, and raising his hands before hes shot. But u. S. Attorney Michael Ormsby said there was insufficient evidence the officers violated zambranomontes civil rights. His family has filed a lawsuit in federal court. In turkey, press freedom advocates rallied tuesday to protest the arrest of two journalists and an academic on accusations of disseminating terrorist propaganda. Among those arrested was the head of the local Reporters Without Borders chapter. The three had taken part in a Solidarity Campaign for the prokurdish newspaper ozgur gundem. The husband of slain British Labour Party Lawmaker jo cox says he believes she was killed for her political views. Cox was stabbed and shot to death thursday, allegedly by thomas mair, who had ties to the neonazi National Alliance and attended a meeting of british White Supremacists organized by an fbi informant in 2000. Brendan cox said his late wife worried about the direction of global politics. I think she worried we were entering an age we have not seen peopleince the 1930s of people feeling insecure for lots of different reasons, for economic reasons or security reasons, and then populous politicians, whether that is trump the u. S. Or whoever else, exploiting that and driving communities to hate each other, saying the reason you dont have a job or the reason that youre feeling insecure is because of this powerless person, not because of, you know, choices that we are making and that was driving people it was creating an atmosphere of hatred. Has been. Is jo coxs later in the broadcast, we will be with the fbi informant who organized the meeting in london of british White Supremacists who met mair then. A new lawsuit accuses a judge and the city court in bogalusa, louisiana of running a , modernday debtors prison. The Southern Poverty Law Center says judge robert j. Black routinely orders people to jail for failing to pay fines for minor offenses, like traffic violations, and charges them socalled extension fees to avoid jail time. In one case, a man found guilty of stealing 5 worth of food to feed his family was ordered to pay a 450 fine, then jailed for four hours when he couldnt pay the 50 extension fee. The federal Aviation Administration has issued new rules to allow corporations to fly drones. The rules allow commercial drones to fly up to 400 feet in the air during daytime hours. The drones must be kept within sight, precluding, for now the proposed use of delivery drones by Companies Like google and amazon. Despite concerns, the rules do not include regulations on privacy. Meanwhile in ireland, prochoice activists flew a drone into Northern Ireland carrying a different cargo pills to induce an abortion. The action was aimed at highlighting strict antichoice laws in both Northern Ireland and the irish republic. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and im juan gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. In a Major Economic address in ohio on tuesday, Hillary Clinton warned the election of donald trump would be disastrous for the u. S. Economy and result in what she dubbed a trump recession. Mrs. Clinton i think donald trump has said he is qualified to be president because of his business record. A few days ago, he said, i am going to do for the country what i did for my business. So lets take a look at what he did for his business. He has written a lot of books about business. They all seem to end a chapter 11. [laughter] mrs. Clinton go figure. And over the years, he intentionally ran up huge amounts of debt on his companies and then defaulted. He bankrupted his companies not once, not twice, but four times. Hundreds of people lost their jobs. Shareholders are wiped out. Contractors, many of them small businesses, took heavy losses. Many went bust. But donald trump . He came out fine. Amy describing donald trump as the king of debt Hillary Clinton , warned a Trump Presidency would cause an economic catastrophe. Trump is scheduled to give a major speech today, resizing clintons policies. On tuesday, he posted his short video on instagram. Mr. Trump Hillary Clinton is right about one thing, i understand that and how to handle it. I have made a fortune with debt. But that for this country is a disaster and obama has piled it on and she has been there watching. Juan while Hillary Clinton is attacking donald trump over his economic policies, there is also a simmering debate within the Democratic Party over the partys own platform. Last week in an address to supporters democratic president ial candidate Bernie Sanders told supporters he planned to go to the Democratic Convention next month in philadelphia to push the party in a more progressive direction. Mr. Sanders i look for to working with secretary clinton to transform the Democratic Party. So that it becomes a party of working people and young people and not just wealthy campaign contributors. A party that has the guts to take on wall street, the pharmasset ogle industry, the fossil feel industry, and the other powerful special interest that dominate so much of our political and economic life. Amy to talk more about the president ial race, we are joined by author and social critic thomas frank, author of many books including, whats the matter with kansas . His newest book is called, listen, liberal or, what ever happened to the party of the people . Welcome to democracy now , thomas frank. You write well, it is the problem with us to must stems democrats is not that they had been bribed by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs and others, but they plan to supplant the gop as the party of wall street. Explain. It is not so much they decided first, they decided they did not want to be the part of the working class, the middle class. This goes back to the 1970s, if not before. But by the wait, so the group is they decided they would represent is the affluent whitecollar professionals beginning in the 1970s. By the 1990s, that had come into full flower with the bill clinton administration, and they actively courted wall street. All through the last decade, the years of the bush administration, you had democratic theorist after democratic tourist talking about how their was this natural the democratsen on wall street. Wall street was supposed to be this place, the professional class was doing these fantastic things, plucking wealth out of thin air. This was the Creative Class in full bloom, right . Doing these wonderful things, so creative. Everybody could see this was a naturally democratic industry. The clintons and barack obama all had a hand in this transformation of the party. Juan what about this relationship between the Democratic Party and the working class were organized labor . You could argue the democratic elite was prolabor as long as there was an alternative out there in the world, the socialist bloc or the communist bloc, that provided an alternative vision for workers once you had the collapse of communism and socialism in other parts of the world, the democratic elite no longer thought they never did needed to appeal to organized labor. I guess you would call that the grand sweeping view of history. In fact, the democratic abandonment of the working class really does begin in the vietnam era and a lot of it happen for reasons that are very understandable and even admirable. The Democratic Party wanted to reconstitute itself in the early 1970s and move away from organized labor and remove organized labor from its sexual position in the Democratic Party because structural position in the Democratic Party. A lot of organized labor had really supported president johnson in those days. The Democratic Party wanted to change itself. To make a very long and winding story short, they made their decision to shift their allegiance to the professional managerial class, and it turned out to be really good for them from a financial point of view because were talking about very affluent people. Everything sort of has worked out for them for the democrats, that is, and it is been great for them for organized labor and working people it has been a catastrophe. This is the reason inequality one of the biggest reasons inequality is totally out of control in this country. If you dont have a party in this country that really cares about working people. Amy talk about who you talk a lot about in the book, bill clinton. The issues he took on like nafta and others that were really consider Republican Issues not taking them on to challenge them, but to endorse them. Nafta was negotiated by republicans, by george bush, senior. It took a democrat to get it passed because congress remember in those days, congress was always controlled by democrats. Going back to the great depression. Clinton had five major achievements as president. When i say these are his major achievements, that is according to his fans, his admirers. All five of them were republican or conservative initiatives. Youre so had crime bill in 1994, welfare reform, deregulation across the board of yet thed telecoms, and balanced budget. These are the five sort of great things when people say bill clinton is this wonderful president , those are the things they look at gone. Every single one of them ended in disaster. Arguablyng 01 with the exception of the balanced budget, but every single one was a republican conservative initiatives. She got them done. Bill, weh the crime started researching, there wasnt a whole lot of attention on the legacy of the clintons efforts in crimes, but with the black lives Matter Movement and the challenges to the candidates now, there is been a lot more. Talk about that particular legacy. I was around when clinton was president. I remember when the 1994 crime bill was has. It made me so angry. It did things like federal death penaltys went from three crimes to 60 or Something Like that. Building prisons all over the country. All of these sort of mandatory minimums. This was a terrible, terrible thing. I remember when it happened and it infuriated me. I was trying to capture that in my writing. I remember talking to an expert books take a while to write. I was talking to an expert and we were talking about the particulars of the 1994 crime bill. She said to me, you know, this is great you are writing this but dont think youre going to change anybodys mind about this sort of thing. It is futile to try to reason with the public about the mass incarceration. And a few months later, black lives matter happened. Loeb a hold, the entire opinion climate of this country has completely changed. It is a wonderful thing. Amy were going to come back to this discussion and hear what charles koch has to say about who he is going to support them as 2016 president ial election. We are talking to thomas frank of, listen, liberal or, what ever happened to the party of the people . We will be back in a minute. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan we are speaking with thomas frank, author of, listen, liberal or, what ever happened to the party of the people . The book looks at a growing debate within the Democratic Party over the partys economic policies. Earlier this spring, republican Megadonor Charles Koch has said he could support democratic president ial candidate Hillary Clinton over a republican nominee in november. In an interview with abc news in april, he said he would only support republican candidates donald trump or ted cruz if they change certain puzzles, including ted cruzs vow to carpet bomb isis and trumps land to been muslims from entering the United States. Koch spoke to journalist jonathan karo. You think bill clinton was a better president . In some ways. In other ways, i mean, he wasnt an exemplar. But as far as the growth of government, the increase in spending on the restrictive regulations, it was 2. 5 times under bush it was under clinton. Is a possible another clinton could be better than another republican . It is possible. You could not see yourself supporting Hillary Clinton, could you . Well, we would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric, let me put it that way. Juan that was billionaire charles koch talking to abc news in april. Thomas frank, author of, listen, liberal or, what ever happened to the party of the people . Also a Founding Editor of the baffler. Your response to that interview . That is wonderful. It is so ironic. I love arun a. This is amend the Democratic Party has been millions and millions of dollars assailing and parading and mocking and the of everyones tip tongue is, what is the matter with america these days. Now looks like, hey, he thought bill clinton was pretty ok. He thought a democratic president was just fine. Yeah, well, hes sort of made my point. A fellow kansan will stop that is wonderful. The so talk about what Bernie Sanders presidency candidacy has meant. I want to go to a clip of Bernie Sanders for a moment will step Bernie Sanders, who is not yet conceded. Lets go to a clip of Bernie Sanders. It was a democratic president ial debate last year. Hillary clinton and Bernie Sanders sparring over their plans to address abuses on wall street. Mr. Sanders the greed and recklessness and illegal behavior of wall street, where fraud is a Business Model, helped to destroy this economy and the lives of millions of people. Check the record. All due990s, in respect, and the 1990s when i had Republican Leadership and wall street spending billions of dollars in lobbying, when the clinton administration, when Alan Greenspan said, what a great great idea would be to allow these huge ranks to march, Bernie Sanders fought them and help lead the opposition to the regulation. Amy that is Bernie Sanders versus other clinton. Thomas frank, what this has meant, the kind of issues you have been talking about this book, certainly once i came to the fore this year and how you feel they are going to affect what happens next after the convention . Look, Bernie Sanders is completely right. Several things leaped out in the clip you played. When he said the Business Model of wall street is fraud, well, to a certain degree, he is exactly right. One of the things we are going to remember about the Obama Administration was his complete failure to prosecute wall street executives for a whole long list of, apparently, fraudulent behavior. This is one of the abiding mysteries of our time. What are they do this. Even george w. Bush got tough with the guys from enron who were his house, his campaign donors, his best friends. Those guys are still in prison. Barack obama could not go after wall street. Why not . That is one of the questions i tried to insert in the book and the answer i came up with is it is not just all the campaign donations. It is a sort of class solidarity between the kind of people that fill democratic administrations these days, you know, the cream of the professional managerial class, the people at the very apex of our countries mair talkers the system, our status system. And the people on wall street. It is not a coincidence in the early years of the administration am a there is this incredible revolving door action between the administration and wall street. Today the Revolving Doors between the administration and Silicon Valley but back then, it was as though there was no difference there were just of theferent nodes american meritocracy. One in washington and the other in new york city. Bernie sanders, to get back to him, when you think about the way the democratic insiders and the sort of liberal establishment of this country reacted to him, he was honest like allergic reaction. It was almost like an allergic reaction. What he is saying is very deep in the democratic tradition, it is not radical or strange. Like a new dealer. He sounds very familiar to me. The things he is proposing are right out of the democratic platform when roosevelt was president , when harry truman was president , that sort of thing. I think for our modernday democratic society, Bernie Sanders represents what they have put behind him, that they feel they should not deal with anymore. Theres something about the reaction to him that was so strange. It is like he is the bad conscience, the guilty conscience they want to put behind them. They never want to have to hear that stuff again. One coat thomas frank, to get the donald trump and his appeal, obviously, he is focused a lot of his attention on these trade deals, on nafta and the pacific trade partnership. What about the appeal of trump to workingclass voters, is that real or not from what you can tell . It is real, but it is shrinking fast. This guy is a goldplated buffoon. What we have to consider here with donald trump we have to understand what is happening with donald trump, this is not theres all sorts of different ways of describing it, but what we are really seeing is , you know, i mean to inequality. This is what it looks like when vast parts of america, when the economy has basically dried up and blown away. Isthe end of the day, this what it looks like when democrats go around celebrating this wonderful new information economy that we are in, and by the way, theyre doing it today on the New York Times oped page. They celebrate that and the other side of the coin is the middle class is shrinking, wages never go anywhere, the percentage of the Gross National product that goes to labor these days is the lowest it has ever been since world war ii. Look, for a lot of people, the promise of American Life is over. It is gone. And this is only going to get worse under a Hillary Clinton presidency. Well, much, much worse under a donald Trump Presidency. But this phenomenon, inequality is going to get worse. The problems were looking at today, economic albums, are going to get worse. Four years from now, youre going to have another trump. The good side of that coin is youll also have another Bernie Sanders. So this can all it can have a happy ending. You can have a president and the Bernie Sanders mold somewhere down the road, but theres also a frightening sight to this. You could have someone like trump some were down the road and that should terrify us, but that is the direction we are going. Amy we want to thank you for being with us. The book is, listen, liberal or, what ever happened to the party of the people . It is written by thomas frank. He is also the Founding Editor of the baffler as we move on to our next segment now, the story of the assassination of a British Labour leader. One coat we turn to britain which is continuing to mourn last weeks murder following a parliamentarian jo cox who shot and killed after meeting with constituents. Thomas mair shouted, britain first, a possible reference to the farright, antiimmigrant Political Party of the same name which is pushing for britain to leave the eu in tomorrow plus brexit referendum. And remaining in the union. The Southern Poverty Law Center isthe u. S. Has revealed mair part of the neonazi alliance. Documents show he is spent over 500 buying items from the group, including a manual that contained information on how to build a pistol. In addition, the Daily Telegraph is reporting mair subscribed to sa patriot, a South African magazine published by a proapartheid group. Amy meanwhile, a former paid fbi informant named Todd Blodgett, said he met thomas mair the neonazi gathering that the informant set up in london in 2000. Beginning in the mid90s, he worked with several leaders of the far right, including the founder of the Liberty Lobby and William Pierce, leader of the neonazi National Alliance. Todd blodgett was also coowner of resistance records, the Worlds Largest neonazi music label. Todd blodgett is joining us from his home in iowa. Todd blodgett, welcome to democracy now tell us what you know about ts man thomas mair who killed jo cox. Yes, thank you. I met comment he was known as tommy when i met him in 2000. I had just begun working as a paid fbi informant in march of that year. William pierce, the main character in my coowner, wanted to convene a meeting in london because there was a chapter of the National Alliance in leads. It was to promote resistance records and let people know William Pierce was the new owner more customersn and a streeters for resistance records. Mair was one of the people invited to the meeting. There were probably 17 or 18 people at that meeting. It took place in london in the spring of 2000. Sort of like the david duke at that time. Several other people that were members of the National Alliance were supporters of the na. Juan why were you at that meeting representing mr. Pierce . Of course, pierce did not know i had agreed to work for the bureau at that point. He wanted to go amy the fbi. Yes, for the fbi. He himself wanted to go but he was precluded by law from being able to go there due to the fact that he could not get in. His views kept him out of england. He sent me instead because he and i were the coowners of resistance records at the time. When i began with the fbi, i told him about what cures wanted to do. Right away they said, were going to accompany you. The day before i arrived in london, to have fbi agents, and irs agent, and atf agent, flew in ahead of me and they had me meet with two guys from mi5 will stop they gave me a cell phone to use and i was there while i was there. Amy why did you decide to work for the fbi . Were you a neonazi true believer . I was never a true believer. Im not a bigot or racist or anything. I guess the best way to say it, i was an opportunistic profiteer. I do not what the consequences to myself or to others of what i was doing. Oatmealted to be money. When he went bankrupt, he gave me stock resistance records and that is how i became a coowner. What had happened with regard to pierce, after the deal was signed with peers and he gave me a consulting contract insist i take as part of my stock sale, would not buy the shares without where went place Washington Post got a hold of it and i was expelled from the club. Fbically, that is when the caught notice of this. Agents into my house and said, look, were not after you. We know you work with all of these people. All of the head honchos on the racist right. Will you help us . That is when i agreed to go on as a paid informant. Juan this a meeting that happened in 2000 i think in leeds, england, these were some of the top neonazi or whats a premises leaders white supremacist leaders in england. What kind of interaction did you have with thomas mair and what kind of impression did you take away with him from that meeting . There were several people from the leeds chapter. Bestr as thomas mair, the way to describe him, he was like a workingclass guy. About discussing a book the holocaust. I guess the best way to describe him is nondescript, well mannered. When you go to a meeting like this, any kind of gathering, the guys always all guys a lot of macho and bragging going on. People talk about who they beat up last week and took out six guys and kicked their butt. They talked about womanizing. Mair was none of those. He came by himself and left by himself. He was respected by the people who were there. Some he knew by name. He was not an outgoing guy. If you are to ask you to end of that meeting, of all of the guys there who would have been the least likely to start a fistfight, i would have said tommy mair. Amy printer british media reports, thomas mair was a subscriber to the proapartheid magazine South African patriot in exile. This week, the Southern Poverty Law Center published two letters that mair wrote to editors of the magazine. In 1999, mair wrote i was glad you strongly condemned collaborators in the White South African population. In my opinion the greatest enemy of the old apartheid system was not the African National congress and the black masses but white liberals and traitors. In a 1991 letter to the publication, mair wrote the nationalist movement in the u. K. Also continues to fight on against the odds. Despite everything i still have faith that the white race will prevail, both in britain and in south africa, but i fear that its going to be a very long and very bloody struggle. Those the words of thomas mair. Todd blodgett, what was your reaction when you heard who was the man who murdered the labor mp jo cox . When i first saw his picture and heard his name, i remembered it. Gosh,st reaction was, aside from the fact it is horrible thing, i thought, you know, this was the kind of guy i would not have begun to do that. Guy wouldve picked out to do that. I thought it would be more of the brutal types. Then i realized, a lot of people i monitored, including a guy named weight page did a similar thing, i think you went into a hindu temple and killed a bunch of people about three years ago, sometimes those very kind of people are the most lethal, which is why tommy mair people like him represent such a huge challenge to mi5 and other Law Enforcement because they can be dormant for many years. They can be on the radar or off the radar. Theyre not the kind tommy mair was not the kind of guy you would pick out to start a fight in a bar. He was not a tough kind of guy. He did not pose as a tough guy. He basically was a nondescript kind of guy. I thought, obviously, is hatred has not changed. He found an outlet for it and finally decided to go out in a blaze of glory. That is my reaction. Juan Todd Blodgett, you did this undercover work for the fbi, yet you have also been public since then about your activities. Are there any concerns on your part, your own personal safety, as a result of the work you did to uncover the activities of some of these white supremacist groups . I do have some concerns. I live in texas as well as i will. I have had strangers walk up to me and bars in texas and call me i wont say the words on the air, but they will use the n blanketysay im a blank lover or race traitor. But i want to get this out. Canve a carry permit and i and legally armed. I am armed right now. If they want to try to make a fight with me, they might take me out, but im going to take them with me. Amy president ial election right now, the support that donald trump has gotten from, for example, david duke, the former klan leader, what supremacist. Your thoughts on White Supremacists in this country, klan support of donald trump . I think it is very tragic. They can support who they want to, but i worked for reagan for many years. And reagan was endorsed by the he in the fall of 1980, says, look, just because they like my philosophy, doesnt mean i buy theirs. Trump kind of stumbled over that thing. Adont think donald trump is white supremacist, but im disturbed by the fact yes support from them and disturbed by the comet he made about the judge curiel. He made a stupid reference to the fact he is of hispanic descent, which is irrelevant to the case. I worked with david duke and monitored him for the fbi. I have monitored all of these people. There without exception a bunch of sociopaths. They are just bad people. Most of their supporters tend to be bad people, too, so i do not want to be tt as being any part of the republican party. Im still republican. I was for jeb bush in the nomination. Before that, for dr. Carson. I want this fleshed out of the party. Amy what is it about donald trump you think supremacists and neonazis . I think because they recognize in their worlds, in their way of thinking, demographics are destiny. That is one thing that William Pierce always said. Dr. Edgefield said that. Feel the donald Trump Presidency would be conducive not only to stemming that with the demographic change , but reversing them. If trump could do what he claims he wants to do. That is their attraction to him. Amy on tuesday, jo coxs husband said his late wife worried about the direction of global politics. I think she worried we were entering an age we have not seen maybe since the 1930s, of people people feeling insecure for lots of different reasons. For economic reasons or security reasons. And then populist politicians, whether that is trump the u. S. Or whoever else, exploiting that and driving communities to hate each other, saying the reason you dont have a job or the reason you are feeling insecure is because of this powerless person, not because of choices we are making. And that was driving people it was creating an atmosphere of hatred. Juan that was brendan cox, the husband of jo cox who was murdered by thomas mair. Your response, Todd Blodgett . He raised a good point. I feel terrible about what happened to his wife. By the way, today would have been jo coxs 42nd birthday. I know a lot of people in iowa and texas of people i met when i was infiltrating these people, they blame almost all of their problems on minorities. They blame all of their problems on some of them what supremacists tend to blame them on jewish people. To scapegoat such people all of their problems. Hey, this is why cant get a job. Or this is why my girlfriend jot me. This is why i am data to crystal meth. If in that goes wrong, they blame these people for. It is a very disturbing trend, no question about it. Amy Todd Blodgett, thank you for being with us, conservative republican political writer, former coowner of resistance records from the Worlds Largest neonazi music label. From 20002002, he was a paid fbi informant who worked undercover within white supremacist organizations. Suzette of a meeting how to set up a meeting that thomas mair attended, the man who justred written labor British Labor mp jo cox. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. When we come back, what happens to an old Nuclear Power plant when environmentalists get involved . Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. In what has been described as a major victory for environmentalists, california is going nuclearfree, ending atomic energys more than a halfcentury history in the state. On tuesday, one of the states largest utilities agreed to proposal endorsed by environmental groups and labor unions to shut down californias last operating Nuclear Power plant, Diablo Canyon. Under the proposal utility giant , pacific gas and electric will no longer seek renewed operating licenses for the plants two reactors and instead will develop more solar, wind, and other Clean Power Technologies by 2025. Amy california is the worlds sixth largest economy and it was among the first states to embrace Nuclear Energy in the 1950s. Diablo canyon began operating in 1985 and stirred controversy from the start. For years, antinuclear activists called for the plants closure because of safety concerns over its precarious location, near several major earthquake fault lines. Tuesdays proposal to shutter Diablo Canyon was negotiated by a coalition of environmental and labor groups including friends of the earth, the coalition of california utility employees, and the alliance for nuclear responsibility. For more we go to san francisco, where we are joined by damon moglen, senior Strategic Advisor for friends of the earth. He was one of the groups lead negotiators for closing down the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. Damon moglen, tell us what happened, how you did this, and what is going to happen to this plant. It is great to be here with you. This is really a historic agreement. It really means the end of Nuclear Power in california. Its replacement with Renewable Energy and efficiency. That is a blueprint, not only for california, but for the country and i think ultimately, the world, for how were going to be combating Climate Change by wrapping up renewals ramping up renewables. It is a pretty remarkable story. I think it is fascinating to think this utility and the environment lists and unions were able to reach this. We spent decades fighting each other and here we have reached an agreement. Basically, it recognizes it is cheaper to shut down Nuclear Power plants that it is to run them and better to use a cheaper use Renewable Energy than it is to use Nuclear Power. How specifically were you able to get this extraordinary alliance between the utility workers and the environmentalists . What is interesting about the agreement, we pushed hard and utility Pacific Gas Electric pushed hard to recognize in many cases where reactors or plants are closed down, workers in the local community are treated pretty badly. In this case, what we were able to agree was that there should be very significant amount of money made available so the workers can be retrained, so there can be retention policies. Diablo canyon when it closes is going to be a a Massive Nuclear waste dump. There are thousands of tons of highly radioactive waste. We need the workers to be protected, but also to isolate product. Erous we were able to get money for worker retention and money for the community. It is going to be a big shock when the plant ultimately closes down on the tax base for the committee itself. Community itself. I think the union recognized that they are going to be a great opera have great opportunities in this transition for jobs. Amy this is a particularly huge victory for friends of the earth, isnt it . It is the reason that friends of the earth was formed, to counter doublet canyon power plant. You have california, the sixth largest economy on the planet, and the significance of this economy not relying on Nuclear Power, which many are putting forward right now, even some who might have called themselves environmentalists, as the answer to dependence on fossil fuel. Well, yes. For friends of the earth, it is a wonderful moment. The organization was begun in 1969 by david brower to fight Diablo Canyon. For us, 45 years later, to be facing the and of this plant end of this plant and replacement with Energy Efficiency is a dream come true. It is great news for the people of california, ultimately. Amy, youre absolutely right. The fact the sixth largest economy on the planet is saying no to Nuclear Power and is going to replace Nuclear Power with safer, cleaner, cheaper Renewable Energy is a tremendous message. It really does put an end to this nonsense that somehow Nuclear Power has any role to play in the future. The fact of the matter is, in fact, one of the reasons the agreement is taking place, is that Nuclear Power plant these old socalled baseload plants are actually obstructing increasing Renewable Energy around the country and around the world. Because the Nuclear Power is 20 for hours a day. There is no flexibility. Instead, what we need in future energy is going to be flexibility and demand response. That is what we are going to be getting from Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. Ultimately, what this plan proves is it is cheaper to shut down the Nuclear Plants and better to replace the energy with cheaper, cleaner, safer and efficiency. It is a dramatic moment and a blueprint for the planet to address Climate Change. Juan to what degree did it help that you at least had a Governmental Administration in california that is sympathetic to your issues . Obviously, jerry brown, a longtime opponent of Diablo Canyon decades ago, and fairly progressive state legislature in california. I think those are really important factors, juan. The fact is, the governor jerry brown has led the state in demanding a renewable mandate, the requirement the state except an increase renewables so that california is looking at renewable mandate of 50 by 2030. That is a testament to the governors commitment to Climate Change. At the same time, what is interesting is through this agreement, the civic as an electric is committing to 55 by 2030 by shutting down Diablo Canyon and ramping up renewables. Thate seeing a way california, as usual, is setting a new grignard green yardstick iran thing up renewables and closing down nuclear. Amy 2025 is the closing date of Diablo Canyon. Is there any chance youll get that closed any earlier . That is nine years away. There are lots of people who have fought for decades to shut down Diablo Canyon, and i think it is important to recognize that all of us together are going to continue to try to do everything we can to assure safety and protect the environment. I want to make clear one of the things the agreement specifically says is in no way does this agreement seek to stop anyway the work of friends of the earth or other organizations and activists to continue to fight to make sure we are safe and that the environment is safe. The battle is won to continue in the meantime, but this agreement means it is the end of diablo and the end of Nuclear Power in california. Amy damon moglen, thank you for being with us senior strategic , advisor for friends of the earth. One of the groups lead negotiators for closing down the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. That does it for our broadcast. Democracy now is hiring a news producer and an office coordinator. Find out more at democracynow. Org. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who feedback from people who ve cheese . light upbeat music i know i do. It makes just about anything taste better. And guess what . You can have it in a healthy way. Ive got easy recipes that deliver great cheesy flavor with a lighter touch. Like my skillet mac n cheese, parmesan crusted chicken breasts, plus pansteamed brocolli with lemon garlic and parsley gremolata. 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