Biggest emissions of co2 in europe. Amy we will bring you a special from the ancient forests of rhineland in western germany, where activists are fighting to save the forest and shut down the largest openpit coal mine in europe. We visited the mine on sunday, only one week after thousands of activists stormed the pit, shutting the mine down. Then democracy now questions President Trumps climate adviser david banks. From the administration perspective, i think the president with a big climate is always changing. Amy do disagree with the president that Climate Change is a chinese hoax . Look, i mean, i work for the president of the United States and i support the president s decisions. Amy and we will speak with and get response from renowned climate scientist Kevin Anderson. Image top 1 in the u. S. Over 2000 times more than globally. Thereres a huge difference for who is responsible for the co2 emissions in the atmosphere enough for the Climate Change we are beginning to witness now. Amy scientist Kevin Anderson on Climate Change, the people he calls the climate glitterati and whwhy he traveled here by train, not plane. All that and more, coming up. Welclcome to d democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are broadcasting from bonn, germany. Zimbabwes military said today it has deposed president Robert Mugabe and first lady grace mugabe, and has appointed recentlyoususted Vice PresidentEmmerson Mnangagwa as interim prpresident. A military spokesman said on this witnesses reported armored personnel carriers in the streets, with heavy gun and artillery fire in parts of the capital harare. Zimbabwes military denied it had carried out a coup. A military spokesman said on state television the action was taken to target criminals surrounding the 93yearold, seseventerm leader. In the United States, Senate Republicans have added a repeal of the Affordable Care acts individual Health Insurance mandate to their plan to ovoverhaul the u. S. Tax code. The plan would end a requirement that most americans obtain Health Insurance or face a tax penalty, a linchpin in keeping president obamas Signature Healthcare law from collapsing. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office warned tuesday the House Republicans tax bill would trigger 25 billion in cuts to medicare next year. Both the house and senate plans would shower billions of dollars in tax cuts on the wealthiest americans. Attorney general Jeff Sessions testified he only recently tuesday recalled speaking with former Trump Campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who has admitted having contact with russian stinnett Trump Campaign. Sessions is accused of perjury for recently telling, c was not aware of any Trump Campaign official talking to the russians when in fact he led a meeting in march 2016 during which George Papadopoulos talked about his ties to russias adjusted setting up a meeting between trump and russian president vladimir putin. On tuesday, sessions testified he now remembers rejecting papadopoulos idea at that meeting and telling papadopoulos he did not have the authority to represent the Trump Campaign and such discussion. This is sessions speaking to the house judiciary committee. Frankly, i had no recollection of this meeting until i saw these news reports. I do now recall that the march 2016 meeting at the trump hotel that mr. Papadopoulos attended, but i have no clear recollection of the details of what he said at that meeting. Amy elsewhere on capitol hill, pentagon leaders told the senate panel tuesday they would ignore any unlawful order by the president to lauaunch a nuclear strike. The testimony came as part of the first congressional hearings in more than 40 years on the president s authority to start a nuclear war. This is connececticut democrat chris murphy. E are cononcerned that the president of the united s states volatiletable, i is so as the decisisionmakingng procs ththat is so q quixotic, t thate mighght order a Nuclear Weapon strike that is widely out of step with the u. S. National security interests. Amy an eighth woman has come forward to accuse former president george h. W. Bush of groping her. In a democracy now exclusive, a former Flight Attendant told u s that in the early 1990s, soon after bushs president ial term ended, she was working in first class when the former president grabbed my arm complimenting me on my tan and how pretty i looked. And would not let go of my arm and pulled me close to his seat and put his arm around below my waist, the butt area. He was sitting, i was standing, trying to work. I couldnt get away. The captain was not happy the president didnt let go until the captain announced we missed our take off spot. The captain was looking at me with the door open. That is how he knew i wasnt seated for takeoff. Because the president wouldnt let go of my arm and they cant take off until we are all seated. Those the words of a former Flight Attendant, now the not another woman to come forward to accuse former president george h. W. Bush of groping her. She says bush was sitting next to his wife barbara. Broadways after actress Megan Elizabeth lewis, said george h. W. Bush grabbed her butt after he asked her to take a photo with him in 2009 at one of her performances in houston. In california, a gunman with a semiautomatic rifle and two handguns went on a deadly rampage in the rural town of rancho tehama tuesday, killing four people and injuriring at least 10 oththers before he was shot andnd killed byby police. Police identified the shooter as a 43yearold white man named kevin janson neal. He was being prosecuted on charges of assault with a Deadly Weapon for stabbing two of his neighbors a man and a women, both of whom were killed at the start of tuesdays rampage. Amonong the unded werere two children, incncluding a student hit when the shooter fired on an elementary school. The mass shooting came on the same day connecticuts Supreme Court heard arguments in a case brought by families of v victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook School massacre. Their lawsuit targets the Remington Outdoor company, which produced the ar15 bushmaster rifle used to slaughter 20 Young Children and six adults. Lawyer Joshua Koskoff told the court that remingtons Marketing Campaign was designed to appeal to young men like the killer adam lananza. They had a a clear plan. We know this from what is publicly available to expand the assault rifles. Is to attract buyers by extolling the militaristic and assault qualities of their ar15s. We have evidence that adam lanza heard the message and was driven specifically to the bushmaster for his lone gunman combat mission. Amy the state of ohio is set to put a severely ill prisoner to death today after the u. S. Supreme court refused to halt his planned execution. Officials at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in lucasville say theyll provide a wedgeshaped pillow to 69yearold Alva Campbell to help him breathe while they strap him to a gurney and inject him with a lethal threedrug cocktail. Campbell relies on a walker and wears a colostomy bag. His lawyers say he requires frequent breathing treatments and may have lung cancer. During a recent exam, a doctor failed to find veins in either of campbells arms suitable for inserting an iv. In yemen, the u. S. Backed, Saudiled Coalition bombed the main airport in the capital sanaa tuesday, damaging the runway and desestroying navigatn equipment. The attack came after saudi arabia shut air, land and sea routes into yemen, drawing warnings from the United Nations that the clampdown couould worsn yemens massive cholera epidemic and set off the largest famine the world has seen in decades, with millions of victims. Tuesdays attack drew condemnationon from connecticutt democratic senatoror chris murp, who tweeted the u. S. Saudi Coalition took out the sanaa airport last night. Now no humanitarian relief by air. This is barbaric. In libya, human rights monitors who toured the countrys migrant detention camps say nearly 20,000 people are enduring horrific conditions. This is United Nations spokesperson jeremy laurence. Monitors were shocked by what they witnessed. Thousands of you macy aided and traumatized men, women, and children held on top of one another. Locked up in hangers with no access to the basic necessities and stripped of their human dignity. Amy human rights advocates want the European Union to withdraw its support for libyas Prime Minister and the allied militias who run migrant detention centers. As part of a clamp down on sea crossings, the eu currently supplies funds, equipment and training for libyas border and coast guard. And australians have decisively voted in favor of marriage equality, prompting Prime MinisterMalcolm Turnbull to call on parliament to pass a bill legalizing all marriages countrywide by the end of the year. Nearly 80 of australians voted in the nonbinding National Postal survey, with nearly twothirds approving of marriage equality. The outcome sparked celebrations in cities across the country. This is sydney city councilor christine forster. It has been a really special moment. Is the point in our history where we have said, we resoundinglyly, for a better, fairer, more equal country. That is so special. You cant put a price on that. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, im amy goodman. Were broadcasting live from the u. N. Climate summit in bonn, germany, cop23. Cop is a u. N. Term that stands for conference of parties. This year is known as the first islands cop, with fiji presiding over this years summit. The event itself is being held in bonn, germany, because of the logistical challenges of hosting tens of thousands of people in fiji at the start of the South Pacific cyclone season. Bonn is the former capital of west germany and the birthplace of the composer beethoven. Well, protests against oil, coal, gas and Nuclear Power continue here at the u. N. Climate summit. On tuesday, indian activists protested against indias largest Nuclear Power station, the koodankulam plant in indias Southern State of tamil nadu. Also tuesday, activists disrupted a presentation by thee European Investment nk a at an annualal cporate c conference he alongside e the climate e summit hehere in bonn. The activivists were prorotestig the construction of ee transadadriatic gasipipeline, known as tapap, which is s slato run from the greektkikish boer, through greece and albania, underer the adriatitic, and ininto italy. Today, german ancellororngela merkel islslatedo addrdress the United Nations climamate summit. This morning, activists had a special welcome for her. We are in the main plenary area of the u. N. Climate summit. Have just activists rolled out a red carpet. A little different than dignitaries are used to. It says on keep it in the ground with the fingerpointing down. Were joined now by two of the activists who rolled out that red carpet. Can you tell me your names . My name is joseph. My name is lucia. Amy can you tell me why you rolled out the carpet . Today, a lot of politicicians are going to be coming into this space. We wanted to especially welcome chancellor merkel. Theres a lot of d discussion in germany at t the moment. We wanted to send the message that we need to keep coal in the ground. Amy can you talk about how Climate Change affects similar . In the pacific, with h the sa levels rising, a lot of our lowlying countries are being affected. Marshall islands is two meters above sea level. Likely villages will because of the rising sea levels. Amy how does it affect congo . The same way. People are having to find new ways to grow food or the fish they used to fish for our gone because of ocean acidification. The waters are warm and the coral is bleaching. Finding new ways to grow food and d water security isis a big issue right now. Amy are you afraid of losing your countries altogether . Definitely. At the risk of losing our homelands israel. We can at least get our government officials to listen and to keep it in the ground, the maybe we thank you for our homelands for a little bit longer. For do you have any message President Trump who has called Climate Change a hoax and vowed to pull the Paris Climate Accord . Yes, were asking him to stand down. Stay out of these negotiations and his conversations and let the leaders who are actually here to make the change do that and give them the space to do so. Also for President Trump to come and have a look for himself. It is not just cared us. We are people as well. He can see where we live and our livelihoods, so maybe they will have a change in stance. My name is jessie. I am with corporate accountability. On monday, we, alongside the pacific climate warriors, delivered a petition from 100,000 people in the United States on behalf of millions more around the world, demanding the u. S. Because theyre not bringing anything to the table besides the fossil fuel agenda, demand that they get out of the way. Stop pushing the fossil fuel agenda and stop bogging down the process so we can make progress on this agreement because the world needs it. Amy what was s the response of the Trump Administration . Three different officials from that Office Opened the door, rececognized to we work hm and then shut the door. They did accept it, but they refused to discuss it. They dont want to face up to the reality that they are the only country that has to interest in being part of this process. That has no interest in being part of this process. Amy also this morning, in the nearby city of cologne, activists blockaded the weisweiler coal power plant, no large parts of the plant are still shut down several hours later. Well, on sunday, democracy now traveled about an hour west to a 12,000yearold forest in western germany, where activists are fighting against the largest openpit coal mine in europe. The massive hambach mine is 33 square miles half the size of washington, d. C. It extracts an extremely dirty form of coal called lignite, also known as brown coal, which causes the highest co2 emissions of any type of coal whehen burn. For more than five years, activists have been fighting to shut down the mine and to save the remaining forest from being cut down to make way for the expanding project. Only 10 of the ancient forest remains. Well, on sunday, we drove down a dirt road. We got caught in the mud and had to push our car out, but there we bumped into an activist from the nearby city of cologne at the entrance to the remaining forest. Isana. Name were in the rhineland in germany. We have one of the biggest coal mine areas he in the rhineland. With a lot of bad admissions for all of us. Amy is this one of the largest coal pits in europe . I think it is the largest. , we are insee here this area at the moment. Amy you are showing us a map. Yeah, it is basically, 90 of the forest is destroyed already because of the coal mining. We have a little bit left, less than 10 , and people are trying to protect the last 10 . Amy where are you taking us now . We will take youo the occupationon of the forest. For five years or 5. 5. 5 years, people tried to protect the last of the hambach forest. Theyve built around 22 treehouses where they live permanently. Say hi to them. Amy lets go through the mud. Onward through the mud. It looks like we have come to yet another branch blockade right here. Why are these put up . Sign toare put up as a not have people in the foresest we dont want to have in the forest, like coleman come to people or pulleys. Theres also a small part of pedestrians that are welcome, but not cars. Amy can you talk about the sacrifices people make . Well, i think it is very harsh to live here because there is no running water. You have no electricity. People live here the whole year, so it is cold in winter, especially in winter. Summer it is better, but you have to get the water here somehow. Where you get electricity from to cook, to charge your mobile phone. Amy how long have these treehouses been up . Inthe first occupation was 2012, and it lasted half a year. 2014. Cond one was in 2014, there were alwaways peoeople living here. Amy were sending directly in front of a barricade, which the people here have asked us not to film. Can you read the banner that is draped from m this barricacade . It is saying you might have what has gone, but we are here. Amy were