Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20161027 : vimarsana.com

With Border Patrol agents on their missions to catch undocumented immigrants. I was surprised to see how much the Border Patrol was cooperating. To be inside of that world and see the ways these guys are talking about hunting mexicans. And then to see federal law enforcement, not only tolerate them, but kind of use them in a certain way. Amy mother jones Senior Reporter shane bauer joins us to tell the story of how he went undercover in california, arizona, colorado, to report on the rightwing militia movement, which surged under president obama. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. At least 22 people, mostly children, have reportedly died in an airstrike on a school in the rebelheld syrian province of idlib. The syrian observatory for human rights said the bombing was believed to be carried out by russian planes. Anthony lake of unicef said this is a tragedy. , it is an outrage. And if deliberate, it is a war crime. Unicef says the attack the may be the deadliest bombing of a school since the war began more than five years ago. Meanwhile at the United Nations, u. N. Emergency relief coordinator Stephen Obrien pushed the Security Council wednesday to take action in syria. He said soon there may be no Syrian People or syria to save. Before month i have come you and presented a never worsening record of destruction and atrocity. Grimly cap regarding the destruction cataloging the destruction of a country and its people. Y toe my job is to rela the facts, i cant help but be incandescent with rage. Month and month, nothing is happening to stop the wars, stop the suffering. Amy we will have more on syria after headlines. In whats been described as biggest military buildup on russias borders since the cold war, the United States is promising to send troops, tanks and artillery to poland while , britain is planning to send fighter jets to romania and troops to estonia next year. The pledges were made wednesday during a nato meeting in brussels. In addition germany, canada, and , other nato allies have also pledged to send forces to the region. Jens stoltenberg is nato secretarygeneral. Today, we also discussed progress in strengthening natos presence in the black sea region with the romanian led brigade on land. And we are working on measures in the air and at sea. I am pleased to confirm that several nations indicated their willingness to contribute to our presence in the black sea region on land, at sea, and in the air. Amy in other military news, the Washington Post is reporting the pentagon has secretly expanded its Global Network of drone bases to include a base in tunisia to conduct missions in libya. The u. S. Now maintains a string of drone bases across africa from niger to djibouti. In north dakota, the Morton County Sheriffs Department has concluded its investigation into the use of dogs to attack native americans trying to protect a sacred site from being destroyed by the construction of the 3. 8 billion Dakota Access pipeline on september 3. The investigation finds the guards lacked the proper licensing to do Security Work in north dakota. Its a class b misdemeanor to provide private Security Services without a license in north dakota, meaning some of the guards could face charges and possible jail time. The Sheriffs Department probe began after this video recorded by democracy now on september 3 went viral. These dogs. That woman over there, she was charging them. Right in my face. Amy the dog has blood in its nose and mouth. And she is Still Standing here threatening. Amy why are you letting those stocks go after them . Amy meanwhile, in more updates from north dakota, the Morton County Sheriffs Department and north dakota Highway Patrol have shut down a section of highway 1806 the main highway leading to the resistance camps. The federal Aviation Administration has also issued a temporary nofly zone for the airspace above the resistance camps for all aircrafts except for those used by law enforcement. This order means native americans can no longer fly drones to Document Police activity, but the police can continue to fly their Surveillance Drones and helicopters. This comes as water protectors report the pipelines construction is now only about a halfmile west of highway 1806 and that the company is continuing to build eastward toward the highway and then to the missouri river. On wednesday, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson traveled to north dakota to support the pipeline protesters. They have been victims of protracted genocide and dishonored commitments. Howust measure our cap her we treat native americans character, how we treat native americans. Amy in new york city, resistance is growing in opposition to spectra energys aim pipeline, which is slated to carry fracked gas only hundreds of feet from the aging Indian Point Nuclear power plant and then under the hudson river. On Tuesday Morning, 15 people were arrested blocking the doors to new york senator Chuck Schumers office in manhattan to demand schumer stop the pipelines constructi. This comes two weeks after four activists blockaded pipeline construction for more than 15 hours by crawling inside the pipeline and locking themselves to each other. In election news hacked emails , from the account of Hillary Clintons Campaign Chair john podesta show several of her top aides were privately concerned about how the actions of the Clinton Foundation could impact her campaign. Campaign manager robby mook sent one email with the subject line of foundation vulnerability points. In the email, he listed three points money from foreign governments, overseas events with foreign leaders or government officials and potential conflicts from overseasowned organizations. The Clinton Foundation raised 26 million from the swedish government at the same the government was lobbying Hillary Clintons state department to not sanction swedish businesses from working with iran. The Swedish Telecommunications giant ericsson had reportedly sold iran equipment that could be used to track its citizens. Meanwhile, another hacked email written by one of bill clintons closest aides shows how the former president clinton has personally profited from work tied to the foundation. The aide, doug band, writes that he helped secure 50 million in speaking fees and other ventures that went directly to bill clinton. In the email, band described the forprofit activity of president clinton as bill clinton, inc. Meanwhile, in another hacked email, Chelsea Clinton accused her fathers aides of taking significant sums of money from my parents personally. In other campaign news, donald trump took a break from campaign trail to open a new luxury hotel in washington, d. C. , just blocks from the white house. This comes as more signs are emerging that the republicans president ial run may have done permanent damage to the trump brand. In new york, more than 300 residents of the large apartment complex known as trump place have signed an online petition titled dump the trump name. Meanwhile, in hollywood, someone has vandalized Donald Trumps star on the hollywood walk of fame by smashing it to pieces using a sledgehammer and a pickaxe. In other campaign news, a former republican congressman has threatened to grab his musket if trump loses the election. Former illinois congressman joe walsh tweeted on november 8th, im voting for trump. On november 9th, if trump loses, im grabbing my musket. You in . The Brady Campaign to prevent gun violence condemned walshs tweet. The groups president said joe walshs continued vile and violent rhetoric has no place in our political discussion. For the first time the United States has abstained from a United Nations General Assembly vote on a resolution calling for an end to a u. S. Economic embargo on cuba. The resolution was passed 191 to zero with the United States and israel abstaining. The u. S. Had opposed the measure for the past 24 years. In havana, residents welcomed the u. N. Vote. We really think the United States abstention is a step in the right direction that proves in the future, sometime soon, there could be an end to the blockade, given the conditions in flagrant violations of human rights that it represents. Amy a shocking new study by the World Wildlife fund finds more than two thirds of the worlds wildlife could be gone by 2020. According to the wwf, there has already been a 58 overall decline in the numbers of fish, mammals, birds, and reptiles worldwide. Wwf conservation scientist Martin Taylor told cnn this is definitely human impact, were in the sixth mass extinction. Theres only been five before this and were definitely in the sixth. Here in new york, ten immigrant rights activists were arrested Tuesday Morning after they chained themselves together and shut down traffic on the upper level of the George Washington bridge during morning rush hour tuesday. The protest was organized by the Laundry Workers Center using the hashtag somosvisibles, or we are visible. Codirector of the Laundry Workers Center mahoma lopez said we demand the right to vote and take part in the decisions in our communities. The group is calling for a day of action on november 7 the day before the president ial elections. Meanwhile another group of , immigrant rights activists in held a march outside an Immigration Office in Downtown Manhattan to demand deferred action from deportation, including a fiveyear work visa, for all undocumented immigrants, regardless of age or parental status. The campaign is called saving our souls a reference to Martin Luther kings motto for the civil rights movement. It included 37 people from mexico, honduras, ghana, st. Vincent, spain, and other countries that submitted their applications for deferred action. And in maryland, a debate between the democratic and Republican Senate candidates was disrupted wednesday when the green partys candidate, dr. Margaret flowers, jumped on stage to insist she be allowed to take part. After briefly speaking on the stage, dr. Flowers was removed by security. Think it is for voters to understand the difference between myself and these delegates, otherwise, they dont know. You say you are a Public University and you want to educate the public, but without having a full public discussion, that doesnt actually happen. How does this serve democracy and the public . You have to leave now. Im dr. Flowers and im a candidate. This is how youre treating a candidate . Dr. Flowers was removed from the stage. The debate went on between democratic nominee Chris Van Allen and republican cap easily go. Cap easily go. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Nermeen and im nermeen shaikh. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin today in syria, where air strikes wednesday killed at least people, most of them 22 school children. The attacks occurred in a village in syrias rebelheld idlib province. According to reports by the Syrian Civil Defense rescue workers the raids were carried , out by either syrian or russian warplanes and hit residential area and a school. Oh, god. Oh, god. Please come help us. Oh, god. Youre seeing our situation. I want my mother. Take me to my anothe mother. The plane hit us. I do not want to go to the school. Nermeen also on wednesday, u. N. Aid chief Stephen Obrien addressed the United Nations Security Council, saying the council has taken no action to end nearly six years of civil war in syria. His comments sparked an angry exchange. Each month i have come before you and presented an ever worsening record of destruction and atrocity. Grimly cataloging this destruction of a country and its people. While my job is to relay to you the facts, i cannot help but be incandescent with rage. Month after month, worse and worse, and nothing exactly happening to stop the war, stop the suffering. Nermeen russias ambassador to the u. N. , vitaly churkin, responded to obrien, describing his remarks as arrogant and criticizing him for not talking about russia halting air strikes in aleppo. Several council members, including the United States, france and britain, defended , obriens statements. This is u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. Samantha power. Remarkable and troubling about the presentation we have heard today is that what russia really wants from the u. N. Is credit. Congratulations, russia, you have stopped for a couple of days from using incendiary weapons will stop thank you for not using cluster bombs in civilian areas. Thank you for staying the hand of brutality with regard to bunker buster weapons. You dont get congratulations and get credit for not committing war crimes for a day. Or a week. Amy this comes as u. S. Defense secretary ash carter announced a military campaign to retake the syrian city of raqqa from the islamic state. Carter said the campaign will commence sometime in the next few weeks before the likely completion of the current offensive to defeat militants in the iraqi stronghold of mosul. Meanwhile, syria continues to dominate Foreign Policy discussions in the president ial race. Donald trump warned in an interview tuesday that Hillary Clintons policy on syria could lead to world war iii. Mr. Trump she has no plan for syria. Look, with her you will end up in world war iii. She doesnt know what shes doing. Just like with libya, just like with Everything Else she has done. Syria is no longer syria. Syria is russia and the new that that we built iran we built which was one of the worst negotiated deals ive ever seen. Nermeen nato is seeking to station more troops in Eastern Europe in what reuters reports could be the biggest military buildup on russias borders since the cold war. As part of a u. S. Backed plan, nato is planning to send battle groups to poland, lithuania, estonia, and latvia with forces ranging from armored infantry to drones. As tension mounts between russia and the u. S. Over the crisis in Syria National intelligence , director James Clapper said tuesday he fears russia could shoot down a u. S. Aircraft if a nofly zone were imposed over syria. Amy well, our next guest says that two mutually exclusive, competing narratives are dominating discussions around syria and neither is enough to understand whats happening in the country. In a new article in the nation headlined, the debate over syria has reached a dead end, Bassam Haddad writes there has been increasing gravitation toward two mutually exclusive narratives that of pure and consistent revolution, and that of external conspiracy. both narratives carry grains of truth, but both are encumbered by maximalist claims and fundamental blind spots that forfeit any Common Ground necessary for enduring ceasefires or potential transitions, as well as postwar reconciliation. Bassam haddad is director of the middle east and Islamic Studies Program at george mason university. He is director of the arab studies institute. We welcome you to democracy now layout with these competing narratives are and why you call this a dead end at this point. Thank you, amy, for having me again on the show. Was trying to establish some sort of accountability on on of the people that both of these sort of dominant sides. Revolution the pure narrative is, of course, some sort of shortcut to a much more complex position. Both of these depictions are. But in all cases, you present a view that assumes from the very beginning of the uprising or revolution, the same values that actually existed at the time have been sustained throughout the last 5. 5 years by the rebels and so on. Whereas in reality, the actual uprising has been transformed into what youre seeing today to avoid the culture of what is exactly happening today in terms of giving it a name. Another, also, reveals shortcoming regarding the actual external intervention on behalf of the opposition that has shortcircuited the opposition, that has rendered it less unified, less transparent, l