Brune, author of coming clean breaking americas addiction to oil and coal, and with south african environmental activist and former greenpeace head kumi naidoo. Then ben jealous, the youngest person to ever head the naacp has entered the race for governor in maryland. The murder rates. We will lock up the shooters. By we will restore trust votes that are turning officers, yes, but holding officers who kill unarmed civilians accountable. Amy a prominent Bernie Sanders surrogate in the 2016 president ial race, ben jealous describes in an extended interview his plans to run for governor as an activist, pursuing a broad agenda of civil rights, social, and economic justice. Attorney general sessions has really, frankly, picked a fight not just with progressives, not just the civil rights community, but on this issue, he has picked it with Police Chiefs across this country. This is a man, when it comes to criminal justice, a complete neanderthal. Stuck on stupid on the old tough on crime approach is that have failed, that have brought mass incarceration, have brought is not just the most incarcerated black and brown people, but the white people, too. Any co all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In afghanistan, the death toll in wednesdays massive truck bomb attack in kabul rose to 90, with over 400 people wounded, as afghans mourned one of the worst single attacks since the u. S. Invaded in 2001. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which struck a busy intersection in the heart of the Afghan Capital during the morning rush flattening buildings, damaging hour, embassies and shattering , windows at the president ial palace. Many survivors blamed the government for failing to provide security. We ask our leaders to ensure security in the country. If theyre not able to ensure security for us, we say they must resign. There should be someone in power who serves the country. Right now, thousands of our people are in mourning. Why and how much longer should we suffer from this Current Situation . Amy on thursday, afghan president ashraf ghani issued a decree ordering the execution of 11 prisoners from the taliban and the haqqani network, which officials blamed for the attack. Meanwhile in baghdad, iraq, isis has claimed responsibility for a car bomb that killed at least 16 people and wounded 75 others when it ripped through an ice cream parlor on tuesday. A second explosion in baghdad tuesday targeted iraqs pension office, killing 11 people and wounding 41 others. In washington, d. C. , President Donald Trump reportedly plans to pull the u. S. Out of the landmark Paris Climate Accord, a decision environmentalists warn will be a crime against the future of the planet and humanity. In a tweet, President Trump said he would announce his decision at 3 00 p. M. At the white house rose garden. In 2015, nearly 200 nations agreed in paris to the global accord to curb rising Greenhouse Gas emissions blamed for warming the planet. On wednesday in brussels, belgium, members of the European Parliament booed reports that trump will likely pull the u. S. Out of the deal. European Commission PresidentJeanclaude Juncker said the administration will have a hard time withdrawing. That is not how it works. The americans cant just leave the climate protection agreement. Esther trump believes because he does not get close enough to the dossiers to fully understand them, it would take three to four years after the agreement came into force in november 2016 to leave the agreement. Notion, i am trump, im american, America First and im going to get out of it, that wont happen. Amy the guardian is reporting that china and the eu plan to forge an alliance to take a leading role in tackling Climate Change in response to trumps expected decision to pull out of the accord. The new alliance will reportedly focus on leading the Energy Transition toward a lowcarbon economy. Well have more on President Trump and the paris accord after headlines. In sri lanka, the death toll has risen to 180 with nearly 600,000 people displaced amid the worst flooding in the country in the last 14 years. Scientists have linked torrential rains and increased flooding in sri lanka to Climate Change. Meanwhile, in bangladesh, thousands of Rohingya Muslims from neighboring burma were left homeless after a cyclone devastated their makeshift refugee camps. The storm prompted the evacuation of the Coxs Bazar District on the coast, but many Rohingya Refugees had nowhere to go. They were left without shelter after nearly all of the camps 10,000 thatched huts were flattened. Rohingyas have long faced persecution and violence in burma where they are denied citizenship. Cnn is reporting that attorney general Jeff Sessions may have had an additional private meeting with Russian AmbassadorSergey Kislyak during the president ial campaign. Sessions already faces charges he perjured himself during a Senate Confirmation hearing in january, when he testified that he did not have any communications with the russians ahead of the november election. In fact, sessions had at least two meetings with ambassador kislyak, and if cnns report is true, there was a third such meeting in april of last year. The wall street journal ports does journal reports unilaterally issued subpoenas to the fbi, cia, the National SecurityAgency Seeking to learn how the names of Trump Associates were unmasked and classified intelligence reports. In a subpoenas are unrelated to his committees investigation into charges that russia meddled in the 2016 election and came without the approval of democrats who say nunez is seeking to distract from the committees work. Nunez grievously said he would recuse himself from the investigation. Meanwhile, the guardian is reporting that far right british politician nigel farage, who led the Brexit Campaign to exit European Union, has been named as the person of interest in the fbis investigation into russias and the trump organization. The guardian reports he is being scrutinized because of his relationships with individuals connected to both the Trump Campaign and wikileaks founder julian assange. At the white house, press Secretary Sean Spicer said wednesday he will no longer field questions about russias ties to donald trump and his associates, and will instead refer reporters to trumps personal attorney, marc kasowitz. Spicer made the comments in an audioonly press briefing after barring video coverage and declaring that networks should not broadcast his remarks live. During the briefing, spicer was asked about a bizarre tweet posted by President Trump early wednesday, which read despite the constant negative press covfefe. Do you think people should be concerned that the president posted somewhat of an incoherent tweet last night and then stayed up for hours . No. Why did it stay up so long . Is no one watching this . The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant. Amy the audioonly press briefing came one day after spicer stormed out of Tuesdays Press Briefing when reporters drilled him over President Trumps claims that their reporting constituted fake news. In china, one labor activist was arrested and two others have gone missing and are feared detained as they investigated abuses at a factory that produces shoes for the ivanka trump brand. China labour watch said the activists uncovered evidence that factory workers were forced to work excessive overtime, paid wages below chinas legal minimum, verbally abused workers, with some workers receiving less than 1 an hour. Amnesty international called on china to immediately release the three activists. The arrest and disappearances came just weeks after ivanka trump secured three new exclusive trademarks in china the very same day she and her father, President Trump, had dinner with chinese president xi jinping at trumps private resort in florida. The city of new york said wednesday it will begin cutting its ties to wells fargo following a scandal that saw thousands of employees set up more than 2 million phony bank and credit card accounts. New york came under intense pressure to divest from wells fargo by native american activists opposed to the banks support for the 3. 8 billion Dakota Access pipeline. In portland, oregon, the mother of one of two men stabbed to death by a white supremacist as they defended a muslim teenager on a train is calling on President Trump to condemn hate groups, many of whom support his presidency. Asha deliverance, the mother of 23yearold Taliesin Myrddin namkai meche, wrote in an open letter to trump you have said that you will be president for all americans. So, i ask you mr. President to take action at this time. Please condemn any acts of violence, which result directly from hate speech hate groups. The letter came after the suspect in the killings, jeremy christian, made a defiant statement at his arraignment tuesday shouting, death to the , enemies of america and you call it terrorism, i call it patriotism in washington, d. C. , part of the Smithsonians National museum of africanamerican history and culture for several hours after a noose was discovered in wednesday an exhibition on segregation. It was the second such incident in a week. Last friday, a Security Guard found a noose hanging from a tree outside the museum. In los angeles, police say someone spraypainted the n word on a gate outside the home of nba superstar lebron james wednesday. The hate crime came just one day before james and his Cleveland Cavaliers are set to take on the Golden State Warriors in the nba finals. Speaking to reporters in oakland, california, lebron james said the incident was a reminder that being black in america is tough. And i think back to him untils mom, one of the first things i thought of gum and the reason she had an open casket is because she wanted to show the world what her son went through as far as the hate crime and being black in america. So it is no matter how much howy you have, no matter no matter are, know ho how many people admire you, being black in america is tough. Amy in new york city, a grand jury indicted Police Sergeant hugh barry on a murder charge wednesday in the Fatal Shooting of 66yearold African AmericanDeborah Danner last october. Danner had Mental Health issues, including schizophrenia. Police say she was shot and killed in her own home in the bronx after a neighbor called 911. When police arrived, they found danner naked in her bedroom holding a pair of scissors. Sergeant barry has been sued twice in recent years for brutality. On wednesday, barry pleaded not guilty to charges of seconddegree murder, manslaughter and criminally , negligent homicide and was released on 100,000 bond. And in maryland, the youngest person to ever head the naacp entered the race for governor wednesday. Ben jealous is known for leading the naacps Successful Campaign to abolish marylands Death Penalty. Hes promised to pursue a broad agenda of civil rights, social justice, and economic reform. Jealous announced his candidacy wednesday outside of his cousins west baltimore flower shop, which she opened after the 2015 uprising and unrest that followed the death of freddie gray in Baltimore Police custody. In his first speech of his campaign, jealous called for Holding Police accountable. We will cut the murder rate. We will lock up the shooters. And we will restore trust by both better training officers, but, yes, holding officers who kill unarmed civilians fully accountable. Amy on wednesday, democracy now spoke with ben jealous shortly after he announced his bid to become marylands next governor. Well air that interview later in the broadcast. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. President donald trump says he will make his announcement today on whether to pull the United States out of the landmark Paris Climate Accord, a decision environmentalists warn would be a crime against the future of the planet and humanity. On twitter, trump said he would make the announcement at 3 00 p. M. In the white house rose garden, and ended his tweet with make America Great again in 2015, nearly 200 nations agreed in paris to the global accord to curb rising Greenhouse Gas emissions blamed for warming the planet. The climate pact was heralded as a rare moment of International Collaboration to avert imminent climate disaster. Now the guardian is reporting china and the European Union plan to forge an alliance to take a leading role in tackling Climate Change in response to trumps expected decision to pull out of the agreement. The new alliance will reportedly focus on leading the Energy Transition toward a lowcarbon economy. An early draft of the announcement from the two countries describes Climate Change as a National Security issue and multiplying factor of social and political fragility. On wednesday in brussels, belgium, members of the European Parliament booed reports that trump will likely pull the u. S. Out of the paris accord. European Commission PresidentJeanclaude Juncker said the administration will have a hard time withdrawing. That is not how it works. The americans cant just leave the climate protection agreement. Mr. Trump believes because he does not get close enough to the. Years to fully understand them, it would take three to four years after the agreement came into force in november 2016 to leave the agreement. O this notion, i am trump im american. America first and im going to get out of it, that wont happen. Amy on wednesday, the United Nations tweeted Climate Change is undeniable. Climate action is unstoppable. Climate Solutions Provide opportunities that unmatchable. As the world awaits trumps final decision, leaders from brussels to beijing reaffirmed their commitment to implement the Paris Climate Accord and urged the United States not to become a global pariah. This is german ambassador to the u. S. Peter wittig speaking to the pbs newshour. A staunch been advocate of the paris agreement. We think it is a landmark achievement. Agreementst universal , containing the global warming, fighting Climate Change. And we think it is so important the u. S. Stays on board in a leadership role. Thanks to the u. S. , this agreement was possible in the first place. Now if the u. S. Would leave, it would be a kind of self isolation and the u. S. Would find itself in on company just with syria and nicaragua, the only countries that are not part of the paris agreement. And we dont think that is a good option. Amy since taking office, donald trump has threatened to pull the u. S. Out of the Paris Climate Accord begun dismantling , president obamas climate legacy, and revived the keystone xl and Dakota Access pipelines. Trump has also put Climate Change deniers in charge of several key agencies, including the Environmental Protection agency and proposed slashing the , budget of the epa and other climate programs. This is candidate donald trump speaking on the campaign trail last year. Mr. Trump were going to cancel the paris climate agreement and stop [applause] unbelievable. And stop all payments of the United States tax dollars to u. N. Global warming programs. The New York Times reports trumps inner circle is now fiercely divided on the Paris Climate Accord, with chief strategist steve bannon and epa administrator scott pruitt demanding trump withdraw from the ac