We will get response and go to hamburg, germany, where protest ahead of the g20 have already begun. Then we look at the crisis in syria ahead of trumps meeting with russian president Vladimir Putin. Know the airstrikes. It has resulted not only staggering loss of civilian life, but has also led to 160,000 civilians fleeing their homes and becoming internally displaced. Amy we will speak to abdalaziz alhamza, one of the founders of raqqa is being slaughtered silently. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The Trump Administration on wednesday threatened military action against north korea over its Nuclear Weapons program, saying the u. S. Was prepared to defend itself and its allies. The threat came a day after north korea successfully tested a new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile which the u. S. Says is capable of reaching alaska. This is u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations, nikki haley, speaking at an emergency meeting of the security council. Their actions are quickly closing off the possibility of a diplomatic solution. The United States is prepared to use the full range of our capabilities to defend ourselves and our allies. One of our capabilities lies with our considerable military forces. We will use them if we must. But we prefer not to have to go in that direction. Amy haley said the u. S. Would soon propose new sanctions against north korea, adding the u. S. Was prepared to go our own path if u. N. Members didnt agree to its terms. Meanwhile, russia and china urged restraint. Russian ambassador Vladimir Safronkov called on the u. S. And south korea to stop largescale joint military exercises, while urging north korea to halt tests of missiles and warheads he also called on the u. S. To dismantle the thaad antiballistic Missile System. The deployment of the thaad system in northeast asia is a serious blow to the strategic stability of the region, including for russia and china, and certainly does not serve to dean and gore rise the Korean Peninsula based on the principle of ensuring peace and stability in the region. Amy the new south korean president is also oppose to the thaad Missile System and last month ordered an investigation after learning that four more missile launchers had been brought into south korea. In poland, President Trump said in a major speech today the future of western civilization is at stake as he won against the threats of terrorism and extremism. Thep spoke near the site of 1944 warsaw uprising against the nazis. Trump repeated his recent attacks on cnn, calling the network fate news. Trump also said russia probably meddled in the 2016 u. S. Election, along with others. Pres. Trump mistakes have been made. I agree. I think it was russia, but i think was probably other people and or countries, and i see nothing wrong with that statement. Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure. Amy President Trump will next travel to hamburg, germany, or he will join other leaders of the worlds top economies at the g20 summit, including his first meeting as president with his russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Ahead of the talks, thousands of people converged on the city for protests. This is protest spokesperson georg ismael. We want to discuss the fact that 20 dangerous criminals from around the world are meeting here who are responsible for the highest military expenses, who are involved in all of the wars of the world, who are significantly responsible for climate catastrophe, and who are responsible for freezing or greatly slinking our salaries. Amy on wednesday, 1000 demonstrators covered themselves headtotoe in gray and shuffled through the streets of hamburg in a procession of zombies symbolizing political apathy. In iraq, the United Nations warned wednesday up to 20,000 civilians remain trapped in mosul as isis fighters battle to control their last stronghold in the city. U. N. Humanitarian coordinator for iraq lise grande said civilians remain in extreme danger, adding that the destruction in western mosul was unprecedented. Western mosul missing the worst damage of the entire conflict. In those neighborhoods where the fighting has been the fiercest, were looking at levels of damages and comparable to anything else that is happen to iraq so far. Amy the United Nations warned the price of restoring basic infrastructure to mosul will top 1 billion. Meanwhile, in syria, thousands of residents continued to flee raqqa as u. S. Backed militias intensified their assault on the isisheld city. On wednesday, escaping civilians arrived at an openair relief camp outside raqqa complaining of constant airstrikes, artillery raids, and extreme hunger. We left because of the fighting. We were afraid. We have children. We almost died of hunger and no one helped us. Displaced now and live in the openair. These are our house belongings. We just managed to get them today. This is what we have. These are the last things we owned in the house. Amy some 200,000 people have been displaced from raqqa, with more expected to flee as fighting intensifies. U. S. Led airstrikes have killed hundreds of residents in what u. N. Investigators have called a staggering loss of civilian life. We will have more on raqqa later in the broadcast. In venezuela, dozens of supporters of president Nicolas Maduro stormed the National Assembly wednesday, attacking opposition lawmakers with rocks, sticks, and firecrackers. Video from the chaotic scene showed two members of the assembly with blood running down their faces. At least seven lawmakers were reportedly injured. Speaking at a military parade celebrating the anniversary of venezuelas independence, president maduro condemned the violence. At the door and in some of the gardens and always of the National Assembly, there were incidents of unrest and violence. I absolutely condemn these acts. Amy at least 90 people have died during weeks of political turmoil in venezuela as opposition protesters hoping to topple president maduro has set up checkpoints, staged as a protests, and assassinated a judge who jailed in opposition leader. Meanwhile, a Venezuelan Police officer who led a helicopter attack last week on the countrys interior ministry and Supreme Court released a new video wednesday vowing a second wave of atcks. Oscar perez apparently recorded the video while in hiding after abandoning his helicopter during his escape. Quick there are 30 million venezuelans and they will have countryson the entire to silence us. And we go to the street will be there with you. You are not alone. Amy opposition leaders have accused president maduro of working with perez to stage last weeks attacks. Maduro called the attack terrorism and an attentive coup detat. In virginia, prisons officials are preparing to kill a condemned man using a threedrug lethal injection cocktail that critics say will lead to a torturous death equivalent to drowning. 32yearold William Morva is scheduled to receive the lethal drugs at 9 00 p. M. This evening at the greensville correctional facility. According to autopsy records, the last prisoner killed by virginia six months ago, ricky gray, died after the same lethal injection method brought on acute pulmonary edema effectively drowning gray in bloodtinged fluid he coughed up during the execution. Morvas attorneys argue the approach is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual. In chicago, a wave of violence over the long Holiday Weekend claimed 102 victims, with 15 People Killed and 86 others injured by gunfire. Police say amateur fireworks confused and overwhelmed the computerized shotspotter system, which uses microphones to track gunshots and alert police. The youngest Person Injured was a 13yearold boy seriously wounded by gunfire on friday. In new york, employees at the bronxlebanon hospital remain in mourning after a doctor killed one of his former colleagues and injured six others in a shooting rampage at the hospital on friday. Dr. Henry bello used an ar15 Assault Rifle he purchased legally from an upstate new york gun store, even though he had a criminal record for unlawful imprisonment and left his hospital job in april over unspecified personal problems. Meanwhile, u. S. Congress member Steve Scalise is back in intensive care as he recovers from multiple surgeries after he and four other people were wounded. He is at risk of infection after being shot in the hip. He was attacked on a baseball field. And in turkey, Amnesty International is demanding the director of its turkish operations and seven other human rights activist after they were detained by Police Wednesday at a workshop. In a statement, Amnesty Internationals secretary general, salil shetty, called for the release of idil eser and those detained with her, adding esers incommunicado detention and that of the other human rights defenders attending a routine training event is a grotesque abuse of power and highlights the precarious situation facing human rights activists in the country. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Nermeen welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. In a major speech in poland earlier today, President Trump said the future of western civilization is at stake as he warned against the threats of terrorism and extremism. Trump spoke near the site of the 1944 warsaw uprising against the nazis. Pres. Trump this cotton no longer conference the specter of communism, but today were in the west and we have to say there are dire threats to our security and to our way of life. You see what is happening out there. They are threats. We will confront them. We will win. But they are threats. We are confronted by another oppressive ideology, one that seeks to export terrorism and extremism all around the globe. America and europe has suffered one terror attack after another. We are going to get it to stop. Nermeen President Trumps speech was often interrupted by applause. Supporters of the rightwing polish government were bused into here trumps speech according to reports. Trump arrived in poland wednesday and met with their president before his warsaw speech. Whole and has one of the furthest right governments in europe and really defying European Union rules by refusing to allow refugees into poland. Amy meanwhile, the israeli isspaper reports trump facing criticism after becoming the first qs president in decades to skip visiting the warsaw uprising monument. The warsaw ghetto uprising monument. Were joined now by the polish nigerian journalist remi adekoya. He is a regular contributor to the guardian and the former Political Editor of the warsaw business journal. His latest article is for the guardian is polands courting of trump is a few supporters short of a picnic. We welcome you to democracy now can you talk about the significance of President Trumps trip to poland before he goes to the g20 . Were you able to hear that question . Talking about the significance of President Trumps trip . Well, President Trump obviously wanted to start off in a place where he would be greeted warmly. As you mentioned, the rightwing is in support of trumps worldview, bused in their supporters. Trump gave this speech that was and of historical analogies symbolism. He talked about how poland had endured invasion of nazi germany. After that, poland had to endure soviet communism. And he true in analogy to what angoing on now he drew analogy to what is going on now. He said the fundamental question , which the west now faces, is whether they have the will to survive. Of course, the rhetorical implication of that question is perhaps the west does not have the will to survive. This is important because countries like poland and a lot of the rightwing governments in Eastern Europe have been suggesting in the past one or two years that essentially, western europe seems to have lost its selfpreservation instincts. Basically, too obsessed with Political Correctness and multiculturalism and not doing enough to fight the threat of islamic terrorism or even to realize that actually having a lot of muslims in europe can be a huge problem is the poland is one of the main countries which refused to take in any migrants during the 20152016 margaret crisis migrant crisis. The fact that truck made this speech in poland is significant. His reception in poland was responsive. Nermeen can you talk specifically about what the similarities are in the positions that the Trump Administration has taken and those of rightwing governments in Eastern Europe, including poland . Number one, essentially, the polish government has said theyre not interested in accepting any migrants. ,ort of an antimigrant xenophobic stance in their policies. Number two, they question the existence of Climate Change, just like trump does. Number three, in the case of the polish government, there are skeptical of what they see as german domination of the eu, which is a scene that trump also tossed in one of the interviews saying the eu is essentially a union which is dominated by germany. On these three issues, the polish government is very close to what donald trump saying. Essentially, a very rightwing , which the world believes western civilization is under threat from brown people you from muslims especially, and has to close ranks and defend itself or else it essentially faces extinction. Nermeen what about the significance of trump deciding to speak in poland and meet the polish head of state before going to germany or a meeting Angela Merkel . Essentially, the polish essentially, they knew trump was scheduled to go theye g20 summit comes so were the ones who reached out to washington asking for trump to visit poland on his way to the g20 summit. Assuring him he would meet with a positive reception and it would be a good start for his european trip. There would be people waiting and cheering. Generally, the polish people are supportive of his policies in contrast to other nations in europe. That it would be a good way for him to launch his european trip, giving momentum. This is not strictly true regarding the fact that poles are supportive the Donald Trumps trumps was. Only 23 have confidence in donald trump to do what is right and global affairs. We compare this to obama, 50 of poles had confidence in barack obama to do the right thing in global affairs. In only 23 have confidence in donald trump to do the right thing enrolled affairs. Es as not the case that pol a whole are supportive of donald trump or his style of politics. But they were able to sell this to him, promising a warm welcome and getting him to make the speech. Amy remi adekoya, can you talk about your own story as a polish nigerian . What specifically are you thinking about . Amy your background. My dad was majoring and my mom was polish. I was born in nigeria and lived there for 17 years. I moved to poland in 1995 as a student and lived there since then, essentially. Between the u. K. And poland. Have seen changes in poland. When i arrived, it was six years out of communism. There were very few foreigners in the country, as you can imagine. Definitely very few black people. Things were not always pleasant. With time there was a time in the late to mid 1990s when you could not walk on the street without having racial slurs hurled at you. After the end of commonism and theoin the e. U. In 2004, economy improved and peoples moods generally improved, folks world and more used to seeing foreigners on the streets. Insultsnds of racial hurled on the street stopped and improved vastly. Since this government came back in, 2015, they use the migrant crisis when they were millions of refugees within u. S. Europes borders, they use that to scare holes into essentially making the argument that, look, look at what is happening in france and in countries like u. K. That terrorism because of the muslims who are there. Do we want that . Obviously, we dont. So we cant allow them, the eu that is, to push on us this migrant refugees, muslims come and tell us we have to take care of them because some of them are terrorists so why take the risk . Past fewn, for the years, theres been a concerted propaganda effort to scare poles into believing excepting 2000 muslims is essentially inviting terrorism attacks. An example of showing you this propaganda which has changed, in 2015 at the beginning of the es were crisis when pol asked if poland should accept some of the migrants, it was a slight majority that said we should. A couple of months ago, two months ago after two years of this government propaganda, right now 75 poles of our against accepting any migrants. You see the propaganda just within two years. Thus you see the effect of the propaganda within two years. Amy let me ask about the speech that President Trump just gave in warsaw that is being billed as a major address. He actually spent a good amount of time talking about the warsaw uprising. He was not talking about the warsaw ghetto uprising in fact, as far as i could see and listen, i dont think he referred to the jewish ghetto at all. Now, in the new york times, they said polands chief rabbi and other jewish leaders issued a statement thursday morning that was critical of the white house decision not to visit a monument to the war