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Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman
There has never been a more urgent time for courageous, daily, independent news. Media is essential to the functioning of a democratic society. Can you support Democracy Now! with a $15 donation today? With your contribution, we can continue to go to where the silence is, to bring you the voices of the silenced majority – those calling for peace in a time of war, demanding action on the climate catastrophe and advocating for racial and economic justice. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much!
Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman
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President-elect Donald Trump has picked Thomas Homan to serve as his so-called border czar. Homan served as acting director of ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, during the first Trump administration. He has backed Trump’s plans to deport as many as 20 million undocumented immigrants.
During a recent interview on “60 Minutes,” Homan said the mass deportation campaign could also target U.S.-born children who were born to undocumented parents. He was interviewed by Cecilia Vega.
Cecilia Vega: “We have seen one estimate that says it would cost $88 billion to deport a million people a year.”
Thomas Homan: “I don’t know if that’s accurate or not.”
Cecilia Vega: “Is that what American taxpayers should expect?”
Thomas Homan: “What price do you put on national security? Is it worth it?”
Cecilia Vega: “Is there a way to carry out mass deportation without separating families?”
Thomas Homan: “Of course there is. Families can be deported together.”
The appointment of Tom Homan comes as The Wall Street Journal reports advisers to Trump are considering using military bases to hold detained immigrants and military planes to carry out deportations.
In other transition news, CNN is reporting Trump has offered Republican Congressmember Elise Stefanik the job as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Meanwhile, Trump has ruled out jobs in his new administration for former CIA Director Mike Pompeo and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
In other election news, the Associated Press has projected Donald Trump has won the state of Arizona, giving him a clean sweep of the seven battleground states. With Arizona, Trump is projected to have won a total of 312 electoral voters. Kamala Harris won 226.
In other news from Arizona, Decision Desk is now projecting Democrat Rubén Gallego has beaten Republican Kari Lake to fill Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s seat.
Meanwhile, in Nevada, Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen has won reelection, defeating Republican Sam Brown.
Overall, Republicans have won control of the Senate and will soon pick a new majority leader. Three senators are in the running: Senator John Thune of South Dakota, Senator John Cornyn of Texas and Senator Rick Scott of Florida. On Sunday, Trump said the next majority leader must embrace “recess appointments” to make it easier for him to quickly fill posts without Senate oversight.
Sources close to liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor say she has no intention to resign. Some Democrats have privately pushed the 70-year-old justice to step down to give President Biden a chance to nominate a successor before Trump takes office on January 20. Meanwhile, a coalition of groups have announced plans to hold a “People’s March on Washington” on January 18, two days before Trump’s inauguration. Protest organizers include Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and the Women’s March.
The FBI is investigating a spate of racist text messages targeting Black Americans in the wake of Trump’s election victory. The text messages were reported in states including Alabama, Missouri, the Carolinas, Michigan, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, telling recipients they were “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.” The NAACP condemned the messages, warning Trump’s election has emboldened hate groups. We will have more on this story after headlines.
Israel carried out deadly strikes on Gaza, Lebanon and Syria over the weekend, while the United States bombed Yemen over the past two nights. This comes as Saudi Arabia is hosting dozens of world leaders for an Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh to discuss Israeli aggression in the region.
In Gaza, Israel struck a family home in the Jabaliya refugee camp early Sunday, killing 36 Palestinians, including at least 13 children and nine women. Relatives of the family decried the attack.
Ahmed Al-Alooshe: “The home of Abu Sobeh Al-Alooshe was crowded with residents and not affiliated with any organization. They are simply people trying to make a living, minding their own business, and have no involvement with anyone. This strike targeted civilians who have no ties to any groups or organizations. … More than 50 people were there, as their grandchildren, children and daughters — all displaced — had taken refuge with them, seeking safety. The house was struck while they were all inside.”
Israel has killed at least four more Palestinian journalists in Gaza. Mohammed Khreis and his wife died in an airstrike on their tent near the Nuseirat refugee camp. Ahmad and Zahra Abu Sakheil were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a school in al-Tuffah. The radio broadcaster Khaled Abu Zir was killed on Friday.
This comes as the U.N.-backed Famine Review Committee has issued a dire warning saying there is a “strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas” of northern Gaza.
In other news, Qatar has withdrawn from its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas.
Israel is also continuing its assault on Lebanon despite Israeli claims that ceasefire talks are progressing. On Saturday, Israeli strikes killed 20 people in and around the ancient city of Baalbek. On Sunday, an Israeli strike on the village of Almat, north of Beirut, killed 23, including at least three children. Israel also targeted numerous villages in the West Beqaa region.
Ahmad Ali Hajj: “This is my house. I worked so hard my whole life to build it. No one helped me. I did it all by myself through hard work, to raise my family composed of seven to eight souls, and I’m still working actively. I found it all destroyed. I don’t have in it any missiles to attack the Israelis. The enemy is a butcher with no pity nor mercy at all, even for children. We’ve been resisting since our childhood until the end of our lives.”
Lebanese state media reports at least 10 paramedics were also killed over the weekend as Israel continues to target Lebanon’s health workers.
Over the weekend, Russia and Ukraine launched major drone attacks against each other. Russia reportedly fired 145 drones, while Ukraine attacked Moscow with more than 30 drones. Russian attacks overnight killed six in southern Ukraine. Meanwhile, U.S. and Ukrainian officials say 50,000 Russian and North Korean troops are planning to launch a counteroffensive in western Russia to regain land seized by Ukraine.
This all comes as The Washington Post reports Donald Trump spoke on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged him not to escalate the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin has denied the report.
The U.N. climate summit is underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, where government officials, civil society leaders and climate activists are gathered as the planet is on track, yet again, to suffer its hottest year on record and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reach record highs. Recent data shows wealthy countries, including the U.S. and China, embarked on an “oil and gas exploration spree” despite signing on to an agreement at last year’s COP to transition away from coal, oil and gas. Financing for poor nations facing the brunt of the climate collapse will be a top issue at this year’s COP29.
Ahead of the summit, the group Global Witness released covert recordings of Azerbaijan’s COP29 chief executive Elnur Soltanov promoting possible fossil fuel deals with someone posing as an investor. The fake investor told Soltanov they were considering sponsoring COP29 in exchange for deals with Azerbaijan’s state energy firm, SOCAR. This is Soltanov.
Elnur Soltanov: “As I said, we have a lot of pipeline infrastructure. We have a lot of gas fields that are to be developed. We have a lot of green projects that SOCAR is very interested in. There are a lot of joint ventures that could be established, potential joint ventures. Our SOCAR trading is trading oil and gas all over the world, including in Asia. So, to me, these are the possibilities to explore.”
Meanwhile, many delegates at COP29 are bracing for the incoming Trump presidency. Trump’s transition team is reportedly already preparing to once again withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement.
Prominent climate activist Greta Thunberg announced she is not attending COP29 over Azerbaijan’s climate and human rights record. She is calling for protests tonight in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she has been meeting with local activists. Thunberg wrote on social media, “Azerbaijan, using COP29 as a façade, is ramping up control under a false 'green' agenda, tightening its grip on power, and escalating regional tensions.”
Democracy Now! will be reporting live from COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, next week, from November 18 to 22. Tune in to democracynow.org.
In Amsterdam, police beat and arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters Sunday after they defied a ban on demonstrations following street clashes between visiting Israeli soccer fans and Dutch youth. Unrest in the city began on Wednesday when fans of the Maccabi Tel Aviv football team were seen chanting pro-genocide, anti-Arab slogans and tearing down Palestinian flags. Street clashes broke out as tensions escalated before and after the soccer match. Amsterdam’s mayor blamed “antisemitic hit-and-run squads,” but observers in Amsterdam said Israeli hooligans instigated the violence. The violence grew into an international story as Israel sent planes to evacuate the Israeli fans.
Haiti’s transitional council announced it’s ousting interim Prime Minister Garry Conille after six months in the position, a move labeled by Conille as “illegal” and which is likely to further destabilize the country. The former U.N. official had been expected to see Haiti through its long-awaited election for a new president. The council named businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as the new interim prime minister. Fils-Aimé is a businessman, former Senate candidate and son of the prominent Haitian activist Alix Fils-Aimé.
The political shakeup comes amid worsening gang violence and a dire humanitarian crisis in Haiti. On Friday, the U.N. warned famine is spreading to new areas as an international, Kenyan-led security force struggles to contain the bloodshed.
In Pakistan, a bomb blast killed at least 26 people Saturday at a railway station in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province. The separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack.
In other news from Pakistan, thousands of supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan rallied over the weekend to call for his release. Khan’s supporters have been protesting his imprisonment on what they say are politically motivated charges, as well as the disputed results of February’s elections.
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