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A car bomb has exploded
outside a Shiite mosque

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in the Saudi city of Dammam,

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marking the second deadly mosque attack
to hit Saudi Arabia in a week.

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Authorities say four people were killed.

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Last Friday, a suicide attack claimed
by the self-described Islamic State

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killed 21 people
at another Shiite mosque,

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marking one of the worst attacks
to hit Saudi Arabia in years.

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The United Nations has passed
a nonbinding resolution aimed at curbing

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the cultural plundering of Iraq
by the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

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The resolution, adopted unanimously
by the 193-nation General Assembly,

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urges new steps
to curb smuggling of antiquities

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which may be used to finance ISIL.

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It applies only to Iraq, not to Syria,

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where ISIL controls the ancient city
of Palmyra.

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ISIL has posted video
showing the destruction of Iraqi sites,

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including the ancient Assyrian city
of Nimrud.

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U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan
Eliasson said the destruction

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is a loss for all humanity.

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Jan Eliasson: "That this is taking place
today in Iraq,

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the cradle of Mesopotamian civilization,

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represents a loss
not only for the Iraqi people,

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but for all of humanity.

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The international community
must do everything in its power,

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as the acting president just said,

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to halt the destruction
of Iraq’s cultural heritage

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and to hold the perpetrators
to account."

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The soccer governing body

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FIFA is moving ahead with plans
to hold an election today

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to pick the next president
of the organization,

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despite a wide-ranging corruption
scandal.

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Earlier this week,
nine high-ranking soccer officials,

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including two current FIFA
vice presidents,

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were indicted along with five sports
marketing executives

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on federal corruption charges
by the U.S. Justice Department.

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FIFA President Sepp Blatter
is not facing charges,

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and Attorney General Loretta Lynch

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has refused to say
whether he is under investigation.

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At today’s elections in Zurich,

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Blatter is seeking re-election
for the post he has held since 1998.

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Many commentators have predicted
he will be re-elected,

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though some nations,
including the United States,

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have vowed to vote against him.

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On Thursday,
Alaphia Zoyab of the group Avaaz

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was among those who took
to the streets of Zurich

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to call for Blatter to step down.

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Alaphia Zoyab: "Our key message
is that Sepp Blatter needs to step down.

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He has been the head honcho

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of this organization
where corruption has been rampant.

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He has not taken responsibility for it.

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He needs to go.

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And we’ve also seen that FIFA is too
corrupt to care about human rights.

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When they awarded the World Cup
to Qatar,

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we’ve seen that there’s been massive
slavery on all the construction sites.

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FIFA has not really
done anything about it,

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and the FIFA spokesperson just told me
that they’re not even asking Qatar

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to commit to a timeline
to abolish this system."

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Flash floods

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have inundated swaths
of Central Texas again today

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amid a series of severe storms

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which have killed at least 23 people
in both Texas and Oklahoma.

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A number of people remain missing.

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Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared
nearly 40 counties disaster areas,

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and this month has officially become
Texas’ wettest month on record.

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We’ll have more on the floods
and the role of climate change

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later in the broadcast.

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Representatives from countries
around the world gathered in Thailand

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today to discuss the migrant crisis
in Southeast Asia.

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In recent weeks,

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about 3,500 migrants have arrived
in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia,

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while 2,600 more are believed
to be adrift at sea.

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Most are Bangladeshis
and persecuted Rohingya Muslims

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from Burma who are effectively stateless

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because they aren’t considered
citizens in Burma.

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U.S. Assistant Secretary
of State Anne Richard

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called for greater international
cooperation to address the crisis.

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Anne Richard: "We have to save lives
urgently.

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We have to develop better ways of
discussing and meeting on these issues

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and taking action when people
are setting to sea in the boats.

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And then we need to go and look
at the root causes of why people

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feel they have no alternative
but to flee their own countries

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and take such a dangerous,
dangerous trip."

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The ACLU has issued a new report

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documenting racial profiling
and other abuses

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by U.S. Border Patrol agents operating
inside the state of New Mexico.

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There are six permanent Border Patrol
checkpoints in southern New Mexico,

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where agents stop millions
of people annually.

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The report finds border agents
have engaged in "racial profiling,

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unjustified detentions and searches,

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verbal abuse, intimidation,

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physical abuse and interfering

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with the delivery
of emergency medical treatment,"

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all with little effective oversight

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or accountability.

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Ninety percent of abuses
were reported by U.S. citizens,

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the vast majority Latino.

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The ACLU of Southern California has
released a video which shows Barstow,

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California, police wrestling
an African-American woman

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who is eight months
pregnant to the ground.

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Charlena Michelle Cooks was dropping off
her daughter at her elementary school

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when she got into a dispute
with another mother,

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who was white, over parking.

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Police body camera footage shows police
questioning Cooks and asking her name.

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When she gave her name as "Michelle,"
without providing her last name,

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the officers wrestled her down,

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while she pleaded with them,
repeatedly saying she was pregnant.

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Charlena Michelle Cooks: "This is
ridiculous! What are you doing?

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What are you doing?

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I’m pregnant!

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Please! I’m pregnant! Please!"

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Officer: "Why are you resisting, ma’am?

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Why are you resisting?"

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Cooks was charged with resisting arrest,

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and Barstow police have continued
to claim she resisted,

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even though a judge
dismissed the charge.

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Speaking to CNN, Cooks
said police treated her like an animal.

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Charlena Michelle Cooks: "You just
looked at me and said, 'Oh,

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she must be this way.

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' And I’m not that way.

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You make me feel that I’m a way
that I’m not.

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And I work so hard
to provide for my family.

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This is not an issue that I wanted."

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The arrest took place in January.

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Cooks delivered a healthy baby girl
two months later.

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A newly released photo
shows two Chicago police officers

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posing with rifles
beside an African-American man

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with antlers on his head.

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The photo was taken
between 1999 and 2003.

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It was provided by federal prosecutors
to police investigators in 2013

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after one of the two officers
in the photo, Jerome Finnigan,

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was sentenced to 12 years in prison
for leading a group of officers

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who committed robberies
and home invasions.

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The second officer, Timothy McDermott,
was fired last year.

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But the Chicago Police Department

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successfully concealed the photo
from public view

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until a judge rejected their bid
to continue keeping it secret

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earlier this year.

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The police claimed they were trying
to protect the privacy

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of the unidentified
African-American man.

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Former three-term New York
Governor George Pataki has officially

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announced his candidacy for
the Republican presidential nomination.

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In a speech announcing his bid, Pataki

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took aim at Hillary Clinton, claiming
Democrats are the "party of privilege."

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George Pataki: "We are the party
of the middle class,

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unless by middle class they mean someone
who left the White House dead

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broke and 10 years
later had $100 million,

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unless by middle class they mean someone

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who charges a poor country
$500,000 for a half-hour speech.

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That’s their party’s candidate."

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And the former Republican speaker

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of the U.S. House
of Representatives, Dennis Hastert,

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has been indicted on federal charges
of lying to the FBI

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and illegally paying $3.5 million
to an unnamed person

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in order
to conceal unspecified "misconduct."

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Hastert is accused
of withdrawing $1.7 million in cash

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using a method intended
to dodge bank reporting regulations,

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then lying about the withdrawals.

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He served as speaker of the House
from 1999 to 2007,

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making him the longest-serving
Republican speaker in history.

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And those are some of the headlines
this is Democracy Now,

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Democracynow.org,
the War and Peace Report.

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I’m Amy Goodman.

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NERMEEN SHAIKH: We turn now to what some
have described as the largest scandal

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in modern sports history.

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Earlier this week,
nine high-ranking soccer officials,

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including two current vice presidents
of soccer’s world governing body, FIFA,

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were indicted along with five sports
marketing executives

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on federal corruption charges
by the U.S. Justice Department.

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Early on Wednesday, Swiss authorities

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made a series of arrests
at a five-star hotel

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at the request
of the the U.S. authorities.

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AMY GOODMAN: Among those arrested
in connection with the probe

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is Jack Warner,
former vice president of FIFA,

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who is accused
of taking a $10 million bribe

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to cast his ballot for South Africa

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to host the 2010 World Cup.

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U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch

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said the corruption dates back
to at least 1991.

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ATTORNEY GENERAL LORETTA LYNCH: The 14
defendants charged in the indictment

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we are unsealing today
include high-ranking officials of FIFA,

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the international organization
responsible for regulating and promoting

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soccer, leaders
of regional and other governing bodies

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under the FIFA umbrella
and sports marketing executives

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who, according to the indictment,

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paid millions of dollars
in bribes and kickbacks

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to obtain lucrative media
and marketing rights

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to international soccer tournaments.

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The 47-count indictment
against these individuals

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includes charges of racketeering,

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wire fraud and money laundering
conspiracies spanning two decades.

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AMY GOODMAN: On Thursday, the chief
of the IRS Criminal Investigation

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[unit], Richard Weber,
described the corruption within FIFA.

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RICHARD WEBER: As the best financial
investigators in the world,

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IRS-CI special agents exposed
complex money-laundering schemes,

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uncovered millions of dollars
in untaxed income,

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and discovered tens
of millions of dollars

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hidden away in offshore accounts
in countries

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like Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands

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and Switzerland.

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This really is the World Cup of fraud.

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And today we are issuing
FIFA a red card.

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NERMEEN SHAIKH: Despite the arrests,
FIFA is holding an election today

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to pick the next president
of the organization.

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FIFA President Sepp Blatter
is seeking re-election for the post

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he has held since 1998.

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Many commentators have predicted
he will be re-elected,

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though some nations,
including the United States,

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have vowed to vote against him.

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Earlier today, protesters in Zurich
called for Blatter to step down.

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This is Alaphia Zoyab
of the group Avaaz.

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ALAPHIA ZOYAB: If Blatter doesn’t go
despite giving the World Cup

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to a country

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that has slave labor,

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if Blatter doesn’t go despite the fact

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that his sponsors
are starting to wobble,

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and if Blatter doesn’t go
despite the fact

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that half his board has been arrested,

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it’s not just Blatter
that needs to be axed,

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the FIFA Congress
itself needs to be questioned.

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AMY GOODMAN: This week’s FIFA arrests

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are just the latest scandal within
the international soccer community.

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FIFA has also come under criticism
for selecting Qatar

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to host the 2022 games

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despite the country’s poor
human rights record.

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According to the International
Trade Union Confederation,

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1,200 migrant workers have died
since the World Cup was awarded in 2010.

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To talk more about FIFA
and the soccer scandals,

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we’re joined by two guests.

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Jules Boykoff is with us,
former professional soccer player

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who represented
the U.S. Olympic soccer team.

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He now teaches political science
at Pacific University in Oregon,

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joining us from Portland.

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And in Washington, D.C.,
sportswriter Dave Zirin.

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His latest book,
Brazil’s Dance with the Devil:

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The World Cup, the Olympics,

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and the Fight for Democracy.

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Well, Dave, you’ve been
covering this for a long time.

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We were interviewing you in Brazil
when the World Cup was there.

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Are you surprised?

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DAVE ZIRIN: Not surprised at all,

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about as surprised
as I’d be if I fell in a pool

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and emerged wet.

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The only thing that is surprising here

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is that we’re now dealing with charges
that have actual teeth.

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That’s the only surprise.

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I mean, we are talking about the Enron
of sports and a hubris and arrogance

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that is bringing down
a multibillion-dollar corporation.

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The only difference
between FIFA and Enron

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is that FIFA has been designated
a nonprofit by the Swiss government,

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which makes looking at its books

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and finding the extent of the corruption
all the more difficult.

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Now, for Democracy Now!

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listeners and viewers,

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I could understand why people would look
at the U.S. Justice Department

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and say, "Why can’t they
be this aggressive

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towards the Wall Street bankers?

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Why can’t they be this aggressive
towards police brutality?"

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And those viewers
are absolutely correct.

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But people should also realize
that this is a day

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that people should celebrate,

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because it is crippling one
of the most corrupt multinationals

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that we have, sports or otherwise.

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NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Dave, could you
tell us a little bit about Sepp Blatter,

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the president of FIFA?

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He wasn’t among those who was indicted,

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and today he’s running for president,

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for re-election for president of FIFA.

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DAVE ZIRIN: Yes, Sepp Blatter,
as you said,

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he has been in charge of FIFA
for 17 years.

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The thing about Sepp Blatter
that distinguishes him from the people

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who were indicted is that Sepp Blatter
uses his power and influence

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to attain more power.

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He’s less interested in personal
enrichment than he is in influence,

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and this is what has allowed

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him to remain free of prison
these last many years.

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Although Sepp Blatter is also—

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he will not get off a plane
in the United States,

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for fear that he will be arrested.

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That is true.

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There are also people saying
that he might not attend the Women’s

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World Cup in Canada,
for fear that he might be arrested.

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So, you’re talking about somebody
who is effectively a stateless actor,

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somebody who is under investigation,

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who will probably be re-elected
for a fifth term to head FIFA.

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AMY GOODMAN: Are there any U.S. Justice
Department Blatter leaks?

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What will happen to Blatter next, Dave?

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DAVE ZIRIN: That’s a terrific question.

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What is very clear is that Lorreta Lynch
has Blatter in her sights.

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That’s why she said she wanted to uproot
corruption going back 20 years.

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That’s Blatter’s term.

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And let’s be clear about this, too:

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The U.S. Justice Department
is going after FIFA very

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simply because the U.S.
was not awarded the 2022 World Cup.

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If they had been,
I don’t think this investigation

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would be taking place.

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And also let’s keep in mind
that the Justice Department

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has only gone after, at this point,

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a small part of the world—

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North America, Central America,
these confederations.

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What it says to us is that this is
just the tip of the iceberg,

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and if some of these FIFA vice
presidents begin to talk, begin to flip,

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if you will, to use Mafia parlance,

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what we could be looking
at is the bringing down of Sepp Blatter

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and perhaps the beginning
of the end of FIFA itself.

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AMY GOODMAN: Could you talk
about the revelations

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00:16:35.530 --> 00:16:37.870
regarding the Clinton Foundation—
DAVE ZIRIN: Yes.

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AMY GOODMAN: —having received hundreds
of thousands of dollars

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from the Qatari World Cup Committee—
DAVE ZIRIN: Yes.

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AMY GOODMAN: —when Bill Clinton was
serving as the U.S. World Cup delegate

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with the U.S. cup world delegation—

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00:16:51.060 --> 00:16:53.640
the World Cup delegation?
DAVE ZIRIN: Yes.

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Not only has the Clinton Foundation
received hundreds

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00:16:56.640 --> 00:16:59.970
of thousands of dollars
from the Qatar World Cup Committee,

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it has also received millions of dollars
from the Qatari government

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00:17:03.970 --> 00:17:05.480
over the last several years.

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And the Clintons are going to have
to answer this question, because,

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as you said in the intro,

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the Qatari World Cup construction
has an absolutely monstrous body count—

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1,200 deaths—slavery,

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and even the prevention
of Nepalese migrant workers

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of going home to Nepal
after the recent earthquake

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00:17:24.560 --> 00:17:27.360
to go to funerals
for members of their family.

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Now, there is this lore
that’s out there in the media

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that Bill Clinton was so angry

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00:17:32.530 --> 00:17:36.200
after the U.S. did not get
the World Cup bid for 2022,

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he broke a mirror,

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and that signaled that the United States

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was going to get serious
about corruption in the World Cup.

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00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:45.330
This is mainstream media hooey.

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00:17:45.330 --> 00:17:48.820
What you see much more clearly
is a very bizarre,

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00:17:48.820 --> 00:17:50.980
very unexplained connection

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00:17:50.980 --> 00:17:52.880
between the Qatari royal family,

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00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:56.020
the Qatari World Cup bid
and the Clinton Foundation,

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00:17:56.020 --> 00:17:59.870
which allegedly was
to facilitate less labor abuses,

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00:17:59.870 --> 00:18:02.490
when in reality
we have not seen that at all.

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AMY GOODMAN: The Guardian
has an amazing figure:

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Despite Qatar’s promises
to improve conditions,

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Nepali migrants have died at a rate
of one every two days in 2014 in Qatar.

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DAVE ZIRIN: Yeah, and that blood
is on Sepp Blatter’s hands, as well.

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00:18:20.020 --> 00:18:24.050
Even though, ironically, Sepp Blatter
was not in favor of the Qatari bid,

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he has said that this World Cup
will go on in 2022, quote-unquote,

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00:18:28.770 --> 00:18:30.310
"over his dead body"—

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00:18:30.310 --> 00:18:31.460
that’s his words—

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00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:35.480
even though it’s 125 degrees
during the summer in Qatar,

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even though they’re going to have to
have the World Cup in 2022 in the fall,

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which will effectively cut into,

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00:18:42.040 --> 00:18:44.160
if not completely reorganize,

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00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:45.630
the European soccer leagues,

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which are the world’s most popular.

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And that’s why I think 2022,

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if Blatter is re-elected
and if we have a situation

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where he’s not imprisoned,

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00:18:54.410 --> 00:18:57.030
where we could be looking
at the crack-up of FIFA

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00:18:57.030 --> 00:18:58.090
in the years to come,

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00:18:58.090 --> 00:19:00.110
because the splits are really profound.

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00:19:00.110 --> 00:19:01.950
And the splits are unclear.

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00:19:01.950 --> 00:19:05.500
Voting against Blatter today
will not only be the United States,

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00:19:05.500 --> 00:19:09.140
as you mentioned, but also
the Palestinian Football Association.

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00:19:09.140 --> 00:19:11.630
So, if Blatter and FIFA
have done nothing else,

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00:19:11.630 --> 00:19:14.620
they have brought the interests
of Palestine and the interests

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00:19:14.620 --> 00:19:17.180
of the United States together for once.

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00:19:17.180 --> 00:19:18.830
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well,
could you talk about that, Dave?

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00:19:18.830 --> 00:19:23.960
Your recent piece talks about
the Palestinian Football Association’s

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00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:27.400
bid to have
the Israeli Football Association,

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00:19:28.670 --> 00:19:35.150
you know, somehow sanctioned for the way
it treats Palestinian football players.

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00:19:35.150 --> 00:19:36.860
Could you talk about that?

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00:19:36.860 --> 00:19:38.490
DAVE ZIRIN: Yes, sanctioned or expelled.

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It would be the first time
since apartheid South Africa

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that a country was asked to leave FIFA
because of its practices.

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But this news is changing
as I’m speaking to you.

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There are negotiations going on.

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Israel,
from what I hear from news reports,

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is already relenting on what has been
a blockade preventing players in Gaza

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from traveling freely to the West Bank.

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And that’s what the Palestinian Football
Association is charging Israel with.

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00:20:03.980 --> 00:20:07.900
They’re saying they are choking
out their ability to develop soccer

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because of the way

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00:20:08.980 --> 00:20:12.290
that they get in the way
of free movement of players,

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00:20:12.290 --> 00:20:13.740
free movement of coaches.

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00:20:13.740 --> 00:20:18.190
And perhaps the most damning accusation
towards the Israeli Football Association

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00:20:18.190 --> 00:20:22.100
is that they have created
and formed five or six,

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00:20:22.100 --> 00:20:26.430
depending on reports,
clubs in the Occupied Territories,

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00:20:26.430 --> 00:20:28.580
in the settlements of the West Bank,

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so it’s Israeli Football Association

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00:20:30.590 --> 00:20:34.150
using soccer as a way to take land

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that should rightfully be part
of a possible Palestinian state.

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00:20:39.010 --> 00:20:41.420
And they’re saying
that the Israeli Football Association

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should be removed from FIFA unless they
agree to cease these practices.

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00:20:45.870 --> 00:20:49.780
And there are furious negotiations
going on, as we speak,

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00:20:49.780 --> 00:20:51.770
to try to head that off.

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00:20:51.770 --> 00:20:54.490
AMY GOODMAN: Russian President Vladimir
Putin has come out in defense

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of the embattled FIFA president,
Sepp Blatter.

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Russia is due to host the World Cup
in 2018.

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Putin drew comparisons
between the alleged attempt

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00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:06.260
to oust Blatter and the charges brought

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against National Security Agency
whistleblower Edward Snowden,

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00:21:09.590 --> 00:21:12.510
who’s got political asylum in Russia,

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00:21:12.510 --> 00:21:14.990
and WikiLeaks founder
and editor Julian Assange.

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00:21:14.990 --> 00:21:18.680
He accused the U.S.
of meddling outside its jurisdiction.

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00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:19.900
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: [translated]

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00:21:19.900 --> 00:21:22.360
With regard to the arrests
that have been made,

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00:21:22.360 --> 00:21:24.760
it looks very strange, to say the least,

402
00:21:24.760 --> 00:21:25.940
because the arrests have been made

403
00:21:25.940 --> 00:21:29.890
at the request of the American side
on charges of corruption.

404
00:21:29.890 --> 00:21:31.110
And who were charged?

405
00:21:31.110 --> 00:21:32.660
International officials.

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00:21:32.660 --> 00:21:38.620
We can assume that some of them may have
violated something. I don’t know.

407
00:21:38.620 --> 00:21:42.060
But it’s clear that the U.S. has nothing
to do with that anyway.

408
00:21:42.060 --> 00:21:44.790
Those officials are not U.S. citizens.

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00:21:44.790 --> 00:21:46.840
And if some event indeed happened,

410
00:21:46.840 --> 00:21:49.790
and it happened not
on the United States territory,

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00:21:49.790 --> 00:21:51.980
and the U.S. has nothing
to do with that,

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00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:54.290
this is yet another blatant attempt

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00:21:54.290 --> 00:21:57.410
to extend its jurisdiction
to other states.

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AMY GOODMAN: Dave Zirin, your response?
DAVE ZIRIN: Well—

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AMY GOODMAN: That was,
of course, Vladimir Putin.

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DAVE ZIRIN: Well, I mean, Vladimir Putin
will also be having to answer,

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00:22:05.610 --> 00:22:07.060
in the weeks and months to come,

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00:22:07.060 --> 00:22:09.590
new allegations
about the use of prison labor

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00:22:09.590 --> 00:22:11.550
to create World Cup facilities
in Russia.

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00:22:11.550 --> 00:22:15.380
But that being said, one thing
that Putin is saying which is true

421
00:22:15.380 --> 00:22:16.910
is that the United States Justice

422
00:22:16.910 --> 00:22:20.360
Department is using statutes that they—

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00:22:20.360 --> 00:22:24.120
that was granted to it by law
after 9/11 as a way

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00:22:24.120 --> 00:22:28.290
to conduct international antiterror
arrests in other countries

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00:22:28.290 --> 00:22:30.220
that they have extradition agreements
with.

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00:22:30.220 --> 00:22:32.340
So this was a post-9/11 arrest

427
00:22:32.340 --> 00:22:36.430
using antiterror statutes as a way
to arrest foreign officials

428
00:22:36.430 --> 00:22:38.750
and bring them to the United States
for trial.

429
00:22:38.750 --> 00:22:42.660
And these antiterror statutes
are so broad that if someone even tries

430
00:22:42.660 --> 00:22:45.970
to send money through a computer server
in the United States,

431
00:22:45.970 --> 00:22:48.020
it dings off a server in the U.S.,

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00:22:48.020 --> 00:22:49.240
then the U.S. Justice Department

433
00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:52.750
has jurisdiction to go
into another country, conduct an arrest

434
00:22:52.750 --> 00:22:54.810
and bring people back to the U.S.
for trial.

435
00:22:54.810 --> 00:22:57.580
So this is the United States
playing globocop.

436
00:22:57.580 --> 00:22:59.910
That is irrefutable.

437
00:22:59.910 --> 00:23:00.940
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Jules Boykoff,

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00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:02.240
I want to ask you—

439
00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:07.660
you’ve played competitively for the U.S.
in international soccer tournaments.

440
00:23:07.660 --> 00:23:12.040
What was your response
when this scandal broke with FIFA?

441
00:23:12.040 --> 00:23:13.840
And can you say a little about the way

442
00:23:13.840 --> 00:23:16.590
in which soccer
has changed from the time

443
00:23:16.590 --> 00:23:19.820
that you played to now?
JULES BOYKOFF: Absolutely.

444
00:23:19.820 --> 00:23:24.900
Well, corruption in FIFA
has been an open secret for a long time.

445
00:23:24.900 --> 00:23:28.760
I actually was a little bit
surprised when the allegations came out,

446
00:23:28.760 --> 00:23:31.260
and I was surprised
that the Justice Department

447
00:23:31.260 --> 00:23:34.960
would pursue this using the legal means
at its disposal.

448
00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:37.190
Soccer has changed a lot over the years,

449
00:23:37.190 --> 00:23:39.800
and it’s become
a big-time money enterprise,

450
00:23:39.800 --> 00:23:42.040
and there’s a whole lot at stake.

451
00:23:42.040 --> 00:23:45.490
FIFA is supposedly
a nonprofit organization,

452
00:23:45.490 --> 00:23:47.340
yet it sure is profitable.

453
00:23:47.340 --> 00:23:51.150
It has holdings of about $1.5 billion.

454
00:23:51.150 --> 00:23:55.510
It made nearly $5 billion
off the Brazil World Cup.

455
00:23:55.510 --> 00:23:58.520
And so, when you have that kind
of money floating around,

456
00:23:58.520 --> 00:24:02.050
we shouldn’t be surprised
about stories regarding envelopes

457
00:24:02.050 --> 00:24:04.200
full of tens of thousands of dollars,

458
00:24:04.200 --> 00:24:07.720
or we shouldn’t be surprised
by stories like Chuck Blazer,

459
00:24:07.720 --> 00:24:09.520
the U.S. soccer honcho,

460
00:24:09.520 --> 00:24:13.560
who was renting an apartment
at Trump Tower, not too far from you,

461
00:24:13.560 --> 00:24:15.810
at $18,000 a month.

462
00:24:15.810 --> 00:24:20.820
In fact, the guy had an apartment
for his cats at $6,000 a month.

463
00:24:20.820 --> 00:24:23.430
So when you have that kind
of money floating around,

464
00:24:23.430 --> 00:24:26.660
we shouldn’t be surprised that we
see these kind of corrupt activities.

465
00:24:26.660 --> 00:24:28.760
What’s interesting to me, too,
though, beyond that,

466
00:24:28.760 --> 00:24:31.980
beyond the actual illegal corruption,

467
00:24:31.980 --> 00:24:34.070
is the corruption
that’s sort of imbedded

468
00:24:34.070 --> 00:24:36.340
in everyday practice for FIFA.

469
00:24:36.340 --> 00:24:40.290
So, for example,
since 1999, under Sepp Blatter,

470
00:24:40.290 --> 00:24:42.920
he’s distributed funds
through various programs,

471
00:24:42.920 --> 00:24:45.930
including the Goal Project,
Football for Hope,

472
00:24:45.930 --> 00:24:47.810
to various small countries,

473
00:24:47.810 --> 00:24:50.400
and that’s
how he’s gained their allegiance.

474
00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:53.010
So your listeners and viewers
might be wondering how the heck

475
00:24:53.010 --> 00:24:55.800
is this guy going
to possibly get re-elected shortly.

476
00:24:55.800 --> 00:24:57.340
Therein lies the answer.

477
00:24:57.340 --> 00:24:59.670
He’s distributed money,
he’s farmed it out,

478
00:24:59.670 --> 00:25:03.090
and he’s gained the allegiance
from people across the world this way.

479
00:25:03.090 --> 00:25:06.270
So he may well get the two-thirds
he needs in the first vote today.

480
00:25:06.270 --> 00:25:08.730
That’s 140 votes. And if he doesn’t,

481
00:25:08.730 --> 00:25:12.530
he may well get the majority required
in the second round of voting.

482
00:25:12.530 --> 00:25:14.890
AMY GOODMAN: Dave Zirin, before you go,

483
00:25:14.890 --> 00:25:17.820
I wanted to ask you about, you know,
what’s being said

484
00:25:17.820 --> 00:25:21.390
is Loretta Lynch’s first big move
as U.S. attorney general.

485
00:25:21.390 --> 00:25:25.740
Now, she took this with her from being
U.S. attorney here in New York.

486
00:25:25.740 --> 00:25:27.790
But before this, of course,

487
00:25:27.790 --> 00:25:30.580
the indictments
against the banks were announced,

488
00:25:30.580 --> 00:25:31.690
or the settlement.

489
00:25:31.690 --> 00:25:35.610
Now, that was banks, not individuals.

490
00:25:35.610 --> 00:25:37.780
What about that comparison,

491
00:25:37.780 --> 00:25:40.550
that you see all these people
hauled off,

492
00:25:40.550 --> 00:25:44.490
but when it comes to the banks,
no one is named?

493
00:25:44.490 --> 00:25:46.000
DAVE ZIRIN: Yeah,
I think it’s disturbing.

494
00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:51.870
And another one is the real timidity
to go after local police departments,

495
00:25:51.870 --> 00:25:53.860
as well, by the Justice Department,

496
00:25:53.860 --> 00:25:56.040
given some of the cases
like, for example,

497
00:25:56.040 --> 00:25:59.570
the one that you discussed at the top
of the show that’s so horrifying,

498
00:25:59.570 --> 00:26:02.320
about the woman who was pregnant
and brought to the ground.

499
00:26:02.320 --> 00:26:04.910
I think this is something
that people need to demand

500
00:26:04.910 --> 00:26:06.770
and press the Justice Department about.

501
00:26:06.770 --> 00:26:11.040
And frankly, I think it is happening
because FIFA is such low-hanging fruit.

502
00:26:11.040 --> 00:26:14.460
I mean, if you think about it,
it’s not people from the United States.

503
00:26:14.460 --> 00:26:16.250
It looks extremely aggressive.

504
00:26:16.250 --> 00:26:21.000
And FIFA’s reputation has been
terrible for about 20, 25 years.

505
00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:24.260
And so, this idea of, oh, people
are actually doing something about FIFA,

506
00:26:24.260 --> 00:26:25.380
especially at a time

507
00:26:25.380 --> 00:26:29.330
when soccer is growing in popularity
in the United States,

508
00:26:29.330 --> 00:26:32.790
this is a very, very popular,
bipartisan move

509
00:26:32.790 --> 00:26:34.200
for the United States to do.

510
00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:36.860
And for the right wing,
it also looks very muscular,

511
00:26:36.860 --> 00:26:40.590
because it’s going overseas
to play globocop and make an arrest

512
00:26:40.590 --> 00:26:43.500
and bring people then
back to the United States for trial.

513
00:26:43.500 --> 00:26:46.590
Yet lost in all of this
is the precedent, first of all,

514
00:26:46.590 --> 00:26:50.030
that the U.S. is setting
by going overseas on a non-terror case

515
00:26:50.030 --> 00:26:51.880
to make an arrest and bring people back.

516
00:26:51.880 --> 00:26:54.880
And what’s being lost
is that you have bankers in this country

517
00:26:54.880 --> 00:27:00.300
who facilitated the largest theft
in the history of thieves back in 2008,

518
00:27:00.300 --> 00:27:02.120
and yet they remain free.

519
00:27:02.120 --> 00:27:05.330
I think that’s something people
need to continue to press

520
00:27:05.330 --> 00:27:06.970
and ask this Justice Department:

521
00:27:06.970 --> 00:27:09.070
If they’re this muscular with FIFA,

522
00:27:09.070 --> 00:27:11.660
why not with the Wall Street bankers?

523
00:27:11.660 --> 00:27:14.920
AMY GOODMAN: Jules Boykoff,
talk about the women’s cup.

524
00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:18.820
JULES BOYKOFF: Well, that’s one
of the sad facts of all this,

525
00:27:18.820 --> 00:27:21.830
is that the Women’s World Cup
is going to start on June 6,

526
00:27:21.830 --> 00:27:25.720
and it’s getting totally overshadowed
by this FIFA corruption scandal.

527
00:27:25.720 --> 00:27:27.260
It’s going to be a terrific tournament.

528
00:27:27.260 --> 00:27:28.930
Canada is hosting it.

529
00:27:28.930 --> 00:27:30.700
We’re going to see women
from across the world

530
00:27:30.700 --> 00:27:33.080
play some terrific soccer
in front of us.

531
00:27:33.080 --> 00:27:36.160
Unfortunately, they’re going
to be playing on artificial turf fields,

532
00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:38.380
which has been a point
of major disagreement

533
00:27:38.380 --> 00:27:41.290
from the women players
who will be coming to Canada,

534
00:27:41.290 --> 00:27:43.600
because of the possibility
of injury increasing

535
00:27:43.600 --> 00:27:44.840
and because it changes the game,

536
00:27:44.840 --> 00:27:48.030
makes it a bit faster and different
than it is on grass.

537
00:27:48.030 --> 00:27:54.290
But certainly, FIFA has a long history
of flinging misogyny in every direction.

538
00:27:54.290 --> 00:27:58.360
Back in 2004, Sepp Blatter
stated quite clearly,

539
00:27:58.360 --> 00:28:00.830
when asked
how we could make the women’s game

540
00:28:00.830 --> 00:28:02.050
more popular in the world,

541
00:28:02.050 --> 00:28:04.870
he suggested
that they wear tighter shorts.

542
00:28:04.870 --> 00:28:06.160
For real.

543
00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:09.590
Ten years later,
he didn’t even recognize Alex Morgan,

544
00:28:09.590 --> 00:28:11.420
one of the top three players
in the world,

545
00:28:11.420 --> 00:28:13.540
up for the FIFA Player
of the Year award.

546
00:28:13.540 --> 00:28:16.780
He didn’t even recognize her
at the gala banquet dinner.

547
00:28:16.780 --> 00:28:17.640
A couple—

548
00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:19.200
also, beyond that,

549
00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:21.400
he walked up to Abby Wambach’s wife,

550
00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:24.790
Sarah Huffman, and thought
she was Marta, the Brazilian star

551
00:28:24.790 --> 00:28:27.180
who had won the FIFA award five times.

552
00:28:27.180 --> 00:28:31.640
So, misogyny in FIFA,
sexism in FIFA runs deep.

553
00:28:31.640 --> 00:28:33.790
And this has been
one of the sad side effects,

554
00:28:33.790 --> 00:28:36.890
is that we’re not talking about what’s
going to be a terrific tournament.

555
00:28:36.890 --> 00:28:38.800
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we want to thank you
both for being with us.

556
00:28:38.800 --> 00:28:44.820
Jules Boykoff teaches political science
at Pacific University in Oregon,

557
00:28:44.820 --> 00:28:46.360
author of Activism and the Olympics:

558
00:28:46.360 --> 00:28:48.830
Dissent at the Games
in Vancouver and London,

559
00:28:48.830 --> 00:28:52.150
as well as Celebration Capitalism
and the Olympic Games.

560
00:28:52.150 --> 00:28:53.240
In the ’80s and ’90s,

561
00:28:53.240 --> 00:28:56.710
he represented the U.S. Olympic soccer
team in international competition.

562
00:28:56.710 --> 00:29:00.160
And thanks to Dave Zirin,
sports columnist for The Nation.

563
00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:01.440
This is Democracy Now!

564
00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:06.320
When we come back, we go to Texas,
where floods have killed many people.

565
00:29:06.320 --> 00:29:09.550
We’ll talk about climate change,
from Texas to India.

566
00:29:09.550 --> 00:29:11.250
Stay with us.

567
00:29:11.250 --> 00:29:13.070
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Severe storms
that began last week

568
00:29:13.070 --> 00:29:16.030
in Texas and Oklahoma
have killed at least 23 people,

569
00:29:16.030 --> 00:30:23.000
and the damage is so extensive
that Texas Governor Greg Abbott

570
00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:26.620
has declared nearly 40 counties
disaster areas.

571
00:30:26.620 --> 00:30:29.390
In Houston, many highways
turned into waterways,

572
00:30:29.390 --> 00:30:32.910
and more than a thousand cars
were submerged under water.

573
00:30:32.910 --> 00:30:36.620
President Obama has pledged federal
assistance to help the state recover,

574
00:30:36.620 --> 00:30:40.830
but cleanup efforts were stalled
Thursday as thunderstorms continued.

575
00:30:40.830 --> 00:30:44.040
Some of the worst flooding
happened in the small town of Wimberley,

576
00:30:44.040 --> 00:30:45.850
between San Antonio and Austin,

577
00:30:45.850 --> 00:30:49.770
where the Blanco River rose 28 feet
in just an hour,

578
00:30:49.770 --> 00:30:51.480
cresting at 40 feet—

579
00:30:51.480 --> 00:30:53.350
more than triple its flood stage

580
00:30:53.350 --> 00:30:55.320
of 13 feet.

581
00:30:55.320 --> 00:30:57.830
This is Hays County
Commissioner Will Conley.

582
00:30:58.730 --> 00:31:02.120
WILL CONLEY: Our community
along the Blanco River in Hays County

583
00:31:02.120 --> 00:31:05.060
and our colleagues
in Blanco County and Caldwell

584
00:31:05.060 --> 00:31:09.870
and in Gonzales County have been
devastated by a tsunami of water,

585
00:31:09.870 --> 00:31:12.860
a historic tsunami of water

586
00:31:12.860 --> 00:31:17.510
that came down the Blanco River
very quickly,

587
00:31:17.510 --> 00:31:19.390
in a very powerful way.

588
00:31:19.390 --> 00:31:21.760
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Among those still
missing is Laura McComb

589
00:31:21.760 --> 00:31:24.140
and her two young children,
who were in their house

590
00:31:24.140 --> 00:31:28.120
when floodwaters from the Blanco River
washed it off its foundation.

591
00:31:28.120 --> 00:31:29.440
Her sister, Julie Shields,

592
00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:32.760
described how she received a phone call
from McComb around 1:00 a.m.

593
00:31:32.760 --> 00:31:33.810
Tuesday morning.

594
00:31:34.320 --> 00:31:35.430
JULIE SHIELDS: The roof collapsed.

595
00:31:36.890 --> 00:31:39.460
"We are in a house
that is now floating down the river.

596
00:31:41.860 --> 00:31:42.900
Call Mom and Dad.

597
00:31:44.800 --> 00:31:47.000
I love you. And pray."

598
00:31:48.330 --> 00:31:49.920
And it was incredibly calm.

599
00:31:50.900 --> 00:31:52.400
And she knew.

600
00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:53.510
She knew.

601
00:31:53.510 --> 00:31:58.330
And some people never
get the opportunity to say goodbye.

602
00:31:58.330 --> 00:32:00.750
And the conversation that we had—

603
00:32:05.340 --> 00:32:06.550
you don’t realize it at the time.

604
00:32:06.550 --> 00:32:07.910
I mean, I thought that, you know,

605
00:32:07.910 --> 00:32:10.500
I’d be the big sister bailing out
the little sister the next morning,

606
00:32:10.500 --> 00:32:12.220
because she had to get off the phone.

607
00:32:12.220 --> 00:32:13.620
She saw a light.

608
00:32:13.620 --> 00:32:15.840
They thought they
were about to get rescued.

609
00:32:15.840 --> 00:32:18.260
So, me thinking—I’m seeing
all these water rescues,

610
00:32:18.260 --> 00:32:21.570
it’s the helicopter coming down,
they’re lowering the hoist,

611
00:32:21.570 --> 00:32:22.820
and they’re going to pull her up.

612
00:32:23.500 --> 00:32:25.820
And I just expected to go
to the Wimberley high school

613
00:32:25.820 --> 00:32:27.990
the next day and find her.

614
00:32:27.990 --> 00:32:29.440
And then, when she wasn’t there,

615
00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:31.430
I knew something was very, very wrong.

616
00:32:31.430 --> 00:32:32.940
AMY GOODMAN: The historic floods

617
00:32:32.940 --> 00:32:36.040
in Texas come as the state
is just ending an extreme drought.

618
00:32:36.040 --> 00:32:37.670
For more, we go directly to Texas.

619
00:32:37.670 --> 00:32:38.780
We’re joined by two guests.

620
00:32:38.780 --> 00:32:42.780
In Austin, Forrest Wilder is
associate editor of The Texas Observer,

621
00:32:42.780 --> 00:32:44.820
where he’s covered the state’s
environment for more than a decade.

622
00:32:44.820 --> 00:32:46.880
He’s originally from Wimberley.

623
00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:48.370
And joining us via Democracy Now!

624
00:32:48.370 --> 00:32:51.130
video stream from outside Dallas
is Katharine Hayhoe,

625
00:32:51.130 --> 00:32:54.300
atmospheric scientist and director
of the Climate Science Center

626
00:32:54.300 --> 00:32:55.780
at Texas Tech University,

627
00:32:55.780 --> 00:32:57.860
also the founder and CEO

628
00:32:57.860 --> 00:32:59.420
of ATMOS Research,

629
00:32:59.420 --> 00:33:00.770
an organization created

630
00:33:00.770 --> 00:33:03.790
to bridge the gap between scientists
and industry and government.

631
00:33:03.790 --> 00:33:06.410
She’s co-author of the book,
A Climate for Change:

632
00:33:06.410 --> 00:33:08.790
Global Warming Facts
for Faith-Based Decisions.

633
00:33:08.790 --> 00:33:10.690
In 2014, Time magazine

634
00:33:10.690 --> 00:33:14.680
named her one of the 100 most
influential people in America.

635
00:33:14.680 --> 00:33:17.030
We welcome you both to Democracy Now!

636
00:33:17.030 --> 00:33:19.180
Katharine Hayhoe, let’s begin with you.

637
00:33:19.180 --> 00:33:21.790
What are you seeing in Texas right now?

638
00:33:21.790 --> 00:33:24.180
Can you relate these horrific floods

639
00:33:24.180 --> 00:33:27.950
that have killed a number
of people to climate change?

640
00:33:29.330 --> 00:33:32.420
KATHARINE HAYHOE: Well,
this is our severe weather season,

641
00:33:32.420 --> 00:33:36.290
so this is the time of year when we
typically do get severe weather patterns

642
00:33:36.290 --> 00:33:38.600
like we’re seeing this month.

643
00:33:38.600 --> 00:33:40.420
But they are relentless.

644
00:33:40.420 --> 00:33:44.120
We are seeing these lines of storms

645
00:33:44.120 --> 00:33:47.740
pass through with only a day
or two or three in between them.

646
00:33:47.740 --> 00:33:50.360
We had one last night,
we’re expecting another tomorrow.

647
00:33:51.420 --> 00:33:54.250
These storms are getting an extra shot
of adrenalin from El Niño.

648
00:33:54.250 --> 00:33:57.230
We haven’t had an El Niño year
for quite some time.

649
00:33:57.940 --> 00:34:01.220
But we also know that, as humans,

650
00:34:01.220 --> 00:34:04.200
we have altered the background
conditions of our atmosphere,

651
00:34:04.820 --> 00:34:06.400
through putting
all of this carbon dioxide

652
00:34:06.400 --> 00:34:08.830
into the atmosphere,
so every weather event

653
00:34:08.830 --> 00:34:11.500
that happens has some component
of climate change in it.

654
00:34:11.500 --> 00:34:13.270
And in the case of heavy rainfall,

655
00:34:13.270 --> 00:34:16.690
we know that what climate change
is doing is increasing the amount

656
00:34:16.690 --> 00:34:20.770
of water vapor that’s sitting there
in the atmosphere for these storms

657
00:34:20.770 --> 00:34:22.370
to pick up and dump on us.

658
00:34:23.560 --> 00:34:27.360
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Forrest Wilder,
you’re in Wimberley.

659
00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:29.420
Could you describe what happened there,

660
00:34:29.420 --> 00:34:33.050
where the flash flood
was compared to a tsunami?

661
00:34:34.050 --> 00:34:36.390
FORREST WILDER: Right.
The Blanco River, on a normal day,

662
00:34:36.390 --> 00:34:38.710
it’s a pretty small river. It’s shallow.

663
00:34:38.710 --> 00:34:41.980
It’s a very beautiful,
calm, serene kind of place.

664
00:34:41.980 --> 00:34:43.630
It is prone to flash flooding.

665
00:34:43.630 --> 00:34:46.290
We’ve seen that, you know,

666
00:34:46.290 --> 00:34:47.350
many, many times.

667
00:34:47.350 --> 00:34:50.950
But this was just orders
of magnitude more extreme

668
00:34:50.950 --> 00:34:54.400
than anything
that is on the historical record

669
00:34:54.400 --> 00:34:56.820
or that anybody alive
has ever witnessed.

670
00:34:56.820 --> 00:35:01.240
Basically, we had supersaturated
soil conditions from all the rainfall

671
00:35:01.240 --> 00:35:02.250
that we’re getting.

672
00:35:02.250 --> 00:35:03.350
And then, on top of that,

673
00:35:03.350 --> 00:35:06.570
we had, in the watershed, you know,
10 inches in some places.

674
00:35:06.570 --> 00:35:09.500
And what that did is it just
generated just a massive amount

675
00:35:09.500 --> 00:35:13.600
of water flowing into the river
in a very short time span,

676
00:35:14.190 --> 00:35:19.240
and it just rolled downriver
and took out hundreds of homes.

677
00:35:19.240 --> 00:35:20.700
And, of course,
there was a loss of life.

678
00:35:20.700 --> 00:35:22.670
There’s still people that are missing.

679
00:35:24.130 --> 00:35:26.620
There are folks trapped in their homes,
trapped on top of their homes,

680
00:35:26.620 --> 00:35:27.750
people in the water.

681
00:35:28.920 --> 00:35:33.330
This was unlike really anything
that anyone has seen,

682
00:35:33.330 --> 00:35:37.540
and it happened so fast that it
was very difficult to see it coming

683
00:35:37.540 --> 00:35:39.290
or to be prepared for it, frankly.

684
00:35:40.040 --> 00:35:41.720
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And what are Texas
lawmakers

685
00:35:41.720 --> 00:35:46.620
doing to address climate change,
given the severity of what’s occurring?

686
00:35:47.970 --> 00:35:50.980
FORREST WILDER: Well, I think,
in a word, basically nothing.

687
00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:55.100
We’re just completing
our legislative session,

688
00:35:55.100 --> 00:35:58.840
in which there were a handful of
climate-related bills that were filed,

689
00:35:58.840 --> 00:36:01.200
some that are pretty benign, you know,

690
00:36:01.200 --> 00:36:05.370
things like requiring state agencies
to add to their preparedness

691
00:36:05.370 --> 00:36:09.080
plans taking a look at extreme weather,

692
00:36:09.080 --> 00:36:10.720
taking a look at climate change.

693
00:36:10.720 --> 00:36:13.340
That bill was unable to get passed.
In fact,

694
00:36:13.340 --> 00:36:16.390
it was voted down overwhelmingly
by the Republican majority.

695
00:36:17.470 --> 00:36:19.080
Basically, we have a situation—

696
00:36:19.080 --> 00:36:20.820
continue to have a situation in Texas

697
00:36:20.820 --> 00:36:24.540
where our political leadership
doesn’t believe in climate change,

698
00:36:24.540 --> 00:36:27.740
or at least
not human-caused climate change.

699
00:36:27.740 --> 00:36:32.110
And so, there’s just a situation
of inaction at the political level.

700
00:36:32.110 --> 00:36:34.750
I think it’s a little bit different
if you’re talking about ordinary people,

701
00:36:34.750 --> 00:36:36.710
who are starting
to make some connections

702
00:36:36.710 --> 00:36:40.070
between these extreme weather events
and climate change.

703
00:36:40.070 --> 00:36:42.610
But there’s a disconnect
between people’s understanding

704
00:36:42.610 --> 00:36:45.910
and experience
and what’s happening in our Capitol.

705
00:36:45.910 --> 00:36:47.810
AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn
to Texas senator and Republican

706
00:36:47.810 --> 00:36:49.610
presidential hopeful, Ted Cruz.

707
00:36:49.610 --> 00:36:52.400
He voted against a federal disaster
relief bill

708
00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:55.550
in the aftermath
of Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast,

709
00:36:55.550 --> 00:36:59.160
calling it, quote, "symptomatic
of a larger problem in Washington—

710
00:36:59.160 --> 00:37:02.140
an addiction
to spending money we do not have."

711
00:37:02.140 --> 00:37:03.330
But on Wednesday, he

712
00:37:03.330 --> 00:37:08.710
called for federal relief in the wake
of the floods and storms in Texas.

713
00:37:09.620 --> 00:37:11.770
SEN. TED CRUZ: The federal
government’s role, once the governor

714
00:37:11.770 --> 00:37:16.210
declares a disaster area
and makes a request—

715
00:37:16.210 --> 00:37:20.360
I am confident that the Texas
congressional delegation, Senator Cornyn

716
00:37:20.360 --> 00:37:21.380
and I,

717
00:37:21.380 --> 00:37:22.620
and the members of Congress,

718
00:37:22.620 --> 00:37:24.090
both Republicans and Democrats,

719
00:37:24.090 --> 00:37:29.140
will stand united as the Texans
in support of the federal government

720
00:37:29.140 --> 00:37:31.030
fulfilling its statutory obligations

721
00:37:31.030 --> 00:37:34.400
and stepping in to respond
to this natural disaster.

722
00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:36.120
AMY GOODMAN: Texas Senator Ted Cruz

723
00:37:36.120 --> 00:37:39.690
has also disputed the scientific
research about climate change.

724
00:37:39.690 --> 00:37:41.260
This is Ted Cruz speaking

725
00:37:41.260 --> 00:37:43.850
in March during an interview
with The Texas Tribune.

726
00:37:44.510 --> 00:37:47.970
SEN. TED CRUZ: On the global warming
alarmists, anyone who actually points

727
00:37:47.970 --> 00:37:51.780
to the evidence that disproves
their apocalyptical claims,

728
00:37:52.300 --> 00:37:53.950
they don’t engage in reasoned debate.

729
00:37:53.950 --> 00:37:57.010
What do they do?
They scream, "You’re a denier!"

730
00:37:57.010 --> 00:37:58.920
They brand you a heretic.

731
00:37:58.920 --> 00:37:59.970
You know, it is—

732
00:37:59.970 --> 00:38:05.420
today, the global warming alarmists
are the equivalent of the flat-earthers.

733
00:38:05.420 --> 00:38:09.480
You know, it used to be it is accepted
scientific wisdom the Earth is flat,

734
00:38:09.480 --> 00:38:13.320
and this heretic named
Galileo was branded a denier.

735
00:38:14.080 --> 00:38:17.580
AMY GOODMAN: And last week, Jeb Bush,
while the former governor of Florida,

736
00:38:17.580 --> 00:38:19.450
his family lives in Texas—

737
00:38:19.450 --> 00:38:21.560
his father,
President George H.W. Bush,

738
00:38:21.560 --> 00:38:24.460
as well as his brother,
President George W. Bush—

739
00:38:24.460 --> 00:38:26.130
last week, Jeb Bush,

740
00:38:26.130 --> 00:38:28.360
a presidential contender himself,

741
00:38:28.360 --> 00:38:32.870
was asked about climate change
by David Brody of The Daily Signal.

742
00:38:32.870 --> 00:38:36.580
DAVID BRODY: A lot of folks
are wondering if climate change is real.

743
00:38:36.580 --> 00:38:38.970
I know you seem to suggest it is.

744
00:38:38.970 --> 00:38:42.090
Do you believe humans, then, are partly,
if not fully,

745
00:38:42.090 --> 00:38:43.990
responsible for something like this?
JEB BUSH: No, I don’t.

746
00:38:43.990 --> 00:38:45.040
The climate is changing.
DAVID BRODY: Right.

747
00:38:45.040 --> 00:38:48.570
JEB BUSH: I don’t think
anybody can argue that it’s not.

748
00:38:48.570 --> 00:38:50.670
And I’m not—

749
00:38:50.670 --> 00:38:54.360
I don’t think anybody truly knows
what percentage of this is man-made

750
00:38:54.360 --> 00:38:57.660
and which percentage
is just the natural evolution

751
00:38:57.660 --> 00:38:59.590
of what happens over time

752
00:38:59.590 --> 00:39:00.720
on this planet.
DAVID BRODY: Sure.

753
00:39:00.720 --> 00:39:02.530
JEB BUSH: I think we
have a responsibility

754
00:39:02.530 --> 00:39:07.370
to adapt to what the possibilities are,
without destroying our economy,

755
00:39:07.370 --> 00:39:09.780
without hollowing out
our industrial core.

756
00:39:09.780 --> 00:39:13.180
There are things that we could do
that are commonsensical about this.

757
00:39:13.180 --> 00:39:17.200
The problem is, climate change
has been co-opted by the hardcore left,

758
00:39:17.200 --> 00:39:22.340
and if you don’t march to their beat
perfectly, then you’re a denier.

759
00:39:22.340 --> 00:39:26.620
You know, this is back
to this lack of civility, I think,

760
00:39:26.620 --> 00:39:27.740
in American political life,

761
00:39:27.740 --> 00:39:29.500
where even if you—

762
00:39:29.500 --> 00:39:32.110
I mean, you have to agree
with people now 100 percent of the time,

763
00:39:32.110 --> 00:39:36.020
or you’re as bad as someone
who disagrees with you completely.

764
00:39:36.020 --> 00:39:37.240
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Jeb Bush.

765
00:39:37.240 --> 00:39:39.850
He hasn’t actually announced
that he’s running for president,

766
00:39:40.600 --> 00:39:45.690
but that is what he has suggested
for the last months.

767
00:39:45.690 --> 00:39:49.780
Katharine Hayhoe, you have dealt
with this issue of climate denialism.

768
00:39:49.780 --> 00:39:51.610
You dealt with it in your own family,

769
00:39:51.610 --> 00:39:55.950
with your husband,
who now co-wrote your latest book.

770
00:39:55.950 --> 00:39:59.900
You head up the Climate Science Center
at Texas Tech University.

771
00:39:59.900 --> 00:40:03.640
Talk about what Ted Cruz
and Jeb Bush are saying

772
00:40:03.640 --> 00:40:07.990
and how you tie it to your own religion
as an evangelical,

773
00:40:07.990 --> 00:40:13.140
the issue of climate change
and human-induced climate chaos.

774
00:40:14.460 --> 00:40:17.800
KATHARINE HAYHOE: Well, when we hear
people saying things like these quotes

775
00:40:17.800 --> 00:40:18.800
that you just played,

776
00:40:19.330 --> 00:40:22.550
it’s natural to assume, "Oh,
they have a problem with the science.

777
00:40:22.550 --> 00:40:26.110
So what we need to do is we need
to explain the science more clearly.

778
00:40:26.710 --> 00:40:28.990
Maybe we need some colored figures.

779
00:40:28.990 --> 00:40:33.610
Maybe we need a primer or some type
of basic explanation of the science

780
00:40:33.610 --> 00:40:36.240
that we’ve known for almost 200 years."

781
00:40:36.240 --> 00:40:37.430
But here’s the thing.

782
00:40:38.200 --> 00:40:43.880
What the social science tells us is
they don’t really object to the science.

783
00:40:44.880 --> 00:40:46.470
What they really object to—

784
00:40:46.470 --> 00:40:48.360
and if you listen carefully to Jeb Bush,

785
00:40:48.360 --> 00:40:49.770
he alluded to this—

786
00:40:49.770 --> 00:40:52.680
what they really
object to are the solutions,

787
00:40:52.680 --> 00:40:56.720
because, by definition, climate change
is a tragedy of the commons.

788
00:40:56.720 --> 00:40:59.000
That means that we don’t,
as individuals,

789
00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:01.660
have enough incentive
to solve it ourselves.

790
00:41:01.660 --> 00:41:05.980
We require—it requires some type
of large-scale action,

791
00:41:05.980 --> 00:41:08.280
like putting a price on carbon,

792
00:41:08.280 --> 00:41:10.770
which in turn
requires government intervention.

793
00:41:11.720 --> 00:41:14.440
But you can’t really say, politically,

794
00:41:14.440 --> 00:41:16.150
"Oh, sure it’s a real problem.

795
00:41:16.150 --> 00:41:18.430
Of course it is. But I don’t want
to do anything about it."

796
00:41:19.020 --> 00:41:21.010
That’s very politically unacceptable.

797
00:41:21.010 --> 00:41:23.940
It’s a lot easier to say
it isn’t a real problem

798
00:41:24.530 --> 00:41:25.640
than to say, "It is,

799
00:41:25.640 --> 00:41:28.530
but I don’t like any of the solutions
that have been proposed."

800
00:41:29.270 --> 00:41:31.410
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And how do you,
Katharine, deal with climate

801
00:41:31.410 --> 00:41:34.720
deniers now yourself,
particularly in Texas?

802
00:41:35.770 --> 00:41:37.160
KATHARINE HAYHOE: Well,
whenever we talk to people,

803
00:41:37.160 --> 00:41:41.180
I think the first thing
to do is to bond over our shared values

804
00:41:41.180 --> 00:41:46.710
and connect those pre-existing shared
values to the issue of climate change.

805
00:41:46.710 --> 00:41:49.260
So often,
as you just heard in the quotes,

806
00:41:49.260 --> 00:41:52.240
people think, "Oh, well,
you can only care about climate change

807
00:41:52.240 --> 00:41:54.160
if you’re a hardcore liberal,

808
00:41:54.160 --> 00:41:56.190
or if you’re a green tree hugger,

809
00:41:56.190 --> 00:41:58.380
you know, or if you’re this list
of certain things,

810
00:41:58.380 --> 00:42:01.660
and if you’re not any of those things,
you can’t care about climate change."

811
00:42:01.660 --> 00:42:02.990
So the first thing I always do

812
00:42:02.990 --> 00:42:05.510
is I try to connect the dots
between something

813
00:42:05.510 --> 00:42:07.660
that people already care about,

814
00:42:07.660 --> 00:42:11.400
whether it’s national security,
our water resources,

815
00:42:11.400 --> 00:42:14.120
the safety of our family
and our community,

816
00:42:14.120 --> 00:42:15.290
or our health.

817
00:42:15.290 --> 00:42:18.380
I mean, we can connect the dots
between almost anything

818
00:42:18.380 --> 00:42:21.350
that anybody
cares about and climate change.

819
00:42:21.350 --> 00:42:24.260
AMY GOODMAN: How can—how did you
deal with it in your own family,

820
00:42:24.260 --> 00:42:25.470
with your husband?

821
00:42:25.470 --> 00:42:27.380
Talk about your evangelical roots

822
00:42:27.380 --> 00:42:33.720
and how you actually
believe that evangelicals—

823
00:42:33.720 --> 00:42:34.890
there’s a growing movement

824
00:42:34.890 --> 00:42:38.450
of evangelicals who talk
about being stewards of the Earth.

825
00:42:39.680 --> 00:42:41.120
KATHARINE HAYHOE: Well, talking
about values,

826
00:42:41.120 --> 00:42:43.360
talking about what is already
in people’s heart,

827
00:42:43.360 --> 00:42:45.390
there’s no greater value for many people

828
00:42:45.390 --> 00:42:47.850
than the values
that come from our faith.

829
00:42:47.850 --> 00:42:49.730
So, for example, for Christians,

830
00:42:49.730 --> 00:42:51.680
we believe that God created the world,

831
00:42:51.680 --> 00:42:53.260
that God gave the world to people

832
00:42:53.260 --> 00:42:55.820
to care for every living thing.

833
00:42:55.820 --> 00:42:57.230
That comes from Genesis.

834
00:42:57.230 --> 00:42:59.120
And then,
if we go over to the New Testament,

835
00:42:59.120 --> 00:43:03.200
we know that God wants us to love
and care for other people.

836
00:43:03.200 --> 00:43:06.630
The greatest commandment is to love God
and then love your neighbor as yourself.

837
00:43:06.630 --> 00:43:08.850
We’re constantly told
to care for the poor and the needy

838
00:43:08.850 --> 00:43:11.620
and the disadvantaged and those
who don’t have the resources we do.

839
00:43:11.620 --> 00:43:16.020
So, that is the value that we
can connect directly to climate change,

840
00:43:16.020 --> 00:43:19.380
because the people who are being most
impacted by climate change

841
00:43:19.380 --> 00:43:23.090
are the people
who don’t have the resources to adapt.

842
00:43:23.090 --> 00:43:25.810
AMY GOODMAN: Speaking of which,
India right now, I mean,

843
00:43:25.810 --> 00:43:30.150
we’re talking about 20 people
who have died in Texas,

844
00:43:30.150 --> 00:43:32.300
and we see how horrific it is.

845
00:43:32.300 --> 00:43:36.740
In India, at this point,
we’re talking about 1,800 people,

846
00:43:36.740 --> 00:43:38.060
it is believed, have died,

847
00:43:38.060 --> 00:43:41.980
and the numbers are probably
much higher, the death toll.

848
00:43:41.980 --> 00:43:47.590
A local resident describes the impact
of the scorching heat in India.

849
00:43:48.500 --> 00:43:50.120
ANDHRA PRADESH RESIDENT: All the pets
and all the children,

850
00:43:50.120 --> 00:43:52.710
all the grandparents are suffering
a lot, because of the heat.

851
00:43:52.710 --> 00:43:56.250
If even we can see a simple person
sitting in the home is sweating a lot

852
00:43:56.250 --> 00:43:57.490
due to the dehydration.

853
00:43:58.380 --> 00:44:00.200
Nighttime also,
because of the power cuts,

854
00:44:00.200 --> 00:44:01.380
and from the morning—

855
00:44:01.380 --> 00:44:03.500
from the morning and night
and even in the midday,

856
00:44:03.500 --> 00:44:06.540
the power cuts is creating a lot
of problems for the households

857
00:44:06.540 --> 00:44:08.440
and to all the family members.

858
00:44:08.440 --> 00:44:09.450
This summer, I think,

859
00:44:09.450 --> 00:44:11.730
is the worst summer
ever seen by the wiser people.

860
00:44:12.740 --> 00:44:16.650
AMY GOODMAN: So,
India now is dealing with a heat wave,

861
00:44:16.650 --> 00:44:18.610
and these deaths from the heat wave

862
00:44:18.610 --> 00:44:23.020
have now been reported
in at least four Indian states.

863
00:44:23.020 --> 00:44:24.270
Katharine Hayhoe?

864
00:44:26.320 --> 00:44:28.860
KATHARINE HAYHOE: This is a pattern
that we’re seeing around the world.

865
00:44:28.860 --> 00:44:30.140
Back in 2003,

866
00:44:30.140 --> 00:44:34.020
there was a heat wave in Europe
that, when all was done and told,

867
00:44:34.020 --> 00:44:40.130
was responsible for over 70,000 deaths
that would not have occurred otherwise.

868
00:44:40.130 --> 00:44:44.550
So, we are seeing heat waves
that have always occurred naturally.

869
00:44:44.550 --> 00:44:46.580
Heat waves are part
of life on this planet.

870
00:44:46.580 --> 00:44:49.750
We are seeing these heat waves
getting more frequent

871
00:44:49.750 --> 00:44:52.550
and getting stronger
because of climate change.

872
00:44:52.550 --> 00:44:53.830
The way I think of it is,

873
00:44:53.830 --> 00:44:56.560
we always had a chance
of rolling a double six,

874
00:44:56.560 --> 00:44:59.420
that extreme heat wave,
on our climate dice.

875
00:44:59.420 --> 00:45:02.110
But what climate change is doing
is it’s going in,

876
00:45:02.110 --> 00:45:05.890
and it’s replacing a few other numbers
with sixes,

877
00:45:05.890 --> 00:45:09.400
so our chances of rolling
those double sixes are going up,

878
00:45:09.400 --> 00:45:12.900
and climate change is even replacing
some of those sixes with sevens,

879
00:45:12.900 --> 00:45:15.460
so our heat waves
are getting stronger, too.

880
00:45:15.460 --> 00:45:19.200
So, again, what climate change is doing
is it’s taking a natural pattern,

881
00:45:19.200 --> 00:45:20.370
a natural event,

882
00:45:20.950 --> 00:45:24.210
and it’s giving it that extra
little bump of steroid, so to speak,

883
00:45:24.210 --> 00:45:25.710
just like a baseball player.

884
00:45:25.710 --> 00:45:28.100
So those heat waves
are getting stronger,

885
00:45:28.100 --> 00:45:29.360
and they’re getting more frequent.

886
00:45:29.860 --> 00:45:32.190
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Forrest Wilder,
you covered the drought,

887
00:45:32.190 --> 00:45:34.210
the recent drought,
in Texas extensively.

888
00:45:34.210 --> 00:45:36.660
Could you talk about what the impact
of that’s been?

889
00:45:37.500 --> 00:45:39.990
FORREST WILDER: Right. I mean,
one of the sort of startling things

890
00:45:39.990 --> 00:45:43.740
about all this flooding
is we were just in a very bad drought

891
00:45:43.740 --> 00:45:46.570
for about six years or so,

892
00:45:47.110 --> 00:45:48.360
by some measures

893
00:45:48.360 --> 00:45:50.670
the most extreme drought

894
00:45:50.670 --> 00:45:53.240
that we’ve had in a very long time,

895
00:45:53.240 --> 00:45:56.380
a drought of record in places.

896
00:45:57.290 --> 00:45:59.040
For example, in 2011,

897
00:45:59.040 --> 00:46:02.440
we had a statewide average
of about 14 inches of rainfall.

898
00:46:02.990 --> 00:46:06.920
In Austin, which is about in the middle
of the state in terms of geography

899
00:46:06.920 --> 00:46:10.760
and in average rainfall, you know,
we usually get about 33 inches.

900
00:46:10.760 --> 00:46:18.010
There were several million acres of
ranchland and rural areas that burned.

901
00:46:18.610 --> 00:46:22.390
We had urban wildfires here in Austin
that we’d never really had before.

902
00:46:22.390 --> 00:46:25.270
We had a state park that burned down.

903
00:46:25.270 --> 00:46:28.190
We had reservoirs
that were—that ran dry.

904
00:46:28.190 --> 00:46:30.850
We had communities
that ran out of water.

905
00:46:31.370 --> 00:46:33.970
We had very large agricultural losses,

906
00:46:33.970 --> 00:46:36.870
I think something on the order
of $5 billion, $6 billion.

907
00:46:38.310 --> 00:46:39.950
It was basically—

908
00:46:39.950 --> 00:46:43.190
again, I think Texas
is prone to drought.

909
00:46:43.190 --> 00:46:44.970
Texas is prone to flooding.

910
00:46:44.970 --> 00:46:48.470
But this drought was extraordinary.

911
00:46:48.470 --> 00:46:50.150
The heat, for example, again,

912
00:46:50.150 --> 00:46:52.840
in 2011, was off the charts.

913
00:46:53.510 --> 00:46:55.470
We had—here in Austin,

914
00:46:55.470 --> 00:47:00.410
we had 90 days of 100-plus—

915
00:47:01.150 --> 00:47:03.120
over 100 degrees Fahrenheit weather.

916
00:47:04.080 --> 00:47:09.400
And so, I think what we saw was,
going from this extreme drought

917
00:47:09.400 --> 00:47:14.000
to extreme flooding kind
of in a matter of about six years,

918
00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:15.000
some of the extremes

919
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:21.240
that we know that we can expect
under various climate change scenarios.

920
00:47:22.110 --> 00:47:25.250
So, it was kind of a—
it was an object lesson for many of us

921
00:47:25.250 --> 00:47:29.500
about what we may be facing
in the future under climate change.

922
00:47:29.500 --> 00:47:31.030
AMY GOODMAN: You’re from Wimberley.

923
00:47:31.030 --> 00:47:33.890
How—you’re talking to us,
though, from Austin.

924
00:47:33.890 --> 00:47:36.770
How is it to cover your home community,

925
00:47:36.770 --> 00:47:40.770
and what this physically means,
the people you’ve spoken to here?

926
00:47:42.790 --> 00:47:43.980
FORREST WILDER: It’s difficult.

927
00:47:44.710 --> 00:47:48.750
You know, a lot of people
I know have lost their homes,

928
00:47:48.750 --> 00:47:55.440
and I’m going this weekend to help
with the cleanup of a family friend.

929
00:47:55.440 --> 00:47:58.500
And, you know,
he was rescued at 4:00 in the morning

930
00:47:59.040 --> 00:48:01.310
in his home with water up to his neck.

931
00:48:02.130 --> 00:48:04.240
He was lucky to get out alive.

932
00:48:04.240 --> 00:48:07.640
It’s an older gentleman.
He basically lost everything he has.

933
00:48:07.640 --> 00:48:10.530
I mean, we heard stories
about some family friends

934
00:48:10.530 --> 00:48:12.590
of ours that live on the river.

935
00:48:12.590 --> 00:48:15.900
The road that they live on,
theirs was the only house that was left.

936
00:48:15.900 --> 00:48:18.500
They talked about how they got up
in the middle of the night,

937
00:48:18.500 --> 00:48:20.920
and they looked out the window,
and they saw a car with headlights

938
00:48:20.920 --> 00:48:22.930
that was coming down the river.

939
00:48:22.930 --> 00:48:27.320
They heard people screaming on top of
their roofs up there with flashlights.

940
00:48:28.230 --> 00:48:30.730
They get up the next morning,
and all of those homes are gone.

941
00:48:30.730 --> 00:48:33.750
And the landscape,
the environment has changed.

942
00:48:33.750 --> 00:48:37.570
There’s these huge cypress trees
that line the Blanco River,

943
00:48:37.570 --> 00:48:39.120
just enormous trees, that are just—

944
00:48:39.120 --> 00:48:40.390
many of them are just gone.

945
00:48:40.390 --> 00:48:44.050
They’ve been uprooted or stripped
of their bark, fallen over.

946
00:48:44.650 --> 00:48:48.560
So, it’s one of these disaster scenarios
where you wake up and you look around,

947
00:48:48.560 --> 00:48:50.520
and nothing’s really the same.

948
00:48:51.170 --> 00:48:53.880
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we want to thank you
both for being with us,

949
00:48:53.880 --> 00:48:56.900
Forrest Wilder of The Texas Observer,

950
00:48:56.900 --> 00:48:59.340
speaking to us from Austin,
from Wimberley,

951
00:48:59.340 --> 00:49:00.860
and Katharine Hayhoe,

952
00:49:00.860 --> 00:49:04.180
Climate Science Center
at Texas Tech University,

953
00:49:04.180 --> 00:49:06.660
speaking to us from just outside Dallas.

954
00:49:06.660 --> 00:49:07.970
This is Democracy Now!

955
00:49:07.970 --> 00:49:46.360
We’ll be back in a moment.

956
00:49:55.830 --> 00:50:04.750
NERMEEN SHAIKH: The United Nations
is coming under criticism

957
00:50:04.750 --> 00:50:07.930
for failing to investigate allegations
of sexual exploitation

958
00:50:07.930 --> 00:50:10.540
of children
by French peacekeeping troops

959
00:50:10.540 --> 00:50:12.250
in the Central African Republic

960
00:50:12.250 --> 00:50:16.200
between December 2013 and June 2014.

961
00:50:16.200 --> 00:50:18.010
The Guardian obtained a leaked report

962
00:50:18.010 --> 00:50:20.780
that says French soldiers
raped and sodomized starving

963
00:50:20.780 --> 00:50:24.580
and homeless young boys who they were
suppose to be protecting at a center

964
00:50:24.580 --> 00:50:29.130
for internally displaced people
during intense fighting in the country.

965
00:50:29.130 --> 00:50:31.770
Even after the exploitation
was brought to the attention

966
00:50:31.770 --> 00:50:36.430
of senior U.N. officials, the U.N.
never reported it to French authorities,

967
00:50:36.430 --> 00:50:39.840
nor did it do anything
to immediately stop the abuse.

968
00:50:39.840 --> 00:50:44.830
So far, the only person to be punished
is a U.N. aid worker, Anders Kompass,

969
00:50:44.830 --> 00:50:46.860
who stepped outside official channels

970
00:50:46.860 --> 00:50:51.140
to alert French authorities
to the sexual exploitation occurring.

971
00:50:51.140 --> 00:50:54.490
Kompass has since been accused
of leaking a confidential report

972
00:50:54.490 --> 00:50:58.490
in breach of U.N. protocols
and now faces dismissal.

973
00:50:58.490 --> 00:51:01.280
The Guardian obtained the leaked report
from Paula Donovan,

974
00:51:01.280 --> 00:51:02.860
who will join us shortly.

975
00:51:02.860 --> 00:51:04.020
She and other activists

976
00:51:04.020 --> 00:51:07.200
have just launched
a new campaign called Code Blue,

977
00:51:07.200 --> 00:51:11.210
which seeks to hold the United Nations
accountable for sexual misconduct.

978
00:51:11.210 --> 00:51:12.380
Earlier this month, the group

979
00:51:12.380 --> 00:51:14.910
held a press conference
to announce the campaign.

980
00:51:14.910 --> 00:51:17.480
This is Stephen Lewis
of AIDS-Free World,

981
00:51:17.480 --> 00:51:21.510
followed by Theo Sowa
of the African Women’s Development Fund

982
00:51:21.510 --> 00:51:25.200
and Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury
of Bangladesh.

983
00:51:25.200 --> 00:51:28.390
STEPHEN LEWIS: Never,
but never, can sexual exploitation

984
00:51:28.390 --> 00:51:31.160
and abuse
be subject to immunity.

985
00:51:31.160 --> 00:51:32.720
That’s the first step.

986
00:51:32.720 --> 00:51:35.070
The second step flows logically.

987
00:51:35.070 --> 00:51:38.640
Once the immunity
is removed from non-military personnel,

988
00:51:38.640 --> 00:51:41.520
then the military
will be under tremendous pressure

989
00:51:41.520 --> 00:51:45.780
to expunge sexual exploitation
and abuse from their ranks.

990
00:51:45.780 --> 00:51:50.500
THEO SOWA: When the U.N.
becomes the protectors of predators

991
00:51:50.500 --> 00:51:53.550
instead of the prosecutors of predators,

992
00:51:53.550 --> 00:51:56.920
that destroys me,
because I believe in the U.N.

993
00:51:56.920 --> 00:51:58.450
AMBASSADOR ANWARUL CHOWDHURY: 
Transparency, I think,

994
00:51:58.450 --> 00:52:00.010
is the keyword here.

995
00:52:00.010 --> 00:52:06.390
We need to be open about how many
such cases are there of sexual abuse

996
00:52:06.390 --> 00:52:12.490
and exploitation,
which countries are involved in it,

997
00:52:13.240 --> 00:52:14.340
what they are doing,

998
00:52:14.340 --> 00:52:19.560
and how the cases now being sent
by the U.N. to them are being handled.

999
00:52:19.560 --> 00:52:21.710
AMY GOODMAN: United Nations
peacekeeping missions

1000
00:52:21.710 --> 00:52:24.220
have long been dogged
by allegations of sexual abuse,

1001
00:52:24.220 --> 00:52:26.530
from the Democratic Republic
of Congo to Kosovo

1002
00:52:26.530 --> 00:52:29.070
to Bosnia, also Burundi,
Haiti and Liberia.

1003
00:52:29.070 --> 00:52:32.630
In March, the U.N. came under criticism
for ignoring an internal report

1004
00:52:32.630 --> 00:52:34.210
that called sexual exploitation,

1005
00:52:34.210 --> 00:52:38.510
quote, "the most significant risk" to
peacekeeping missions across the globe.

1006
00:52:38.510 --> 00:52:41.620
The leaked document described a culture
of "impunity" when dealing

1007
00:52:41.620 --> 00:52:44.240
with sexual misconduct cases
among U.N. peacekeepers,

1008
00:52:44.240 --> 00:52:46.400
saying, quote, "UN personnel
in all the missions

1009
00:52:46.400 --> 00:52:50.070
we visited could point to numerous
suspected or quite visible cases

1010
00:52:50.070 --> 00:52:51.230
of [sexual exploitation and abuse]

1011
00:52:51.230 --> 00:52:54.430
that are not being counted
or investigated."

1012
00:52:54.430 --> 00:52:55.490
For more, we go to Boston,

1013
00:52:55.490 --> 00:52:57.810
Massachusetts,
where we are joined by Paula Donovan,

1014
00:52:57.810 --> 00:52:59.670
co-director of AIDS-Free World,

1015
00:52:59.670 --> 00:53:02.500
which has launched
the Code Blue campaign.

1016
00:53:02.500 --> 00:53:05.130
Paula Donovan, in the last two weeks,

1017
00:53:05.130 --> 00:53:07.500
you’ve issued major findings.

1018
00:53:07.500 --> 00:53:09.870
You first held a news conference
at the U.N.

1019
00:53:09.870 --> 00:53:11.510
and now released another report.

1020
00:53:11.510 --> 00:53:13.270
Tell us what you have found.

1021
00:53:14.540 --> 00:53:16.070
PAULA DONOVAN: What we’ve found overall,

1022
00:53:16.070 --> 00:53:20.520
Amy, is that there is
a tremendous amount of lip service

1023
00:53:20.520 --> 00:53:22.650
given to the zero tolerance

1024
00:53:22.650 --> 00:53:26.520
for sexual exploitation
and abuse policy by the United Nations.

1025
00:53:26.520 --> 00:53:30.880
And that really came to light
over the past month or so,

1026
00:53:30.880 --> 00:53:33.260
when we received leaked documents

1027
00:53:33.260 --> 00:53:36.660
about this U.N. official,
Anders Kompass,

1028
00:53:36.660 --> 00:53:38.620
who was under fire,

1029
00:53:38.620 --> 00:53:46.230
ostensibly for having leaked a document
that demonstrated how serious,

1030
00:53:46.230 --> 00:53:47.610
very serious,

1031
00:53:47.610 --> 00:53:52.640
documented cases
of the rape and sodomy of children,

1032
00:53:52.640 --> 00:53:56.780
of young boys in the Central African
Republic, had been known to the U.N.,

1033
00:53:56.780 --> 00:53:58.950
had been documented by the U.N.,

1034
00:53:58.950 --> 00:54:02.660
and had been completely
ignored by them for eight months.

1035
00:54:02.660 --> 00:54:04.200
And what it shows

1036
00:54:04.200 --> 00:54:07.380
is that when the United Nations
learns of these abuses,

1037
00:54:07.380 --> 00:54:09.680
it seems to be that the first—

1038
00:54:09.680 --> 00:54:13.150
the first response is to simply lie low

1039
00:54:13.150 --> 00:54:17.370
and see whether or not they can get away
with not reporting it to governments

1040
00:54:17.370 --> 00:54:19.230
and not alerting the public

1041
00:54:19.230 --> 00:54:20.300
about the danger,

1042
00:54:20.300 --> 00:54:22.140
the imminent danger that they’re in,

1043
00:54:22.140 --> 00:54:27.330
and just sort
of maintaining almost a forensic view

1044
00:54:27.330 --> 00:54:31.340
that "we’ll watch
as these abuses go on and develop,

1045
00:54:31.340 --> 00:54:32.820
and maybe record them,

1046
00:54:32.820 --> 00:54:35.330
but we have no obligation to intervene."

1047
00:54:35.330 --> 00:54:37.440
And the Office

1048
00:54:37.440 --> 00:54:40.420
of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights and UNICEF

1049
00:54:40.420 --> 00:54:43.590
were taking these horrible testimonies
from children,

1050
00:54:43.590 --> 00:54:45.750
as the abuse was continuing,

1051
00:54:45.750 --> 00:54:47.340
mainly by French soldiers,

1052
00:54:47.340 --> 00:54:50.700
also by Equatorial Guinean
and Chadian soldiers,

1053
00:54:50.700 --> 00:54:55.100
and simply sitting on the reports
for a month at a time,

1054
00:54:55.100 --> 00:55:01.570
continuing to take these documented
cases and testimonies from the children,

1055
00:55:01.570 --> 00:55:04.640
and then eventually
sending them on to Geneva

1056
00:55:05.150 --> 00:55:09.250
to the headquarters
of the human rights office,

1057
00:55:09.250 --> 00:55:11.260
where only one person

1058
00:55:11.260 --> 00:55:12.440
stepped up and said,

1059
00:55:12.440 --> 00:55:14.690
"I need to alert the French right away

1060
00:55:14.690 --> 00:55:16.910
and get an investigation started."

1061
00:55:16.910 --> 00:55:18.980
He’s now, months and months later,

1062
00:55:18.980 --> 00:55:22.200
under review for having handed over

1063
00:55:22.200 --> 00:55:26.880
the document with the information
about the kids and the soldiers

1064
00:55:26.880 --> 00:55:30.360
they described to the authorities
who could—in France,

1065
00:55:30.360 --> 00:55:33.040
who could take things into hand.

1066
00:55:33.040 --> 00:55:34.960
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And how have
the French authorities

1067
00:55:34.960 --> 00:55:38.100
responded since this has come to light?

1068
00:55:39.580 --> 00:55:41.640
PAULA DONOVAN: They have—initially,

1069
00:55:41.640 --> 00:55:45.980
they opened an investigation,
a preliminary investigation,

1070
00:55:45.980 --> 00:55:50.730
in July of 2014,

1071
00:55:50.730 --> 00:55:53.730
when Anders Kompass first
handed the document over to them.

1072
00:55:53.730 --> 00:55:57.830
It seems as though that was stalled
almost immediately by the refusal

1073
00:55:57.830 --> 00:56:01.290
of the United Nations to allow them to—

1074
00:56:01.290 --> 00:56:06.650
to allow the police to talk
to the people who had interviewed—

1075
00:56:06.650 --> 00:56:09.750
the U.N. staff
who had interviewed the children

1076
00:56:09.750 --> 00:56:12.210
and could give them more information
about their whereabouts

1077
00:56:12.210 --> 00:56:13.320
and about the soldiers.

1078
00:56:13.320 --> 00:56:15.550
Then there was a long period of silence,

1079
00:56:15.550 --> 00:56:17.930
when no one
appears to have done anything.

1080
00:56:17.930 --> 00:56:22.550
And once AIDS-Free World
exposed this to the media—

1081
00:56:22.550 --> 00:56:24.980
and that was only on April 29th,

1082
00:56:24.980 --> 00:56:28.470
2015—then things kicked into gear,

1083
00:56:28.470 --> 00:56:32.610
and the French have now taken up
their investigation again in earnest.

1084
00:56:32.610 --> 00:56:36.360
AMY GOODMAN: Paula Donovan,
we only have about two minutes to go.

1085
00:56:36.360 --> 00:56:39.820
You’re leading a campaign
to get rid of immunity

1086
00:56:39.820 --> 00:56:43.150
in the United Nations
around sexual abuse and exploitation.

1087
00:56:43.150 --> 00:56:47.990
Explain how the U.N.
shields its own members from due process

1088
00:56:47.990 --> 00:56:50.430
when they are accused of sexual assault.

1089
00:56:51.280 --> 00:56:56.820
PAULA DONOVAN: Under an ancient
convention from 1946, the U.N. staff

1090
00:56:56.820 --> 00:57:01.660
are all protected from being involved
in any sort of legal process.

1091
00:57:01.660 --> 00:57:03.100
So whether they’re witnesses,

1092
00:57:03.100 --> 00:57:04.610
whether they have evidence,

1093
00:57:04.610 --> 00:57:06.800
whether they’re the perpetrators
themselves,

1094
00:57:06.800 --> 00:57:10.500
if it has to do
with sexual exploitation and abuse,

1095
00:57:10.500 --> 00:57:14.540
then the secretary-general has to,
on a case-by-case basis,

1096
00:57:14.540 --> 00:57:16.350
decide to waive their immunity

1097
00:57:16.350 --> 00:57:19.120
and allow them to be subject
to what the rest of the world

1098
00:57:19.120 --> 00:57:20.270
is subject to—

1099
00:57:20.270 --> 00:57:24.450
called in to testify, cooperating
with a criminal investigation,

1100
00:57:24.450 --> 00:57:28.120
or actually arrested,
in the case of perpetrators.

1101
00:57:28.120 --> 00:57:31.180
And this just infects
the entire U.N. system,

1102
00:57:31.180 --> 00:57:33.620
and the way
they deal with sexual exploitation

1103
00:57:33.620 --> 00:57:36.920
and abuse is such a sham
that we’re essentially saying

1104
00:57:36.920 --> 00:57:42.010
it needs an external, independent
investigation from top to bottom.

1105
00:57:44.100 --> 00:57:45.720
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And so,
what do you think the U.N.—

1106
00:57:45.720 --> 00:57:49.970
what kinds of internal changes
are you calling for within the U.N.

1107
00:57:49.970 --> 00:57:54.830
so that these allegations can be dealt
with in a better way in the future?

1108
00:57:54.830 --> 00:57:56.230
PAULA DONOVAN: I think—right,

1109
00:57:56.230 --> 00:58:01.510
so as the Central African Republic case
shows, serious member states

1110
00:58:01.510 --> 00:58:04.130
of the United Nations
have to take hold of things,

1111
00:58:04.130 --> 00:58:07.160
and they need to move in and figure out:

1112
00:58:07.160 --> 00:58:11.340
When an allegation of sexual abuse
is first brought to light,

1113
00:58:11.340 --> 00:58:14.640
what are the—
what are the mandated protocols?

1114
00:58:14.640 --> 00:58:15.940
How do we respond?

1115
00:58:15.940 --> 00:58:20.550
And then, what do the various agencies
and institutions within the entities

1116
00:58:20.550 --> 00:58:22.470
within the U.N. have to do?

1117
00:58:22.470 --> 00:58:23.760
Should UNICEF—

1118
00:58:23.760 --> 00:58:25.890
and my answer is absolutely yes—

1119
00:58:25.890 --> 00:58:28.280
should they have to move in immediately

1120
00:58:28.280 --> 00:58:29.590
to protect—
AMY GOODMAN: Five seconds.

1121
00:58:29.590 --> 00:58:31.440
PAULA DONOVAN: —children
from further abuse?

1122
00:58:31.440 --> 00:58:34.510
The whole U.N. needs
to be looked at from top to bottom

1123
00:58:34.510 --> 00:58:37.510
by an external commission.

1124
00:58:37.510 --> 00:58:39.480
AMY GOODMAN: Paula Donovan,
thanks so much for being with us,

1125
00:58:39.480 --> 00:58:40.790
co-director of AIDS-Free World,

1126
00:58:40.790 --> 00:58:42.910
which has launched
the Code Blue campaign,

1127
00:58:42.910 --> 00:58:44.630
seeking to end sexual exploitation

1128
00:58:44.630 --> 00:58:48.430
and abuse by U.N. military
and non-military peacekeeping personnel.