WEBVTT

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From Pacifica,
this is Democracy Now!

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This is a very,
very dangerous storm

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of catastrophic consequence,

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and folks need to not
underestimate that.

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It is going to be a sustained
challenge for the coming days.

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A catastrophic storm
has hit Texas,

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and the flooding is expected to
only worsen in the coming days,

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in what may be the worst
flooding disaster

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in U.S. history.

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Parts of Texas could be hit by
as much as 50 inches of rain.

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At least five people have died,

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but the death toll
is expected to rise.

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We’ll go to Houston
for the latest

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and look at the connection
between climate change

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and this unprecedented storm.

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Then we look at why the storm
may be particularly dangerous

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for undocumented immigrants,

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who may be afraid to seek help.

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And we’ll talk about Arizona
Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

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On the eve of Hurricane Harvey
hitting Texas,

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President Trump pardoned Arpaio,

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who was recently convicted
of contempt of court

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for defying a court order

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to stop his deputies
from racial profiling.

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I’m very happy.
I have to thank the president

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of the United States
for his pardon.

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As I say, he’s a big friend,
supporter of law enforcement.

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I think this is a bigger
picture than just me.

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We’ll get response from
an editorial writer

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for The Arizona Republic.

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All of that and more, coming up.

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Welcome to Democracy Now!,
democracynow.org,

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The War and Peace Report.
I’m Amy Goodman.

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In Texas, at least
five people have died

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amid catastrophic
flooding in Houston,

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the fourth-largest city
in the United States.

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The crisis began on Friday
when Hurricane Harvey

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made landfall
in Rockport, Texas.

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It was the most powerful
hurricane to hit Texas

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in more than 50 years.

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The National Weather Service
issued a warning saying,

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"This event is unprecedented &
all impacts are unknown

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& beyond anything experienced.

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Follow orders from officials
to ensure safety."

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The Washington Post reports
the storm has already

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dumped more than 9 trillion
gallons of water—enough water

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to fill the Great Salt Lake
in Salt Lake City twice.

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And meteorologists
project another 5

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to 10 trillion gallons of water

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could be dumped on
the region in coming days.

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This is U.S. Coast Guard
Vice Admiral Karl Schultz.

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Vice Adm. Karl Schultz:
"This is a very,

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very dangerous storm

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of catastrophic consequence.

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And folks need to not
underestimate that.

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It is going to be a sustained
challenge for the coming days.

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Many times, folks wrongly
presume the wind event

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is going to be the most
challenging event.

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I’ve seen, over the course
of my career,

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that it was actually
the water event.

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And we are in for a real
significant water event

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in the coming days."

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Both the death toll
and the flooding are expected

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to rise in the coming days.

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We’ll go to Houston
after headlines.

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In more climate-related news,

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more than 1,200 people
have now died

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amid historic flooding
in Bangladesh, Nepal and India.

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This year’s monsoon season
has brought torrential downpours

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that have submerged
wide swaths of South Asia,

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destroying tens of thousands
of homes, schools and hospitals

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and affecting up
to 40 million people.

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On Sunday, Pope Francis prayed
for the victims of the flooding.

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Pope Francis: "Dear brothers
and sisters, in the past days,

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major floods
have hit Bangladesh,

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Nepal and northern India.

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I express my closeness
to the people,

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and I pray for the victims

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and those who suffer
because of this calamity."

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Scientists have linked
increasing rainfall

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and deadly flooding
in South Asia to climate change.

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Southern China is also reeling
from extreme weather,

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as a severe tropical storm
made landfall on Sunday,

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only days after a historic
typhoon killed 22 people.

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Typhoon Hato was the fiercest
typhoon to hit Macau,

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on China’s southern coast,
in nearly 50 years.

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Back in the United States,

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as Hurricane Harvey was
bearing down on Texas,

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President Trump
pardoned the notorious

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racist Arizona
Sheriff Joe Arpaio,

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who was convicted
of contempt of court

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for defying a court order

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to stop his deputies
from racial profiling.

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Arpaio has been a major
supporter of Donald Trump.

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Arpaio’s policies have
included detaining immigrants

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in a scorching outdoor
tent city jail,

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which Arpaio once referred to
as his own "concentration camp."

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He was voted out of office

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as Maricopa County’s
longtime sheriff

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after immigrants organized
a massive grassroots

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election campaign against him.

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Immigrant rights activists have
widely condemned the pardon,

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saying Trump’s pardon sanctions

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illegal discrimination
against immigrants.

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This is Francisca Porchas
of the group Puente Arizona,

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speaking on Democracy Now!

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Francisca
Porchas: "For us,

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it’s a slap in the face
of all of the years

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of organizing that it took
for us to hold him accountable,

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of the lawsuit that came
because of his racial

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profiling in the streets.

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... Who should be pardoned are
the people who he criminalized,

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the people who are now
not ever going to be able

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to come out of the shadows,
as you may say,

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or have a real chance
at living a normal life."

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The United Nations has condemned
Trump over his response

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to the deadly white supremacist
violence in Charlottesville,

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saying it was "deeply concerned"

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by "the failure
at the highest political level

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of the United States of America

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to unequivocally reject
and condemn" the violence.

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Trump has faced widespread
backlash over his response,

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including from National Economic
Council Director Gary Cohn,

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who reportedly drafted up
a resignation letter

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following Charlottesville.

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In an interview with
the Financial Times,

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Cohn said Trump’s administration

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"must do better in consistently

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and unequivocally
condemning these groups."

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In recent days, three people
have been arrested

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and charged in connection
to the violence on August 12,

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in which white supremacists
killed one person

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and wounded dozens more.

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Among those arrested
was Richard Wilson Preston,

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the imperial wizard
of the Baltimore-area

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Confederate White Knights,

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who was charged with firing
a gun near a school.

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Video footage shows Preston,

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who was wearing
a bulletproof vest,

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walked up to an African-American
man at close range

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and fired a shot at the ground
right in front of him.

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Preston then turned around

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and walked past a line
of state troopers,

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who witnessed the shooting
but did not move.

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Meanwhile, in Oklahoma,

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the newly appointed
police chief of Texoma

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has resigned after
the local news

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revealed he was the owner
of a neo-Nazi website.

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The Southern Poverty Law Center

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says former Police
Chief Bart Alsbrook

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was also previously
the Texas coordinator

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of the skinhead group

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Blood & Honour.

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Trump’s former White House
adviser Sebastian

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Gorka has left
the White House

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and says he’ll rejoin
the far-right-wing website

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Breitbart News.

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The White House
claims it fired

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Gorka, though Gorka
claims he resigned.

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The Jewish newspaper
The Forward has reported

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that Gorka has ties
to a Hungarian

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far-right,
Nazi-allied group

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and that he supported
an anti-Semitic

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and racist paramilitary
militia in Hungary

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while he served as
a Hungarian politician.

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At Breitbart, Gorka will
work alongside former

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White House chief strategist

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Steve Bannon, who also left the
White House earlier this month.

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On Friday, President Trump
signed a directive

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instructing the military to stop
paying for medical treatment

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for transgender people currently
serving in the U.S. military,

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and halting an Obama-era plan

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that would have allowed
transgender people

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to be recruited into
the U.S. armed forces.

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The move follows
Trump’s announcement

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last month on Twitter

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that he’d ban transgender people

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from serving
in the U.S. military.

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Among those who have
criticized Trump over the ban

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is Interior Secretary
Ryan Zinke’s

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daughter Jennifer Detlefsen,

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who is a Navy veteran
and said of Trump,

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"This man is a disgrace."

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This is ACLU attorney
Chase Strangio,

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speaking on Democracy Now!

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on Friday, just before
the memo was signed.

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Chase Strangio: "The reality is
that the military has $1 billion

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in its budget for healthcare.
This is a fraction of that.

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And what it reflects
is a misunderstanding

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and discrimination of
transgender individuals."

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The U.S. military currently
spends about $8.4 million

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on medical services

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for transgender
troops—a fraction

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of the military’s budget.

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In contrast, the Center
for American Progress

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says President Trump
has run up a $29 million budget

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on his 11 trips
to his private golf resorts

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Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster
so far this year.

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In Yemen, a U.S.-backed,
Saudi-led airstrike killed

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at least 16 civilians

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when it struck
a residential neighborhood

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in the capital Sana’a
on Friday morning.

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Among the victims
were eight children.

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The United Nations says
at least 42 civilians

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were killed by Saudi-led bombing
last week alone.

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In Somalia, U.S. soldiers and
Somali troops carried out a raid

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in which 10 people
were shot dead,

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including three children,

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in a village near the capital
Mogadishu on Friday.

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Local lawmakers say
the victims were farmers.

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This is an eyewitness
to the attack.

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Muqtar Moaalim Abdi:

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"American forces
attacked us in our farms

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and killed these people,
including children.

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Those killed were farmers,
who were innocent,

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and not al-Shabab fighters."

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In South Sudan, at least
19 people were killed,

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including a U.S. journalist,

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amid fighting between
South Sudanese forces

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and rebel soldiers in
the southern town of Kaya

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on Saturday.

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Twenty-six-year-old
freelance journalist

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Christopher Allen was embedded
with the rebel soldiers

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when he was killed.

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He graduated from the University
of Pennsylvania in 2013.

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Fighting in South Sudan

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has killed tens
of thousands of people

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and displaced more than
a million since 2014.

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The U.S.-backed Iraqi military

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says it’s seized
control of Tal Afar

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from ISIS militants.

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The eight-day offensive
to take control of the city,

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which sits about
50 miles west of Mosul,

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was backed by a U.S.
bombing campaign.

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In Afghanistan, a suicide bomb
attack at the entrance

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to a Shiite mosque
in the capital

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Kabul killed up to 30 people

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gathering for Friday prayers.

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ISIS militants have claimed
responsibility for the attack.

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Meanwhile, at least 13

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Afghan soldiers and civilians
were killed in a suicide bomb

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attack on a military convoy
in Helmand province Sunday.

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The Taliban has claimed
responsibility for this attack.

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In Spain,
a half a million people

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poured into the streets
of Barcelona on Saturday

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for a peace march,

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following the attack
earlier this month

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in which 15 people died
after a van

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plowed into a crowded
walkway along

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Las Ramblas
—the city’s most famous avenue.

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The protest was the largest
in Barcelona

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since the 2003 march
against the Iraq War.

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This is protester
Gemma Figueres.

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Gemma Figueres: "We have to say,
we are not afraid.

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But you obviously feel it can
happen to you at any time,

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and that is scary.

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But fear cannot beat us,
and we cannot stand still.

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We have to show
that we keep living.

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That is what we have to do."

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In the Israeli-occupied
West Bank,

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thousands of people
attended the funeral

00:11:22.560 --> 00:11:24.890
for an 8-year-old
Palestinian girl

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who was run over and killed

00:11:26.060 --> 00:11:29.040
by an Israeli settler
on Saturday near Nablus.

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The girl, Aseel Abu Oun,

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was leaving a supermarket
with a friend

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when she was struck and killed
by the Israeli settler

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in broad daylight
in front of her father.

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In Burma, more than 100 people
have been killed amid clashes

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and a widespread crackdown
by the Burmese army

00:11:44.810 --> 00:11:48.980
against persecuted Rohingya
Muslims in the Rakhine region.

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Burmese authorities say members
of an armed Rohingya group

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launched a raid
on a police station on Friday.

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Residents say that, in response,

00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:58.600
Burmese security forces
stormed Rohingya towns,

00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:01.990
opening fire on civilians,
torching homes

00:12:01.990 --> 00:12:03.550
and forcing thousands to flee.

00:12:03.550 --> 00:12:06.610
This is one Rohingya refugee,
Mujibur Rahman,

00:12:06.610 --> 00:12:08.330
who fled into Bangladesh.

00:12:09.510 --> 00:12:12.320
Mujibur Rahman: "In our village,
there was huge fighting,

00:12:12.850 --> 00:12:15.400
so I have come here,
taken shelter near the border.

00:12:15.400 --> 00:12:17.470
And we want to stay here
in Bangladesh,

00:12:17.470 --> 00:12:20.470
because in our country there is
much repression, so we are here.

00:12:21.250 --> 00:12:23.260
We appeal to the
Bangladesh government

00:12:23.260 --> 00:12:24.920
to allow us to stay
for some days.

00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:27.700
After that, when there is peace
in our country,

00:12:27.700 --> 00:12:28.990
we will go back."

00:12:28.990 --> 00:12:29.590
Rohingya

00:12:29.590 --> 00:12:32.100
have long faced persecution
and violence in Burma,

00:12:32.100 --> 00:12:33.590
where they are
denied citizenship.

00:12:34.260 --> 00:12:37.370
In Guatemala, protesters
poured into the streets

00:12:37.370 --> 00:12:39.000
of Guatemala City on Sunday

00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:40.460
to protest against corruption,

00:12:40.460 --> 00:12:41.940
amid a standoff
between Guatemalan

00:12:41.940 --> 00:12:43.940
President Jimmy Morales
and the highest court

00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:45.670
over whether Morales
could expel the head

00:12:45.670 --> 00:12:48.200
of a U.N.
anti-corruption task force.

00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:52.070
President Morales ordered
the expulsion of Iván Velásquez,

00:12:52.070 --> 00:12:53.630
the head of
the International Commission

00:12:53.630 --> 00:12:55.190
Against Impunity
in Guatemala,

00:12:55.190 --> 00:12:57.580
on Sunday—only days
after the commission

00:12:57.580 --> 00:12:59.280
said the president
should be investigated

00:12:59.280 --> 00:13:01.830
for illegal campaign financing.

00:13:01.830 --> 00:13:04.180
Only hours later, Guatemala’s
Constitutional Court

00:13:04.180 --> 00:13:05.990
suspended the president’s order.

00:13:05.990 --> 00:13:08.100
This is protester
Patricia de León.

00:13:09.250 --> 00:13:10.360
Patricia de León:

00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:12.040
"The problem
the president has is not

00:13:12.040 --> 00:13:14.670
just the allegations
against him and his family.

00:13:14.670 --> 00:13:16.320
He is a president
who has not carried out

00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:18.010
his duties in these two years.

00:13:18.010 --> 00:13:20.050
And the people of Guatemala
are sick of so much

00:13:20.050 --> 00:13:21.840
poverty, of so much corruption,

00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:24.920
highways you can’t use,
children who are malnourished.

00:13:24.920 --> 00:13:26.690
And there has been no position
from this government.

00:13:26.690 --> 00:13:28.700
Morales is a clown,
a buffoon and corrupt."

00:13:29.310 --> 00:13:31.190
President Morales,
a former comedian,

00:13:31.190 --> 00:13:34.600
took office in 2016 after
massive anti-corruption protests

00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:37.550
ousted the now-jailed former
President Otto Pérez Molina,

00:13:37.550 --> 00:13:40.070
who is also formerly
a U.S.-backed military leader

00:13:40.070 --> 00:13:41.770
during Guatemala’s dirty wars.

00:13:42.420 --> 00:13:44.090
The Trump administration
has imposed

00:13:44.090 --> 00:13:46.010
new economic sanctions
against Venezuela,

00:13:46.010 --> 00:13:48.020
amid Trump’s threats
of a possible U.S.

00:13:48.020 --> 00:13:50.910
military intervention
in Venezuela.

00:13:50.910 --> 00:13:53.640
The sanctions will further
restrict Venezuela’s ability

00:13:53.640 --> 00:13:55.360
to borrow money
from U.S. creditors,

00:13:55.360 --> 00:13:57.650
making it possible
that Venezuela will default

00:13:57.650 --> 00:13:59.940
on its debts later this year.

00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:02.590
The Trump administration
is slated to lift a ban

00:14:02.590 --> 00:14:04.200
on the transfer
of military equipment

00:14:04.200 --> 00:14:06.030
to local police departments.

00:14:06.030 --> 00:14:09.530
The 1033 Program was halted
after widespread protests

00:14:09.530 --> 00:14:10.140
and outrage

00:14:10.140 --> 00:14:13.050
following the local police’s
military-style occupation

00:14:13.050 --> 00:14:14.400
of Ferguson, Missouri,

00:14:14.400 --> 00:14:16.620
amid the uprising
over the police killing

00:14:16.620 --> 00:14:20.140
of unarmed African-American
teenager Michael Brown.

00:14:20.140 --> 00:14:23.130
And in New York City, protesters
rallied on Friday night

00:14:23.130 --> 00:14:24.620
at Columbus Circle in Manhattan

00:14:24.620 --> 00:14:28.270
to demand the 76-foot statue of
Christopher Columbus be removed,

00:14:28.270 --> 00:14:29.590
amid a nationwide movement

00:14:29.590 --> 00:14:31.760
calling for
the removal of statues

00:14:31.760 --> 00:14:35.330
celebrating Confederate generals
and other racist leaders.

00:14:35.330 --> 00:14:38.010
Columbus has long faced
criticism for opening the door

00:14:38.010 --> 00:14:40.310
to the European colonization
of the Americas,

00:14:40.310 --> 00:14:42.210
the genocide against
Native peoples

00:14:42.210 --> 00:14:44.360
and the trans-Atlantic
slave trade.

00:14:44.360 --> 00:14:47.430
Columbus himself enslaved
Arawak indigenous people

00:14:47.430 --> 00:14:50.520
and forcibly trafficked them
from the Caribbean to Spain.

00:14:50.520 --> 00:14:52.120
New York City
Mayor Bill de Blasio

00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:54.410
says he is considering
ordering the removal

00:14:54.410 --> 00:14:55.890
of the Columbus statue
in Manhattan.

00:14:55.890 --> 00:14:57.180
And those are some of the
headlines this is Democracy Now,

00:14:57.180 --> 00:14:58.740
Democracynow.org, the War and
Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

00:14:58.740 --> 00:15:01.090
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy
Now!, democracynow.org,

00:15:01.090 --> 00:15:02.840
The War and Peace Report.

00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:04.980
I’m Amy Goodman,
joined by Democracy

00:15:04.980 --> 00:15:07.810
Now!’s Renée Feltz,
a Houston native.

00:15:08.410 --> 00:15:09.740
RENÉE FELTZ: Good morning,
and thank you, Amy.

00:15:09.740 --> 00:15:11.480
And good morning to all
of our listeners and viewers

00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:13.040
around the country
and around the world,

00:15:13.040 --> 00:15:15.080
and potentially in
Houston, underwater.

00:15:15.800 --> 00:15:18.450
A catastrophic storm
has hit Houston, Texas,

00:15:18.450 --> 00:15:21.880
and the flooding is expected to
only worsen in the coming days.

00:15:21.880 --> 00:15:24.060
Houston is the nation’s
fourth-largest city

00:15:24.060 --> 00:15:26.990
and home to the largest refining
and petrochemical complex

00:15:26.990 --> 00:15:28.470
in the United States.

00:15:28.470 --> 00:15:31.120
The crisis began on Friday
when Hurricane Harvey

00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:33.410
made landfall
in Rockport, Texas.

00:15:33.410 --> 00:15:35.020
It was the most
powerful hurricane

00:15:35.020 --> 00:15:37.720
to hit the state
in more than 50 years.

00:15:37.720 --> 00:15:39.660
But much of the damage
has not been caused

00:15:39.660 --> 00:15:41.150
by the wind or tides,

00:15:41.150 --> 00:15:43.080
but by the massive rainfall.

00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:46.770
Some parts of Texas have already
received 30 inches of rain

00:15:46.770 --> 00:15:48.640
and could top 50 inches.

00:15:48.640 --> 00:15:51.590
Entire highways in Houston
are now underwater.

00:15:51.590 --> 00:15:53.370
AMY GOODMAN: According to
The Washington Post,

00:15:53.370 --> 00:15:54.670
the storm has already dumped

00:15:54.670 --> 00:15:56.820
more than 9 trillion
gallons of water,

00:15:56.820 --> 00:15:58.790
enough water to fill
the Great Salt Lake

00:15:58.790 --> 00:16:00.820
in Salt Lake City twice.

00:16:00.820 --> 00:16:02.540
And meteorologists
project another 5

00:16:02.540 --> 00:16:04.100
to 10 trillion gallons of water

00:16:04.100 --> 00:16:05.880
could be dumped on the region
in coming days,

00:16:05.880 --> 00:16:08.180
potentially making
this the worst

00:16:08.180 --> 00:16:10.430
flooding disaster
in U.S. history.

00:16:10.430 --> 00:16:13.350
To compound matters,
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

00:16:13.350 --> 00:16:17.420
have begun releasing water
from two large reservoirs,

00:16:17.420 --> 00:16:19.630
which will increase
flooding of homes

00:16:19.630 --> 00:16:21.540
downtown near Buffalo Bayou,

00:16:21.540 --> 00:16:23.590
parts of which
are already flooded.

00:16:23.590 --> 00:16:25.200
On Sunday, the National
Weather Service

00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:26.540
released a statement
saying, quote,

00:16:26.540 --> 00:16:29.600
"This event is unprecedented
and all impacts are unknown

00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:32.400
beyond anything
experienced," unquote.

00:16:32.940 --> 00:16:35.460
And the damage has not
only been in Houston.

00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:37.960
FEMA, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency,

00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:41.410
reports the storm has impacted
50 counties in Texas,

00:16:41.410 --> 00:16:42.900
as well as parts of Louisiana.

00:16:42.900 --> 00:16:45.090
This is Brock Long,
FEMA administrator,

00:16:45.090 --> 00:16:46.680
speaking this morning.

00:16:46.680 --> 00:16:49.020
BROCK LONG: We need citizens
to be involved.

00:16:49.670 --> 00:16:51.590
Texas, this is a landmark event.

00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:54.160
We have not seen
an event like this.

00:16:54.160 --> 00:16:56.050
You could not draw
this forecast up.

00:16:57.030 --> 00:16:58.650
You could not dream
this forecast up.

00:16:58.650 --> 00:17:00.300
It’s been a very
challenging effort

00:17:00.300 --> 00:17:02.140
for the National
Weather Service,

00:17:02.140 --> 00:17:04.430
who’s been putting out
great information.

00:17:04.430 --> 00:17:06.260
We’ve been telling people
that this is coming.

00:17:06.260 --> 00:17:07.570
It’s still ongoing.

00:17:07.570 --> 00:17:09.740
But you couldn’t—you couldn’t
draw this situation up.

00:17:10.530 --> 00:17:13.080
The bottom line is, is that
it’s going to continue on.

00:17:13.080 --> 00:17:14.420
We need the whole community,

00:17:15.030 --> 00:17:16.910
not only the federal
government forces,

00:17:17.450 --> 00:17:19.040
but this is a whole
community effort

00:17:19.040 --> 00:17:20.620
from all levels of government,

00:17:20.620 --> 00:17:22.730
and it’s going to require
the citizens getting involved.

00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:25.980
RENÉE FELTZ: The storm has
caused five reported deaths,

00:17:25.980 --> 00:17:28.310
but the death toll
is expected to rise.

00:17:28.310 --> 00:17:31.050
Thousands of people are still
stranded in their homes,

00:17:31.050 --> 00:17:32.480
waiting to be rescued,

00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:35.110
many by volunteers who brought
their own boats to help.

00:17:35.620 --> 00:17:38.350
One rescue operation
took place at a nursing home

00:17:38.350 --> 00:17:39.800
in Dickinson, Texas,

00:17:39.800 --> 00:17:42.450
after a photo went viral
showing elderly residents

00:17:42.450 --> 00:17:43.980
sitting waist-deep in water.

00:17:44.510 --> 00:17:46.650
Many neighborhoods
may be uninhabitable

00:17:46.650 --> 00:17:48.220
for weeks or longer.

00:17:48.220 --> 00:17:50.980
The city of Dallas is preparing
to turn its convention center

00:17:50.980 --> 00:17:55.120
into a mega-shelter
to host some 5,000 evacuees.

00:17:55.120 --> 00:17:57.250
Displaced residents
have also been gathering

00:17:57.250 --> 00:17:58.660
at the Houston
convention center.

00:18:00.010 --> 00:18:01.030
DISPLACED RESIDENT: I was
in Magnolia Park

00:18:01.030 --> 00:18:02.970
in the transit center.

00:18:02.970 --> 00:18:06.580
And they put us off the bus
in knee-high water.

00:18:08.060 --> 00:18:10.290
So, when the wind
starts blowing,

00:18:11.260 --> 00:18:12.970
I almost lost my dog.

00:18:12.970 --> 00:18:14.750
I put him—the bike
went down the street.

00:18:15.760 --> 00:18:18.840
An HPD officer had seen
what was happening,

00:18:18.840 --> 00:18:22.000
and he came to our aid.

00:18:22.540 --> 00:18:24.270
If it wasn’t for
the HPD officer,

00:18:24.270 --> 00:18:25.990
we would have been swept away.

00:18:25.990 --> 00:18:27.880
AMY GOODMAN: It’s believed there
are thousands of people

00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:30.060
at that Houston
convention center.

00:18:30.060 --> 00:18:33.880
President Trump is expected
to visit the region on Tuesday.

00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:36.760
We go now to Houston, where
we’re joined by Bryan Parras,

00:18:36.760 --> 00:18:39.360
an organizer for
Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign

00:18:39.360 --> 00:18:41.910
with the Sierra Club
in Houston, Texas.

00:18:41.910 --> 00:18:44.210
He helped found
the environmental justice

00:18:44.210 --> 00:18:47.740
group Texas Environmental
Justice Advocacy Services,

00:18:47.740 --> 00:18:48.970
known as t.e.j.a.s.

00:18:48.970 --> 00:18:51.240
And joining us from
San Diego, David Helvarg,

00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:52.890
executive director
of Blue Frontier,

00:18:52.890 --> 00:18:54.360
an ocean conservation group,

00:18:54.360 --> 00:18:56.780
author of several books,
including Rescue Warriors:

00:18:56.780 --> 00:18:59.630
The U.S. Coast Guard,
America’s Forgotten Heroes.

00:18:59.630 --> 00:19:02.480
But let’s begin with
Bryan in Houston.

00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:04.120
We’re speaking to you on Skype.

00:19:04.710 --> 00:19:07.570
We’re very glad you can even
communicate with us today.

00:19:07.570 --> 00:19:10.340
Talk about the extent
of the damage.

00:19:10.340 --> 00:19:12.180
As we talk about
Buffalo Bayou,

00:19:12.180 --> 00:19:14.170
for people who don’t
live in Houston,

00:19:14.170 --> 00:19:16.870
I think it’s hard for them
to even understand

00:19:16.870 --> 00:19:18.460
the geography of Houston

00:19:18.460 --> 00:19:20.540
and what actually
is taking place

00:19:20.540 --> 00:19:23.860
in this unprecedented
both rainfall

00:19:23.860 --> 00:19:25.110
and flooding,

00:19:25.110 --> 00:19:27.370
the flooding only
expected to get worse.

00:19:28.170 --> 00:19:30.060
BRYAN PARRAS: Yeah. Thank you,
Amy. Thank you, Renée.

00:19:31.500 --> 00:19:33.760
Well, you know, Buffalo Bayou,
let’s start there.

00:19:33.760 --> 00:19:39.210
That’s one of the—the iconic
bayou of Houston, Texas.

00:19:39.210 --> 00:19:43.480
And it crosses from
the Westside of Houston

00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:45.370
to the Eastside of Houston

00:19:45.370 --> 00:19:48.260
and then becomes
the Houston Ship Channel

00:19:48.910 --> 00:19:53.440
as it empties out into Galveston
Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:56.020
But we’ve seen
already extensive

00:19:56.020 --> 00:19:58.440
flooding along the bayous
on the Westside.

00:19:59.340 --> 00:20:02.700
And my concern is,
where I live, on the Eastside,

00:20:02.700 --> 00:20:07.590
because of the many,
many petrochemical facilities,

00:20:07.590 --> 00:20:11.860
storage tanks and
other hazardous sites

00:20:11.860 --> 00:20:17.640
that line that same bayou
for 30, 40 miles.

00:20:19.030 --> 00:20:21.220
RENÉE FELTZ: Bryan, thanks
so much for joining us

00:20:21.220 --> 00:20:23.850
this morning there
from Houston’s East End.

00:20:23.850 --> 00:20:26.380
I wanted to ask you—I know
you from KPFT,

00:20:26.380 --> 00:20:28.390
where I was a news director
for many years,

00:20:28.390 --> 00:20:31.610
including during Hurricane
Katrina and Hurricane Rita.

00:20:31.610 --> 00:20:33.430
And I know that you have
been documenting

00:20:33.430 --> 00:20:36.260
for a long time the pollution

00:20:36.260 --> 00:20:39.480
that comes from these refineries
in normal circumstances.

00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:42.090
You give a "toxic tour"
of some of these refineries.

00:20:42.090 --> 00:20:45.810
And now, you’ve been shooting
video of some of the releases

00:20:45.810 --> 00:20:49.430
that they may have been making
since the storm began on Friday.

00:20:49.430 --> 00:20:50.820
You shot footage that showed

00:20:50.820 --> 00:20:53.060
some of this release
on Friday, I believe.

00:20:53.060 --> 00:20:54.970
Maybe you can describe
what you shot

00:20:54.970 --> 00:20:56.160
and describe what you’re seeing.

00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:59.100
And is there a smell in the air
from some of these releases?

00:21:00.270 --> 00:21:03.720
BRYAN PARRAS: Yeah, thank you.
So, on normal rain events,

00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:05.750
we know that these facilities,

00:21:05.750 --> 00:21:07.520
which are decades old,

00:21:08.690 --> 00:21:12.410
have situations where they have
to shut down to prevent

00:21:12.410 --> 00:21:17.660
and avoid these catastrophic
explosions and events.

00:21:18.290 --> 00:21:21.840
Unfortunately, you know,
it happens time and time again.

00:21:21.840 --> 00:21:24.310
So we are very vigilant
about keeping an eye

00:21:24.310 --> 00:21:25.910
on these facilities,

00:21:25.910 --> 00:21:30.410
because they are often not
penalized for doing that either,

00:21:30.410 --> 00:21:34.350
and do nothing to mitigate
these situations

00:21:34.350 --> 00:21:36.140
from happening over
and over and over again.

00:21:36.140 --> 00:21:38.090
So, Friday, we were out

00:21:38.090 --> 00:21:40.420
just checking some
of these facilities

00:21:40.420 --> 00:21:43.380
and other sites that
we’re also concerned about.

00:21:44.170 --> 00:21:46.920
And there was an event
at Texas Petrochemical,

00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:51.810
I believe, where there was
a flare event happening.

00:21:51.810 --> 00:21:55.270
And later that night,
there were,

00:21:55.970 --> 00:21:59.590
for hours—for hours—really,

00:21:59.590 --> 00:22:03.720
really strong chemical odors
from East Houston

00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:07.610
all the way to even
the downtown area.

00:22:07.610 --> 00:22:09.710
And this was something
that was discussed

00:22:09.710 --> 00:22:12.030
and talked about
on social media,

00:22:12.030 --> 00:22:14.330
and, you know, not talked about,

00:22:14.330 --> 00:22:18.350
not discussed on the news
here in Houston.

00:22:18.350 --> 00:22:22.030
Now, we did hear later
that all of the facilities,

00:22:22.030 --> 00:22:25.560
all of the refineries went
into voluntary shutdown mode.

00:22:25.560 --> 00:22:27.550
And when that happens,

00:22:27.550 --> 00:22:29.710
they often have to go
through the process

00:22:29.710 --> 00:22:32.420
of burning off
these excess chemicals.

00:22:33.040 --> 00:22:34.390
But it’s a dirty burn.

00:22:34.390 --> 00:22:36.440
So you can see, actually,
the black smoke,

00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:40.330
and that’s what we captured
in the pictures and the video.

00:22:40.330 --> 00:22:40.690
AMY GOODMAN: Bryan—

00:22:40.690 --> 00:22:42.970
BRYAN PARRAS: Unfortunately,
that adds, you know,

00:22:43.560 --> 00:22:47.030
thousands of pounds of cancer
-causing chemicals to the air.

00:22:47.030 --> 00:22:50.470
AMY GOODMAN: Bryan, can you talk
about Houston’s underwater

00:22:50.470 --> 00:22:51.680
Superfund site

00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:53.660
and what you’re
concerned about there,

00:22:53.660 --> 00:22:56.940
and also the disparate
impact of a storm?

00:22:56.940 --> 00:22:59.760
I mean, of course,
this is affecting everyone,

00:22:59.760 --> 00:23:02.520
but especially in areas
like you’re describing,

00:23:02.520 --> 00:23:03.840
who lives in these areas.

00:23:03.840 --> 00:23:06.380
But first, that underwater
Superfund site?

00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:08.510
BRYAN PARRAS: Right. So there’s
a very well-known

00:23:08.510 --> 00:23:11.320
Superfund site
underwater with dioxin.

00:23:11.950 --> 00:23:14.640
It’s the San Jacinto Waste Pits.

00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:16.850
And a good friend of ours,
Jackie,

00:23:16.850 --> 00:23:19.100
has been doing
some work in that area.

00:23:19.100 --> 00:23:20.750
It’s near Baytown,

00:23:20.750 --> 00:23:23.080
near one of
the largest refineries

00:23:23.080 --> 00:23:25.820
in the country, owned by Exxon.

00:23:25.820 --> 00:23:28.840
There’s also Chevron
down the road.

00:23:28.840 --> 00:23:32.760
And this bayou,
the San Jacinto bayou,

00:23:32.760 --> 00:23:36.100
is just another vein of water

00:23:36.100 --> 00:23:39.320
that pushes out
into Galveston Bay.

00:23:39.320 --> 00:23:43.800
And there was this old legacy
pollutants from a paper mill

00:23:43.800 --> 00:23:50.300
that has sort of just left
their toxins in the ground.

00:23:50.300 --> 00:23:51.970
And eventually, you know,
it was flooded.

00:23:52.800 --> 00:23:54.000
And there it remains.

00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:56.900
And the EPA and other agencies

00:23:56.900 --> 00:24:00.240
are in the process
of cleaning that up.

00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:03.890
But as they go through
their long, lengthy process

00:24:03.890 --> 00:24:05.490
of doing that,

00:24:05.490 --> 00:24:07.570
we’ve had several rain events.

00:24:07.570 --> 00:24:09.790
And each time
we have a rain event,

00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:14.690
this contamination is being
spread into communities,

00:24:14.690 --> 00:24:16.700
homes, neighborhoods,

00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:19.300
and further exposing
more and more people.

00:24:20.030 --> 00:24:25.160
And we know that we have
elevated levels of cancers

00:24:25.160 --> 00:24:27.500
all along these areas.

00:24:27.500 --> 00:24:29.530
There have been
many reports to show

00:24:29.530 --> 00:24:31.830
increased rates
of childhood leukemia,

00:24:31.830 --> 00:24:34.480
if you live within two miles
of the Houston Ship Channel,

00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:36.060
for example.

00:24:36.060 --> 00:24:39.010
So, you know,
the information is out there.

00:24:39.010 --> 00:24:43.660
We know that these chemicals
are causing cancers

00:24:43.660 --> 00:24:47.740
and other life-
debilitating ailments

00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:50.030
to the people who live
adjacent to them.

00:24:51.700 --> 00:24:54.220
RENÉE FELTZ: Bryan, you’ve lived
through many of these storms

00:24:54.220 --> 00:24:56.470
in Houston and helped document
what happened.

00:24:56.470 --> 00:24:58.890
I wanted to ask you
about reports we’re hearing

00:24:59.580 --> 00:25:02.370
about ExxonMobil
evacuating their workers

00:25:02.370 --> 00:25:05.600
from the region’s offshore oil
drilling platforms in the Gulf,

00:25:06.430 --> 00:25:09.010
right there off the coast
of Houston, in Texas,

00:25:09.010 --> 00:25:10.620
in Galveston
and surrounding areas.

00:25:11.260 --> 00:25:13.330
During Hurricane
Katrina and Rita,

00:25:13.330 --> 00:25:16.000
these drilling platforms,
that have now been evacuated,

00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:19.480
spilled more than
700,000 gallons of oil

00:25:19.480 --> 00:25:21.410
into the Gulf there.

00:25:21.410 --> 00:25:24.100
What are you hearing now about
evacuations of these platforms?

00:25:24.100 --> 00:25:25.790
Have you heard yet
about any leaks?

00:25:27.640 --> 00:25:29.420
BRYAN PARRAS: I haven’t heard
of any leaks yet.

00:25:29.420 --> 00:25:32.000
But we do know that
they did evacuate

00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:34.920
all of the offshore workers

00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:36.780
that were in the path
of the storm.

00:25:37.690 --> 00:25:41.700
And we know that
there’s been less production

00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:43.480
here in the region.

00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:47.670
Houston is a huge, huge center
for producing oil and gas

00:25:47.670 --> 00:25:50.000
for the rest of the country.

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:52.670
RENÉE FELTZ: Have you heard much
yet there on the ground—even

00:25:52.670 --> 00:25:55.990
though the talk is mostly
about rescuing people,

00:25:55.990 --> 00:25:58.050
has there been much
talk yet about the impact

00:25:58.050 --> 00:26:01.560
this could have on fuel prices
throughout the country?

00:26:01.560 --> 00:26:03.300
And talk a little bit about—just

00:26:03.300 --> 00:26:06.000
as we wrap up—a little bit
on this point,

00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:08.880
about what are these
refineries refining,

00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:10.720
and where is it coming from,
and where is it going,

00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:12.440
to give people an idea
of how this fits

00:26:12.440 --> 00:26:15.010
into other issues
we’ve covered, for example,

00:26:15.010 --> 00:26:20.950
with pipelines like the Dakota
Access pipeline, for example.

00:26:20.950 --> 00:26:21.890
BRYAN PARRAS: Right.

00:26:21.890 --> 00:26:25.480
You know, this could be an
entire show, Renée, as you know.

00:26:26.360 --> 00:26:30.310
But the Houston Ship Channel
and refining area

00:26:30.310 --> 00:26:35.920
receives oil and gas
from as far away as the Dakotas.

00:26:36.580 --> 00:26:41.880
But we also have production
in our own state—Permian Basin,

00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:43.520
where my parents are from.

00:26:43.520 --> 00:26:46.110
So there’s oil coming
from West Texas,

00:26:47.300 --> 00:26:50.860
a lot of new fracked oil
coming into the area.

00:26:50.860 --> 00:26:53.570
And, of course,
there’s even oil imported

00:26:53.570 --> 00:26:55.600
from different
parts of the world.

00:26:56.300 --> 00:27:00.490
And we’ve been looking at
and concerned about

00:27:00.490 --> 00:27:04.590
even increased plans
of bringing oil from places like

00:27:04.590 --> 00:27:07.320
Alberta, Canada,
with the tar sands,

00:27:07.320 --> 00:27:11.160
and, more recently,
the Dakota Access pipeline,

00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:13.540
sort of helping aid that.

00:27:13.540 --> 00:27:16.350
We’ve got so much here already.

00:27:17.140 --> 00:27:20.610
And I don’t think that
they’re doing enough

00:27:20.610 --> 00:27:24.060
dealing with the impacts
that we already have seen,

00:27:24.860 --> 00:27:27.110
which is evident right now.

00:27:27.110 --> 00:27:32.460
There is no reason why we should
be having these flaring events,

00:27:32.460 --> 00:27:35.240
that are literally
gassing communities

00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:37.580
along the Ship Channel.

00:27:37.580 --> 00:27:40.640
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Bryan,
you’re using the hashtag

00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:45.040
#AJustHarveyRecovery.
Explain this hashtag.

00:27:45.910 --> 00:27:50.240
BRYAN PARRAS: Yeah, so,
in New Orleans, after Katrina,

00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:54.610
there was a very,
very big lesson learned

00:27:54.610 --> 00:27:59.490
that the issues
of injustice intersect

00:27:59.490 --> 00:28:01.270
in so many different ways.

00:28:01.270 --> 00:28:04.630
You know, these
catastrophes and disasters

00:28:04.630 --> 00:28:06.910
are not just
environmental disasters.

00:28:06.910 --> 00:28:11.830
They’re housing disasters.
They’re access to services.

00:28:12.920 --> 00:28:17.140
They’re immigration
issues of injustice,

00:28:17.140 --> 00:28:19.700
and so many—worker
justice, wage theft.

00:28:19.700 --> 00:28:21.280
You know, I could go on and on.

00:28:21.280 --> 00:28:24.190
And so, what we’re doing
is keeping an eye

00:28:24.190 --> 00:28:29.900
on all of these very important
issues that impact vulnerable

00:28:29.900 --> 00:28:32.610
and often unheard communities

00:28:33.310 --> 00:28:36.080
that are exploited
in these disasters.

00:28:36.900 --> 00:28:39.840
And I know you’ve talked
to Naomi Klein

00:28:39.840 --> 00:28:41.870
about disaster capitalism.

00:28:41.870 --> 00:28:44.210
You know, these are
sorts of events

00:28:44.210 --> 00:28:48.860
where predators come in and prey
on vulnerable communities,

00:28:48.860 --> 00:28:51.110
so the elderly, the homeless,

00:28:51.110 --> 00:28:55.170
even prison populations
that are evacuated,

00:28:55.800 --> 00:28:57.650
not before the storm comes,

00:28:57.650 --> 00:29:00.870
but as the water is rising
in the jail cells.

00:29:01.510 --> 00:29:04.960
And so, these are the reasons
we’re using the hashtag,

00:29:05.460 --> 00:29:07.850
so that folks can contribute

00:29:07.850 --> 00:29:13.040
and make aware these vulnerable
populations and communities

00:29:13.040 --> 00:29:14.610
as the storm unfolds.

00:29:14.610 --> 00:29:16.240
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Bryan,
we want to thank you very much

00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:18.190
for being with us.
Thank you for joining us

00:29:18.190 --> 00:29:21.140
during this very difficult
time in your city,

00:29:21.140 --> 00:29:24.640
Houston, the fourth-largest city
in the United States.

00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:28.070
Bryan Parras is an organizer for
the Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign

00:29:28.070 --> 00:29:30.940
with the Sierra Club
in Houston, Texas,

00:29:30.940 --> 00:29:32.810
helped found
the environmental justice

00:29:32.810 --> 00:29:34.260
group t.e.j.a.s.

00:29:34.260 --> 00:29:36.770
When we come back,
we go to David Helvarg.

00:29:36.770 --> 00:29:41.620
You hear nonstop coverage on the
networks of this catastrophe,

00:29:41.620 --> 00:29:45.460
this historic, horrifying event
that’s taking place in Texas,

00:29:46.070 --> 00:29:48.240
being hit by the storm
and flooding.

00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:50.260
But there are two words
you will not hear

00:29:50.260 --> 00:29:52.610
those meteorologists
say very much,

00:29:52.610 --> 00:29:54.370
and they are "climate change."

00:29:54.370 --> 00:29:55.640
They are "global warming."

00:29:55.640 --> 00:29:57.770
We’ll talk to David Helvarg
about the connection.

00:29:57.770 --> 00:29:59.770
Stay with

00:30:22.420 --> 00:30:24.420
us.

00:31:10.120 --> 00:31:12.770
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy
Now!, democracynow.org,

00:31:12.770 --> 00:31:14.070
The War and Peace Report.

00:31:14.070 --> 00:31:15.460
I’m Amy Goodman,
with Democracy

00:31:15.460 --> 00:31:17.840
Now!’s Renée Feltz,
a Houston native.

00:31:17.840 --> 00:31:18.660
Renée?

00:31:18.660 --> 00:31:19.320
RENÉE FELTZ: Thanks, Amy.

00:31:19.320 --> 00:31:21.510
We continue to look
at the catastrophic storm

00:31:21.510 --> 00:31:23.070
that’s hitting Houston, Texas,

00:31:23.070 --> 00:31:24.680
the nation’s
fourth-largest city.

00:31:25.190 --> 00:31:26.450
The crisis began on Friday,

00:31:26.450 --> 00:31:29.330
when Hurricane Harvey made
landfall in Rockport, Texas.

00:31:29.330 --> 00:31:30.870
It was the most
powerful hurricane

00:31:30.870 --> 00:31:33.270
to hit the state
in more than 50 years.

00:31:33.270 --> 00:31:35.820
But much of the damage has been
caused not by the wind or tides,

00:31:35.820 --> 00:31:38.320
but by the massive rainfall,
and some parts of Texas

00:31:38.320 --> 00:31:40.410
have already received
30 inches of rain,

00:31:40.410 --> 00:31:41.950
and could top 50 inches.

00:31:41.950 --> 00:31:44.890
AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined now
from San Diego, California,

00:31:44.890 --> 00:31:47.170
by David Helvarg, the executive
director of Blue Frontier,

00:31:47.170 --> 00:31:48.810
an ocean conservation
organization,

00:31:48.810 --> 00:31:51.060
author of several books,
including Rescue Warriors:

00:31:51.060 --> 00:31:53.680
The U.S. Coast Guard,
America’s Forgotten Heroes.

00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:57.470
Can you talk about the
connection between the hurricane

00:31:57.470 --> 00:31:59.960
that we’re seeing in Texas
right now, Hurricane Harvey,

00:31:59.960 --> 00:32:02.080
which is downgraded
to a tropical storm

00:32:02.080 --> 00:32:04.370
but causing massive damage,

00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:07.570
and this issue of climate
change, global warming?

00:32:09.080 --> 00:32:10.320
DAVID HELVARG: Sure, Amy, Renée.

00:32:11.100 --> 00:32:13.430
First, my thoughts
and agnostic prayers

00:32:13.430 --> 00:32:16.080
to the folks in Houston
and Southeast Texas,

00:32:17.580 --> 00:32:20.910
where, again, we’re seeing
a natural disaster

00:32:20.910 --> 00:32:23.740
turn into human
catastrophe by choices

00:32:23.740 --> 00:32:26.090
we make in terms
of our energy choices,

00:32:26.090 --> 00:32:28.270
the pollutants
we burn for energy

00:32:28.270 --> 00:32:29.460
and put into the atmosphere,

00:32:29.460 --> 00:32:33.080
as well as how we develop
the coast and zoning choices.

00:32:33.080 --> 00:32:35.780
I mean, Houston is essentially
a zoning-free zone.

00:32:35.780 --> 00:32:39.000
And so, historic floodplains
have been developed.

00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:42.070
That’s where Rice University,
the Texas Medical Center,

00:32:42.070 --> 00:32:45.090
a lot of neighborhoods
built up in these flood zones

00:32:45.090 --> 00:32:48.270
that are going to
become more waterlogged

00:32:48.270 --> 00:32:50.950
as we see sea level
rise in certain areas,

00:32:50.950 --> 00:32:54.410
like the Texas and Louisiana
coast, South Florida,

00:32:54.410 --> 00:32:56.370
the tidelands of Virginia.

00:32:57.080 --> 00:32:59.070
You’re projecting now
three to six feet

00:32:59.070 --> 00:33:01.790
or more of sea level
rise in the century.

00:33:01.790 --> 00:33:03.530
Maybe it’s only been
10 inches today.

00:33:03.530 --> 00:33:05.260
People are going to go,
"Well, what’s 10 inches?"

00:33:05.260 --> 00:33:07.990
But could be the difference
between floodwaters

00:33:07.990 --> 00:33:10.170
on your porch
and in your living room.

00:33:10.710 --> 00:33:14.530
But it’s not just the tidal
surge and sea level rise.

00:33:14.530 --> 00:33:16.300
It’s what we’re seeing,
these rain events.

00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:18.670
With the warming
ocean and atmosphere,

00:33:18.670 --> 00:33:21.690
you have more moisture
in the atmosphere,

00:33:21.690 --> 00:33:25.080
which rains out more
intensive pulses of rain,

00:33:25.080 --> 00:33:29.000
these rain events that
we see massive flooding,

00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:31.590
even disconnected with
hurricanes and storms.

00:33:31.590 --> 00:33:33.240
So, last year, for example,

00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:37.040
Baton Rouge had massive
rain pulses and storms.

00:33:37.040 --> 00:33:39.240
And when rain comes down
so torrentially,

00:33:39.790 --> 00:33:41.870
the ground can’t absorb it.
It backs up.

00:33:41.870 --> 00:33:44.850
And you had a flooding event
right there in Houston last year

00:33:44.850 --> 00:33:47.810
that the Houston
Flood Control District

00:33:47.810 --> 00:33:50.820
said was a one-in
-10,000-year rain event.

00:33:50.820 --> 00:33:53.170
Well, it’s a year later,
and you’re having another one.

00:33:53.680 --> 00:33:58.960
So, clearly, what we’re seeing—I
mean, I remember back in 2000,

00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:04.900
I was with—a scientist from the
NASA Ames Laboratory at Columbia

00:34:04.900 --> 00:34:06.960
was touring me
through Lower Manhattan

00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:09.920
with some folks from some
island nations—Kiribati

00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:16.530
and the Marshalls—explaining
the big 1993 nor’easter.

00:34:16.530 --> 00:34:18.760
And she said that, yeah,
one-in-a-century storms

00:34:18.760 --> 00:34:21.420
like that are now
going to become decadal,

00:34:21.420 --> 00:34:23.360
happen every decade
or more frequently.

00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:25.820
And since then,
I was down at Katrina.

00:34:25.820 --> 00:34:27.980
We had Sandy.
Now we have this hurricane.

00:34:29.540 --> 00:34:31.040
We’re seeing the impacts.

00:34:31.040 --> 00:34:33.870
Where back in the 1990s
there would be,

00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:39.230
you know, maybe four or five
multibillion-dollar extreme

00:34:39.230 --> 00:34:42.170
weather events every year,
NOAA is now recording

00:34:42.170 --> 00:34:45.280
20 and 30 multimillion-dollar
weather events

00:34:45.280 --> 00:34:47.670
happening in this country—and
just this country

00:34:47.670 --> 00:34:50.850
alone—so that you’re
seeing—luckily,

00:34:50.850 --> 00:34:52.040
with Katrina,

00:34:52.040 --> 00:34:53.830
the storms are different,
the nature of the storms.

00:34:53.830 --> 00:34:57.560
Katrina, you had huge
casualties, over 1,800 killed.

00:34:57.560 --> 00:35:00.500
I think we’ll see less—luckily,
less casualties

00:35:00.500 --> 00:35:03.640
because of the slow and
persistent rate of this storm,

00:35:03.640 --> 00:35:05.520
but probably much more damage.

00:35:05.520 --> 00:35:07.870
This is going to be
a $100 billion-plus storm.

00:35:08.530 --> 00:35:12.080
And, you know, not to—a
lot of times, you say,

00:35:12.080 --> 00:35:15.840
"Well, you’re taking advantage
of people in distress

00:35:15.840 --> 00:35:18.920
by talking about the causes
of why they’re in distress."

00:35:18.920 --> 00:35:20.900
The reality is that
when you have two

00:35:20.900 --> 00:35:23.960
10,000-year rain
events in two years,

00:35:23.960 --> 00:35:26.630
this is the new normal.
This is the new reality.

00:35:26.630 --> 00:35:28.760
And the challenge
is how we address it,

00:35:28.760 --> 00:35:30.400
how rapidly we’re
going to transition

00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:33.870
from fossil fuels
to clean energy.

00:35:33.870 --> 00:35:35.840
And the approaches
are very different.

00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:39.460
I mean, Texas and North
Carolina are in denial.

00:35:39.460 --> 00:35:41.380
I think the new model now

00:35:41.380 --> 00:35:43.200
is that

00:35:43.200 --> 00:35:44.750
in places like Florida

00:35:44.750 --> 00:35:46.550
and Texas and Washington, D.C.,

00:35:46.550 --> 00:35:49.830
you have denial in the capitol
and frantic rescue activity

00:35:49.830 --> 00:35:52.140
and response on the ground
and by the water.

00:35:52.930 --> 00:35:56.420
Other places, like California,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island,

00:35:56.420 --> 00:35:58.110
we actually are beginning
to plan to build

00:35:58.110 --> 00:35:59.840
for coastal resiliency

00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:05.580
to restore natural systems
that can help—you know,

00:36:06.100 --> 00:36:08.500
help protect from
coastal flooding

00:36:08.500 --> 00:36:11.510
and also begin
to plan our zoning,

00:36:11.510 --> 00:36:15.090
begin to adapt new maps
and the best available science

00:36:15.090 --> 00:36:18.810
to tell us where the flooding
and the sea level rise

00:36:18.810 --> 00:36:20.060
is going to impact us.

00:36:20.560 --> 00:36:21.560
And it’s possible. I mean—

00:36:21.560 --> 00:36:22.440
RENÉE FELTZ: Well, David,
let me jump in there

00:36:22.440 --> 00:36:24.060
and ask you, speaking of science

00:36:24.060 --> 00:36:26.160
and speaking a little bit
of infrastructure,

00:36:26.160 --> 00:36:27.210
just two weeks ago,

00:36:27.210 --> 00:36:29.990
President Trump signed
an executive order to revoke

00:36:29.990 --> 00:36:32.500
Obama-era standards
that would require

00:36:32.500 --> 00:36:35.150
federal infrastructure
projects, like hospitals,

00:36:35.150 --> 00:36:37.020
to factor in
scientific projections

00:36:37.020 --> 00:36:38.600
for the effects
of climate change,

00:36:38.600 --> 00:36:40.670
like increased flooding
and rising sea levels.

00:36:41.390 --> 00:36:43.730
This was opposed by the
American Petroleum Institute

00:36:43.730 --> 00:36:45.970
and the National Association
of Home Builders,

00:36:45.970 --> 00:36:48.220
who said the standards
would increase their costs.

00:36:48.220 --> 00:36:49.810
But Trump announced the rollback

00:36:49.810 --> 00:36:51.370
during a now-famous
press conference

00:36:51.370 --> 00:36:52.870
in the lobby
of Trump Tower

00:36:52.870 --> 00:36:54.800
that was largely
overshadowed by his remarks

00:36:54.800 --> 00:36:56.510
defending the white
supremacist protests

00:36:56.510 --> 00:36:59.200
behind the violent rallies
in Charlottesville, Virginia.

00:36:59.200 --> 00:37:00.810
What’s interesting
about Obama’s order,

00:37:00.810 --> 00:37:02.110
that Trump rolled back,

00:37:02.110 --> 00:37:04.410
is that it marked the first
time federal government

00:37:04.410 --> 00:37:07.080
took sea level rise
projections into account,

00:37:07.080 --> 00:37:09.260
instead of relying
only on historical data.

00:37:09.260 --> 00:37:11.340
It was also a rare
climate change policy

00:37:11.340 --> 00:37:12.820
that was praised
by both conservative

00:37:12.820 --> 00:37:14.200
and progressive groups.

00:37:14.200 --> 00:37:16.240
And I want to ask you about
this point on infrastructure,

00:37:16.240 --> 00:37:18.630
as Houston deals with
the release of water

00:37:18.630 --> 00:37:20.880
from two of its aging
reservoirs right now,

00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:24.140
this morning, that water going
down towards Buffalo Bayou,

00:37:24.140 --> 00:37:27.280
and this question
about infrastructure

00:37:27.280 --> 00:37:30.070
being built to withstand
climate change,

00:37:30.070 --> 00:37:33.270
or this idea that perhaps people

00:37:33.270 --> 00:37:35.410
who are more climate
deniers are saying is,

00:37:35.950 --> 00:37:38.270
"Let’s just deal with the
disaster when it arrives,"

00:37:38.270 --> 00:37:40.110
and that’s what we have
on our hands in Houston.

00:37:40.110 --> 00:37:41.860
Can you talk about this issue
of infrastructure

00:37:41.860 --> 00:37:43.940
and climate change?

00:37:43.940 --> 00:37:44.770
DAVID HELVARG: Sure, absolutely.

00:37:44.770 --> 00:37:46.880
I mean, we know we’re going
to spend a trillion dollars

00:37:46.880 --> 00:37:49.030
responding to these
serial disasters

00:37:49.030 --> 00:37:50.430
that we’ve seen

00:37:50.430 --> 00:37:52.170
and documented are happening.

00:37:52.170 --> 00:37:54.120
And the choice is:

00:37:54.120 --> 00:37:57.160
Do we spend it to build a more
resilient infrastructure,

00:37:58.020 --> 00:38:00.060
start counting
natural shorelines

00:38:00.060 --> 00:38:05.410
and the restoration of urban
wetlands and seagrass meadows

00:38:05.410 --> 00:38:08.310
as part of our
infrastructure investment?

00:38:09.060 --> 00:38:13.510
Do we invest in upgrading
our wastewater treatment plants?

00:38:13.510 --> 00:38:15.340
And the reality is,
it’s already happening,

00:38:15.340 --> 00:38:16.580
but it’s happening piecemeal.

00:38:16.580 --> 00:38:20.330
In South Florida, Miami Beach
is investing $400 million

00:38:20.330 --> 00:38:23.530
to raise their sidewalks
and install water pumps.

00:38:23.530 --> 00:38:24.870
In Tampa, Saint Pete,

00:38:24.870 --> 00:38:28.010
which could be the next site
of one of these mega-disasters,

00:38:28.560 --> 00:38:29.940
they’re investing $300 million

00:38:29.940 --> 00:38:32.030
upgrading their wastewater
treatment plants,

00:38:32.030 --> 00:38:34.320
because they keep
flooding with—every time

00:38:34.320 --> 00:38:35.420
there’s saltwater intrusion.

00:38:35.420 --> 00:38:37.810
Every storm takes out
their plants

00:38:37.810 --> 00:38:39.420
because of sea level rise.

00:38:39.420 --> 00:38:43.630
And even in Palm Beach,
where Trump has Mar-a-Lago,

00:38:43.630 --> 00:38:46.630
and his—Wilbur Ross,
his secretary,

00:38:46.630 --> 00:38:48.460
billionaire secretary
of commerce,

00:38:49.340 --> 00:38:50.700
has one of his mansions,

00:38:51.390 --> 00:38:55.260
the city manager has already put
$150 million into water pumps.

00:38:55.260 --> 00:38:58.140
So we’re already investing
in infrastructure in response

00:38:58.140 --> 00:39:00.510
to sea level rise
and climate change,

00:39:00.510 --> 00:39:03.140
but we’re clearly not
doing it in a planned

00:39:03.140 --> 00:39:05.980
and coherent manner,
like we do in California.

00:39:07.080 --> 00:39:08.890
So we’re having to do it
from the bottom up.

00:39:08.890 --> 00:39:10.950
I mean, it’s not a coincidence.

00:39:10.950 --> 00:39:12.290
Everywhere I’ve gone
in the world,

00:39:12.290 --> 00:39:15.480
you sort of see that
anti-democratic regimes

00:39:15.480 --> 00:39:17.440
that use racism and tribalism

00:39:18.080 --> 00:39:21.790
to advance their power
also tend to be very much

00:39:21.790 --> 00:39:24.660
in denial of
environmental values.

00:39:25.530 --> 00:39:28.660
And so, you know, our challenge
is to move forward

00:39:28.660 --> 00:39:31.260
with what I call
the triple bottom line—I mean,

00:39:31.260 --> 00:39:33.660
other people call it
this—where we have to link

00:39:34.200 --> 00:39:35.420
our environmental challenges

00:39:35.420 --> 00:39:37.630
with our economy
and with equity.

00:39:37.630 --> 00:39:39.430
We have to start reinvesting,

00:39:39.430 --> 00:39:41.580
a rapid transition
off fossil fuels.

00:39:42.240 --> 00:39:45.070
The fastest job growth
in the energy sector

00:39:45.070 --> 00:39:46.830
is in wind and solar.

00:39:47.650 --> 00:39:50.010
We have to find ways that we—

00:39:50.010 --> 00:39:51.990
AMY GOODMAN: David,
just before we go—

00:39:51.990 --> 00:39:52.740
DAVID HELVARG: —convert
to a better world.

00:39:52.740 --> 00:39:53.660
AMY GOODMAN: I hate
to interrupt,

00:39:53.660 --> 00:39:55.600
but I wanted to
ask you about this.

00:39:55.600 --> 00:39:55.870
DAVID HELVARG: Sure, Amy.

00:39:55.870 --> 00:39:58.650
AMY GOODMAN: Hurricane Harvey’s
arrival came as Bloomberg News

00:39:58.650 --> 00:40:01.400
reported that
the FEMA director, Brock Long,

00:40:01.400 --> 00:40:04.070
who just held
a news conference, on Friday,

00:40:04.070 --> 00:40:06.640
was pushing for an overhaul
of disaster relief

00:40:06.640 --> 00:40:08.930
so that states, cities
and homeowners

00:40:08.930 --> 00:40:11.100
bear more of the costs.

00:40:11.100 --> 00:40:13.520
And I also wanted
to ask you, very briefly,

00:40:14.290 --> 00:40:17.650
to explain how
the petrochemical industry

00:40:18.260 --> 00:40:21.390
has exploited past
natural disasters

00:40:21.390 --> 00:40:23.070
to its benefit—for example,

00:40:23.730 --> 00:40:25.640
releasing toxic chemicals

00:40:25.640 --> 00:40:27.980
that are otherwise too
expensive to get rid of.

00:40:29.820 --> 00:40:30.930
DAVID HELVARG: Yeah, and,
unfortunately,

00:40:30.930 --> 00:40:33.960
there’s a history
of—during storms

00:40:33.960 --> 00:40:35.190
and other disasters,

00:40:35.190 --> 00:40:37.130
when people aren’t watching,

00:40:37.850 --> 00:40:40.130
industry has released
hazardous waste

00:40:40.130 --> 00:40:44.930
into the floodwaters,
essentially, to save money.

00:40:44.930 --> 00:40:47.200
This is just like offshore,

00:40:47.200 --> 00:40:50.110
the shipping industry
will release oily waste

00:40:50.110 --> 00:40:51.970
into the ocean to save money.

00:40:51.970 --> 00:40:53.750
And so you have to have
really close monitoring

00:40:53.750 --> 00:40:55.890
at times like this.

00:40:55.890 --> 00:40:57.380
Luckily, right now,
the Coast Guard,

00:40:57.380 --> 00:40:59.310
along with having its SAR—search

00:40:59.310 --> 00:41:00.840
and rescue—helicopters
in the air

00:41:00.840 --> 00:41:04.040
and swift boat
rescue teams on the water,

00:41:04.040 --> 00:41:05.530
I’m sure they also
have the strike team

00:41:05.530 --> 00:41:06.870
out of Mobile, Alabama,

00:41:06.870 --> 00:41:09.320
that’s looking at the pollution.

00:41:10.890 --> 00:41:13.320
As was said earlier, I mean,

00:41:13.320 --> 00:41:17.670
the Houston Ship Channel
is part of Cancer Alley.

00:41:17.670 --> 00:41:21.680
It’s a huge complex
of petrochemical facilities.

00:41:21.680 --> 00:41:25.020
And it’s bizarre that they had
a voluntary shutdown.

00:41:25.020 --> 00:41:26.750
That should have
been mandated.

00:41:26.750 --> 00:41:28.970
And there’s a good chance that,

00:41:28.970 --> 00:41:31.970
either accidentally
or intentionally,

00:41:31.970 --> 00:41:33.710
you’re going to see a pollution,

00:41:33.710 --> 00:41:36.470
a release, large-scale
pollution release,

00:41:36.470 --> 00:41:37.810
because of where
this is located.

00:41:37.810 --> 00:41:39.790
You’re certainly
going to see, you know,

00:41:39.790 --> 00:41:42.500
a claim of disruption
of production,

00:41:42.500 --> 00:41:45.470
and they’re going to
jack up gasoline prices.

00:41:45.470 --> 00:41:47.100
That’s just what they do.

00:41:47.680 --> 00:41:48.450
AMY GOODMAN: Well,
David Helvarg,

00:41:48.450 --> 00:41:49.710
we want to thank you
for being with us,

00:41:49.710 --> 00:41:51.340
executive director
of Blue Frontier,

00:41:51.340 --> 00:41:53.900
an ocean conservation
organization.

00:41:53.900 --> 00:41:55.950
He’s speaking to us
from San Diego, California.

00:41:55.950 --> 00:42:00.570
When we come back, we’re going
to talk to people in Texas

00:42:00.570 --> 00:42:03.030
about what happens to
undocumented immigrants

00:42:03.030 --> 00:42:06.060
in times like this.
This is Democracy Now!

00:42:06.060 --> 00:42:08.060
We’ll be back in

00:42:18.950 --> 00:42:20.950
a

00:42:52.440 --> 00:42:54.440
minute.

00:43:20.800 --> 00:43:22.720
AMY GOODMAN: I’m Amy Goodman,
with Renée Feltz,

00:43:22.720 --> 00:43:23.870
a Houston native.

00:43:23.870 --> 00:43:26.660
In fact, Renée, your sister,
how is she doing in Houston?

00:43:27.220 --> 00:43:28.470
RENÉE FELTZ: Amy,
my sister lives near

00:43:28.470 --> 00:43:31.410
one of the major
bayous in Houston.

00:43:31.410 --> 00:43:34.780
And bayous are not a term
many people are familiar with.

00:43:34.780 --> 00:43:35.890
It’s sort of like a river.

00:43:35.890 --> 00:43:38.380
It’s a major area
where the water drains.

00:43:38.380 --> 00:43:40.600
And she also lives
near two major freeways,

00:43:40.600 --> 00:43:42.440
where the water goes, as well.

00:43:42.440 --> 00:43:44.860
She has evacuated to friends

00:43:44.860 --> 00:43:47.480
that live on the third floor
of their apartments.

00:43:47.480 --> 00:43:49.980
So, hi, Michelle,
and hello to all my friends

00:43:49.980 --> 00:43:52.860
and to my former home at KPFT,

00:43:52.860 --> 00:43:55.360
the Pacifica radio station
in Houston, Texas.

00:43:55.360 --> 00:43:57.810
Well, we turn right now to look
at how Hurricane Harvey

00:43:57.810 --> 00:43:59.260
and the epic flooding disaster

00:43:59.260 --> 00:44:01.790
has threatened the safety
of immigrants in Texas

00:44:01.790 --> 00:44:03.570
who are afraid
to evacuate to shelters

00:44:03.570 --> 00:44:05.640
or approach authorities
to seek help,

00:44:05.640 --> 00:44:09.040
in part because of a new law
set to go into effect Friday

00:44:09.040 --> 00:44:10.450
that allows police in Texas

00:44:10.450 --> 00:44:13.440
to ask people they detain
for their immigration status.

00:44:13.440 --> 00:44:15.260
Ahead of the storm,
the U.S. Border Patrol

00:44:15.260 --> 00:44:17.750
said its roadside
immigration checkpoints

00:44:17.750 --> 00:44:19.960
in the state would remain open.

00:44:19.960 --> 00:44:22.390
The agency later issued
a statement that, quote,

00:44:22.390 --> 00:44:25.180
"Routine non-criminal
immigration enforcement ...

00:44:25.180 --> 00:44:27.920
will not be conducted
at evacuation sites,

00:44:27.920 --> 00:44:31.390
or [at] assistance centers
such as shelters or food banks."

00:44:31.390 --> 00:44:32.820
Texas Governor Greg Abbott

00:44:32.820 --> 00:44:35.690
later echoed those claims
in an interview with MSNBC.

00:44:41.700 --> 00:44:44.730
AMY GOODMAN: This comes as more
than 50 immigrant women

00:44:44.730 --> 00:44:45.570
and children

00:44:45.570 --> 00:44:48.110
were left stranded
by immigration authorities

00:44:48.110 --> 00:44:50.710
at a bus station
in San Antonio Friday

00:44:50.710 --> 00:44:53.280
at the same time
bus service was canceled

00:44:53.280 --> 00:44:54.690
due to Hurricane Harvey.

00:44:54.690 --> 00:44:57.010
Volunteers had to find
shelter for the families,

00:44:57.010 --> 00:44:59.570
most of whom were asylum
seekers from Central America

00:44:59.570 --> 00:45:03.560
and had just been released from
a private detention facility.

00:45:03.560 --> 00:45:04.980
For more, we’re joined
by two guests.

00:45:04.980 --> 00:45:07.340
In San Antonio,
Rocío Guenther is with us.

00:45:07.340 --> 00:45:08.940
She’s a reporter
with the San Antonio

00:45:08.940 --> 00:45:11.580
nonprofit news outlet
the Rivard Report.

00:45:12.180 --> 00:45:15.180
She broke the story about
how ICE—about ICE,

00:45:15.180 --> 00:45:16.460
in her report headlined

00:45:16.460 --> 00:45:19.750
"Stranded Immigrants Find
Shelter from Hurricane Harvey."

00:45:19.750 --> 00:45:22.190
And in Washington, D.C.,
Amy Fischer is with us,

00:45:22.190 --> 00:45:24.460
policy director for RAICES,

00:45:24.460 --> 00:45:27.450
a Texas-based nonprofit
legal advocacy group

00:45:27.450 --> 00:45:30.880
that also helped with the rescue
of these asylum seekers.

00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:32.290
We welcome you both
to Democracy Now!

00:45:32.290 --> 00:45:34.810
Rocío, let’s begin with you.
You broke the story.

00:45:34.810 --> 00:45:36.390
What did you learn on Friday?

00:45:37.530 --> 00:45:38.760
ROCÍO GUENTHER: Well,
we learned, you know,

00:45:38.760 --> 00:45:40.980
through our social media

00:45:40.980 --> 00:45:43.930
and through
our contacts—our office

00:45:43.930 --> 00:45:47.470
is actually like a few minutes
away from the bus station.

00:45:47.470 --> 00:45:50.310
It’s walking distance.
And this is routine.

00:45:50.810 --> 00:45:56.690
Women and children are always
taken there on a routine basis.

00:45:56.690 --> 00:46:00.780
But in this case,
during a natural disaster,

00:46:00.780 --> 00:46:02.260
the situation was
quite different.

00:46:03.810 --> 00:46:07.010
Through contact
with city officials

00:46:07.010 --> 00:46:08.260
who had learned
about the situation,

00:46:08.260 --> 00:46:12.740
as well, we were
able to find out,

00:46:12.740 --> 00:46:15.300
after I arrived
at the bus station,

00:46:15.300 --> 00:46:16.970
where the immigrants were taken.

00:46:16.970 --> 00:46:19.030
And it was a local
downtown church,

00:46:19.650 --> 00:46:20.900
so I walked to the scene.

00:46:20.900 --> 00:46:24.370
And not only were
the women and children

00:46:24.370 --> 00:46:25.690
finding shelter at the church,

00:46:25.690 --> 00:46:28.750
but also they had opened up the
church for homeless individuals

00:46:28.750 --> 00:46:30.490
who were trying to find
refuge from the storm.

00:46:31.210 --> 00:46:31.870
AMY GOODMAN: … understand.

00:46:31.870 --> 00:46:34.160
What did these immigrants
have with them?

00:46:34.160 --> 00:46:38.210
And had the authorities
been warned not to do this,

00:46:38.210 --> 00:46:40.200
without giving them
any resources,

00:46:40.200 --> 00:46:43.240
just leaving them in a place
that was about to be pummeled?

00:46:44.340 --> 00:46:45.320
ROCÍO GUENTHER: Exactly.

00:46:45.320 --> 00:46:49.830
So, Congressman Lloyd Doggett
actually had contacted

00:46:49.830 --> 00:46:51.880
ICE officials the day before

00:46:51.880 --> 00:46:54.970
and specifically had told
them—he told the Rivard

00:46:54.970 --> 00:46:58.490
Report—to not drop off the women
and the children there,

00:46:58.490 --> 00:47:01.230
because bus services would be
canceled in the afternoon.

00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:04.190
So, even though
Congressman Doggett

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:06.650
gave that message, you know,

00:47:06.650 --> 00:47:10.930
families were still left
at the mercy of that.

00:47:10.930 --> 00:47:13.940
And the volunteer organizations,
if it wasn’t for them,

00:47:13.940 --> 00:47:16.020
you know, who knows where
these women and children

00:47:16.020 --> 00:47:17.930
would have gone
to find refuge?

00:47:17.930 --> 00:47:20.250
RENÉE FELTZ: And I want to bring
Amy Fischer of RAICES

00:47:20.250 --> 00:47:21.750
into this conversation.

00:47:21.750 --> 00:47:25.000
You helped to settle many
of these women and children

00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:27.030
asylum seekers from
Central American countries

00:47:27.030 --> 00:47:28.460
like El Salvador, Honduras,

00:47:29.130 --> 00:47:32.240
after they were discovered
at the bus station.

00:47:32.240 --> 00:47:34.480
Can you talk about that
and some of the concerns

00:47:34.480 --> 00:47:36.890
that are being raised
as thousands of people in Texas

00:47:36.890 --> 00:47:39.180
are on the move,
looking for shelter?

00:47:40.740 --> 00:47:43.940
AMY FISCHER: Sure. So, luckily,
there are volunteers

00:47:43.940 --> 00:47:45.680
that are at the bus station

00:47:45.680 --> 00:47:47.140
pretty much every single day,

00:47:47.140 --> 00:47:49.660
because this is a regular
practice that ICE does,

00:47:49.660 --> 00:47:51.930
is that they drop families

00:47:51.930 --> 00:47:53.630
that are being released
from detention

00:47:53.630 --> 00:47:55.740
at the bus station
in San Antonio

00:47:55.740 --> 00:47:59.630
with no access to cellphones,
no food, no resources,

00:48:00.620 --> 00:48:03.310
and really no way
to communicate

00:48:03.310 --> 00:48:05.300
and navigate the busing system.

00:48:05.300 --> 00:48:07.450
So, luckily,
there were volunteers

00:48:07.450 --> 00:48:10.750
that were already there
at the bus station,

00:48:10.750 --> 00:48:13.830
and then they saw this large
group being dropped off

00:48:13.830 --> 00:48:16.250
as the storm was heading
into San Antonio.

00:48:16.250 --> 00:48:19.450
So, our agency works
with families

00:48:19.450 --> 00:48:20.860
when they’re in detention

00:48:20.860 --> 00:48:23.110
and after they’ve been
released from detention.

00:48:23.110 --> 00:48:26.260
So we worked with the
Interfaith Welcome Coalition

00:48:26.260 --> 00:48:27.880
on the ground to ensure

00:48:27.880 --> 00:48:29.480
that these families

00:48:29.480 --> 00:48:31.780
had a place to stay,

00:48:31.780 --> 00:48:33.360
they had food to eat,

00:48:33.360 --> 00:48:35.730
that they could communicate
with their families

00:48:35.730 --> 00:48:38.870
and really be taken care
of as the storm passed.

00:48:40.130 --> 00:48:41.330
AMY GOODMAN: And what happened
to the people

00:48:41.330 --> 00:48:43.720
who are in detention
during this storm, Amy?

00:48:43.720 --> 00:48:44.450
Do you know?

00:48:44.450 --> 00:48:46.540
AMY FISCHER: It’s
our understanding

00:48:46.540 --> 00:48:48.330
that of the families

00:48:48.330 --> 00:48:50.840
that were released from
the detention center,

00:48:50.840 --> 00:48:52.460
the vast majority
of them were released

00:48:52.460 --> 00:48:54.410
from the Karnes family
detention center.

00:48:55.530 --> 00:48:56.620
It is our understanding,

00:48:56.620 --> 00:48:59.310
is that that detention
center was emptied.

00:48:59.310 --> 00:49:02.020
And so, many of those families
were actually transferred

00:49:02.020 --> 00:49:03.700
to a different
detention center,

00:49:03.700 --> 00:49:05.350
the Dilley family
detention center,

00:49:05.350 --> 00:49:09.030
which is about an hour and
a half outside of San Antonio.

00:49:09.030 --> 00:49:10.900
And then, of course,
there were the about

00:49:10.900 --> 00:49:12.200
50 mothers and children

00:49:12.200 --> 00:49:14.160
who were dropped off
at the bus station

00:49:14.160 --> 00:49:15.360
or abandoned at the bus station.

00:49:15.360 --> 00:49:17.880
AMY GOODMAN: We’re getting word
that undocumented people in

00:49:17.880 --> 00:49:22.790
and around Houston are afraid,
afraid of actually leaving,

00:49:22.790 --> 00:49:25.470
because what if they
interact with authorities?

00:49:25.470 --> 00:49:27.920
Afraid of possibly
being picked up,

00:49:27.920 --> 00:49:30.530
even in this extreme disaster.

00:49:30.530 --> 00:49:33.850
Now, Governor Abbott said
they won’t check the ID

00:49:33.850 --> 00:49:35.650
if people seek shelter.

00:49:36.230 --> 00:49:37.940
Is that your understanding, Amy?

00:49:39.510 --> 00:49:44.000
AMY FISCHER: So, we have been
told that Texas officials

00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:47.890
will not actively check
IDs of immigrants.

00:49:47.890 --> 00:49:51.580
But I think we have to recognize
that this is happening days

00:49:51.580 --> 00:49:53.600
before a racist,

00:49:53.600 --> 00:49:56.510
anti-immigrant law
is supposed to go into effect.

00:49:56.510 --> 00:50:00.550
So, SB 4 has essentially created

00:50:00.550 --> 00:50:01.810
a sense of fear

00:50:01.810 --> 00:50:03.170
throughout the state of Texas

00:50:03.170 --> 00:50:05.340
for everyone that
is an immigrant

00:50:05.340 --> 00:50:08.410
or maybe looking
like an immigrant.

00:50:08.410 --> 00:50:12.270
And so, I think what our sense
is on the ground

00:50:12.270 --> 00:50:15.840
is that people who
may be undocumented

00:50:15.840 --> 00:50:18.000
simply just do
not trust officials

00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:21.390
and what their word is,
because we’ve seen them targeted

00:50:21.390 --> 00:50:23.760
even before the
implementation of SB 4.

00:50:23.760 --> 00:50:26.110
We’ve seen them
racially profiled.

00:50:26.110 --> 00:50:28.980
And, you know, a few years ago,

00:50:28.980 --> 00:50:30.870
when Hurricane Sandy
hit New York,

00:50:30.870 --> 00:50:34.060
we saw an announcement from DHS

00:50:34.060 --> 00:50:36.880
that they would essentially
pause immigration enforcement

00:50:36.880 --> 00:50:39.420
so that no family would
have to make the decision

00:50:39.420 --> 00:50:42.980
between trying
to survive a storm

00:50:42.980 --> 00:50:44.520
or seeking help

00:50:44.520 --> 00:50:47.210
and being subject
to detention and deportation.

00:50:47.210 --> 00:50:48.540
And that simply
did not happen.

00:50:48.540 --> 00:50:51.670
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Amy Fischer,
speaking of racial profiling,

00:50:51.670 --> 00:50:53.240
we’re going to move on
to our last segment.

00:50:53.240 --> 00:50:55.640
I want to thank you
for being with us, of RAICES.

00:50:55.640 --> 00:50:59.670
And, Rocío Guenther, a reporter
with the Rivard Report,

00:50:59.670 --> 00:51:01.860
a San Antonio
nonprofit news outlet,

00:51:01.860 --> 00:51:03.290
we’re going to link
to your piece.

00:51:03.790 --> 00:51:06.020
AMY GOODMAN: As we move now
into our last segment,

00:51:06.020 --> 00:51:08.920
this top news—what would have
been top news on Friday,

00:51:08.920 --> 00:51:10.730
if it weren’t
for the storm. Renée?

00:51:10.730 --> 00:51:12.570
RENÉE FELTZ: That’s right, Amy.
We turn now to the White House

00:51:12.570 --> 00:51:13.430
pardon announced

00:51:13.430 --> 00:51:15.800
Friday for longtime
Trump supporter

00:51:15.800 --> 00:51:18.790
and former Maricopa County
Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

00:51:18.790 --> 00:51:20.720
The controversial
Arizona lawman,

00:51:20.720 --> 00:51:22.560
known for profiling Latinos,

00:51:22.560 --> 00:51:24.700
once bragged that he ran
his open-air jail,

00:51:24.700 --> 00:51:26.510
called Tent City,
in Phoenix like a,

00:51:26.510 --> 00:51:27.970
quote, "concentration camp."

00:51:28.480 --> 00:51:31.340
Arpaio was first elected in 1992

00:51:31.340 --> 00:51:33.940
and voted out of office
in November last year

00:51:33.940 --> 00:51:35.340
after years of civil rights

00:51:35.340 --> 00:51:37.160
complaints and
corruption allegations.

00:51:37.160 --> 00:51:38.390
AMY GOODMAN: In July,
a federal judge

00:51:38.390 --> 00:51:40.160
found Arpaio guilty
of contempt of court

00:51:40.160 --> 00:51:43.150
for defying an order to stop his
deputies from detaining people

00:51:43.150 --> 00:51:45.240
based on their perceived
immigration status.

00:51:45.240 --> 00:51:48.080
He faced up to six months
in prison at his sentencing,

00:51:48.080 --> 00:51:50.400
which was originally
set for October 5th.

00:51:50.400 --> 00:51:51.790
In a two-paragraph statement,

00:51:52.370 --> 00:51:54.500
President Trump
said Arpaio gave, quote,

00:51:54.500 --> 00:51:57.200
"years of admirable service
to our nation."

00:51:57.200 --> 00:51:59.170
Arpaio responded
to the news Saturday.

00:52:00.010 --> 00:52:02.860
JOE ARPAIO: I’m very happy.
I have to thank the president

00:52:02.860 --> 00:52:06.580
of the United States
for his pardon.

00:52:07.390 --> 00:52:11.560
As I say, he’s a big friend,
a supporter of law enforcement.

00:52:11.560 --> 00:52:14.230
I think this is a bigger
picture than just me.

00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:16.640
AMY GOODMAN: For more,
we go to Tucson, Arizona,

00:52:16.640 --> 00:52:18.150
where we’re joined
by Linda Valdez,

00:52:18.150 --> 00:52:20.080
an editorial board
member and columnist

00:52:20.080 --> 00:52:22.900
at the Arizona Republic,
the state’s largest newspaper.

00:52:22.900 --> 00:52:25.380
After President Trump
pardoned Sheriff Arpaio,

00:52:25.380 --> 00:52:27.200
she wrote an editorial
for the paper headlined

00:52:27.200 --> 00:52:31.150
"Donald Trump Just Resurrected
Joe Arpaio from Irrelevance."

00:52:31.150 --> 00:52:33.140
Linda Valdez, thanks
so much for joining us.

00:52:33.140 --> 00:52:34.610
In these last few minutes,

00:52:34.610 --> 00:52:38.070
first respond to what
message this sends,

00:52:38.070 --> 00:52:41.510
and then talk about
Sheriff Arpaio’s history

00:52:41.510 --> 00:52:45.020
and what he did, this whole
issue of racial profiling

00:52:45.020 --> 00:52:46.290
and racial harassment.

00:52:49.270 --> 00:52:51.260
LINDA VALDEZ: Well, as far as
the message that it sends,

00:52:51.260 --> 00:52:52.930
it sends a very clear message

00:52:52.930 --> 00:52:55.290
that Donald Trump
is not interested

00:52:55.290 --> 00:52:58.470
in being the president of all
the people of this country.

00:52:58.470 --> 00:53:00.060
He’s interested
in being president

00:53:00.060 --> 00:53:03.610
of a very small Republican base
that put him in office.

00:53:03.610 --> 00:53:04.900
It’s the same group of people

00:53:04.900 --> 00:53:10.060
that has been Joe Arpaio’s base
of support for many, many years.

00:53:10.830 --> 00:53:13.200
And it’s is a very
troubling message.

00:53:13.200 --> 00:53:14.800
It’s also a message that says

00:53:14.800 --> 00:53:17.770
that the president
of the United States

00:53:17.770 --> 00:53:21.060
does not respect the
Constitution and the requirement

00:53:21.060 --> 00:53:24.150
that all people be treated
equally under the Constitution.

00:53:24.150 --> 00:53:25.990
And he doesn’t have much respect

00:53:25.990 --> 00:53:28.220
for the judicial
branch of government,

00:53:28.220 --> 00:53:32.290
because that process,
the process under which Arpaio

00:53:32.290 --> 00:53:36.110
was convicted of criminal
contempt of court,

00:53:36.110 --> 00:53:37.740
that was a judicial process

00:53:37.740 --> 00:53:40.270
that had been going on
for years and years.

00:53:40.270 --> 00:53:43.530
It had not reached its
conclusion, as you pointed out.

00:53:43.530 --> 00:53:47.470
He was due to be
sentenced in October.

00:53:47.470 --> 00:53:49.660
And by short-circuiting
that process,

00:53:50.410 --> 00:53:53.810
Trump showed contempt
for the judiciary system.

00:53:54.350 --> 00:53:56.050
He showed contempt
for the people

00:53:56.050 --> 00:53:59.270
that took that case to court

00:53:59.270 --> 00:54:02.030
and sought redress
under the law.

00:54:02.030 --> 00:54:06.570
And he showed contempt
for Latinos in Arizona

00:54:06.570 --> 00:54:07.740
and elsewhere,

00:54:07.740 --> 00:54:12.280
saying that it is OK to
racially profile certain people.

00:54:12.280 --> 00:54:14.750
But he also showed contempt
for all Americans

00:54:14.750 --> 00:54:18.790
by saying the Constitution
isn’t what it says it is.

00:54:19.950 --> 00:54:22.420
RENÉE FELTZ: I want to ask you
about a comment by Arizona

00:54:22.420 --> 00:54:22.910
senator

00:54:22.910 --> 00:54:25.130
and former Republican
presidential candidate,

00:54:25.130 --> 00:54:26.280
John McCain.

00:54:26.280 --> 00:54:27.990
He issued this statement
that said, quote,

00:54:27.990 --> 00:54:30.740
"The President has the authority
to make this pardon,

00:54:30.740 --> 00:54:32.520
but doing so
at this time undermines

00:54:32.520 --> 00:54:36.170
his claim for the respect
of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio

00:54:36.170 --> 00:54:38.720
has shown no remorse
for his actions."

00:54:38.720 --> 00:54:40.920
Meanwhile,
Arpaio told your newspaper,

00:54:40.920 --> 00:54:43.750
the Arizona Republic,
in an interview Friday,

00:54:43.750 --> 00:54:46.040
that he would not have handled
his immigration sweeps

00:54:46.040 --> 00:54:47.660
any differently,
saying, quote,

00:54:47.660 --> 00:54:50.820
"My guys did nothing wrong,
and I didn’t do anything wrong."

00:54:50.820 --> 00:54:52.820
Your response?

00:54:53.890 --> 00:54:57.570
LINDA VALDEZ: Well, my response
is that that’s been Arpaio’s MO

00:54:57.570 --> 00:54:58.590
since the beginning.

00:54:58.590 --> 00:55:00.460
He is very much
like Donald Trump.

00:55:00.460 --> 00:55:03.740
He does not admit
that he makes mistakes.

00:55:03.740 --> 00:55:07.560
And as far as John McCain’s
quote, it’s right on target.

00:55:07.560 --> 00:55:10.410
I mean, John McCain
has—gets things right.

00:55:10.410 --> 00:55:12.110
And as far as Trump
is concerned,

00:55:12.110 --> 00:55:15.860
he’s been right more than
he’s been wrong on this issue.

00:55:15.860 --> 00:55:17.690
And I just wanted
to address the point

00:55:17.690 --> 00:55:20.290
that the president
made in his pardon

00:55:20.290 --> 00:55:23.810
that Arpaio has given
a lot of service.

00:55:23.810 --> 00:55:28.470
The 20 years that he was
sheriff of Maricopa County

00:55:28.470 --> 00:55:30.710
were not good years,

00:55:30.710 --> 00:55:33.220
as far as a lawman is concerned.

00:55:33.220 --> 00:55:35.850
He devoted a great
deal of energy

00:55:35.850 --> 00:55:37.550
to his immigration sweeps,

00:55:37.550 --> 00:55:40.340
which were racially
profiling Latinos.

00:55:40.340 --> 00:55:43.070
In the process,
he diverted resources

00:55:43.070 --> 00:55:48.140
and funding from other important
law enforcement processes.

00:55:48.840 --> 00:55:51.790
There were 400-and-plus
sexual assault cases

00:55:51.790 --> 00:55:55.130
that were not investigated
by his department.

00:55:56.230 --> 00:56:00.640
That was brought to light
by several media outlets,

00:56:01.400 --> 00:56:03.800
one of which won
a Pulitzer for it.

00:56:03.800 --> 00:56:06.170
He continued to be re-elected,

00:56:06.170 --> 00:56:08.430
which is something
I think you need—where

00:56:08.430 --> 00:56:11.480
he and Donald Trump
are very similar,

00:56:11.480 --> 00:56:14.380
in the people
that they appeal to,

00:56:14.380 --> 00:56:18.090
their inability
to express remorse

00:56:18.090 --> 00:56:21.440
and the fact that their
supporters really don’t care

00:56:21.440 --> 00:56:22.780
about what they do.

00:56:22.780 --> 00:56:26.340
They are supporting—they
are supporting people

00:56:26.340 --> 00:56:30.180
who do not respect all the
people equally in this country.

00:56:30.180 --> 00:56:32.270
AMY GOODMAN: Clearly,
Sheriff Arpaio

00:56:32.270 --> 00:56:35.120
was a very early supporter
of Donald Trump.

00:56:35.120 --> 00:56:37.510
I think Donald Trump
brought him up to Iowa.

00:56:37.510 --> 00:56:40.780
Donald Trump was sending
a very significant message here,

00:56:40.780 --> 00:56:42.340
as he sends out this pardon,

00:56:43.550 --> 00:56:47.680
aside from talking
about what kind of law

00:56:47.680 --> 00:56:49.920
he wants enforced
and not enforced.

00:56:49.920 --> 00:56:50.540
Linda Valdez,

00:56:50.540 --> 00:56:53.070
do you think there was
something strategic about this,

00:56:53.070 --> 00:56:56.270
a message to people who may be
being investigated right now

00:56:56.870 --> 00:56:58.380
by Mueller and others—you know,

00:56:58.380 --> 00:57:02.790
subpoenas going out—that
there is a pardon out there

00:57:02.790 --> 00:57:04.410
for those that support him?

00:57:07.050 --> 00:57:08.850
LINDA VALDEZ: Well, that’s
certainly been suggested,

00:57:08.850 --> 00:57:13.000
and it certainly
would be logical.

00:57:13.540 --> 00:57:15.630
I think that Trump
did send a message

00:57:15.630 --> 00:57:20.190
that he will stand by the people
that are loyal to him.

00:57:20.770 --> 00:57:22.940
And it is a chilling message

00:57:22.940 --> 00:57:25.050
that even if the judicial system

00:57:25.050 --> 00:57:26.790
finds someone culpable,

00:57:26.790 --> 00:57:28.710
the president doesn’t care.

00:57:28.710 --> 00:57:31.980
So I think it is—and it’s also
a good distraction.

00:57:31.980 --> 00:57:34.990
Trump is doing a lot of things
to distract people

00:57:34.990 --> 00:57:40.560
from the Russia investigation
and keep his populism going,

00:57:40.560 --> 00:57:43.220
which is another thing
he has in common with Arpaio,

00:57:43.220 --> 00:57:45.750
is that appeal
to the populist base,

00:57:45.750 --> 00:57:50.200
and basically saying, "My people
will support me no matter what."

00:57:50.200 --> 00:57:51.320
And both of them have said that.

00:57:51.320 --> 00:57:52.190
RENÉE FELTZ: Linda, I want to
jump in on that point.

00:57:52.190 --> 00:57:54.420
LINDA VALDEZ: And it seems to be
true in both cases. Yes?

00:57:54.420 --> 00:57:55.880
RENÉE FELTZ: In our last
20 seconds,

00:57:55.880 --> 00:57:57.200
I want to jump in on that point.

00:57:57.810 --> 00:58:00.520
Since the pardon, Sheriff Joe
Arpaio said in an interview

00:58:00.520 --> 00:58:02.290
with the Associated Press
and your newspaper

00:58:02.290 --> 00:58:03.980
that he may jump back
into politics.

00:58:03.980 --> 00:58:05.980
Do you think he has a chance?

00:58:07.310 --> 00:58:08.840
LINDA VALDEZ: Well,
he’s 85 years old.

00:58:08.840 --> 00:58:11.350
He’s been talking for years
about running for governor.

00:58:11.350 --> 00:58:12.290
He’s never done it.

00:58:12.290 --> 00:58:15.900
In Arizona, I think
he may be a spent force,

00:58:15.900 --> 00:58:18.090
which was our point
in the editorial.

00:58:18.090 --> 00:58:21.530
He was really past—we
had recognized here

00:58:21.530 --> 00:58:23.970
that he was a destructive force.

00:58:24.490 --> 00:58:27.020
But one never knows
these days in politics.

00:58:27.020 --> 00:58:29.660
You know, Donald Trump
proves the old saying,

00:58:29.660 --> 00:58:31.090
"Anybody can be president."

00:58:31.590 --> 00:58:34.090
Proves it in not a very
good way, I would say.

00:58:34.090 --> 00:58:35.720
AMY GOODMAN: Linda Valdez,
we want to thank you for being

00:58:35.720 --> 00:58:37.140
with us,
editorial board member,

00:58:37.140 --> 00:58:39.080
columnist
at the Arizona Republic,

00:58:39.080 --> 00:58:41.100
the state’s largest newspaper.

00:58:41.100 --> 00:58:43.290
After President Trump
pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio,

00:58:43.290 --> 00:58:44.920
she wrote an editorial.
We’ll link to that.

00:58:44.920 --> 00:58:48.030
"Donald Trump Just Resurrected
Joe Arpaio from Irrelevance."

00:58:48.030 --> 00:58:57.220
Linda Valdez is a Pulitzer Prize
finalist.