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Thomas Frank on Clinton & Democratic Establishment: What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?
In a major economic address in Ohio on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton warned the election of Donald Trump would be disastrous for the U.S. economy and result in what she dubbed a "Trump recession." "He’s written a lot of books about business. They all seem to end at Chapter 11. Go figure," Clinton said. But Hillary Clinton’s economic policies are still facing criticism from her own party. Last week in an address to supporters, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders told supporters he planned to go to the Democratic convention next month in Philadelphia to push the party in a more progressive direction. We speak to Thomas Frank, author of the new book, "Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?"
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: In a major economic address in Ohio on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton warned that the election of Donald Trump would be disastrous for the U.S. economy and result in what she dubbed a "Trump recession."
HILLARY CLINTON: I think Donald Trump has said he’s qualified to be president because of his business record. A few days ago, he said—and I quote—"I’m going to do for the country what I did for my business." So, let’s take a look at what he did for his business. He’s written a lot of books about business. They all seem to end at Chapter 11. Go figure. And over the years, he intentionally ran up huge amounts of debt on his companies, and then he defaulted. He bankrupted his companies—not once, not twice, but four times. Hundreds of people lost their jobs. Shareholders were wiped out. Contractors, many of them small businesses, took heavy losses. Many went bust. But Donald Trump, he came out fine.
AMY GOODMAN: Describing Donald Trump as the "king of debt," Hillary Clinton warned a Trump presidency would cause a "economic catastrophe." Trump is scheduled to give a major speech today criticizing Clinton’s policies. But on Tuesday, Trump responded by posting his short video on Instagram.
DONALD TRUMP: Hillary Clinton is only right about one thing: I understand debt and how to handle it. I’ve made a fortune with debt. But debt for this country is a disaster. And Obama has piled it on, and she’s been there watching.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: While Hillary Clinton is attacking Donald Trump over his economic policies, there’s also a simmering debate within the Democratic Party over the party’s own platform. Last week in an address to supporters, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders told—said he planned to go to the Democratic convention next month in Philadelphia to push the party in a more progressive direction.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: I also look forward to working with Secretary Clinton to transform the Democratic Party, so that it becomes a party of working people and young people, and not just wealthy campaign contributors, a party that has the guts to take on Wall Street, the pharmaceutical industry, the fossil fuel industry and the other powerful special interests that dominate so much of our political and economic life.
AMY GOODMAN: To talk more about the presidential race, we’re joined by author and social critic Thomas Frank, author of many books, including What’s the Matter with Kansas? His newest book is called Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Thomas Frank. You write that, well, it’s—the problem with establishment Democrats is not that they have been bribed by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and others, but that long ago they determined to supplant the GOP as the party of Wall Street. Explain.
THOMAS FRANK: Yeah, yeah, that’s right. Well, it’s not so much that they decided to—first they decided that they—that they didn’t want to be the party of the working class any longer. They didn’t want to really be the party of the middle class. And this goes back to the 1970s, if not—if not before. But by the 199—you know, wait, so the group that they decided they would represent was the affluent, white-collar professionals, beginning in the 1970s. And by the 1990s, that had really come into full flower with the Bill Clinton administration, and they became—you know, they actively courted Wall Street. And all through the last decade, you know, the years of the Bush administration, you had Democratic theorist after Democratic theorist talking about how there was this sort of natural alliance between the Democrats and Wall Street. Wall Street was supposed to be this place where the—you know, the professional class was doing these fantastic things, plucking wealth out of thin air. This was the creative class, you know, in full bloom—right?—doing these wonderful things, so creative. And, you know, everybody could see that this was a naturally Democratic industry. And the Clintons and Barack Obama all had a hand in this transformation of the party.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Thomas Frank, what about this relationship between the Democratic Party and the working class or organized labor? Because you could argue that the Democratic elite was pro-labor as long as there was an alternative out there in the world—the socialist bloc or the communist bloc—
THOMAS FRANK: Yeah, right.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: —that provided an alternative vision for workers. Once you had the collapse of communism and socialism in other parts of the world, the Democratic elite no longer felt they needed to necessarily appeal to organized labor.
THOMAS FRANK: Yeah, or to lots of different groups, by the way. That’s the sort of the—I guess you would call that, you know, the very—the grand, sweeping view of history. But, in fact, the Democratic abandonment of the working class really does begin in the Vietnam era, and a lot of it happened for reasons that are very understandable and even admirable. You know, the Democratic Party wanted to sort of reconstitute itself in the early 1970s and move away from organized labor and remove organized labor from its structural position in the Democratic Party because of all the fights over the Vietnam War. You remember that a lot of organized labor was—had really supported President Johnson in those days, and the Democratic Party wanted to change itself. And, you know, to make a very long and winding story short, they made their decision to shift their allegiance to the professional-managerial class, and it turned out to be really good for them from a financial point of view, because we’re talking about very affluent people here. So everything sort of has worked out for them—for the Democrats, that is. It’s been great for them. For organized labor and for working people, it’s been a catastrophe. I mean, this is the reason that inequality is—or one of the biggest reasons that inequality is totally out of control in this country, is you don’t have a party in this country that really cares about working people.
AMY GOODMAN: So, talk about, well, who you talk a lot about in the book, Listen, Liberal, and that is Bill Clinton.
THOMAS FRANK: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: The issues he took on, like NAFTA and others, that were really considered Republican issues—not taking them on to challenge them, but to endorse them.
THOMAS FRANK: Well, NAFTA was—NAFTA was negotiated by Republicans, by—remember, George Bush Sr. negotiated NAFTA. But it took a Democrat to get it passed, because Congress—you remember back, Amy, back in those days, Congress was always controlled by Democrats, I mean, going back to the Great Depression. But yeah, Clinton had five major achievements as president. And when I say these are his major achievements, that’s according to his fans, according to his admirers. And all five of them were Republican or conservative initiatives. In addition to NAFTA, you had the crime bill in ’94; you had welfare reform; you had deregulation, you know, across the board, of banks, also of telecoms; and you had the balanced budget. These are the five sort of great things that when people say, you know, Bill Clinton is this wonderful president, those are the things that they look back on. Every single one of them ended in disaster. And every single one of them—well, arguably, with the exception of the balanced budget, but every single one of them was a Republican, a conservative initiative. And he got them done.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Specifically in terms of the crime bill, when you started researching your book, there wasn’t a whole lot of attention on the legacy of the Clintons’ efforts in crimes. But obviously, with the Black Lives Matter movement and the challenges to the candidates now, there has been a lot more. Talk about the—
THOMAS FRANK: Yeah.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: —that particular legacy.
THOMAS FRANK: Well, so, you know, I was around when—obviously, when Clinton was president, and I remember when the '94 crime bill was passed. And it made me so angry. You know, it did things like federal death penalties went from three crimes to 60, or something like that, you know, and building prisons all over the country, and, you know, all of these sort of mandatory minimums. You know, this was a terrible, terrible thing. And I remember when it happened, and it infuriated me. And I was trying to capture that in my writing, when I was writing Listen, Liberal. And I remember talking to an expert on this, you know, and books take a while to write, you understand. I was talking to an expert about this, and we were talking about all the particulars of the ’94 crime bill. And she said to me, you know, "This is great that you're writing this, but don’t think you’re going to change anybody’s mind about this sort of thing. It’s just—it’s futile to try to reason with the public about the, you know, mass incarceration." And then, a few months later, Black Lives Matter happened. And lo and behold, the country—the entire opinion climate of this country has completely changed. It’s a wonderful thing.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to come back to this discussion, hear what Charles Koch has to say about who he’s going to support in this 2016 presidential election. We’re talking to Thomas Frank, author of Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? This is Democracy Now! We’ll be back in a minute.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, we’re speaking with Thomas Frank, author of Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? The book looks at a growing debate within the Democratic Party over the party’s economic policies. Earlier this spring, Republican mega-donor Charles Koch has said he would—could support Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over a Republican nominee in November. In an interview with ABC News in April, Koch said he would only support Republican candidates Donald Trump or Ted Cruz if they change certain proposals, including Cruz’s vow to carpet-bomb ISIS and Trump’s plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States. Koch spoke to journalist Jonathan Karl.
JONATHAN KARL: Am I hearing you correctly? You think Bill Clinton was a better president than George W. Bush?
CHARLES KOCH: Well, in some ways. In other ways, I mean, he wasn’t an exemplar.
JONATHAN KARL: Yeah.
CHARLES KOCH: But—but as far as the growth of government, the increase in spending on restrictive regulations, it was two-and-a-half times under Bush that it was under Clinton.
JONATHAN KARL: So is it possible another Clinton could be better than another Republican—
CHARLES KOCH: It’s possible.
JONATHAN KARL: —the next time around?
CHARLES KOCH: It’s possible.
JONATHAN KARL: You couldn’t see yourself supporting Hillary Clinton, could you?
CHARLES KOCH: Well, her—we would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric. Let me put it that way.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: That was billionaire Charles Koch talking to ABC News in April. Thomas Frank, author of Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?, also a founding editor of The Baffler, your response to that interview?
THOMAS FRANK: That’s wonderful. I mean, it’s so ironic. You know, I love irony. But, you see, this is a man that the Democratic Party has spent millions and millions of dollars, you know, assailing and berating and mocking. And, you know, the Koch brothers is on the tip of everyone’s tongue as what’s the matter with America these days. And now it looks like, hey, he thought Bill Clinton was pretty OK. He a Democratic president was just fine. Yeah, well, he sort of made my point there. A fellow Kansan. That’s wonderful.
AMY GOODMAN: So, talk about what the Bernie Sanders presidency—candidacy has meant.
THOMAS FRANK: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to a clip of Bernie Sanders for a moment.
THOMAS FRANK: OK.
AMY GOODMAN: Bernie Sanders, who has not, you know, yet conceded. Let’s go to a clip of Bernie Sanders. It was a Democratic presidential debate last year, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders sparring over their plans to address abuses on Wall Street.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Let us be clear that the greed and recklessness and illegal behavior of Wall Street, where fraud is a business model, helped to destroy this economy and the lives of millions of people. Check the record. In the 1990s—and all due respect—in the 1990s, when I had the Republican leadership and Wall Street spending billions of dollars in lobbying, when the Clinton administration, when Alan Greenspan said, "What a great idea it would be to allow these huge banks to merge," Bernie Sanders fought them and helped lead the opposition to deregulation.
AMY GOODMAN: So that’s Bernie Sanders versus Hillary Clinton. Thomas Frank, what this has meant, the kind of issues you’ve been talking about this book certainly ones that came to the fore this year, and how you feel they’re going to affect what happens next after the convention?
THOMAS FRANK: Well, look, Bernie Sanders was completely right. One of the—several things leaped out in what he—in the clip that you just played. When he said that the business model of Wall Street is fraud, well, to a certain degree he’s exactly right. And one of the things that we are going to remember about the Obama administration was its complete failure to prosecute Wall Street executives for a whole long list of apparently fraudulent behavior. And this is—this is one of the sort of abiding mysteries of our time: Why do they do this? I mean, even George W. Bush, remember, got tough with the guys from Enron, who were his pals, his campaign donors—right?—his best friends. And those guys are still in prison. But Barack Obama couldn’t go after Wall Street, you know? Why not? And it’s one of the questions that I really tried to answer in Listen, Liberal.
And the answer that I finally came up with is that it’s not just all the—you know, all the campaign donations; it’s a sort of class solidarity between the kind of people that fill Democratic administrations these days, you know, the cream of the professional-managerial class, the people at the very apex of our country’s meritocracy system, our status system, and the people on Wall Street. I mean, it’s not a coincidence that there’s this—in the early years of the administration, anyway, there’s this incredible, you know, revolving door action between the administration and Wall Street. Today, the revolving door is all between the administration and Silicon Valley, but back then it was as though there was no difference between—they were just both two different nodes, you know, of the American meritocracy, one in Washington and the other in New York City.
But, you know, Bernie Sanders, to get back to him, when you think about the way that the Democratic insiders and the sort of liberal establishment of this country reacted to him, it was almost like an allergic reaction. What he was saying was just so utterly unacceptable to them. And when you think about it, what he’s saying is very deep in the Democratic tradition. It’s not radical. It’s not strange. It’s straight out of the New Deal. I mean, he sounds like—he sounds like, you know, a New Dealer. He sounds very familiar to me. The things that he was proposing are right out of, you know, the Democratic platform when Roosevelt was president, when Harry Truman was president, that sort of thing. And I think, for our modern-day Democratic Party, Bernie Sanders represents this past that they think they have put behind them, that they don’t think they should need to deal with anymore. I mean, there’s something about their reaction to him that was just so strange. It’s like—you know, like he’s the bad conscience, the guilty conscience, that they want to put behind them, you know. They never want to have to hear that stuff again.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Thomas Frank, to get to Donald Trump, as well, and his appeal, obviously he has focused a lot of his attention on these trade deals, on NAFTA and the Pacific trade partnership. What about the appeal of Trump to working-class voters? Is that real or not, from what you can tell?
THOMAS FRANK: Well, it’s real, but it’s—I mean, it’s shrinking fast. I mean, this guy is—this guy is a gold-plated buffoon, you know? What we have to—what we have to consider here with Donald Trump is we have to understand that what’s happening with Donald Trump, this is not—you know, there’s all sorts of different ways of describing it, but what we’re really seeing here is a reaction to—I mean, you know, to inequality. This is what it looks like when vast parts of America are—you know, when the economy has basically dried up and blown away. You know, this is what deindustrialization—at the end of the day, this is what it looks like, when, you know, Democrats go around celebrating this wonderful new information economy that we’re in. And by the way, they’re doing it today on The New York Times op-ed page; they do it all the time. They celebrate that. And the other side of the coin is that, you know, the middle class is shrinking. Wages never go anywhere. You know, the percentage of the gross national product that is—that goes to labor these days is the lowest it has ever been since World War II. You know, look, for a lot of people, the promise of American life is over. It’s gone.
And this is only going to get worse under a Hillary Clinton presidency. And, well, it would get much, much worse under a Donald Trump presidency. But what I’m getting at here is that this phenomenon, inequality, is going to get worse. All the problems that we’re looking at today, our economic problems, are going to—are going to get worse. And four years from now, you’re going to have another Trump. And, you know, the good side of that coin is that you’ll also have another Bernie Sanders. You know, so this can all end—it can have a happy ending. You know, you could have a president in the Bernie Sanders mold somewhere down the road. But there’s also really, you know, a frightening side to this: You could have someone like Trump somewhere down the road. And that—you know, that should terrify us. But that is the direction we’re going.
AMY GOODMAN: We want to thank you for being with us. The book is Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? It’s written by Thomas Frank. He is also the founding editor of The Baffler.
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After Decades of Protest, Last California Nuclear Plant to Close & Be Replaced by Renewable Energy
After Decades of Protest, Last California Nuclear Plant to Close & Be Replaced by Renewable Energy
In a major victory for environmentalists, California is going nuclear-free, ending atomic energy’s more than half-century history in the state. On Tuesday, one of the state’s largest utilities agreed to a proposal endorsed by environmental groups and labor unions to shutter California’s last operating nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, by 2025. California is the world’s sixth largest economy, and it was among the first states to embrace nuclear energy in the 1950s. Diablo Canyon began operating in 1985 and stirred controversy from the start. For years, anti-nuclear activists called for the plant’s closure because of safety concerns over its precarious location near several major earthquake fault lines. We speak to Damon Moglen of Friends of the Earth. The organization has been fighting for the plant’s closure since the 1960s.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: In what’s been described as a major victory for environmentalists, California is going nuclear-free, ending atomic energy’s more than half-century history in the state. On Tuesday, one of the state’s largest utilities agreed to a proposal endorsed by environmental groups and labor unions to shut down California’s last operating nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon. Under the proposal, utility giant Pacific Gas and Electric will no longer seek renewed operating licenses for the plant’s two reactors, and instead will develop more solar, wind and other clean power technologies by 2025.
AMY GOODMAN: California is the world’s sixth largest economy. It was among the first states to embrace nuclear energy in the '50s. Diablo Canyon began operating in 1985 and stirred controversy from the start. For years, anti-nuclear activists called for the plant's closure because of safety concerns over its precarious location near several major earthquake fault lines. Tuesday’s proposal to shutter Diablo Canyon was negotiated by a coalition of environmental and labor groups, including Friends of the Earth, the Coalition of California Utility Employees and the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility.
For more, we go to San Francisco, where we’re joined by Damon Moglen, senior strategic adviser for Friends of the Earth, one of the group’s lead negotiators for closing down Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.
So, Damon Moglen, tell us what happened, how you did this, and what’s going to happen to this plant.
DAMON MOGLEN: Good morning, Amy. It’s great to be here with you and Juan.
Well, this is really a historic agreement. It really means the end of nuclear power in California and its replacement with renewable energy and efficiency. And that’s really a kind of blueprint, not only for California, but for the country and, I think, ultimately, the world, for how we’re going to be combating climate change by ramping up renewables and getting rid of both fossil fuel plants and nuclear plants. It’s a pretty remarkable story. I think it’s fascinating to think that this utility and the unions and the environmentalists were able to reach this agreement. We’ve spent decades fighting each other, and here we’ve reached an agreement. And it basically recognizes that it’s cheaper to shut down nuclear power plants than it is to run them, and it’s better to use and cheaper to use renewable energy than it is to use nuclear power.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Damon, how specifically were you able to get this extraordinary alliance between the utility workers themselves and the environmentalists?
DAMON MOGLEN: Well, one of the things that’s really interesting, Juan, about the agreement is that we pushed very hard, and the utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, pushed very hard to recognize that in many cases where reactors or plants are closed down, workers in the local community are treated pretty badly. And in this case, what we were able to agree was that there should be very significant amounts of money available so that the workers can be retrained, so that there can be retention policies. You know, Diablo Canyon, when it closes, is going to be a massive nuclear waste dump. There are thousands of tons of highly radioactive waste that are going to be at that plant. And we need the workers to know how to work there safely, to be protected, but also to isolate that very dangerous material from the environment. So, we were able to get the agreement to contain very large sums of money, hundreds of millions of dollars, ultimately, for worker retraining and retention, and also money for the community, because it’s going to be a big shock, when the plant ultimately closes down, on the tax base for the community itself in San Luis Obispo. So that really helped in bringing the union in, and I think the union recognized that there are going to be great opportunities in this transition to green jobs.
AMY GOODMAN: So, this is a particularly huge victory for Friends of the Earth, isn’t it? Isn’t it the reason Friends of the Earth was formed, to counter Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant and its dangers? If you could answer that and also the fact that you have California, the sixth largest economy on the planet, and the significance of this economy not relying on nuclear power, which many are putting forward right now, even some who might have called themselves environmentalists, as the answer to dependence on fossil fuel?
DAMON MOGLEN: Well, yes, I mean, for Friends of the Earth, this is—it’s a wonderful moment. You know, the organization was begun in 1969 by David Brower to fight Diablo Canyon. And so, for us, 45 years later, to be facing the end of this plant, and, incredibly, its replacement with renewable energy and energy efficiency, is a dream come true. And it’s just great news for the people of California, ultimately.
And, Amy, you’re absolutely right. The fact that the sixth largest economy on the planet is saying no to nuclear power and is going to replace nuclear power with safer, cleaner, cheaper renewable energy is a tremendous message. And it really does put an end to this nonsense that somehow nuclear power has any role to play in the future. The fact of the matter is that, in fact, one of the reasons this agreement is taking place is that nuclear power plants, these old plants, the so-called base load plants, are actually obstructing increasing renewable energy around the country and around the world, because the nuclear power is all the time, 24 hours a day. There’s no flexibility. And instead, what we need in our future energy is going to be flexibility and demand response. And that’s what we’re going to be getting from renewable energy and energy efficiency. Ultimately, what this plan really proves is that it’s cheaper to shut down the nuclear plants and better to replace the energy with cheaper, cleaner, safer renewables and efficiency. It’s really a dramatic moment and a blueprint for the planet to address climate change.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And to what degree did it help that you at least had a governmental administration in California that is sympathetic to your issues? Obviously, Jerry Brown was a longtime opponent of Diablo Canyon decades ago, and there’s a fairly progressive state Legislature in California.
DAMON MOGLEN: I think that those are all really important factors, Juan. I mean, the fact is that the governor, Jerry Brown, has led the state in demanding a renewable mandate, the requirement that the state accept and increase renewables, so that California is looking at a renewable mandate of 50 percent by 2030. And that’s really a testament to the governor’s commitments to climate change. But at the same time, what’s interesting here is that, through this agreement, Pacific Gas and Electric is committing to 55 percent by 2030 by shutting down Diablo Canyon and ramping up renewables. So, you know, we’re seeing a way that California, as usual, is setting a new green yardstick in how to address climate change by ramping up renewables and closing down nuclear.
AMY GOODMAN: 2025 is the closing date of Diablo Canyon. Is there any chance you’re going to get it closed earlier than that? That’s what? Nine years away.
DAMON MOGLEN: Well, you know, there are lots and lots of people who have fought for many decades to shut Diablo Canyon down. And I think that it’s important to recognize that all of us together are going to continue to try to do everything we can to assure safety and protect the environment. And I want to make clear that one of the things the agreement specifically says is that in no way does this agreement seek to stop, in any way, the work of Friends of the Earth or other organizations and activists to continue to fight to make sure that we’re safe and that the environment is safe. So I think, you know, the battle is going to continue in the meantime, but this agreement means it’s the end of Diablo and the end of nuclear power in California. It’s pretty dramatic.
AMY GOODMAN: Damon Moglen, we want to thank you for being with us, senior strategic adviser for Friends of the Earth, one of the group’s lead negotiators for closing down Diablo Canyon nuclear plant.
And that does it for our broadcast. I’ll be speaking tonight at 7:30 at 99 Madison in New York City with Chris Hedges, Jeremy Scahill and others, marking Julian Assange’s four years in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, and on Saturday at the WAM!NYC Gender Justice in Media Conference at Barnard College at 4:00. Check Democracy Now!
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Meet the FBI Informant Who Organized Neo-Nazi Gathering Attended by Jo Cox Murder Suspect in 2000
Meet the FBI Informant Who Organized Neo-Nazi Gathering Attended by Jo Cox Murder Suspect in 2000
We turn now to look at Thomas Mair, the British man who killed British parliamentarian Jo Cox last week. Mair reportedly yelled out "Britain First" during the attack—a reference to the far-right, anti-immigrant political party of the same name which is pushing for Britain to leave the EU in tomorrow’s Brexit referendum. In court on Friday, Mair gave his name as "Death to traitors, freedom for Britain." Cox was a vocal advocate for Britain to remain in the European Union. More information is coming to light about Mair’s ties to neo-Nazi groups in the United States and Britain. Meanwhile, a former paid FBI informant named Todd Blodgett has revealed he met Thomas Mair at a neo-Nazi gathering that the informant set up in London in 2000. Joining us now is Todd Blodgett, who once worked with several leaders of the far right, including Willis Carto, who founded the Liberty Lobby, and William Pierce, leader of the neo-Nazi National Alliance.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We move on to our next segment now, the story of the assassination of a British Labour leader. Juan?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, we turn now to Britain, which is continuing to mourn last week’s murder of parliamentarian Jo Cox. She was stabbed and shot last week in her district after meeting with constituents. Her murderer, Thomas Mair, reportedly yelled out "Britain First" during the attack—a reference to the far-right, anti-immigrant political party of the same name which is pushing for Britain to leave the EU in tomorrow’s Brexit referendum. Cox was a vocal advocate for Britain to remain in the European Union.
More information is coming to light about Mair’s ties to neo-Nazi groups in the United States and Britain. The Southern Poverty Law Center here in the U.S. has revealed Mair is a longtime supporter of the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Documents released by the center show Mair has spent over $500 buying periodicals and other items from the group, including a manual that contained information on how to build a pistol. In addition, The Daily Telegraph is reporting Mair subscribed to S.A. Patriot, a South African magazine published by White Rhino Club, a pro-apartheid group.
AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, a former paid FBI informant named Todd Blodgett has revealed he met Thomas Mair at a neo-Nazi gathering that the informant set up in London in 2000. Beginning in the mid-'90s, Blodgett worked with several leaders of the far right, including Willis Carto, who founded the Liberty Lobby, and William Pierce, leader of the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Blodgett was also a co-owner of Resistance Records, the world's largest neo-Nazi music label. Todd Blodgett is joining us now from his home in Iowa.
Todd Blodgett, welcome to Democracy Now! Tell us what you know about this man, Thomas Mair, who killed Jo Cox.
TODD BLODGETT: Yes, thank you. I met Tommy—he was known as Tommy when I met him in about May of 2000. I had just begun working as a paid FBI informant in March of that year. William Pierce, who was the main guy with Resistance Records, but also my co-owner, wanted to convene a meeting in London, because there was a Leeds chapter and another chapter of the National Alliance. And the purpose of the meeting was to promote Resistance Records, let people know that William Pierce was the—was the new owner of it—he bought it from Willis Carto—and also to gain readerdom, gain more customers and get distributors for Resistance Records. And Mair was one of the people invited to the meeting. There were about maybe 17 or 18 people at that meeting. And it took place just off of the Strand in London in the spring of 2000. And as I said, he attended the meeting along with Stevie Cartwright, Richard Barnbrook, Nick Griffin, who was sort of like the David Duke of England at that time, and several other people who were either members of the National Alliance or supporters of the NA.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Now, why were you at that meeting representing Mr. Pierce?
TODD BLODGETT: Well, of course, Pierce did not know that I had agreed to work for the bureau at that point. And he wanted to go over to England—
AMY GOODMAN: For the FBI.
TODD BLODGETT: For—yeah, for the FBI, that’s correct. He, himself, wanted to go, but he was precluded by law from being able to go there, due to the fact that he couldn’t get in. I mean, his views kept him out of—out of England, so he sent me in his stead, because he and I were the co-owners of Resistance Records at that time. And when I began with the FBI, I told them about what Pierce wanted to do. And right away, they said, "Well, we’re going to accompany you." So, the day before I arrived in London, two FBI agents, an IRS agent and a JTTF agent—that would be the Joint Terrorism Task Force—flew in ahead of me, and they had me meet with the two people, two guys, from the MI5. They gave me a cellphone to use when I was there and that kind of thing. So, that’s how it all worked out.
AMY GOODMAN: Why did you decide to work for the FBI? I mean, were you a neo-Nazi true believer?
TODD BLODGETT: I was never a true believer. I was never a Holocaust denier. I’m not a bigot or a racist or anything. I was basically—I guess the best way to say it is I was—I was greedy. I was an opportunistic profiteer. I didn’t look at the consequences to myself or to others of what I was doing. And I never wanted to be a Resistance Records shareholder, but Willis Carto of Liberty Lobby owed me money. And when he went bankrupt, he—when Liberty Lobby went bankrupt, they gave me stock in Resistance Records in lieu of that, and that’s how I became a co-owner.
What had happened with regard to Pierce was, is that after the deal was signed with Pierce and he gave me a consulting contract he insisted I take as part of my stock sale—he wouldn’t buy the shares without it—we went to a place called the University Club of D.C. The Washington Post got a hold of the article, and it caused a big uproar there, and I was expelled from the club. I was given the option to resign or be expelled. I was expelled. And basically, that’s when the FBI caught notice of this, and the agents came to my office in downtown D.C., and they said, "Look, we’re not after you, but we know you’ve worked with all these people—Willis Carto, Pierce, David Duke—all the head honchos among the racist right, as a profiteer. Will you help us?" And that’s when I agreed to—I agreed to go on as a paid informant.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Now, this meeting that occurred in 2000 in—I think it was in Leeds in England, these were some of the top neo-Nazi or white supremacist leaders in England. What kind of interaction did you have with Thomas Mair? And what impression did you take away from him at that meeting?
TODD BLODGETT: Well, first of all, the meeting was actually in downtown London, not Leeds, but there were several people from the Leeds chapter at this meeting. And I—as far as Thomas Mair, I would say that most people describe him—he was kind of like a working-class guy, but very well read. I mean, he was discussing a book or two that he had read by David Irving, the Holocaust-denying pseudohistorian, who I also monitored. He would probably—I guess the best way to describe him is just nondescript, well mannered. When you go to a meeting like this, any kind of gathering, the guys—they’re always all guys—there’s a lot of bravado, a lot of macho, a lot of braggadocio going on. People talk about who they beat up last week and how they took on six guys and kicked their butt. They brag about their womanizing. Mair was none of those. He didn’t do any of that. He got—he came by himself. He actually left by himself. As he got there, he was respected by the people that were there. He knew some. They knew him by name. He was not an outgoing guy. If you were to ask me at the end of that meeting, say, a wall of guys there, who would have been the least likely to even start a fistfight, I would have said Tommy Mair.
AMY GOODMAN: According to British media reports, Thomas Mair, or Tommy Mair, as you call him, was a subscriber to the pro-apartheid magazine, South African Patriot in Exile.
TODD BLODGETT: I read that.
AMY GOODMAN: This week, the Southern Poverty Law Center published two letters that Mair wrote to editors of the magazine. In 1999, Thomas Mair wrote, quote, "I was glad you strongly condemned 'collaborators' in the White South African population. In my opinion the greatest enemy of the old Apartheid system was not the African National Congress and the Black masses but White liberals and traitors." And then, in a 1991 letter to the publication, Mair wrote, quote, "The nationalist movement in the U.K. also continues to fight on against the odds. ... Despite everything I still have faith that the White Race will prevail, both in Britain and in South Africa, but I fear that it’s going to be a very long and very bloody struggle." Those the words of Thomas Mair. Todd Blodgett, what was your reaction when you heard who was the man who murdered the Labour MP, Jo Cox?
TODD BLODGETT: When I first saw his picture, and I recognized him right off, when I first heard his name, I remembered it, you know, my first reaction was, gosh, I mean, this is—aside from the fact it’s a horrible thing, I thought, you know, this wasn’t the kind of guy I would have picked out to do that. I would have thought someone like Stevie Cartwright or someone would be more likely to do that. They were the more—you know, the more brutal types. But then I realized a lot of people that I monitored, which included a guy named Wade Page, who did a similar thing—he went into a—I think it was a Hindu temple in Wisconsin, and killed a bunch of people about three years ago—sometimes it’s those very kind of guys that are the most lethal, which is why Tommy Mair and people like him represent such a huge challenge to MI5 and the FBI and other law enforcement, because they can be dormant for many years. They can be on the radar, then they go off the radar. They’re the kind that—you know, they’re not the kind that—Tommy Mair was not the kind of guy you’d pick out to start a fight in a bar. He was not like a tough kind of guy. He didn’t pose as a tough guy. He just basically was a nondescript kind of guy. And I thought, you know, obviously he is not—his hatred has not changed. He just found an outlet for it, and he finally decided to try to go out in a blaze of glory. And that’s—that was my reaction.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Todd Blodgett, you did this undercover work for the FBI, but yet you’ve also been public since then about your activities. Are there any concerns on your part of your own personal safety as a result of the work you did to uncover the activities of some of thes white supremacist groups?
TODD BLODGETT: There are—I do have some concerns. I live in Texas, as well as in Iowa. And I’ve had strangers walk up to me in bars in Texas and call me—I won’t say this name, these words, on the air, but, you know, they’ll use the N-word, they’ll use derogatory names for Jewish people, and they’ll say I’m a blankety-blank lover or a race traitor, that kind of thing. So there’s always that concern. But I will say this—I want to get this out: I have a concealed-carry permit that’s good in 37 states, and I can legally—I am legally armed. I’m armed right now. And so, if they want to try to make a fight with me, they might take me out, but I’m going to take them with me.
AMY GOODMAN: The presidential election right now, the support that Donald Trump has gotten from, for example, David Duke—right?—the former Klan leader—
TODD BLODGETT: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: —white supremacist, your thoughts on white supremacists in this country, Klan support of Donald Trump?
TODD BLODGETT: I think it’s very tragic. I mean, anyone has a right to support who they want to. But I worked for Reagan for many years, and when Reagan was endorsed by the KKK in the fall of 1980, his response was a great response. He said, "Look, just because they like my philosophy doesn’t mean I buy theirs." Trump kind of stumbled over that thing. I don’t think Donald Trump is a white supremacist, but I’m very disturbed by the fact that he’s got support from them, and I’m also disturbed by the comment he made about the judge. I can’t think of—Judge Curiel, I think his name is. But he made a—he made a stupid reference to the fact that he’s of Hispanic descent, which is totally irrelevant to the case. I worked with David Duke. I monitored him for the FBI. I’ve done—you know, I monitored all these people. They’re, without exception, a bunch of sociopaths. They’re just bad people. And most of their supporters tend to be bad people, too. So I don’t want to see that kind of thing being any part of the Republican Party. I’m still a Republican. I was for Jeb Bush for the nomination; before that, for Dr. Carson. But I don’t want to see that part—I want this flushed out of the party.
AMY GOODMAN: What is it about Donald Trump, you think, that attracts white supremacists, neo-Nazis?
TODD BLODGETT: I think it is because they recognize, in their world, to their way of thinking, demographics are destiny. That was one thing that William Pierce always said. Carto said that. Dr. Ed Fields said that. They believe that demographics is destiny. And I think they feel that a Donald Trump presidency would be conducive to not only stemming that, the demographic changes, but to reversing them, if Trump, you know, could actually do what he claims he wants to do. That’s their attraction to him.
AMY GOODMAN: On Tuesday, Jo Cox’s husband Brendan said his late wife worried about the direction of global politics.
BRENDAN COX: I think she worried that we were entering an age that we haven’t seen, maybe since the 1930s, of people—people feeling insecure for lots of different reasons, for economic reasons or security reasons, and then populist politicians, whether that’s Trump in the U.S. or whoever else, exploiting that and driving communities to hate each other, saying that the reason that you don’t have a job or the reason that you’re feeling insecure is because of this powerless person, not because of, you know, choices that we’re making or—and that that was driving people, it was creating an atmosphere of hatred.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: That was Brendan Cox, the husband of Jo Cox, who was murdered by Thomas Mair. Your response, Todd Blodgett?
TODD BLODGETT: I think he makes a very valid point. I feel terrible about what happened to his wife, who, by the way, today was her birthday. Today would have been Jo Cox’s 42nd birthday. I think he makes a very valid point. I know a lot of people in Iowa and Texas, and people I met when I was infiltrating these people. They basically—I’m talking about white people here. They blame almost all their problems on minorities. They blame all their problems on—some of them, the white supremacists, tend to blame their problems on Jewish people. They seem to find a scapegoat for everything. They seem to scapegoat such people for all their problems. They say, "Hey, this is why I can’t get a job and hold it. This is why my girlfriend dropped me. This is why I’m addicted to crystal meth." Everything that goes wrong, they blame other—these people for. And it’s a very disturbing trend. There’s no question about it.
AMY GOODMAN: Todd Blodgett, we want to thank you for being with us. Todd Blodgett, conservative Republican political writer, former co-owner of Resistance Records, the world’s largest neo-Nazi music label. From 2000 to 2002, he was a paid FBI informant who worked undercover within white supremacist organizations, helped to set up a white supremacist meeting in London that Thomas Mair attended, the man who murdered the Labour member of Parliament in Britain last week, Jo Cox. Today she would have turned 42 years old. She leaves her husband, her constituents and her two little children.
This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. When we come back, what happens to an old nuclear power plant when environmentalists get involved? What happens to the site? Stay with us.
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Headlines:
GOP Senator Introduces Bipartisan Gun Control Bill
A group of senators has unveiled a bipartisan measure to prevent people on the FBI’s terrorism watchlist from purchasing guns. The move came one day after the Senate failed to pass four separate gun control measures in the wake of the massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. None of the measures would have banned assault-style rifles like the ones used in Orlando; at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut; at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado; or in San Bernardino, California. The new measure led by Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins would let the attorney general block gun purchases by people on the no-fly list or a "selectee" list of people subjected to extra airport screening. The ACLU has warned against crafting gun reform that relies on "our nation’s error-prone and unfair watchlisting system."
20 Arrested for Blocking NRA Driveway to Call for Assault Weapons Ban
Twenty people were arrested Tuesday after staging a die-in and blocking the driveway to the National Rifle Association’s headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. About 100 people held an overnight vigil to mourn the Orlando victims and call for a ban on military-style assault weapons. Medea Benjamin, head of the group CodePink, denounced Congress’ failure to pass gun control.
Medea Benjamin: "Our democracy is broken, just like our gun laws are broken, just like our hearts are broken, just like our lives are broken. If we had a real democracy, we would have had those laws passed yesterday."
New Jersey: 3 Arrested with Cache of Weapons Near Holland Tunnel
Three people have been arrested with a cache of weapons after police pulled them over for a cracked windshield near the Holland Tunnel, which connects New Jersey and New York City. Police recovered five pistols, an AR-15 assault rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun. Authorities said the suspects were "gun enthusiasts" with no known link to terrorism. New York state has a ban on assault weapons, which withstood a challenge at the Supreme Court on Monday.
Man Who Says He was Omar Mateen's Lover Claims Orlando Massacre was "Revenge"
A man who claims he was the lover of Orlando shooter Omar Mateen has told Univision he believes Mateen committed the shooting for revenge, not terrorism. The man, who wore a disguise and called himself "Miguel," said Mateen bore a grudge against Puerto Rican gay men, including one who revealed he was HIV-positive following a sexual encounter with Mateen.
Miguel: "I believe and I really think all his anger, he hate Puerto Rican—gay Puerto Ricans for all the bad things they do to him. And this will sound bad, and I know a lot of people are going to get a lot of pain for what I’m going to say, but I believe this crazy, horrible thing he did, that was a revenge."
Loretta Lynch to LGBT Community: "Your Country Stands with You in the Light"
Attorney General Loretta Lynch says investigators may never identify a single motive in the Orlando massacre, which she called both an act of terror and hate. After meeting with relatives of the victims in Orlando, Lynch expressed solidarity with theLGBT community.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch: "And let me say to our LGBT friends and family, particularly to anyone who might view this tragedy as an indication that their identities, that their essential selves, might somehow be better left unexpressed or in the shadows: This Department of Justice—and your country—stands with you in the light."
Clinton: Donald Trump Would Be "Dangerous" to U.S. Economy
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has attacked Republican rival Donald Trump’s economic policies and record of profiting off his companies’ bankruptcies. Speaking in Columbus, Ohio, Clinton said Trump would be "dangerous" to the U.S. economy.
Hillary Clinton: "Ronald Reagan said it. He said we have a well-earned reputation for reliability and credibility, two things that set us apart from much of the world. Now maybe Donald feels differently, because he made a fortune filing bankruptcies and stiffing his creditors. I’ll get to his business practices in a minute. But the United States of America doesn’t do business Trump’s way."
Trump Accuses Clinton of Raising "Blood Money"
Donald Trump, meanwhile, has said he will offset a fundraising deficit with Clinton using his "unlimited" personal wealth. His remarks come amid reports Trump’s campaign had only $1.3 million in cash on hand at the end of May, compared to Clinton’s $42 million. Speaking to CBS News, Trump accused Clinton of raising "blood money."
Donald Trump: "I don’t want to devote the rest of my life to raising money from people. And, you know, when she raises this money, every time she raises money, she’s making deals. They’re saying, 'Could I be the ambassador to this? Can I do that? Make sure my business is taken care of.' I mean, give me a break. All of the money she’s raising, that’s blood money. That’s blood money. Look, she’s getting tremendous amounts of money from Wall Street; she’s going to take care of Wall Street. She’s getting tremendous amounts of money from lots of people; she’s going to take care of all those people."
New records show Donald Trump has directed nearly a fifth of his campaign cash to companies in his business empire. Trump has said he will deliver a major address against Clinton today from his Trump SoHo hotel in New York City.
Wildfires Fueled by Record Heat Rage in Arizona, California
In California, two wildfires have burned about 5,000 acres of terrain and are threatening to merge in the mountains outside Los Angeles. Firefighters said they are short-staffed because people have been sent to fight other fires burning in different parts of California. U.S. Forest Service Fire Chief Robert Garcia gave an update on the Fish and Reservoir fires, which have forced hundreds to evacuate.
Robert Garcia: "Both are continuing to burn in the Angeles National Forest, in San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, in very steep, rugged terrain, in old fuel beds, as we would describe it—areas of the forest that have not burned in a quite a number of years."
Meanwhile in Arizona, Governor Doug Ducey has declared a state of emergency in Navajo County, where firefighters are battling a blaze that has grown to more than 40,000 acres. The fires have been fueled by record-shattering heat, the latest sign of human-caused climate change.
Soldier: Berta Cáceres Appeared on Hit List of U.S.-Trained Honduran Military Unit
A former Honduran soldier says murdered environmentalist Berta Cáceres appeared on a hit list distributed to U.S.-trained special forces in Honduras months before she was assassinated. First Sergeant Rodrigo Cruz told The Guardian he is "100% certain that Berta Cáceres was killed by the army." Cáceres was an indigenous Lenca leader who won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her fight against the Agua Zarca Dam. She was shot to death on March 3 at her home in La Esperanza, Honduras. Cruz said Cáceres’ name was on a list distributed to a military police unit in the Inter-Institutional Security Force, or Fusina, which received training from 300 U.S. marines and FBI agents last year. Five people have been arrested for Cáceres’ murder, including an active-duty Honduran army major.
Report: 185 Environmentalists Killed in 2015, the Deadliest Year on Record
Meanwhile, a new report finds last year was the deadliest on record for environmentalists. The group Global Witness says 185 environmental activists were killed last year worldwide, a 60 percent increase over the previous year. Fifty of them were killed in Brazil alone, where the Summer Olympics are set to take place in August.
Israeli Soldiers Say They Killed a 15-Year-Old Palestinian Boy by Mistake
The Israeli military says its soldiers shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy and wounded four other people by mistake. Mahmoud Rafat Baderan was killed while he and his family were driving home from a swimming pool. The military said soldiers mistakenly believed he had been throwing stones in an earlier incident.
No U.S. Charges for Officers Who Fired 17 Shots, Killing Antonio Zambrano-Montes
Federal prosecutors say they will not charge three police officers in Pasco, Washington, for the fatal shooting of Mexican farmworker Antonio Zambrano-Montes in February 2015. Police fired 17 shots at Zambrano-Montes, accusing him of throwing stones at them. Cellphone video appears to show Zambrano-Montes running across an intersection, turning to face police and raising his hands before he’s shot. But U.S. Attorney Michael Ormsby said there was insufficient evidence the officers violated Zambrano-Montes’ civil rights. His family has filed a lawsuit in federal court.
Turkey: Press Freedom Groups Call for Release of Journalists
In Turkey, press freedom advocates rallied Tuesday to protest the arrest of two journalists and an academic on accusations of disseminating terrorist propaganda. Among those arrested was the head of the local Reporters Without Borders chapter. The three had taken part in a solidarity campaign for the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem.
Husband of Slain British MP Jo Cox: She Worried About "Atmosphere of Hatred"
The husband of slain British Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox says he believes she was killed for her political views. Cox was stabbed and shot to death Thursday, allegedly by Thomas Mair, who had ties to the neo-Nazi National Alliance and attended a meeting of British white supremacists organized by an FBI informant in 2000. Brendan Cox said his late wife worried about the direction of global politics.
Brendan Cox: "I think she worried that we were entering an age that we haven’t seen, maybe since the 1930s, of people feeling insecure for lots of different reasons, for economic reasons or security reasons, and then populist politicians, whether that’s Trump in the U.S. or whoever else, exploiting that and driving communities to hate each other, saying that the reason that you don’t have a job or the reason that you’re feeling insecure is because of this powerless person, not because of choices that we’re making or—and that that was driving people, it was creating an atmosphere of hatred."
Lawsuit Accuses Louisiana Judge of Running Modern-Day Debtors' Prison
A new lawsuit accuses a judge and the city court in Bogalusa, Louisiana, of running a modern-day debtors’ prison. The Southern Poverty Law Center says Judge Robert J. Black routinely orders people to jail for failing to pay fines for minor offenses, like traffic violations, and charges them so-called "extension fees" to avoid jail time. In one case, a man found guilty of stealing $5 worth of food to feed his family was ordered to pay a $450 fine, then jailed for four hours when he couldn’t pay the $50 "extension fee."
FAA Releases New Rules on Commercial Drone Use
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued new rules to allow corporations to fly drones. The rules allow commercial drones to fly up to 400 feet in the air during daytime hours. The drones must be kept within sight, precluding, for now, the proposed use of delivery drones by companies like Google and Amazon. Despite concerns, the rules do not include regulations on privacy.
Ireland: Pro-Choice Activists Fly "Abortion Drone" to Northern Ireland
Meanwhile in Ireland, pro-choice activists flew a drone into Northern Ireland carrying a different cargo: pills to induce an abortion. The action was aimed at highlighting strict anti-choice laws in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
Headlines:
GOP Senator Introduces Bipartisan Gun Control Bill
A group of senators has unveiled a bipartisan measure to prevent people on the FBI’s terrorism watchlist from purchasing guns. The move came one day after the Senate failed to pass four separate gun control measures in the wake of the massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. None of the measures would have banned assault-style rifles like the ones used in Orlando; at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut; at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado; or in San Bernardino, California. The new measure led by Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins would let the attorney general block gun purchases by people on the no-fly list or a "selectee" list of people subjected to extra airport screening. The ACLU has warned against crafting gun reform that relies on "our nation’s error-prone and unfair watchlisting system."
20 Arrested for Blocking NRA Driveway to Call for Assault Weapons Ban
Twenty people were arrested Tuesday after staging a die-in and blocking the driveway to the National Rifle Association’s headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. About 100 people held an overnight vigil to mourn the Orlando victims and call for a ban on military-style assault weapons. Medea Benjamin, head of the group CodePink, denounced Congress’ failure to pass gun control.
Medea Benjamin: "Our democracy is broken, just like our gun laws are broken, just like our hearts are broken, just like our lives are broken. If we had a real democracy, we would have had those laws passed yesterday."
New Jersey: 3 Arrested with Cache of Weapons Near Holland Tunnel
Three people have been arrested with a cache of weapons after police pulled them over for a cracked windshield near the Holland Tunnel, which connects New Jersey and New York City. Police recovered five pistols, an AR-15 assault rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun. Authorities said the suspects were "gun enthusiasts" with no known link to terrorism. New York state has a ban on assault weapons, which withstood a challenge at the Supreme Court on Monday.
Man Who Says He was Omar Mateen's Lover Claims Orlando Massacre was "Revenge"
A man who claims he was the lover of Orlando shooter Omar Mateen has told Univision he believes Mateen committed the shooting for revenge, not terrorism. The man, who wore a disguise and called himself "Miguel," said Mateen bore a grudge against Puerto Rican gay men, including one who revealed he was HIV-positive following a sexual encounter with Mateen.
Miguel: "I believe and I really think all his anger, he hate Puerto Rican—gay Puerto Ricans for all the bad things they do to him. And this will sound bad, and I know a lot of people are going to get a lot of pain for what I’m going to say, but I believe this crazy, horrible thing he did, that was a revenge."
Loretta Lynch to LGBT Community: "Your Country Stands with You in the Light"
Attorney General Loretta Lynch says investigators may never identify a single motive in the Orlando massacre, which she called both an act of terror and hate. After meeting with relatives of the victims in Orlando, Lynch expressed solidarity with theLGBT community.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch: "And let me say to our LGBT friends and family, particularly to anyone who might view this tragedy as an indication that their identities, that their essential selves, might somehow be better left unexpressed or in the shadows: This Department of Justice—and your country—stands with you in the light."
Clinton: Donald Trump Would Be "Dangerous" to U.S. Economy
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has attacked Republican rival Donald Trump’s economic policies and record of profiting off his companies’ bankruptcies. Speaking in Columbus, Ohio, Clinton said Trump would be "dangerous" to the U.S. economy.
Hillary Clinton: "Ronald Reagan said it. He said we have a well-earned reputation for reliability and credibility, two things that set us apart from much of the world. Now maybe Donald feels differently, because he made a fortune filing bankruptcies and stiffing his creditors. I’ll get to his business practices in a minute. But the United States of America doesn’t do business Trump’s way."
Trump Accuses Clinton of Raising "Blood Money"
Donald Trump, meanwhile, has said he will offset a fundraising deficit with Clinton using his "unlimited" personal wealth. His remarks come amid reports Trump’s campaign had only $1.3 million in cash on hand at the end of May, compared to Clinton’s $42 million. Speaking to CBS News, Trump accused Clinton of raising "blood money."
Donald Trump: "I don’t want to devote the rest of my life to raising money from people. And, you know, when she raises this money, every time she raises money, she’s making deals. They’re saying, 'Could I be the ambassador to this? Can I do that? Make sure my business is taken care of.' I mean, give me a break. All of the money she’s raising, that’s blood money. That’s blood money. Look, she’s getting tremendous amounts of money from Wall Street; she’s going to take care of Wall Street. She’s getting tremendous amounts of money from lots of people; she’s going to take care of all those people."
New records show Donald Trump has directed nearly a fifth of his campaign cash to companies in his business empire. Trump has said he will deliver a major address against Clinton today from his Trump SoHo hotel in New York City.
Wildfires Fueled by Record Heat Rage in Arizona, California
In California, two wildfires have burned about 5,000 acres of terrain and are threatening to merge in the mountains outside Los Angeles. Firefighters said they are short-staffed because people have been sent to fight other fires burning in different parts of California. U.S. Forest Service Fire Chief Robert Garcia gave an update on the Fish and Reservoir fires, which have forced hundreds to evacuate.
Robert Garcia: "Both are continuing to burn in the Angeles National Forest, in San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, in very steep, rugged terrain, in old fuel beds, as we would describe it—areas of the forest that have not burned in a quite a number of years."
Meanwhile in Arizona, Governor Doug Ducey has declared a state of emergency in Navajo County, where firefighters are battling a blaze that has grown to more than 40,000 acres. The fires have been fueled by record-shattering heat, the latest sign of human-caused climate change.
Soldier: Berta Cáceres Appeared on Hit List of U.S.-Trained Honduran Military Unit
A former Honduran soldier says murdered environmentalist Berta Cáceres appeared on a hit list distributed to U.S.-trained special forces in Honduras months before she was assassinated. First Sergeant Rodrigo Cruz told The Guardian he is "100% certain that Berta Cáceres was killed by the army." Cáceres was an indigenous Lenca leader who won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her fight against the Agua Zarca Dam. She was shot to death on March 3 at her home in La Esperanza, Honduras. Cruz said Cáceres’ name was on a list distributed to a military police unit in the Inter-Institutional Security Force, or Fusina, which received training from 300 U.S. marines and FBI agents last year. Five people have been arrested for Cáceres’ murder, including an active-duty Honduran army major.
Report: 185 Environmentalists Killed in 2015, the Deadliest Year on Record
Meanwhile, a new report finds last year was the deadliest on record for environmentalists. The group Global Witness says 185 environmental activists were killed last year worldwide, a 60 percent increase over the previous year. Fifty of them were killed in Brazil alone, where the Summer Olympics are set to take place in August.
Israeli Soldiers Say They Killed a 15-Year-Old Palestinian Boy by Mistake
The Israeli military says its soldiers shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy and wounded four other people by mistake. Mahmoud Rafat Baderan was killed while he and his family were driving home from a swimming pool. The military said soldiers mistakenly believed he had been throwing stones in an earlier incident.
No U.S. Charges for Officers Who Fired 17 Shots, Killing Antonio Zambrano-Montes
Federal prosecutors say they will not charge three police officers in Pasco, Washington, for the fatal shooting of Mexican farmworker Antonio Zambrano-Montes in February 2015. Police fired 17 shots at Zambrano-Montes, accusing him of throwing stones at them. Cellphone video appears to show Zambrano-Montes running across an intersection, turning to face police and raising his hands before he’s shot. But U.S. Attorney Michael Ormsby said there was insufficient evidence the officers violated Zambrano-Montes’ civil rights. His family has filed a lawsuit in federal court.
Turkey: Press Freedom Groups Call for Release of Journalists
In Turkey, press freedom advocates rallied Tuesday to protest the arrest of two journalists and an academic on accusations of disseminating terrorist propaganda. Among those arrested was the head of the local Reporters Without Borders chapter. The three had taken part in a solidarity campaign for the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem.
Husband of Slain British MP Jo Cox: She Worried About "Atmosphere of Hatred"
The husband of slain British Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox says he believes she was killed for her political views. Cox was stabbed and shot to death Thursday, allegedly by Thomas Mair, who had ties to the neo-Nazi National Alliance and attended a meeting of British white supremacists organized by an FBI informant in 2000. Brendan Cox said his late wife worried about the direction of global politics.
Brendan Cox: "I think she worried that we were entering an age that we haven’t seen, maybe since the 1930s, of people feeling insecure for lots of different reasons, for economic reasons or security reasons, and then populist politicians, whether that’s Trump in the U.S. or whoever else, exploiting that and driving communities to hate each other, saying that the reason that you don’t have a job or the reason that you’re feeling insecure is because of this powerless person, not because of choices that we’re making or—and that that was driving people, it was creating an atmosphere of hatred."
Lawsuit Accuses Louisiana Judge of Running Modern-Day Debtors' Prison
A new lawsuit accuses a judge and the city court in Bogalusa, Louisiana, of running a modern-day debtors’ prison. The Southern Poverty Law Center says Judge Robert J. Black routinely orders people to jail for failing to pay fines for minor offenses, like traffic violations, and charges them so-called "extension fees" to avoid jail time. In one case, a man found guilty of stealing $5 worth of food to feed his family was ordered to pay a $450 fine, then jailed for four hours when he couldn’t pay the $50 "extension fee."
FAA Releases New Rules on Commercial Drone Use
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued new rules to allow corporations to fly drones. The rules allow commercial drones to fly up to 400 feet in the air during daytime hours. The drones must be kept within sight, precluding, for now, the proposed use of delivery drones by companies like Google and Amazon. Despite concerns, the rules do not include regulations on privacy.
Ireland: Pro-Choice Activists Fly "Abortion Drone" to Northern Ireland
Meanwhile in Ireland, pro-choice activists flew a drone into Northern Ireland carrying a different cargo: pills to induce an abortion. The action was aimed at highlighting strict anti-choice laws in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
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