Democracy Now! Daily Digest: A Daily Independent Global News Hour with Amy Goodman & Juan González for Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Democracy Now! Daily Digest: A Daily Independent Global News Hour with Amy Goodman & Juan González for Wednesday, July 20, 2016
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Black Activists Occupy Police Union Offices in NYC & D.C., Demand End to Protection for Brutal Cops

Activists in several cities are attempting to shut down the offices of two major police unions: the Fraternal Order of Police and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. In Washington, D.C., activists with Black Youth Project 100 and Black Lives Matter have locked themselves to the steps of the Fraternal Order of Police with chains. In New York City, activists with Million Hoodies and BYP 100 have locked themselves to each other using PVC pipes at the entrance to the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. The activists are demanding police officers stop paying dues to the private unions, which they accuse of defending officers accused of brutality. We go to Washington, D.C., for a live update from the scene with Samantha Master, member of BYP 100.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. Right now in New York City and in Washington, D.C., activists are attempting to shut down the offices of two major police unions: the Fraternal Order of Police and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. In D.C., activists with Black Youth Project 100 and Black Lives Matter have locked themselves to the steps of the Fraternal Order of Police with chains. In New York City, activists with Million Hoodies and BYP 100 have locked themselves to each other using PVC pipes at the entrance of the PBA. The activists are demanding police officers stop paying dues to the private unions, which they accuse of defending officers accused of brutality.

For more, we go directly to Washington, D.C., to speak with Samantha Master, who is a member of the BYP 100 at the protest. Samantha, what’s happening right now?

SAMANTHA MASTER: Hi, Amy. Thank you so much for having us on. And so, right now, we are standing outside of the Steven Young legislative office of the Fraternal Order of Police, where we are demanding that police give us freedom—that the state give us freedom now and that police officers stop paying dues to the FOP and all police unions, as they are pushing active legislation that would make the—that would make—will continue to further protest—protesters who are targeted by police as committing hate crimes. And anything—any folks who are targeting—any folks who are—any—I’m so sorry. What’s happening right now is that protesters are blocking the streets to demand that police officers stop paying dues to the Fraternal Order of Police.

AMY GOODMAN: Samantha, can you tell me where these actions are taking place? You’re in Washington, D.C. There’s a major protest right now in New York City. Are there other places?

SAMANTHA MASTER: So, actions will take place all over the nation. Young black people are rising up to say no more of the unethical, toxic culture of policing that seeks to protect killer cops and those who maim civilians without justice or accountability.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we will certainly continue to follow this protest. I want to thank you, Samantha Master, member of Black Youth Project 100, BYP 100, speaking to us from the major Washington, D.C., protest. ... Read More →

"Wall Off Trump": Activists Erect Mock Wall Outside RNC to Protest GOP Border & Immigration Policy

The Republican Party has officially adopted Donald Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in its official party platform. The new platform states: "The border wall must cover the entirety of the southern border and must be sufficient to stop both vehicular and pedestrian traffic." In response, immigrant rights activists have decided to build a wall of their own here in Cleveland around the Republican National Convention. Mijente, the Ruckus Society, Iraq Veterans Against the War, The Other 98% and the Working Families Party are working together to construct the wall.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re also joined by Marisa Franco. Marisa Franco is director of Mijente, which has helped organize the Wall Off Trump protest here at the Republican National Convention. She recently wrote a piece in The Nation headlined "The Deportation Machine Obama Built for President Trump." Talk about your action today.

MARISA FRANCO: Hi, Amy. Thanks for having me on.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you.

MARISA FRANCO: So, you know, Donald Trump has campaigned all across the country pledging to build this wall. So, here at his coronation as the nominee for the Republican Party, Mijente, along with Iraq Veterans Against the War, Ruckus Society and The Other 98, many other organizations, decided to bring him his wall and build it here for him. But instead of building a wall that divides our communities, we wanted to build a wall that protects our communities from the hatred, racism and xenophobia of his campaign.

AMY GOODMAN: So how are you building this? Where are you building this?

MARISA FRANCO: It’s here locally in Cleveland. There’s folks from Cleveland, as well as folks from across the country, that have come to help build this wall. It’s people-powered, through and through. It’s been painted. People will be descending upon the city today. And banners of 25 to 50 feet, ponchos—it’s a creative action, I think, meant to really send a clear message.

AMY GOODMAN: Will you be going to the Democratic convention, as well?

MARISA FRANCO: Yeah, we will be going to the Democratic convention. Right now, we wanted to really highlight the threat of Donald Trump and the policies that he’s spreading, but we’re also very clear that this is not a—this is not an endorsement of Senator Clinton.

AMY GOODMAN: You—clearly, with this headline that is in The Nation, "The Deportation Machine Obama Built for President Trump," you’re indicting both parties here.

MARISA FRANCO: Absolutely, absolutely, because as much as, you know, Donald Trump is talking and the Republican Party is promising particular policies, in fact, Democrats have implemented them. Fact of the matter is that President Obama has deported more people than any other president in this country. And the question is: Are you going to leave that deportation machine there for Donald Trump to pick it up? And Hillary Clinton, if she becomes the president, will she continue the legacy of President Obama on his record of deportations?

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to get both your comments on one of the people who was on the floor of the convention last night. Democracy Now!’s Deena Guzder asked Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio why he supports Donald Trump, in particular, his immigration policy.

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO: Illegal immigration policy. I supported him the day he decided to run. I think he’s a great guy. New York is very proud of him. He carried New York. And the country is proud of him, the Republicans. And he’ll make a great president.

DEENA GUZDER: What, in particular, about his immigration policy do you support?

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO: Well, I support the majority of his policy. We have to do something about the border. Most of the illegals and drug traffic comes from Mexico. I’m concerned about the drug traffic. When he says, "Put up the wall," I like the wall to keep the drugs out of our country. That’s the most important thing that’s going on, not the illegal immigration. That’s important, but what about all the drugs coming in, the heroin and everything else? Because it’s a violation of the law to come into this country illegally, you must secure your borders. We have terrorism now. We have cops being killed. I’m not blaming the Hispanics for that, because I’ve had—I’ve had one of—a white guy shoot my deputy. So, it—but it’s important to do that. I think he knows that the country is frustrated. If it wasn’t for him, nobody would be talking about illegal immigration. Nobody wanted to talk about it. But since he brought it up, talked about the wall, now all the politicians are talking about it.

DEENA GUZDER: And he’s also called for a temporary ban on all Muslim immigration. Do you think that’s a good idea?

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO: Well, I don’t think he did that. I think he said you have to keep those that are a threat to our country out, which means more intelligence and going to check it more and keep them out. Yeah. But I don’t think he said everybody.

DEENA GUZDER: Do you support Mike Pence, given his position on immigration? I think at one point he had a touchback amnesty-type position.

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO: Oh, well, you know what? I’m going to tell you something. Donald Trump will be a very active president. So I don’t—I’m not concerned about other people. But I know he will listen to him. He will listen to the people that work for him, or they’re associated. But still, he’ll make the final decision. That’s what he will do.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. This is a man you know well, Marisa Franco. You come from Phoenix, Arizona.

MARISA FRANCO: Yes, unfortunately, I do. Sheriff Arpaio is one of the most terrible violators of civil rights of our time. I think that it’s telling that he’s endorsing Donald Trump. He might be auditioning for a reality show, hopefully when he’s retiring soon or he gets voted out. We did a protest locally in Phoenix when Donald Trump came, and shut down the highway leading up to the Trump rally. But Sheriff Arpaio has—you know, he represents the same politic that Donald Trump does, and that is a politic that sends our country backwards. It’s to send us to the back of the bus, back into the closet and back into the shadows. And it’s tried and true. They’re peas in a pod, Sheriff Arpaio and Donald Trump.

AMY GOODMAN: You know, one of the reasons we’re not broadcasting directly in the convention hall, as the corporate media is, is because you need a whole slew of credentials to get inside, which means so many of the people who come to these conventions, who don’t get credentialed but are doing things outside, the uninvited guests, we want to be able to talk to them, as well, like you. You were not inside the convention on Monday night, when the parents spoke of those who died at the hands of undocumented immigrants. But this report that talks about really who commits murder in this country.

MARISA FRANCO: Right. When I think of that, I think of Brisenia Flores. I think of Anastasio Hernández Rojas. Brisenia was killed by anti-immigrant vigilantes. She was shot, killed. She was six years old. Anastasio was—

AMY GOODMAN: Where was she?

MARISA FRANCO: In Arizona. She was a six-year-old child, a few years ago killed. Anastasio Hernández Rojas—it’s a very well-known case—he was killed in cold blood by Border Patrol. I think of—

AMY GOODMAN: That was actually videotaped—

MARISA FRANCO: It was videotaped, and nothing’s been done.

AMY GOODMAN: —and cellphone-videoed by many people.

MARISA FRANCO: That’s right. But I also think of South Asian people, of Muslim people, of African people, Caribbean people, Asian people, immigrants in this country who have been assaulted, who have been killed, who have been exploited. We could sit here and counter those statistics, but the fact is that those are tired, stale, old right-wing talking points, and to counter them with the argument that immigrants commit less crime is actually not—it hasn’t gotten us anywhere. The fact of the matter is that there are people in this country who feel that, because immigrants—immigrants who do not look like them, regardless if they’re bad or good, do not have a right to be able to pursue a better life, do not have a right to be able to live, work and love where and how they choose. And so, I think that the immigrant rights movement has contorted—we’ve contorted ourselves to be able to try to fit these paradigms of good-versus-bad immigrant, and it hasn’t gotten us anywhere.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn—

MARISA FRANCO: So I don’t think we need to respond to those—to those stale arguments.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to a person on the streets Monday. Hundreds protested outside the RNC at a Stop Trump rally. Attendees included members of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee.

ADRIANA CERRILLO: My name is Adriana Cerrillo, and I’m with MIRAC, which is Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee. And the name says it all. We work for the rights of immigrants in this country. And the reason that I’m here is to stop the rhetoric and hateful, divisive message of Donald Trump.

I was brought here when I was 15 years old. I’m from a city called Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, right on the border with McAllen, Texas. And it was not my choice. My mother decided to come across the border and to bring the family here. So I lived in this country undocumented, and I actually couldn’t go to college because I didn’t have the proper documentation. You know, back in those years, we didn’t have the movement of being undocumented and unafraid. So, that’s what really makes me be more engaged and fight for our youth.

It’s not that people want to migrate to this country just out of the blue. People have been displaced because of the free trade agreement, NAFTA. Many people have been displaced from their homes. So, what do I have to say? I think we have to inform ourselves a little bit better and understand the reality of migration, forced migration to this nation.

AMY GOODMAN: Marisa Franco, can you respond, as we wrap up?

MARISA FRANCO: For radical Latinx people who Donald Trump has targeted part of our community, it’s not only important for us to be here resisting his policies because of what he’s done to our community and what he threatens. What he threatens are borders across all of the country. It is not just a border wall he proposes. He is threatening to divide us. And this goes beyond an immigration issue. It goes beyond Latinx people. This is a threat to a lot of different folks in our communities. And so, we hope that this action really emboldens and sparks imagination to resist Trump and wall him off.

AMY GOODMAN: And we will certainly be there covering it. Marisa Franco, director of Mijente, which has helped organize the Wall Off Trump protests that are taking place today, as they build a wall outside the convention. We’ll link to your piece, "The Deportation Machine Obama Built for President Trump."

That does it for our broadcast. By the way, I’ll be doing a report back from the conventions on Friday the 29th in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Town Hall, and on Saturday, July 30th, on Martha’s Vineyard at the Old Whaling Church. ... Read More →

Meet the Student Fighting Case Western U. for Shutting Down Campus to House 1,900 Police Officers

Students at Case Western Reserve University, located nearly five miles from the arena hosting the RNC, are protesting the university’s decision to house 1,900 armed police officers and National Guardsmen in campus dormitories during the convention. The security officers are part of an auxiliary force assisting the Cleveland Police Department during the event. Last Monday, the university announced a virtual shutdown of its operations during the convention, citing concerns that the recent shootings in Dallas, Louisiana and Minnesota could provoke a "significant degree of conflict" in the city. We speak with Taru Taylor, Case Western Reserve University law student who co-authored a petition objecting to the police presence on campus during the RNC.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! We’re broadcasting from Cleveland, covering the Republican National Convention and what’s happening in the streets in the larger city. Right now, students at Case Western Reserve University here in Cleveland are protesting their university’s decision to house 1,900 armed police officers and National Guardsmen in campus dormitories during the RNC. The security officers are part of an auxiliary force assisting the Cleveland Police Department during the convention. Students have expressed their concern in a Change.org petition, "Student Safety During Riot Police Occupation of Case Western Reserve University." Last Monday, the university announced a virtual shutdown of its operations during the convention, citing concerns that the recent shootings in Dallas, Louisiana and Minnesota could provoke a "significant degree of conflict" in the city. Case Western Reserve University is located nearly five miles from the arena hosting the Republican National Convention here in Cleveland.

We’re joined now by Taru Taylor. He is Case Western Reserve University law student who co-authored the petition objecting to the police presence on campus during the RNC.

Welcome to Democracy Now!, Taru.

TARU TAYLOR: Thank you, Amy.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about how many police we’re talking about, how many state troopers, and what’s happened at Case.

TARU TAYLOR: Well, initially, we were informed by a whistleblower, essentially, that there would be 1,500 police officers. This was about a month ago. And so, that’s what prompted our petition. And subsequently, we have found out that there would be 1,700 police officers and 200 members of the National Guard who would be housed, essentially quartered, at our university during the RNC.

AMY GOODMAN: What was your problem with this?

TARU TAYLOR: Well, essentially, it’s a Third Amendment violation that these out-of-state police officers are coming into our university and, essentially, that there was no consent, that President Snyder unilaterally decided to house these police officers, and no one at the university knew about this until—not no one, but students and many members of the faculty did not know about this. And so, that’s what prompted, again, our petition, just to bring awareness to the campus community and also to voice some of our concerns that these police officers coming into town would be under the auspices of the Cleveland Police Department. And so, some of our concerns had to do with the fact that in December of 2014 the Department of Justice did issue a report saying that there was a pattern or practice of unreasonable force and unconstitutional policing, especially with regard to the Fourth Amendment. And so—and this is—this pattern or practice is going on all over the United States. And so, those were some of our concerns. And so, for example, we wanted police officers not to have their weapons on campus, so as to follow the policies and procedures of Case Western Reserve.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to ask about Case Western Reserve President Snyder’s explanation of the use of the term "profiling" in a message sent to the Case Western community. After she was criticized for suggesting the university community was, quote, "profiling the police, she clarified her use of the phrase by writing, quote, "In that [June 24th] email, I urged that members of our community not stereotype all police officers as violent or prejudiced. Nevertheless, given the current national context, I regret that I described such behavior as 'profiling,' and that I was not more careful with my language." What is your response to that, Taru?

TARU TAYLOR: Well, that when she basically accused us or suggested that we were reverse-profiling, it was a way in which to marginalize our concerns, that, first of all, we were not saying that every single police officer is prone to violence. It only takes one police officer of 1,500 police officers. If 14,999 are perfectly peaceful, and one is prone to violence, catastrophe. And so, also, there seems to be—

AMY GOODMAN: I have to say, these officers are not very happy also.

TARU TAYLOR: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: We were walking along. There are officers from all over the country here. I’m not sure if they were at Case, but a group of them who—it had the badge of the Louisville Police Department. We asked, you know, where they were staying, and they said, "At university. There’s no air conditioning." They were packed in there. They drove for many hours to get here, and they were very frustrated. That doesn’t help.

TARU TAYLOR: Right. And I do want to add that there does seem to be a general denial of—people tend to—for example, what happened with Tamir Rice, and [Malissa] Williams and Timothy Russell, whose car had accidentally backfired, and they were—there was a car chase, and they were chased around the streets of Cleveland. One hundred police officers, a third of the Cleveland Police Department, fired 137 shots into their car. Each of them were riddled with 20 bullets. Now, the Department of Justice spoke of this as part of a pattern or practice, but yet there’s this want to make this as if this is an isolated incident or as if these are isolated circumstances. But again, this is a pattern. And so, these were some of our concerns.

AMY GOODMAN: Where are the officers from, and the state troopers?

TARU TAYLOR: Well, I’ve—that’s one of the questions that we asked: Where are these officers coming from? And the university was less than forthcoming when we did ask about—we also asked about vetting. Have these police officers been vetted, in terms of the individual police officers perhaps having histories of unconstitutional policing and excessive force? But there was not that vetting. And so, I’ve seen from Florida, Tennessee—

AMY GOODMAN: Indiana.

TARU TAYLOR: —Texas, etc.

AMY GOODMAN: I’ve seen Indiana, Louisville, so Kentucky. So, where are all the students now? I mean, were they tossed out of the university during this time for the police to be moved in?

TARU TAYLOR: Well, students were offered an option to go home, essentially, or that the university would sponsor plane tickets for them to go elsewhere because of the overall shutdown of the campus.

AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Taru, where is this discussion and dialogue going? You live here in Cleveland. You live off campus. But has this sparked a university-wide discussion about the role of police and their relationship with students like you?

TARU TAYLOR: Sure, that one thing that we wanted to emphasize, as well, is that the university is essentially aiding and abetting these police, who, at least since 1999 in Seattle with the WTO protests, have been suppressing people’s First Amendment rights to peaceful assembly. We also saw it in 1968 in the Democratic National Convention. That since the militarization of police, especially with the advent of the war on drugs, there has been this sense in which police have been acting as military, that the framers of the Constitution were concerned with the rise of a standing army, and their specific concern was with military enforcing domestic law. And they did put up barriers to prevent military acting as police, but what about police acting as military—SWAT teams, the 1033 Program, through which the government has been giving more and more military equipment?

AMY GOODMAN: You know, interestingly, I think Cleveland got $50 million. Twenty million dollars will be in various kinds of equipment that the police department will have even after the Republican National Convention.

TARU TAYLOR: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’re going to leave it there, but continue to follow this story. Taru Taylor, thanks so much for joining us.

TARU TAYLOR: Thank you, Amy.

AMY GOODMAN: Case Western Reserve University law student who co-authored the petition objecting to the police presence on campus during the RNC.

That does it for our show. I’ll be doing a report back from the Republican and Democratic conventions Friday the 29th of July in Provincetown, Massachusetts, at Town Hall, and also Saturday, July 30th, at Martha’s Vineyard, the Old Whaling Church. Check our website for details at democracynow.org. Follow our team for the latest updates from the RNC this week on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and now Snapchat. And special thanks to Denis Moynihan, Laura Gottesdiener, Mike Burke and all the folks that made this broadcast possible. ... Read More →

Ban Guns, Not Tennis Balls: As NRA Addresses RNC, CodePink Protests Ohio's Open-Carry Law

For the first time ever, the National Rifle Association sent its chief lobbyist to the Republican National Convention. According to the NRA, Chris Cox became the group’s first official to ever speak at a political convention. Cox warned that a Hillary Clinton presidency would endanger one’s right to own a gun. While Cox spoke inside the convention on Tuesday, anti-gun activists held their own protest just outside the security gates against the fact that civilians are being allowed to carry military-grade weapons in downtown Cleveland this week but can’t have items such as tennis balls, cans or umbrellas. Democracy Now! was there when antiwar group CodePink teamed up with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence to deliver 500 tennis balls to the front steps of the Republican National Convention.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. We are "Breaking with Convention: War, Peace and the Presidency." I’m Amy Goodman. For the first time ever, the National Rifle Association sent its chief lobbyist to the Republican National Convention, and he spoke from the stage. According to the NRA, Chris Cox became the group’s first official to ever speak at a political convention. Cox warned that a Hillary Clinton presidency would endanger the right to own a gun.

CHRIS COX: Eight years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that we have a fundamental individual right to protect ourselves and our families with a firearm in our own homes. They should have ruled it nine to nothing, but the Second Amendment survived by just one vote. After Justice Scalia’s death, that vote is gone. In case you’re wondering where Hillary Clinton stands, she said, quote, "The Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment." Think about that. All the Supreme Court said was that you have the right to protect your life in your own home. But Hillary says they’re wrong. It’s that simple. A Hillary Clinton Supreme Court means your right to own a firearm is gone.

AMY GOODMAN: While NRA lobbyist Chris Cox spoke inside the convention, addressed the convention Tuesday, anti-gun activists held their own protest just outside the security gates. They were protesting the fact civilians are being allowed to carry military-grade weapons in downtown Cleveland this week, but can’t have items like tennis balls, cans or umbrellas. That’s because Ohio is an open-carry state. On Tuesday, the antiwar group CodePink delivered 500 tennis balls to the front steps of the Republican National Convention. In a press release, they said the action was meant to highlight the hypocrisy of Republican support for gun laws that permit firearms, including military-style weapons, to be carried openly nearly anywhere in Ohio, while the RNC bans an item as innocuous as tennis balls from their convention. Well, Democracy Now! was on the scene of the protest.

PROTESTERS: Ban open carry, not tennis balls! Ban open carry, not tennis balls!

CHELSEA BYERS: My name’s Chelsea Byers. I’m with CodePink: Women for Peace. We’re here saying that it’s ridiculous that the RNC has banned tennis balls, and yet they continue to let open carry happen in these streets. If they’re concerned about safety, they should be taking the guns off of these streets, not banning toys.

PROTESTERS: Ban open carry, not tennis balls!

MARTHA DURKEE-NEUMAN: My name is Martha Neuman. I really strongly disagree with the Republican idea that our Second Amendment rights are more important than the freedom and security of our communities in the streets.

MEDEA BENJAMIN: Sir, we think tennis balls should be allowed.

POLICE OFFICER 1: No, they’re prohibited. They’re on a prohibited list.

MEDEA BENJAMIN: We play with tennis balls. They’re games. They’re games.

POLICE OFFICER 1: So you can pick them up and put them away. I’m asking you nicely.

MEDEA BENJAMIN: But it’s silly.

POLICE OFFICER 1: I’m giving you the opportunity, OK?

CHELSEA BYERS: I understand, but—

MEDEA BENJAMIN: It’s silly.

POLICE OFFICER 1: They’re prohibited. Listen, they’re prohibited.

MEDEA BENJAMIN: I mean, how can open carry—how can you be allowed to carry around an assault weapon, but not a tennis ball? It doesn’t make sense.

POLICE OFFICER 1: I’m telling you what’s on our list that’s prohibited. So you have the opportunity—

MEDEA BENJAMIN: Yeah, but it doesn’t—sometimes the lists don’t make sense.

POLICE OFFICER 1: I’m giving you the opportunity to put them away. OK?

CHELSEA BYERS: Why don’t the lists make sense?

MEDEA BENJAMIN: Yeah, you should be more rational about this.

POLICE OFFICER 1: I have a supervisor who’s going to come. And we’re going to take them, OK?

MEDEA BENJAMIN: You should be more rational about this, sir.

CHELSEA BYERS: You’re going to take the balls away?

POLICE OFFICER 1: Yeah, they’ll be seized.

CHELSEA BYERS: Are they going to take the weapons in the streets away, too?

POLICE OFFICER 1: Yeah, the balls will be seized, just so you know.

MEDEA BENJAMIN: What about assault weapons? Will they be seized?

POLICE OFFICER 1: Here, put them back in the bags. No.

MEDEA BENJAMIN: We are being told that balls will be seized, and we are being threatened with jail.

PROTESTERS: We want to play with our tennis balls! We want to play with our tennis balls!

POLICE OFFICER 2: Who’s in charge? Who’s in charge?

MEDEA BENJAMIN: It’s a cooperative. We’re all in charge.

POLICE OFFICER 2: Listen to me. It’s not a joke, because people use these as weapons. And when people use these as weapons, we don’t know what is right and what is wrong. So it is not a joke.

POLICE OFFICER 3: Back up, please. Back up, please. Media, back up, please.

MEDEA BENJAMIN: How do you use a tennis ball as a weapon?

POLICE OFFICER 3: Give us some room. Back up, please. Media, you need to back up, please.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re standing in front of the Q, the convention arena of the RNC. A group of women from CodePink are holding tennis balls. They’ve been tossing them around with each other. Their tennis balls say "ban guns, not balls." And they have been told by the police—you can see right here, they’re picking up the balls. Tennis balls are on a ban list, but automatic weapons are not.

What have they told you right now?

MEDEA BENJAMIN: They told us this is not a game. You could open up a tennis ball and put feces inside, and it could get thrown at them, and it would be very dangerous.

AMY GOODMAN: The NRA will be addressing the Republican convention tonight. Your thoughts?

MEDEA BENJAMIN: Well, we think that the NRA has, unfortunately, been setting the agenda for this entire nation, especially the Republican Party, where you can’t even get a vote in the congressional houses on issues from banning assault weapons to even the no-fly issue. So, I think it’s unfortunate that the NRA has so much power in this country. And that’s why we see guns on our streets and people being shot every single day, every single hour of every single day. And we were here to show the absurdity of it. But he’s right, the officer: It’s not funny. It’s really dangerous. And it’s the guns that are dangerous. It’s the NRA that is dangerous. It’s the NRA that’s killing our kids, and we have to stop them.

AMY GOODMAN: The hundreds of tennis balls that the CodePink women brought in front of the Republican convention were confiscated by the Cleveland police, and there were many layers of security. First the police moved in. Then riot police moved in. Then the Indiana state troopers moved in. And then police on horseback moved in, as well. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. When we come back, we’ll be talking about the RNC and immigration policy. Stay with us. ... Read More →

Debunking Republican Claims Linking Immigration to Crime

Immigration has been a common theme throughout the first two nights of the Republican National Convention. On Monday, speakers included two mothers whose sons were killed by undocumented immigrants. But a new report by the American Immigration Council, that won’t likely be cited by any speakers at this year’s Republican National Convention, finds immigrants are less likely than the native-born to engage in criminal behavior and that higher immigration is associated with lower crime rates. We speak with its co-author, Walter Ewing, a senior researcher at the American Immigration Council. His recent article is "Republican Party Platform Shows Little Understanding of Immigration Policy."

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re "Breaking with Convention: War, Peace and the Presidency." I’m Amy Goodman. We’re here in Cleveland, Ohio, covering the Republican National Convention inside and out, from the streets to the convention floor. The Republican Party has officially adopted Donald Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in its official party platform. The new platform states, quote, "The border wall must cover the entirety of the southern border and must be sufficient to stop [both] vehicular and pedestrian traffic." Immigration has been a common theme throughout the first two nights of the Republican National Convention. On Monday, speakers included mothers whose sons were killed by undocumented immigrants. In a moment, we’ll hear Sabine Durden, but first, Mary Ann Mendoza.

MARY ANN MENDOZA: My son’s life was stolen at the hands of an illegal alien. It’s time that we have an administration that cares more about Americans than about illegals. A vote for Hillary is putting all of our children’s lives at risks. It’s time for Donald Trump. Thank you.

SABINE DURDEN: Sadly, I have a similar story to share with you. My best friend, my rock, my son Dominic, my only child, was also killed by an illegal immigrant. I call them illegal aliens. ... I have been talking about illegal immigration since 2012, since he got killed, and no one listened—until Donald Trump. Donald Trump is not only my hero, he’s my lifesaver. Hillary Clinton, or as we know her, "crooked Hillary," always talks about what she will do for illegal aliens and what she will do for refugees. Well, Donald Trump talks about what he will do for America.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s Sabine Durden speaking at the Republican National Convention Monday night. We turn now to look at a report by the American Immigration Council that won’t likely be cited by any speakers at this year’s Republican National Convention. The report found immigrants are less likely than the native-born to engage in criminal behavior and that higher immigration is associated with lower crime rates. Joining us now is one of the co-authors of the report, Walter Ewing, senior researcher at the American Immigration Council. His most recent piece is headlined "Republican Party Platform Shows Little Understanding of Immigration Policy."

Respond to what we just heard, Walter. Talk about what the figures really are in this country.

WALTER EWING: Well, at the Republican convention, they’re exploiting personal tragedy for political gain, because, for decades, study after study has established just what you noted, that higher immigration is associated with lower crime rates. As an example, from 1990 to 2013, the share of the U.S. population grew from 7.9 percent to 13.1 percent. At the same time, the undocumented population more than tripled, from 3.5 million to 11.2 million. But what happened to crime rates? They went down. FBI data indicate that violent crime dropped by 48 percent, and rates of property crime fell by 41 percent. That runs counter to the narrative being spun at the Republican National Convention.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what the Republican platform is in regards to immigration?

WALTER EWING: Basically, it’s a platform of scapegoating immigrants for many of the nation’s social and economic problems. For instance, the wall is a powerful symbol, but it’s a symbol that won’t work. Despite having hundreds of miles of fencing along the border right now, we find that undocumented immigration has not stopped, that smuggling organizations have grown stronger, and that as long as there’s a demand that is not being met by formal channels of immigration, it’s being met by criminal organizations. That is not in anyone’s benefit. And it’s also noteworthy that you can build a wall as high as you want, but someone can always build a higher ladder, or go under it or go through it, as has happened already. So, it’s not getting to the root of the problem. The root of the problem is an immigration system that is irrational, that is out of sync with reality. The problem is not immigrants themselves. ... Read More →

John Nichols: The GOP is More United in Disdain for Hillary Clinton Than in Support for Donald Trump

It’s now official: Donald Trump has become the presidential nominee of the Republican Party. The announcement was made by House Speaker Paul Ryan after a roll call vote at the convention here in Cleveland. He received the formal nomination only one day after delegates from the "Never Trump" movement briefly staged a revolt against Trump on Monday. The rebellion threw the first day of the convention into chaos, but the effort was quashed by party leadership. Some dissenting delegates booed during Tuesday’s roll call vote. We speak to The Nation’s John Nichols, author of the new piece, "Trump Is Officially the GOP Nominee—but Republicans Aren’t Exactly Celebrating."

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, "Breaking with Convention: War, Peace and the Presidency." I’m Amy Goodman. We’re broadcasting from Cleveland, Ohio, where the Republican National Convention is taking place. We’re covering it inside and out, from the streets to the convention floor.

Yes, it’s now official: Donald Trump has become the presidential nominee of the Republican Party. The announcement was made by House Speaker Paul Ryan after a roll call vote at the convention here in Cleveland.

SPEAKER PAUL RYAN: The chair is prepared to announce the results. The following candidates received the following votes: 1,725, Trump; 475, Cruz; 120, Kasich; 114, Rubio; seven, Carson; three, Bush; two, Paul. Accordingly, the chair announces that Donald J. Trump, having received a majority of these votes entitled to be cast at the convention, has been selected as the Republican Party nominee for president of the United States.

AMY GOODMAN: Donald Trump is expected to officially accept the nomination Thursday night, but he briefly spoke to delegates via satellite from Trump Tower.

DONALD TRUMP: We’re going to bring back our jobs. We’re going to rebuild our depleted military and take care of our great veterans. We’re going to have strong borders. We’re going to get rid of ISIS. And we’re going to restore law and order. We have to restore, and quickly, law and order.

AMY GOODMAN: In one of the most animated moments on Tuesday, delegates repeatedly broke into chants of "Lock her up!" during a speech by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, when he staged a mock trial of Hillary Clinton.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE: Libya today, after Hillary Clinton’s grand strategy, their economy is in ruins, there’s death and violence on the streets, and ISIS is now dominating that country. So I’m going to ask you this. Hillary Clinton, as a failure for ruining Libya and creating a nest for terrorist activity by ISIS, answer me now: Is she guilty or not guilty?

DELEGATES: Guilty! ... Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!

AMY GOODMAN: The audience was chanting "Lock her up! Lock her up!" and "Guilty!" many putting their hands up across as if to say she should be handcuffed. Another speaker Tuesday night, former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson, went as far as connecting Hillary Clinton to Lucifer.

DR. BEN CARSON: This is a nation where our Pledge of Allegiance says we are one nation under God. This is a nation—this is a nation where every coin in our pocket and every bill in our wallet says "In God we trust." So are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer?

AMY GOODMAN: Even though Tuesday night marked the official nomination of Donald Trump, much of the focus was not actually on Trump. During his keynote address, House Speaker Paul Ryan mentioned Trump’s name just twice. Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson mentioned Trump’s name only once. Johnson is in a tight race against former Senator Russ Feingold.

Earlier in the day, Politico ran a stunning article about fears within the Republican establishment about the future of the party. They reveal former President George W. Bush recently told aides, quote, "I’m worried I will be the last Republican president," unquote. And the convention is occurring as one of the most powerful figures in the conservative movement, Roger Ailes, may soon be forced out as chair and CEO of Fox News following a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Joining us now here in Cleveland is John Nichols, political writer for The Nation. His most recent piece is headlined "Trump Is Officially the GOP Nominee—but Republicans Aren’t Exactly Celebrating." John Nichols is also co-author of the new book People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and Citizenless Democracy.

Welcome back to Democracy Now!, John. So, you were on the floor. I saw you over there—

JOHN NICHOLS: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: —over at the Quicken Loans Arena. Thousands of both Trump supporters and simply Republican delegates—not always the same—were there. Talk about your impression of last night, this historic moment, however you feel.

JOHN NICHOLS: Well, I have to tell you that you and I’ve both been to a lot of conventions, and I wouldn’t necessarily say that this was completely atypical, but it was very, very different in some fundamental ways. When the roll call was going on, there was still an incredible tension on the floor. I was out in an alley with the Utah and Alaska delegates, and they went to the microphone, in that classic sense, and announced their votes for Ted Cruz. And then Paul Ryan, standing up on the stage, and the other folks up there announced that they had voted for Donald Trump. Now, this created this bizarre setting where, finally, Alaska objected. And they then—the convention stalled out. The band played "Shake Your Booty." Republicans danced. Republican aides came out to the Alaska delegation, counted them again, did this whole process. And then, suddenly, Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, comes to the stage and said, "Well, those are the rules. Your votes are for Trump. And have a nice day." It was a bizarre sort of ritualized nomination without the sort of joy and festivity and positiveness of it.

And when Trump was finally announced as the nominee, there was, you know, about a minute or so, and then they went straight into the anti-Hillary Clinton speeches. The bottom line is this: It’s quite clear now that this party is not really uniting around Donald Trump; they are uniting in their absolute disdain for Hillary Clinton. And also, I would suggest a deep underpinning that I don’t think is being reported enough in a lot of media, they are uniting around a very theocratic vision of the United States. The platform that was approved actually outlines concepts for having states order school districts to develop Bible study programs or elective courses in Bible study. The People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch said that—after the 2012 convention, they said, you know, this was about as extreme as you could possibly get. But they’ve had to readjust, because this platform is dramatically more extreme on social issues than the Republican Party has ever been. And so, that’s really what you have here. You have the Trump overlay, much covered by the media, but beneath it, a lot of dissension, a lot of actual anger, as well as this very theocratic party line. And what’s wrapping it all up is a bitterness, this anti-Clinton thing. Now, you can like Hillary Clinton or dislike Hillary Clinton, but I think Jeff Flake, the senator from Arizona, did sum it up pretty well. You could run a campaign against Clinton on the issues. That’s not what this is. This is just visceral disdain.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, last night, Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, really, his speech was a prosecution—

JOHN NICHOLS: Absolutely.

AMY GOODMAN: —a mock trial of Hillary Clinton.

JOHN NICHOLS: It was a speech that Chris Christie would have liked to have given as the vice-presidential nominee, but he was passed over for Mike Pence, who will give a much milder speech. But Christie is clearly all in. It is his desire to be Donald Trump’s, you know, number one attack dog, the guy who goes out and hits hardest.

AMY GOODMAN: Tonight, Mike Pence will address and be nominated formally as the vice-presidential running mate. I want to turn back to Saturday, in this unusual announcement, when Donald Trump announced that Mike Pence would be his running mate. And these were among the first words that Mike Pence said.

GOV. MIKE PENCE: People who know me well know I’m a pretty basic guy. I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order. Now, while I’m currently—I currently have the privilege of serving the state that I love, I’m really—I’m really just a small-town boy who grew up in southern Indiana with a big family and a cornfield in the backyard.

AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s Mike Pence. "I’m a Christian, I’m a conservative, I’m a Republican, in that order."

JOHN NICHOLS: And that’s why he’s the nominee. Donald Trump had a real challenge. It’s not, again, covered well, because most of our media does not cover this complex interplay between the religious right and the Republican Party in a serious way.

AMY GOODMAN: And certainly, people who know Donald Trump, the developer, don’t think of him as a man of God.

JOHN NICHOLS: No, it—I don’t think that’s, you know, first tier, although you can discuss "Two Corinthians" with him, or whatever. But the bottom line is that he needed this. If you go on the floor of that convention, you know he needed Pence. And what Pence brings to him is absolute allegiance with the religious right. He came up politically that way. But he also brings something else that is perhaps worthy of at least as much discussion, and that is a long-term relationship with the structural supporters of the modern conservative movement in this country. He has worked for groups that have been funded by some of the richest people in the country, groups associated with the Koch brothers, for many, many years. He speaks their language. He is a down-the-line social, economic and foreign policy conservative who fits the mood of this new conservative establishment. So, Trump picked him not for the message that goes out. Chris Christie could throw the messages that go, you know, beyond the convention. Pence was picked for this convention and for the inside of the modern Republican Party, which is not a party, by the way, that particularly likes Donald Trump. ... Read More →

The Fall of Roger Ailes: Can Sexual Harassment Claims Oust the Biggest Man in Conservative Media?

Roger Ailes’s lawyers have confirmed he’s in negotiations to step down as Fox News chair amid more than a half-dozen accusations of sexual harassment. For 20 years, the former Republican operative has been the most powerful man in the conservative media world. The scandal began when former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson sued Ailes. Now, Fox anchor Megyn Kelly has also accused him of harassment. Many are celebrating Ailes’s anticipated departure, though as Feministing founder Jessica Valenti notes, "Removing one lascivious man can’t turn around the mess of misogyny that is Fox News." Carlson’s suit also alleges Fox News has an overall misogynistic culture. We speak to longtime media critic John Nichols of The Nation.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: So, let’s go to what’s happening in parallel. I mean, first I want to describe the Quicken Loans Arena. You know, you’ve got—it’s a Times Square-like atmosphere, very bright lights everywhere. You’ve got the news organizations that have their skyboxes, that can afford it. And among those, of course, is Fox News. And I wanted to turn to what is unfolding right now with Fox News. You have Roger Ailes’s lawyers confirming he’s in negotiations to step down as Fox News chair and more than a half-dozen accusations of sexual harassment. You’ve got former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson, who has sued Ailes. Now, Fox anchor Megyn Kelly has also accused him of harassment. Many are celebrating Ailes’s anticipated departure, though, as some are saying, it’s not just about Roger Ailes. In fact, Carlson, who sued, said that the newsroom itself was rife with sexual harassment. What about the fall of Roger Ailes, his significance within the Republican Party and conservative party politics, and what Fox News has done?

JOHN NICHOLS: There is epic stuff. I mean, there is a very good argument that we probably shouldn’t be discussing the Republican National Convention as much as we are discussing this transition, because if we accept that media is now such a dominant force in our politics, the change of command at Fox, an operation really created, conceptualized by Roger Ailes, is an incredibly big deal. And people need to know who Roger Ailes is.

Roger Ailes is a guy who used to be a TV—he was a TV guy in the '60s, and this political candidate, Richard Nixon, came on his show. And off set, Ailes and Nixon started to talk about stuff, and Nixon said, "You know, you're the kind of guy I think I could work with." And Ailes left media to go into politics. He literally was a critical figure in defining the modern way that we do politics. When people say they hate politics, they hate how cruel it is, how negative it is, how much money is flowing from all these different places, that’s a Roger Ailes construct. He literally developed that.

And famously, I think folks who know your show will reflect back and remember the 1988 campaign, which was really a transitional presidential campaign in this country. In that race, Roger Ailes helped to script an ad called the revolving door ad, which showed criminals—or, sorry, people convicted of crimes going in and out of a door, finishing their sentence and then coming back, suggesting that Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee, was so soft on crime, he was putting criminals on the street.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, wait. Why don’t we turn to that ad.

JOHN NICHOLS: It’s a wild ad.

AMY GOODMAN: This is that ad from 1988, yes, arguing that Michael Dukakis was soft on crime. It shows actors portraying prisoners who are casually walking in and out of a prison.

>> As governor, Michael Dukakis vetoed mandatory sentences for drug dealers. He vetoed the death penalty. His revolving-door prison policy gave weekend furloughs to first-degree murderers not eligible for parole. While out, many committed other crimes, like kidnapping and rape, and many are still at large. Now Michael Dukakis says he wants to do for America what he’s done for Massachusetts. America can’t afford that risk.

AMY GOODMAN: That ad, again, produced by political consultant Roger Ailes, who went on to oversee the creation of Fox News.

JOHN NICHOLS: And paralleled the Willie Horton ads at that time.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, explain. This was the official ad.

JOHN NICHOLS: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: And the Willie Horton ad—

JOHN NICHOLS: Coming in from a side group, but the clear combination of messages. I mean, you want to think about our modern politics, you want to think where a Donald Trump came from. People say, "Oh, well, Donald Trump’s building on things that happened in the Republican Party." A lot of what happened in the Republican Party was started by Roger Ailes. There’s simply no doubt about it. This fear-based kind of—you know, the suggestion in that ad that there’s still people that lose—

AMY GOODMAN: He was a consultant to Reagan. He was a consultant to George H.W. Bush.

JOHN NICHOLS: And to—well, to Nixon.

AMY GOODMAN: And to Nixon.

JOHN NICHOLS: And George H.W. And then he went—this guy, who started in the media and went into politics, defined so much of how our national politics works, then went back into media, with Rupert Murdoch at Fox, and created what can best be understood as a partisan media. People often think of Fox as conservative, but Fox often deviates from the conservative line. Where it gets its real traction—and we see this again and again—is sort of in defining the modern Republican Party. Look at this 2016 campaign. Look at the interplay of Donald Trump with Fox: Sometimes he’s in a fight with them; sometimes he’s, you know, getting along with them. There were negotiations on how Fox would cover Donald Trump. And so, here you have this amazing thing, Donald Trump running a campaign that fits into a modern Republican Party, in many ways defined by Roger Ailes, negotiating on how to appear on a network defined by Roger Ailes.

This guy is now about to depart. I will tell you that it will be impossible to recreate him. He is an entity unto himself. But the reality is that he has set in place a way of doing politics and a way of doing media that is so definitional on the right in America, and, frankly, well beyond it, that we have to look at what’s developing there as a very historic moment, but, I would suggest, unfortunately, not a moment that will necessarily change our politics, because I think Roger Ailes’s imprint is baked in at this point. It’s real in our politics, and it’s real in our media.

AMY GOODMAN: And you are a well-known media activist and author. You and Bob McChesney write numerous books about the media. So it’s very interesting now, on this day that Donald Trump is nominated to be the Republican Party presidential candidate, that we’re talking about a network that, while they do not really particularly support Donald Trump, they may have well helped to create him.

JOHN NICHOLS: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: And we’re talking about the future of the Republican Party, as well as this billion-dollar network.

JOHN NICHOLS: Yeah, this is huge stuff. And again, what Bob McChesney and I have argued for a very long time is, you know, be careful about trying to divide the stream of media from the stream of politics. The interplay has become so intense. And, you know, to give you a good example, just a week ago, Newt Gingrich was being considered as a potential Republican vice-presidential nominee, so he had to drop out of his Fox contract to come over and be, you know, a potential candidate for a week or so. And this is—you know, it was at Fox—

AMY GOODMAN: John Kasich—

JOHN NICHOLS: Yeah, was a Fox personality.

AMY GOODMAN: —when he was in between jobs, he was a Fox personality. Then he becomes governor of Ohio.

JOHN NICHOLS: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: And actually, though he’s here in Cleveland, holding [inaudible]—

JOHN NICHOLS: He’s not attending the convention.

AMY GOODMAN: —he is not attending the convention, which has infuriated Donald Trump.

JOHN NICHOLS: Oh, yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: But, of course, many people are not attending the convention, Republican leaders, from Jeff Flake in Arizona to—

JOHN NICHOLS: Well, the entire Bush—I should say, pretty much the entire Bush family. The former nominee for president of the United States, Mitt Romney. I mean, they aren’t just not attending the convention, they are sending powerful signals that they do not like where this party is headed, where this candidate is headed.

AMY GOODMAN: And George W. Bush saying, "I fear I could be the last Republican president"?

JOHN NICHOLS: Absolutely. We are—you know, we’ll pause and look back on this and recognize that we’re in a pretty epic moment as regards the Republican Party.

AMY GOODMAN: Very quickly, you’re from Wisconsin. Ron Johnson, he spoke, but it’s very complicated here. He’s in a tight race with the man he beat, Russ Feingold, who’s now challenging him, mentioned what? Donald Trump once?

JOHN NICHOLS: I think one time. And Paul Ryan, the same way. Even Mitch McConnell. You know, this—they really were saying how desperately they want to have a Republican majority. That was a phrase that came again and again. And they know that if Trump collapses as a candidate, their chances of having Republican majorities in the House and Senate are harmed. And so, they came grudgingly. And it was fascinating with Ron Johnson. There was some real debate about whether he was even going to come, because the fact is this is not going to play particularly well for his re-election campaign. And what we’re seeing is something very much, Amy, like 1964, where Republican candidates, man to man, woman to woman, had to figure out how they were going to relate to the top of the ticket. Would they support it? Would they campaign with the candidate? All these complex arrangements. And that’s very challenging.

AMY GOODMAN: You note in your piece that the Human Rights Campaign has called the RNC platform, quote, "the most overtly anti-LGBTQ platform in history."

JOHN NICHOLS: Yeah, I wrote a lot about the platform. This—

AMY GOODMAN: Very quickly, one minute.

JOHN NICHOLS: Very bluntly, this is a theocratic platform in many, many sections. And the fact of the matter is that Trump has, I think, very irresponsibly, just handed the platform-writing process over to people who had wanted it for a long time. They got control of it, and they wrote a platform that is simply cruel in so much of its language. This is a platform that is so narrowly defined that in many ways it goes against even core Republican Party values, let alone broader values of the country.

AMY GOODMAN: Plagiarized from any other party?

JOHN NICHOLS: No. It’s plagiarized—no, no plagiarism at all. I saw her on the floor last night, Phyllis Schlafly. I think she’s in her nineties now. This woman has been working for 50 years to create this party. She has seen the creation of the party that she wanted, a far-right economic party, but also a far, far-right social conservative party.

AMY GOODMAN: John Nichols, I want to thank you for being with us, political writer for The Nation, co-author with Robert McChesney of the new book People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy. This is Democracy Now!, "Breaking with Convention: War, Peace and the Presidency." We’re broadcasting all week from Cleveland, Ohio. We’re at the RNC. Next week, all week, our double, two-hour daily broadcast from Philadelphia, covering the Democratic National Convention. Stay with us.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: "We Are the Champions" by Queen. Queen is criticizing Donald Trump for using the song during his entrance onto the Republican National Convention stage on Monday night, as he came out of white light to make a dramatic entrance. Queen tweeted, quote, "An unauthorised use at the Republican Convention against our wishes—Queen," unquote. The group’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury, died of AIDS in 1991. ... Read More →

Chris Christie Stages Mock Trial of Hillary Clinton Despite Corruption Charges Dogging His Own Staff

One of the most animated moments of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night came during a speech by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who was a finalist to be Donald Trump’s running mate. Christie staged a mock trial of Hillary Clinton. During his speech about Hillary Clinton, Republican delegates repeatedly broke into chants of "Lock her up!" But Christie is immersed in his own scandal. Five of the governor’s appointees have drawn the attention of federal prosecutors over corruption allegations. and one of his close allies has just pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges. After Christie’s speech, Hillary Clinton tweeted, "If you think Chris Christie can lecture anyone on ethics, we have a bridge to sell you." We speak with Bob Hennelly, a political analyst and investigative reporter in New Jersey.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. We are "Breaking with Convention: War, Peace and the Presidency." I’m Amy Goodman, as we broadcast from Cleveland, Ohio, covering the Republican National Convention inside and out, from the streets to the corporate suites to the convention floor.

It’s now official: Donald Trump has become the official presidential nominee of the Republican Party. Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., cast the votes for the New York delegation that put Trump over the top of the needed 1,237 delegates.

DONALD TRUMP JR.: It is my honor to be able to throw Donald Trump over the top in the delegate count tonight with 89 delegates, and another six for John Kasich. Congratulations, Dad! We love you!

AMY GOODMAN: Donald Trump is expected to officially accept the nomination Thursday night, but he briefly spoke to delegates via satellite from Trump Tower.

DONALD TRUMP: We’re going to bring back our jobs. We’re going to rebuild our depleted military and take care of our great veterans. We’re going to have strong borders. We’re going to get rid of ISIS. And we’re going to restore law and order. We have to restore, and quickly, law and order.

AMY GOODMAN: One of the most animated moments Tuesday night came during a speech by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who was a finalist to be Donald Trump’s running mate. Governor Christie staged a mock trial of Hillary Clinton.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE: I’ve got another question for you: As to Hillary Clinton lying to the American people about her selfish, awful judgment in making our secrets vulnerable, what’s your verdict, guilty or not guilty?

DELEGATES: Guilty!

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE: Now, time—time after time after time, the facts, and just the facts, lead you to the same verdict, both around the world and here at home. In Libya and Nigeria, guilty. In China and Syria—

DELEGATES: Guilty!

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE: In Iran and Russia and Cuba—

DELEGATES: Guilty!

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE: And here at home, for risking America’s secrets to keep her own, and lying to cover it all up—

DELEGATES: Guilty!

AMY GOODMAN: During Governor Christie’s speech about Hillary Clinton, Republican delegates repeatedly broke into chants of "Lock her up!"

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE: So, as to Hillary Clinton, the charge of putting herself ahead of America, guilty or not guilty?

DELEGATES: Guilty! ... Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!

AMY GOODMAN: While delegates chanted "Lock her up!" and "Guilty!" governor and former prosecutor Chris Christie is immersed in his own scandal. Five of the governor’s appointees have drawn the attention of federal prosecutors over corruption allegations. One of his close allies has just pled guilty to federal bribery charges. After Governor Christie’s speech, Hillary Clinton tweeted, quote, "If you think Chris Christie can lecture to anyone on ethics, we have a bridge to sell you," unquote.

Joining us now is Bob Hennelly, a political analyst, investigative reporter in New Jersey, regular contributor to Salon and City & State and WhoWhatWhy.

It’s good to see you.

BOB HENNELLY: Thank you for having me.

AMY GOODMAN: I saw you last night at the convention, at the—at the Q, as they call it.

BOB HENNELLY: And you hadn’t been arrested yet.

AMY GOODMAN: Though had to deal with police as I was coming in—

BOB HENNELLY: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: —as they were taking on CodePink protesters—I mean, hundreds of police, riot police, from a number of states—

BOB HENNELLY: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: —because they had tennis balls. Tennis balls are not allowed in the area, but semiautomatic rifles are. But on the issue of what was happening inside, you come from New Jersey, Bob.

BOB HENNELLY: Right, right.

AMY GOODMAN: You’ve been covering Governor Christie and the scandal there. Talk about the significance of what he did last night, staging a mock trial of Hillary Clinton.

BOB HENNELLY: Well, I think, first, that they said make—they were going to—the agenda was "Make America Work Again," and that is something certainly Americans want to hear, because it’s been very slow. These eight years have been disappointing for working people. And when he went into the ad hominem attack like that, it did take on the vibe—I was right at the New York and New Jersey delegation, at the foot of it—it felt like a lynch mob. It felt menacing. And one of the things that’s, of course, ironic is that Governor Christie is at the center of this huge Bridgegate scandal, which we’ve covered. And we, for instance, that—

AMY GOODMAN: Explain just very briefly for a global audience.

BOB HENNELLY: Oh, sure, of course. Well, back in 2013, on the eve of what looked to be a very easy re-election, some of his minions decided that they were going to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, a Democrat, for not endorsing Governor Christie. So, on the actual anniversary of September 11th, when tensions are pretty high—even, you know, around the George Washington Bridge, it’s considered a critical terrorism target, potentially—they closed the lanes, which created a traffic coronary for days. Ambulances had trouble. This was the first day of school for kids. It was traumatic. The governor said he didn’t know anything about it. It went on and on and on. Eventually, Bridget Kelly, who is his chief of staff, fell on the sword. And it turned out that there was enough information in emails, that the U.S. attorney was able to see, that this was a conspiracy among at least his close confidants, both inside the Port Authority and at the highest levels of the administration, to do something very petty with a very important asset on a very serious day.

AMY GOODMAN: And so, what has come of that? Why did you end up writing this piece, "Chris Christie’s Week from Hell: Five of the Governor’s Appointees Have Drawn the Attention of Federal Prosecutors over Corruption Allegations"? We’re talking about this past week.

BOB HENNELLY: Right, right. What we had originally, back last year, Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, who was a high-ranking appointee in the Port Authority, a close confidant of Governor Christie, they were indicted. David Wildstein, another close confidant of Governor Christie, was in the Port Authority. He pled guilty, which set into motion the idea that you have someone now who’s making admissions to the government. Then, just last week, David Samson, who is a former attorney general, head of his transition team and one of the most powerful lawyers in New Jersey, pled guilty for, of all things, taking a bribe in the form of 27 flights on an airplane that United specially scheduled for him once a week, called the chairman’s flight, and he would control the agenda on behalf of United. And, of course, just for, you know, the cherry on the sundae, Jamie Fox, the transportation commissioner under Christie, was also charged. So, needless to say, for a U.S. attorney, which Chris Christie is—former—these were very strange developments. Plus he can’t find his cellphone, and he deleted texts in the process of all this. So, he has a serious exposure here, Amy.

AMY GOODMAN: And so, the significance of where he stands? I’m going to see if we can go to a clip. I got a chance to see Governor Christie the first night, when he first came into the hall, embracing the delegates from the New Jersey delegation, and I only had one quick second to ask him a question, so this is what I asked him.

AMY GOODMAN: Governor Christie, do you feel betrayed by Donald Trump?

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE: Not at all. I’m the chairman of his transition.

AMY GOODMAN: So, I asked him if he feels betrayed by Donald Trump. You know, all rumor had it that he was one of the finalists for vice president, vice-presidential nominee, running mate of Donald Trump. He didn’t get it. Tonight, Governor Pence will be formally nominated. And his answer was "No, I don’t feel betrayed. I’m the head of the transition team." What is the transition team at this point?

BOB HENNELLY: Well, it’s like a talent scout. And I would say, for Donald Trump, with the odds—you know, we have Chris Christie has made five picks that were the attention of prosecutors. That may not be such a good idea for Donald Trump. It’s a consolation prize.

AMY GOODMAN: I mean, do you think he’s vying for, for example, attorney general?

BOB HENNELLY: I think, certainly, when I went around the floor last night, that kind of spontaneously came up from delegates. The way that he did that performance art, it would seem so. Also, you know, being chief of staff is nothing to sneeze at. But, of course, the prerequisite for this would be that Donald Trump would have to win—I mean, for it to have any meaning.

AMY GOODMAN: And the relationship that they have, which he emphasized last night?

BOB HENNELLY: Well, I mean, I did—it’s funny. I did have an opportunity to talk to Donald Trump at one period. I was trying to get a response from him about the devastation in Atlantic City for small businesses. People forget he had these multiple corporate bankruptcies. And the way he cast in the election, Trump did, that this was something where banks took a haircut. Well, who doesn’t like that, of course? But in reality, I called ministers down, and I said, "Please, if you have congregants who were injured economically, please have them call me." Well, Amy, I heard from florists, carpenters, carpet installers, who had all been ripped off by Donald Trump. I sent these comments, including the quotes from the clergy, to Donald Trump’s lawyer. Donald Trump did call me back. And his explanation was "They made money with me on the way up. They got clipped on the way down."

And when I was speaking with him on background, of course, about Christie, I didn’t get the sense that there was this tremendous admiration for him. There was a kind of friendship. But remember, New Jersey is a basket case economically. We have the highest foreclosure rate. The state has not regained any of its jobs, at the rate even New York or anywhere else around the state. So it’s still in free fall.

AMY GOODMAN: And, of course, Donald Trump has a close relationship with the state of New Jersey.

BOB HENNELLY: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s where his four bankruptcies took place, in Atlantic City.

BOB HENNELLY: Right, right. And he was really the guy that was identified with the up years, when it came to casino gambling.

AMY GOODMAN: You have looked at Cleveland.

BOB HENNELLY: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: What was the group? The Economic Innovation Group says Cleveland is the most distressed big city in America.

BOB HENNELLY: Right. Well, this is actually true of all of urban America. One of the things we have to understand is that corporate media denies us the sense of our own circumstance about what’s happening. It’s important to know that the National Association of Counties—not a Marxist front group—says out of the 3,069 counties, Amy, only 7 percent have experienced a recovery. So that means this country is continuing to economically unravel. Two-point-five million homes, 6,000 of them here in Cleveland, that are empty and abandoned and continuing to lose value. So people in communities of color in Cleveland have seen an 80 percent destruction in their household wealth. That means that under the—President Obama, we’ve seen the largest level of African-American household wealth destruction in the history of the republic. And for whatever reason, the Democrats don’t want to mention it. Bernie Sanders didn’t want to mention it. But it’s still out there as a reality. In this city, not far from here, there are some areas where 50 percent of the children live below the poverty line. And Philadelphia is no picnic, either.

AMY GOODMAN: And lead poisoning, I mean, we talk about it in Flint, but here in Cleveland, this old city?

BOB HENNELLY: Across the country, we’ve really had an anti-urban policy. So, we did, in the ’60s and ’70s, deindustrialization. And now what you have here in Cleveland is, downtown, you do have a gentrification, an effort to concentrate some effort in turning it around, but this has not brought along the city.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’re going to hear from some of the people—

BOB HENNELLY: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: —in the streets who actually live here, some of the vendors who are trying to make some money while the Republican National Convention is here. Bob Hennelly, thanks so much for joining us—

BOB HENNELLY: Thank you, Amy

AMY GOODMAN: —political analyst, investigative reporter in New Jersey, regular contributor to Salon and City & State and WhoWhatWhy. We’ll link to his pieces. This is Democracy Now!, "Breaking with Convention." Stay with us. ... Read More →

Meet the RNC Vendors Selling Trump Gear in Cleveland While Hoping He Loses the Election

“Make America Work Again.” That was the theme Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention here in Cleveland. Well, on Tuesday, Democracy Now!’s Carla Wills went out on the streets of Cleveland to talk to some of the vendors who are selling everything from Make America Great Again hats to a cereal called Trump Flakes.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re in Cleveland, Ohio, covering the Republican National Convention inside and out, from the streets to the convention floor. "Make America work again." That was the theme Tuesday night here at the RNC in Cleveland. Well, on Tuesday, Democracy Now!’s Carla Wills went out to the streets of Cleveland to talk to some of the vendors who are selling everything from "Make America Great Again" hats to a cereal called Trump Flakes.

KING SOLOMON: My name is King Solomon, and I’m from Cleveland, Ohio. And I’m actually vending. I’m a barber by trade, entrepreneur, Tar Blooders Sports Barber Shop. I’m an owner and operator. And I do that full time, and I vend all around the United States part time.

CARLA WILLS: So what’s your political affiliation?

KING SOLOMON: I don’t have one.

CARLA WILLS: So, do you welcome the Republican convention here to Cleveland?

KING SOLOMON: Oh, absolutely, 100 percent, because it’s an opportunity for entrepreneurs like myself to take part in capital gain.

CARLA WILLS: And so, you don’t find any problem with selling Republican merchandise or supporting merchandise that has Donald Trump’s image on it?

KING SOLOMON: Not at all. Not at all. I think it’s a great opportunity for people, again, like myself to take part in capitalism. So, I’m all for—you know, it’s free enterprise. I’m all for the RNC 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio, just as much as I was for the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the national championship in Cleveland, Ohio. So, you know, it’s all—it’s a capitalistic society, so I’m all for it.

CARLA WILLS: So you don’t have any issues with Donald Trump?

KING SOLOMON: No comment. No comment. You don’t have anything good to say, they say don’t say anything at all. Me and him might cross paths one day, so I don’t want to be recorded on tape saying something against Donald Trump. I mean, it is what it is. You know, everybody has their own thought process. I mean, I don’t know, but, I mean, I’m a vendor. I feel great about Trump, because if he wasn’t running, I wouldn’t be selling these RNC shirts, and I wouldn’t be selling these pictures with his face on them.

DELSHAWN ALLEN JACKSON: My name is Delshawn Allen Jackson. I’m from California, Riverside. Well, my opinion on Trump is, man, tell it like it is, and tell the truth. If you’re going to bring jobs, bring jobs. If not, you’re going to lose voters. So, bring jobs. Do what you say you’re going to do.

CARLA WILLS: Who are you supporting for president this year?

DELSHAWN ALLEN JACKSON: No comment.

PASSERBY: When you’re selling merch for somebody, and you won’t comment—

CARLA WILLS: What did you say?

PASSERBY: I said, when you’re selling merch for one person, and you’re not going to comment on who you’re supporting, I think it’s—I think we can draw our own conclusions.

ROLANDO HEATH: Rolando Heath, and I play for the Warriors in Akron. We’re selling waters, a dollar apiece, to help me get new basketball jerseys and things like that.

CARLA WILLS: How have people been responding to you so far?

ROLANDO HEATH: I mean, it’s been OK. It’s just that when it happens, it’s a lot. Like they might give 20, but only want one water. You know, so they might give a, you know, 20. But year, it’s running slow, but when it happens, it happens big. So it’s—I’m OK with that.

CARLA WILLS: What are your thoughts about Donald Trump?

ROLANDO HEATH: Well, for one, I think he’s a very, very arrogant person. And I don’t think he deserves to be in the position he’s in now. I don’t think all the money he’s making he made fairly. I don’t think so at all. And I don’t think he deserves to be in the White House.

CARLA WILLS: So, if you were old enough to vote, you wouldn’t be voting for him?

ROLANDO HEATH: No, no, no.

CARLA WILLS: What do—do you have thoughts about Hillary Clinton?

ROLANDO HEATH: She’s not OK, either, but she’s much better than Donald Trump, so therefore I would vote for her.

CARLA WILLS: Do you have any problem being out here, you know, with all these Republicans who are Trump supporters?

ROLANDO HEATH: The only time—the only problem I have is the fact of how many people are rooting for Donald Trump. They don’t see the poison he’s feeding into America. I just—I just really want to get the money that we need, and just kind of get away from this area, because with as many Donald Trump fans and things like that, it makes my stomach sick.

CORBAN DAKUKAITIS: So, my name is Corban Damukaitis. I’m from Dallas, Texas. I’m helping an old boss of mine for two hours, and then I’m never doing this again. And I have not done it before this, either. I actually consider myself a political satirist-slash-humorist. The fact that I’m here selling Donald Trump bobbleheads is probably the height of irony. You know, I don’t even know if I can take myself seriously doing this. I’m almost worried that somebody is going to see me who saw me doing satire, and they’re going to think that I am a legitimate Trump supporter.

CARLA WILLS: You’re out here selling, you know, "Trump: the real hope and change," "Obama, you’re fired." How does that align with, you know, your politics and how you feel when pro-Trump folks come and say, "Oh, this is great. I’m going to, you know, support you in your effort"?

CORBAN DAKUKAITIS: I mean, I owe my friend 20 bucks right now. You know, so that explains part of the story, you know. And I don’t want to be too much of like a "I’ll sell my soul for money, and I’ll do anything for money." But, you know, if it’s like—it’s two hours. You know what I’m saying? You know, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s funny. And I’m sitting here. I’m telling people, "Love him or hate him, this is an interesting novelty item." It almost cartoonifies him and trivializes him. Because I don’t think that even Republicans can take this nominee seriously. Like I think even the ones that really do support him, there’s part of themselves where they kind of know, like, oh, this is so silly. Like, oh, yeah, we’re finally getting white with it. Like, look how silly it is, and we finally did it. Like, there’s just something so goofy about all of it. And so, the fact that it’s a Donald—it’s a bobblehead, and it’s not, you know, some pamphlet, it’s not—I don’t feel like I’m like trying to encourage people to drink the Kool-Aid too much.

DANIEL LIONEL: My name’s Daniel Lionel. I’m out here just selling these shirts. You know, it’s been doing good. I like it.

CARLA WILLS: So what about your thoughts about being here at the Republican National Convention?

DANIEL LIONEL: It’s a lot of people that I didn’t know was going to be so nice, you know?

CARLA WILLS: Really? And you’re wearing Donald Trump’s "Make America Great Again" hat. Do you support Donald Trump?

DANIEL LIONEL: It’s more of a, like, you know, advertisement. But I just like the—you know, I’m just trying to get a better understanding of where he’s coming from, because I see a lot of nice people around here, you know? I probably won’t vote for him, but, you know, it’s just—you know, it’s really business.

CARLA WILLS: With the recent police killings of African-American men, I mean, what do you think a Donald Trump presidency would mean for people like yourself?

DANIEL LIONEL: I’m not going to lie. My homie got smoked, Kendrick McCade. He got smoked by the police. He didn’t do nothing. But I still feel the same way, like maybe he had a second thought—maybe if he made another thought and didn’t do what he did, then maybe that wouldn’t have happened. But, you know, I wasn’t there to tell what happened, you know, but it’s—I got a lot of homies that lost their life by the police. I don’t like them personally, you know? But, you know, you’ve just got to live and you learn. Life goes on.

STEVE PRESSER: My name’s Steve Presser, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, live in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. I have a store called Big Fun.

CARLA WILLS: Talk about some of the things you have here.

STEVE PRESSER: So what I’ve done is I’ve offered a mix. It’s the RNC, so I’m going to have a lot of Republican memorabilia, but I’m also going to have some Democratic. One of our best items of all time is the Hillary Clinton nutcracker, which, back in the day—and I’m talking about eight years ago—one of the best-selling items, still a good-selling item. But you could sell this to a person who is very pro-Democratic and someone who is not a friend of Hillary’s, and both parties would buy it. So we like this kind of dual-purpose items—bipartisanship at its best.

CARLA WILLS: And your thoughts about Donald Trump? You have some Donald Trump memorabilia here. Your thoughts about him and his possibility at the presidency?

STEVE PRESSER: Is this going to go live after the convention, so I can run out? I have some serious issues about what he espouses. And I’m from the generation of peace, love and understanding, and I just have much difficulty understanding how a politician is going to be running for the presidency of the United States and could spew such vitriol and such hate and could be so antagonistic and cause people to really come out of their shells.

CARLA WILLS: We’ve met a lot of vendors who—you know, whose politics may not necessarily align with Donald Trump, but they’re selling Donald Trump memorabilia, "vote Trump" T-shirts, pro-Trump memorabilia. What are your thoughts about, you know, vendors who feel like I have to make a living, I’m here, this is a business venture, and it not aligning with their own politics?

STEVE PRESSER: That’s a very, very interesting question. And I understand that, because when push comes to shove, you know, humans, like animals, like everybody else, they’ve got to be protective of their family and their existence. So, if someone needs to make a living and needs to pay the bill and make sure that the gas and electric stay on, I understand that. Political stuff, I’ve always found to be fun. I’ve always been a big fan of Nixon—not Nixon per se, but collecting Nixon. And for me, and hopefully he won’t be elected, but I find Trump is like the new Nixon. I really see it, because it’s just—there’s just so many things, the physical features and, you know, the orange and the hair and the loudness and all the crazy stuff that comes out of this individual. Trump could be my new Nixon.

CARLA WILLS: Can you tell us what you’re holding right now?

STEVE PRESSER: So this is the Donald Trump talking pen. So, here’s one of those products that you’ve got to hate, but you’ve got to love.

TALKING DONALD TRUMP PEN: I will be the greatest president that God ever created. Look, I’m really rich. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. I don’t wear a toupée. It’s my hair. I swear. I love China. I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China.

STEVE PRESSER: There you go. And as my friend said, anytime you can make money off a Republican is a good time.

AMY GOODMAN: That report by Democracy Now!'s Carla Wills and Hany Massoud. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, "Breaking with Convention: War, Peace and the Presidency." We'll be back in a minute. ... Read More →

Nina Turner: Killing of 12-Year-Old Tamir Rice Highlights Value Gap Between Black & White Lives

While covering the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Democracy Now! visited Cudell Park, where Tamir Rice was gunned down by two officers in November of 2014 while he was playing with a toy pellet gun. A 911 caller reported seeing Rice with a weapon, but noted it was "probably fake." That information was not relayed to the responding officers, who shot him within two seconds of arriving at the scene. A grand jury failed to bring charges against either of the officers. In April, Cleveland officials agreed to pay $6 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of Tamir Rice. We speak with Nina Turner, who is a former state senator and former city councilmember whose son is a police officer and husband is a retired police officer.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to this city of Cleveland to remember Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was shot dead by police in November of 2014 while he was playing in a local park with a toy pellet gun. A 911 caller reported seeing Rice with a weapon, but noted it was probably fake. That information was not relayed to the responding officers, who shot him within a few seconds of arriving at the park. A grand jury failed to bring charges against either of the officers. In April, Cleveland officials agreed to pay $6 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of Tamir Rice.

Well, at the beginning of this week, when we first came to Cleveland, I spoke to former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner about Cudell Park, where Tamir was killed. I asked her to talk about what happened.

NINA TURNER: Yeah, a gentleman made a phone call, and he was actually sitting right under—you know, under this breezeway here, and he made a call because he saw Tamir Rice walking back and forth with what appeared to be a gun. And he did say to the dispatcher very clearly that it might be a toy gun, and the person that I’m describing might be a child, but I’m not sure, but he’s scaring the hell out of people, I think was how he framed it on that day. The police officers came here. And it appears from the video footage that they really slid up because of the ice and the snow. And they saw what they thought was a real gun, and they just opened fire on Tamir. I think it was less than 10 seconds of them getting on the scene.

What makes it so gut-wrenching, besides the fact that Tamir Rice was 12 years old, is the fact that if you look at the video footage, Tamir Rice never had a chance to respond to the police being there. There was no "put up your hands, put the gun down." None of that. He was just shot instantaneously. And I’ve talked to lots of Cleveland police and other experts, who really believe a lot of that had to do with how the police officers pulled up on the scene.

AMY GOODMAN: And explain how they pulled up and what then happened with Tamir’s sister, who was just a few—

NINA TURNER: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: —years older, 14 years old at the time.

NINA TURNER: Fourteen years old. I mean, they pulled up. And anybody, any of your viewers can go and watch the footage. They pulled up on the scene in a way that does not appear that they used the tactics that they’re taught. First of all, you’re supposed to take cover as a police officer, as I’m told. I live with two police officers in my household. So they really did put themselves in danger, if in fact that gun had been real. But what they did not allow is for Tamir Rice to even recognize the fact that they were on the scene. The passenger, the police officer that was on the passenger side, shot Tamir Rice in less than two seconds from the car hitting the scene. Tamir Rice’s sister came on the scene, and they tackled her. And they placed her in a car right next to where her brother’s body was, like no sensitivity whatsoever—

AMY GOODMAN: As he lay dying right outside the car, right here.

NINA TURNER: —that his sister—right outside. No sensitivity. They did not perform CPR on Tamir Rice. As a matter of fact, an FBI agent that was doing some work within the city of Cleveland got the call, you know, over the radio, and he actually came here and started the CPR on Tamir Rice. So, again, you know, no sense of we are going to try to save his life or to see what is going on with him. It was just, in my mind, just a cavalier attitude that the police had at the time when they entered the scene. And it goes back to what do black—you know, why black lives—the whole slogan, does black—do black lives matter? And how do we respond as a nation and as a community when black folks are—lay ying?

AMY GOODMAN: So, it turns out the record of the officers—I mean, Officer Loehmann, who actually pulled the trigger—

NINA TURNER: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: —was forced out of the police department.

NINA TURNER: In Independence, yes, he was. And had the Cleveland police investigated his record a little further, one of his commanding officers said that he was nervous around—you know, with guns. They noticed this.

AMY GOODMAN: They said he had low-impulse control.

NINA TURNER: Low impulse, he did. And he probably should have never been hired. But hindsight is 20/20, and everybody can go back and Monday morning quarterback. But knowing what we know now, he probably should have never been hired to be a Cleveland police officer.

AMY GOODMAN: And Officer Garmback had a case of excessive force against him—

NINA TURNER: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: —that ended up in something like a six-figure settlement for his victim.

NINA TURNER: Yes, he did. And it is these types of patterns that cause the African-American community pause, that cause people who believe in justice and equality for all to kind of step back and say, "Wait a minute, justice and equality doesn’t happen for African-American folks." You know, I know that you interviewed Professor Eddie Glaude from Princeton. He wrote a book called Democracy in Black, where he talks about the biggest gap that we have in this country is a value gap, the fact that African-American lives really are not as valued as the lives of our white sisters and brothers in this country. And we really need to come to grips with this.

What happened to Tamir Rice is probably one example of that, notwithstanding that the gun—I must say that the gun looked real. I get that. But what the biggest problem is, is that the way the police officers rolled up on the scene, they never gave this little boy a chance to respond to their presence. Police officers are not judge, jury and executioner. You are supposed to bring the person in. I would dare say that had they not rolled up on the scene in this way, and that Tamir Rice was given the command, "Drop your weapon!" you know, I think he would have did just that. And now that it turns out that a 12-year-old boy is dead, because he didn’t get a chance, and that’s really what is at the crux of this.

You know, and again, this was right before Thanksgiving. My heart was heavy. You know, I was ending my term in the Senate. And I called—Governor Kasich happened to call me, Amy, the day before Thanksgiving, and he wanted to know what is happening in Cleveland, how are people feeling. And I was able to say to the governor, "Governor, people are feeling heavy. And as a matter of fact, I just wrote you a letter, Governor, and I’m not putting things in writing to politic you, and I’m not writing a letter as a senator. I’m writing a letter as an African-American mother of an African-American son, who I had fear for his life every single day, who his father and I taught him that as a black man in America, don’t make sudden moves, you know, listen to the police officers, make sure that you"—see, a lot of other parents don’t have to necessarily teach that lesson to their child, but every black mother has to teach that lesson to their child, because, again, they are seen as more criminal than anybody else. My heart ached. And the governor said, "You know, Nina"—and I said, "Governor, I want to come to see you. I have some recommendations." And he said, "Come see me." And that is really how the task force that we created was born. The governor did care about what happened here.

AMY GOODMAN: So you talk about speaking to your son, your African-American son, who is an African-American police officer now.

NINA TURNER: Yeah. Yes, he is.

AMY GOODMAN: And your husband was an African-American police officer.

NINA TURNER: Yes. So I understand from both sides of the equation. I understand from those black mothers who fear for their children’s lives every single day, especially black males, but not exclusively black males. But as my husband reminds me, he said, "Baby, when I’m behind the wheel and I get stopped, it is me as a black male." To be a wife of an African American, the mother of an African American, I feel that pain that African-American mothers and families feel every day, the burden, if you will, the fear that their loved one might not necessarily come home alive just because they are African-American, walking while black, breathing while black, talking while black. I get that. Sandra Bland, smoking in her car while black, even though, you know, she didn’t die in her car, but it’s—where can you be who you are in this country?

But on the other side of that equation, I do understand how the spouses and children and parents and grandparents of law enforcement officers feel. They want their loved ones to come home every single day, too. And I think that gives me a unique perspective, which is probably one of the reasons why the governor did make me co-chair of his task force, to bring that kind of perspective to bear and to come into communities all across the state and to allow citizens from all walks of life to talk about their experiences, both good and bad, when it comes to law enforcement. But, Amy, we have to have a day of reckoning, and that day has to happen right now, because given what has happened in Dallas and then today what has happened in Baton Rouge, we cannot—

AMY GOODMAN: I mean, just as we got together—

NINA TURNER: Yeah, Sunday, yes.

AMY GOODMAN: —we hear three, and then now maybe four police officers—

NINA TURNER: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: —gunned down in an ambush.

NINA TURNER: Gunned down, ambushed. That cannot happen. So, again, here I am, having another day of heavy heart for those families, but then also immediately calling my son, "Are you OK?" because he’s actually performing his duties right now at the RNC, which we know, even separate and apart from what happened in Baton Rouge, there are going to be lots of people with different ideologies converging on Cleveland, and we’re not so sure whether it’s going to be peaceful or not. I hope it’s peaceful, because Cleveland worked very hard to earn the RNC coming here. But these are heavy times in our nation, and they call for an absolute immediate response from all elected and civic leaders in this country and also people who are not elected, for all of us to come together to say that we’re going to do our part, right now, not tomorrow, not when a new president comes in, not—but right now.

AMY GOODMAN: That was former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, who represented Cleveland, speaking about the death of Tamir Rice, whose killing by police sparked protests across the country. Tamir would have been 14 on June 25th. ... Read More →

Headlines:It's Official: Trump is Republican Party Presidential Nominee

It’s official: Donald Trump is the Republican Party presidential nominee. House Speaker Paul Ryan announced his nomination following a roll call vote on the floor of the Republican National Convention Tuesday.
Speaker Paul Ryan: "The chair announces that Donald J. Trump, having received a majority of these votes entitled to be cast at the convention, has been selected as the Republican Party nominee for president of the United States."
That’s House Speaker Paul Ryan announcing Trump’s official party nomination. This comes after delegates from the "Never Trump" movement briefly staged a revolt against Trump’s nomination on Monday. The rebellion threw the first day of the convention into chaos, but the effort was quashed by party leadership. Some dissenting delegates booed during Tuesday’s roll call vote.
TOPICS:
Donald Trump
RNC 2016
2016 Election
"Lock Her Up!": RNC Crowd, Speakers Blast Hillary Clinton

The second day of the RNC was dubbed "Make America Work Again." During the prime-time speeches, Donald Trump Jr. spoke about his father’s business record and his negotiation skills. Retired brain surgeon and former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson used his medical expertise to criticize potential Clinton voters, saying, "They’re not using their God-given brain to think about what they are saying." New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also criticized Clinton.
Gov. Chris Christie: "Answer me now: Is she guilty or not guilty?"
Delegates: "Guilty! ... Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!"
That’s the audience chanting "Lock her up! Lock her up!" But Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, who has chosen not to come to the RNC, tweeted, "Hillary Clinton now belongs in prison? C’mon. We can make the case that she shouldn’t be elected without jumping the shark." Meanwhile, keynote speaker Paul Ryan mentioned Trump’s name only twice during his nearly 1,500-word speech. Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson only mentioned Trump’s name once. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson also spoke Tuesday night. Last year, as governor, he followed the lead of Indiana governor and now Trump running mate Mike Pence in supporting the controversial anti-LGBT legislation known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but ended up refusing to sign it until the state Legislature amended the bill. This came after his own son signed a MoveOn petition criticizing the legislation. We’ll have more on Donald Trump’s official nomination with Nation magazine journalist John Nichols after headlines.
TOPICS:
RNC 2016
2016 Election
Trump Campaign on Melania Plagiarism: "Concept Michelle Obama Invented English Language is Absurd"

Meanwhile, controversy continues over Melania Trump’s speech on Monday, in which she plagiarized multiple sections of Michelle Obama’s speech at the DNC in 2008.
Michelle Obama: "Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values, like you work hard for what you want in life."
Melania Trump: "The values that you work hard for what you want in life."
Michelle Obama: "That your word is your bond, that you do what you say you’re going to do."
Melania Trump: "That your word is your bond, and you do what you say and keep your promise."
Michelle Obama: "Because we want our children and all children in this nation to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them."
Melania Trump: "Because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them."
Melania Trump in her speech Monday night at the RNC, and Michelle Obama in her speech at the DNC in 2008. The Trump campaign has repeatedly denied the accusations of plagiarism.
Katrina Pierson: "Look, these are our values—Republican values, by the way—of hard work, determination, family values, dedication and respect. And that’s Melania Trump. And this concept that Michelle Obama invented the English language is absurd."
That was Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson. RNC chief strategist Sean Spicer, meanwhile, said Melania’s speech used common phrases, and compared lines from her speech to dialogue in the animated TV series "My Little Pony."
Sean Spicer: "Melania Trump said, 'The strength of your dreams and the willingness to work for them.' Twilight Sparkle from 'My Little Pony' said, 'This is your dream. Anything you can do in your dreams, you can do now.'"
That was RNC chief strategist Sean Spicer speaking on CNN. But journalists and experienced speechwriters widely agree Melania Trump did plagiarize parts of the speech. According to The New York Times, months before the RNC, the Trump campaign hired two speechwriters, Matthew Scully and John McConnell, to draft Melania Trump’s text. But The New York Times reports Melania Trump disregarded this draft and instead asked for help from former ballet dancer Meredith McIver. She had helped Trump with his book "Think Like a Billionaire." At a protest outside the RNC, activist Julia Johnson criticized Melania Trump for plagiarizing Michelle Obama.
Julia Johnson: "Surprise, surprise, stealing from a black woman. I mean, it’s ridiculous how much this country is based off of the exploitation of labor of people of color, of oppressed people, of poor people. So, I’m sure that she thought that she would get away with it, and nobody would care."
TOPICS:
RNC 2016
2016 Election
Donald Trump
"Ban Guns, Not Balls!": RNC Protest Takes Aim at Ohio Open-Carry Law

Protests continue in Cleveland outside the RNC. On Tuesday, two activists scaled a 60-foot flagpole near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and unveiled a massive flag calling on Republicans not to "Trump" local communities. The flag also read "Ban Fracking, Stop Climate Injustice, and Tear Down the Wall." In another protest Tuesday, the antiwar group CodePink delivered 500 tennis balls to the front steps of the Republican National Convention, protesting the fact that you can carry semiautomatic weapons—but not tennis balls—in the area around the event. We’ll have more on the protests later in the broadcast.
TOPICS:
RNC 2016
2016 Election
Donald Trump
Band Queen Slams Trump for Using Its Song "We Are the Champions"

Meanwhile, the band Queen is criticizing Donald Trump for using the hit song "We Are the Champions" during Trump’s entrance onto the RNC convention stage Monday night. Queen tweeted, "An unauthorised use at the Republican Convention against our wishes — Queen."
The group’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury, died of AIDS in 1991.
TOPICS:
Donald Trump
Roger Ailes to Resign Amid Sexual Harassment Claims

Roger Ailes’s lawyers have confirmed he’s in negotiations to step down as Fox News chair amid more than a half-dozen accusations of sexual harassment. Former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson has sued Ailes. Now, Fox anchor Megyn Kelly has also accused him of harassment. Many are celebrating Ailes’s anticipated departure, though as Feministing founder Jessica Valenti notes, "Removing one lascivious man can’t turn around the mess of misogyny that is Fox News." Carlson’s suit also alleges Fox News has an overall misogynistic culture.
#BLM & #BYP100 Shut Down Police Union Headquarters in NYC & D.C.

And right now in Washington, D.C., members of Black Youth Project 100 and Black Lives Matter are attempting to shut down offices of the Fraternal Order of Police as well as the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association in New York City. Activists have locked themselves to the steps of the Fraternal Order of Police with chains, while others have blocked intersections surrounding the headquarters. The activists are demanding police officers stop paying dues to the private unions, which they accuse of defending police accused of brutality. BYP organizer Clarise McCants says the Fraternal Order of Police "acts like a college fraternity and is responsible for maintaining the harmful, lethal, unethical, and unaccountable culture of policing while the families and communities impacted when officers brutalize civilians are left to mourn with little, if any, semblance of justice."
TOPICS:
Police Brutality
Police
Baton Rouge: Ex-Marine Shooter Who Killed 3 Cops Had PTSD

CNN is reporting that a former marine who killed three Baton Rouge police officers suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and had been prescribed multiple medications. Gavin Long was honorably discharged in 2010 and had served in Iraq.CNN reports Long had filled a prescription for Ativan, an anti-anxiety drug, as recently as June. He also had prescriptions for Valium and Lunesta.
TOPICS:
Police
Police Brutality
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson: No Apology for Insults

In news from Britain, recently appointed Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is refusing to apologize for insults he’s leveled at various world leaders. Johnson has called Hillary Clinton a "sadistic nurse in a mental hospital," and said, after the Obama White House moved a bust of Winston Churchill, that it was a "symbol of the part-Kenyan President’s ancestral dislike of the British empire." Johnson also wrote a poem about Turkish President Erdogan having sex with a goat. This is Boris Johnson speaking at a joint press conference Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Boris Johnson: "I’m afraid there is such a rich thesaurus now of things that I have said, that have been, one way or another, through what alchemy I do not know, somehow misconstrued, that it would really take me too long to engage in a full global itinerary of apology to all concerned."
TOPICS:
Britain
Turkey Makes Extradition Request for Cleric Accused of Plotting Coup

The Turkish government has filed a formal request demanding the U.S. extradite Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses of masterminding Friday’s failed military coup. Gülen lives in the Poconos Mountains in Pennsylvania. This comes as Turkey continues to purge and arrest thousands of accused coup supporters, ordering more than 1,500 university deans to resign and revoking the licenses of 21,000 teachers.
TOPICS:
Turkey
HRW: Half of Syrian Children in Lebanon Not in School

In news from Lebanon, Human Rights Watch says about a quarter-million Syrian children living there as refugees do not attend school. The population of Lebanon is approximately 6 million—about 1 million of whom are Syrian refugees. About half of those refugees are children. Even though Lebanon allows for the enrollment of Syrians in its public schools, a shortage of seats and laws restricting refugees’ movements prevent them from attending.
TOPICS:
Syria
Lebanon
Refugees
Iraqi Marshes Named UNESCO World Heritage Site

Iraq’s southern wetlands, thought by some to be the biblical Garden of Eden, have been named a UNESCO World Heritage site. Saddam Hussein dammed and drained the marshes in the 1990s to flush out rebels hiding in the reeds. After the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, locals destroyed dams to let water back in, restoring the marsh ecosystem within a few years. Many of the marshes’ inhabitants are subsistence fishermen, and the area is an important stop for migratory birds. The marshes are, however, once more threatened by new dams in Turkey and Iran, as well as by climate change.
TOPICS:
Iraq
Yale Dishwasher Corey Menafee, Who Broke Racist Window, Wins Job Back

And former Yale University dishwasher Corey Menafee has won back a job at Yale, after he was fired for smashing a stained-glass window depicting enslaved Africans carrying bales of cotton. This is Corey Menafee speaking on Democracy Now!
Corey Menafee: "It was—it depicted a male and a female, both appearing to be African-American, standing in a field of white crops, what appear to be cotton, with baskets over their heads. And I believe one of the figures were actually smiling, which is like so condescending, because looking back on slavery, like, it wasn’t a happy time for African Americans."
Amy Goodman: "Describe what you did as you looked up at the stained glass that you’d seen for a while."
Corey Menafee: "Well, I just basically took a broom handle and destroyed the image."
Menafee was working at the time at Yale’s residential dorm Calhoun College, named after former Vice President John C. Calhoun, one of the most prominent pro-slavery figures in American history. For years students have demanded Yale change the building’s name. On Tuesday, Menafee told Democracy Now! "I am delighted to return to work."
TOPICS:
Racism
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