Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2026-05-29 Friday

Episode Date: May 29, 2026

Democracy Now! Friday, May 29, 2026

From New York, this is Democracy Now. We, the detainees at the Delaney Hall detention facility, wish to express our objection to the violation of our rights as immigrant human beings. The company in charge, Gio, fails to meet the basic conditions necessary to protect our health and our lives. protesters outside Delaney Hall, the massive Newark immigration jail run by the for-profit Geo Group, read a statement from the hunger and labor striking detainees inside. Ice agents tear gas protesters inside and out, arresting six people outside. We'll go to New Jersey for the latest. Then a Chicago jury orders Boeing to pay nearly $50 million.

to the family of Samya Stumo, 24-year-old grandniece of Ralph Nader, who died in the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in 2019. It was one of the last verdicts in a series of wrongful death suits stemming from two deadly crashes in 2019 that killed all 346 people on board. We'll be joined by Samia's mother, Najah Miloran, from Massachusetts. This is not an accident. This is something that could have been prevented. And as somebody who's lost a dearest person in my life, you know, I want her death not to be in vain. I don't want anybody else to die. And finally to Bolivia, where thousands have been protesting for a month on the streets of La Paz and other cities to demand the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz.

The people are demanding from the grassroots from the blockade points that the president must resign for his incapacity to govern for all Bolivians. The president only governs for one sector, the elite in Santa Cruz. Therefore, this fight is for the common good and for the national interest and for our future generations. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the Warren Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. Vice President Jady Vantz says the U.S. is very close to a memorandum of understanding with Iran that would see both sides ceasefire for 60 days, while talks over Iran's nuclear program continue. Vance said the emerging agreement would also reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic with Iran given 30 days to remove all sea mines.

President Trump has yet to give his final approval, and Iran's Tasneem News Agency reports that text of the framework has not yet been finalized or confirmed. This comes as the New York Times reports the White House has been quietly working with Gulf Arab states to develop alternative financing mechanisms to pay for Iran's post-war reconstruction, including unfreezing Iranian funds held in Qatar. On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant downplayed President Trump's threat to blow up Oman, a U.S. during a cabinet meeting a day earlier. Are you guys back there in the West Wing making plans for a new war with Oman?

Again, I think the president wanted to punctuate freedom of navigation in the street. I had a call with the Omani ambassador this morning, and he assured me that there were no plans for tolling the strait. Palestinians are bracing for a worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin and Netanyahu ordered his army to see 70% of the besieged territory. Already, Israel controls about 11% more of Gaza's land than it agreed to under a U.S. brokered so-called ceasefire deal at sign last October. Netanyahu's latest plan would push Israel's line of control further beyond the so-called yellow line, leaving even less land for Gaza's more than 2 million Palestinians.

His comments came one day after Israeli defrable. Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said his government would implement a plan to remove large numbers of Palestinians from Gaza under what he called a voluntary emigration scheme. Israel intensified its assault on Lebanon Thursday bombing Beirut for the first time in three weeks, even as Israeli ground forces pushed deeper into southern Lebanon and issued new forced displacement orders for residents. The United Nations reports 15 children. or among those killed by Israeli strikes on Lebanon over the past week. 62 children have been wounded in the attacks,

which continue despite the U.S. brokered so-called ceasefire agreement with Israel, signed with Lebanon in April. The United Nations has added Israel to a blacklist of nations credibly suspected of engaging in systematic sexual violence. In its annual report documenting sexual violence and conflicts worldwide, the UN found Israel's prisons engaged in systematic torture, rape, sexual humiliation, and degrading treatment of detained Palestinians. In response, Israel's U.N. ambassador, Danny Danone, said Israel will sever ties with the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and his office. In New York, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Hilton Midtown Hotel in Manhattan, Thursday,

evening to disrupt a pro-Israel's so-called real estate expo that promotes the sale of illegal Israeli settlements in Jerusalem. Activists have described the sales as, quote, part of an initiative to bolster the pipeline of Americans settling on stolen Palestinian land, unquote. Jerusalem mayor, Moshe Leon, reportedly attended the event. This is Rosa Martinez, an activist with the global Samud Flotilla, who just returned to New York after being abducted by Israeli forces in international waters. I just arrived from the Gaza flotilla about four days ago.

I had been missing a lot of these illegal land sales, but to me, just coming back and entering this space, it just kind of goes to show how interconnected and how global our work is. I mean, you know, we were detained by the Israeli occupation forces last week. And, you know, that is a military that trains the NYPD. The NYPD has a bureau in Tel Aviv. And, you know, a lot of the tactics that the Israelis used on us are just the amplified tactics

tactics that the NYPD uses on like brown, black, and immigrant communities here in New York City. Romania's government says two people were injured early this morning when a Russian drone struck an apartment city, apartment building in the eastern city of Galati. NATO's Secretary General Mark Ruta said in response, the 32-member nuclear armed military alliance, quote, stands ready. to defend every inch of allied territory." In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said Europe's a party to the Ukraine conflict cannot act as a mediator.

Meanwhile, Ukraine launched waves of drones overnight targeting Russian oil and fuel infrastructure. Russian officials reported strikes on refineries, fuel storage sites in a seaport. Reuters reports virtually all major oil refineries in central Russia have been forced to halt or scale-back fuel output due to Ukraine's attacks, with Russian fuel output down by more than a quarter. This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote a letter to President Trump and members of Congress asking for further shipments of interceptor missiles for Ukraine's Patriot missile batteries. The request comes as the Center for Strategic and International Studies reports, it'll take the U.S. at least three to eight years to replenish stockpiles of interceptors

depleted during the U.S. war on Iran. On Thursday, Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal said during a visit to Kiev, he supports Ukraine's request for more air defenses and rejects Russia's warning foreigners and diplomats should leave Keev. America is not leaving Ukraine. Our diplomats are here to stay. In New Jersey, protests continue outside the Newark Ice Jail, known as Delaney Hall, where hundreds of detained immigrants have been on a hunger. and labor strike for a week, demanding their immediate release and denouncing inhumane conditions. On Thursday, the families of detained immigrants spoke out against ICE's retaliation against the hunger

strikers with activists saying they'd receive several calls from immigrants inside Delaney, reporting guards had pepper sprayed and beaten detainees. At least six people were reportedly arrested outside late Wednesday as activists and family members of detainees formed a barricade outside Delaney Hall, despite repeated attempts by ice and law enforcement to violently break up the demonstrations. Delaney Hall is operated by the for-profit prison company Geo Group. We'll have more on this story after headlines. In climate news, a new study finds the planets likely to experience record or near-record levels of heat over the next five years. The report by the UN's weather agency and the UK's Met Office projects global,

surface temperatures will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, exceeding a limit set by the Paris Climate Accord to stave off the worst effects of global heating. Meanwhile, temperature records are falling across Europe this week amidst an extreme heat wave. Portugal reported its hottest ever day in the month of May. Italy suffered blackouts around Turin, while in Paris unhoused residents held a protest to demand emergency housing during the heat wave. Honestly, I wouldn't wish this on anyone. It's awful.

It's not easy, especially at night when it comes to sleeping, finding shelter, or even eating. It's not easy. In Florida, a blue origin rocket exploded on the pad during an engine test Thursday evening, sending a massive mushroom cloud high above the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The explosion shook homes and rattled windows, along Florida's space coast, casting an orange glow that could be seen 50 miles away in Orlando. It's a major setback for NASA's moon landing ambitions and for plans by Blue Origin CEO,

Jeff Bezos, to build a satellite internet service for Amazon to challenge SpaceX and its star-link constellation. Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon, the Commerce Department. reports the U.S. inflation rate rose to 3.8% in April its fastest pace in three years, as President Trump's war in Iran triggered soaring fuel prices that added to the cost of producing and distributing products. This comes as a study by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, finds 1.6 million fewer people are receiving SNAP food assistance benefits since the Republican Congress passed President Trump's so-called one big, beautiful bill act, which will,

will slash food assistance by $187 billion over a decade. Nearly half of those losing snaps, some 700,000 people are children. Government ethics watchdogs are sounding the alarm after the Pentagon granted a contract to the U.S. technology company Dell worth $9.7 billion. The contract was secured despite financial disclosures, revealing President Trump purchased shares Dell worth up to $5 million ahead of the deal. Trump has repeatedly urged people at public events to buy Dell computers. In response, public citizens Rob Weissman said, quote,

It's impossible to know where personal profit making ends and policymaking starts with this president, unquote. In Massachusetts, nearly 70,000 drivers with ride share services, including Uber and lift have become the largest private workforce to win union recognition since 1941. Organizers are handling certification of the driver's unionization efforts as a historic turning point for the modern-day labor movement as it seeks to hold big technology companies accountable. The App Drivers Union is a part of SEIU, the Service Employees International Union. On Tuesday, SEIU International President April Varet joined a celebration for the drivers at the

Massachusetts State House in Boston. Years, drivers were told that they weren't really workers. Just independent contractors, whatever the hell that means, replaceable, disposable on their own. Meanwhile, these so-called independent contractors carried billion-dollar platforms on their backs while they struggled to survive. But drivers had a different vision.

They said, nah, not today. They call BS. Guatemala's government's denied reports had agreed to allow the Trump administration to carry out military strikes against accused drug traffickers inside the Central American nation. Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevolo

was responding to a New York Times report that was published Thursday, which cited a letter issued by the Guatemalan government addressed to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on a reported phone call between Arevolo and Hegseth last week. President Arevolo said Guatemala seeking joint collaboration with Washington, D.C. and drug enforcement operations, but stressed Guatemala would not approve U.S. military attacks on the ground. And Gretchen Klausing, the founding executive director of Philadelphia Community Access Media, known as Philly Cam, has passed away at the age of 61.

Gretchen dedicated decades of her life advocating for public access to the media and freedom of expression and was actively involved in national campaigns in support of community media and local journalism. Filly cam staff and board issued a statement saying, quote, Gretchen dedicated herself to building Filly Cam into a vital community institution where Philadelphians could learn, create, connect, and share their stories. her vision, leadership, and belief in the power of community media shaped this organization in countless ways and her losses being felt deeply, their statement said. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the Warren Peace Report.

I'm Amy Goodman in New York, joined by Democracy Now's Juan Gonzalez in Chicago. Hi, Juan. Hi, Amy, and welcome to all of our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world. Well, Juan, we're going to go back to where you used to live in New Jersey. We begin today's show in New Jersey, where protests are continuing outside the Newark Ice Jail, known as Delaney Hall, where hundreds of detained immigrants have been on a hunger and labor strike for a week demanding their immediate release. The families of detained immigrants Thursday denounced ICE's retaliation against the hunger and labor strikers. activists also said they'd receive several calls from immigrants inside Delaney reporting guards had pepper sprayed and beaten detainees. At least six people were reportedly arrested Wednesday as activists and family members of detained immigrants formed a barricade outside the ICE jail,

despite repeated attempts by ICE and law enforcement to violently break up the demonstrations. On Wednesday, the executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey spoke to people outside. Delaney Hall. DHS is retaliating against people for exercising those constitutional rights. People shouldn't have to starve themselves to make their dignity known. And not only is DHS illegally violating due process for those who are detained, they're also illegally obstructing elected officials from gaining access to the facility, and they're violating the Constitution for people outside by brutalizing protesters.

who dare to exercise their constitutional rights. Their response to the very real issues that people are facing inside and the very real constitutional rights that people are trying to exercise outside is not to solve the problems. It's to suppress them. It's to brutalize people. It's to use more force and it's to endanger lives. They are the ones who are escalating the situation.

This entire administration is operating with illegality. The cruelty is the point. Amal Senha, executive director of the ACOU of New Jersey. On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen, claimed during a cabinet meeting the prisoners at Delaney Hall are only on hunger strike because they want their quote-unquote ethnic food. They say that it's because they're on a hushableness. hunger strike when there was only a handful of individuals that was refusing to eat because they want

their ethnic group or their ethnic right food, well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want. The fact is, we're giving them the calories they want. This isn't holiday end. We're giving sanitation. For the latest on the situation at Delaney Hall, we're joined now by three guests. Leodorno is an organizer with Movimento Cosecha, the immigrant rights group leading the protests outside Delaney Hall. Bob Henley is also with us. He's an investigative journalist host of what's going on Labor Monday at WBAI. He's the general manager of the Pacific Station, WBAI, as well.

He's been covering the protests at Delaney Hall from the start and has covered New Jersey politics for decades. And Democratic Congress member, Ana Lillia Mejia of New Jersey, is with us. She's called for the closure of Delaney Hall. and has toured the jail. We welcome you all to democracy now. Let's begin with Leodorno. Explain what's just intensified and taken place yesterday, Leodorno. You are one of the major organizers of the protests outside. If you can tell us what's happened. Yeah, so things have been escalating as of our last talk. Not only inside the sentient are outside,

outside the detention center, the way that things are being done have definitely escalated. We got a call and then a call after and a call after about things happening inside the detention center. There said that there was a lot of guards coming into the rooms and there was pepper spray. one person saw another person unconscious. These things for us, we have to start calling people. And yeah, we can't fathom with the fact that they're getting away with this type of treatment people right now, like families outside are coming out, calling us.

They're worried about what's going on. And when there's an attempt to get that clarification via our representatives, they are denied entry. So, well, yeah. Let's bring Annalila Mejia into this conversation, the Democratic Congress member, Mejia. You've called for the closure of Delaney Hall. you were able to tour the facility. Can you describe this confrontation? And who exactly is making

the arrest? Are we talking about Newark Police under Mayor Ross Baraka or ICE agents? Well, first and foremost, thank you for having me on today's show. And to your listeners, this is a serious moment. As you shared, I have been able to tour the facility. I've also been an activist and an organizer trying to ensure the decent treatment of human beings that are being detained, many of which do not have criminal records, do not have violent offenses, offense charges against them. There's many of the individuals that I've spoken to within Delaney Hall were following the law. They were attempting to go to a court-appointed date with with ICE agents.

They were attempting to check in and then they were detained. I spoke to a 19-year-old girl who went to a detention center to visit a friend, believing that because of her protective status that she would be all right, and then she was detained at the end of that visit. You know, the conditions within it, I've visited at this point three times. I've been in Congress for a month at this point. point. I was just elected, but I've made a point to go into Delaney. And each time that I have entered, I've heard the same thing. Complaints of inadequate health care. I met mothers who had,

who were or expectant mothers who weren't receiving the kind of prenatal care that I know they deserve and need and require. I met a young woman who had had a miscarriage and was given or was experiencing symptoms of a miscarriage and was given a warming cloth, a hot compress, which she believed actually exacerbated the problem and resulted in ultimately her losing that pregnancy. I met individuals who have diabetes or heart conditions who complain that their medication isn't given on a routine basis. And when I asked the geo-group staff, many of which I am sure are trying to do their best, it is clear that they do not have the ability. to actually provide the kind of services that human beings require.

You know, one nurse, I asked whether or not individuals would miss their medication. What were the reasons that someone would possibly not get their diabetes medication or their heart medication? And she pointed to the fact that there's no pharmacy in the place. So, you know, there's, of course, a delay in getting people there, the medication that they need. The other reality is that if you're grabbing people off the streets, they're not able to have all of the things that are required in order to keep them healthy. Now, as to this issue, this incident in particular, we were able to confirm that pepper spray was deployed in the hallways of one of the units, specifically Unit 2, we were told. We weren't allowed to visit. It was put on lockdown and restriction.

We weren't allowed to speak to the individuals that, that according to. to Geo Group and according to ICE had an altercation and that was the reason behind the commotion internally. But here's what I have been able to confirm. When I spoke to one of the individuals whose wife,

Mr. Martin Soto, had started much of the shedding light to the conditions in Delaney Hall. I know that he was transferred. I know that he wasn't made aware of charges that were placed against him. In fact, myself and Congressman

and Menendez were the ones who informed him that we believe that he was being charged with some kind of complaint. And the individual hadn't even received that information. Much of the material is in English. So many of the individuals cannot actually defend themselves, understand what is happening. And overall, like the complaints of lack of care, the paltry food, the fact that it is often undercooked or frozen or too soft, or too spicy. I mean, conditions that may seem, you know, relevant to Trump administrations or officials, but when you consider that people are elderly and have sodium intake restrictions or pregnant and have certain dietary restrictions, then the quality of food really does

matter. And ultimately, what the American people, I'll leave it at this. What we need to understand is that this is a for-profit model and they are failing human beings, GEO Group has a $1 billion contract with the U.S. government. Geo Group makes about $60 million in annual revenue from these contracts, from this contract. And so the American people need to understand that your money is being used to house people in conditions that are unjust and inhumane. Your money is being used to keep people in detention who have signed voluntary removal orders. I've taken down countless names of individuals who have said, I will leave today. I would like to, I have my passport or it's been confiscated by these agents and yet I'm still here

a month, two months, three months after the fact. Well, it's your money that's being used to detain people in horrible conditions and keep them even when they have asked to leave. I'd like to bring in Bob Henley into the conversation. Bob, you're a long-time investigative journalist. You've covered New Jersey for decades. Your perspective, especially on the escalating violence and use of force outside the Laney Hall by federal agents. So first, I think it's important to understand, Juan, that Newark was fixated on very early on. Unfortunately, Newark has been introduced because of the great tragedy in Minneapolis,

the assassination of Renee Good and Alex Prady. But in point of fact, just days after President Trump was sworn in a second time, they went in and raided a very popular ironbound, same community, same neighborhood that this detention facility is in, roughed up a veteran, messed with citizens, and immediately rossed. Baraka convened a press conference that was packed with 300 people showing the multiracial mosaic and the strong resistance. And so it's also important to know that on May 9th of 2025, Mayor Baraka was seized off the street outside of Delany Hall, taken inside, but it was the, I would say, Gandhi-esque move by Bonnie Watson Coleman, 80 years old, Representative McIver,

Robert Menendez Jr., who encircled him to slow down the seizing of an elected mayor of New Jersey's biggest city. And what happened next was he was taken to a black site that nobody knew existed near the airport. Immediately hundreds and hundreds of people from the community and from out the region encircled this facility, Juan, backed up by the Newark police force. That's right. The same police force that a generation earlier had beaten up Ross Barak's father, the poet of Mary Baraka were there in solidarity, so they had no choice but to release the mayor. That story is important here because that happened on May 9th, 2025, and subsequently, Representative McIver, who represents that area, has been charged with crimes and faces 17 years in jail.

So there's a much broader implosion of the administration of law in New Jersey with a Alina Haba was appointed, as U.S. attorney, there's a collapse, really, of federal law enforcement in Newark where people are issued habeas corpus petitions by an Article III court won, and it's ignored entirely by the Department of Justice ICE system. I wanted to also ask Lee Adorno, you've gotten information as well that people are being brought into Delaney from New York or other places. Could you talk about that as well? Yes, they're coming from New York as well. There's actually some rooms in the unit that's specifically for New York. And I want to kind of like, I realize I'm assuming everybody has been keeping up in news,

but we have been able to confirm that two people were hospitalized. I mean, that's already in itself a very serious situation. We were, you know, called that people had head injuries, that they had hand injuries, that, you know, they were sprayed with this chemical that turned out to be CC-C spray. There was reported that also there was multiple, like, multiple agents, like over 10 agents, over 20 agents who were partaking. partaking. That was now clarified that it was actually GEO cert, which is a specific group that they have, I guess, that dresses all in black and not only do they intimidate that purposefully, right? That's how they dress, but also that they were the ones who were doing this action against the unit. Bob Henley, was there a death in custody? Yes, there was. Actually, back in December, Jean Wilson, Brutus, who was from Haiti, his family insists that he was clear to be in the country. He died at 41. The first day he was there.

And so this is also part of a troubling trend. We saw, so far, I believe, 18 have died in custody. But then if you look at all of last year, it was 32. The high high. highest number since 2004. So something's happening here beyond the accountability of local law enforcement. And that's what's a great concern here is a subversion of law and order. So you have a mayor who is trying to enforce the fire code. Heaven forbid, if a fire breaks out in that sprawling facility, and we need to tell you that this is in a remote part of Newark, in the most industrial part, it's right next to the excess county corrections facility. There's no shade. There's no shade. there's no shelter.

And I just also want to say the letters that have been coming out from these brave detainees, it's ironic that we have the 250th anniversary of Decorative Independence. I predict 40 years from now that these documents that are coming out are going to be seen as similar in terms of the humanity and the importance of what they contain. And I wanted to ask Congress member, May he, obviously, the governor of New Jersey, the mayors of Newark, the local political officials haven't been able to do anything. Can you briefly tell us what hope do you have that somehow or other Congress will step in? Well, first, I want to confirm that we were in fact told that four people were taken to the hospital.

I was able to see in the medical unit other individuals who were impacted by the release of whatever chemical or pepper spray was, was deployed. I also saw the agents that were dressed from head to toe in black with face coverings that were milling about within Delaney Hall. And I did note in this third visit yesterday, I did note that there were more agents, more heavily armed agents, more ice agents with additional arms and gear that were present in the facility. So much of what the activists were pointing to I've been able to confirm real time. I will say that the reality is that this is a rogue administration that has handed undue power to agencies, to ICE agents and to entities like Geo Group that and with who are now acting with impunity. I think our role in Congress,

as Congress members, as senators across this country, we need to descend on these facilities and first and foremost, bear witness. Please take into account that these individuals are being silenced. Their families are denied visitation as a punitive measure. And the only ones that are successfully able to conduct the kind of oversight this place needs or these places needs are members of Congress and Senate. So I implore all of my colleagues to act as witnesses, to bear witness of what is happening across the country because I'm certain that Geo Group and Delaney Hall are not the only ones. And I'm looking at posters for ICE protests through the weekend at Delaney Hall.

I wanted to end by asking, a Congress member, you replaced Mikey Sherrill in a special election, the Congress member from New Jersey, because she was elected, governor of New Jersey. She also over Memorial Day weekend went to Delaney Hall. She was denied entry. You were able to get in. She wasn't. Was the governor of New Jersey able finally to inspect the facility? As I understand, Department of Health officials were deployed to Delaney.

I haven't confirmed with the governor if they were able to actually go to enter the facility. I can share that myself, Congresswoman Poe, Congressman. Menendez and Congressman Pallone, and forgive me, Congresswoman McGever, we pleaded with ICE to allow us to Delaney Hall officials, to allow us to escort the governor with us, that if we were being allowed to enter, that she certainly should be able to, being the highest ranking elected official in New Jersey, it is unconscionable that the governor of New Jersey was denied access. Well, we want to thank you all for being with us. We'll continue to follow this. And I know Bob Henley, you have been doing with the team at WBAI Pacifica Radio, nonstop coverage of what's taking place. Bob Henley is the general manager of WBI, has reported on these issues in New Jersey politics for 40 years. He's speaking to us from New Jersey.

Lea Dorno, community organizer with Movimento Cosecha, has helped lead the protests outside Delaney Hall. And we want to thank the newly elected Congress member, Annalia Mejia, who represents Jersey's 11th district and has called for Delaney Hall's closure coming up. A Chicago jury orders Boeing to pay nearly $50 million to the family of Samia Stumo. the 24-year-old grand niece of Ralph Nader who died in Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in 2019. One of the last verdicts in a series of Ron Poldat suits. Stay with us. We'll be joined by her mother, congressional candidate, Nadia Milleran, in Sheffield, Massachusetts. If I was president by Las Caputas, performed in the Democracy Now studios years ago.

This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Me Goodman in New York. Juan Gonzalez joins us in Chicago, where a jury has ordered Boeing to pay nearly $50 million to the family of Samia Stumo, which had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Boeing. Samia was killed in 2019 aboard a Boeing 737 Max jet in Ethiopia. The crash came months after another Boeing 737 Max crashed in Indonesia. Together, the crashes killed all 346 people on board. This is one of the last verdicts in a series of wrongful death suits stemming from the two deadly crashes.

Subsequent investigations and whistleblower testimony revealed serious problems with the safety culture at Boeing. Last year, the Trump administration decided to drop a criminal prosecution against Boeing over the fatal crashes. The judge who approved the request said he didn't have authority to reject the government's decision. In 2023, Judge Reid O'Connor had said, quote, Boeing's crime may properly be considered the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history, unquote. The mother of Samia Stummo, Najah Miloran, joins us now from Massachusetts. where she's running for Congress for a second time as an independent there. Samya Stuma was the grandniece of Ralph Nader.

Nadja Miloran, thanks so much for being with us. Explain what this almost $50 million jury verdict was in your daughter Samia's case. Well, thank you, Amy. Thank you for having us on so that we can explain. Boeing accepted responsibility for the crashes, killing, prevent. preventable deaths of 346 people in which they could have made different decisions and then those people would still be alive and have been able to fly on a new plane these were new brand new planes so they accepted that responsibility and by doing that they avoided the

scrutiny that a trial brings so that issue of whether they were responsible or not was no longer in dispute and and that admission actually protected them from us finding out who was responsible in the company and what was wrong with the plane. So we still want to know those answers and we have options to pursue punitive damages against the CEOs and also the component parts manufacturers. So this trial that we just had was not about accountability. It was just about money. Our family was on trial and we were asked about the time we spent with our daughter, our relationships with her, and it was just devastating for us. So we're, grateful for the jury verdict as some kind of recognition of the laws. But we, of course, we want our

daughter back. That's what we really want. But in, you know, as we can't have that, we just want no one else to die on a new plane. So right after the jury verdict, Boeing filed a motion to set aside the verdict. So they said that it was our right to go to trial. And they said they admitted guilt, but then they immediately tried to roll it back. So this, you know, this idea that they can just pay money and then continue on, you know, with the same behavior, that's what we object to. And that's why we want, we want to expose what they're actually doing in the company that could have caused these crashes. And could you, could you tell us what's, as far as you understand, subsequent investigations after these crashes revealed about Boeing's responsibility

and why they are so eager not to have the discovery of actually who was directly involved or who's responsible within the company? Well, because obviously people made decisions after the Indonesian crash. So in October of 2018, four and a half months before our daughter died, Samia died in Ethiopia. The same plane crashed for the same reasons, the malfunction of MCAS. But we don't really know why. Who made those decisions to continue flying the plane after that, right?

They knew that there was a malfunction with the plane. The plane crashed in Indonesia. And then somebody inside the company decided to keep flying the plane and did not fix whatever it is that was wrong with that. But so far, we've been unable to figure out. who made the decisions and what actually was wrong with the plane. And, you know, that's all we want is for our loved ones to not have died in vain for their deaths to actually serve the well-being of future passengers and crew on new planes,

which are flying today. We would like for all of this to be revealed and accountable so that people can make decisions about what planes they want to fly on and also so that it doesn't happen again within Boeing. Nadja Miller, your case is one case is horrifying of over 300. All the passengers on the Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines flight died in those two crashes. Explain, yours is an individual case. Explain, is there a class action and what kind of awards have other people gotten? Yours is one of the last ones? right that has taken place and why it took place in Chicago. Yeah, so there has only been one jury verdict before ours, and I believe that it was $26 million awarded to that family. See, many countries, many people are coming from countries that have a limit, like the U.K.,

Canada, they have a limit on how much you can recover in a wrongful death suit. So I think Canada is $200,000, and I think the UK is $150,000. And so those people, those families chose to make a settlement deals with Boeing. But we're from the United States. So we didn't have those kind of constraints. So we were able to go forward and do a trial. The only thing we couldn't do anything about is Boeing doing this shielding mechanism where they said, yes, we're responsible, but we're not going to tell you how.

because we don't go to court to do discovery and depositions and everything on that issue of their responsibility. That's why we're still interested in pursuing punitive damages directly against the CEOs and the component parts manufacturer, because only through a punitive damages trial would we really be able to find out the answers to these questions. A lot of other people, as I said, had to settle. There are two more cases pending, and, you know, I am, worried that even as a result of all this litigation, the only litigation that I really know about is the 157 people that died in Ethiopia. But even after all this litigation, we still won't have any accountability. And then we still won't be able to prevent this kind of thing from happening

in the future. Could you tell us something about your daughter, Samya, and how you want her to be remembered? Yes, Samuel is all about accountability. Samuel was a happy warrior. She was six feet tall and wore four inch heels and she loved, you know, beautiful clothes and being out there making sure that people in worldwide got health care. And so she was going to Uganda to look at the Gates Foundation money and see per capita was that really helping people to get their own health care. And so here in the United States were desperate to have health care, right? We have to start voting for independence and people outside the two-party system who stand up for what people actually need because I saw Boeing get exactly what they want from

Democratic leadership in a matter of days or weeks, exemptions from safety regulations. And then we're told we have to wait years to get insurance companies out of our health care decisions. So, you know, that is something that I am doing in my daughter's memory. She noticed a, amazing Muslim woman attorney running for this office that I'm running for today in District 1 in Massachusetts. And she called me from Denmark and said, mom, you've got to look up this woman and you've got to vote for her. She's amazing.

And, you know, Sammy gave me that push in 2018 when she was still alive saying, you know, you need to vote. You need to look at this. You need to move on Richard Neal, who's been in office way too long and who is not standing up for our basic needs, even as a Democrat. And so what I've discovered is that a small group of independents can withhold their vote from leadership, can be elected, can withhold their vote from leadership in the Congress, and can force, for example, Medicare for all for a vote. And in 24, I got 133,000 votes. So that was a much bigger turnout election. Now we have a smaller

turnout election. And if I get those same human beings to come out and vote for me, then I will be the first woman independent ever elected to the Congress. And that is definitely in memory of my daughter. I don't think I could do it without her force and support and her happy energy that she believed these changes could happen. Nadja Miloran, we thank you so much for being with us, now an aviation safety advocate, because her daughter, Samia Rose Stumo, was killed along with 156 others when Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, a Boeing 737 max crashed in 2019. This after, another 737 max crashed in Indonesia. Now Najimilaran is running for Congress in the first district of Massachusetts as an

independent, speaking to us from Sheffield, Mass. Coming up, we go to Bolivia, where thousands of people have been protesting for a month on the streets of La Paz and other cities to demand the resignation of the president. Stay with us. Fascists in our midst by Montreal musician Paul Carnello. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez. Mass, protests in Bolivia have marked one month as thousands continue to take the streets

of La Paz and other cities demanding the resignation of President Rodrigo Paz, a Trump ally who's aligned himself with Latin America's right-wing leaders. Labor and indigenous groups, other protesters, are calling on Paz's government to roll back austerity measures amid soaring costs of food, fuel, and medicine. We want the government to solve this problem, to fix it once and for all, and to do so wholeheartedly. The babies are starving.

We can't afford to buy food. We seniors no longer have the money to buy food, and I have my granddaughters who are orphans. I'm asking for a solution. Earlier this week, Bolivia's Congress approved the possible deployment of armed forces to suppress the mobilizations, a move that would also help President Paz declare a state of emergency in Bolivia. For more, we go to Cochabamba, Bolivia, where we're joined by Catherine Ledibur, Director of

Andean Information Network. We thank you so much for being with us. Lay out the escalating protests why people are in the streets demanding President Paz's resignation. Thanks so much for having me. I think that you summed it up nicely when you said it's about people feeding their families and a political exclusion, a racial exclusion. Remember that Bolivia is a country where for 19 years, indigenous people and social movements enjoyed equal rights and political inclusion. With the election of right-wing government, Rodrigo Paz, even though he was elected as a last day. ditch alternative by many of the protesting sectors. What we see is a return to the neoliberal policy to these austerity shock measures and the removal of fuel subsidies. And it's generated a great deal of poverty, especially for Bolivian's working class and subsistence farmers.

And could, from what I can tell during the last few weeks, this uprising in Bolivia is perhaps the most important people's uprising in the world right now. Could you talk about it? How the movement grew so quickly, given the fact that this president's only been in office for six months? Yes, of course. You know, social movements in Bolivia have always been very well organized, indigenous communities. We're talking about a country that was colonized, but that colonization was never able to break down those strong social ties, cultural ties, or a union movement that eventually helped the first indigenous president. come to power. It's something that's been brewing for a very long time. But there's a huge break between what Paz promised and what he's done in practice, which is elect a white upper

middle class cabinet with only two women, reject any genuine dialogue, reject interaction with the Bolivian social movements or even have any empathy for people and what they're going through day to day as they try to feed their families. You know, it's not enough to put on a poncho for your campaign and then forget about your electorate.

And what about PAS's claims that former president, Evo Morales, is behind this uprising or these protests? Well, I think they're infuriating. I think that, you know, If Morales has had a long career as a social movement leader and his former president, he definitely opposes the actions of Rodrigo Paz. But the sectors in protest are not directly affiliated with Morales.

You had a small group of coca growers from Morales' base in La Paz for only five days. But it's a convenient, one, there's the right-wing political class in Bolivia that's never developed governance. strategies that find it convenient to blame Morales. They want to target him. They speak frequently as arrest. And it dovetails nicely with a very close and strong alignment with the Trump administration, because as we know, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and consecutive right-wing U.S. administrations have targeted in scapegoated and Morales. This is not about him, and it infuriates protesters further, because it's a way to not. address meaningful demands. And very quickly, you're in Cochabamba, where democracy now was,

we interviewed at the time, President Avon Morales, at the People's Climate Summit there. But if you can address the allegations that the government is making that this is an attempted coup, and also talk about Paz's alignment with Trump, with Marco Rubio, recently saying on social media, let there be no mistake, the U.S. stands squarely in support of Bolivia's legitimate constitutional government. We will not allow criminals and drug traffickers to overthrow democratically elected leaders. The words of Marco Rubio. That explosive and that toxic narrative is very helpful to the POS administration, but it's in lieu of any meaningful attempt for dialogue. I don't think we found any ties. The U.S. has looked for decades.

of ties Dave Morales for drug trafficking. Certainly these protesters have no ties to drug trafficking. It's absurd that people would suggest that the drug business in Bolivia or anywhere in the world has the need to direct any protest. You know, this stigmatization, this focus on Morales is toxic. And it's really aggravating the conflict. I think that the, vision on the part of the POS administration and on the United States and on the far right and the operation southern shield that very corrosive international alliance through Trump is that this was going to somehow scare the protesters into retreating. And what it's done is it's infuriating them. You know, this is a group of people that's protesting because they don't have anything to

eat tomorrow or the year after that. And people in Lepa's are complaining that they don't have anything to eat. And everyone needs to be able to have a sustainable source of life. And that is not being addressed here as it's not being addressed in so many other places. Well, we have only about a minute left, but I wanted to ask you about the Trump administration and the U.S. interest in Bolivia. What does the U.S. want from Bolivia? Well, the U.S. on very different, you know, many levels was very unhappy with the expulsion of the U.S. ambassador, the expulsion of the DEA in 2008, and the end of all U.S. funding in 2013. And their claim was that Bolivia would become a narco state, that things would fall apart. And what we saw is that actually things in Bolivia got better. It's the threat of a good example.

And, you know, it's very clear. And you can, when you speak to U.S. diplomats, they highlight that there's a strong desire for revenge on the part of the DEA, on the part of the Trump administration, which criminalizes protests in the United States and elsewhere. And there's an obsessive focus on punishing the left instead of engaging with them or governing responsibly. We're going to leave it there. We're going to do an interview in Spanish. and you can check it out at DemocracyNow.org. Catherine Lediber,

Director of Andean Information Network at Cochabamba, Bolivia. And a very happy birthday to Angie Karen. That does it for our show. I'm headed to Tucson, Arizona today and Saturday. To the Loft Cinema,

we'll be doing a fundraiser for KXCI in Tucson as the screening of Steal the Story, please, about Democracy Now, begins in Tucson, then headed to Phoenix on Saturday night. You can check our website at DemocracyNow.org. On Sunday, I'll be here in New York doing a Q&A after the screening at the IFC of Steal the Story,

please. Next weekend in Tampa and in Miami, and the following weekend, we'll be going through Vermont, from Montpelier to Burlington to Brattleboro and beyond, then to Sheffield, England, and to the Belfast Film Festival. festival. You can check our website at DemocracyNow.org for all details and stealthustory.org where it is screening in your area. I'm Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez.