Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2026-07-16 Thursday

Episode Date: July 16, 2026

Democracy Now! Thursday, July 16, 2026

Dark this is Democracy Now. Are you in President Trump, French? I'm his lawyer, was his lawyer, and now I'm the Deputy Attorney General. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, grilled by senators at his confirmation hearing Wednesday, over his ties to President Trump, his handling of the Epstein files, and his role in creating a $1.8 billion fund. for Trump to give to his allies, including January 6th insurrectionists. We'll speak to Seattle Congress member Primala Gialpo about Blanche, a vote by half the House

Democrats to strip U.S. military funding for Israel and her call for independent investigations into the killings of Johann Sebastian of Bitterford, Maine, and Lorenzo Salgado-Arajo in Houston by ICE agents. We'll also talk to a lawyer for Lorenzo's brother Victor. He was detained after witnessing his brother's killing. He now faces deportation. Then is the U.S. Iran war a forever war in the making? We'll speak with Ali Vez of the International Crisis Group.

And we look at the Trump administration's move to gut the Endangered Species Act. The group Earth Justice is suing. They're trying to let activities like, logging and oil drilling go forward, even if they'll destroy endangered species habitat, and even without taking the most basic measures to reduce that destruction. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman.

The U.S. has struck Iran for a fifth consecutive day targeting the capital, Tehran and port cities, including Bandaer Abbas, which is home to the headquarters of Iran's Navy. On Thursday morning, the U.S. fired on an oil tanker attempting to reach Harg Island in the Strait of Hormuz. In retaliation, Iran attacked Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. Iran's military warned if President Trump follows through on his threat to strike civilian infrastructure, it would strike all infrastructure across the Gulf. At least 35 civilians have been killed by U.S. strikes in recent days, according to Iranian authorities. This is President Trump speaking from Pennsylvania Wednesday. They want to settle so badly. They don't like what we're doing.

And they do want to settle. We'll find out whether or not we settle with them or we just finish it off. The Trump administration's internal estimate of the cost of the U.S. Israeli war on Iran has soared to as much as $100 billion, according to U.S. officials who spoke to NBC News. Meanwhile, Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, told U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth Wednesday, Israel's planning to keep its forces in so-called security zones in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. In Gaza, Israeli forces have killed four more people, including a child. Palestinian officials say an Israeli strike had an apartment building in Darabala in central Gaza,

killing Omar Abukhasa, his wife Asma, and their six-year-old daughter, Habiba. Their three-year-old son, Sami, was injured. This is a relative of him. the family. This poor innocent civilian family that has no connection to any military action is a neutral family who was sleeping. The children were sleeping in their mother's lap. This is how innocent civilians are bombed on these nights,

which are said to include a truce and peace. Since last October's so-called ceasefire, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians in Gaza. Israel's security cabinets approved nearly half a billion dollars in funding for 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. That's according to far-right Israeli finance Minister Bezal Smotrach. Under his tenure, 103 Israeli settlements have already been established in the occupied West Bank violating international law. This comes amidst growing Israeli settler violence against Palestinians and their property. This is Bezal Smotrich.

We are making sure that the decisions we have made regarding the legislation and establishment of the new settlements in Judea and Samaria will not remain on paper, but will become reality on the ground. We are approving one government budget decision after another, budgets for roads, budgets for infrastructure, and also budgets for constructions, caravans. On Capitol Hill, half of all Democrats voted Wednesday to support a measure slashing military funding to Israel. The amendment proposed by Republican Congressmember Thomas Massey it would have eliminated $3.3 billion in annual U.S. military assistance to Israel. The measure was ultimately defeated by House Republicans, along with Democratic minority leader

Hakeem Jeffries and caucus chair, Pete Aguilar, who vowed to continue funding Israel. But the House Democratic whip, Catherine Clark, supported Massey's amendment. She wrote in a statement, quote, we should not provide a blank check for military aid to any country that does not comply with U.S. law interests and values. The Netanyahu government has failed to meet that standard, she said. The former House Speaker, Congressmember Nancy Pelosi of California, also voted to cut off funding to Israel, saying Americans, quote, are rightly demanding an end to a perpetual cycle of war, and the Netanyahu government cannot maintain its current course, Pelosi said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony Wednesday from acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whom Trump has nominated to fill the role permanently. Democrats grilled Blanche over the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files, the Trump administration's so-called anti-weaponization fund, and President Trump's $100 million settlement, it's believed, with the IRS. Blanche was also questioned about serving as President Trump's personal lawyer. Are you in President Trump, France? I'm his lawyer.

was his lawyer, and now I'm the deputy attorney general. So I met him as his criminal defense attorney. I'm not sure there's very many people who have ever had a criminal defense attorney who calls that person their friend. Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas signaled he was undecided on Blanche. A no vote from Cornyn would effectively sink Blanche's nomination for Attorney General. President Trump's pick to replace Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence refused to say Wednesday whether Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Jake Clayton was testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee at his confirmation hearing. Here he is being questioned by Georgia Democrat, John Ossoff. You refuse to answer a simple matter of fact about the 2020 election. Is that right? No, that's not right.

Then answer the question. Who won the 2020 election? I have answered the question. Answer it. What is your answer? I've given you my answer. What is your answer? You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election, but you asked to lead America's intelligence community? Isn't it humiliating to be unable to answer this question, to have to indulge the president's delusions?

Jay Clayton also claimed not to know that his predecessor. Tulsi Gabbard, joined an FBI raid on an election center in Atlanta last year. And he defended President Trump's proposed $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund to compensate Trump allies and insurrectionists. Jay Clayton's the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York where he oversaw the Justice Department indictment to former Venezuela and President Nicolas Maduro on drug trafficking charges. Meanwhile, the New York Times filed a motion to quash subpoenas that Jay Clayton and the U.S. Attorney's Office of Manhattan served two New York Times journalists after they reported on security concerns involving President Trump's new plane donated to him by Qatar.

In a statement, the Times senior vice president, David McGrath, said, quote, we are going to court to defend our journalist rights to report freely on the administration and to provide the, public with stories that matter, he said. The subpoenas were delivered to four times journalists at their homes Friday to testify before a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York. The Pentagon's announced plans to screen the testosterone levels of service members over the age of 30 and will offer voluntary replacement therapy to those with low T scores. The initiative was announced Wednesday by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who's branded the Pentagon as the high-tie Department of War. I'm authorizing a new screening program for testosterone deficiency for our service members, ensuring you have the right testosterone levels to operate at your absolute

best. The Pentagon did not say whether women would be tested for testosterone or whether troops would be evaluated for other hormone deficiencies. This comes after Hegseth last year ordered a halt to all gender-affirming medical procedures for service members and removed openly transgender troops from the U.S. military. Hegseth has previously said women should not hold combat roles and has fired female leaders at the Pentagon while denying others' promotions. In Georgia, another prisoners died in the custody of ICE. that's immigration and customs enforcement. On Wednesday, I announced 45-year-old Venezuelan immigrant, Jesus Manuel Arenasilva,

was found unresponsive in a bus that was transporting him from one ice jail to another with a suspected cause of death listed as cardiac arrest. It's at least the 22nd such death this year alone. It comes as the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday, it would reverse plans to halt traffic stops following the shooting deaths of two immigrants by ICE agents in less than a week. The reversal came after President Trump wrote on social media, we cannot give up one of ICE's most important and effective crime fighting tools, the traffic stop, exclamation point, adding, it won't happen on my watch, Trump wrote.

About 100 million people in North America are under air quality alert. today as a thick blanket of smoke descends on cities from the upper Midwest to northeastern states. Overnight air quality readings reached hazardous levels in cities including Minneapolis, Detroit, and Toronto. Forecasters warn New York and many East Coast cities will spend another day under hazy orange skies. More than a thousand active fires are burning in Canada and dozens more in Minnesota. Meanwhile, more than a hundred million people from the plains to the East Coast.

host face heat advisories or extreme heat warnings today with a massive heat dome bringing triple-digit heat and record temperatures to many areas. And here in New York City, dozens of pro-Palestine activists gathered for a vigil to demand the release of Dr. Husama Bousafia, the director of Gaza's Kamil Edwin Hospital, who has been held in Israeli detention without charge since his abduction by Israeli troops 18 months. ago. International calls to free Dr. Abu Safia have been mounting over the past month as his family and lawyers say he's facing possible death due to torture and medical neglect. This is Pam Sporn, a member of New York City Jewish elders and Jewish Voice for Peace. We're out here today,

along with doctors against genocide to demand the release of Dr. Abu Safia, but also all Palestinian health care workers that are imprisoned in Israeli prisoners and also all Israeli detainees who are Palestinian. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the Warren Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. And I'm Nalmine Sheikh. Welcome to our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was grilled by senators during his confirmation hearing Wednesday to become Attorney General. Blanche previously served as President Trump's personal lawyer. He's headed the Justice Department on an acting basis since Trump fired Pam Bondi as Attorney General. It's unclear if Republicans have enough votes to confirm Blanche. During the hearing, outgoing Texas Senator John Cornyn blasted Blanche for his role in proposing a $1.8 billion fund for Trump to give to his allies, including January 6th insurrectionists. Republican Senator John Ken Kennedy of Louisiana, question Blanche about his ties to Trump. Are you in President Trump, France?

I'm his lawyer, was his lawyer, and now I'm the deputy attorney general. I'm his lawyer, was his lawyer. Blanche corrected himself. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin criticized Blanche for continuing to act as if he were Trump's personal attorney. In less than 18 months of the Department of Justice, you've shown you're still President Trump's personal attorney. Your tenure can be summed up in the four words you said, quote, I love you, sir, to President Trump. This was your response when you asked what you would say to him. This nation deserves an Attorney General who loves the Constitution more than any single president. An Attorney General focused on keeping America safe and combating corruption, not satisfying the President's personal grievances,

or channeling cryptocurrency to the administration's mega-faithful. During the Senate hearing, Blanche also faced questions about his handling of the Epstein files, and we'll hear his comments in a bit. But for more we're joined now from Washington, D.C., by Democratic Congressmember Pramilla Giala Giala of Washington State. She's just introduced a bill with Senator Cory Booker to protect Epstein survivors, whose personal information was improperly disclosed. during the Trump's DOJ's recent release of the Epstein files, which Blanche was in charge of.

But first, we want to go to the overall questioning of and the possibility that the acting, our interim attorney general, would become the attorney general. Your assessment of Todd Blanche, Congressmember Jayapal. Well, my assessment, Amy, is that he is not fit to be attorney general. He slipped and said what is true, that he acts as the press. president's personal attorney, not as the attorney general for the people of the United States. This is a very important position, and Donald Trump is putting his personal attorney in because he wants him to do all the things that Donald Trump wants to do. The political persecutions

that have been happening under Todd Blanche as acting attorney general, the cover up of the Epstein files, you have to ask, what is he hiding for the president, that he is not willing to come out and actually take responsibility for and prosecute the predators that are present throughout the Epstein ring. The slush fund, you know, that he negotiated. Now he says it's not going to happen. I don't believe him. I don't think there's anything in writing around that. The settlement with the IRS that he negotiated for Donald Trump himself. These are all indications of why he cannot be trusted as the top attorney for the people of the United States. He might be trusted as the top attorney for Donald Trump.

That's not the role of attorney general. He should not be confirmed. And Congressmember Jayapal, if you could clarify, there's been some reporting that suggests that in fact this confirmation hearing may be in part just symbolic because he could, in principle, be acting attorney general for the duration of Trump's term. Well, it's true that you can stay in.

as an acting. However, I do think that it would be a significant step if the Republicans did not have the votes to confirm him. And, you know, and I think that this is something that we need to fix. There is the possibility of people staying if they've been confirmed for another position. And then they can stay and transfer that confirmation into a new position. And so I think there's work to be done around that. But I do believe that John Cornyn, perhaps Tom Tillis, not clear to me from the questioning, who are now sort of cut loose because they won't be continuing in this position as senators, they might have the opportunity now to actually do what is right for the country. That is what I'm hoping for because I think once they refuse to confirm him, there's much more

opportunity for us to ensure that he doesn't continue in that position. And Congress Member Jepal, ahead of Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing, the group World Without Exploitation released this video featuring Epstein survivors calling on senators to reject Blanche's nomination because of his role in disclosing their personal information while protecting the names of alleged abusers during the Department of Justice's release of records related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. My name was released. My phone number was released.

Where I went to school. Where I live. My students can now search me and read about my abuse. I am an Epstein survivor. I am an Epstein survivor. I am an Epstein survivor. We were exposed. Nude pictures of victims were released.

Our family's safety was put at risk. Now Todd Blanche wants to be the Attorney General of the United States. Todd Blanche had a duty to protect us. Instead, he protected the people. committed crimes against us. 30 years, 1,200 victims, and 6 million files. A mountain of evidence. But Todd Blanche says there are no investigative leads.

Todd Blanche failed us. He failed victims everywhere. We deserve better. Our country deserves better. Vote no on Todd Blanche for Attorney General. Vote no. No. No. Vote no.

Vote no on Todd Blanche for Attorney General. And several of Epstein's accusers were, in fact, seated in the Senate gallery during the hearing. And at the hearing, Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin had a heated exchange with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on whether he would commit to personally meeting with Epstein survivors. There are 10 individuals who were exploited and abused by Mr. Epstein. They are here today. None of them have had a chance to speak to anyone in the department or FBI, though they've asked repeatedly. So can I get your word under oath?

that within the next 30 days, you will personally sit down with these 10 victims and hear their case in terms of what needs to be done by the Department of Justice? Chairman, I appreciate them being here today. I also have somebody from my office who's spent her entire career working on cases like Mr. Epstein. She's in charge of our task force investigating human trafficking. She's available to talk to them. She can sit right next to you. She can sit right next to you when you meet with these survivors. I have never said I will not meet with survivors. Will you meet with these 10 survivors? I'm asking you on the record. If they have lawyers, as you know, I'm prohibited from meeting directly with them.

I think you ought to be in the room because you ought to hear this. You had singular responsibility for these files. There is a delay in meeting the statutory requirement of disclosure. You were involved in that. I think you ought to be part of this. I am definitely part of it. And I have been from day one. And Congress member, JAPL, you've just introduced

a bill with Senator Cory Booker to protect Epstein survivors whose personal information was improperly disclosed during the Trump DOJ's recent release of the Epstein files. So if you could talk about what exactly you've called for. Yes, we just introduced the Redact Act. And this comes really from the whole experience of the Epstein survivors over the last year and a half under this Trump administration DOJ and Todd Blanche's overseeing. And you might remember that when Pam Bondi, then the attorney general, was before us in the judiciary committee where I sit, I did the first line of questioning. And the most powerful moment was when I asked the survivors to stand up and they all stood up behind Pam Bondi. And I asked Pam Bondi to turn and to acknowledge them and to

apologize for the fact that the Department of Justice, under her leadership and Todd Blanche's leadership, he was really the one who was managing the Epstein files. They're both responsible. They released the names of these survivors. They released personal information. And in some cases, the survivors had not even told their families about the abuse that they had experienced at the hands of these powerful predators and criminals in the Epstein ring. And at the same, at the same, time that their personal information was released, they also redacted that Todd Blanche and Pam Bondi redacted the names of the powerful predators, which was clearly both things were against the Epstein Transparency Act. The damage that was done out of the release of that personal information,

their addresses, their phone numbers, pictures of them, all of the details of the abuse that they had suffered, they have not had any way to get recompense for that. And so the Redact Act essentially allows survivors a private right of action to sue the Department of Justice, including for monetary damages, because their information was released. I have spent hours and hours and hours with the survivors. I've gotten to know them incredibly well. They are so brave, courageous. They are taking so many risks in continuing to stand up. They are inspiring people across the country to stand up and speak out about the abuse that other women have experienced at the hands of traffickers and predators. And it is really remarkable to me that to this day,

they have not been able to sit down with Todd Blanche. And I will just say also that after that hearing, I was invited to meet with Pam Bondi because she had personally spied on me and had a document that showcased the files that I had looked at when I was reviewing the Epstein files. And so I made a, you know, I made a big stink about it. I mean, this is a big deal, Congressman Jaya Paul, just to explain for people that you're to understand, you have to go into a room and look at the files and they were filming you. they were surveilling you looking at the files? They were surveilling me, not with film,

but what they did is they had a password protected account. So you had to sign in. And what they did is they downloaded my search history. And I only found out, Amy, because a photographer, and I think it was AP photographer, took a picture of her binder when she was testifying. And it said, Representative Primaela Giaepaul's search history,

And it had all of the files that I had looked at documented on that piece of paper. So, yes, they were surveilling members of Congress and what we searched for in preparation for her hearing before us on the Judiciary Committee. So I met with her. It was supposed to be one-on-one. And, of course, Todd Blanche walks in five minutes after. I spent an hour with both of them, and I grilled them. on the surveillance of members of Congress and also on all of the things that they had done to hurt survivors and to protect the president.

And I have to tell you, Todd Blanche was responsible for all of that. It was very clear to me that he was the one who was making the decisions, who was acting essentially as the president's personal attorney in redacting the names of powerful predators and allowing for the release of the names of these. victims who of these survivors. He really, I think, wanted to discourage anyone else from coming forward with more information. He failed at that. They are continuing to come forward. It's just another reason why he shouldn't be a big reason why he shouldn't be the Attorney General. We only have a few minutes when we want to get to the testosterone tests of service members. We want to

get to ICE. But first, Congress member, Jayapal, I want to ask you about Israel. On Wednesday, you joined over 100 other Democrats, that's more than half the Democrats who voted, to support a measure slashing military funding to Israel, the amendment proposed by Republican Congressmember Thomas Massey would eliminate $3.3 billion in annual U.S. military assistance to Israel. Notable Democrats voting to cut the funding included the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. talk about the significance of this shift, more than half the Democrats who voted, voted to end military funding of Israel except for the Iron Dome? It is a sea change, Amy. As you know, I was one of the first Democrats to call for

ending military assistance to call out the genocide in Gaza that is being perpetrated by the Israeli government, to call out the violence in the West Bank by the IDF and by settlers. And this is the first time in Congress where members of Congress, over half of the Democratic caucus, has responded to the pleas and the cries and the energy and organizing across the country to stop using our taxpayer dollars to send more bombs to kill children in Gaza and to commit this genocide. And so it is really significant. I don't think, sadly, I think this only was possible because the genocide occurred. That's something that our colleague Rashid Tiliq said.

And it sticks with me every moment that I talk about this issue because, you know, it is the horror of what has unfolded that has finally allowed us to confront the fact that we should not be using taxpayer dollars to send to Israel to perpetrate this kind of violence. So the fact that over half of the Democratic caucus voted for this, I think sends a new member. message to Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government that they are not going to continue to get this kind of assistance. Delia Ramirez's bill that I co-lead called Block the Bombs now has over 80 co-sponsors on it and that blocks any offensive weapons funding to Israel. So I think we are moving forward and I want people across the country to know that they're organizing matters. Their voices matter. And yesterday you saw it in this vote in Congress. Congress. Well, we want to go to the issue now of testosterone. The Pentagon has announced plans to

screen the testosterone levels of service members over the age of 30 and will offer voluntary replacement therapy to those with a low T score. The initiative was announced Wednesday by Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth, who's branded the Pentagon as the High T Department of War. It's not clear what will happen to women in the military. This comes after Hegsett last year ordered a halt to all gender-affirming medical procedures for service members and removed openly transgender troops from the U.S. military. So, Congress member Jayapal, if you could comment on that, I mean, even medical professionals who concede that there might be some loss of muscle mass, et cetera, in men after the age

of 30, say that there is a very high risk of young men taking testosterone, becoming infertile, and also increasing cardiovascular health, the risks. Yes, this is, I mean, it would be absurd and laughable if it wasn't so serious on many counts. Number one, the medical issues that you have identified with forcing people to take testosterone. Number two, the hypocrisy in banning trans service members and then prescribing testosterone for members of the military. clear whether that's male members or male and female members. Number three, the idea that, you know, yesterday in judiciary, we had an anti-trans bill that essentially criminalizes gender affirming care. Well, providing testosterone is actually gender affirming care. If it was

under consent of the individuals who were there, there are situations where it is prescribed with a doctor. This is what providing gender affirming care is. is. And so while they are attacking trans people for getting gender affirming care, they are at the same time imposing this requirement for testosterone on members of the military. And I warned my Republican colleagues yesterday in committee, they better watch what they vote for because this kind of intrusive behavior where the government is getting involved in prescribing what medication you do or don't take without your consent, without the consent of doctors, the screening, invasive screenings of people to determine what their hormone levels are? Are they actually male? I asked my colleagues on judiciary to think about if they want to have their testosterone levels checked and testosterone provided.

So there's so many hypocrisies and absurdities about this, but it is dangerous. So not only a high tea department of war, but a high tea Congress. Imagine that. Let's turn to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. And last week's fatal shooting by ICE of two men, one in Texas and Houston, one in Biddeford, Maine, one from Mexico, one from Colombia. Congress member Jayapal, you just spearheaded a letter to DHS and I, signed by almost 200 members of Congress, almost entire. Democratic Caucus demanding accountability for the killings of Lorenzo Sagado, Arawo, and Houston, and Johan Sebastian in Biddeford, Maine. What exactly are you demanding? And here you have

Susan Collins running for Senate again, who approved unfettered tens of billions of dollars to go to the Department of Bureau Protection and ICE. And yet still, in both of these cases, And in so many others, there are no body cam footage. There are no body cams that these men are wearing, the ICE agents. Amy, this, what ICE is doing is absolutely horrific and unacceptable. And, you know, it's hard to even look at these videos and not be in tears about the fact that there is a Trump militia roaming our streets, our towns, our cities, killing people regardless of immigrants. status with absolutely no accountability. And there have been at least six killings, murders of people in ICE-related enforcement activities. And the latest two with Lorenzo Salgado Arajo

and Johann Sebastian Guerrero in Maine and in Texas are a continuation of this. So our letter demands independent investigations. We do not trust DHS. DHS. DHS, comes out and says that somebody is weaponizing the vehicle. That's what they said in the case of Lorenzo Salgado. That is clearly not true from the video footage. It's also what they said in the case of Renee Good, where there was absolutely no accountability. In the case of Johann Sebastian Guerrero, they don't even claim that the officer was trying to protect his own safety, that he feared for his own safety. They essentially say he feared for public safety, and that's why he fired multiple times into the vehicle, killing

Yuan Sebastian Guerrero, leaving behind a wife and a young child. So in both of these cases, what we got almost 200 Democrats to say, almost the entire Democratic caucus, remarkable effort in less than 24 hours that shows the urgency that we feel around demanding accountability,

independent investigations, sharing of information, a refusal to deport the witness that are there in Lorenzo Salgado Arrajo's case, there were three witnesses in the car with Lorenzo Salgado. And they were picked up by ICE, put into detention, and put into removal proceedings so that ICE could deport them out of the country before they can testify. And so we have demanded a series of things, including we want to know, why are they not wearing body camera, any of them wearing body cameras when DHS has just been given $210 billion in funding by Republicans and Donald Trump.

They still don't have body cameras. And in addition, it is clear to me that they are either not getting training or getting training to shoot directly at people, to murder people in the streets, which is, you know, just outrageous. And so we've also asked for information about exactly what training they are undergoing. But to me, Amy, this all says that I should not exist as it exists. There is no reason for this kind of criminal activity and the fact that they have deportation quotas. 2,000 people every day that they're supposed to deport.

That is the root cause of what is leading to this Trump militia in our streets. Well, I also want to bring into the conversation, Ruby Powers. She's an immigration attorney representing Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's younger brother, Victor Salgado Arauj. Victor witnessed the killing of his own brother by an ICE agent in Houston. At the time of the shooting, Lorenzo was driving Victor and two other men to a construction job site. After the ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo, immigration agents detained Victor and the two other men. They now all face deportation.

Ruby Powers joins us now from Houston. Welcome to the program, Ruby. If you could talk about you spoke to your client, Victor, at a detention center. on Saturday, if you could tell us what he said and also the implications of the three witnesses to this homicide now facing deportation proceedings. Yes, thank you. I've met with him multiple times since Friday, and just him giving you the details of what happened that day are very shocking and horrific.

And even more reports have been coming out about how the violation of policing policies that happened, especially with unart marks, vehicles and shooting into a vehicle. But he gave me a detailed account of the pursuit that was done by the on-marked vehicles. And then later, being on the side of the road, an agent, which they didn't know at the time was an agent, getting out of the vehicle, walking up to the passenger side, yelling, stop, and then shooting through an opened window on the passenger side, which passed right by my client, Victor, and unfortunately hit Lorenzo. Then they looked around. Victor thought he had been shot the loud sound in his ear of the bullet of the gunshot. And then Lorenzo was bleeding

and holding his side. Soon after, that was only then when the door was opened, Victor's door that he saw on the lanyard ice on the agent's body. And that is. when he realized it was ice. They had never announced themselves. There was no indication that it was ice. And then a victor and the other witnesses were put on the side and handcuffed. And my client was on his knees with his hands behind his back with handcuffs. And he saw that his brother was in need of care. He yelled out in his broken English, call for help, help my brother. In anguish, he saw that it took 20 to 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. And then the, um, the, my client and the others were were shuttled off from vehicle to vehicle with chains on their feet and handcuffed,

and eventually sent to the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, which they are still there to this day. This is absolutely horrifying that Victor is now in detention, faces deportation, grieving his brother's death, which he witnessed as the family now is preparing for a funeral. Now, Congress member Jayapol just talked about getting the special visa, a witness visa. Ruby Powers, talk about the significance of this, which would mean that the witnesses cannot be deported to other countries. Yeah. So there is an S visa, which is not the one we're pursuing at the moment, but that is one for those who cooperate with law enforcement. There's also the U visa, which is a victim of a crime.

or it can be in circumstances having information of a being a witness and a key witness. But going and going back to your point, yes, I mean, when they got detained, they immediately got put in immigration proceedings. And my client has a hearing next week. So just as you're explaining, he's grieving. There's a visitation today and his family's coming in from Mexico and around the country. we're fighting for his stay here in the country, but we've had cooperation with the Harris County District Attorney

for a U visa certification, so we're very grateful in working and pursuing all avenues. And then at the same time, he wants to be accessible as a witness, and it's really hard for him to do that when he's 45 minutes away from Houston in basically a jail to be accessible to multiple agencies in this investigation. Well, Ruby, we just have 20 seconds. But could you clarify if the witnesses are deported, can they not testify?

Well, I think it would be a very fettered situation. They can try to testify in various ways. But the thing is, there's like almost six or so investigations going on. And this could take years. And so being able to, and we don't want any retaliation in any sort in any way. So being able to be in the United States freely to be able to give that testimony is what we're asking for transparency. and for due process. Ruby Powers, want to thank you for being with us, immigration attorney, representing Lorenzo

Salgado's younger brother, Victor, who's in detention right now. There will be an open viewing of the body to this afternoon in Houston. Democracy Now will cover this right through the funeral on Saturday and all that develops beyond. I also want to thank Congressmember Pramilla Gyal, Democratic Congress Member from Seattle from Washington State. Coming up, is the U.S. Iran War a

forever war in the making? We'll speak to Ali Valles of the International Crisis Group. Back in 30 seconds. It's times like these. I wish I couldn't keep you tucked within the corners of my mind.

Still today, I wish I never claimed to. Walk a straight line any time I like. I want if I called you, would it be to say I love you? Hasn't in broken since I told you. Rapture by Cassie Velazzo performing at the Brooklyn Folk Festival. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. the War and Peace to report. I'm Amy Goodman with Narmine Shea. The U.S. has struck Iran for a fifth

consecutive day, targeting the capital Tehran and port cities, including Bandarabas, which is home to the headquarters of Iran's Navy. Earlier today, the U.S. fired on an oil tanker attempting to reach Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz. In retaliation, Iran attacked Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. Iran's military warned that if President Trump follows through on his threat to strike civilian infrastructure, it would strike all infrastructure across the Gulf. At least 35 civilians have been killed by U.S. strikes in recent days, according to Iranian authorities. For more, we go to Ali Vaya, senior advisor to the president of the International Crisis Group, where he's also Iran Project Director. His piece for the New York Times this week is headlined, this is a forever

war in the making. Ali, explain. Good to see you, Amy. So what I meant by saying that this is a forever war in the making is that Iran and the U.S. had a ceasefire agreement on April 8. It took them almost another two months to reach a memorandum of understanding, which was really a basic formula for ending the war and reopening the strait of foremost. They decided in that page and a half document, which only has 14 paragraphs, to, address the essential, which was ending the war, and differ all the substantial issues about how to resolve the nuclear standoff or provide Iran with more substantive sanctions relief. So this was really the minimal that they could do, and it took them more than two months to negotiate it. But then in implementation, that MOU has almost fallen apart in less than three

weeks. So if even a minimal understanding is not going to work between Iran and the U.S., it means that no floor would basically be able to bear the weight of this animosity, and that means that we are going to end up in cyclical cycles of violence. It might be limited to tithwit, it might be all-out confrontations. But if we cannot resolve this diplomatically, then there is only one formula that remains, which is the continuation of the conflict in one form or another. And, Ali, in the New York Times piece, you point in particular to the fifth paragraph of the memorandum of understanding. If you could explain what that was, what it said, and why it was ambiguous in terms of

what implementation was required by both sides. Right. So Article 5 of the MOU is really a master class. in diplomatic malpractice, because you might at times decide to have some constructive ambiguity in the text in order to get the two sides to the finish line and sign on to the document. But then you have to resolve those differences in interpretation, otherwise that constructive ambiguity becomes destructive. And this is precisely what has happened. Paragraph five basically allowed, it says that it would be Iran's responsibility to reopen the

the Strait of Formos and bring the traffic back to where it was prior to Israeli-U.S. aggression against Iran in late February. It doesn't name any other country. It doesn't talk about a northern corridor, which is in Iran's territorial waters, or the southern corridor, which is in Oman's territorial waters. It just says Iran will do its best efforts to reopen the straits. Now, Iranians took that as U.S. recognition of their control. over the Strait of Formos.

The U.S. saw that as Iran opening the northern corridor and the middle corridor, which is the international waterway that Iran claims that it has mined. And then the U.S. would be able to open a southern corridor in Oman's territorial waters as an alternative to Iranian-controlled transit routes. Now, obviously, Iran saw this as a U.S. attempt to try to erode Iranian level. It warned Qatar and Oman and other countries that were using that transit drought, and it eventually started firing at vessels that were going through that drought. And that is what has started the conflict, which, again, is quite a tragic irony because

the MOU was negotiated to finish the war, not that it becomes a pretext for another round of war. Well, it is extraordinary, as you say in the piece, that the war has now. become entirely about the control of this straight, which is an outcome of the war and not a cause of it. So if you could talk about that to begin with, and then the fact that the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Trump hosted a meeting in the situation room where among the possibilities that were discussed with respect to Iran was the potential seizure of Kahlg Island and the potential bombing of a tunnel complex at Pickaxe Mountain.

If you could respond to that. Sure. So you're absolutely right. Before the war, and in the 47-year history of U.S.-Iran animosity, the strait of almost was always open. Iran had never shut it down until it faced an existential threat from U.S. and Israel. And now this conflict has become entirely about reopening of the strait. But let's also be honest about what has happened here,

because I think even within the White House, there is not clear recognition of how elements of this same Trump administration have tried to undermine the president's agenda. The U.S. representative to the UN, Mike Waltz, negotiated this. southern corridor with the International Matter of Time Organization. I think precisely aimed at undermining the MOU that Vice President Vance had negotiated in the same way that Secretary Rubio negotiated an agreement between the government of Lebanon and Israel, which undermined another article of the MOU, Article 1 of the MOU,

because in a way it implicitly recognized Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, as long as his bullet is not disarm. So this is not just, you know, some in Iran see it as a division of labor, but I do believe that it's just divisions within the Trump administration that is responsible for this situation, you know, instead of the MOU becoming a confidence-building exercise, it has turned into the exact opposite. We just have a minute left, but I want to ask you about this,

new news out of CNN, that the U.S. military hasn't conducted, the standard review of intelligence tied to the strike on the girls' school in Minab, that killed over 175 people. They're saying it sat for months with a military command while leaders have held off on ordering critical standard intelligence review. President Trump was interviewed on Fox News, and he, remember, over 160 little girls going to school around that number died. And Trump is now saying the fact that a U.S. Tomahawk missile was used might be

AI? Well, that is really one of the most tragic things that happened in this war, and the Pentagon hasn't really taken responsibility. And I would say, Amy, that this is one of the main reasons that the U.S. lost the battle for hearts and minds in Iran, because the U.S. was supposed to go to the rescue of the Iranian protesters, not to target civilians and not take responsibility for it. And, Ali, finally, you end your piece by proposing a means for the U.S. Iran to transcend this impasse, if you could just say what you propose, and also just say a little bit about what the situation in Iran is like, where reportedly inflation is nearing 90%. But so, look, there is really no military solution to reopening the strait other than the U.S.

occupying the entire southern shoreline of Iran, which would come at a very high cost in terms of American blood and treasure, and it's not even sustainable because at the end of the day, Iranians could continue firing drones and missiles into the strait from much more further inland. So there is really no military solution. The best solution is for both sides to agree to return to the MOU and to respect its terms. Iran had already returned 50% of the traffic of the strait back to normal in the first week of the MOU's implementation if there was no insistence on opening a southern corridor. Now, there could be a joint coordination center between Iran and the GCC so that both sides of the Gulf have control over what's coming in and going out. It wouldn't be

just Iranian control. And that is something that I do believe that the Iranians can live with. We want to thank you so much, Alia, senior advisor to the president of the International Crisis Group. We'll link to your new piece in the New York Times. This is a forever war in the making. And on that Minab school in southern Iran where over 170 people were killed, they were little boys and girls coming up. We look at the Trump administration's move to gut the Endangered Species Act, back in 15 seconds. I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night, your 10 years dead.

I never died, says we never died, says he. Joan Baez singing Joe Hill. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Mimi Goodmo with Nerman Schehe. We turn now to the latest effort by the Trump administration to dramatically weaken the Endangered Species Act, a bedrock of successful U.S. conservation for more than 50 years. The Interior and Commerce Departments announced a rule change last week that would reinterpret the word harm in the language of the law to no longer include destruction of habitat where endangered species live.

This change will open previously protected areas to development, oil drilling, and other extractive industry. Conservation groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, Oregon Wild, and others are now suing the Trump administration over the rule change. They're being represented by Earth Justice. So we go to Earth Justice now, Senior Attorney Ben Levitin. Ben, lay out your case. What is the lawsuit based on? What is this change? Yeah, thanks for having me, Amy.

we at Earth Justice filed suit because the Trump administration is trying to eliminate one of the most important tools that we have for saving species from extinction. They are trying to say that destroying a species habitat does not count as harming it under the Endangered Species Act. Now, the Endangered Species Act is a landmark law for protecting the natural world. It was passed almost unanimously by Congress in 1973, signed by President. Richard Nixon, supported by majorities in both parties. And it has always recognized that in order to save endangered species, they need to have a place to live. And that's such an important national commitment that we made in that statute. It's like a statement that we are not going to

let the web of life unravel on our watch. And what we're seeing from the Trump administration now is just a total repudiation of the premise. that endangered species need places to have shelter, to have food, to raise their young. They're saying that if a company wants to drill for oil and destroy the last patch of land that an endangered species needs to live on, that's totally fine. Go ahead. They're saying that if someone wants to log a forest, that's the last place where an endangered owl can live. That's fine. And it's so inconsistent with the premise of the Endangered Species Act and the commitment that we've made not to drive species to extinction. And it's that violation of the law, that just complete undermining of the statute that has governed our management of natural resources and species for more than 50 years.

That is the cause of our lawsuit. We're just determined to restore the protections that these species need. And finally, you know, an intergovernmental body of leading scientists has found, of course, exactly echoes what you're saying, that changing or degrading animal habitats is the top reason for biodiversity loss around the world. Also earlier this year, the Trump administration voted to exempt oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from measures to protect endangered whales and species at. risk. So, Ben, if you could just say, what are you hoping will come out of this case? Yeah, absolutely. That's an important point. Habitat destruction is the biggest driver of extinction.

So if you aren't protecting against habitat destruction, I mean, that's a loophole. It's not a big enough word to say what that does to the framework for conserving endangered species. That is just contrary to the entire project and commitment that we have. And so what we are hoping is that the Trump administration's latest action where they have just deleted the definition of the word harm from their regulations for the Endangered Species Act will be reversed. And what the statute requires, which is the conservation of species habitat, will be recognized by the Trump administration. We want to thank you, Ben Leviton, for joining us. Senior Attorney at Earth Justice, the group has sued the Trump administration. to preserve the Endangered Species Act.

That does it for our show. I'll be in Kansas City this weekend, July 17th and 18th, in Overland Park at the Glenwood Arts Cinema. They'll be showing the film about Democracy Now called Steal the Story, Please. I'll be there doing the Q&A with the directors, Tia Lesson and Carl Deal. Friday night at 7 p.m. and Saturday at the 4 o'clock matinee and the 7 p.m. evening screening of steal this story, please. You can go to our website at DemocracyNow.org. We'll be celebrating KKFI Community Radio and Kansas City PBS. We hope you can join us in Overland Park in Kansas City. That does it for our show. Welcome back to Mike Burke, the Angelic Comet, Miss I,

Rhodes, I'm Amy Goodman with Nermaine Shea.