Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2026-09-23 Wednesday

Episode Date: September 23, 2026

Headlines for September 23, 2026; “New Low in U.N. History”: Trita Parsi on Trump’s Threat to Annihilate Iran at General Assembly; Bernie Sanders: The World Is “Moving in the Wrong Direction” on War, Climate, Inequality & AI Tech; Nepali Activist at U.N. Rally Calls for Climate Justice After Deadly Glacier Floods Kill Thousands; “Secretary of Measlesland”: Dr. Paul Offit Slams RFK Jr.’s Handling of Deadly Measles Outbreak

From New York, this is Democracy Now. Together, let's send a clear message from these all. The fighting must stop. But I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly? As United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez calls for peace in the Middle East, President Trump uses his UN address to threaten Iran with annihilation.

Trump also bragged about seizing Venezuela's oil. We'll speak to the Iranian-American analyst, Trita Parcy of the Quincy of the Quincy Institute. Then Senator Bernie Sanders gives a major address at the historic Riverside Church in New York on war oligarchy and the dangers of AI. If the lives of every man, woman, and child are going to be fundamentally changed by this technology, then the people of our country and the people of this world must make the decisions regarding AI, not just a handful of big tech oligas. We'll speak also with a Nepali activist taking part. part in a rally outside the United Nations. Just weeks after catastrophic flooding left almost

8,000 people dead or missing, the world's latest climate disaster. Plus, 2026 is the deadliest year for measles in the United States since the disease was declared eliminated more than a quarter of a century ago. In Pennsylvania, four people have died of measles over the past month. We'll speak to Dr. Paul Offutt with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. His recent piece, RFK Jr. Secretary of Measles Land. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the Warren Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Tuesday, President Trump called for the annihilation of Iran. After his threat, Trump told reporters, U.S. officials had a Very good three-hour meeting with Iranian leaders. Iranian state media confirmed foreign minister of Basaragchi met with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Whitkoff on the sidelines of the UNGA earlier on Tuesday. Ahead of the meeting, Iran again stated its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which include immediately lifting the naval blockade, releasing all frozen Iranian assets,

and ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon. This is President Trump speaking at the UN General Assembly Tuesday. But I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? Maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world. Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Fighting in Yemen has reportedly left up to 169 people dead as the Iran-backed Huthi's clash with Saudi-supported government troops over key areas along the Red Sea coast, driving thousands from their homes. More than 3,000 people have fled Yemen by boat across the Red Sea to Djibouti, as the fighting has displaced more than 130,000 people this month, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

This is a displaced Yemeni woman in Djibouti. Ten years ago, we came here for safety because of the war back home. Thank God we stayed for some years. Peace came to our country and we went back, hoping we would live in peace. But now we have been forced to cross the Red Sea again, so we don't have any peace. Ahead of his trip to the UN General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video on social media blasting New York City mayor, Zoran Mamdani, who had called for Netanyahu's arrest.

for war crimes in Gaza. Shame on you, Mr. Mamdani. Shame on you for supporting the Hamas terrorist monsters who butchered our people. Shame on you for inciting riots against New York Jews. I'm coming to the UN. I'm going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I'm going to tell the truth about you.

Mayor Mamdani has not expressed support for Hamas, and while he's repeatedly pledged to enforce a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court to arrest Netanyahu. Mayor Mamdani recently clarified he does not have the authority to do so. This is the mayor responding to Netanyahu's video. What we do know to actually be the truth when it comes to the prime minister is that he is the subject of an international criminal court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes and crimes

against humanity. And as the prime minister, he is the architect of a horrific genocide against Palestinians. and that just a few days ago, his military killed an 11-year-old boy in what is deemed to be a safe zone. The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to address the UN General Assembly on Thursday. Brazil's president, Luis Anasya Lula de Silva, used his address at the UN General Assembly to warn against attempts to interfere in Brazil's upcoming elections scheduled for October 4th. According to the polls, Lula's currently in a statistical tie with the right-wing candidate, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who is the son of the former right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro. Lula's comments come as the U.S. imposed two new rounds of tariffs on Brazilian goods back in July, exerting economic pressure ahead of elections. This is Lula speaking at the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday.

Democracy is once again under threat. we witness once more foreign interference in electoral processes. The geography proximity to the world's greatest military power is inescapable, especially in the context of renewed hegemonic temptations. Brazil does not fit in anyone's backyard. Republican Senator John Curtis of Utah has called for an investigation into President Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. The senator wrote a letter to a Senate panel.

calling for a probe into businesses owned by Don Jr. and payments made by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlin for Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding celebrations in the Bahamas this year. In 2010, Kremlin changed his last name to Kremlin, which means the Kremlin's man. In the letter, Senator Curtis wrote, quote, These reports raised legitimate questions about foreign access to members of a sitting president's family and whether such relationships can create actual or perceived expectations of favorable treatment. They also may create expectations of a return favor that could even create national security vulnerabilities, unquote. Last week, President Trump

told a reporter that Donald Trump Jr. had paid back the Russian oligarch. ProPublica is reporting the FBI had been investigating Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins' role in the alleged bribery scheme, but the investigation abruptly ended after President Trump won re-election. The allegations surround Martin Kahl, the former CEO of Naval Technology Manufacturer Navitek, who allegedly donated money to lawmakers in exchange for them funneling defense contracts to his company. ProPublica described Collins as the most important lawmaker who was named in the alleged scheme. ProPublica reports Cal provided $150,000 contribution to Collins Super PAC through a shell company shortly after meeting with the PAC's top official. Senator Collins chairs, the Senate Appropriations Committee, and allegedly steered millions in military contracts to Navitek. According to ProPublica, Collins allegedly met with Cowan in person and made clear, she expected him to pay her back in exchange for the contracts his company was getting.

Cow reportedly told the FBI, Colin said in a meeting, quote, you've seen me deliver, unquote. The Justice Department is backing President Trump's ban on CNN, MS Now, and Politico from the White House. In a court filing, Trump's DOJ, call the news outlets access a privilege, not a right, and cited now. national security concerns. CNN, MS now and political have sued the Trump administration, claiming their First Amendment rights have been violated by Trump's ban. A hearing is scheduled for today. A federal judge in Colorado's ordered the Trump administration to return a Honduran immigrant deported to the Central African Republic back to the United States. Brian Omar Sanchez-Servillon was deported a month ago as part of President Trump's secretive third

country agreements with dozens of nations. Since Trump returned to office, an estimated 25,000 immigrants have been deported to third countries they have no ties to. This comes as ICE has reportedly stopped disclosing the locations of thousands of jailed immigrants who face final orders of removal, making it much harder for attorneys and family members to track them down. In Texas, a federal judge is granted emergency request to temporarily block the deportation of Wilbur Rafael Gassas Perez, who is being held in a ice jail with a bullet still lodged in his back. The 28-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker was delivering food for DoorDash on Sunday when he was shot in the torso by an ice agent.

Perez has been transferred between ICE detention and the hospital multiple times in his lost movement on his left side. He was returned to an ice jail in Pearsall about 135 miles south of Austin on Tuesday, according to Perez's lawyer. Texas Congress members Greg Casar and Joaquin Castro are reportedly planning to visit Perez today. A grand jury declined to bring charges in the case of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old black college athlete whose body was found in July on a barrier island in Mississippi. Wells vanished after taking a boat to the island with a group of white friends over the July 4th holiday.

His body was recovered several days later. His family and advocates continued to demand for a full investigation and the release of the state medical examiner's autopsy report. Kristen Clark, General Counsel of the NAACP, said in a statement, quote, The results of the grand jury investigation leave Nolan's family in the public with far more questions than answers. Make no mistake, we'll continue to stand with Nolan's family and use every tool available in the quest to uncover the full truth surrounding his tragic death, Christian Clark said. At least six major hospitals in the U.S. reach formal agreements with President Trump's Justice Department to stop providing gender affirming care to transgender youth.

That's according to the New York Times, which reports the hospitals include NYU Langone Health in New York, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and Connecticut Children's Hospital. Many of the deals hadn't been made public until now and also include thousands of dollars in payments from the hospitals to the federal government. Raquel Willis, executive director of the gender liberation movement, told the New York Times, quote, it's devastating to watch one-by-one health care institutions that once cared for trans youth turn their backs on them, unquote. And in Labor news, Doordash has agreed to pay $131.5 million in a historic settlement reach with New York City that will impact more than a quarter of a million workers who were underpaid or not paid by the food delivery app. This is the largest worker settlement in New York City history and the largest settlement involving food delivery workers in the United States.

most of the delivery workers are immigrants. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now. Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. And I'm Anjali Kometh. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world. At the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez reiterated his call for peace in the Middle East.

Across the Middle East, conflicts are escaped. So-called ceasefires have amounted to little more than lesser fires, with civilians continuing to pay the price. Enough is enough. I appeal to the leaders in this chamber to maximize this high-level week for de-escalation and dialogue. And together let's send a clear message from these all. The fighting must stop. Shortly after the Secretary General spoke before the United Nations General Assembly, President Trump took to the stage and openly threatened to annihilate Iran. But I have a big decision to make.

Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world. Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we'll make a deal right after the election because it doesn't make sense for them not to.

They're waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don't realize is that I'm not running. I did that already and won in a landslide. We won in a giant landslide. And I'll be here for two and a half years. Trump's remarks came as U.S. and Iranian officials met privately for three hours on the sidelines of the General Assembly. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witt. took part in the talks. Iran's president, Masoud Peseshkian, told reporters that Iran is wary of further

negotiations, having twice been attacked by the U.S. and Israel in the middle of talks. Pezeshkiyan will be addressing the United Nations today. During his speech on Tuesday, President Trump also boasted about seizing Venezuela's oil after the U.S. attacked Venezuela and abducted President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. We signed the largest oil deal in history covering 65 billion barrels of oil, which will benefit both Venezuela and the United States enormously and help drive down the cost of energy all over the world. And that is starting to perk right now. It's coming out. The biggest oil companies in the world are going in. And the numbers are absolutely incredible. when you add the United States and Venezuela together, we have more than 60% of the oil in the world. So it's perhaps the biggest deal.

It was a war, but it's perhaps the biggest deal ever made. To the victor, belong to the spoils. You've all heard that. Well, for more on Trump's UN speech, we're joined now by Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Trita, welcome to our studio here in New York, your first time here. As you deal with the UN General Assembly this week, can you first start off by talking about Trump's threat to annihilate Iran? This is unfortunately the language that Trump keeps on using. I think in his mind it gives him the impression or leaves the impression that he's in control of the situation, that he's dictating terms, that he is winning. I don't think that is how it. it is read by others. I think the Iranians see this and I think they said

so as much that this is a sign of his desperation because seven months into this war, there still is no exit and Trump is increasingly facing what could end up becoming an endless war. And he has not achieved a single one of his strategic objectives.

And the more the situation gets bad, the harsher his rhetoric tends to become. But this is probably a new low in UN history to actually have a president, a head of states, threatened the annihilation of another regime at the podium in the General Assembly. And, Trita, just a few hours after making these comments threatening to annihilate Iran,

President Trump also told reporters that his negotiating team had very good three-hour meetings with the Iranian team. What do we know about that meeting? What was discussed? So this is something that Qataris in particular had worked very, very hard. to broker. It was an indirect meeting, so they were not sitting in the same room, even though they had been in the past. So there's a slight return to diplomacy, but it is not at the same level as it was before in which the two sides were talking directly to each other. But it is nevertheless an important attempt of bringing the two sides back to the table, but it does not appear to have generated any real breakthrough. The two sides are too far away from each other on substantive

issues it appears. Nevertheless, attempts of this kind are very important. They have to be made. You're not going to have a breakthrough unless you try some of these small steps. But I do fear that to a certain extent, this is also in order to give the impression that more is happening diplomatically than it actually is because of the impact it has on the markets, because the expectations it sets for the mid-term elections. But in reality, in terms of substance, I'm not seeing any breakthrough, quite yet. The Iranian president is expected to address the United Nations General Assembly today. What do you think he's going to be talking about and what exactly is happening in the Strait of Hormuz? So in the Strait of Hormuz, you do have a situation in which the United States has managed to

open up a Southern Channel in which more oil is flowing now than it did during the MOU, or at least in the early days of the MOU. This, I think, has led to a scenario in which the United States thinks that the tables have been turned, that the pressure is much higher on Iran now than it is on the global economy. To a certain extent, that is true. But here's the problem. It is not a stable situation. If these new sanctions that Trump is pushing for, including this opening in this trade, actually really ends up putting a lot of pressure on the Iranians, what you're most likely to see in that scenario is that the Iranians will counter-escalate. The United States is currently escalating. It is trying to ban all airplanes from landing in Iran or all Iranian

airlines from being able to go to other places. These are clear escalations of added pressure. And if those end up biting, the Iranians will counter-escalate. So we're not in a situation in which the United States is putting added pressure on a country that has run out of options. It's adding pressure on a country that has plenty of escalatory options. And most of those are very dangerous for the region and for the United States. itself. And as a result, this trajectory is one of escalation, despite that meeting that took place yesterday. It was quite something to hear President Trump say, essentially the U.S. has obliterated Iran's military, the Navy. He claimed Operation Midnight Hammer, obliterated Iran's

nuclear program. So wiping out everything. Yet then why is, well, according to polls in the United States across the political spectrum, people perceive the U.S. is a lot of the U.S. losing against Iran. And what don't we know about the level of devastation of U.S. bases throughout the Middle East right now? I think the American public actually sees reality for what it is. And it is a situation in which the United States, after seven months of fighting, have not been able to achieve any of its objectives and even more importantly finding an exit out of this war. So all of this talk about destroying their Navy, et cetera. There are

tactical operational successes that the United States has had, none of them have translated into a strategic victory. And even this latest maneuver in which the U.S. thinks that he has managed to get an edge over the Iranians in terms of leverage, which to a certain extent may be true, is nevertheless a tactical edge, not a strategic edge. And this constant confusing, deliberate confusing between what is tactical and strategic is what has really characterized how the administration has approached us. Now, when it comes to the U.S. basis,

General David Petraeus former head of the CIA himself admitted that the Iranians have made a majority of American bases in the region inoperable. The United States is actually not even operating out of a lot of these bases at this point because of the success and effectiveness of the Iranian missiles and the lack of effectiveness of the missile defense, the U.S. is running out of interceptors, et cetera. So the picture on the ground is dramatically different from what the president has conveyed. Trita Trump claimed in his speech that Iran is watching the midterms very closely.

What is Iran's calculation if the Democrats end up winning? And what do you think the Democrats should do on Iran if they do win? I think the Iranis are looking at the midterms, but it's not that decisive moment necessarily that earlier was thought. I think Iran is also understanding that if Trump loses in the elections, both the House and the Senate, he will be in a much more desperate situation. He will be facing domestic pressure, perhaps impeachment efforts. And that may very well end up causing him to lash out even more on the foreign policy front.

instead of that constraining him, it actually may further radicalize his policies. So I don't think they're looking at the midterms necessarily as something that is some sort of a decisive blow towards Trump. And as a result, things wind out. Now, I do believe that the Democrats could do far more in terms of putting pressure to stop this war, stop the funding of this war. Now, there's efforts in terms of war powers, et cetera. Some of them have been successful. but at the end of the day, it's the power of the purse. And also, when the MOU was signed,

however imperfect it may have been, I found it tremendously problematic that many of the Democrats were choosing to attack the MOU in a manner that could have led and eventually did lead, not necessarily because of their attacks to the MOU collapsing. And what did that do? It brought us back into war. So you have to really decide. If you're against this war, you have to support the efforts that ends these wars, whether those are perfect or not, and save the political squirts later on until we're completely safe out of the woods and we don't have a fear of a return to military action. Where does China fit into this picture?

A lot is being made of President Trump's meeting with Xi this week in New York. Whether we'll get to hear what they say is another story, because the pool, the media pool has said they won't operate in solidarity with the networks that have been banned from the White House. CNN is part of the pool. And so they're just saying we won't record. The meeting tomorrow is going to be very important. The United States is going to try to press the Chinese

to go along with extraterritorial sanctions as part of this economic warfare that the administration is now waging and escalating. I find it unlikely. The U.S. almost bombed a Chinese ship, is that right? And then at the last minute, as they were ready to, to bomb this Chinese ship saying that they had intelligence that it was bringing weapons or nuclear material to Iran, realized it was based on AI that was false. Exactly. And we've already seen mistakes be committed because of this over-reliance on AI.

The AI program that was developed by Palantir is partly responsible for the bombing of the girls' school in Minab that left 150-plus children dead. During the first round of the war back in March, I spoke to a person in Iran who said that it appears that AI has being used for a lot of the targeting decisions. For instance, there was a period in that war in which the United States and Israel was specifically targeting police stations. This was during the phase in which I think the United States and Israel hoped that by destroying the security forces in the city, it would lead to riots and an overthrow of the government. But it also led to them bombing twice, a park that is called Park, Park. police, park a police in Persian, had nothing to do with the police, but because of the name police is in the name of the park, it was targeted, and it appears to have been yet another one of these examples in which the AI is selecting the targets without any human oversight

to just double check, triple check, if this is valid or not. And you just raised the worst examples so far in terms of actually a potential war between U.S. and China. Now, it's interesting that Chinese at some point may decide that they might. might want to get in and try to see if they can help bring this war to an end. It's not usually what they want to do. Their instincts are to stay out. But if this situation escalates further to the point in which the Chinese cannot insulate themselves and the global economy from the repercussions, the Chinese calculation may change. And it may also come as a result of the pressure that the U.S. is putting on the Chinese

to go along with sanctions that they absolutely do not want to implement. And the significance treater, you know, when President Trump was talking about Venezuela, of his comments saying, to the victor belongs the spoils, speaking to the UN General Assembly. Yes, it's really important to understand this point here. The entire UN system was built upon the ashes of the world after World War II, in which it was deemed critical by all of the states that we need to move towards a different type of a system in which, which warfare should not pay off, in which the victors do not go. The spoils do not go to the victor because there shouldn't be any benefit in waging wars, particularly wars of aggression and wars of choice. So for him to come with that statement that probably is mainly meant to play well with a specific audience at home, nevertheless sends a strong message to the rest of the world that the United States,

at least currently, does not even deem the most basic principles of international. national law as something that is worthy to uphold. Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Coming up, Senator Bernie Sanders gave a major address this week at the historic Riverside Church in New York on war, oligarchy, and the dangers of AI. Stay with us. No, see separando. Is what I'm here.

A co-cando by Elado Tropical, a new collaboration by Elado Negro and Reina Tropical. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman with Anjali Comment. As war leaders are gathering in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly, Senator Bernie Sanders gave a major address in New York. on Monday. He spoke at the historic Riverside Church, where Martin Luther King gave his Beyond Vietnam speech on April 4, 1967, exactly one year before he was assassinated. In that speech, King spoke

against racism, militarism, and materialism. These are some of the excerpts from Senator Bernie Sanders' speech. What Dr. King said was true nearly 60 years ago, and it is even truer today as our country, the United States of America, is now spending over a trillion dollars a year on the military, while some 800,000 Americans are homeless, 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured, and millions of people cannot afford the basic necessities of life. And this business of spending more and more on the military and turning backs on working families and the poor is not just happening tragically here in the United States. It's happening all over the world where we are seeing increased military budgets while the

needs of people living in desperation are ignored. So not just in the United States, but all over the world, we are moving in the wrong direction, and our job is to turn that around. Instead of producing more bombs and weapons and seeing the military industrial complex enjoy huge profits, governments throughout the world need to come together, to feed the children, take care of the vulnerable and protect our planet from the ravages of climate change.

And that is why we must continue and accelerate our efforts to end Trump's disastrous war in Iran which is now spreading throughout the region. That is why we must continue to speak out against the extremist government in Israel and the genocide they have committed in Gaza

and why we in the United States must end all military aid to the Netanyahu government. And that is why we must rally and work with grassroots activists in Russia to put an end to Putin's disastrous war in Ukraine which has led, not widely known, not widely reported.

but has led to the deaths of some 500,000 Russian soldiers, as well as mass destruction and loss of life in Ukraine. And that is why we must announce the United Arab Emirates continued financial and military support of the RSF as it wages a campaign of genocide and destruction in Sudan civil war. While the billionaire class and the 1% have never ever had it so good, over 60% of Americans in the richest country and the history of the world are living paycheck to paycheck. Nearly 800,000 are homeless and tens of millions struggle to pay for rent or mortgage or keep a roof over their heads. And let us be very clear. The rapid movement to oligarchy and the exponential rise in income and wealth inequality is not just an American phenomenon.

It is taking place all over the world and in my view is the most important economic reality of our times. In country after country, What we are seeing is working people sick and tired of seeing the very rich get richer while they struggle to put food on the table and pay for basic necessities. But it is not just income and wealth inequality and concentration of ownership that we are seeing today. Literally today, billionaires are deterred. to own our political system as well.

In the United States, as a result of the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, billionaires and corporations are legally able to spend as much as they want on political campaigns through their super PACs. And that, my friends, is exactly what they are doing. right at this moment. In the last election, presidential election, Mr. Musk, spent at least $290 million to elect Trump as president, and now he is spending some 200 million more to help Republicans keep control over the Congress.

And it's not just Republican billionaires, there are Democratic billionaires, or also playing an important role. As the UN Secretary General remind us, there's another issue that we must confront. In my view, artificial intelligence, AI and robotics are the most transformational technologies in the history of humanity. They have the potential to eliminate tens of millions of jobs. They threaten the privacy, AI threatens the privacy of virtually every person in this world through mass civilians, severance, every phone call you make, every website you visit, every email that you send, somebody will know it. It is advancing exponentially. And under four years, we have gone

from an AI that could barely write a coherent tweet to AI systems that have already escaped the control of the companies that built them. Take a deep breath and ask yourself, where will AI be in two years, in four years, in ten years? Will human beings be able to control this exploding technology? So let me make a very radical suggestion. And that is if the lives of every man, woman, and child are going to be fundamentally changed by this technology, then the people of our country and the people of this world must make the decisions regarding AI, not just a handful of big tech oligox.

And that is why I hope very much that when President Trump and President Xi meet on Thursday, I hope very much that they will sit down and begin the process of negotiating a comprehensive treaty to establish a pause on advanced AI and a ban on AI superintelligence. Vermont's Democratic Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders speaking at Riverside Church in New York on Monday. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman with Anjali Comet. While world leaders are meeting inside the United Nations for the General Assembly, it's also Climate Week here in New York. Just outside the UN, members of the Nepali diaspora and frontline communities from the global south are rallying right now, along with environmental campaigns. and others to highlight the consequences of global inaction on climate change and to demand

global emitters take responsibility for the cost of damages and immediately phase out fossil fuels. Last month, 7 billion Cuban feet of glacial rock and ice collapsed in the Himalayan mountains and crashed into the river valley below, triggering catastrophic flooding that wiped out entire villages. More than 8,000 people in Nepal and across the border in Tibet are dead or missing. Scientists say climate change contributed to the disaster. Nepal contributes less than 0.1 percent to global emissions. For more, we go to the rally just outside the United Nations, I believe at Doug Hammershaw Plaza, where we're joined by Anisha Buddha, program officer at the National Indigenous Women Forum, Nepal, member of the Asia-Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders. If you can

start off. Thanks so much, Anisha, for being with us by talking about, well, it's been almost a year since Nepali young people protested in Nepal, ushering in a new prime minister, Berendra Shah. Can you talk about the significance of what he is calling for when he talks about climate justice and what Nepal needs right now after the melting of the glacier. There are thousands of glaciers in Nepal, this one resulting in the deaths of what could be up to 8,000 people. Can you hear us, Anisha? Yeah, I can hear you now. So if you can tell us why you're out there and the significance of your new prime minister brought in by Gen Z calling for climate justice, what this means.

Hi, it's in Michelle from Nepal. I'm here in New York for the climate week. And we are gathered here outside the UN to call for global solidarity. We are here as the global spouse to hold the global north accountable for their responsibility and more than 90% of the global emission of carbon, which is leading to global warming and climate change, which also resulted in one of the most devastating floods that happened in Nepal on 2016. August. And it's important for our Prime Minister to be here. He is going to be speaking at the UN

General Assembly tomorrow and we're really excited and looking forward to that. So it's important for our Prime Minister to be here because Nepal is facing the brunt of the climate change that the Global North are doing. So he is here to demand climate justice and also to ask the International Fund for Loss and Damage of $20 million, which is nothing compared to the estimation of around $2 billion that the devastating flood has occurred and done in Nepal. So it's really important for our new Prime Minister to be here and also for us, indigenous peoples, indigenous organizations, representatives to be here to speak up and to say that we are the victims and we are not here to be quiet

and we are here to demand climate justice and climate reparations and also to demand just transition. Anisha, Nepal is responsible for less than 0.1% of global emissions. Talk about the impact of climate change on people in Nepal, the disproportionate impact and especially on indigenous communities. I think the climate change impact disaster each year has been worsening. In 2024, there was a huge flooding that swept away so many households in Roshi, the Roshi River flooding.

And now in 2006, it's one of the most devastating floods that we have seen with over 8,000 people dead or missing. So like we said, Nepal contributes to only 0.1. percent of the global carbon emission, which is almost zero compared to the global north, and which is why it's so important for us to come here and to raise our voices against it, because Nepal topographically and geographically, it's a mountainous country, which is why it is vulnerable to the glacial outburst. And this is not the last of the glacier outbursts that we will see.

And Nepal will keep seeing disasters like this. this and the victims that are impacted our indigenous communities. Almost 90% of the victims that were impacted by the flooding on 26th August are indigenous, our Tamil indigenous communities. Our organization, National Indigenous Swemont Forum, went there. We visited the community. And what we as indigenous organization understand that it is not just the lives of the people lost, it's not just the houses swept, but it's their culture, tradition, and their, uh, very identity that is being lost by the floods, by the climate-induced disasters. Annesia Buddha, we want to thank you for being with us,

program officer of the National Indigenous Women Forum and Nepal member of Asia-Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders, one of thousands who are participating this week, also outside the UN General Assembly that leaders are addressing, in this climate week. Coming up, 2026 is the deadliest year for measles in the United States. Since the disease was declared eliminated a quarter of a century ago. We'll speak to Dr. Paul Offutt with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

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Giulianta Giulianta Benegas in Democracy Now studio. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman with Anjali Comet. In Pennsylvania, health officials have reported four measles deaths just over the last month,

making 2026 the deadliest year for measles in the United States since the virus was declared eliminated in 2000. Pennsylvania had not had not had a measles related death in at least 35 years. The deaths include an 18-year-old teen and a 40-year-old woman, both of whom were unvaccinated, as well as a six-week-old baby and a newborn who died shortly after birth. The Pennsylvania Department of Health is reporting 792 measles cases across 39 counties, but that's believed by experts to be an undercount. On Thursday, Health and Human Services

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave the keynote address. at a conference organized by the anti-vaccine activist organization Children's Health Defense, which Kennedy led for nearly a decade. Let me be clear. You have a strong and steadfast friend at the White House. We've accomplished in 19 months, which was things that would have seemed unthinkable two years ago. On Friday, President Trump said he would be demanding the drug company split up vaccines into five shots with six-month intervals and claimed it would would reduce the autism rate. He didn't specify which vaccine he was referring to, but the administration has already been seeking to break up the MMR vaccine that's measles, mumps, and Rubella into three

separate shots. For more on the measles outbreak and deaths and the government response were joined by Dr. Paul Offutt, Director of the Vaccine Education Center, physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Offutt is also co-inventor of the rhodovirus vaccine, rotatech, recommended for universal use and infants by the CDC. His books include autism's false profits, bad science, risky medicine, and the search for a cure, as well as the book Deadly Choices, How the Anti-Vacine Movement Threatens Us All. He's got a column on Substack. It's Beyond the Noise, one of his recent pieces, is headlined, RFK Jr. Secretary of Measlesland.

Dr. Offitz joining us from Philadelphia. Thank you for being with us. Let's talk about what you call measles land and RFK's responsibility. I mean, the shocking number of deaths in Pennsylvania alone for in the last 30 days, including a teenager. Can you talk about the significance of this, first time in what, since it's been eradicated in a quarter of a century? That's right. We eradicated measles from this country in the year 2000. Now on our state alone, we've had four deaths just in the last month. Remember that this virus has a mortality rate of one in a thousand. So when you see four deaths, you can assume that we are vastly underestimating the number of cases.

Even though the Department of Health reports roughly 800 cases, I think you can assume it's probably closer to 4,000. I think Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services is doing everything he can to play this kind of see-no-evil approach and not let people know what's really happening. If you look on the CDC's website right now under measles, 2006 deaths, it lists zero. So zero deaths, even though we know that four deaths occurred in the state of Pennsylvania. He doesn't want us to know the damage he's done being such a successful anti-vaccine activist over the last 20 years. Dr. Ruffett, how can that be? How can the CDC not report these debts?

Because I think that RFK Jr. is telling Erica Schwartz, the director of the CDC, not to report them. I think you're just seeing a politicization of the science. I think that he's doing everything he can to decrease surveillance, to decrease monitoring, and to just try and ignore it. He knows that if he's a successful anti-vaccine activist, you're going to see what you're seeing, not only increase in measles deaths, increase in flu deaths in children, increase in hooping tough deaths in children. He knows that, and he just wants us to be blind to it so he can continue his war against vaccines, which he believes is a war against chronic disease. even though it's not.

Dr. Offutt, what about President Trump calling for the breaking up of these vaccines like MMR? What exactly does that mean? I think it's just a lot of hand-waving. You know, both companies that make the combination of measles, Momsder, Bella vaccine in this country, Merck and Glaxo-Smith-Kline have issued statements that they have no interest in separating that combination measles, mumps, rebella vaccine into three separate vaccines. Because that would mean instead of having a two-dose vaccine at 12 to 15 months of age and then at 46 years of age,

we would have a six-dose vaccine. So it would spread out and separate those vaccines, making it less likely children would complete the series. And therefore, more likely that children would be in a harm's way. The companies, to their credit, have both said that they have no plans to do that. And I don't think the President of the United States can make them do that. And Dr. Offit, we're entering cold and flu season. Kids are back in school. How does what's happening today compare to the measles outbreak in Philadelphia in 1990,

91? Right. So I'm still suffering post-traumatic stress disorder from that outbreak. We had in a period of only a few months in 1990, 1991, we had 1,400 cases of measles in our city alone, along with nine deaths. And I think what worries me the most about what's going on now is, I mean, I'm old enough to have had measles. I'm a child of the 1950s when there were three to four million cases.

of measles a year, 48,000 hospitalizations and 500 deaths. But that's a winter spring disease. Now we're heading into winter where children are now back in school, sharing their viruses. And this virus is typically a winter spring disease. I really fear this is going to get much worse. I just hope that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is Secretary of Health and Human Services. And Erica Schwartz is heading the CDC, lets us know what's going on. But more importantly, do what they should be doing with us get out there every day and bring. clinics into those areas that are high risk, meaning low vaccine rates, and do everything you can to prevent what I think is a coming disaster.

Speaking of disasters, we're hearing increasingly, like at Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, about a number of people who have measles, maybe up to eight, it may be more. What about measles in confined facilities? Exactly. So I don't think people realize just how contagious this virus is. There's something called a contagiousist index, meaning how many people would you infect during a day, assuming you're contagious and everybody you come in contact with is susceptible for viruses like influenza. For SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID, a respiratory syncytial virus, the contagious index is two to four. For measles, it's 15 to 18.

You don't have to have direct contact with somebody who has measles. You just have to be within their airspace within two hours of them being there. If somebody comes into our emergency department with measles and they, you don't have to be in. go back into a treatment room and then they leave that treatment room, no one can walk into that room for two hours. That's how contagious this virus is. And to bring it back to Pennsylvania, how are officials in Pennsylvania and Governor Shapiro dealing with this crisis? So Deborah Bogan, Dr. Debra Bogan is the head of the Department of Health here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. She's doing everything she can with her group to try and identify high-risk areas

and to get this vaccine out there to deal with sort of influencers in the Pennsylvania. the community, to be willing to go into children's homes to vaccinate them, because she's what this is, which is a growing epidemic, and she's doing everything she can, really without the help, not only without the help of our Secretary of Health and Human Services, but really working against the Secretary of Health and Human Services. He is the worst possible person to be in that position at this time. And on X, actually, RFK Jr. accused the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro fabricating the measles' deaths. He later seemed to attribute the state's measles outbreak partly to the governor for, quote, refusing to cooperate with the CDC.

Right. So I think you can believe pretty much nothing of what this man says. Obviously, those deaths weren't fabricated. The one child who died within a day or so of being born, the mother had measles, the baby had measles, and the baby died of an enlarged spleen which ruptured, which measles can do. You know, the six-month-old or the several-month-old, child had a severe measles pneumonia. You knew that the 40-year-old had a severe measles demote. You knew that the 18-year-old had something called acute debilitating encephalomyelitis caused by measles. So you know all that. So the governor is fabricating nothing. It's RFK Jr. who just doesn't want you to know how successful

he's been at his anti-vaccine activities. Dr. Offutt, before we go, I want to ask you about COVID. I mean, just in my own building, we have people, families who are getting COVID. And I wanted to ask you about what we know, is COVID increasing, and what about the new vaccine? So I think COVID is becoming flu, which is to say, I think you're going to see every year COVID will cause roughly, will cause hundreds of thousands of people to be hospitalized and tens of thousands to die just like influenza does every year. I think that the vaccine, which is trying to keep up with the virus that continues to mutate, is effective at keeping people out of the hospital, effectively at keeping them out of the intensive care unit,

and effective at keeping them out of the morgue. As far as to all vaccines like this, which would prevent short incubation period mucosal infections, like flu, COVID, RSV. It's not going to be as good at preventing mild disease or moderate disease, but that's not the goal. The goal is to tame the virus so that you're not seriously affected. And can people as easily get the vaccine as during the pandemic? What should parents know in going to their pediatrician. They should be able to, but what RFK Jr. recently did is he said that he's not going to use the vaccine for children's program, which pays for about 50% of all vaccines for children who are either uninsured or underinsured. It seems like he's going to hold back

on the money for that vaccine, which is just unconscionable. There already are children who are dying of COVID, and he would be willing to do that. I just can't believe we continue to stand back and let this man do what he's doing. What could be done? of 10 seconds. Well, at some point, it would be nice if people in power stood up for children in this country instead of fearing for their jobs if they contradict President Trump or contradict RFK Jr. Dr. Paul Offutt, Director of the Vaccine Education Center, Physician, the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. We'll link to your recent piece, RFK Jr., Secretary of Measles Land. And that does it for our show. I'll be in Westport, Connecticut,

tonight for the screening of Steal a Story Please about Democracy Now with the director Tia Lesson. And then we're on to London, Hackney Picture House on Friday, September 25th. On Sunday, we'll be in Lewis. On Monday, we'll be

also in London. Check our website then to Copenhagen, the Grand Theater, and finally to Berlin, Germany. I'm Amy Goodman with Anderly Comet. Check our website at DemocercyNow. org.